Why do People Create Computer Viruses?
As a computer technician, my clients frequently ask me “Why do people create computer viruses?”, especially after I have been called out to remove a virus from their computer. This is what I tell them.
There are hundreds of thousands of viruses out there (if not millions) and they often designed for different objectives. Most of them fall under the following categories:
- To take control of a computer and use it for specific tasks
- To generate money
- To steal sensitive information (credit card numbers, passwords, personal details, data etc.)
- To prove a point, to prove it can be done, to prove ones skill or for revenge purposes
- To cripple a computer or network
To Take Control of a Computer and Use It for Specific Tasks
This is the most common type of virus, which is better classified as a trojan. These types of viruses are usually downloaded unknowingly by the computer user thinking that the file is something else, such as a file sent from a instant messenger friend or email attachment.
Once the host computer has been infected (known as a zombie computer), the trojan joins a private chat channel and awaits orders from its “Zombie Master”. This Zombie Master who is often the virus creator, will gather thousands of infected machines called a botnet and use them to mount attacks on web servers. The Zombie Master can command each of these infected computers will send a tiny bit of information to a web server – because there are potentially thousands of computers doing this at once, it often overloads the server.
The Zombie Master may want to do this to another website because it is a rival website, a figurehead website (such as whitehouse.gov) or it may be part of an extortion plan. “Send me $5000 or your Toy selling website will be offline over the Christmas holidays”.
The Zombie Master can also use these infected computers to send spam while the zombie master remains anonymous and the blame goes to the infected computers.
To Generate Money
These types of infections often masquerade as free spyware or virus removal tools (known as rogueware). Once ran, these fake applications will “scan” your computer and say it found has someviruses (even if there arent any) and in order to remove them, you must pay for the full version of the application. A good example of such a infection is called Myzor.fk which we have written about in the past.
Steal sensitive information
These types of viruses can sniff the traffic going in or out of a computer for interesting information such as passwords or credit card numbers and send it back to the virus creator. These types of viruses often use keylogging as a method of stealing information where it maintains a record of everything that is typed into the computer such as emails, passwords, home banking data, instant messenger chats etc..
The above mentioned methods also allows an attacker to gather an incredible amount of data about a person which can be used for identity theft purposes.
To Prove a Point, To Prove it Can Be Done, To Prove Ones Skill or For Revenge Purposes
A perfect example of this type of virus was the famous MS.Blaster virus (aka Lovesan) which infected hundreds of thousands of computers back in August 2003.
This virus would cause the system to restart after 60 seconds and had two hidden messages written in its code:
One was “I just want to say LOVE YOU SAN!!” which is why the virus is sometimes called Lovesan, and the other message was “billy gates why do you make this possible ? Stop making money and fix your software!!”
It is believed that purpose of this virus was to prove how easily exploitable a Windows system is.
To Cripple a Computer or Network
Few viruses now days are intended to disable a computer because it stops viruses ability to spread to other computers. Computer crippling viruses still exist, but nowhere near as common as the viruses mentioned above. The worst type of computer crippling viruses were back in the days of the 486 computers where the virus would overwrite the Master Boot Record (MBR) of the computer which would often prevent the computer from starting up at all.
Unlike computer crippling viruses, network crippling viruses are all too common now days. Most viruses that are designed to launch a Denial of Service attack will cause a significant load on a computer network, often bringing it down completely.
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funny i was asked that exact question by a client just days ago after having to clean up his pc from viruses, he was used to his mac notebook and never experienced a “virus” before lol
I just had a client who’s computer remains black screen after loading the Windows XP logo. It turned to be a virus/trojan which somehow messed up the VGA driver.
very nicely said.
This is good to know. I’ve often wondered why people make viruses but only thought they did it to say they could and to steal information. I never knew there was money to be made but I’ve seen the message before – for a full scan and to get rid of X amount of viruses you need to purchase the full application – It’s a nice scheme.
I guess the anti virus software houses could do with employing some of the makers. But where would they be without the viruses to defeat…
This is something i’ve been wondering about and the information is great. it’s an interesting phenomenom and that it’s useful to be aware of it and the different reasons. thanx!
These ‘zombie masters’ are becoming more popular these days. I want to meet one of these hackers in person. This might be begging to become one of their nasty zombies though. A funny name for what used to called distributed computing. There was a site that attempted to take advantage of computers running around the world working to decipher DNA. It was called ‘folding at home’. I always wondered if that was really what it was using my computer for.
Okay, I GOTTA VENT A LITTLE, so bear with me! I will never understand the need for destruction that these sick, twisted people seem to have (other than to validate their own sick egos)! What is it in these people that makes them so evil? You would think that we’d be able to catch these hackers with today’s technology or that perhaps maybe some of these scumbags might have a change of heart and maybe decide to help instead of harm. IF AND VIRUS SENDING HACKER ARE READING THIS NOW, think about this; instead of trying to destroy our economy and our home computers and businesses, why don’t you interupt Al Queda systems or other terrorist organizations? If you feel such a need to attack someone, go after the terrorist! At least have the decency to use your intelligence for something helpful instead of harmful. I would also urge you to make sure that if you do go after the baddies out there, be smart enough to make sure you’re attack REAL baddies instead of just deciding that you THINK they’re bad. I don’t wish anyone innocent to be victimized and you shouldn’t be doing anything to anyone at all but if you’re going to do it, then leave the good, hardworking people in this world ALONE. No matter what, if you’ve sent viruses out you’re a total and complete scumbag! Try to redeem yourselves at least and perhaps that will give the personal worth that you seek in trying to destroy people! Why not value yourself for the fact that you’re intelligent and can do it instead of having to prove it to yourself and everyone else to raise your self-esteem level? What’s the matter? Didn’t Mommy cuddle and kiss you enough? Please! We’ve all been hurt and our egos bruised before so take you wah-wah stories and feed it to the tourist! We know why you have to validate yourselves! Too bad you don’t! Virus hackers are totally evil, scumbag, lowlife leeches! If we’re lucky your computers will blow up in your faces, Scum!
I think the main reason why people create computer viruses is money. The person who creates
viruses want to make easy money by stealing information from you, by sending you all type of ads and other illegal stuff.
These days the motivation behind virus’ is money. There was one floating around replacing websites adsense code — smart yet evil concept. The things ppl would rather do than make an honest living!
Symantec just sent out an email about a new virus that’s hijacking paypal accts, anybody else heard anything?
I think nowadays, people just make viruses to make money. No one cares about destroying your computer anymore.
I think they do it to keep us busy. We really should show more appreciation for them… don’t you think?
Nothing can ruin your day like finding a virus. Especially like mentioned in your post, when it comes from a trusted site that you have to buy the full program to remove it!
guys guys…use virtual PC or VMWare…these virtual thingy wont create a fuss…easy to use and if u do happen to get a virus on a virtual PC…bleh who cares just delete the virtual file and your physiscal PC remain healthy. go get these virtual PC from Microsoft free and VMWare as well.
p.s. i surf the web check email chat and compose doc all done in VMWare and VirtualPC :)
I don’t think they make that for money …I saw in my experience trojans , most of them.I didn’t think at that reason, the one with zombie master;now it makes sense.I couldn’t figure it why those idiots makes trojan and infect innocent home pc computers…If I would be a law enforcerer looking for these guy, man I tell you, I killed them on SPOT.They deserve DEATH.Nothing more, nothing less.That’s what I think.
are there other reasons why people create virus???..because I’m guessing that there is a relation with business….no virus no anti-virus software being sold @ the market…something like that:)
wow people still writing in this forum
November 29th, 2007 – March 4th, 2009
ppl ask this all the time
i say.. get me a piece of scratch paper
then i draw a capital “s” and draw a vertical line through it
it makes the point
I have a few things to say, first I think the definitions should be more clearly defined:
A Trojan is not necessarily a virus, nor is a Worm or a Keylogger. They all have different and seperate meanings. Look it up! A virus is simply a program that makes the computer run abnormally or messes up settings inside. A successful Trojan will run in the background and will be virtually unnoticed by the user, therefore it is not a virus. A keylogger will record keystrokes. If it sends them back to a source, it can also be a trojan. A worm is simply a program that automatically copies itself.
Viruses are EASY to make, with little programming knowledge. I can make one in as little as 5 minutes and it would not be detected by any modern virus detector. The hard part is GETTING IT DISTRIBUTED. The hardest way (but most commonly successful) is using an Internet Explorer security hole, of which you usually have to find yourself. The other way is by getting the user to download it thinking that it is a legitimate file. EVEN EXPERIENCED COMPUTER PROFESSIONALS download these types of files.
NOW, there is one type of virus that (to my belief) would even get past a Virtual Machine running an operating system. That would be an MBR virus. There is a new strain that could successfully attack Windows from the outside, running arbitrary code once logged in. I was infected with this type of virus while using a copy of BartPE and it managed to cross-over to my Windows XP installation on my HD from an MBR. I now need to buy an external harddrive in order to backup my 120GB of data in order to format to get rid of the virus in the boot record.
However, most people don’t realize this but using a bit of creativity there is a way to REPAIR ANY COMPUTER infected with a virus using BartPE with customized programming. That is actually what I was working on before I got infected, ironically enough. Good thing, I guess because before that I never knew it was possible for an MBR virus to run arbitrary code in that manner. After research, I found that a company created and released their source code for an example of the method (the same one used), knowing that it could and probably would be used for virus purposes. Now if Microsoft made a way for the MBR to be LOCKED (un-editable) while in Windows (because no legitimate program would change it) then this sort of thing wouldn’t happen.. Well, I guess Microsoft can’t account for everything, but for their mistakes they do keep alot of guys like me in the business LOL, or at least keep up busy!
Alright guys. For those of you that believe that hackers should go die bare with me im on your side. Listen guys im not a hacker or a programmer or anything like that im a person who wants to get rid of these people as well. Well look at it this way. A hacker may have extremely bad morals and will do anything to get there point across but ask yourself this, “How would our world be without them?”, arent they the people that keep us safe? havent we moved from windows to other operating systems just because we can be safer? We have gotten a sense of safety from them we are all scared of exchanging credit card information, why? because HACKERS are out there, you dont know if it can be you right? ask yourself this has that given the world a negative or positive impact. Yes we have grown to hate hackers because of what they do and who they are and the cruelty of there doings but i dont think we would go very far with out them. Let me tell you this guys i once wanted to be a cool old hacker, look at how movies make hackers look, Look at them unstoppable forces. Gives you the sense of curiosity doesnt it, gives you a mind set of I want to learn how to do this it looks really cool. Im a 15 years of age and yes i admit of wanting to be a hacker once but look guys its just like a gang hackers are just people like cyber terrorists theyre morals are lets take everyone down, I have stopped this i dont want to be one of them, this is one story you might hear from people who fight hackers and want to take them out. I once wanted to be a hacker but i got out of the situation i took all of the knowledge i learned from trying to be one and from seeing the utter destruction that they did i am dedicated to stop them. I admit that hackers will always win, its inevitable, hackers are always one step ahead because every new security measure thats taken closes up one gap and leaves another one in its place, no code is completely flawless, all of them contain some “exploits” as a hacker would call it. The reason im dedicated to this is because i dont want these hackers to develop something so destructive that it will “denial of service” routers and sites or distribute harmful code like the one thats supposed to leash out its payload today 4/1/09. I believe you guys have covered up why people make viruses but i have answered the question as to why they become hackers, curiosity. Anybody is capable of destruction its just about the morals of the person behind the destruction and the people willing to stop it.
i think there is another reason i think that there minds are so evil and twisted that they do it for fun thay just love ruining peoples day and even sometimes destroying poeples jobs and at an extream destroying peoples lifes
some times a joke with my customers by telling them : people make viruses to give computer tech some extrat money.
I think you’re right!
I always tell clients that viruses are like vandalism…like writing grafitti all over someone’s code. No one profits except maybe the virus creator, who gets an ego boost just because he/she did it. But trojans and spyware are motivated by profit. The trojan creators want to make money off other people’s credit card numbers or in having people buy their rogue anti-spyware or in having a dedicated captive audience for ads etc.
It’s an interesting topic, thanks for bring it up.
The way I see it, there are 2 main reasons. I am sure there are other reasons, but these 2 reasons probably cover 95% of the cases.
#1) For easy Money. There is no question that spyware/keyloggers/viruses etc. are an easy way for a talented software developer to make money from malicious code on other people’s computers. If he is dishonest, or out of a job, or someone just offers him a ton of money to do it, the lure may be too great.
#2) Bored teenagers and people that have nothing going in their lives. They just don’t have anything better to do than cause trouble, and actually think it’s funny. (Remember Beevus & Butthead?) these people are the Beevus and Butthead’s of the world. They probably just can’t get a girlfriend. Poor losers
I entered a website today and windows live automaticly recognized a trojan then I was ofered a spyware removal program and the window for my computer poped up and it showed hundreds of trojans Shared documents 131 trojans my documents 301 trojans and so on What could create so many trojans
The way i see it they are the messed up ones. They WILL die pathetic virgins. And if they ever got caught they would face cyber terrorism charges.
I can understand the anger that most of you feel, but the hatred that you guys express is ridiculous or at the very least misdirected. Hackers are not the people you should be angry with, in fact you should be thanking them. Without hackers you wouldn’t be able to write angry comments on the Internet because there wouldn’t be an Internet; Nor would you be able to sit in front of your home computer reading this comment because personal computers would not exist. Most viruses are written by someone who is either angry about something or trying to prove a point. In fact most of them are written by people who really wouldn’t be considered hackers. Most of the destruction caused is by people who pay for a virus, trojan, or worm to be written, not the coder. If any group were to deserve this kind of hatred, which no one should, are the script kiddies. If you don’t know who those are hop on google. In closing, think before you post inflammatory comments, then do a little research.
people create viruses because they were the kids who got made fun of in highschool for being social outcasts. they are nerd low lifes who have never had sex in their life nor will they ever. you can be sure they have small…well you know. they are cowards who hide behind their computer screen.
I think that the same people that write anti-virus programs are writing viruses. Organized crime over the internet……..
They are just board sick bastard with too much time on their hands I mean come on what person with a life and a right mind would create a virus?!
personally, i think it’s the computer manufacturers themselves. they have people creating these viruses so everyones will go out and buy the antivirus software. they all make money this way. everything goes hand in hand just like car makers and parts distributers, it’s all bullshit, and a big fucking game.
So!!!
If a dude would like to be a soldier..
Is it ok for him to start killing people at random, just to show his skills!!!??
Not only are hackers criminals but they are cowards too.
Just a warning, do not ever trust any website that is unknown. Such as, brothersoft. I know there’s lots of websites that have viruses but can’t name em’ all. If you wanna play a game and want to use hacks then you should create a fake account and play P.S.
One more thing,DON’T TRUST PERSONAL ANTI-VIRUS (PAV) I got it once and it was trying to trick me by saying I have the viruses, (i.e trojans, worms, etc) but itself is the virus. Don’t trust it!!
I agree with the separate categories in this article, but my take is that the reason for creating viruses, and their variants has evolved over the years.
Early on they were mainly more like pranks and vandalism. Largely falling under the “prove a point” and “take down a computer” categories.
Now they seem to be mainly in the make money category, and are being put out by what are basically criminal organizations. This pretty much covers every other category, and the “take down a network” category.
I spend a lot of time doing virus/malware removal for people, (As I am sure everyone here does), and rarely see anything which is not profit oriented anymore.
BB
Money. Most of the malware I remove on a daily basis is somehow tied into some nature of affiliate program.
Collectively, I have had to answer the same questions with my local clients and I have to agree with a great amount of what has been said, especially t-good and Victim. If this was just “business” and “great profit” then it would be done more openly and would be more popular within american culture. Just think of it like the advent of cigarette advertising, you don’t see them anymore on tv now do you? And yet people are still smoking. If the business of malware/trojins/spyware was so flourishing and so ordinary a dirty business as all the others, hackers would advertise the hell out of themselves from wearing some sort of t-shirt identifying themselves to placing ads anywhere and everywhere.
It’s really about using your head when it comes down to it and observing the hacking culture and how it behaves with business, it’s done behind closed doors and isn’t talked about much and so it isn’t such an ordinary business after all is it?
In short if these hackers/skiddies placed a fraction of the effort spent on their programs to making profit off of honest work, they’d be surprised how much revenue they could produce for themselves and that’s after taxes.
But hey! Let them waste their time doing this while people like us finish school and get to that spot we want to be in a few years and we’ll probably be these night hackers/skiddies bosses during the daytime.
Responses for the above.
@neoezekiel: you’re one of them aren’t you? You praise a little too much from an unbiased standpoint.
@”private”: you should have reread your last sentence, it can be read both ways.
I’m not a tech, but am an almost tech, so here is my take. I agree with those who say that the antivirus companies and microshaft are creating at least some of the malware. I installed a trial of MS office, which I refused to purchase for myself. When the trial ran out, my computer was crippled, almost to the point of unusable. I had to reformat. I use open office, but I had to use MS office for something unavoidable at that time. I have had Norton or mcaffee (can’t remember which) antivirus cripple my computer after their subscriptions ran out so that I would repurchase them. I am not saying that all viruses/malware are initiated like this, but just some. There are other people who are just plain thieves or criminals who do it purely for fun or profit. But when mainstream companies hijack your computer, what can you do?
I hate the fact that more people don’t code for linux. I would like to ditch microshaft and their bedfellows. I dual boot, and the linux sides of my computers are much faster than the MS sides (same hardware, of course.) I am writing this on linux now. Open Office never hijacked my computer.
Great information. The rogueware is something I seem to come across a lot lately. Funny enough, I usually use Ubuntu and I ended up on a download site at which point my web browser (Firefox) flashed off then on. It happened fast too. I noticed in the top left a little icon for IE and then a window popped up resembling “My Computer” in Microsoft. It looked EXACTLY like it. A system scan began to run and indicated all my files were loaded with errors and spyware.
Of course after that, a cute window popped up letting me know I should “Click Here” to purchase some spyware and registry cleaner for a lovely cost of 39.99.
I wish I actually remembered where that was, it was well crafted and I’m sure deceives a lot of people running windows.
Viruses are created for 3 reasons. Money, Bandwidth, and Testing.
Money – CC info, banking info, paypal info, etc. If you want to blame someone, blame microsoft for “hiding” this sensitive information without letting people know where it is so they can properly clean it themselves, or encrypt the data.
Bandwidth – Still being done, although not as much as it used to, to serve warez in IRC channels. This is also where most botnets are hosted and given commands. There are some people that make money off taking down competitors sites or redirecting their traffic.
Test – These are usually mistakes made by high school/college students trying to make a honest program without proper testing. Once out in the wild, it causes havoc and spreads quickly.
Now, you may say that you hate hackers, but if it wasn’t for them, we wouldn’t know about these “backdoors” that are made by software makers/government. (Who could be potentially doing data gathering themselves…)
Douchebaggery is one word for a computer cracker, enough said.
What bothers me the most with hackers/crackers/script kiddies is that they appear to view people as nothing more than text. Me for example, I’m not just SomeoneReal with some text added. I’m someone who recently turned 18, and until i tried to download ventrilo mix was really looking forward be able to use my bank on my computer and such. Now, all that i had been looking foward to has turned to “what if”s and worry. I know that this is nothing compared to what has happened to other people, but its an example of the actual consequenses can be. In the unlikely event that any of the ones mentioned previosly is reading this, try to realize that you are not just rewriting text, you are hurting actual human beings.
Wow! This was well written… I didn’t feel like you were trying to make it seem like the people who create viruses were low lifes who have nothing better to do. You wrote it all about facts. I’ll definitly be telling my buddies about this. Now, here’s a tough question. My mother has a laptop, Toshiba, about 5 years old. Around 3 years ago, it started going all wack, just shutting down randomly. She tried taking it to go get it fixed, never worked. What are some possible causes for this? I’m just curious…
Viruses, Because fear = PROFITS
I wonder how many virus programmers directly or indirectly work for the big Antivirus companies out there?
Do you ever notice that the top antivirus suites sold in the big box stores are often less effective than some that are offered for free.
Seems the primary reason these days is for profit. There once was a time when it was to prove something, but the financial motive has far surpassed this over time.
$$$
AP– same thing happened with my 2005ish Toshiba. The older ones are awesome– my 1999 is still going strong. BUT the early and mid ’00 models have issues. There was a class action lawsuit against many models because they over heat and just stop working. I had that problem– but I also downloaded a ton of viruses via Limewire (I believe). I was able to open my computer in safe mode for 5 minutes max and remove all my documents and music. She probably needs to reformat. But, in general– I think that class of Toshibas are (expensive) crap. A higher priced dell.
I think that the people up here who are showing extreme hatred for the “less ethical” parts of out tech society should “respectfully” take a chill pill. There is so much you all are ignoring. FIRST, for us that fix peoples computers, it is a major part of our business. How often do you go out to replace a processor? Or how often do you go somewhere to upgrade someones windows? NOW HOW OFTEN ARE YOU LOADING MALWAREBYTES AND FIXING SOMEONES PC FOR MONEY? There absolutely nothing wrong with repairing PCs. It just strikes me as a little interesting how some of you here are calling for terrorism charges and DEATH to the “less ethical” among us. Now I am not going to thank them, but all the ridiculous inflammatory hatred is unnecessary especially since we directly benefit from their work.
The second thing I would like to refocus our attention on is the fact that some of our clients get virused by doing things like downloading music and software illegally. Hmmm I know none of us have ever downloaded a cracked copy of what ever. No not us, because we dont steal, we’re not violating and never have violated a EULA. Please. I know people who operate from store who actively use “cracked software.” The point I am making is some of our less technically inclined clients get themselves virused by doing something they weren’t supposed to. But I know as well as you all do that is not always the case. Some of them are innocent by-standards.
I guess in short, I’m just saying stop it with the “EXTREME” holy tech stuff. We are making a HUGE profit on malware from our clients. Just make sure you explain to them how to avoid getting virused and recommend good security every time. If we don’t do this for our clients, how are we any better… We are literally making money from someones malware code.
Great article, great discussion. Thats excactly why Firewalls and Antivirus Software is so important
imho viruses are a necessity in the computer world, without viruses there wouldn’t be a drive for building up security. i do not mean cryptographic security, but security in the sense of exploits. As a student of eece and an ex blackhat programmer i can say that you guys have alot to be thankful for. sure viruses are annoying as hell, but if you look at the larger picture it will scare the crap out of you with what these guys are capable of and are not doing. first of all most viruses/malware work by first exploiting a hole in a system. the same systems that huge company’s and governments use. Now imagine if they were using these same exploits not to annoy you but to exploit these larger branches of society. Nothing needs to be said. Im happy that most of these goons are writing junk for the mainstream users so that these programs can be analyzed and there attack vectors patched instead of these vectors never being analyzed and some retard causes billion of dollars of damage.
I wrote first computer virus when I was 20, I did not send it all over I just test it in my computer , then I kill it!!! you know i UNDERSTOOD I CAN but I was not sick, I was not supposed to make people nerves ans mad at me !!! so I just deleted it , most viruses create just for making money, maybe it’s mental problem’s tech
anyway I wish programmer man gave it up
I Always Get This Question.!
If I had a nickel for every time I answered this question…
I’ve seen a lot of the Antivirus 2010 or av.exe visrus lately which diables the ability to open executables. I’ve used combofix for XP machines infected with this but what do we use if someone has VISTA or 7?
People should use firefox for their web browser because it’s like the safest web browser out there.
also people should get mac’s they never get viruses and can use windows programs if you buy one new so whats the point of a windows computer.
I like dicks at the work place.
macs can get viruses, especially when running windows programs. it just isn’t as common. if everyone suddenly started using macs, there would be viruses galore.
my guess is that people who create computer viruses have never gotten any pussy in their lives….a truly sad thing….mad because their mom won’t buy them a refill card for their WoW account & because she won’t bring hot pockets down into the basement anymore
You know there alot more worse things to hate than a hacker…
Ok, you all are calling virus makers bad, horrible, diserve to die, and other names. I stand by you. But, there are many that are good. They are ex-makers. They help the governments around the world stay safe. they know how to get rid of those pesky things they made. (and other things other people made too)They are sending viruses to the enemy, corrupting their codes, shutting down the next 9/11. They are helping at all hours on the clock. and then there are some snot nosed brain weirdos that make viruses just for the fun of it. They are the bad guys here. not all hackers/viruse makers are bad!!! so before you rant anymore about ALL hackers, please remember that only some are bad, and most are stopping terrorist attacks around the world.
Who wants to start a militia, with shotguns and other creative weapons and find these hackers in their homes. Drag their ass up their basement stairs, maybe even knock off all their screens and take their stupid like hard drives with there stupid viruses on them, and smash them in the street in front of the hacker as he gets put into the back of a cop car. Who’s with me?
Hey guys? I know we all hate hackers, but seriously, it’s not too hard to back up a system and reinstall Windows if it gets bugs. Also, hiring a computer tech or calling the Geek Squad isn’t hard, either. Sure, it’s annoying and could cost money, but I doubt it’s worth more than jail time, depending on what the virus does and the motivations behind it.
I’d like to mention that murdering people for making viruses is pretty awful. I, personally, find it more disgusting that you’re suggesting that we kill another person for making computer viruses. If you’re serious, you make me sick. If you’re kidding, you make me even sicker. But unlike you, I’m not going to suggest violence against those suggesting violent solutions. I’m planning on majoring in chemistry in the hopes of becoming a forensic toxicologist, and it’s the murderers and drug dealers and low-lives that will put food on my table. In a way, this is what the hackers do for computer programmers and anti-virus companies.
Also, I’d like to mention that insulting someone for a lack of sex is hilarious. Computer viruses can be fixed either by clever coding or by purchasing a new computer. But you can’t exactly purchase a new body if you get genital warts or HIV, can you? Seriously, why does our society consider virginity a disease when there are STDs that can kill you?
Great article, by the way. I’ve always wondered why people make viruses. Another one of my burning questions answered. Huzzah!
2 words sums it up for me so keep on making the infections!
JOB SECURITY!!
never download anyhing which says paretologic…
THANK YOU FOR THE INFORMATION IT HELPS ME A LOT………GOD BLESS,,,,…..!!
useful
This a good topic and interesting comments this will be usefull in a paper I’m writting for this research methods class. I do agree with the author of this article in reasons why viruses are created. I am majoring in the Information Technology field studying info.. security and these are some of the things we discussed sometimes, anti-virus developers are paid to leave security holes in software but not everyone.
You guys love your computer too much. Get out some time. If you’re making money and happen to stumble across a virus/worm/trojan/what ever, stop watching your dirty porn/downloading illegal programs/torrents. It’s YOUR fault you had one in the first place. Really? Complain all you want it’s your fault. Hackers are in justice. :)
By money, pay for the fix.
It is unfortunate to say that some virus developers are intended to do it so that they can offer an anti-virus program to counter it. It is practical because the developer himself is the one manipulating us because he sends a virus then his anti virus because he knows how to counter it. Thus, it gives him more money from the fooled users.
It is hard to believe, I know, just recently being infected with the ThinkPoint! virus, (absolutely terrible stress), but when you get a virus, it is generally nobodies fault but your own. After I got rid of the virus, let us hope I actually did, I started to feel a little bit more grateful for having a safe, usable computer. I have even considered creating my own virus that does nothing but shut down the computer once, and upon start-up, displays a message that states that it is fake, and the dangers, you know, just a safe “mother nag” type of program, then uninstalling itself. Would certainly teach me a lesson.
I have run into the fake virus programs more than once. So have friends family and coworkers. The sad thing is, some of the coworkers who are in sales dont really use their laptop much so they are unfamiliar with viruses, malware, trojans, spyware, and so on, and they end up purchasing the fake anti virus full version. You may laugh but these people are not so computer savy and the assume that the fake anti virus software has been put there by our company or something for them to fix their computer. Any computer savy person will immeadiatly realize this is fake as no virus software tries to shut down your computers programs and software and demand you buy it to fix your computer.
There are several easy fixes, so it doesnt scare me, but i just think about all of the poor stupid people they scam. Isnt this illegal??? is this not equivalent to you taking your car to the mechanic only to have him disconnect some parts so you cant leave and then demand you pay money so he can make it drive. I mean this is flat out illegal how can the government not try to crack down on these types of things. Obviously if they want you to purchase something there are bank accounts, web sites, servers, all leading back to the possible creator, why cant we hammer these people hard. I remember the good old days when you had to actually download a virus by accident. No go to the wrong site and this virus stuff loads automatically without clicking anything.
Thank god mobil phone and other browsing is still in its infancy. As mobil phone and tablets become more and more popular and overtake computer use, virus creators will switch their focus to the operating systems of these mobil devices. People mindlessly download app after app, music, ringtones, videos, documents, all day long. It is a matter of time before these virus creators expose a weakness and infect hundreds of thousands of phones. And let me tell you, phones arent as easy to fix as computers. Phones wil llikely have to be completely wiped to fix them. god help us bring down these scam artists.
Also, for those of you who think the only option to fix the fake antivirus scam is to purchase the full version, think again.
Yes if you purchase the full version, the choke hold on your computer will be released, bbut what happens is this full version runs non stop and does nothing. It doesnt even protect, its a fake program still, and it runs at about 50% of your PC usage capacity. Meaning it will seem like your computer has a ball and chain attached to its hard drive. IT will be running slower than a snail.
To be honest,these people makes me sick!they should realise by now,earn the decent money its a outmost good faith.
I agree with whoever said that virus makers should be murdered. The wingnut who was ‘disgusted’ with that comment can blow me and is probably a virus maker himself. Viruses cost the general public BILLIONS OF DOLLARS. Anti-virus companies are just as bad, stealing money from people who are being criminally violated. You do not need to be viewing porn, or downloading illegal programs to be infected. If you think that is case, then you are an idiot, or a noob, or both. Virus makers PURPOSELY make the lives of EVERY SINGLE COMPUTER USER IN THE WORLD worse. If one person wants to willfully attempt to break into billions of peoples’ computers to ruin them, then they deserve ANYTHING that happens to them. Law enforcement won’t stop them because antivirus companies have become too big and putting a few hundred people in jail isn’t as profitable as tax revenue from 4-5 massive antivirus companies making billions per year. Since most people are not capable of detaining virus makers for life, I think a swift death is a perfectly acceptable alternative. Saying it’s not the fault of the virus maker is like saying it’s not my fault you got stabbed in the face, you shouldn’t have been standing in front of my knife. Too much of this planet is run by Corporations and lies. Wake the hell up you idiots.