Computer virus

:This article is concerned with malicious computer programs; for other uses of the term see virus (disambiguation). An extensive treatment of the pluralization of the word "virus" in English is found in the article Plural of virus.

Use of the word "virus"

The term "virus" was first used in an academic publication by Fred Cohen in his 1984 paper Experiments with Computer Viruses, where he credits Len Adleman with coining it. However, a mid-1970s science fiction novel by David Gerrold, When H.A.R.L.I.E. was One, includes a description of a fictional computer program called "VIRUS" that worked just like a virus (and was countered by a program called "ANTIBODY"); and John Brunner's 1975 novel The Shockwave Rider describes programs known as "tapeworms" which spread through a network for deleting data. The term "computer virus" with current usage also appears in the comic book "Uncanny X-Men" No. 158, published in 1982. Therefore, we may conclude that although Cohen's use of "virus" may, perhaps, have been the first "academic" use, the term had been used earlier. Westworld is often cited as containing an early usage of the term, though the exact phrase is not actually used in the film.

Related Topics:
Fred Cohen - 1984 - Len Adleman - Science fiction - David Gerrold - John Brunner - The Shockwave Rider - Comic book - X-Men - Westworld

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The term "virus" is often used in common parlance to describe all kinds of malware (malicious software), including those that are more properly classified as worms or trojans. Most popular anti-virus software packages defend against all of these types of attack.

Related Topics:
Malware - Worms - Trojans - Anti-virus software

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The English plural of "virus" is "viruses". Some people use "virii" or "viri" as a plural, although computer professionals seldom use these words. For a discussion about whether "viri" and "virii" are correct alternatives for "viruses", see plural of virus.

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