Why do hackers create computer viruses? Is there a conspiracy behind it?

best advice for that one is have a look on the manufacurers website for that model pc
cold and long running times shouldnt really be a factor
but as with anything battery related sooner or later its gonna need to be replaced
depends how old the machine is really

reply to post by UkRandom


Sorry I meant cmos battery. It was about 3 years old but 17inch laptop is hard to part with. Anyway I did drop coffee on the damm thing so perhaps the motherboard got fried. Could be a bios virus as well cause I was downloading some "free games" a day before that.

In short it could be anything, but I am not holding much hope for it. Thanks again!

reply to post by WWu777


you cannot stop evolution.

Likewise.

You cannot stop hackers, whom by their very nature, are evolution in action.



The reason it happens are as most have noted. Political espionage, and blackmail. And, to be honest, some men just want to watch the world burn. Poke at a system that works perfectly fine, just to see what happens.

Most viruses comes from big business such as the music industry trying to stop piracy. And then you have governments trying to spy on other governments. They have a large corprate world that is behind most. Just take China trying to get a upper hand on a industry such as aircraft they begin sending out viruses to attack the aircraft manufacturers. And then theres the plain wanting to spy on the population to control them.

Sony BMG copy protection rootkit scandal.
en.wikipedia.org...

Computer Virus Infects Predator Ground Stations.
defense.aol.com...

Industrial espionage.
en.wikipedia.org...

Cyberwarfare.
en.wikipedia.org...

Stuxnet.
en.wikipedia.org...

Stars.
en.wikipedia.org...

For example how does some young kid make a picture frame trojan to infect the world? Those picture fames were direct from the factory with spy trojans.

Nasty "Picture Frame" Trojan Blocks AV Programs, Collects Passwords.
www.tech-ex.net...

reply to post by JBA2848


The government can cripple the best hacker in seconds if they want to. Project Echelon! It is not really government, it is more "the illuminati" if you know what I mean. I do remember some insider stating how easy and covertly they could do it right here on ats years ago.

Don't ask for details cause you had to be a geek with 200 iq to understand!

reply to post by WWu777
I don't blame people for trying to make money by hacking. What I despise is the little sh** who puts some annoying and little petty virus on my PC just for the hell of it. You can't imagine the time it takes for someone with little money and a massive need for PC time to rectify such stupid problems.

reply to post by Militarywarfare


Not entirely true. Viruses are usually made by script kiddies "for the lulz." Usually they've got all the precision of a club, and are designed to essentially extort money out of stupid people. This kind of thing really doesn't take any skill. Now, actual hackers, the kind of people who access government databases to prove they can? They'd never touch this basic stuff.

reply to post by WWu777


Have a look at HBGary the computer security company hacked by Anon.. Then peeps done work for the US government and they made trojans and all sorts..

It is a status symbol among some hackers to control lots of bots on other peeps computers... But really for the big viruses look no further than government the stuxnet is good example of that...

reply to post by WWu777


Starred and flagged you before I read what else you had to write about the subject. Why do these people annoy other people with their nonsense.

Same thing with people who create false torrents...wtf..? Are these people crazy, is it some kind of compulsive neurosis...I just do not get it.

Hopefully this thread will give me some answers..

S&F for you my friend.

reply to post by EarthCitizen07

The government can cripple the best hacker in seconds if they want to.

if that is the case why did U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness Team Randy Vickers resign after a spate of high profile hacks by anon... They rung rings around them...

Anyone responsible for an Internet connection is security conscious these days, so it’s worth noticing that the director in charge of protecting all things cyber for U.S. Government suddenly yet quietly left his job.

Originally posted by diddy1234
probably because they are paid by the anti-virus companies to make them in the first place.

This is not as stupid as it initially sounds.

Why is it that the antivirus companies can figure out a virus very quickly and issue updates so quickly ?

I would say yes, a resounding yes. Remember those Norton Anti Virus CDs that used to come in the mail? You don't know how many computers I fixed after people installed this, and how much money I made from it. The CD would seemingly release a "virus," actually a worm on a timer. Then a pop up tells you to input your credit card info for an "update," to fix the virus. After fixing computers for so long, I would have to say most of these are created by the corporations themselves, in their continuing quest to make more and more money.

But the world has changed too. Today's hackers are not pimple faced kids on a computer in Grandma's basement. They are sophisticated technicians with millions of dollars worth of equipment, and they work for governments. Thousands of people get their identifications stolen every single day. The whole computer world is involved in cyber warfare.

People use viruses to gain information from their target for example bank cards, passwords for important things etc.
They could also do it for fun like turn your Computer off and on, hide your start button, delete important items off your hard drive, sometimes they can also print things from your printer and also they can turn your webcam on when they want very freaking its why I got tape over mine xD

So really instead of getting a decent job they just try to make money from bank cards etc

Most skript kiddies are using the viruses and trojans created by the governments, big corporations and even the lobbing groups such as the Sony BMG trojan. But then you do have a NSA finger in the mix because all software that is copy writted is ran through the patent office where the NSA gets to demand what ever they want to be changed in the software. They add things llike easter eggs and back doors and even get a copy of the algorithms used for passwords and even encrypted data. Skript kiddies and people like Wikileaks Assange cause problems when they use multiple softwares in a pattern and then earse the key data that would flag what encryption was used. Classic "Insurance File" from Wikileaks. Even the software for hiding their tracks online came from the governments. TOR private virtual networks and so on. But add a twist start TOR with your main computer then start a virtual machine on your computer and then start TOR again and run it through TOR a second time you now have created a problem for them to try and figure out. Skript Kiddies didn't create TOR just used it in a unexpected way.

Originally posted by UkRandom

Originally posted by EarthCitizen07
reply to post by Imagewerx

 

norton and mcaffe are despised by a lot of software developers, including microsoft support mvp. You NEVER hear any good words about them cause it robs a lot of system resources and has various incompatibility issues.

Norton and Mcafee are the 2 easiest cracked programs avaliable

that itself should cause concern
how is it such "Security Applications" are so easily hacked?

They're only so popular because like extended warranties,the sales monkeys in PC World,Comet etc earn comission from them and get the hump if you don't want any of them.

I think computer viruses are created by some Geek sitting in their parents basement with nothing better to do than to wreak havoc on people....Just my Opinion

How about the German cop who wanted to spy on his daughter.
www.spamfighter.com...

Spying Software on Daughter’s Computer leads to Hack into German Police
A senior official within the German department of police, recently, spied on the Web-surfing of his daughter that reportedly, led to a computer intrusion of "Patras" the monitoring system maintained with the German cops, published Naked Security dated January 9, 2012.

Ordinarily, cops in Germany utilize "Patras" for tracing suspects with the help of what's known as "silent" SMS as well as GPS tracking gadgets fixed to motor-vehicles.

Understandably, a Frankfurt am Main senior police officer loaded spyware onto the PC which his daughter used, for watching what she did online. At that time, the policeman apparently moved work associated electronic mails onto his private PC that's quite likely one form of severe breach of rules in connection with data handling.

She gave the software away to some kids to figure what the spy sofyware was.

www.wired.co.uk...

Several German state officials have confirmed that they have sponsored a piece of software described as a "federal trojan" that can be used to spy on citizens.

The trojan, referred to as Bundestrojaner ("federal trojan") or R2D2, was first discovered by German hacker group Chaos Computer Club. They claim in a report that the German government developed the software to gather information from target computers, including screenshots, keystrokes, and audio from VOIP calls. CCC says that the trojan even has a "backdoor" that lets additional software to be installed and executed.

According to Deutsche Welle, a number of German officials have admitted using the spyware to investigate serious criminal offences. Regional police in the states of Baden-Württemberg, Brandenburg, Schleswig-Holstein and Lower Saxony used the software for as long as two years. It was largely used as a court-approved tool in rare but exceptional cases, such as exposing large drug rings.

Chaos Computer Club got a hold of it and busted Germany for spying on its citizens. But who created it in the first place. But it is out there for skript kiddies to play with now.

You even had a USB plugin device for hackng computers that was discovered when airport security was using it to search computers for the Department of Homeland Security. Or how about the Live CD WIFI hacking disc which was leaked from the FBI. The disc when placed in a laptop would scan the area and list the passwords and sign on information for any computer near by so they could hack it. Both of these hacks led to major problems when they got leaked to the world. But who created them in the first place.

Basic Manipulation Psychology...or...create the problem, and create the solution (for only $9.99!)...good cop - bad cop...

...or...if the product was so good, why does it need to be strengthened constantly?

These people employ roomfulls of technicians to create 'swiss cheese', that just barely does the job...and another roomfull of technicians to worm through the cheese...and another roomfull to 'patch up' the deliberate holes.

The vagaries of product design aside, this is a clear example of really bad product design - in collaboration with the OS designers of platforms that spend squillions to advertise a brand with bells, whistles and mirror balls that seem to be so compromised by 'amateur' hackers?!

Bottom line is...
Virus's don't create themselves.

Akushla

reply to post by WWu777


I firmly believe the people who make viruses work for the Anti-virus software companies.

Problem reaction solution in action.

Follow the money.

Cosmic..

Well, let me think. Why do taggers get their spray paint and go out at night and tag their names all over poorer areas of town? Are they part of a conspiracy to make those areas seem more lawless and out of control, so the gentry won't come in a try to buy the properties and clean the place up? Are slumlords behind it? Or the companies that sell anti-tagging paint and security systems?

Or are some people just bored and mean, with too much energy and time on their hands and they like messing with people because they get a weird sense of satisfaction from it, because it brings some kind of meaning to their otherwise meaningless lives?