Computer virus: Difference between revisions

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A program called "[[Elk Cloner]]" was the first computer virus to appear "in the wild"&nbsp;— that is, outside the single computer or lab where it was created.<ref name=prank>{{cite news|url=http://www.cnbc.com/id/20534084/ |title=School prank starts 25 years of security woes |publisher=[[CNBC]] |accessdate=2010-01-07 |author=Anick Jesdanun |date=1 September 2007}}</ref> Written in 1981 by [[Richard Skrenta]], it attached itself to the [[Apple DOS]] 3.3 operating system and spread via [[floppy disk]].<ref name=prank/><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/09/03/computer.virus.ap/|title=The anniversary of a nuisance}} {{Dead link|date=September 2010|bot=RjwilmsiBot}}</ref> This virus, created as a practical joke when Skrenta was still in high school, was injected in a game on a floppy disk. On its 50th use the [[Elk Cloner]] virus would be activated, infecting the computer and displaying a short poem beginning "Elk Cloner: The program with a personality."
 
The first PCMS-DOS virus in the wild was a boot sector virus dubbed [[(c)Brain]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://antivirus.about.com/od/securitytips/a/bootsectorvirus.htm |title=Boot sector virus repair |publisher=Antivirus.about.com |date=2010-06-10 |accessdate=2010-08-27}}</ref> created in 1986 by the Farooq Alvi Brothers in [[Lahore, Pakistan]], reportedly to deter piracy of the software they had written.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m58MqJdWgDc |title=Amjad Farooq Alvi Inventor of first PC Virus post by Zagham |publisher=YouTube |date= |accessdate=2010-08-27}}</ref>
 
Before computer networks became widespread, most viruses spread on [[removable media]], particularly [[floppy disk]]s. 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]], ensuring that they would be run when the user booted the computer from the disk, usually inadvertently. PCs of the era would attempt to boot first from a floppy if one had been left in the drive. Until floppy disks fell out of use, this was the most successful infection strategy and boot sector viruses were the most common in the wild for many years.<ref name="vx.netlux.org"/>