The worst computer viruses of all time

If you haven't experienced a computer virus yet, just wait -- you probably will.

Fortunately, you missed the real heyday of computer viruses when anti-virus software wasn't very widely used, and virus attacks caused millions of dollars in damages overnight. Today's viruses can still be nightmarish, but for the average user, cleanup is considerably easier than it was just a few years ago, when the only solution in many cases was reformatting your hard drive and starting from scratch (and even that didn't do the trick sometimes).

So join me on a trip down memory lane as we revisit some of the worst viruses of all time and count our blessings that our computers are still up and running despite it all. (Though, please note, "worst" is a matter of considerable debate in the security industry, as the number of infected machines and amount of financial loss is always estimated. If you think another virus was worse than these, please post it in the comments to remind us!)

The worst viruses of all time

Brain, 1986
It all started here: Brain was the first "real" virus ever discovered, back in 1986. Brain didn't really hurt your PC, but it launched the malware industry with a bang and gave bad ideas to over 100,000 virus creators for the next 2 decades.

Michelangelo, 1991
The worst MS-DOS virus ever, Michelangelo attacked the boot sector of your hard drive and any floppy drive inserted into the computer, which caused the virus to spread rapidly. After spreading quietly for months, the virus "activated" on March 6, and promptly started destroying data on tens of thousands of computers.

Melissa, 1999
Technically a worm, Melissa (named after a stripper) collapsed entire email systems by causing computers to send mountains of messages to each other. The author of the virus was eventually caught and sentenced to 20 months in prison.

ILOVEYOU, 2000
This was notable for being one of the first viruses to trick users into opening a file, which in this case claimed to be a love letter sent to the recipient. In reality, the file was a VBS script that sent mountains of junk mail and deleted thousands of files. The results were terribly devastating- one estimate holds that 10 percent of all computers were affected, to a cost of $5.5 billion. It remains perhaps the worst worm of all time.

Code Red, 2001
An early "blended threat" attack, Code Red targeted Web servers instead of user machines, defacing websites and later launching denial-of-service attacks on a host of IP addresses, including those of the White House.

Nimda, 2001
Built on Code Red's attack system of finding multiple avenues into machines (email, websites, network connections, and others), Nimda infected both Web servers and user machines. It found paths into computers so effectively that, 22 minutes after it was released, it became the Internet's most widespread virus at the time.

Klez, 2001
An email virus, Klez pioneered spoofing the "From" field in email messages it sent, making it impossible to tell if Bill Gates did or did not really send you that information about getting free money.

Slammer, 2003
Another fast spreader, this worm infected about 75,000 systems in just 10 minutes, slowing the Internet to a crawl (much like Code Red) and shutting down thousands of websites.

MyDoom, 2004
Notable as the fastest-spreading email virus of all time, MyDoom infected computers so they would, in turn, send even more junk mail. In a strange twist, MyDoom was also used to attack the website of SCO Group, a very unpopular company that was suing other companies over its code being used in Linux distributions.

Storm, 2007
The worst recent virus, Storm spread via email spam with a fake attachment and ultimately infected up to 10 million computers, causing them to join its zombie botnet.

Thanks to Symantec for helping to compile this list.

Your Computer and Its Speakers

While not absolutely necessary, most computers will operate with a pair of speakers. These can be incredibly helpful to any user of the computer because not only will you not be able to hear all of t...

Read More...

[Source: GoArticles Hardware Category - Posted by FreeAutoBlogger]

NS-4500: Class Apart Publishing System from R-Quest

Featuring TrueNet FX, the NS-4500 is a truly platform independent browser-based publishing system, and comes without the need to maintain an embedded Windows, Linux or Mac OS server. The robust indust...

Read More...

[Source: GoArticles Hardware Category - Posted by FreeAutoBlogger]

US Tops Worldwide Charts for Mobile

The USA has knocked the UK off the top slot for mobile web browsing with 29% of the worldwide traffic, according to data released today by Bango. And the good news for content providers is that the growth in traffic is being matched by the growth in users paying for content on the mobile web.

�With [...]

Read More...

[Source: SEO TRICKS GUIDE - Posted by FreeAutoBlogger]

The Secret to Mobile Performance Lies in the Processor

Among the most vehement PC gamers and computer connoisseurs, it is often stated as fact that the laptop computer has much less power than your typical desktop computer. While to an extent this may ...

Read More...

[Source: GoArticles Hardware Category - Posted by FreeAutoBlogger]

Reasons Why you Should Have an All in One Printers

Are you planning to buy a printer, why cant you buy an all in one printer for your business? Do you know that you can buy an all in one printer at a cheaper price? This machine has a fax, a scanner, ...

Read More...

[Source: GoArticles Hardware Category - Posted by FreeAutoBlogger]

Comparing Toner Printers to Cartridge Printers

How can you determine whether you should buy a laser printer or a cartridge printer? No matter what field you are in, there must be some computer jobs taking place at your work place. Today all jobs ...

Read More...

[Source: GoArticles Hardware Category - Posted by FreeAutoBlogger]

Wide format Copiers

Wide format Copiers

Wide format Copiers are used everywhere and are required to create duplicates of important documents. They are easily operated as they are quite simple to use. These s...

Read More...

[Source: GoArticles Hardware Category - Posted by FreeAutoBlogger]

Amazing Class 100 Clean Room Chamber

Amazing Class 100 Clean Room ChamberHi I am John I am CEO of an organization in California which is famous for data recovery of hard drives. Recovery of the hard drives is very easy task for us ...

Read More...

[Source: GoArticles Hardware Category - Posted by FreeAutoBlogger]

extend Power ac adapter service life

Power adapter to extend the service life of Ways: 1, adapter fault usually went wrong? Normal circumstances, the power adapter at the failure of many routes, such as interface, cable and adapter to ...

Read More...

[Source: GoArticles Hardware Category - Posted by FreeAutoBlogger]

Check the Latest Printers and Scanners

Printers and Scanners the two -------- of latest technology are the biggest asset one can have in office or home. Few years back, one would have to wait in queue to get their print out or to get their...

Read More...

[Source: GoArticles Hardware Category - Posted by FreeAutoBlogger]

Microboards GX Disc Publisher Rejuvenation for you

In current twenty first century innovation is the mantra that rules the expectations of techno savvy population across the globe, we all use CDs and DVDs in our day to day life, yet only few countable...

Read More...

[Source: GoArticles Hardware Category - Posted by FreeAutoBlogger]

550,000 ibm adapter which have the potential of fire

September 3 sources said, IBM Corporation on September 2, local time, announced that it will at a global scale recall 553,000 laptop Units use the power adapter, the reasons for existence are the fire...

Read More...

[Source: GoArticles Hardware Category - Posted by FreeAutoBlogger]

Google Analytics Missing Mobile Traffic

I really enjoyed Bryson Meunier’s post last week where he compared traffic from mobiles using 2 different types of analytics: Traditional Web Analytics Tracking, Google Analytics and an actual mobile analytics solution, Bango Analytics. In order to accurately do this within Google Analytics, Bryson setup an advanced segment which captured traffic from mobile specific screen [...]

Read More...

[Source: SEO TRICKS GUIDE - Posted by FreeAutoBlogger]

Computer External Hard Drive Connections

There are three major types of connections available for external hard drives. (USB 1.1 and 2.0), Firewire (400 and 800) and the new kid on the block: eSATA (external Serial Advanced Technology Attach...

Read More...

[Source: GoArticles Hardware Category - Posted by FreeAutoBlogger]

The development trend of notebook batteries

What will be further of laptop batteries?At present, lithium cobalt oxide batteries mainly. To further enhance the product's energy reserves, the technical level higher lithium nickel materials in 2...

Read More...

[Source: GoArticles Hardware Category - Posted by FreeAutoBlogger]