Whack - A - Mole Virus

[flashiv]

Unbelievable, just unbelievable.   

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2380924,00.asp

[HaRuMaN]

Well, you gotta give the guy an 'E' for Effort...   

[SavannahLion]

Oh nuts. I have a book about software failures where this sort of thing is recorded. A programmer for a major company wrote the accounting software and hid a software bomb to take down the system should his name ever be removed from the payroll. He got fired then they took his name off a year later. When forensic recovered the code and found his name as the trigger, he went to jail.

Great scam, too bad someone already tried it and failed! Dumbass. Should have randomized the failure rate, then he might've gotten away with it a little longer.

[upprc04]

hah I went to a arcade this last weekend and played this because it reminded me of going to chuck e cheese when I was younger.  My friend played right after me and the points were working and all of a sudden it sounded like a motor was stuck on.  We just walked away..it would be pretty funny if this was because of the dreaded Whack - A - Mole virus

[hypernova]

It said "start-ups" which I took as meaning plugging in the machine/turning it on.  511 games in a highly trafficked arcade wouldn't last very long.

[Dartful Dodger]

It said "start-ups" which I took as meaning plugging in the machine/turning it on.  511 games in a highly trafficked arcade wouldn't last very long.

Either way it would have been easy for the arcade owners to know there was something fishy going on. If after 511 times all the wack-a-moles bought on the same day would have failed. If it was the amount of games played, they'd all fail within a month of each other.

All the games would be failing a year and a half after they were bought so even the company he worked for would figure it out.

I second SavannahLion idea. He should have waited until the counter hit 500 and then have the games fail at a randomized rate. This way they won’t fail to soon. Some would fail close to 500 days others would fail years later.

Doubling his rate after a year was also a little obvious. Using the randomizing, he could have gone up slowly so it wouldn’t be as obvious. Whoever was luckily enough to have a machine that didn't fail right away, would end up being unlucky by paying higher fees.

[ChadTower]

Either way it would have been easy for the arcade owners to know there was something fishy going on. If after 511 times all the wack-a-moles bought on the same day would have failed. If it was the amount of games played, they'd all fail within a month of each

You're giving way too much credit to the repair staff.  Repair strategy may as well be wack-a-mole itself.  They wouldn't notice that type of pattern.

[ark_ader]

Sounds like Windows ME or Vista 64.

[Dartful Dodger]

You're giving way too much credit to the repair staff.  Repair strategy may as well be wack-a-mole itself.  They wouldn't notice that type of pattern.

Someone noticed.

[ChadTower]

The originating article says that the manufacturer is the one that noticed.

[ChadTower]

I got $1 that says he probably blabbed about it and that's why he got caught.

That's how it usually happens.

[Dartful Dodger]

The originating article says that the manufacturer is the one that noticed.

The originating article says that both the manufacturer and the customer noticed.

[Ed_McCarron]

Yeah, but a 'virus?'

Semantics, I realize, but...

[SavannahLion]

Yeah, but a 'virus?'

Semantics, I realize, but...

Technically it would be a bomb but in today moronic society it would immediately label him as a terrorist and/or anti-American. Of course, a vast majority of users wouldn't know a virus even if it gave them a $20 salad tossing.

[amendonz]

haha.

also, since when is jumping on someones facebook when the're away from their pc a 'hack'

on topic, agreed with what has been said here, really didn't put enough thought into his scheme.

[Gray_Area]

I got $1 that says he probably blabbed about it and that's why he got caught.

That's how it usually happens.

The notion of notoriety is a compulsive force.

[danny_galaga]

Unbelievable, just unbelievable.   

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2380924,00.asp

What an a-hole...

[Dervacumen]

There's a joke in there somewhere about him whacking his own mole but I can't piece it together.  Help? 

[ChadTower]

There's a joke in there somewhere about him whacking his own mole but I can't piece it together.  Help? 

Add in a Trojan and a virus and you've got yourself a friday night.