The ultimate computer virus is this. Suppose you are infected by some virus, probably detected by your virus software. This is great. You feel secure, invulnerable, unassailable, comfortable. You can do what you will. Protected, you are. So, you think, and so do I.
But suppose that virus that is soon detected and carefully destroyed has already done its damage. It has infected your virus detection agent. When you update it, as you will, the software downloaded originates at some alternate site. You will never see the undetectable URL. It will download and install the virus laden software that surely will appear to function as intended. It will even find stuff that may not be there. You feel secure, invulnerable, unassailable, comfortable. But for certain viruses and other malware - theirs - your system is now totally and irretrievably corrupted. The now scurrilous software may now serve for key-logging, may extract passcodes, may analyze key-words, or may determine account numbers.
Such an advent could compromise any encryption software you may be applying.
You think this is silly, beyond the pale. One rule of thumb is that if you can conceive the notion, and it is possible, it exists. The concept of a covert spy spying upon spies (except one) is a tactical element that has been extant for centuries. Why not with software?
The purveyors of this cannot be detected, and live beyond any knowledge. They can become known only through their own errors of application - a variation of greed or counter-deception.
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