Now it’s official: everything is infectible. Wired’s Threat Level blog reports that two new “proof-of-concept” computer viruses* target the TI-89 graphing calculator. They obviously can’t spread to another calculator directly, but instead wait for the user to move an infected file through the TI-89’s serial port, which can connect to a PC or directly to another TI-89.
McAfee’s Igor Muttik says portable Turing-complete gadgets are the next malware petri dish. Oh, goody.
*Technically the plural should be “virii,” but writing that certifies you as a Grade-A Wonk so I shall abstain.
One response to “New Computer Virus Targets Calculators”
$0.06:
– Ha! They told me that my TI-85 (Silver edition, tyvm) wouldn’t scale well.
– Octopii, too? (Just because I recall the flummoxed lummox looks I got when I told the spotlight operators that their first cue was “Full-body, frame 4, on the sarcophagii adjacent to the proscenium.”)
– May I at least apply to take the cert exam for Grade-B Wonk now, or can I get an honorary?