New operating systems and old viruses

Abstract

A large majority of viruses today are written for DOS running on IBM PCs and compatibles. The advent of new 32-bit operating systems and their eventual widespread use will have a major impact on the type of future viruses. This article discusses the impact of the current crop of 7000 DOS viruses on the new operating systems, looks at the new cross-platform WinWord.Concept macro virus and analyses some security implications of easy networking.