History Main / ComputerVirus

-> '''Simmons:''' Educated? Okay, fine. This computer is a dedicated interface for a highly-developed security protocol. The information that we’re accessing is stored on a separate database with its own dedicated hardware. That system has its own distinct layer of security. From what I can tell, the two systems verify their identity by trading randomly-generated 2,056-bit encryption keys. I’m trying to spoof one of those keys now. So Grif, I’m all ears: any suggestions?
-> '''Grif:''' Aw yeah, I’ve seen that before. You should try uploading a virus to the mainframe.
-> '''Simmons:''' Jesus…

-> '''Simmons:''' Educated? Okay, fine. This computer is a dedicated interface for a highly-developed security protocol. The information that we’re accessing is stored on a separate database with its own dedicated hardware. That system has its own distinct layer of security. From what I can tell, the two systems verify their identity by trading randomly-generated 2,056-bit encryption keys. I’m trying to spoof one of those keys now. So Grif, I’m all ears: any suggestions?''
-> '''Grif:''' Aw yeah, I’ve seen that before. You should try uploading a virus to the mainframe.''
-> '''Simmons:''' Jesus…''
-> '''Grif:''' I find viruses that feature a laughing skull work the best.''

[[quoteright:350:[[http://gunshowcomic.com/181 http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/virus_5609.PNG]]]]
->'''Noah:''' Is that your answer to everything? "Upload a virus?" The world doesn't work like that, Jake.
->'''Jake:''' Yeah, but wouldn't it be cool if it did?
-->-- ''[[{{ptitlebga5e439}} Callahan's Crosstime Saloon]]''

In fiction, anyone can write a computer virus overnight. While physicists might be more skilled to do so, even journalists demonstrate the skills to write computer viruses that can wipe out a complete technologically advanced alien fleet within minutes. There's no need to find a vulnerability in the system to exploit, no need for a development environment, heck you don't even need to know if the alien computers use ones and zeros (maybe they use threes, tens and tomatoes?).

Just to clear things up:
Computer viruses exploit security holes/vulnerabilities specific to certain programs - preferrably server programs, so you can do a remote attack. In order to discover and exploit such holes you need to study the software in question - a pretty difficult thing to do if you don't have the source code of the software in question, access to a copy of the target system allowing you to run a selection of penetration testing tools against it (doing so on the real target may well alert its owners that some dirty work is afoot), or at the very least access to the executable file. More commonly, a virus author waits until a security update by the software developer uncovers a security hole in the program. If you are fast, you can act then and write a virus. Most users are lazy with updates (or company policies might get in the way), allowing the virus to spread to versions of the program missing the security update. But in order to write a virus, even if you know the security hole, you need advanced knowledge about programming. That's something you only possess if you're studying computer science or are a complete geek/nerd that has taught himself/herself programming at the age of six. Writing and testing a virus so it works the way you want and doesn't get detected prematurely might take a ''bit'' longer than an overnight hacking session. (Well, there are exceptionally skilled long trained hackers who might indeed be able to do this.) In any case you definitely need the following things in order to complete this task:

[[AC: {{Comic Books}}]]
* In ''InfiniteCrisis'', Batman tells Oracle to upload every computer virus on Earth to Brother Eye as a way of slowing it down. Even if Batman had Oracle so CrazyPrepared as to have every computer virus on file and ready for launch, a) Brother Eye would be immune to most of them, as Batman created him most likely with all kinds of attacks in mind ([[spoiler:and he was later augmented by Alexander Luthor]]), and b) it would be amazingly stupid to let in anything that didn't come from one of his [=OMACs=] and was of the wrong size or file type - it's not like he's torrenting on the side while he's repelling the heroes.

[[AC: Anime]]
* ''{{Yu-Gi-Oh}}'' does this early on: Seto Kaiba uses the supercomputer in his basement to whip up and send a computer virus that will weaken and destroy a hologram of his Blue Eyes White Dragon in only minutes. His method for finding a hole in Pegasus' security? Take over and literally crash a satellite into the building housing the main servers.
-->[[YugiohTheAbridgedSeries Kaiba]]: "Hooray for cyber-terrorism!"

[[AC: Webseries]]

* Viciously parodied in ''[[RedVsBlue Red Vs Blue]]''. When Simmons is attempting to gain control of an enemy computer system and explaining the complications of doing so , Griff says "try uploading a virus into the mainframe, I find one with a laughing skull works the best."

[[AC: WesternAnimation]]
* Personified with Megabyte of ''{{ReBoot}}''. The accuracy of his representation of computer viruses [[YourMileageMayVary varies at best.]]

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<<|MagicalComputer|>>

* In InfiniteCrisis, Batman tells Oracle to upload every computer virus on Earth to Brother Eye as a way of slowing it down. Even if Batman had Oracle so CrazyPrepared as to have every computer virus on file and ready for launch, a) Brother Eye would be immune to most of them, as Batman created him most likely with all kinds of attacks in mind ([[spoiler:and he was later augmented by Alexander Luthor]]), and b) it would be amazingly stupid to let in anything that didn't come from one of his [=OMACs=] and was of the wrong size or file type - it's not like he's torrenting on the side while he's repelling the heroes.

* In ''BattlestarGalactica (Re-imagined Series)'', the cylons use computer viruses to deactivate the vessels of the humans. In fact they had built in a vulnerability into the new military software system by seducing/distracting the main designer of the system, Gaius Baltar.
** Not quite this trope as they had write access to the source code and put a backdoor in system. They had a lot of time to prepare an equipment only to exploit this problem. On the other hand the network created by Felix Gaeta to calculate the correct position of fleet...
* The BigBad of PowerRangersRPM is a ''self-aware'' computer virus. Within three years of its release onto the internet it had ''nuked the planet'', presumably by getting access to [[EverythingIsOnline military computers]].

* In ''Independence Day'' a computer genius from MIT writes a computer virus overnight that wipes out the attacking technologically superior alien fleet. A lot of people found it implausible that a human computer could interface with alien technology and that the virus just happens to be compatible with the alien system. A deleted scene would have shown the guy studying the aliens' computer system in a crashed ship. It's also implied that human technology has been largely reverse-engineered from alien tech. The aliens were also established to be using Earth's satellites to relay messages, so their systems must have been compatible to some degree.

* Depending on your choices in ''{{Uplink}}'', you will be tasked with either spreading a computer virus intended to destroy the Internet, or spreading the antivirus meant specifically to stop it. [[SchmuckBait You can also run the virus on your own gateway computer,]] [[{{Understatement}} but it's not recommended.]]

* ''{{Yugioh}}'' does this early on: Seto Kaiba uses the supercomputer in his basement to whip up and send a computer virus that will weaken and destroy a hologram of his Blue Eyes White Dragon in only minutes. His method for finding a hole in Pegasus' security? Take over and literally crash a satellite into the building housing the main servers.

* Viciously parodied in [[RedVsBlue Red Vs Blue]]. When Simmons is attempting to gain control of an enemy computer system and explaining the complications of doing so , Griff says "try uploading a virus into the mainframe, I find one with a laughing skull works the best."

* Personified with Megabyte of {{ReBoot}}. The accuracy of his representation of computer viruses [[YourMileageMayVary varies at best.]]
* Beast does this in the first episode of the X-Men cartoon

* In ''Independence Day'' a cable repairman writes a computer virus overnight that wipes out the attacking technologically superior alien fleet. But actually, he's some sort of genius computer expert that graduated from MIT.
** Also, who is to say he didn't have the virus handy due to unrelated reasons? But how did he get the virus to interface with the ship and/or the surrounding alien software? From his LAPTOP? Do the aliens have WiFi and run a [[strike:Windows]] AppleTalk compatible network? And why did it take more than 1 second to upload when most computer viruses are less than a megabyte in size? Aw hell Rule of Cool trumps it I guess even though it wasn't actually cool.
** Apparently, there was a deleted scene in which the guy is seen poking around the crashed ship studying its computer systems, which was supposed to lay the groundwork for his subsequent ability to write a virus for them. As [[http://www.cracked.com/article_18720_7-famous-movie-flaws-that-were-explained-in-deleted-scenes.html Cracked.com says]]: "It's still flimsy as hell, but it at least proves the filmmakers were aware of and willing to address the problem".
** It seemed clear to me that what they were going for was the implication that most modern technology was reverse-engineered from the crashed alien scout, meaning our computers work on the same principles as the alien ones, because they're based on them. As above, still flimsy, but at least it's something.
** Interfacing is also a bit more plausible given the aliens are using earth's satellites to relay their message which coordinates the attack. This suggests the aliens had already worked to make their technology compatible with Earth's computer systems. Its possible they never saw this as a security risk because the concept of a computer virus didn't exist in their culture, and they weren't exactly keen on learning the cultures of the races they wipe out.

* [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vundo Virtumonde]] has become the overnight virus of choice and, due to its effectiveness and the ease with which it can be put together, dozens of variants exist and, combined with variants of the My Web Search infection, make up the majority of viruses professionally cleaned from computers. Catching it means a 3 figure trip to the computer guys or a hard drive wipe.
** As I can attest, from personal experience, it ''is'' possible to remove the virus yourself... provided you have ''a lot'' of patience and know how to use Google (which might not be possible in some particularly nasty versions).

** As I can attest, from personal experience, it <is> possible to remove the virus yourself... provided you have <a lot> of patience and know how to use Google (which might not be possible in some particularly nasty versions).

Viciously parodied in Red Vs Blue. When Simmons is attempting to gain control of an enemy computer system and explaining the complications of doing so , Griff says "try uploading a virus into the mainframe, I find one with a laughing skull works the best.

* In {{Uplink}}, the player is tasked with using a virus.

* In ''Independence Day'' a journalist writes a computer virus overnight that wipes out the attacking technologically superior alien fleet.
** Journalist? Did we see the same movie? He's a cable repairman. Actually, some sort of genius computer expert that graduated from MIT.

* The [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Storm_Worm Storm Worm Trojan horse]], a professionally produced virus, can show [[HighOctaneNightmareFuel scary]] one of these things can do. Collectively, the computers it has infected form a [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Storm_botnet botnet]] that was once of the most powerful supercomputers ''in the world''. [[OrSoIHeard Some people even thought it was a fetal]] AI.

* The [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Storm_Worm Storm Worm Trojan horse]], a professionally produced virus, can show [[HighOctaineNightmareFuel scary]] one of these things can do. Collectively, the computers it has infected form a [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Storm_botnet botnet]] that was once of the most powerful supercomputers ''in the world''. [[OrSoIHeard Some people even thought it was a fetal]] AI.

* In InfiniteCrisis, Batman tells Oracle to upload every computer virus on Earth to Brother Eye as a way of slowing it down. Even if Batman had Oracle so CrazyPrepared as to have every computer virus on file and ready for launch, a) Brother Eye would be immune to most of them, as Batman created him most likely with all kinds of attacks in mind ([[spoiler:and he was later augmented by Alexander Luthor]]), and b) it would be amazingly stupid to let in anything that didn't come from one of his OMACs and was of the wrong size or file type - it's not like he's torrenting on the side while he's repelling the heroes.

[[[AC: {{Film}}]]

[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/virus_5609.PNG]]

->'''Noah:''' ''Is that your answer to everything? "Upload a virus?" The world doesn't work like that, Jake.''
->'''Jake:''' ''Yeah, but wouldn't it be cool if it did?''

Anyone can write a computer virus overnight. While physicists might be more skilled to do so, even journalists demonstrate the skills to write computer viruses that can wipe out a complete technologically advanced alien fleet within minutes. There's no need to find a vulnerability in the system to exploit, no need for a development environment, heck you don't even need to know if the alien computers use ones and zeros (maybe they use threes, tens and tomatoes?).

Having said this, there ''are'' virus building kits, built by [[TheCracker (groups of) black hat hackers]] as per the above description, allowing essentially anyone with nefarious purposes, capable of wielding a mouse, and only little if any knowledge of the target system (so-called script kiddies) to whip up a virus, worm or Trojan in a relatively limited time. The resulting malware is generally meant to work against known security weaknesses in widely-used programs or operating systems, on the basis that someone, somewhere will not yet have his system patched, and the larger the installed base, the higher the number of unpatched systems and the higher the chance of getting a sufficiently large number of them infected (a measurement of the success of a virus). But even those kits require getting familiar with their workings, just like any other computer program, and they will certainly work no better against the command and control systems of an invading alien fleet than throwing toothpicks at them.

** Although Major Carter did write the dialing program which imitates a DHD for the (American) Earth gate, so it's not the first programming she has done along those lines.

* In InfiniteCrisis, Batman tells Oracle to upload every computer virus on Earth to Brother Eye as a way of slowing it down. Even if Batman had Oracle so CrazyPrepared as to have every computer virus on file and ready for launch, a) Brother Eye would be immune to most of them, as Batman created him most likely with all kinds of attacks in mind ([[Spoiler:and he was later augmented by Alexander Luthor]]), and b) it would be amazingly stupid to let in anything that didn't come from one of his OMACs and was of the wrong size or file type - it's not like he's torrenting on the side while he's repelling the heroes.

* In Infinite Crisis, Batman tells Oracle to upload every computer virus on Earth to Brother Eye as a way of slowing it down.

[[AC: {{Film}}]]