Where do viruses come from?

Am I right in thinking that viruses/malware, etc. all originate from the companies that make the software to fix it?

I doubt all do , I'm sure people with major resentments do as well

Well, the famous "Melissa" virus was written by a 17 year old, in Singapore. If not Singapore, some other sleazy south east Asian slum.

It does give one pause to wonder whether some software companies who are having their product cracked and stolen, might have cause to add an extra little "surprise", for someone's downloading pleasure.

well that wouldn't be very {excuse the pun} "pc" now would it .

"Singapore is the only world city without slums" according to the U.N. Habitat.

• 88% broadband proliferation
• 4th highest life expectancy (US is #45)
• Unemployment rate is 1.7%

I'm not saying it's a great place to live, but slum probably isn't the right term for Singapore, no?

u.s. is #45 on life expectancy , christ , any kind of health care reform is probably good

I don't quite think that is the cause actually. I'm sure the amount of drunk driving, drugs and other incidents that healthcare reform will not help are probably higher too o.o.

And virus's come from techspot, then spread from website to website through techspot users!

Perhaps I was thinking of Shanghai.

As to life expectancy, in comparison with the US, we commit suicide by fast food, you surely can't laud Singapore for our foibles.

Anyway, I googled the "Melissa" virus, and as it turns out, David L. Smith from New Jersey wrote it. Well, I fumbled the ball on that one, but don't even try to tell me that New Jersey has happy people and no slums. I know that's wrong.

About 30% of Americans are bordering on morbidly obese. Do you think that contributes to a long life! Not likely! Basically we have 75 million lard a**ed people living in denial, and no, health care reform won't cure that.

This is an extraordinary case of WTF are you talking about?

if it trys to high jack get highjack this and spybot search and destroy its usally what i see most people do

also if you have to reboot your entire computer buy a USB flash drive to save important files

OK Twister1, I don't mind being quoted. I don't even mind being called wrong by somebody without a clear thought process, or the ability to successfully extract an abstract concept, however imperfectly, from the post of the person you're trying unsuccessfully to quote. But, I do mind having to separate the quote from your reply.

So, I you don't mind please place this >>>> " [/QUOTE]" <<< behind the OP's paragraph, and not after what you've written. Oh, that's without the quotation marks.

Thanks in advance for you attention to this matter.

And BTW, obese people get plenty of health care, they are lavished with it, and that's why we need health care reform, and preventative medicine options, we simply can't afford the amount of health care expenditures that they generate. In words that you could understand, we can't afford to fix them. Then tack on smokers, do ya think they run up the bills also?

Cynic Cat's Comments

Origin of viri
In addition to the sources already mentioned, I add the belief of incompetent users that some mysterious external force is to blame for their mistakes at the keyboard.

Health in America
Many of us prejudiced Europeans are under the impression that in America you lose your health in the effort to gain wealth and then lose your wealth trying to regain your heath.

Ooooooooh! You're joking right?

Viruses not viri.

The word "virus” is of Latin origin, meaning poison. It is certainly correct when writing in English to use the plural “viruses” and this is indeed now the accepted form. But purists also use the etymologically derived plural “viri”, in analogy to “fungus – fungi”, “terminus – termini” and “dominus – domini”.

Some people even say “virii” trying to be super-purists, but that’s wrong in any case or language.

This reminds me to go and water my cacti.

When referring to Malware it's most definitely viruses.

VIRI, (plural of virus), are programs either written by outright criminals, or government agents in cyber-warfare operations.