why do ppl make viruses?

[epic]

I agree, never thought about the smugness of college stundents. It's just ignorance on their part, more or less the majority of these students will end up in Government correctional facilities. Also, I agree that these students *should* really be helping out and asking logical questions instead of being an id***.

Though, it is getting harder and harder to fool network security professionals. This past month alone I caught 238 individuals attempting to gain access into our network, as a couple employees , but all in all, I find it pathetic and just plain stupidity. They all have court dates, in fact, some were students trying to prove something, not a smart move on their part. Now they face looseing everything.

Yup... I see that all the time in my courses as well... I also see people who don't properly understand how C++ programming works... I can't count the number of times I've seen "smart" students code:

if(something==something_else) return true;
else return false;

GRAHHH! You can replace all of that with...

return (something==something_else);

So much cleaner, so much simpler. Oh... and the students who write the first also brag about how many lines of code they've written... The second example is easier to understand (once you know what you're doing), and will execute faster than the first.

As for the reasoning to write viruses, it's got to do with a feeling of pride, as well as the ability to steal information from other people to make money. Many people have mentioned the possibilities that we would be able to accomplish if all these people spent their time making productive software.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

[HyperHacker]

I've been waiting for years for a reformed virus programmer to create an "anti-body" virus.

It would propagate itself around the world, getting into all systems and killing off malicious virii - maybe evolving to counter new ones.

It's been done, but not well. Plus, AV people still categorize it as a virus itself. A good example was a 'virus' that came out some time after Blaster. It used the same exploit Blaster did, but all it was designed to do was get in, remove Blaster, patch the hole, and leave. Unfortunately, it had just as nasty side effects as the virus itself - it still made the computers reboot every few minutes, and the amount of traffic it generated clogged up a lot of networks and servers. Plus, people don't like programs coming in and changing their computers' settings, even if they're making good changes.

As far as why viruses (virii?) are made, there are several reasons:

-Bragging rights (hey d00d look what my virus did lol)

-Money (some viruses hack your web browser to download ads where the author gets paid per view, steal your credit card/bank account info, etc)

-Control (a lot of viruses offer the ability to control the system by remote)

-Revenge (a virus may be set out to attack a specific system/network/etc; sometimes these get out of control and attack others, or sometimes it's just a matter of "I hate everyone so I'm going to make a virus to p*** people off")

-Exploit testing (hey I wonder if I could make a virus out of this glitch I found...)

-Shady business tactics (companies may make viruses to boost sales of their own antivirus products or to sabotage competitors' software)

-To get a message out (never seen it done but there are probably viruses that spread propaganda and such)

-Just to see if they can do it

-Some people are just mean

Edited October 6, 2005 by HyperHacker

[dcyphure]

Why are there seeds in my jelly?!

Seriously though, viruses have been developed since the dawn of computer's.

I agree 'some' of these so-called security companies develop their own viruses, using security holes to their advantage. They will finally submit their discovery after learning that someone else may have found it. However, It would be the largest scandal in history, if the majority of the viruses on the internet were developed by these companies, "IF" proven.

if i were an AV company employee at a position to make a bonus off of products sold and thought to myself if i release a good virus and a cure soon after, sales would likely increase and so would my bonus...hmmm

things like that are common, and its not usually the company itself but the few employees that have money to gain, for people that know what thier doing with viruses, it would be almost impossible to gain evidence and that would be an expensive investigation assuming you find outside evidence for an investigation.

plus not that many virus makers ever get caught..ive only heard of a few and all those guys ended up getting job offers from high tech companies

[gunsmokingman]

I say SPS that means small penis syndrome, it the only way they can prove how big a prick they can be.

[Lost Soul]

why do you guys think that ppl make viruses? it think that it is b/c they love the feel of accomplishing something very hard like hacking you system.

id have to agree plus i think ppl just love the thrill of the game to push them selves to the next level of scripting

[dAbReAkA]

yes everyone can create a batch file to remove files but the real art is in creating a virus to spread through networks or etc. i agree with that.

but it si pretty stupid to say my program (virus or whatever) has got 1000 lines of code..

the real art is to make a program with only 50-100 lines of code to do exactly the same thing as the big one..

that is the real pro..