Tech Column: The future of computer viruses

"Cybercrime" is nothing new. Identify theft, ATM fraud, counterfeiting, invasion of privacy, sabotaging websites, hacking into government networks and spreading viruses are just a few of the dangers computer users—which is just about everybody these days—face daily. Mark Gasson, a researcher at the University of Reading in Berkshire, England, has suggested a new form of cybercrime, one that is as ingenious as it is disturbing.

            His experiment involved something straight out of a science fiction movie: A computer chip infected with a virus was implanted under the skin of Gassons's hand. The chip, which contains a malicious code, is similar to the ID chips used to tag pets. Whenever Gasson would pass an ID scanner, simply passing his hand over it would transfer the virus to the scanner's system. This is possible through radio-frequency identification, which allows the wireless transfer of the virus to take place.

Gasson explained to technewsdaily.com that the "virus replicates itself through the database and potentially could copy itself onto the access cards that people use." 

As crime and computing continue to collide, hackers will become increasingly adept at corrupting devices and stealing information. So many electronic mechanisms we use and encounter in our daily lives will be at risk: laptops, mobiles, Bluetooths, ATM machines, checkout terminals at grocery stores, security cameras, even large HD displays like those in Times Square.

Gasson did not perform this experiment as a publicity stunt, but rather to show the kind of dangers people may be facing in the near future. Developers of electronics will have to start taking extra steps to ensure the safety of the consumer, perhaps outfitting devices with their own upgradeable anti-viral software. If not, mass identity theft, wide scale blackouts, television signals interrupted by pranksters and mechanical implants that malfunction or even stop working—as well as a plethora of other dangers we can't anticipate, will be commonplace, if not expected.