digital pathogen

digital pathogen
n.
A computer virus, worm, Trojan horse or other software that causes harm to computers, electronic devices, or networks.
Example Citations:
Digital pathogens spread so quickly, however, that even the most diligent patchers could be at risk. At a security symposium last August, Mr. Staniford and two co-authors presented "How to Own the Internet in Your Spare Time," which described a computer simulation of a worm attack. The worm in the simulation attacked machines that had been selected earlier as ripe targets, instead of randomly probing the Internet. The simulation found that within 15 minutes, the worm would have infected more than nine million machines. Mr. Staniford called it the Warhol worm, a nod to Andy Warhol's famous line about fame.
— Brendan I. Koerner, "In Computer Security, a Bigger Reason to Squirm," The New York Times, September 7, 2003
Virus outbreaks spurred by contaminated e-mail now occur more frequently, spreading digital pathogens that add trauma to the lives of harried tech-support staffs.
— Alex Salkever, "E-Mail: Killer App — or Just a Killer?," Business Week Online, March 7, 2002
Earliest Citation:
Still reeling from ILOVEYOU's brutal kiss, technophiles were panicked last week by news of yet another digital pathogen. This virus, first reported by a pair of European security firms, was rumored to burrow its way deep into Spanish cellphones, an innovative twist that had computer pundits branding wireless cyberattacks the next big thing.
— Brendan I. Koerner, "A telephone spam scam," U.S. News & World Report, June 19, 2000
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Look at other dictionaries:

  • digital pathogen — (Computers) worm or computer virus or other software that harms computers or networks or electronic devices …   English contemporary dictionary

  • Friends and Family virus — n. A computer virus that infects a machine and then replicates by e mailing copies of itself to people in the user s address book. Example Citation: Trojan worms resort to all sorts of unusual and clever tactics to persuade users to activate them …   New words

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  • Programming and Software — 2000 compliant 9999 bug aftcast Alt Tab application service provider apps on tap beerware B …   New words

  • distributed denial of service — adj. Relating to a computer attack that hijacks dozens or sometimes hundreds or computers around the Internet and instructs each of them to inundate a target site with meaningless requests for data. Also: DDoS. Example Citation: Yahoo, Buy.com… …   New words

  • logic bomb — n. A computer virus set for a timed release. When the virus detonates, it deliberately disrupts, modifies, or erases data. Example Citation: Omega Engineering learned firsthand the dangers of the disgruntled employee after a timed virus, known as …   New words

  • malware — n. Computer viruses and other software designed to damage or disrupt a system. Also: mal ware. adj. Example Citations: As organizations rely on documents and e mail to store mission critical information, that data will require a higher level of… …   New words

  • targeted Trojan horse — n. A Trojan horse program sent as an attachment in an e mail message that has a subject line, body text, and return address that have been crafted to fool the recipient into opening the attachment. Also: targeted Trojan, targeted Trojan spoofing …   New words

  • zero-day — adj. 1. Relating to a computer security vulnerability that is exploited before the vulnerability is known to security experts. 2. Relating to information obtained or discovered before it is publicly available. Also: zero day, 0day. Example… …   New words

  • zombie computer — n. A computer containing a hidden software program that enables the machine to be controlled remotely, usually to perform an attack on another computer. Example Citation: The new version of a software package dubbed Trinoo allows attackers to… …   New words

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