Virus Writers…
Do you think you know all about malware authors?
Well, if you read my earlier blog posting on malware authors being employed by computer security firms, then you might know something, but there is more to tell…let us scratch the surface a little more…
The ’standard’ stereotype used for malware authors has always been: “aged between 14 and 21, male and socialy inept“. However, many of us that have been in the anti-malware industry for a number of years know that this is far from accurate. It may well be a valid stereotype for script-kiddies and wannabe malware authors, but not for the core, more adept and technicaly competent malware authors.
For instance, I know a number of malware authors that are in their late 30’s or early 40’s. Many of these have good jobs and are socially adept, and many of them have now stopped writing malware, having now realised their youthful folly. To prove there is always an exception to a rule, did you know that there is at least one known female malware author? Yes, there really is.
I often get asked if those that write malware are “very bright but misguided individuals?”, my answer is always the same; “A few [very few] are, the vast majority are script-kiddies who steal and modify others code and release it as their own”. 99.9% of malware authors are not ‘Uber-geeks’, they are all criminals, the electronic equivalent of vandals, bullies and graffiti artists at the very least, and at worst thieves, liars, con-artists, mercenaries and pimps.
On the F-Secure weblog there have been a number of related postings about malware authors in the news. Below you will find short clips from some of those postings as well as links to the original F-Secure Research Weblog postings, and the media pieces that they refer to.
If I get sufficient interest [feedback] I may well write an article on the motivations that the malware authors often cite to justify their ‘hobby’….
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