29A Grows Out of Virus Writing

March 9th, 2008 by JM Hipolito (Technical Communications)

Members of the old school virus writers group 29A may have grown out of virus writing, as their last active member has announced the group’s retirement, The Register reports.

The underground VXer group responsible for the first Win 2000 virus and first 64bit virus were the creators of early mobile malware that mainly infected PDAs. The group called it quits after several members left the group early this year. Their last active member VirusBuster reportedly tried to contact the known key member ValleZ to decide on the fate of the group but to no avail, leading to the announcement.

This looming demise of the old School Virus writers scene stresses the change of the primary motivation in today’s threat landscape, going from recognition and intellectual curiosity to profit.

This retirement can be a turn for the better or the worse, must these virus writers decide on ceasing with malware creation or joining with the more shady malware authors of today. But then, the idea of these skilled individuals using their expertise in going against malware and not creating them for a change is quite more interesting, and much more favorable.

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