Per 
Item #: SCP-XXXX
Object Class: Safe
Special Containment Procedures: To ensure SCP-XXXX remains contained, Foundation agents embedded in global space research and flight organisations are to discourage any planned landings on Mars' Meridiani Planum, and prevent re-establishment of contact with NASA's Opportunity Mars Rover.
Re-evaluation of SCP-XXXX's containment is to be performed annually, to assess the usefulness recovery and repurposing may provide to the Foundation.
Description: SCP-XXXX is a 35 megabyte data packet, capable of self-rewriting and self-transferring. SCP-XXXX's rewriting ability allows it to be compatible with all major operating systems and code platforms. It is capable of transfer through any internet or intranet linked systems, although cannot access devices unconnected to any network, be that through software disconnection or manual removal of wireless or wired ports or other hardware.
SCP-XXXX exists as a single instance. When transferring between devices, all previous versions of the data packet are automatically deleted. All attempts at duplicating SCP-XXXX, or preventing deletion of instances, have failed.
SCP-XXXX does not appear to have a dormant or inactive state. As soon as transfer to a new host device occurs, SCP-XXXX immediately reconfigures itself for compatibility with a single linked device. The process of transferring from device to device has been observed, at its slowest, to last 0.9 milliseconds. An upper limit to this speed has never been established, and on the rare occasion when SCP-XXXX has been forced to route itself through a bottleneck of a single device, the transfer has been too rapid to be detectable.
Understanding of the process by which SCP-XXXX chooses a new host device is limited, but a few general rules have been established.
- SCP-XXXX will not transfer to a device with two or less connections (including the source connection).
- Devices with internet connection are entirely preferred to those without.
- Devices belonging to (or connected to the networks of) businesses on the FTSE 100 and devices that perform large transactions are entirely preferred, even if they violate the other two rules.
In the wake of a device being infected with SCP-XXXX, it will unexpectedly shut down. This process occurs approximately 3 milliseconds after SCP-XXXX transfers to a device which will be unaffected by the shut down.
SCP-XXXX has caused significant disruption in online infrastructure since 20██, including ██ temporary shutdowns of Twitter, ██ temporary shutdowns of Facebook and Facebook-owned sites, and at least █ shutdowns of Alphabet Inc. run sites. At least two major computer failures involving FTSE 100 companies are attributed to SCP-XXXX attacks, resulting in a combined loss of $██ billion.
The data packet that comprises SCP-XXXX has not been analysed. It is unknown how it manages to restructure or transfer itself, or how the code required to do so is contained within a 35 megabyte packet. No data has been recovered to identify the individual or entity that created SCP-XXXX.
On June 10th, 2018, upon the instruction of Foundation researches Dr. ██████ and Dr. █████████, personnel embedded in NASA allowed SCP-XXXX entry into NASA's Deep Space Network, where multiple dummy transmissions from on-Earth radio-communication dishes were prepared. These dishes were aimed at asteroid 16 Psyche, the metal of which is valued at over $10 sextillion, NASA's $400 million Opportunity vehicle, and ████ ███████, representing a cumulative cost of $166 billion.
SCP-XXXX entered the package alongside an encrypted killcode, and both sets of data were immediately broadcast towards Opportunity. Upon arrival, Opportunity's communications devices were taken offline by the killcode, and SCP-XXXX was not detected moving through any part of the Deep Space Network.
Scans for further movement of SCP-XXXX have returned no sightings, and are ongoing.
