Address space layout randomization effectively prevents this sort of attack on most(?) modern operating systems. See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Address_space_layout_randomization Biological entities have a harder time, although there are some instances of science fiction that posit defense mechanisms. Regards, Jon On Jan 26, 2014, at 10:52 AM, Henry Baker <hbaker1@pipeline.com> wrote:
Consider the plight of a virus in a biological system....
...To reduce the number of bits that the virus has to carry, the virus relies on intimate knowledge of the existing host's own DNA & RNA, so that it can "repurpose" various DNA & RNA subsequences for its own uses....
...Modern computer viruses can do the same thing that biological viruses can do: find _existing_ bit sequences & repurpose them for the virus's own computation....
...Unfortunately, return-oriented programming is not just a theoretical construct, but a very real mechanism by which modern computer viruses and worms can take over a machine....