IT security and biology
Computerworld published a great article which makes a parallel between biology and IT security:
"When a new virus strikes, some of us might fall ill, some might die and others will survive. That's the beauty of us each having a unique immune system.
It's a concept that the computer security industry should take to heart, said Stephanie Forrest, a professor of computer science at the University of New Mexico (...).
Diversity of systems and applications can play a key role in safeguarding computers and networks from malicious attacks, Forrest said. Her team published a paper last year on a system dubbed RISE (Randomized Instruction Set Emulation) (PDF) that randomizes an application's machine code to stymie would-be attacks, such as those launched via binary code injection.
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What really has Forrest worried about computer security today ties into another biological concept: evolution. 'We already have malicious code that can replicate and spread itself. The only thing we're missing in terms of real Darwinian evolution is mutation,' she said."
Forrest's team is using virtualization software to overcome some of the issues it encountered during its research.
