Now I'm not sure that this is, in fact, the first, but it's the first I've heard about. The Register is running an article about NetSky-L and NetSky-M, both released yesterday. It seems NetSky-K, the last release prior to these gems, had text hidden inside hat promised it would be the last variant of NetSky written by the original author. It also promised that the source code would be available soon.

Well, who knows if it's the author playing games (as is known to happen with virus writers) or if its a copycat. And if it's the latter, who knows if it's because of source code being released or not.

But the thought of virus source code being released is a double edged sword. The advantages of open source code are many. Among them are the ability to adapt code to suit your needs and desires, and also the ability to learn what other coders' methods are for writing similar routines to the ones you hope to write. On the one hand, you would think it bad to let new, "wannabe" type virus authors access to this code. Who knows how many more virii (yes, that is, in my opinion, the proper plural form of virus) might be spawned. But on the other hand this will give computer forensics officers a huge advantage in investigations. Of course, those who are anti-open source will use this as ammunition, and likely soon, to try to outlaw open source in their ongoing campaign to turn the technology world into an entirely proprietary lump.

What a way to start my open source section, eh?