Virus: Detection and Elimination

This book provides an overview of computer viruses, with a technical bias. The second half of the book contains actual virus code and requires some knowledge of 8086 assembly programming. But don't get any ideas: in order to make the necessary modifications to compile and unleash this code on innocent bystanders, you would--according to one expert--have to be savvy enough to write a virus from scratch. Despite the straightforward coverage of famous virus incidents and various attack and defense techniques, the book is not intended for the layman. However, if you have even minimal assembly programming experience, the latter sections of the book will help you understand what self-replicating programs really look like and how they work. The appendices are well organized and the extensive glossary will help less confident readers. The accompanying software provides more cryptic assembly code, as well as several small utilities. While the book successfully tackles many tasks, the large scope sometimes makes for a convoluted experience.