Page 132 - Biomimetics: Technology Imitates Nature

Biomimetics: Technology Imitates Nature

To protect our computers against the menace of viruses, identifica-
tion programs search every code in the computer’s memory to find traces
of viruses that have previously been identified and stored in the pro-
grams’ memory. Computer viruses carry traces of the signature of the
software writer that let them be recognized. When the computer’s search
program recognizes that telltale signature, it warns that the computer has
been infected with a virus.
Even so, anti-virus programs can’t offer complete protection for com-
puters. Some programmers can write new viruses within a matter of a few
days and again insert them into cyberspace through just one infected
computer. That being the case, it’s vital that anti-virus programs be con-
stantly updated so that they have the information they need to recognize
new viruses. New anti-virus programs need to be added constantly, there-
fore, to protect against the virus threat.
With the increasing spread of worldwide use of the Internet, these
viruses have begun to spread very much faster and to inflict serious harm
to infected computers. IBM researchers have found solutions by imitating
natural examples. First of all, just like biological viruses in nature, artifi-

cial computer viruses use the host programming to multiply. Starting
from that analogy, researchers investigated how the human immune sys-
tem works to protect the body.
When it encounters a foreign organism, the body immediately begins
to build antibodies that will recognize the invader and destroy it. The im-
mune system doesn’t need to analyze the whole of a cell that might result
in a sickness. Once any preliminary infection has been suppressed, the
body keeps a number of the appropriate antibodies in readiness, to re-
spond immediately to any future recurrence. Thanks to these standby an-
tibodies, there is no need to examine the entire infected cell. Similarly, ex-
isting anti-virus programs also contain an "antibody" that recognizes not
the whole computer virus, but rather its signature.

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