10 notorious computer virus

The history of computer virus is the same as computer history. With more and more powerful computers, virus also are smarter and harder to be detected and killed. They have big impact on data security and system usability. We introduce 10 notorious computer virus in the history.

1. Creeper

In 1971, the Creeper virus, an experimental self-replicating program, is written by Bob Thomas at BBN Technologies. Creeper infected DEC PDP-10 computers running the TENEX operating system. Creeper gained access via the ARPANET and copied itself to the remote system where the message, "I'm the creeper, catch me if you can!" was displayed. The Reaper program was later created to delete Creeper.

2. Elk Cloner

In 1981,a program called Elk Cloner, written for Apple II systems, was created by Richard Skrenta. The Apple II was seen as particularly vulnerable due to the storage of its operating system on floppy disk. Elk Cloner's design combined with public ignorance about what malware was and how to protect against it led to Elk Cloner being responsible for the first large-scale computer virus outbreak in history.

3. Melissa

First found on March 26, 1999, Melissa shut down Internet E-mail systems that got clogged with infected e-mails propagating from the virus. Melissa was not originally designed for harm, but it overloaded servers and caused problems. Melissa can spread on word processors Microsoft Word 97 and Word 2000. It can mass-mail itself from e-mail client Microsoft Outlook 97, 98 or 2000.

4. ILOVEYOU

The ILOVEYOU worm is a computer worm purportedly created by a Filipino computer science student in 2000. Written in VBScript, it infected millions of Windows computers worldwide within a few hours of its release. It is considered to be one of the most damaging worms ever.

5. Code Red

The Code Red worm was first discovered and researched by eEye Digital Security employees Marc Maiffret and Ryan Permeh. They named it "Code Red" because Code Red Mountain Dew was what they were drinking at the time. It was made to attack  Index Server ISAPI Extension in Microsoft Internet Information Services.

Although the worm had been released on July 13, 2001,  the largest group of infected computers was seen on July 19, 2001. On this day, the number of infected hosts reached 359,000

6. CIH

CIH is a Microsoft Windows 9x computer virus which first emerged in 1998. It is one of the most damaging viruses, overwriting critical information on infected system drives, and more importantly, in most cases overwriting the system BIOS. The virus was created by Chen Ing-hau who was a student at Tatung University in Taiwan. 60 million computers were believed to be infected by the virus internationally, resulting in an estimated $1 billion US dollars in commercial damages.

7. Nimda

Nimda was released on September 18, 2001. It affected both user workstations (clients) running Windows 95, 98, Me, NT, 2000 or XP and servers running Windows NT and 2000. It quickly spread, surpassing the economic damage caused by previous outbreaks such as Code Red. Nimda utilized several types of propagation technique and this caused it to become the Internet’s most widespread virus/worm within 22 minutes.Its name origin comes from the reversed spelling of it, which is "admin".

8. SQL Slammer

SQL Slammer could cause a denial of service on some Internet hosts and dramatically slowed down general Internet traffic, starting at 05:30 UTC on January 25, 2003. It spread rapidly, infecting most of its 75,000 victims within ten minutes. Although titled "SQL slammer worm", the program did not use the SQL language; it exploited a buffer overflow bug in Microsoft's flagship SQL Server and Desktop Engine database products.

9. MyDoom

It first appeared on 26 January 2004. It became the fastest-spreading e-mail worm ever, exceeding previous records set by the Sobig worm and ILOVEYOU. Mydoom appears to have been commissioned by e-mail spammers so as to send junk e-mail through infected computers.

10. Stuxnet

Stuxnet is discovered in June 2010 that is believed to have been created by the United States and Israel to attack Iran's nuclear facilities.Stuxnet initially spreads via Microsoft Windows, and targets Siemens industrial control systems. While it is not the first time that hackers have targeted industrial systems,it is the first discovered malware that spies on and subverts industrial systems, and the first to include a programmable logic controller (PLC) rootkit.

Have you ever been infected by these virus before?