Laptop ‘loaded with world’s most dangerous viruses’ including WannaCry malware that crippled the NHS goes up for auction – and the top bid is £900,000
A PC dubbed the "world's most dangerous laptop" has gone up for auction online.
It's reportedly loaded with six of the nastiest computer viruses known to man, including the WannaCry malware that brought the NHS to its knees in a devastating 2017 cyber attack.
Together, the viral strains claimed to be on the PC have caused damages totalling £95billion. They have the power to steal the bank details of millions, and even take down electricity grids.
The auction has been set up by enigmatic Chinese artist Guo O Dong in collaboration with cyber security firm Deep Instinct, according to the .
They claim the laptop's ports and internet capabilities have been disabled to stop anyone getting hold of the viruses stored within.
A mystery bidder has already offered £900,000 for the kit, though it's not clear if they actually intend to pay it – you only need to send your name and email address to put a bid in.
The auction is based out of New York, and has been billed as a "work of art" entitled the Persistence of Chaos.
Selling malware is illegal in the US, and bidders are told they cannot unleash any of laptop's contents.
"As a buyer you recognize that this work represents a potential security hazard," the sellers write on the auction page.
"By submitting a bid you agree and acknowledge that you’re purchasing this work as a piece of art or for academic reasons, and have no intention of disseminating any malware."
Among the malware loaded onto the computer is BlackEnergy 2, which in 2015 caused a large-scale blackout in Ukraine and may have been created by the KGB.
WannaCry, the ransomware virus that spread to hundreds of thousands of computers in more than 150 countries in a matter of hours in May 2017, also features.
It locked people out of their computers and demanded a Bitcoin ransom, costing the NHS an estimated £79million in damages.
What viruses are on the laptop?
Here's everything you need to know...
- ILOVEYOU – The ILOVEYOU virus, distributed via email and file sharing, affected 500,000+ systems and caused £12billion in damages total, with £4.3billion in damages being caused in the first week.
- MyDoom – MyDoom, potentially commissioned by Russian e-mail spammers, was one of the fastest spreading worms. It’s projected that this virus caused £30billion in damages.
- SoBig – SoBig was a worm and trojan that circulated through emails as viral spam. This piece of malware could copy files, email itself to others, and could damage computer software/hardware. This piece of malware caused £29billion in damages and affected hundreds of thousands of PCs.
- WannaCry – WannaCry was an extremely virulent ransomware cryptoworm that also set up backdoors on systems. The attack affected 200,000+ computers across 150 countries, and caused the NHS £79million in damages with further totals accumulating close to £3.1billion
- DarkTequila – A sophisticated and evasive piece of malware that targeted users mainly in Latin America, DarkTequila stole bank credentials and corporate data even while offline. DarkTequila costed millions in damages across many users.
- BlackEnergy – BlackEnergy 2 uses sophisticated rootkit/process-injection techniques, robust encryption, and a modular architecture known as a “dropper”. BlackEnergy was used in a cyberattack that prompted a large-scale blackout in Ukraine in December 2015.
Of course, there's no guarantee that the laptop really does host the six viruses claimed by the sellers.
It could simply be a publicity stunt from Guo O Dong, a mystery artist who prefers to remain anonymous.
The page describes his work as a "critique of modern day extremely-online culture".
Guo O Dong says the viruses were provided by Deep Instinct, which uses AI to protect clients from cyber attacks.
As well as the malware itself, Deep Instinct provided "technical expertise to execute the work in a safe environment", the page says.
We've contacted Deep Instinct for more info, and will update this story when they get back.
In other cyber security news, experts warned yesterday that the upcoming UK porn block could get you hacked as cyber crooks are plotting to trick Brits with fake websites.
In January it emerged that the number of fake websites and email addresses used for cyber crime has rocketed eight-fold in the past three years.
Worried about cyber crime? Here's how you can protect yourself from email, phone and text scams.
Do you think the auction is legit? Let us know in the comments!
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