History of Computer Viruses

Computer viruses are one of the nastiest forms of malware. They were once developed as goofs, and for education within the software development community, but they have quickly become the nuisance of the computer world. The history of computer viruses is detailed, and viruses come in many forms. They can infiltrate a system via Trojan horses or worms, can sit quietly in an operating system or can replicate and spread like wildfire in 50 mph winds. We’re all aware of their presence, but where did they come from, and how did they develop?

The Creeper Virus – History of Computer Viruses

In 1971, a virus called “The Creeper” was developed by BNN Technologies programmer Bob Thomas to actively explain a mobile application—how a virus could infiltrate and be replicated throughout a localized computer network. It was never intended for harm.

The Creeper was first detected in ARPANET, the defense department’s precursor to what we now know as the world wide web—the global Internet. At this point, the “computer virus” was simply considered a worm. Once it infected a computer, it delivered a message, “I’m the creeper, catch me if you can,” then it would move on to another system in the network. “The Reaper” was designed to chase down and delete the creeper.

The term “virus” wasn’t actually used in the flow of computer conversation until 1972, when a rogue computer named HARLIE in the novel When HARLIE Was One developed a virus to access information from other computers to combat the man who wanted to shut HARLIE down. The information sought by HARLIE was used for blackmail purposes. This helped introduce the term “computer virus” to popular culture.

The Advancement of Computer Viruses – History of Computer Viruses

As computer technology rapidly advanced in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s, microcomputers and personal use computers were added to the mix of viral attacks, and computer viruses began to become much more common. The first known virus that was spread to multiple microcomputers was developed in 1982 by a 15-year-old high school student, Richard “Rich” Skrenta, and designed to infect the Apple II system.

The “Elk Cloner” virus would infect a computer through disk, then write itself to any blank disk placed into the drive. On every 50^th boot-up, a poem would be displayed. Beyond that, there was no malicious effort to commit criminal activity or harm to an operating system.

It wouldn’t be long before PC experienced its own “first infection” with a virus known as “Brain.” It was even dubbed as the “Pakistani flu” by Businessweek, after the virus’s inception in 1986. It was developed by Farooq Alvi brothers of Lahore, Pakistan.

The Evolution of Contemporary Computer Viruses – History of Computer Viruses

Programmers and hackers began to make a game of viruses, and it wasn’t long before the early ‘90s experienced macro viruses flowing through applications such as Microsoft Word. The natural progression of computer viruses led to email attachments, bogus links, and would come through hacked instant messengers and even through fake websites. This form of malware has displayed its true viral nature.

The intelligence of Trojan horse viruses offered personal computer users headaches, not realizing they had accidentally installed something that would be released as malicious software through their operating system and used to capture personal information and use it illegally.

With the evolution of computer viruses, it didn’t take long for them to become criminal in nature. Hackers and programs lacking good intentions still find it to be great sport and gamesmanship to develop and attack with viruses, even if their reason for programming isn’t for financial gain. It’s unfortunate, and very illegal, but without appropriate protection on every computer, any computer user is vulnerable to attack.