In the search of the "gene of self-replication" in malicious codes

Most information attacks on the Internet are perpetrated by deploying malicious codes. The spread of viruses and worms throughout the Internet is accomplished by self-replication, resulting in computer epidemics. Since most legitimate computer programs do not self-replicate and the number of ways to achieve self-replication is quite limited, the detection of self-replicating malicious codes could be reduced to the detection of the "various mutations of the gene of self-replication" in the code in question. The description of such a detection mechanism for unencrypted script-type computer viruses is presented.