What to do if you think you have a computer virus
If you think you have a computer virus, the first thing you should do is disconnect from the internet. This will prevent the virus from spreading to other computers. Next, run a virus scan with your anti-virus software. If the scan finds a virus, follow the instructions provided by the software to remove the virus. Once the virus is removed, you can reconnect to the internet.Resource
The biggest computer virus outbreaks
The term “computer virus” was coined in the early 1980s by Fred Cohen, a researcher at the University of Southern California. At the time, Cohen was studying ways to ensure the confidentiality of military data, and he came up with the idea of creating a program that could replicate itself and spread throughout a computer system, overwriting other programs as it went. This, he realized, would make it very difficult for an enemy to gain access to sensitive information.
Cohen’s research caught the attention of the US military, and he was soon contracted to develop a virus that could be used as a weapon. In 1986, he released his famous “AIDS” virus into the wild, and it quickly began to spread. However, the virus had a flaw: it didn’t actually do anything. Cohen had created it solely as a proof of concept, to show that such a weapon was possible.
The first true computer virus was created a few years later, by a programmer named Robert Morris. Morris, who was a student at Cornell University at the time, released his virus onto the internet in 1988. The virus, which he called the “Internet Worm,” was designed to spread itself by copying itself onto any computer it could find.
The Internet Worm was not a malicious program: it did not damage the computers it infected, and it did not steal any information. However, it caused a great deal of havoc, slowing down internet traffic and clogging up email servers. Morris was eventually caught and fined $10,000, which was the maximum penalty at the time.
In the years since the release of the Internet Worm, there have been many other virus outbreaks. Some of the most notable include the Chernobyl Virus (which was designed to destroy data on infected computers), the Love Bug (which caused billions of dollars in damage by deleting files and sending itself to everyone in an infected person’s address book), and the Storm Worm (which used infected computers to send out billions of spam emails).
Today, computer viruses are more sophisticated than ever before. They are often used to steal sensitive information, such as credit card numbers and passwords. Some viruses are even designed to hold entire computer systems hostage, demanding a ransom from the owners before they will release the data.
As the number of devices connected to the internet continues to grow, so does the risk of a major virus outbreak. With the click of a mouse, a single person can now infect millions of computers around the world. As our dependence on technology increases, so does the importance of keeping our computer systems safe from viruses.
Visit malwarezero.org to learn more about computer viruses. Disclaimer: We used this website as a reference for this blog post.
