Teacher notes appear in italics.

Task 1: The Menagerie

Not all malicious code is a "virus" even though we seem to use that term on everything. Your first task is to research the different types of malicious code: viruses, worms, and Trojan horses.

• Define each one and cite examples.
• Explain how they work and how they can be protected against.
• Construct a timeline documenting the history of malicious code.
• Perhaps you could even find the source code for a virus. Be careful: Even just the unprocessed computer code for a virus can set off your antivirus software.

Create a report in Word, or present your findings to the class as a Powerpoint presentation.

This activity is primarily research and terminology, and should require a minimal amount of technical knowledge. This activity may be performed individually as a Word report or in a group as a Powerpoint presentation. If this is done as a team activity, you should designate a team leader who will delegate tasks to the others.

Task 2: The Culprits

Why do people write malicious code? What do they gain by doing it? This activity should be done in pairs. One person shall put themselves into the role of a virus writer:

• What is your motivation for creating a new virus?
• What do you intend or hope to gain from it?
• What happens if you get caught, if your virus is traced back to you?
• Create a persona for your virus writer. Include your background, how you came to be a virus writer, and be sure to address the questions above.

The other person shall play the role of a news reporter:

• Interview the virus writer and then write a newspaper or magazine article about them.
• Get them to explain how they got to be a virus writer, and address the questions above.
• Also state your personal beliefs about what you think is an appropriate punishment for people who write malicious code.

As a team, present your findings to the class.

The intention here is to get into the mind of a programmer who writes viruses, NOT to actually write viruses. This activity focuses on the sociological aspect of malicious code. This activity also emphasized interviewing skills, which is an important interpersonal skill.

Task 3: The Defense

Malicious code has been around for a long time. How do people protect themselves from them? Many companies now make software programs to scan for and clean up malicious programs from your computer. In the introduction, you were presented with a scenario where your computer caught an e-mail virus. Now, find answers to these questions:

• How do antivirus software programs work?
• How did your computer catch the e-mail virus described in the introduction?
• How would you respond to this attack on your computer?
• How would you prevent it from occurring in the future?

Create a Powerpoint presentation summarizing your findings and present it to your class.

This activity is more technical and may not be suitable for the high school grades. Or, it could be performed on a superficial basis with the more technical aspects, such as virus detection, being omitted.

Task 4: The Cost

Malicious code is not just annoying, it's destructive and expensive. In this task, you run a small web consulting firm with 20 employees, each with their own computer, and they all go through a central server, called a firewall, that protects your company from the Internet. How much does it cost to protect the computers in your company from malicious code?

• Find out about firewalls and what they do.
• Research the software packages that exist to address the issue of malicious code.
• Based on the scenario described above, accounting for as many sources of expense as you can, create an Excel spreadsheet documenting the cost.

There are lots of different computer systems and network styles out there. For the purposes of this exercise, assume that all of your computers run Windows of some kind (e.g. Windows XP for your individual computers and Windows 2000 Server for your firewall) and that they are all connected together with a network.

Once again, create a Powerpoint presentation summarizing your findings and present it to the class. Present it as if you are the accountant for the web consulting firm and you are presenting this to the senior partners of the firm.

This activity may seem technical but really shoudln't be. The goal is to identify products and practices that would address a virus attack and tabulate the prices and costs. The Windows operating systems were specified in order to simplify the exercise, not make it more technical. This activity assumes a familiarity with Microsoft Excel or a comparable spreadsheet, but I do not know how prevalent Excel knowledge is in high school curricula. This activity could be modified to omit the Excel preparation and just be a math or economics task.