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Virus-packed laptop sells as artwork for over $1.3 million

AFP AFP 16 hours ago

Washington (AFP) - For Chinese artist Guo O Dong, the simple black Samsung laptop computer, loaded with six potent viruses, symbolizes one of the world's most frightening threats.

On Tuesday his creation "The Persistence of Chaos" rocked the art world, selling for more than $1.3 million in a New York online auction.

There's nothing special about the 2008 10-inch Netbook, running Microsoft's now-outdated Windows XP.

But loaded onto its memory chips are the computing world's equivalents of the most deadly infectious diseases: "I LOVE YOU" from 2000, "Sobig" of 2003, "MyDoom" (2004), "DarkTequila" (2013), "BlackEnergy" (2015), and the most notorious of all, the "WannaCry" ransomware from two years ago.

gnat wrote: ↑Tue May 28, 2019 11:52 am https://www.washingtonpost.com/business ... 2675d3d907

Idiot could have saved a lot of money by simply plugging an unpatched Windows box into the internet for 5 minutes...

gnat wrote: ↑Wed May 29, 2019 8:09 am

gnat wrote: ↑Tue May 28, 2019 11:52 am https://www.washingtonpost.com/business ... 2675d3d907

Idiot could have saved a lot of money by simply plugging an unpatched Windows box into the internet for 5 minutes...

Dr_Strangelove (whew!) wrote: ↑Wed May 29, 2019 7:41 pm Wait a minute, this Grow a Dong guy sells a laptop with 6 viruses on it for $1.3MM... I wonder what I could have sold my parent's old computer for - from back when I was living with them. My misadventures on the internet loaded that thing up with viruses from every corner of the world