Can viruses ever be useful?

M ost of the terms used for computer viruses arc metaphors: they have a largely medical origin, and are seductive if not literally sexy. The very real worries WC have about AIDS, for example, no doubt colour the way we talk about computer viruses. At the extreme, abstractly viruses arc clearly just algorithms, and like any other algorithm they arc good for some things and not good for others. This article tries to take a dispassionate view of viruses, dcspitc the fact that almost all of the ones we’ve seen so far arc malicious. If the views expressed hcrc are as a result contentious, then so bc it.