DVForge pulls back from OS X virus writing contest
March 29, 2005
A contest that promised $25,000 to the person who could write a virus to infect computers running Apple’s OS X, has been withdrawn after legal advice.
DVForge, a company that develops digital products, including for Apple, made the offer apparently in response to warnings by Symantec that computers using the Apple OS X operating system were becoming increasingly vulnerable to security flaws.
DVForge are reported to have pulled the offer after various concerns were raised, not least that DVForge could be considered to be aiding and abetting an illegal activity by sponsoring the contest.
Although viruses exist for the Mac OS X system, these are simply “proof of concept” malvare projects that remain in the lab, and no mass outbreak has yet occured.
Meanwhile, Apple are expected to announce this Friday a major update of their operating system. Mac OS X 10.4, named Tiger, will come with QuickTime 7, as well as its own DeskTop Search application named Spotlight.