Research Proposal #2

Why Create A Virus?

Introduction

Cyber Space is a breeding ground for computer viruses. Almost every person who uses a computer have come across the term 'Computer Virus'. Most people consider them to be a form of cyber infection and focuses on curing the computer but very few think of the origin of a computer virus. Even the ones who do think about the origin are not aware of some interesting yet troubling facts related to it.

Most people think that a virus is created by some criminal master mind with evil intentions to destroy the cyber world, but the reality is something entirely disturbing. There are various reasons for a computer hacker to create a virus, one of the most common reason is experimenting learned program language skills by students. Another common reason is to show off, an act of self satisfaction which prompts us to think that the creator of a virus with such intentions must be psychologically disturbed.

Except for a very few who have been unmasked by the authorities, every virus creator hides behind a veil and their intentions are not vivid. I wish to uncover the reasons behind creating such destructive programs and the mentality of the creators. 

Background

I am a college student majoring in computer science. I have always had the interest in the field of cyber crimes but more focused in hackers. Recently I have had my interest changed into computer viruses. A computer virus is in more ways similar to a biological virus but different in only one way. A computer virus is not an effect of the nature, its a man made creation. I have always wondered why a person would give birth to something that's destructive and would be proud to claim the glory of its destruction. Sometimes this doesn't really surprise me when I consider other man made hazards such as Nuclear Bombs, which were created in the name of peace. Still it begs the question why someone would go to all that trouble to write a few lines of codes which creates a program that's hardly noticeable and anonymous. 

In presearching I have found out several interesting reasons that would provoke someone to create a virus.

Among those reasons were, showing off, proving a point and also revenge.

Significance

It is important that people understand how people who create viruses come into action. Even the most insignificant person could come up with a deadly virus that can do more damage than a nuclear bomb since everything is controlled by computers in this era. According to the articles I have gone through, most of these people are normal people with normal lives who happens to reap some kind of financial benefit or most of the time self satisfaction.

Methodology

I have done some presearching and found some useful articles that relates to the topic I have. Some discuss the reasons in a more psychological point of view rather than from a single perspective. I would also look into some scholarly articles and journals that have content on this topic and similar topics. After collecting data, I will be coming up with my own conclusion on why a virus creator would go through all that trouble against the law.

Potential Setbacks

During the presearching I found out that there are more articles describing the types and reasons for creating viruses rather than psychological reasons for these actions. Not much information is found to go deep to discover the state of mind of such a person. I would have to go through a psychological aspect of a cyber criminal to achieve this milestone.

References


Who creates malware and why? by Kaspersky Labs

http://www.securelist.com/en/threats/detect?chapter=72

Why People Create Computer Viruses? by NortonAnti-Virus
http://www.nortonantiviruscenter.com/security-resource-center/why-people-create-computer-viruses.html

Why do People Create Computer Viruses? by Bryce Whitty
http://www.technibble.com/why-do-people-create-computer-viruses/