What Makes Johnny (and Jane) Write Viruses?

The Changing Profile of the Virus Writer

The face of virus writers has shifted since Gordon began interviewing them nearly a decade ago. A writer can be a teenager coding in the family rec room or an undergrad on a university system. Ten years ago, virus writers averaged 14 to 17 years old; today they're 25 to 28. David L. Smith, who was convicted of writing and distributing the Melissa virus, was 30 when he was arrested in 1999. (See "Melissa Creator Pleads Guilty.")

Usually, older virus writers work as engineers or system administrators in the computing industry. Evul is an engineer; Smith was a network programmer.

And Gordon is in touch with some of the few female writers, such as a 16-year-old European girl who goes by "Gigabyte." Female virus writers like her are generally motivated by an urge to impress boyfriends or male peers, to be accepted in a predominantly male club. But Gordon knows at least one female virus writer in her early 50s. Another, in her 40s, works at a government agency, Gordon says.

It's not simply that teen virus writers are aging. In the past, most lost interest in viruses when they began a profession around age 22. Today, they may still code viruses after entering the workforce. Some don't even start until their mid- to late 20s.

Easy Tutorials Online

The Internet makes it easy to share source code. In the early days of boot sector viruses, writers needed a certain level of programming skills. But the 1995 release of Microsoft WordBasic, a simple, text-based programming language, opened the market to nearly any amateur. What's more, virus writers show off their source code at Web sites and distribute virus "starter kits" of tools. Any mischievous 13-year-old or curious 45-year-old can cobble together a virus and send it into the wild.

"It's like this huge candy shop has opened up on the World Wide Web," Gordon says.

The mixed message with which the public and industry regard virus writers also encourages older culprits. While authorities sought Onel de Guzman, a suspect in the LoveLetter outbreak, several computer companies were reportedly willing to offer him a job. And even press coverage, while largely negative, contained a whiff of admiration for the cunning way in which the virus spread so far so quickly.

But most older writers suffer an inadequate development of ethics, Gordon says. She maintains the twentysomethings who start or continue writing viruses have a lower level of ethical maturity than their general peers. They simply don't view writing and releasing viruses as wrong.