TOP FIVE COMPUTER VIRUSES
They can wipe out your hard drive. They can crash servers and
send shock waves around the cyber world. And they can
embarrass you. Here are the biggest computer viruses in cyber
history, so far:
1. Brain (1986)
This is the one that started it all. Created by two Pakistani
brothers, the Brain virus is widely considered to be the first PC
computer virus ever. It wasn't particularly virulent.
It was a boot sector infector, and was accompanied by the creators'
names and phone numbers. The brothers swore the
intention was not malicious, but the genie was out of the bottle;
the Brain virus became the model for numerous viruses and other
malware for years to come.
2. Melissa (1999)
The Melissa virus was one of the first viruses to be spread via
e-mail, crashing corporate networks by taking advantage of the
increasingly popular Microsoft Outlook mail client. The virus
was spread by an infected attachment to the email, and
automatically sent itself to the first 50 names in the user's
address book, making it the first virus to move from one computer
to another on its own. The amount of email passing through
servers quickly increased exponentially, forcing shutdowns and
business stoppages. The Melissa virus was also noteworthy
because its creator was caught and sent to prison.
3. ILOVEYOU (2000)
This is the virus that made us all afraid to open attachments.
ILOVEYOU was one of the first to trick users into opening the file
that actually activated the virus. The ILOVEYOU worm
masqueraded as a love letter sent via e-mail, but instead was a
computer script that sent copies of itself to users' Microsoft
Outlook address book entries, overwrote and deleted computer files,
modified Internet Explorer pages, and even interfered with Registry
keys. It caused billions of dollars worth of damages, and is
still considered one of the worst worms ever.
4. Klez (2001)
Yet another e-mail virus, Klez makes the list because it pioneered
"spoofing," the trick of making it seem as if an email comes from
someone other than the actual sender. Thanks to Klez, you
can't trust that an email that appears to be from your mom is
actually from your mom; a spammer may have "spoofed" the From
field. Klez spreads itself using open networks and
e-mail. Unlike other viruses, it doesn't require Microsoft
Outlook to spread itself - and while it isn't a particularly
malicious virus, it can corrupt files and interfere with some
software. Klez is also notoriously hard to exterminate, and
versions of it continue to turn up fairly regularly.
5. Benjamin (2002)
Benjamin is significant in virus history because it's the first
that spread itself via a file-sharing program, in this case,
Kazaa. It tricked users into thinking they were downloading
media files. Instead, they downloaded the Benjamin
virus. Benjamin created its own folder on the user's
computer, filled the folder with replicated versions of itself, and
then made itself available for sharing to other Kazaa users.
Benjamin's primary effects were to overload a user's hard drive and
eventually to slow down networks, but aside from that it wasn't
particularly malevolent.
BONUS: THE ANNA KOURNIKOVA VIRUS
(2001)
The Anna Kournikova virus didn't really cause any major harm or
data loss, but it did cause embarrassment. It was spread by
users clicking on an attachment that promised to be a hot picture
of the tennis star. Naturally, opening the attachment
unleashed the virus, which sent itself to all of the contacts in
the user's Microsoft Outlook address book. Server overload
caused business stoppages, and numerous users were forced to admit
that they found the promise of an Anna Kournikova image impossible
to resist.
To learn more about malware, viruses, spyware and Trojan horses,
watch
VideoJug's series of informative videos with computer security
expert "Hacker X."
