Why People Write Viruses

Why people write viruses

Computer viruses do not just show up out of the clear blue sky, someone has to actually sit down and write the codes for the virus and then test them to make sure that the virus spreads correctly and then they have to spread it. The person also has to decide in which manner they intend to spread the message, in other words, what creative message they will include with the virus to get the best results from people responding to the catchy phrase that is included in on it. It is a completely intentional act.

The real problem is trying to determine why they do this and what motivates them. It must give the virus writers an immense thrill sort of like when someone throws a big brick off of an expressway via dock and waits for it to land on someone's passing car. Maybe it fills the same void that one gets when they set another persons garage on fire and just watch it burn from a distance. These types of people just get a "high" from creating destruction.

Another reason that people write viruses is because they want to be able to just claim that they did it. Kind of like when you were a kid and rode your bike no handed for the first time. Look what I did! When people have the know how and the ability to do so it is possible that if they see a flaw in the security they may just manipulate that hole themselves just because they can. Rather than bringing it to the attention of someone else and getting the security hole corrected, they may decide just for the heck of it to turn that hole into a virus and spread it all over.

Many virus writers would never hurt a person, they just like to manipulate the system, and they think it is fun. What they do not realize is that they are hurting many people along the way. When people have their computer hard drives wiped out by a virus, that creates damage and if it is done in corporations, the effects magnify as they stand to lose thousands of dollars cleaning up the mess and in addition, they will likely lose man hours too. Thankfully, law enforcement officials are making the laws much stricter and are able to identify many of these people now. Not too many years ago, the laws were lax and too many people were getting away with writing viruses as they were no strict cyber laws in place.

Not until the late 80's were home computer systems even prominent and then they were being used in homes, businesses, and colleges. Then games and word processing was a big deal. Back then users could dial up a "bulletin board" with a modem and download many different games and different programs. It was during the time of the bulletin board era that the Trojan horse virus was created. People would hear about it or read about it and then obviously download it. Resulting in a complete erase of their system. That was caught pretty quickly and word of mouth helped stop that guy right in his tracks.