Schneier on Security: Attack Trends: 2004 and 2005

kw: computer security, digital arms race

Have a look at this post by Bruce Schneier:
Schneier on Security: Attack Trends: 2004 and 2005

We have reached a situation in which our machinery is subject to the same threatening environment as any biological species. Both pathogens and immune systems—of the digital persuasion—are in an arms race that will spiral onward, probably without limit.

It may seem that there is a conceptual difference: computer viruses, worms, and spyware (and other varieties even now being ideated) are produced by programmers. To my way of thinking, the worm-writer is a part of the system, and bears the same relationship to the software that an animal body and mind bear to the selfish DNA upon which their existence depends.