Viruses

Author(s): Miguel Alberto Gomez
Editor(s): Barney Warf
Book Title: The SAGE Encyclopedia of the Internet
Reviewed:  
Publisher(s): SAGE Publications
Publication Year: 2018

Of the artefacts that populate the Internet, none have caused more frustration than computer viruses. This has led to an abundance of resources that cater to the technical understanding of computer viruses. However, little has been said regarding the various ways they are represented. This is despite the point that while such representations began with biological analogies, the portrayal of computer viruses has evolved from that of unwelcomed pathogens, to environmental threats, and finally to that of unpredictable, unknowable and persistent agents. This chapter addresses this gap by examining these different analogy-based ways of looking at viruses as well as their possible societal implications.

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