Is this really art? Laptop infested with the world’s most dangerous viruses including WannaCry ransomware that crippled computers in 74 countries sells for £1 million at auction
- It was created by an online artist and is currently live streaming online
- They caused a combined damage of £74.4billion and have been sold for £1bn
- And include the famous WannaCry ransomware that crippled parts of the NHS
- The computer with the viruses is isolated in an air casing and has ports disabled
Artwork made up of the world’s most dangerous computer viruses on an old Windows XP laptop has sold for £1 million ($1.3m) at auction.
This is a fraction of the estimates for the total of the damages done by the viruses, which crippled 74 countries and are believed to stand at £74.4 billion ($95bn).
The six viruses include the famous WannaCry ransomware that hit the NHS in 2017, as well as ILOVEYOU, MyDoom, DarkTequila, SoBig and Blackenergy.
They are so dangerous that the Windows laptop they infest has been quarantined in an ‘air-gapped’ environment, analogous to the air gap used in plumbing to maintain water quality.
That means the device’s internet functionality and connectivity ports including it’s network socket and USB slots are disabled so that the viruses can never escape.
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The world’s most dangerous computer viruses all in one place – on an old Windows XP laptop (pictured) – has sold as a piece of art for £1 million pounds at auction
The art piece, known as the ‘Persistence of Chaos’, was created by internet artist Guo O Dong in collaboration with cybersecurity company Deep Instinct to make the artwork safe.
The laptop is a Samsung NC10-14GB 10.2-Inch (26cm) Blue Netbook released in 2008, according to his website.
It is running Windows XP SP3 operating system software and comes with a power cord, the official description says.
The screen size is 10.3 x 1.2 x 7.3 inches (26 x 3 x 19 cm) and the laptop weighs 2.8lbs (1.27kg).
This is a fraction of the estimates for the total of the damages done by the viruses combined, which comes to £74.4 billion ($95bn) and crippled 74 countrie. The image shows the Samsung NC10-14GB laptop that has been auctioned
Writing on the website, its creator Mr Dong said: ‘The malwares of The Persistence of Chaos have caused over $95 billion dollars’ worth of damage, simply because businesses weren’t prepared for attacks they haven’t seen before.’
The artwork is currently being broadcast live 24 hours a day on The Persistence of Chaos’ website.
‘The piece is isolated and ‘airgapped’ to prevent against spread of the malware’, says the description under the 24 hour streaming video.
Among the six viruses is ILOVEYOU hit PCs in 2000, and is thought to have affected more than 500,000 systems via email and file sharing services.
MyDoom, a computer worm dating back to 2004 is also on the machine, as well as SoBig, DarkTequila and BlackEnergy.
Mr Guo, the creator of the piece, told The Verge that the work is intended to give abstract threats a physical meaning, serving as ‘a kind of bestiary – a catalogue of historical threats’.
‘We have this fantasy that things that happen in computers can’t actually affect us, but this is absurd.
‘Weaponized viruses that affect power grids or public infrastructure can cause direct harm,’ he said.
The online auction closed with a final bid of £1 million ($1.3m) for the laptop which is currently sitting in New York.
