A laptop infected with some of the most destructive pieces of malware ever may sound like the kind of ticking time bomb you’d expect only in sci-fi movies. But one man has created just such a machine, and it can be yours — if you have about $1 million to spare. The piece, by artist Guo O Dong, is titled “The Persistence of Chaos,” and the name is apt because the laptop could wreak some serious havoc. The old Samsung Netbook that runs Windows XP is infected with half a dozen extremely dangerous pieces of malware that, cumulatively, have caused nearly $95 billion in damages.
… While it may seem irresponsible to sell a machine capable of causing that much damage, Dong says he’s taken precautions to prevent the laptop’s contents from spreading. He writes on his auction page: “The piece is isolated and airgapped to prevent against spread of the malware.” The listing also comes with a warning that the piece is intended to only be used as art or for “academic reasons,” and that “the sale of malware for operational purposes is illegal in the United States.”