Tech can be weird, and this news is not just unique, but it will raise a lot of eyebrows. Performance artist Guo O Dong and cybersecurity firm Deep Instinct have put up a Samsung NC10-14GB 10.2-Inch Blue Netbook which has six dangerous computer malware up for auction.
Laptop with 6 malware is up for auction – Current bid $763,600!
The list of six includes-
- ILOVEYOU — 2000
- Sobig — 2003
- Mydoom — 2004
- BlackEnergy — 2007
- DarkTequila — 2013
- WannaCry — 2017
That is roughly $95 billion in damages over the years.
What is even interesting is how the laptop has been secured. It has been isolated and air-gapped to make sure the malware doesn’t spread to another device. It has been named as The Persistence of Chaos and even has a website where the action is live right now! At the time of writing this, the current bid is $763,600. I am genuinely speechless here!
Now that you are pretty shocked, and still wondering what’s the point, let’s take a look at the history of these viruses, and malware.
1] ILOVEYOU: It appeared in the form of an email attachment LOVE-LETTER-FOR-YOU.txt.vbs. When a user clicked it, they would overwrite arbitrary files on the computer. Total damage: $15B
2] Sobig: Again using Email as the source, this trojan appeared only after a month of infecting the computer. It is almost impossible to figure out if it infected your computer. Total Damage: $37B
3] Mydoom: Following the trend of Sobig, Mydoom is still the fastest spreading email worm until now. It sends out junk email through infected computers. Total Damage: $38B
4] BlackEnergy: Unlike the above three, this malware generated bots to carry out DDOS/cyberattacks via email. It caused one of the largest blackouts in Ukraine in 2015.
5] DarkTequila: It got into computers to steal personal, and corporate data, bank credentials, and corporate data even while offline.
6] WannaCry: It is pretty fresh in mind as it happened only two years ago. It affected 200,000+ computers across 150 countries and caused the NHS $100M in damages with further totals accumulating close to $4B.
The laptop runs on Windows XP, and I am still wondering why would somebody bid for it.
