Computer Virus History, Computer Virus History
Temp asked: A computer virus is a self-replicating computer program written to alter the way a computer operates, without the permission or knowledge of the user.Elk Cloner is credited with being the first computer virus to appear “in the wild” — outside the single computer or lab where it was created. Written in 1982 by Rich Skrenta, it attached itself to the Apple DOS 3.3 operating system and spread by floppy disk. The first PC virus was a boot sector virus called (c)Brain, created in 1986 by two brothers, Basit and Amjad Farooq Alvi, Pakistan. The brothers reportedly created the virus to deter pirated copies of software they had written.Before computer networks became widespread, most viruses spread on removable media, particularly floppy disks. In the early days of the personal computer, many users regularly exchanged information and programs on floppies. Some viruses spread by infecting programs stored on these disks, while others installed themselves into the disk boot sector.Traditional computer viruses emerged in the 1980s, driven by the spread of personal computers and the resultant increase in BBS and modem use, and software sharing. Bulletin board driven software sharing contributed directly to the spread of Trojan horse programs, and viruses [...]
