It might be quite difficult to understand how an old, tiny laptop can be accepted as a piece of art; Well, at least I don’t quite see the logic behind it. However, with a current bid of $1.2 million, the world certainly thinks differently. Built by internet artist Guo O Dong, the laptop, however, can inflict some serious damage, which is what makes it so unique. The piece of art is an ordinary 10.2-inch Samsung NC10-14GB laptop filled with six of the world’s most dangerous pieces of malware. Called “The Persistence of Chaos,” the half a dozen extremely dangerous pieces of malware cumulatively have caused nearly $95 billion in damages, according to Dong. “The intention behind the laptop was to make physical the abstract threats posed by the digital world. We have this fantasy that things that happen in computers can’t actually affect us, but this is absurd. Weaponised viruses that affect power grids or public infrastructure can cause direct harm,” Dong told The Verge.
Viruses that infect the laptop include some recent names like the WannaCry ransomware, as well as older viruses like the nearly 20-year-old ILOVEYOU virus. The artwork was commissioned by cybersecurity firm DeepInstinct and is currently being auctioned online. The laptop riddled with malware can be seen on a live stream on Twitch and is completely safe provided that it’s not connected to your Wi-Fi or a USB has been plugged in, according to Dong.
[Via:TheVerge]
