THE FUTURE OF TECHNOLOGY
BY DEBRA JAMES
WIU IT-330

Abstract
Once before there was a business profit speed breaker called Macro Virus, and today it is still prevalent to a lesser extent, even though; Microsoft did do something about it, to where it is under control, but; still very much around. (Brightub articles 2011) .explains the well knows macro virus was a stark reminder of its disastrous power.
In today’s world of technology computer viruses attack the software of a computer- the operating system usually attacks the software. (Microsoft /TechNet 2011), states the macro virus is known as a written virus in the internal macro language of applications. In some cases macro virus can cause no damage to the data, however; in other cases, macros viruses have been written that can cause damage to your work. This paper explains. What macro viruses are? How they spread. What affect they have? How to avoid a macro virus How to protect your computer

What are Macro viruses…..?
A macro virus is a computer infraction written in macro language, which is commonly built into word processing applications. (Goggle 2011, pg., 1) In general, Marcos viruses are a series of commands and executions that help automate specific tasks. Regardless of how many they create, they must be executed by a system that is able to interpret stored commands. There are some macro systems that are actually self-contained utilities while others are built into more advanced applications for users to easily repeat a sequence of commands or enable a programmer to customize the application to suite the user’s needs. (Marti, 2011 pg.1) explains while there is no concrete definition of a computer virus, some if not all will agree that it refers to an executable code, (programming language), that, when the run, will attach to or infects other files or applications in the host computer in an effort to reproduce and or cause disruption.
Some viruses are very serious, causing files to erase or lock, while others may create less devastating, but; be very time-consuming problems by altering the file they infect. For example computer viruses come in a variety of strengths, shapes, and sizes, file infectors damage files within specific programs and are invoked each time the infected programs are used,(Marti, 2011 pg.2). Some macro viruses such as Mellissa are spreaded very easily through the auto execution capabilities in word processing products like Microsoft word and excel. According to (Marti 2011, pg. 2) the spread of macro viruses were discovered in March of 1999. Macro virus was propagating via emails attachments. And in less than 48hrs, it was reported a widespread of attack of viruses throughout many major U.S. corporations, that were disrupting business and causing their information systems managers to quickly develop internal defensive strategies. Whether you were new to the net, or a veteran, everyone received this email at least once informing of this horrible viruses, which will gobble up your hard drive. In years to come I can imagine several technology related trends happening within five years: such as * Keyboards and screens will be one input to several networked computers. Game controllers like the XBOX 360 will be another. The difference? They’ll back-end into the same general environment, with only their front-end processing differences to separate them in our minds. (course material chap 7,8,9) * Other devices will share the network, including a media player over by our TV screen, maybe another in the kitchen to manage smart appliances or at least manage another destination appliance or two. * Portable devices (wireless or wimax) will connect me to my home system remotely, or virtual, or at least network portals between my stuff and your stuff * GSP’s will be able to locate any and everything on the spot, everything will be done by computer, doctors apt, errands, and etc. technology will be the way.
How They Spread………
A macro virus can be spreaded through email attachments, discs, networks, modems, and the internet and is notoriously difficult to detect. (Marti 2011pg.2) Uninfected documents contain normal macros. Most Macro viruses are spreaded because the viruses are written in the macro language of the product, which spreads as soon as it is open. The system infectors attach to the portion of a floppy or hard disk that is set aside to boot the computer operating system.
Marti, 2011, pg. 2) states it was one afternoon in march of 1999 when the world began to hear of the spread that a Microsoft word Marco virus was propagating, via threw email attachments, and within the next 48hrs, it was reported that a widespread attacks of macro virus throughout many major U.S. corporations, disrupting business and causing information systems managers to quickly develop internal defensive strategies. The antivirus software vendors doubled the Marco virus “Melissa” and within hours diagnosis scans and patches were in place to combat the virus. The computer programmer who created the Melissa virus was sentenced to 20 months in federal prison today for unleashing the virus that infected thousands of computers worldwide in 1999 and caused more than $80 million in damage. (Marti 2011) explains, In December 1999, David L. Smith, 33, of Aberdeen, New Jersey was found guilty to a state charge of computer theft and a federal charge of sending a damaged computer program. In the federal plea, Smith and federal prosecutors agreed that the damages in the case were greater than $80 million. Smith faced up to five years in prison. He was also fined $5000 by U.S. District Judge Joseph Greenaway Jr., according to a clerk in the U.S. District Court in New Jersey. (Marti 2011)There are 20 or more identified types of word Marco viruses, of them all the concept is the most common known to these viruses and is a self-replicating virus that spreads to DOC files saved with the save as command in Microsoft word file menu. If the documents are open the infected documents will spread the virus, it will also spread to the existing files that are saved by command. Word macro viruses are frequently stored in an unencrypted form and can be viewed with word. The virus can also be identified threw macro tools menu. (Prosise 2011 pg.1) Good macros viruses can serve you a lot of time if the repetitive task is completed. It is worth spending some effort to learn how to develop them. A bad macro written by someone with malicious intent, however, can be deadly. These are so called macro viruses are like Trojan horses that wait for you to assists them in the mission. They are very harmless and cannot be run until they are open an infected document, they spring into life. They infect your word program first, and from that point on every document opened in word has the potential to become infected, creating a virtual epidemic. What will happen next is the hard drive is erased.
What affect they have.
The effects Marco virus have on your computer are easily passed from lab to lab, Marco scripts that reside within a word documents are often passed around behind the scenes. (SikorskI, 2011, pg. 1) Any word documents can be easily attached to an e-mail message and sent around the world. Some geeks depends on the prayer of an e-mail popping into the inbox with a subject line such as ‘I love you’ but instead the computer hard drive is damaged and their company email systems gets badly bunged up.
Stucker (2011) explained. Since most macro viruses seek to preplace the original with its malicious code. From there, the infection tags the replacements code with the same name and functions when it comes to the command it is executed which will happen when a user accesses that file. (n.d.) as we know once the macros start to embed itself among the other documents or templates. It will also make preparations to infect any files that will eventually be created. It really depends on the type of resource that will be able to access, a macro virus will damage the other areas of the operating systems, and this will occur if the infected documents are shared amongst other users and advices. (Stucker 2011) A macro virus has the ability to infect nearly any system running word processing software. Because, it, simply looks to corrupt that application opposed to that operating system. This virus has been known to attack all computers running the Mac os x, windows and other platforms that are compatible with Microsoft word. This includes graphics and sounds files such as, gif, .jpg, .mp3, etc. For example; viewing a picture will not affect your computer with a virus. The virus code must be in place such as an exe program file or a word doc file, which the computer will actually try to execute.
How to avoid Macro viruses
Support Microsoft.com (2011) states the best way to avoid a macro virus is to always run your anti-virus software that contains the latest update, and scan your system often. Support for this particular virus is already available, and can be found from a number of anti-virus companies.
Ensure your office virus protection is turned on. After the virus has been allowed to run, it will disable the virus protection in word. It is very important to make sure office macro virus protection is turned on by performing steps listed above. Macro viruses business needs within the industry opportunities for new technology in the future is that Marco viruses will have made history among most if not all computer viruses. And will be considered the fastest-spreading virus at the time of its digital rampage, such as in early 1999. Remember word will only protect if the macro virus protection in activated on. With doing this every time your computer receives the word document, containing macros, you will be offered a choice whether to enable or not. You should always know to enable macros viruses when you are not certain of their purpose of functionality.
However, (articles .com 2011.pg.1 Para 5) reads users should also be cautioned, that just because a file is named "something.rtf” it really does not mean that it is an RTF file. Users with access to a UNIX machine can verify the file type with the command such as this type of like “file something.rtf" and should get a response similar to "Rich Text Format data, version 1, ANSI".

Users limited to Windows platforms are allowed to use the Notepad program to manually inspect the file. If the file contains markup text similar to "\rtf1\ansi\ansicpg1252\uc1" can be assured that it is indeed an RTF file. Nevertheless if the file looks more like "ÐÏࡱá" then the file is a native Word and the doc file that has simply been re-named to end in ".rtf". (articles.com 2011)Microsoft Word will open a native .doc file that has been re-named .rtf without complaint, and will proceed to run the attached macro/virus if so configured. Users are cautioned to be extremely wary of documents that are named .rtf but that contain .doc contents, as such documents have a very high probability of being infected. Protecting your computer from Macro virus….
To protect your computer be sure your office macro virus protections turned on as recommended. Run the least anti-virus software, and scan often. This way you can be sure the macros in documents are safe; also it is important to remember to keep your anti-virus software up to date by installing the latest signature files for the company.
Whenever your computer begins to act odd, this may very well mean you have a virus, it is important to run the infected macro that is open. Such as Microsoft word excel, by double clicking on the appropriate icon. Check the macro views list for infected macros on your computer. (Microsoft2011) In closing the existing technologies that will be more prominent in the years, I believe IT; it will be tailoring to our every need in five years. Analytics technologies will be providing a personalized recommendation that get commuters where they need to go in the fastest time. Adaptive traffic systems will intuitively learn traveler patterns and behavior to provide more dynamic travel safety and route information to travelers that is available today. (Heimbuch2011). Since we already have apps to determine a smarter route when driving, and most companies such as, Google already work on mapping real traffic, to help along with the flow as well as reduce time. The system will always benefit form improvements. Business Intelligence solutions will be immutably tied to the fabric of business decision-making no later than 2016, according to (Gartner2011) the increasingly sophisticated technology allows users to actualize volumes of data on the fly for specifics task, assess performance, evaluate solutions and drive future marketing and sales efforts. And By 2014 marketing for BI and analytics will undergo a gradual evolution, and the metamorphosis of BI from IT owned and reports centric will be virtually complete for a large number or organizations. This is the future is technology.

References

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