When Art and Malware Collide: The $95 Billion Tale

Imagine a world where the boundaries between art and technology blur, where digital creations become as valuable as masterpieces exhibited in the most prestigious galleries of the art world. In August 2021, this realm collided with the dark underworld of malware.

As we set the stage, picture this: a live stream showcasing “The Persistence of Chaos,” a laptop running six infamous pieces of malware that have collectively wreaked financial havoc, amassing an astonishing $95 billion in damages.

Now, picture a laptop that symbolizes this unusual union of art and technology, a laptop purchased for a staggering $1.3 million by a daring art collector who recognized the inherent value in chaos, both digital and artistic. This laptop, can not connected to wi-fi or other connections to release the harmful contents.

The Malware Inside:

• ILOVEYOU: The ILOVEYOU virus was a malicious software distributed via email and file sharing. It affected over 500,000 systems and caused $15 billion in damages, with $5.5 billion occurring in the first week. This virus spread like wildfire, exploiting users’ curiosity and love-themed email subject lines.
• MyDoom: MyDoom, a swift-spreading worm possibly orchestrated by Russian e-mail spammers, raced through the digital landscape. It’s believed to have left a colossal $38 billion in damages in its wake. This malicious worm exploited email attachments to infiltrate systems, leaving chaos in its path.
• SoBig: A notorious worm and trojan, SoBig, wreaked havoc as it propagated through email spam campaigns. Its multifaceted capabilities included file copying, self-emailing, and harm to computer software and hardware. The damages caused by this malware reached a staggering $37 billion, affecting countless PCs.
• WannaCry: WannaCry was an extremely virulent ransomware cryptoworm that also set up backdoors on systems. The attack affected over 200,000 computers across 150 countries and caused the NHS $100 million in damages, with further totals accumulating close to $4 billion. It demanded ransoms in cryptocurrency, leaving organizations in a digital hostage crisis.
• DarkTequila: A sophisticated and stealthy piece of malware, DarkTequila had a particular appetite for Latin American bank credentials and corporate data. Even when offline, it managed to pilfer valuable information, resulting in millions in damages for numerous victims.
• BlackEnergy: BlackEnergy 2, armed with sophisticated rootkit and process-injection techniques, encryption, and a modular architecture called a “dropper,” plunged Ukraine into darkness during a massive cyberattack in December 2015. This malware exemplified the power of digital threats in disrupting critical infrastructure.

In this captivating tale that weaves together art and malware, we find ourselves in a realm where ingenuity and deception collide in unexpected ways. The malware stories, from ILOVEYOU’s seductive emails to BlackEnergy’s infrastructure-disrupting prowess, underscore the multifaceted threats that lurk in the digital shadows and still somehow are created as an art piece.