[virusinfo] Oxygen3 24h-365d [(I) Evolution of computer viruses - 04/22/04]
- From: "Mike" <mikebike@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: virusinfo@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Fri, 23 Apr 2004 11:50:02 -0700
From; Panda Oxygen3 24h-365d wrote:
"Change is the only constant."
Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860); German philosopher.
- (I) Evolution of computer viruses -
Oxygen3 24h-365d, by Panda Software (http://www.pandasoftware.com)
Madrid, April 22, 2004 - Like any other field in computer science, viruses
have evolved -a great deal indeed- over the years. In the series of Oxygen3
24h-365d bulletins, which start today, we will look at the origins and
evolution of malicious code since it first appeared up to the present.
It was in 1949 that Mathematician John Von Neumann described
self-replicating programs which could resemble computer viruses as they are
known today. However, it was not until the 60s that we find the predecessor
of current viruses. In that decade, a group of programmers developed a game
called Core Wars, which could reproduce every time it was run, and even
saturate the memory of other players' computers. The creators of this
peculiar game also created the first antivirus, an application named Reeper,
which could destroy copies created by Core Wars. It was only in 1983 that
one of these programmers announced the existence of Core Wars, which was
described the following year in a prestigious scientific magazine: this was
actually the starting point of what we call computer viruses today.
At that time, a still young MS-DOS was starting to become the preeminent
operating system worldwide. This was a system with great prospects, but
still many deficiencies as well, which arose from software developments and
the lack of many hardware components known today. Even like this, this new
operating system became the target of a virus in 1966: Brain, a malicious
code created in Pakistan which infected boot sectors of disks so that their
contents could not be accessed. That year also saw the birth of the first
Trojan: an application called PC-Write.
Shortly after, virus writers realized that infecting files could cause even
more damage to systems. In 1987, a virus called Suriv-02 appeared, which
infected COM files and opened the door to the infamous virus Jerusalem or
Friday 13. However, the worst was still to come: 1988 set the date when the
'Morris worm' appeared, infecting 6,000 computers. From that date up to 1995
the types of malicious codes that are known today started being developed:
the first macro viruses and polymorphic viruses appeared, -some of these
even triggered epidemics, such as MichaelAngelo-. However, there was an
event that changed the virus scenario worldwide: the massive use of the
Internet and e-mail. Little by little, viruses started adapting to this new
situation until the appearance, in 1999, of Melissa, the first malicious
code to cause a worldwide epidemic, opening a new era for computer viruses.
------------------------------------------------------------
The 5 viruses most frequently detected by Panda ActiveScan,
Panda Software's free online scanner:
1) Netsky.P; 2) Netsky.D; 3) Netsky.B;
4) Downloader.L;
5) Nachi.B.
------------------------------------------------------------
Mike ~ It is a good day if I learned something new.
Editor MikesWhatsNews see ~ http://www.mwn.ca
<mikeswhatsnews-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx?Subject=subscribe>
See my Anti-Virus pages
<http://www3.telus.net/mikebike/mikes_virus_page.htm>
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A Technical Support Alliance & OWTA Charter Member
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