Laptop infected with six of the most destructive viruses sells for $1.9 million. [ed: Australian Dollars]
You wouldn't ordinarily want to seek out a computer with viruses installed, but that's exactly what the winner of a US$1.345 million auction just did – picking up a laptop crammed with the deadliest malware of our time in return for their cash.
The buyer remains anonymous but we know much more about the laptop, which is actually part of an art project by Chinese digital artist Guo O Dong. The piece is called The Persistence of Chaos.
Dong worked with cybersecurity firm Deep Instinct to load up the laptop with its dangerous code, and it's apparently air gapped, which means it has security measures that prevent it from connecting to any other networks, to stop it from spreading its malware further.
[...] Persistence of Chaos includes ILOVEYOU from 2000, a particularly damaging worm that came attached to an email with an "ILOVEYOU" subject header. It deleted local files when run, and is thought to have caused billions of US dollars' worth of damage before being stopped.
Also at ABC.net.au and Digital Trends.
(Score: 2) by Freeman on Monday June 03 2019, @04:03PM
Personally, I think the bible says it right. While money isn't evil, people definitely do evil things in the pursuit of it.
King James Version - 1 Timothy 6:10
It feels wrong to be damning someone over the fact that they have more money than you do, though. The 10 commandments has that whole thing about not coveting things your neighbor has.
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"