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Virus Writers - The Enemy Within

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the vandals-and-visigoths dept.

Slob Nerd writes "An interesting read from todays Observer "He's 21, he's got dreadlocks, likes punk bands... and his hobby could wreck your computer in seconds. Clive Thompson infiltrates the secret world of the virus writers who see their work as art - while others fear that it is cyber-terrorism.""

7 of 380 comments (clear)

  1. Virus Writers by ThisNukes4u · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Virus writers, while technically skilled, are complete dumb butts for using their skills in ways that are harmful to society and businesses, even if it's not their fault that it is easy to do thanks to Microsoft. They'd be better off using their skills for something more productive.

    --
    thisnukes4u.net
    1. Re:Virus Writers by flatt · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I doubt you'll get much opposition to your point but are you going to pay them? It's the same reason kids get involved in gangs and whatnot: boredom and lack of belonging/recognition.

      Easy problem to find, harder problem to solve.

  2. Deftones aren't a punk band by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    And the technical side of the article is a pile of shit as well. Virii don't "reprogram parts of your computer". Script kiddies generally don't download virii, but trojan clients.

  3. Dupe, or no dupe... by nordicfrost · · Score: 5, Insightful


    With quotes like this: 'This guy,' he proclaimed, 'is the best at Visual Basic.' I really understand the level of these guys... Show me an 1 k, auto-replicating, ASM-written worm spreading like the lightening through an undocumented hole and I'll be impressed. These are nothing more than wannebe punks.

  4. cannot kick-start? by bo0ork · · Score: 5, Insightful
    "A virus cannot kick-start itself; a human needs to be fooled into clicking on it."
    What, the author never heard of floppy disks, autostart.ini or malformed html?
    --
    Does everything include nothing?
  5. Some other hobbies... by Robo+Dojo · · Score: 5, Insightful

    1. Cooking*
    2. Cars
    3. Boats
    4. Trains
    5. Swords
    6. Guns

    Just because you do them, doesn't mean you test them out on innocent people. How are these virus writers any different?

    *Applies to slashdot readers, only.

  6. Karma penalty ? by S3D · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Sholdn't be there Karma penalty for posting dup...triplicate article ? Isn't it amount to trolling ?