[katsume3]

Interesting. It annoys me when hackers tend to do something 'creative' once they're in. Instead of recursively deleting everything (which has the most impact) - they try some novel and boring task which has low impact. The end goal of all nefarious forms of hacking should be to wipe everything.

[taneq]

You say "should be to wipe everything". Why do you think that's the most important goal? I'd have thought the BEST hackers would ensure their continued control of the system and ability to exfiltrate data without arousing any suspicion. A good virus doesn't kill its host, a good hacker doesn't nuke their woot.

[vngzs]

What about:

Making money (cryptomining, CCN theft)?

Stealing data (SSNs, other identity documents)?

Ransoming the data for money?

In the end of the day, most cybercrime is focused on making money, so wiping a system has zero utility (especially as it would tip off the owners to your presence).

[katsume3]

> Ransoming the data for money?

It's acknowledged that some high-profile ransomware attacks had the ulterior motive of wiping data. They used the ransomware as a front and really just wanted to do damage, not make money.

[MereInterest]

Why does it annoy you? I like seeing things that are clever and amusing, things that I wouldn't have thought to do myself. For a less malevolent example, the existence of Upside-Down-Ternet, flipping all images upside down for unauthorized wifi users, rather than outright banning them.

[pmontra]

Viruses in the 80s used to wipe everything or do something very visible with the screen. They got more creative in the 90s, especially after many people got an internet connection at work or at home.

[segfaultbuserr]

> Viruses in the 80s used to wipe everything

Not all viruses do it intentionally, some are originally rather harmless but has unfortunate side-effects in its replication code. For example, when you use a floppy disk in a different format, the virus tries to overwrite it anyway...