As far as I know, viruses are not written for processors... they are written to exploit flaws in operating systems. There have been a few viruses aimed at BIOSes, but none that are aimed at specific processors. For example, most Windows viruses work just fine on a PowerPC chip based Mac running a Windows installation in VirtualPC yet the PowerPC is completely different from the Intel/AMD X86 design.
I'm not so sure that will continue with Apple's embracing of the Intel processor. "Granted, dll-loading and system API calls within the virus code designed for Windows will not work, but I'd still think hackers could now have the capability to write platform-agnostic viruses for Intel that could do a phenomenal amount of damage. Your thoughts?
As far as I know, viruses are not written for processors... they are written to exploit flaws in operating systems. There have been a few viruses aimed at BIOSes, but none that are aimed at specific processors. For example, most Windows viruses work just fine on a PowerPC chip based Mac running a Windows installation in VirtualPC yet the PowerPC is completely different from the Intel/AMD X86 design."
If there is someone capable of writing machine level code that exploits not only at the chip level, but through two unique and different OSes, find them and hire them, because they will make you billions. That kind of talent *may* exist, but I doubt it's being used to write malware or spam trojans. (Or I hope to god they're not...)