Can lisp be used to write viruses or other malware? [closed]

Question

I'm just curious. I always hear about C or assembly being the language of choice for viruses, and I wonder if any of the more arcane languages like lisp or scheme can be used for it too

Answer 1

Yes - the important thing is not the language but whether the environment in which it runs has permission to modify files.

The AutoCAD W32/Bursted virus was written in a Lisp variant called AutoLISP.

See also:

• Debugging what this LISP Virus is doing

Answer 2

I doubt many viruses are written in assembly. As for Lisp and Scheme, if there is access to the system then there's the possibility of writing a virus.

Are you looking for advice as to what language to choose? ;-)

Answer 3

Not exactly a virus, but here's an interesting interview with a coder who used TinyScheme in some adware.