Cyber Attacks and the Laws of War

Description

In 1949, John Von Neumann—a mathematician and an early architect of computing systems—presented at the University of Illinois a series of lectures called the Theory and Organization of Complicated Automata, where he explored the possibility of developing machines that self-replicate.1 Von Neumann envisioned machines that could build self-copies and pass on their programming to their progeny. While his ideas had legitimate applications, such as large-scale mining, many observers also consider it to be the theoretical precursor to the modern-day computer virus.2 Self-replication is a defining characteristic of computer viruses and worms. Through self-replication, computer code populates computer systems exponentially. Computer viruses and worms have the capacity for constructive applications, but they are most often malware—malicious software that is hostile, intrusive, and unwelcome.