SCP-5029 is capable of self-downloading onto devices. SCP-5029 cannot be downloaded from any application stores, and will not appear if searched.
How does it find devices to infect? What is its vector? Or is it floating freely, as it were, through the Internet? If the Foundation knows where it ended up, couldn't they also technically learn where and when it first appeared, and then, whomever disseminated it?
These questions don't necessarily need to be brought up, but when basic questions aren't addressed in the article proper, I'm left confused about how it can even operate. I think even a simple "SCP-5029's means of travel are as-yet-undetermined" wording could rectify this and quell any questions. But right now, it seems the Foundation is unconcerned where it came from or how it can travel in that way, despite it being wildly hazardous.
Once opened, SCP-5029 cannot be closed until an interaction with SCP-5029-1 is made. After closure, all files and applications on the affected device will revert to an unfinished state. Instances of files and applications being deleted completely have also been noted.
Given this information, why would the Foundation try interacting with the virus in the first place? This is essentially ransomware, except there's no "key", and no evident "ransom" that motivated its creator to cut it loose. Surely, the Foundation wouldn't, as even basic interaction poses a considerable security and privacy risk — not just for their own employees, but the Foundation network at large. Again, a simple "SCP-5029 is currently undergoing study via non-Internet-capable secure devices/virtual machines" would work to alleviate this question. The early mention of
The internet servers of Site-90 have been rerouted […]
— and later mention of —
[…] outside of its intended testing range.
— don't, because at the same time, it shows the Foundation offering an unnecessary amount of leeway. I do understand this was done, narratively, so that its personality can be known, but the portrayal of its personality also left me discouraged. The article also shows the application brute-forcing into Foundation servers anyway, as though it will merely get what it wants regardless of what the Foundation does — so, again, why offer it the leeway?
Also:
Why is Researcher Cherri letting the anomaly know so much about him? Doesn't that also pose a considerable security risk? It almost appears as though Cherri's intervention here is the reason it spread into Foundation servers, and there is no mention of Cherri having expertise in this field — so why was he assigned?
Personally, until Addendum 3, the Foundation feels either incompetent here, or dangerously careless. This is a highly infectious computer virus that travels independent of any initial source, seemingly between numerous infected computers without a known vector, and even somehow accesses reality outside the computer so as to see into people's homes, offices, and Foundation sites. And because it can access reality, isn't letting the anomaly know so much about Cherri also an unintended risk?
I will note that I'm definitely not a computer expert, but to me, the way it works and the way the Foundation approaches it aren't sensical. I also don't see why the Foundation might be so friendly with it in the first place when it's already shown causing widespread damage to people's devices.
I do see the amount of work and effort put into this article, but it doesn't work for me.
