Why do malware writers create malicious programs?
Most people have had to deal with a virus on a computer at some point.
What do malware writers get out of this? Clearly there are some talented people out there using their skills to make other people’s lives difficult.
What’s their motivation?
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32 Answers
Exactly as you stated: “to make other people’s lives difficult”. They get their own type of self-fulfillment out of it.
“Some men just want to watch the world burn”
The problem is, unless they reach the level that some malware has, and it makes it to the media, the person is never there to see it making someone’s life difficult… there’s no pleasure out of it other than their own imaginations. So why can’t they just imagine they’re making lives miserable and cut out all the work in the middle?
Lets just pretend to watch porn since we know how its going to end every time anyways. Come on lol. There is a whole anti-authority type of culture that goes on with these programers/hackers/script kiddies/what ever they call themselves now days. It’s a little beyond me but lets just say they hate corporations (mostly Microsoft) and like to mess with stupid people.
I have always wondered about this too… it is beyond my comprehension. As per @poofandmook – they don’t actively get to see their destruction… cannot witness the devastation at the “scene of the crime” so what is the point.
If they get a thrill from destroying stuff, why are they not arsonists? (BTW, I’m not suggesting that people should set random things on fire, just a curious comparison)
I mean, if they are talented enough to do computer programming, why use their talent to earn them money or benefit their lives directly.
Here this link might help you understand more….. If you dare to click muahahahaha
Some people are just dicks.
@Rachienz yeah basically, one man can control millions of “zombie” computers and wage “war” on servers and bring down entire networks, as seen recently with twitter. I think some russian pulled that stunt. But malicious software is just one small part of the whole “hacking” world and I should mention not all hackers are bad.
Now that I am thinking about it some more, malicious programs, such as worms are mostly aimed at Microsoft and their numerous network security holes, while something like a trojan is more geared toward gathering personal information from you to steal your identity and eventually steal money from you. And others are backdoor something or anothers (can’t remember) but they give the user control to your computer (this is the zombie computer thing) and they use it to bring down networks. So sometimes its for fun or to prove a point, other times its for money. Or just bragging rights sometimes.
@The_Compassionate_Heretic
Being cynical as always, is it because if they didn’t their employers wouldn’t make any money ffrom malware removal software?.........
I’ve heard a fairytale about a handful of hackers in the world that have huge numbers of computers infected. The malware they use is unobtrusive and waiting to be activated, turning into sleeper agents of the hacker. There would be no point for one person in checking all these computers by hand, but being able to control all of them at once they become commander of an army. The only reasons I can think of for such an army is blackmailing, or d-dossing some of the internet backbones to blackout the internet in parts of the world (if that’s still possible).
I’m very skeptic of the story though, as I find no satisfaction in the explanation of what they use those armies for. But it does sound very plausible to infect a massive number of computers. This can be done quite easily, we’re not all running Windows 7 and OS:X. A considerable amount of computers in the world still run on pirated and outdated operating systems like windows 95 (think Asia, Africa, etc).
A more serious answer would be: That it’s not only scriptkiddies that want to get in the ‘scene’ though, a lot of them do it to for career opportunities. Not only do they need the experience, but also the exposure to get noticed by companies that need to protect themselves or their users. Plus if there were no hackers, there would be no jobs for them. It’s the circle of a hackers life.
@Pazza Tell that to the people that got infected with the System Security 2009 virus, turning their wallpaper into an instruction of how to remove the virus (involving the purchase of a special virus scanner, that obviously keeps their system infected).
@markyy
Did you see that….......
I didn’t it flew over my head at a high rate of knots!.......
@Pazza Captain Obvious? I love that guy, he hangs out with me all the time.
They’re assholes with little peckers and are taking out their frustration at being laughed at in the locker room and inability to get laid out on the world.
@markyy
Just read it again, sounds like the swine flu vaccine but for computers.
@jaytkay Thanks, I always thought there was some truth to the story but my memory was a bit fuzzy and I didn’t want to be considered the town nut. Btw, you can’t have newlines in between underscores if you want to italize your text.
Well, if you make a really nasty one, you are sure to get hired to a well paid security job position in an international company. They are gonna fight over you.
My off-the-cuff, unprofessional opinion is that this kind of behavior is psychodynamic. People feel under-appreciated and powerless in their own milieu, so they find themselves a way in which they can console themselves by doing a lot of damage, which temporarily makes them feel very powerful, and discharges some of their anxiety. It’s a maladaptive solution, if you ask me.
@avvooooooo your comment suggests that all malware writers are male, do you believe that to be true?
@Ansible1 your comment suggest there are female malware writers that have huge peckers, do you believe that to be true?
Actually, I just read @avvooooooo‘s pecker analysis, and I think it is better than my analysis.
@Ansible1 Ok. So there are some that are FEMALE assholes with little boobies that need bags to wear over their heads who got laughed at in high school (and called “butterface”) who are taking out their frustration at being laughed at and inability to get laid out on the world.
But the guys have little peckers.
Ask Andrew and Ben. Fluther is a malicious program specifically designed to sap the time and energy of jellies worldwide.
Many hackers are employed by governments as the front line in cyberwarfare. Corporations also like access to competitors’ proprietary data.
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