 VCL Title Screen in Windows Vista | |
| Developer(s) | Nowhere Man |
|---|---|
| Stable release | 1.0 / July 5, 1992 |
| Operating system | MS-DOS |
| Type | Virus creation |
| License | Freeware |
The Virus Creation Laboratory (VCL) was one of the earliest attempts to provide a virus creation tool so that individuals with little to no programming expertise could mass-create computer viruses. [1] VCL required a password for access, which was widely published alongside VCL. The password was "Chiba City", [2] a likely reference to the William Gibson novel Neuromancer .
A hacker dubbed "Nowhere Man", of the NuKE hacker group, released the software in July 1992. [3] [4]
However, it was later discovered that viruses created with the Virus Creation Laboratory were often ineffective, as many anti-virus programs of the day caught them easily. Also, many viruses created by the program did not work at all - and often, their source codes could not be compiled, thus rendering the virus program created unusable. [5] Despite its limitations, several viruses created with the program became widespread. [6]