▶ 2.1 Computers and Programs
When Alice, the owner of Alice’s Arts, writes a letter on her laptop, she runs a word-processing program. When doing calculations, she uses a spreadsheet. When searching for information on the web, she uses a browser. She chooses programs to do the jobs she has at hand.
Attackers also use the tools at hand. They make the computer run a program to perform the work of the attack. Sometimes an existing program will do the job. Other times they have to provide a new program. It’s a matter of directing the computer to the right sequence of instructions.
Everything a computer does, right or wrong, results from running a computer program. As the computer’s owner, Alice tries to keep it under control by telling it to run ...
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