The real difference is proper regulation.... of which, drugs, malware and personal AI agents all aren't.

Medicine for the most part, is regulated and comes with steep penalties for abuse, misuse etc...

Medicine is also often drugs, medicine is a subset of drugs, not a separate thing

Poignant, but technically meaningless, since malware is code made with the specific intent and purpose of doing harm in some way (financially, mentally, socially, physically, whathaveyou).

I do agree on the duality or ambiguity of things in our society though: they are defined by who owns them, how they are used and to what ends. To continue with your phrasing:

the difference between a murderer and a policeman is the badge

Here, it is the use of lethal force that is juxtaposed and defined by whether you represent a nation/state or whether you're a "civilian", for lack of a better word.

Nice showerthoughts! :)

You might not know what malware is.

is equation group prestigious enough "brand" to you?

I see where you’re going but it’s a bit different. Malware vs legitimate software would be more similar to poison vs medicine.