Internet security news can often be rather bleak and depressing, but every once in awhile, you come across a truly funny news article. CNet came out with an article a couple of days ago that made me laugh/shake my head and I would like to share it with all of you.

A Masters of Fine Arts student named Zach Gage came up with an interesting idea for his thesis. So, he programmed a game that runs on MacIntosh computers. Resembling Space Invaders (Space Invaders gave an entire generation carpal tunnel syndrome), Gage's project has a twist - every time you destroy an alien ship, Zach's game deletes a random file on your computer. Gage is incredibly upfront about this - his web site warns you that you will permanently lose data and the game also warns you of this when you start it!

Lose/Lose is available on Gage's web site. Chances are, it would not have created much of a stir (or even crossed my path), except various anti-virus companies have deemed the game 'malicious software'. According to the CNet article, Symantec is concerned that someone could take the game and modify it so that it does not properly notify users. Makes sense, right?

When asked about his project, Zach Gage was quoted as saying, "At what point does our virtual data become as important to us as physical possessions? If we have reached that point already, what real objects do we value less than our data?

I don't think I understand...

Interestingly enough, people have played the game. His web site shows that the top player actually destroyed 5,000 aliens (and thus deleted 5,000 files).

Once again, I don't think I understand...