When buying a used laptop, people generally make sure it doesn’t come with malware. For this exact reason, they ask for a freshly formatted laptop with a reinstall of Windows to eliminate any possibility of viruses. Some notorious viruses are even capable of making a fully functioning laptop useless. However, a Samsung NC10 loaded with six of the world’s most dangerous viruses just sold for $1.35 million.
Although at $1.35 million you do get a laptop with a cool name. It is rightfully called ‘The Persistence of Chaos.’ TPOC is a perfectly safe laptop to own. As long as you keep all USB devices off limits and keep it off the internet. It is dubbed as a piece of art by its creator, Guo O Dong. On his talk with the Verge he said that the purpose was to highlight the dangers of the virtual worlds and the very real physical damage it can cause. He said:
“We have this fantasy that things that happen in computers can’t actually affect us, but this is absurd. Weaponized viruses that affect power grids or public infrastructure can cause direct harm.”
The viruses in the laptop were chosen for how much economic damage they caused. For instance, the WannaCry ransom-ware affected 200,000 computers, caused a massive $4 billion loss. Moreover, in 2015, the BlackEnergy trojan caused a large-scale blackout in Ukraine. When all the six viruses are combined, they are estimated to have caused $95 billion in damages.
These viruses are no playthings and its seller ensured that all network ports and internet capability were removed before being delivered to the customer. Moreover, the laptop is bought with the understanding that the customer will not spread the viruses.
