A New Challenge for Virus Writers

 

Copyright 1994 truth-or-consequences

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I remember the first computer virus I ever picked up. It came to me disguised as a game, uploaded to an ancient Atari BBS I once operated, way back in about 1984. I booted the game and it promptly formatted my floppy. I was incensed.

I offered a reward to the users of the BBS for the name of the perpetrator, and to my surprise he was finally rooted out and dealt with. He was astounded that anyone should be upset because of his silly prank. He couldn't help but smirk and chuckle-- right up to the point where my fist contacted his face.

Since that first unpleasant experience with the virus writer mentality I've struggled to understand the motivation behind such actions. But then, I've struggled to understand rapists, serial killers, child molesters and animal beaters as well, and I admit that I'm no closer to understanding the behavior of those missing links than I am to understanding the virus writer.

Still, the virus writer is especially fascinating because the ability to write computer code suggests at least the potential for basic intelligence. I can't help but wonder how a human being can possess the capacity for intelligence in one area, yet be so far behind the rest of the race when it comes to moral integrity and common sense in another area. After all, the virus writer is hurting himself as much as he hurts the victims of his insanity, and he seems utterly oblivious to such an obvious observation.

Folks are afraid of computers, and whether or not their fears are valid or justified doesn't matter, at least not to them. The consumer is suspicious of the product. He's afraid he won't be able to figure it out or to use it effectively. He's afraid that he'll buy a bad or faulty product that will break down or not serve him well, or that his investment will be rendered obsolete within a matter of months. He's afraid of poor or non-existent post-sale support. He's afraid of shoddy, bug-riddled software. And now, as if that weren't enough, he's terrified of viruses.

All of the above concerns are valid. The virus writer does not seem to comprehend that as he pesters and frustrates the computer buying consumer, he is robbing the industry of that consumer's funds. And every dollar the consumer refuses to spend on technology, is another dollar that cannot be spent on research---research that will build better and faster computers---computers which enable the virus writer to write his virus. Extrapolate the curve as far as you like.

Virus writers use computers to do their dirty work. They obviously enjoy those machines and depend upon them for whatever cheap and misguided thrills they extract from writing and distributing virus code. Many virus writers are brilliant at writing viruses, but not overly smart at the business of common sense. They seem incapable of learning the simplest, most basic lessons of "cause and effect".

The virus writers are thrusting their poison tipped spears at our faces-- and stabbing themselves in the ass, in the process.

My God. Even most forms of bacteria are intelligent enough not to kill the host they feed on.

In delving into the musty recesses of the virus writer's mind, we hear the excuse that writing a virus and successfully inserting it into a program and having it trip to life and ruin someone's data is "a challenge". And so it is. But we must question the validity of the reward the virus writer receives. Wouldn't the satisfaction be just as valid if the virus displayed a screen that said "Gotcha"? And then disappeared forever?

To a stable personality, that reward would be sufficient. But the virus writer is not a stable personality. He must find pleasure in someone else's pain, just as does the rapist, the kidnapper, the child molester..... I submit that there is no difference in those four genetic strains whatever. The rapist is evil and should be eradicated. The virus writer is evil and should be eradicated.

I work hard as a writer to produce the data that I do. That data is important to me. It helps to support my family and is at the core of my creative existence. To attack it is to attack me on an intensely personal and spiritual level. I will defend as best I can against all personal attacks by all comers. That's human nature.

The virus writer says that to write and launch a destructive virus is a challenge. I hereby offer the virus writer an even greater challenge. Perhaps it will serve to take his mind off his evil work for a moment or two, and give some decent folks a break. This is a new game we're going to play. It's not about sneaking ferret-like around a network, destroying data or costing honest companies money, or even their very livelihoods through clever and insidious data destruction from a thousand miles away. This game is played on a more personal level, face to face, man to man, and the stakes are somewhat higher than most pimply-faced, twenty year old virus writers are accustomed to.

The name of the game? The virus writer should call it "Survival". It is played in the desert, at night, with sharp objects and firearms.

I think he'll find it an engaging and intriguing distraction.

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