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Fujitsu To Develop Vigilante Computer Virus For Japan

Posted by Soulskill on from the which-will-lead-to-anti-anti-virus-viruses dept.

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.'"

2 of 129 comments (clear)

  1. A Polite Virus by Marxist+Hacker+42 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Would be the answer. A polite virus doesn't migrate automagically- it *asks* before it migrates.

    --
    SJW: a person who perceives an injustice, and while correcting it, commits a greater injustice.
  2. An Exercise in Futility by nman64 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    An arms race against an opponent that know no boundaries is typically futile.

    It would be extremely difficult to develop a virus that could effectively spread and eliminate other infections without stooping to the same low levels as the malicious developers, at which point the friendly virus isn't so friendly anymore.

    Sophos is right that such a counter-attack launched on a managed network with security-aware personnel capable of removing the malicious infections and performing a proper investigation is only going to complicate matters.