Reference number: CH000653

How do I create a computer virus?

Question:

Answer:

Because of the frequency this question has been asked in e-mail, on the forums, and searched for on TNTC, we have decided to create a document for this question. If you are interested in creating a computer virus, trojan, worm, or other malicious program as revenge, payback, or as a prank for an individual or a company we suggest you re-think.

Creating a program to delete files or to cause other issues with a persons computer resolves nothing, may cause you additional issues, may cause you to be prosecuted by the law. In other words you could be fined and/or sent to prison.

Users who are interested in creating computer viruses or other programs should consider learning to program in a computer programming language. You will learn a lot more by learning one or more programming languages and you will become more qualified in getting hired at a company that designs programs. No one ever got hired by a reputable company for writing computer viruses.

Below is additional questions and answers that relate to this same subject.

If I create a good computer virus wont I become famous?

No, the only fame you will likely get is a news article and maybe a picture of you when you are handcuffed and being sent to prison. In fact if you were to write a computer virus that was effective and infected several computers or networks you would more than likely not wish to become famous at the fear of being prosecuted by the law.

I only want to write a virus to learn how they work.

You will learn a lot more about how computer programs and viruses work by learning to program then you ever will by writing and tinkering with computer viruses.

If I write a good virus I'll get hired at a security firm or antivirus company.

False, no respectable security firm or antivirus company wants to affiliated with an individual who has created a program that has infected potential customers computers. If you're interested in getting hired on at a security firm, antivirus company, or just want to get into the security field it would be much better to learn programming, become a participant in security discussions, become a beta tester, and/or attempt to find vulnerabilities in programs and operating systems and report them to the companies.

Can TNTC send me additional details, examples, or other information about creating viruses.

No, TNTC will not send any user any other additional information about creating computer viruses, worms, or trojans. This document was created to help deter any users from creating computer viruses and instead do something more productive like computer programming.

Additional information:

See document CH000806 for additional information about how to hack someone or something.
Information about whether antivirus companies create computer viruses can be found on document CH001013.
See document CH001196 for information about whether it's a crime to create a virus.