The Virus

[Sigtrygg]

I read and understood those products decades ago. I gave them away as they were so poorly written. You really should get familiar with them before trying to argue what's in them though. Reread them and you'l see them spreading via radio comms for one thing. Just one example of them being a magical being and not a computer program.

I have two copies of each and electronic versions, so if you can point me to where I can find the information.

Viruses can be spread by radio, near field communication, bluetooth... Ican privide citations but you are likely already aware of them

For example Voyager was frequently reprogrammed via radio uplink...

Would the Iranians still have their centrifuges if they had McAfee or Norton or whatever to fight Stuxnet...

 

[Sigtrygg]

Virus was a dumb idea that reads like a Boomer read the Good Times virus hoax email and believed that that was how computer viruses worked. Someone else must have looked at it before publication and thought "ummm, that's not how this would work" but they were so keen to break the OTU in the face of the community's desire to at least have the Marches conserved in recognisable form that they stayed quiet. All subsequent tweaks were smearing lipstick on a very ugly pig with an unusually low IQ, even for a member of sus scrofa domesticus.

I am still waiting to have explained what won't work, because from my reading on electronic and cyber warfare there is a lot of rather nasty things one computer can get another to do remotely...

you will be telling me next that the various hacking and netrunning systems in every cyberpunk game ever are pure fantasy next...

 

[Endie]

I am still waiting to have explained what won't work, because from my reading on electronic and cyber warfare there is a lot of rather nasty things one computer can get another to do remotely...

I first encountered a virus in the wild, in 1989 (Washer, fortunately a relatively harmless example), as a very junior software engineer. Marcus has explained that he worked in the field. If you honestly still don't understand after several decades why Virus was palpably ridiculous then it would take a lot more than a quick forum post to make the scales fall from your eyes, especially when your mind is already absolutely made up.

If you want to dismiss this information, go for it! Maybe Marcus is actually a retail assistant and I am a window cleaner with a Walter Mitty complex.

You can believe that Virus is a work of misunderstood genius, that those who mock it are fools to a man and that its position as a subject of humour to the technologically-literate is a grevious failure by us proles to understand its true genius. Just say it is space magic and have done with it!

 

[Sigtrygg]

I first encountered a virus in the wild, in 1989 (Washer, fortunately a relatively harmless example), as a very junior software engineer. Marcus has explained that he worked in the field. If you honestly still don't understand after several decades why Virus was palpably ridiculous then it would take a lot more than a quick forum post to make the scales fall from your eyes, especially when your mind is already absolutely made up.

Instead of being rude and snarky why don't you try explaining. As I have said, extensive reading on cyberwarfare and electronic warfare has opened my eyes to things I never thought possible.
My mind is never made up, I am always willing to learn , discuss, argue, but until you explain rather than insult then it not I being closed minded.

If you want to dismiss this information, go for it!

I want details, not blithe statements. So far no information has been forthcoming. I have read extensively on stuxnet and its more modern descendents, I have studied papers on cyberwarfare and future issues that need defending against.

Maybe Marcus is actually a retail assistant and I am a window cleaner with a Walter Mitty complex.

You could be, I credit that you are not. Shame the courtesy isn't shown both ways.

You can believe that Virus is a work of misunderstood genius,

I don't.

that those who mock it are fools to a man

people always mock what they don't understand...

and that its position as a subject of humour to the technologically-literate

there are degrees of scientific, engineering and technological literacy displayed on these forums

is a grevious failure by us proles to understand its true genius.

Don't put yourself down or better yet cut the snark and have a reasoned discussion.

Just say it is space magic and have done with it!

It is space magic. Just like the jump drive. Just like wafer technology, Just like light second ranged laser weapons. Just like artificial gravity. Just like acceleration compensation fields. Just like the magic maneuver drive. Just like damper technology. Just like meson technology. Just like black globes. Just like personal defence screens. And just like the total absence of heat management.

Not much point in further discussion on any topic if all that happens is wave the space magic wand.

I want someone to dissect what is written in TNE and describe, better yet explain, what is so wrong and how it can be fixed.

Without name calling, snark, and deliberate belittling.

 

[Endie]

Instead of being rude and snarky why don't you try explaining. As I have said, extensive reading on cyberwarfare and electronic warfare has opened my eyes to things I never thought possible.
My mind is never made up, I am always willing to learn , discuss, argue, but until you explain rather than insult then it not I being closed minded.

I want details, not blithe statements. So far no information has been forthcoming. I have read extensively on stuxnet and its more modern descendents, I have studied papers on cyberwarfare and future issues that need defending against.

You could be, I credit that you are not.

I don't.

people always mock what they don't understand...

there are degrees of scientific, engineering and technological literacy displayed on these forums

Don't put yourself down or better yet cut the snark and have a reasoned discussion.

It is space magic. Just like the jump drive. Just like wafer technology, Just like light second ranged laser weapons. Just like artificial gravity. Just like acceleration compensation fields. Just like the magic maneuver drive. Just like damper technology. Just like meson technology. Just like black globes. Just like personal defence screens. And just like the total absence of heat management.

Not much point in further discussion on any topic if all that happens is wave the space magic wand.

I want someone to dissect what is written in TNE and describe, better yet explain, what is so wrong and how it can be fixed.

Without name calling, snark, and deliberate belittling.

 

[Sigtrygg]

Fair enough, snark it is.

edit - the same as I just asked MarcusIII - how about a change of tack - can you recommend a good textbook to learn the basics of cyber security to first degree level, and then one or two post graduate books. Learning is pretty easy once you have the time and motivation

 

[MarcusIII]

Viruses can be spread by radio, near field communication, bluetooth... Ican privide citations but you are likely already aware of them

you aren't understanding what I'm talking about. Getting into the tech of it is too much for someone who isn't trained in IT Tech. At least for the time I have

 

[Sigtrygg]

Five minutes search got this little lot:
Post-Stuxnet Evolution of threats...
AI-Powered Malware: Modern threats use machine learning to evade detection, adapt to environments, and generate polymorphic code. Isolation Forest models can detect anomalies in process behavior.

Air-Gap Breaches: Like Stuxnet’s USB vector, newer methods exploit:
-Electromagnetic emissions (e.g., AirHopper, GSMem) to exfiltrate data from isolated systems via FM signals or mobile baseband.
-Power fluctuations (PowerHammer) to encode data in power line noise.
-Thermal and acoustic channels to transmit bits between devices without network access.

Radio, Bluetooth, and NFC Vulnerabilities:
-Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE): vulnerable to spoofing, replay attacks, and passive sniffing. Attackers can impersonate trusted devices or inject malicious firmware updates.
-Near Field Communication (NFC): short range, but exploitable via proximity-based attacks. Can trigger unauthorized transactions or launch payloads on mobile devices.
-RF Injection: malicious signals can manipulate sensors or induce faults in analog systems. Used in non-invasive fault injection to bypass cryptographic protections.

Real-World Techniques that have been documented and demonstrated, further details are available.

Air-Gap Breaches via Electromagnetic Emissions:
-AirHopper (2014): Used FM signals from a GPU to exfiltrate data to nearby smartphones.
-GSMem (2015): Used CPU instructions to generate cellular-band EM signals detectable by baseband processors.
-PowerHammer (2018): Encoded data in power line fluctuations from air-gapped machines.

Ultrasonic Covert Channels:
-BadBIOS (alleged) and later MOSQUITO (2020): Used inaudible sound to transmit data between air-gapped systems via speakers and microphones.

Bluetooth Exploits:
-BlueBorne (2017): Allowed remote code execution via Bluetooth without pairing.
-BLESA (2020): Exploited reconnection flaws in BLE devices.
-BrakTooth (2021): A suite of vulnerabilities affecting SoCs in Bluetooth stacks.

NFC Exploits: real-world attacks have included:
-Triggering malicious URLs or app installations.
-Exploiting Android Beam vulnerabilities.
-Relay attacks for contactless payment spoofing.

Firmware-Level Attacks:
-LoJax (2018): First UEFI rootkit seen in the wild.
-ThunderSpy (2020): Exploited Thunderbolt firmware to bypass disk encryption and OS protections.

ICS/SCADA Attacks:
-Industroyer/CrashOverride (2016): Targeted Ukraine’s power grid.
-TRITON (2017): Targeted safety instrumented systems in petrochemical plants.

 

[MarcusIII]

Five minutes search got this little lot:

NONE of what you posted is relevant to what I'm referring to. Get REALLY trained in computers and programming and how it all works.

 

[Sigtrygg]

you aren't understanding what I'm talking about. Getting into the tech of it is too much for someone who isn't trained in IT Tech. At least for the time I have

You are not explaining what you are talking about, you are just dismissing. I could say the same for thermodynamics, the number of people on these boards who think they know what they are talking about is much greater than the people who do. Or just about any physics topic that the popular science crowd has completely misrepresented. Getting into the tech of it is what I want, that is the only way to understand, I suppose I can always just ask Grok...

 

[Sigtrygg]

NONE of what you posted is relevant to what I'm referring to. Get REALLY trained in computers and programming and how it all works.

So let me get this right, a list of known exploits, vectors to computer corruption and real world examples are not relevant...

how about a change of tack - can you recommend a good textbook to learn the basics of cyber security to first degree level, and then one or two post graduate books. Learning is pretty easy once you have the time and motivation.