Practical Applications of Computer Viruses

Computer viruses can create many problems for computer systems with inadequate integrity controls, and have caused widespread damage all around the world, but they can also provide a powerful parallel processing mechanism which could have dramatic impacts on how we use computers. Several practical computer viruses are already in everyday use, and new applications are being developed all around the world. Computer viruses may form the basis of a new model of computation with computer networks acting like a digital primordial soup, and viruses acting as genetically engineered living creatures which achieve goals by their combined actions.