Why do people write viruses to begin with? This group has talked
about several destructive virus outbreaks, the anatomy and types of viruses,
and how to protect yourself... but that still leaves the most fundamental
question, why?
But I suppose before we answer the
question why we should first ask who it is that writes viruses. Some people may
have the impression that it's just teenage kids who are tech savvy and judgment
lacking, but that's not really the case.
The truth is that, while that may have been more the case in the
beginnings of the internet, nowadays the virus writers of the world are driven
by the motivator that seems to drive much of our lives, good and bad… money. Virus
writers are increasingly working with those cyber-criminals that are further up
on the “hierarchy”, spammers and hackers, in order to reap financial benefits
from their work.
Pictured: Spam (if nobody fell for it we wouldn't still see it…)
The spammers are also reaping the rewards from this pairing, due
to the fact that their job has become much harder with the implementation of
spam blockers and mail filters. The virus writers provide a way for the
spammers to be able to have infected computers spread their spam mails without
the knowledge of the computer’s owner, and without intervention on the part of
the spammer. The Sobig virus was an example of a virus that aided in spamming
other computers with email, which allowed it to spread much farther and faster
than if it was a lone spammer sending out emails from his computer.
Of course, while the criminal element of virus writing is more prevalent
nowadays, as well as the increasing presence of organized crime syndicates in
the virus business. There are still plenty of groups of people that just write
viruses because they can. These people belong to internet groups and write
viruses largely to impress their fellow peers, or just to prove to themselves
that they can. They also do it to “make their mark” in the cyber world, much in
the same way that a graffiti tagger or a vandal might think that what they’re
doing is “making a mark”.
Some of the virus writers that fall into the latter group make the
claims that virus writing is a form of artistic expression and that it is
protected speech as well. What do you think? Is the computer virus going to
become the web’s “street art”? Is there a virus writer that will someday become
the Internet’s Banksy?
The problem of virus has destroyed my previous computer. The act of downloading music from various sites have truly reckoned the hardware in my computer. But my question is why do these viruses exist. Is there some type of financial gain to writing viruses? By creating viruses, does the creator have to worry about obtaining viruses on their hardware? After reading your blog, to me it seems that by creating viruses you obviously have too much time in your hand to create a product that will ruin computers and result in major financial repairs to the computers. Making a mark in the cyber world had no benefit towards society, so why ruin the lives of others, due to creators leisure time.
ReplyDeleteYou're right, Nelson. Most if not all virus writers have little to no concern for the well-being of other users' computers on the network. Seeing their viruses infecting others instills in the writers a sense of power and betterment.
ReplyDeleteTo answer one of your questions, virus developers have the skills to "bullet-proof" their devices to keep them from being backfired by their own creations.
I believe if one wants to "make a mark", and to be remembered for it, that mark should be a positive one.
Triet Pham
It is crazy to see what viruses have become and how they have transformed over the years. Technology is such an amazing thing. I do not understand why people try to ruin it for their own benefit. I guess people will do anything for money.
ReplyDeleteI understand some viruses are there to gather information or steal someones identity, however the purpose of some computer viruses is beyond me. Last week my girlfriend got a computer virus from downloading a file. The only apparent effect it had was that it played random music and news through the speakers. Obviously it could have been doing other things in the background, but what is the purpose of hijacking someones PC to play random stuff through the speakers?
ReplyDeleteI find your last few questions very thought provoking because my initial reaction is, "hell no, viruses serve no real purpose other than chaos.", but taking another look at it I can see it as an art form that I truly don't and probably wont understand. So when a hacker creates such a virus that has the ability to impact thousands if not millions; you can't help, but respect this artist to a degree whether it's his cunning or it's the complexity of the virus you can see that it's more than a cheap trick. It's given me a new perspective on hackers and honestly respect.
ReplyDeleteComputer viruses affect systems in different ways. Some wipe out or corrupt data in the system while others steal sensitive user information.
ReplyDelete