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- 40Hex Number 9 Volume 2 Issue 5 File 001
-
-
- 40-Hex Editorial:
- VX: What the Hell's happened?
- by DecimatoR
-
- Please note, the opinions expressed herein are not necessarily those of all
- the Phalcon/Skism members, and this article was not intentionally directed
- towards one group or individual in particular.
-
-
- 1991: The virus scene was almost nonexistent. A handful of virus
- boards populated the earth, the biggest being the Virus Exchange in
- Bulgaria. In the US, only a very few boards had viruses.. and those which
- did ALL had less than 100. If you had 80 viruses back then, you were God.
- Today, just one year later, if you have less than 800 you're LAME. Viruses
- are everywhere. Unfortunately, almost NONE of them are original. They're
- all hacks of hacks of hacks of hacks, or else all cranked out by MPC or VCL,
- the 2 virus generation programs in mass distribution. No one (save a few)
- writes original code anymore. The recent flood of lame viruses all prove
- that. MPC and VCL account for over half of the "new" viruses released each
- day - and ALL the viruses generated by those programs are scannable before
- they even get compiled. So why do people keep using the programs? Why
- create 30 viruses which all do the same thing, except maybe on a different
- day, or using a different text string? Why? I'll tell you why. Because
- the kids using MPC and VCL are basically talentless programmers who think
- it's cool to stick their name in a program and pass it around. They believe
- they'll achieve god-like fame in the underground by creating these little
- clones and changing a few bytes. Are these people cool? Hardly. It takes
- true talent to create a virus. It takes brains and skill to write a virus
- which will work as planned, avoid detection, and propagate itself. The
- authors of MPC and VCL are very talented programmers. Unfortunately, the
- users of their programs are just the opposite. REAL virus programmers have
- a desire to LEARN assembler - it's a test of their skill and ability. The
- users of MPC and VCL don't have that desire. They only have a desire for
- recognition - and seeing their name in a virus is a massive ego trip for
- them. Why? They did nothing that any Joe Blow couldn't have done using a
- code generator. If they REALLY want to prove how cool they are, let THEM
- write a damn virus generation program and release it. THAT ALONE will show
- the world their skill and ability. As for USING the program, well, I'm more
- impressed with a nicely formatted term paper using WordPerfect than I am
- with viruses created using MPC and VCL. If you're one of the lame idiots
- who uses MPC or VCL for "writing" viruses, then listen up - those programs
- were written for 2 reasons - to prove the programmer could write such a
- thing, and to be used as a LEARNING TOOL for future virus writers - NOT to
- be abused the way they currently are. Stop acting lame and actually CREATE
- an ORIGINAL virus for once, people! And if you find that's impossible, then
- get the hell out of the scene and let the people who CAN program do it!
-
- Enough on that end. Now it's time to bitch about the virus boards.
- These so called "elite" boards that have 1,255,443,453.7 viruses online for
- anyone to call up and leech. These places where the little kiddies put
- thier newest MPC and VCL creation for all the other little kiddies, to show
- how /<-RaD they are. And as soon as one virus is put up, 300 people grab
- it, half of them send it off to other VX boards, and half ship it to the
- Anti-Virus boards. What's the purpose? The virus scene has become the same
- as the WAREZ SCENE! Or, as Garbageheap puts it - Micro-Warez.
-
- Micro-WareZ: n. Viruses created by talentless individuals and passed
- around the way pirated software is.
- ie: "Hey D00dZ I got the newest MiCroWareZ from that
- BBS in 404!!! Now I'm up to 1,231,902!!!#!$@$~!"
-
- Micro-Warez Pups: n. (pl) 1) Those individuals actively engaging in the
- collection, creation, and distribution of Micro-Warez.
- 2) People who collect viruses simply because they
- want to have more than anyone else.
- See also: LAMERS
-
- What's the point in these MicroWareZ (also known as VX) boards? All the
- virus "authors" (I hate using that term - REAL virus authors don't frequent
- microwarez boards) anyway -all the virus authors send up their newest lame
- little hacks, and in 15 minutes they're on all VX boards everywhere. In 20
- minutes, the AV people are looking at them. In 23 minutes the AV people
- have determined that the new Ware is just a lame little hack, and is already
- scannable by all virus scanners available. In 23.2 minutes, the AV people
- have deleted the virus, and are back drinking coffee and chatting on the
- COMP.VIRUS Usenet echo, saying things like "Just found another lame little
- hack. Nothing to worry about guys, not like this is anything new or
- ingenious or something. My scanner catches it since July of 91."
-
- My point here is - WHAT THE HELL IS THE PURPOSE OF THIS? AV people
- no longer have to wait for some unlucky infected soul to send them a copy of
- a new virus. They simply call up the local VX board and download it before
- ANYONE gets infected. Again I ask you - WHAT IS THE @*#$!%& PURPOSE? It's
- not cool, it's not elite, its FUKKING STUPID! Pardon the french. The
- so-called Virus underground is no longer underground. It's as open as
- the ANTI-VIRUS scene is. Anyone can get anything they want, because NO ONE
- cares! Everyone's got them, and anyone who wants them can find them. The
- virus scene is no longer elite. It's lamer then the warez scene is. And
- it's a shame. It once required talent and skill. Now it requires the
- intelligence of a grapefruit... well... not even that much.
-
- So the question remains - "Gee DecimatoR, if you're so against all
- this virus stuff, then what the hell are you doing in P/S? Why do you run a
- virus board?"
-
- My answer: I have a desire to LEARN, and MY board is private. The
- number was changed, all users deleted, and only those with an interest in
- LEARNING will be allowed on. Yes, I still have all the damn viruses. Cause
- when the Gestapo decides it's time to make the creation, distribution, and
- possession of viruses illegal, I wanna be sure people will be able to find
- them somewhere. I don't cater to microwarez pups, and I'm about as
- interested in the newest VCL creation as I am in the color of your undies.
-
- Viruses illegal? Yes, I'm sure they someday will be. Unfortunately.
- Because when the Gestapo makes them illegal, it's taking away the rights of
- ALL Americans to freely create and use programs. And that's the beginning
- of the end of Democracy and American Freedom. Anyway, that's enough bitching
- for one day. If I've pissed you off, good. You're probably one of the
- lamers I was writing about. If I haven't, well... next time then.
-
- Till 40-Hex 10.....
-
- > Peace <
-
- --DecimatoR
-