Slashdot Mirror
Fujitsu To Develop Vigilante Computer Virus For Japan
wiedzmin writes "Japanese Defense Ministry has awarded Fujitsu a contract to develop a vigilante computer virus, which will track down and eliminate other viruses, or rather — their sources of origin. Are 'good' viruses a bad idea? Sophos seems to think so, saying, 'When you're trying to gather digital forensic evidence as to what has broken into your network, and what data it may have stolen, it's probably not wise to let loose a program that starts to trample over your hard drives, making changes.'"
Face the facts. The malware problem today is the result of large, highly-profitable, highly-competitive criminal empires. These programs are written by hired developers working in a business infrastructure, not random script kiddies locked away in their parents' basements. The developers creating this malware are typically doing so on Windows systems, though much of the delivery infrastructure does run on other platforms. It has nothing to do with ideology, vendettas, social failures or platform choices. It's all about the money.