Eli5 – How are computer viruses created without destroying the creator’s computer first?

Question

I’ve always wondered how computer viruses are made. If someone creates a virus on their own computer, wouldn’t it infect and potentially destroy their system first before it’s spread to others?

In: 249

Answer 1

Possibly. Certainly the creator will want to test it. The simple answer is “use a sacrificial machine for this”. You could have an old machine that you just install the virus on while developing it and keep reinstalling fresh copies of the OS and development environment when it works and infects the machine. Alternatively you can build in a back door to deactivate the virus that only you know about and/or simply remove the deactivation code when building your final release.