University campuses and corporate boardrooms aren't the only places that benefit from diversity -- computer networks and the Internet could stand up better to viruses and worms if they relied on more diverse software, according to computer scientists at Carnegie Mellon . . .
University campuses and corporate boardrooms aren't the only places that benefit from diversity -- computer networks and the Internet could stand up better to viruses and worms if they relied on more diverse software, according to computer scientists at Carnegie Mellon University and the University of New Mexico. The scientists are using a US$750,000 grant from the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) to study how cyber diversity can help defend against the scourge of computer viruses and worms, according to the NSF. The NSF is an independent US government agency that funds scientific research.

Researchers at the two universities will look at ways to change different components of a computer's software code that are transparent to users, but that introduce a kind of "genetic diversity," according to a statement from Dawn Song, an assistant professor of computer science at Carnegie Mellon in Pittsburgh. Such changes might not protect any single machine, but could make computer networks and the Internet less prone to outbreaks of computer viruses like Code Red, Slammer and the recent Blaster worms, which spread by exploiting known vulnerabilities in operating systems and software applications, according to Carl Landwehr, program director for the Cyber Trust program at NSF.

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