Network

The fundamental framework for this article can be identified during the technological boom experienced acutely by the United States during the 1990's. The astronomical growth in the utilization of e-commerce and computer based information exchange led to the development of vast networks on which these virus creation activities occurred. The growth in numbers of these networks is directly related to the large increase in malicious and costly attacks (see Figure 1).

These attacks have wreaked havoc via increased economic costs not only of preventively protecting our computer networks but also of reactively repairing our networks once they have been attacked and infiltrated by a virus. This paper will explore the evolution of threats to network security, what problems these threats are capable of creating and the monetary costs of virus attacks.

The widespread introduction of the personal computer ("PC") into the lives of individuals and onto the desktops of professionals triggered the advent of widespread computer virus attacks. As depicted in Figure 2, the growth in the types of technology utilized in the PC's closely correlated the methodology of virus delivery. In 1996 diskette's were the largest method of delivering virus' utilized in just under 40% of the cases. By 2001 we can see the automation of the virus delivery mechanism as email popularity grew through the years so too did the rate at which it was used to initiate virus attacks.

Figure 2.

This voluminous increase in virus activity triggered by the technological revolution of the 1990's created a corresponding increase in the cost of virus activity. Figure 3 shows that from 1996 to 2001 Worldwide Economic Costs of Virus Activity rose from $500 million to $13.2 billion for an amazing increase of 2,540%.

Figure 3.

While the increased use of technology definitively played a role in the increased economic cost to the world, this phenomena was also linked to the evolution of the computer virus itself.

As the methods for delivering virus' changed so to did the type of virus' that were utilized. Early virus' focused on the boot sector due to the wide spread use of the floppy diskette as a delivery medium . As internet use has become prevalent more and more