Revenge, Negativity, And Cheap Thrills: The Three Reasons Why People Create Computer Viruses

Revenge,Negativity ,AndCheapThrills:TheThr eeReasonsWhyPeopleCr eateComputerV irusesKadinMcElwainDr .Chen,Cybersecurity10/18/23KentStateUniversityRevenge,Negativity ,AndCheapThrills:TheThr eeReasonsWhyPeopleCr eateComputerV irusesIn2002,theCaric-AW ormvirusspreadallacrosscomputersintheUnitedStatesofAmerica,butthefileitselfwasreallyfunnyforthedamageitwastryingtodo(HelpNetSecurity ,2002).Inthisvirus,acorruptedfile,emailedwiththesubjectbillcaricature,wouldshowacartoonofPresidentBillClintonplayingthesaxophonewhileafemale sbrawouldpopoutofthesaxophone(CompareBusinessProducts,2012).Then,itwouldshowafakemessagefromtheMcAfeeantiviruscompany ,sayingthattheemailcontainednovirusesatall,althoughthemessagewasmisspelled(HelpNetSecurity ,2002).Whilethiswouldbeconsideredanexampleofaviruscreatedforfunandtomakepeoplelaughandnotnecessarilytogetpeople sinformationwithouttheirconsent,therearesomeveryevilpeopleintheworldwhocreatevirusesforhorriblereasons.Ofcourse,thereareseveraltheoriesoutthereastowhythesecybercriminalstakethetimeandef forttocreatesuchevilthingstoharmpeople sdevices.Butmytheoryisthatpeoplecreatethesevirusesinordertogetrevengeonacompanyorperson,spreadnegativity ,orgetacheapthrill.Thefirstreasonwhypeoplelovetocreatecomputervirusestoharmpeople sdevicesissotheycanspreadnegativityforfun.Aswehaveseenwithrecentworldevents(i.e.overalllackofgratitudeandrespectforauthorityintheyouth),peoplearenegative,ignorant,andungrateful,duetotheuseofchangingtechnology(Forster ,2018).Thischangingmediacanincludesocialmediawebsitesthatencouragetoxicityjustforfun,designershoppingwebsitesthatmaketeenagersandyoungadultswhineintheirparentsearsaboutwantingthelatestfashion,or ,forthosewhocommitcrimesforfun,hackingsoftwareandviruscreationplatforms.Asaresultofpeoplewantingtobenegativeandshowingnorespectforauthorityfiguresorthosewhoarethoughtofaslesssuperiortothem,mostpeoplecreatevirusestofurtherspreadnegativeener gy,especiallytopositivepeople.Infact,ComputerHopestatesthatpeoplelovetocreatecomputervirusestocausetroubleandmakeotherssuf fer(ComputerHope,2022).Insteadofpickingpeopleupwhentheyrefeelingdownandencouragingpositivityintheworld,thesecybercriminalsandbulliesarefurtheringnegativityintheworldandgettingathrillintheprocess.Thisleadstothenextreasonwhypeoplelovetocreatecomputervirusesjustforfun:Peoplewanttogetathrill.AswehavealsoseenwiththisgenerationandthevariousT ikT okchallengesthatinvolvepeople,mainlyteenagersandpre-teens,doingthingstoharmthemselvesforfunandtogetathrill,peopledowhatevertheyhavetodotogetathrillandbecool.Theydon tthinkaboutthepotentialharmthattheycandotothemselvesandothers,orthepotentiallegalconsequencesoftheiractions.Thesamethingcanbesaidaboutcomputerviruscreators.AccordingtoComputerHope,it snotjustaboutthemoneythatcanbemadeorthefamethattheycanreceive:It sthethrillofseeingthehavocandchaosthattheycreatethatisthemainmotivatingfactorforcomputerviruscreators(ComputerHope,2022).Everyonewantsathrill,buttherearewaystodoitthatdon tinvolvenegativity ,breakingthelaw ,ormalicetowardsanotherindividualorcompany .ThisleadstomythirdandfinalreasonwhyIfeelthatcomputerviruscreatorslovetocreatecomputerviruses:Theyareholdingagrudgeagainstapersonand/orcompanyandwantrevengeagainstthem.Wheneverpeoplehaveaproblemwithsomethingorwhensomeonedoessomethingnegativetothem,especiallyifitinvolvesmoneyorphysicalandmentalabuse,theynaturallywanttomakethepersonsuf ferthesamewaythattheyaresuf fering,orevenworse,theywanttheperpetratortofeeltheirpain,buttentimesworse.Sotheyresorttovariouswaysofruiningthatperson slife,whichcanincludephysicalviolence,mentalabuse,gettingthepersonfiredfromajob,orcreatingcomputervirusestowipeoutentirenetworks.Forexample,inBulgaria,ahotspotforviruscreationbackinthe1980 s,onestudent,whowasstudyinginPlovdiv ,createdavirustoinfectatutor sfilesinschoolsimplybecausehewasmadathim(Shapiro,2023).AnotherexamplecomingoutofBulgariawouldbeanincidentwheretwoco-workerscreatedavirusthatmadeapapersoundwheninfectingthefilesasanactofrevengetowardsabossfornotpayingthemontime(Shapiro,2023).Thelessoninthesecaseswouldbethatifyoutrytogetrevengeonaperson,especiallybycreatingacomputervirustoharmimportantfiles,youarenobetterthanthatperson,ifnotalittlebitworse.SomepeoplemightsaythatIamwrong.Theymightsaythatpeoplecreatecomputervirusesbecausetheyarepsychopathicorbecausetheywantfameandfortuneorevenformoney .Infact,accordingtoShaneHarrisinhis2014articleforForeignPolicy .Com,peoplemakearound$300,000sellingcomputervirusesonthedarkweb(Harris,2014).However ,IseethegoodinpeopleandIdon tthinkthatviruscreatorsarepsychopathic,wantattention,orwantinontheblackmarketofcomputerviruses.Peopledoalotofstupidthingsforfun,athrill,orbecausetheyremad.Butthatdoesn tmeanweshouldputtheminaboxandcallthemthevillain.Theywerejustmakingstupiddecisionsfortheirownpleasure.T oconclude,computerviruscreators,inmyopinion,takethetimetocreatesuchdestructivethingsbecausetheywantrevengeonsomebody ,wanttospreadnegativityandnegativeener gyforfun,ortheywantacheapthrill.Butthisisn ttheonlytheoryoutthere.Peoplehaveothertheoriesinmindaboutthis,butthere snosurefireopinion.Allwecandoisguessandassume,seethegoodinthesepeople,andhopethattheyllchange.Theconsumerscanalsoprotecttheirdevicesbymaintainingpropercomputerhygiene,ignoringlinks,callingoutthescammers,andmore.Then,wecanhaveavirusfreeworld.Sour cesCitedForster ,E.A.(2018).Ungratefulmillennials.Humans.https://vocal.media/humans/ungrateful-millennialsHarris,S.(2014,March25).Blackmarketformalwar eandcyberweaponsisthriving.ForeignPolicy .https://foreignpolicy .com/2014/03/25/black-market-for -malware-and-cyber-weapons-is-thriving/HelpNetSecurity .(2002,April8).SophosAnti-V irussaysBillCaricatur eisn tfunny.https://www .helpnetsecurity .com/2002/04/08/sophos-anti-virus-says-bill-caricature-isnt-funny/Hope,C.(2022,May3).Whydopeoplecr eatevirusesandmalwar e?.ComputerHope.https://www .computerhope.com/issues/ch001404.htm#:~:text=Causing%20problems%20and%20trouble&text=Some%20malware%20can%20crash%20an,create%20more%20viruses%20and%20malware.Shapiro,S.J.(2023,May9).Onthetrailofthedarkavenger:Themostdanger ousviruswriterintheworld.TheGuardian.https://www .theguardian.com/news/2023/may/09/on-the-trail-of-the-dark-avenger -the-most-dangerous-virus-writer -in-the-worldT op10hilariousviruses,tr ojansandworms.CompareBusinessProducts.(2012,August25).https://www .comparebusinessproducts.com/fyi/top-10-hilarious-viruses-trojans-worms