Evolution of Computer Viruses
Tags: Virus, Computer Virus, Antivirus, Security

A computer virus is a type of malicious software that, when executed, replicates itself by modifying other computer programs and inserting its own code. When this replication succeeds, the affected areas are then said to be “infected” with a computer virus. Computer viruses have been plaguing individuals, organizations and government agencies for the past 40 years. Evolving over time, these viruses have kept pace with the newest advances in technology.

The very first computer virus came into existence in the early ’80s, termed as the Creeper virus. An entire program(termed as the reaper program) was designed by information security professionals to prevent it from copying itself into systems and halting the ability to process. Later on, in the early ’90s, a high school student programmed the first personal computer virus, The Elk Cloner. It spread through a floppy disk, attached to a computer game for the Apple DOS system. The Elk Cloner is considered the first major computer virus outbreak in history, primarily because the public was not educated or familiar with the concept of viruses.

In 1986, the first virus to specifically attack PCs via the DOS system was recorded. The virus, known as The Brain or the Pakistani Flu, was created by two brothers from Pakistan, Basit Farooq Alvi and Amjad Farooq Alvi; in later years, the brothers would claim they designed the program as a security mechanism to protect other software from piracy. The Brain virus was essentially harmless; it was floppy disk-based and worked by increasing its code volume each time the host program was run. The result was floppy disks would fill up and be rendered unusable, though to the user it would appear like little or nothing was stored on the disk. No permanent damage was done.

Prior to 1988, most computer viruses were just annoyances and relatively harmless. However, in 1988, the first truly dangerous computer virus, called the Festering Hate virus, was released infecting Apple operating systems. Instead of just stalling computer function, this virus infected every file on the hard drive, floppy disks, and memory drives and eventually destroyed all files. In 1989, a new kind of virus, called the Ghostball, became the first threat to capture certain user information. Then in 1991, the first devastating virus was discovered. The Michelangelo computer virus was a hidden virus that only attacked computers on March 6th, Michelangelo’s birthday. On March 6th it would wipe the user’s hard drive.

In 2000, a Filipino computer science student created the ILOVEYOU worm that infected millions of Microsoft operating systems within a few hours of its release. In 2003, the SQL Slammer worm spread so quickly that is caused the internet to crash within 15 minutes of its release. The Fizzer virus was the first virus that attempted to make money. It infected a computer to use it as a host to send spam, primarily through e-mail. It also spread through KaZaA shares and would download updates from Geocities websites while simultaneously listening for commands on IRC and AIM.

One of the fastest growing viruses for its time was the Code Red virus which utilized buffer overflow to spread. This virus cost billions of dollars in damage, and only affected a certain type of Microsoft web server application. In 2007, a Trojan virus named Zeus attacked windows programs and became one of the first viruses to capture banking information by tracking keystrokes. In the month of November 2008, the Conficker virus was discovered, it is known to have infected over 15 million server systems worldwide, including servers in the French navy, UK ministry of defence, Norwegian police and other large government organizations. In 2012, a virus named Flame became one of the first pieces of malware to be involved in cyber espionage. Flame is a malware that attacks computers using Microsoft Windows. A report released by Budapest University’s crySyS lab termed it as the most complex malware ever found. Flame is capable of recording Skype conversations, audio, keyboard activity, network traffic, and screenshots.

Removing a virus and undoing the damage it causes to your computer can be more stressful than preventing attack by using a strong anti-virus program that can detect malware as well as Trojans, worms and viruses and also eliminate them before replication. Effective anti-viruses are available which help to detect and remove viruses that may attack your computer.