Frankenstein Computer Virus Assembles Itself
A "Frankenstein" computer virus could assemble itself using pieces of code from common, legitimate software on people's computers, researchers demonstrated. The patchwork malware would be especially difficult for anti-virus software to detect, so it could go into a government-made program that infiltrates others' computers, the New Scientist reported.
Computer scientists have previously theorized that it's possible to create any program by combining gadgets, or bits of code that perform specific tasks. Vishwath Mohan and Kevin Hamlen of the University of Texas at Dallas created a demonstration of such a virus by writing a program that infects a computer, finds gadgets in programs such as Internet Explorer and Notepad, then builds itself two functions. The two functions are simpler versions of what full-blown malware needs to do, showing this method's potential, Hamlen explained to the New Scientist.
