2.1. Common Patterns of Virus ResearchComputer virus analysis has some common patterns that can be learned easily, lending efficiency to the analysis process. There are several techniques that computer virus researchers use to reach their ultimate goal, which is to acquire a precise understanding of viral programs in a timely manner to provide appropriate prevention and to respond so that computer virus outbreaks can be controlled.1. More importantly, writing even a dozen viruses would not make you an expert on this subject. Some virus writers2 believe that they are experts because they created a single piece of code that replicates itself. This assumption could not be further from the truth. Although some virus writers might be very knowledgeable individuals, most of them are not experts on the subject of computer viruses. The masterminds who arguably at various times represented the state of the art in computer virus writing go (or went) by aliases such as Dark Avenger3, Vecna, Jacky Qwerty, Murkry, Sandman, Quantum, Spanska, GriYo, Zombie, roy g biv, and Mental Driller. |