The Virus Underground

For a great look into the underworld of the virus writer and "script kiddies", check out this article in the always entertaining NY Times Sunday Magazine. Amazing how easy this is to do, apparently.

But the prevalence of hard-drive-destroying viruses has steadily declined to almost zero. Malware authors have learned a lesson that biologists have long known: the best way for a virus to spread is to ensure its host remains alive.

A young woman who goes by the handle Gigabyte told me in an online chat room that if the authorities wanted to arrest her and other virus writers, then ''they should arrest the creators of guns as well.''

''All virus-spreading,'' one virus writer said caustically, ''is based on the idiotic behavior of the users.''