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Computational brittleness and the evolution of computer viruses

  • Basic Concepts of Evolutionary Computation
  • Conference paper
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Parallel Problem Solving from Nature — PPSN IV (PPSN 1996)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNCS,volume 1141))

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Abstract

In recent years computer viruses have grown to be of great concern. They have also been proposed as prototypical artificial life, but the possibility of their evolution has been dismissed due to modern computer programs being computationally brittle (i.e. a random change to a functional program will almost certainly render it non-functional) and the series of steps required for the evolution of a new virus being improbable. These allegations are examined by studying homology between functional program sequences. It is concluded that programs are far less brittle than expected. While the evolution of viruses de novo is still unlikely, evolution of pre-existing viruses and programs is feasible. This has significant implications for computer security and evolutionary computation.

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Author information

Author notes

  1. Paul-Michael Agapow

    Present address: Infocalypse, GPO Box 964 G, V. 3001, Melbourne, Australia

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Computer Science, La Trobe University, V. 3083, Melbourne, Australia

    Paul-Michael Agapow

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  1. Paul-Michael Agapow
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Paul-Michael Agapow .

Editor information

Hans-Michael Voigt Werner Ebeling Ingo Rechenberg Hans-Paul Schwefel

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© 1996 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Agapow, PM. (1996). Computational brittleness and the evolution of computer viruses. In: Voigt, HM., Ebeling, W., Rechenberg, I., Schwefel, HP. (eds) Parallel Problem Solving from Nature — PPSN IV. PPSN 1996. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 1141. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-61723-X_964

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-61723-X_964

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-540-61723-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-540-70668-7

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