Computer virus evolution model inspired by biological DNA

Abstract

There has been considerable interest in computer viruses since they appeared. Firstly, computer viruses make software developers pay more attention to security and develop anti-virus technology more carefully. Secondly, computer viruses are vital simulation platforms to study biological viruses. Moreover, computer viruses (a form of artificial life) are helpful to enhance the understanding of the philosophy of life. Therefore, computer viruses and their evolutions are worth thoroughly studying in scientific research sense. To further investigate the evolution of computer viruses, a DNA-based model for computer viruses evolution, which draws inspiration from biological DNA and artificial life, is proposed. The formal definition of computer virus is introduced, and the evolution operators which include selection, mutation, and recombination operator are presented. The simulation experiments were conducted and the results indicate that computer viruses have enormous capabilities of self-propagation and self-evolution. © 2008 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.