Internet Brain Virus

For the longest time, I've been interested if it is possible to create a evolving computer virus that can change its capabilities and evade detection. I don't really know how anti-virus software works, so I may be completely wrong, but by installing multiple versions of itself with some random variations, perhaps a virus can slowly evolve over time and "learn" to survive.

A more recent idea that I find more interesting is a "brain" virus. What if a computer virus was created that infects computers, installs a back door access mechanism, and sets up a small neural node cluster on the machine (the exact layout of the neural net and edge weights can be pre-determined, with a few random perturbations thrown in on each install). The virus also installs some simple scanning, communications, and simple goal evaluation software, with some randomisation as to the exact settings of these modules. A virus can install multiple versions of itself on a host machine.

Once the virus is established on the system, it scans the host's contents as well as spending some of the time scanning the Internet (perhaps a specific set of addresses) and passes the collected information through the neural net and scoring algorithms. With certain scores, this information gets sent randomly to a set (the nearest set, a predetermined set, or some "highly scoring" set) of neural nodes, some installed on other machines. In this way, all of the infected hosts' information is available to all other hosts in a pre-processed and pre-selected format, and the neural nets will evolve using this information. Each program will also maintain a tiny database of important processed information that it decides to keep.

Of course, there are many details not worked out, but the idea is to turn the Internet into a giant brain, with each infected machine representing a small portion of the "organism." If some hosts are taken offline, the remaining nodes will pick up the slack, and with enough information replication, no real damage is done. As one of the main scoring algorithms will be self-preservation, hopefully the brain will learn how to protect itself over time so that it becomes a permanent fixture on the Internet. The Internet space will then be shared with an "intelligent" "organism," and perhaps with software upgrades and evolution, humans can even start having meaningful interactions with this "brain." I wonder if this is ever possible. Imagine harnessing just a tiny part of the processing power and information contained in all computers connected to the Internet, and having those resources go towards a seemingly omnipresent intelligent artificial brain that can evolve and adapt!