Saturday 9 March 2013

Ten Worst Viruses Witnessed in History

With hackers and spammers making use of more sophisticated technologies, there has been an increase in the number of malicious software, Trojans, computer viruses and worms that are created for their own selfish reasons. Moreover, identity thieves have devised new ways to steal information which can be used to empty users' bank accounts as well as disseminate electronic havoc. History has a record of the 10 worst computer viruses that did not just beat the best anti-virus software, but gave nightmares to many security experts as well.
· The Morris worm
This was created back in 1998 and was named after a university student, Robert Morris, the same student who created the worm. This worm infected 10 percent of all the computers that were linked to the internet and there were about 60,000 computers connected to the internet at that time. The worm brought all the systems to halt.
· The Concept virus
In 1995, the Concept virus was shipped on a CD-ROM accidentally, which was provided by Microsoft. This was the first virus that harmed the Microsoft Word documents. Within a few days, this virus became the most disseminated virus ever.
· CIH
Triggered each year on April 26, CIH was designed to wipe data from the hard drives of the victims and to overwrite the computer's BIOS chip that transformed the computer into a plastic lump. Its creator was Chen Ing Hau.
· Anna Kournikova worm
It was back in the year 2000 when the Anna Kournikova worm dispersed across the globe which offered images of the famous tennis player. It infected Windows computers with an email worm. This virus was written by Jan de Wit who was a fan from the Netherlands.
· ILOVEYOU
In May 2000, internet users received ILOVEYOU messages and they were sent to everybody who was in the contact list of the user. This one was designed to snip the internet access passwords.
· The Melissa virus
Melissa is recognized as a fast-spreading macro virus which was circulated through an e-mail attachment. This virus was created by David L. Smith and was a successful email-ware.
· The Blaster Worm
Blaster worm was created in 2003 as a denial of service attack against the Microsoft's website. The impact of this worm was seen on millions of PCs across the world. The author of this particular worm was never discovered.
· Netsky and Sasser
Netsky and Sasser worms were discovered by Sven Jaschan, a German teenager. He was held responsible for about 70 percent of all the malware that were circulated over the internet. Later on, he was hired as an ethical hacker by a security company.
· OSX/RSPlug Trojan
It was back in November 2007 when the OSX/RSPlug Trojan appeared as an example of a financially-motivated malware which mainly targeted Mac users. Its launch raised concerns among Mac users which thought that Apple's platform might get infiltrated.
· Storm worm
The Storm worm was originally perplexed as a bad weather breaking news affecting Europe. Actually, this virus was in the news in 2007 and influenced millions of PCs. Hackers circulated spam and stole millions of identities.
Author is a computer professional and blog writer who basically writes on various computer security topics. He brings many interesting reviews about the latest anti-virus software and inform readers about the best free antivirus download for their computer protection.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Alexs_Smith

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