Profile of the Mind of a Virus Writer

zdburke writes "Clive Thompson, writing for the NY Times, has profiled several young computer virus writers around the world. A young Austrian wrote a Batch Trojan Generator which has simple options for constructing your next virus: fomat drive C? Overwrite every file? It's very well written by an author who clearly knows his stuff."

Comments

at the same time...

[tuxette]

...better IT education from an early age is needed. The author of the article writes "[s]cript kiddies often have only a dim idea of how the code works and little concern for how a digital plague can rage out of control." It looks like we need to do a better job (than the seemingly non-existant now) in teaching children why they shouldn't cut and paste "strange code" and what the consequences are of doing such a thing. It is not enough to say "don't do it."

Challenge, schmallenge

[W1K-Galoot]

Michelangelo was a master. A spray-can toting kid is just a vandal. These aren't "masters" either, no matter how much they label themselves as such. Want to show off your elite skills, kids? Want to show how much better than Microsoft you are? Write a self-replicating program that patches holes instead of exploiting them.
Nope. They're vandals posing as artists.

Don't believe a word of it

[heironymouscoward]

Call me cynical but I think this story is a well-constructed lie.

First, the accurate but uncheckable details: name of some guy in Austria, his 15-year old girlfriend.

Secondly, as has been remarked, the photos. They are just too well shot, and I can't for a second believe that a virus author would sit still while the makeup girls did their thing, lighting got the shadows right... no frigging way!

Thirdly, the technical details are obviously wrong. Formatting hard drives? Deleting files? That is so 1980's. Today's virus writers are obsessed with the social interface: how to confuse people into clicking the attachment.

Forthly, the timing. A long, detailed investigation into youthful virus writers just as the worst ever virus hits the Internet, with no mention of mafia connections, of zombie spam engines, of "sorry, andy, but this was just my job",...? WTF?

Conclusion: it's a set-up. These young dudes don't exist as described, the shots are of actors, and the story was invented behind a desk. Someone wants to create a convincing enemy for new legislation which will paint uncontrolled hacker youthdom as the enemy of all that is right and proper. Long prison sentences for simply creating the wrong kind of software ("because it could be released and do harm"). Rapid implementation across the globe ("cause these guys are in, like, Austra!").

Now, allow me to get really cynical and ask this question: why is no-one bothering with profiles of the organized criminals behind most of the damage done to people's computers? Could it be because misdirecting the blame at youth hackerdom means the problem will not be solved, and so the hand of oppressive government can become stronger and stronger...

Of course, I could be wrong, and really viruses like mydoom could just be the work of guys like this.

VB? WTF?!

[fudgefactor7]

Visual Basic is a computer language popular among malware authors for its simplicity; Philet0ast3r has used it to create several of the two dozen viruses he's written.

Jeez...VB? Real virus hax0rz work in assembly, it's smaller, neater, and faster. These guys are a bunch of script kiddie punks. No wonder they were hip to being interviewed, they had no talent and wanted a name for themselves.

Perhaps we should kill them.

Re:Stiffer punishment

[IWantMoreSpamPlease]

What's worse is, that under certain circumstances, premeditated murder carries a *maximum* penalty of 2 years in jail (basically for environmental crimes. I studied several cases in detail)

Food for thought.

Re:am I the only one????

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm sorry these pictures are arousing previously unearthed feelings for you. I can sympathize with your feelings of uneasiness as the facade of homophobia slowly melts away to reveal your true inner self.

On a more serious note, get a grip. If the sight of some bare shoulders on a guy is having you squirm like a pre-pubescent girl, you've got some serious growing up to do.

As for whatever brain donors modded his whining "Insightful," quit trying to rival the goatsecx guy and pull your heads out of own asses already.

Re:Stiffer punishment

[Hatta]

There ought not be a draft at all. If the cause is so unpopular you can't get a volunteer militia, you really shouldn't be fighting it at all. Besides, conscripts make terrible warriors.