vacilate.html -
noun (Science and
Technology ) A program which protects a computer system against being attacked by malicious software such as a virus or worm. Etymology: A figurative sense of vaccine; an
extension of the virus metaphor, moving on one
step further than infect. History and Usage: This is a usage of the late eighties, used at first in the names of
individual antivirus programs, but soon extended to the
group as a whole. The metaphor is also extended to derived forms such as vaccinate and vaccination. The vaccine program scans data and program files and triggers
an alarm if operating instructions or data have been modified...Other vaccines screen the commands that programs send to the computer's operating system...Researchers have taken several approaches to block virus entry or 'vaccinate' computers so
that users are notified when a virus is at work. New York Times 30 May 1989, section C, pp.
1 and 9
