Virus Creation Laboratory

Virus Creation Laboratory
	VCL Title Screen in Windows Vista
Developer(s)	Nowhere Man
Stable release	1.0 / July 5, 1992
Operating system	MS-DOS
Type	Virus creation
License	Freeware

The Virus Creation Laboratory (VCL) was one of the earliest attempts to provide a virus creation tool so that individuals with little to no programming expertise could mass-create computer viruses.[1] VCL required a password for access, which was widely published alongside VCL. The password was "Chiba City",[2] a likely reference to the William Gibson novel Neuromancer.

A hacker dubbed "Nowhere Man", of the NuKE hacker group, released the software in July 1992.[3]

However, it was later discovered that viruses created with the Virus Creation Laboratory were often ineffective, as many anti-virus programs of the day caught them easily. Also, many viruses created by the program did not work at all - and often, their source codes could not be compiled, thus rendering the virus program created unusable.[4] Despite its limitations, several viruses created with the program became widespread.[5]

References

Wang, Wallace (2006). Steal this Computer Book 4.0: What They Won't Tell You About the Internet. No Starch Press. pp. 74–75. ISBN 9781593271053.
God@rky (1996). "God@rky's Virus Heaven Newsletter #1". Retrieved 17 July 2021.
Ethical Hacking and Countermeasures: Threats and Defense Mechanisms. Cengage Learning. 2016. p. 74. ISBN 9781337015639.
"VCL.716 Description". Threat Descriptions. F-Secure. Retrieved 17 July 2021.
Szőr, Péter (25 March 2005). "Advanced Code Evolution Techniques and Computer Virus Generator Kits". The Art of Computer Virus Research and Defense. Addison-Wesley Professional. ISBN 978-0-321-30454-4.

External links

VCL Documentation

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[1] Wang, Wallace (2006). Steal this Computer Book 4.0: What They Won't Tell You About the Internet. No Starch Press. pp. 74–75. ISBN 9781593271053.

[2] God@rky (1996). "God@rky's Virus Heaven Newsletter #1". Retrieved 17 July 2021.

[3] Ethical Hacking and Countermeasures: Threats and Defense Mechanisms. Cengage Learning. 2016. p. 74. ISBN 9781337015639.

[4] "VCL.716 Description". Threat Descriptions. F-Secure. Retrieved 17 July 2021.

[5] Szőr, Péter (25 March 2005). "Advanced Code Evolution Techniques and Computer Virus Generator Kits". The Art of Computer Virus Research and Defense. Addison-Wesley Professional. ISBN 978-0-321-30454-4.