A look at major computer viruses over 25 years
Major computer viruses over the last 25 years:
ELK CLONER, 1982: Regarded as the first virus to hit personal computers worldwide, "Elk Cloner" spread through Apple II floppy disks and displayed a poem written by its author, a ninth-grade student who was designing a practical joke.
BRAIN, 1986: "Brain" is the first virus to hit computers running a Microsoft Corp. operating system _ DOS. Written by two Pakistani brothers, the virus left the phone number of their computer repair shop.
MORRIS, 1988: Written by a Cornell University graduate student whose father was then a top government computer-security expert, the virus infected an estimated 6,000 university and military computers connected over the Internet. Although viruses had spread over the Internet before, until "Morris" none was widespread.
MELISSA, 1999: "Melissa" was one of the first to spread over e-mail. When users opened an attachment, the virus sent copies of itself to the first 50 people in the user's address book, covering the globe within hours.
LOVE BUG, 2000: Also spread via e-mail attachment, "Love Bug" exploited human nature and tricked recipients into opening it by disguising itself as a love letter.
