The idea of your laptop being infested with viruses is likely to fill most people with dread.
But one laptop that is infested with not one, but six of the world’s most dangerous viruses, has attracted the attention of keen art collectors.
The laptop, called ‘The Persistence of Chaos’ has sold at auction for more than £1 million this week.
Amongst the most deadly viruses on the laptop is WannaCry – the malware that brought down parts of the NHS back in May 2017.
The old Windows XP machine is isolated and airgapped with internet capabilities and available ports disabled to prevent the malware from being spread.
It was created by internet artist Guo O Dong in collaboration with cybersecurity company Deep Instinct to make the artwork safe.
All six viruses are believed to have caused financial damages in the region of 95 billion US dollars (£74.4 billion).
Other viruses include ILOVEYOU which hit PCs in 2000, and is thought to have affected more than 500,000 systems via email and file sharing services.
MyDoom, a computer worm dating back to 2004 is also on the machine, as well as SoBig, DarkTequila and BlackEnergy.
Mr Guo told The Verge that the work is intended to give abstract threats a physical meaning, serving as "a kind of bestiary – a catalogue of historical threats".
The online auction closed with a final bid of 1.3 million US dollars (£1 million).
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