10 Most Disruptive Computer Virus

10 Most Disruptive Computer Viruses in Internet History

Each year, US businesses and citizens lose billions upon billions of dollars due to the destruction caused by computer viruses. We’re all familiar with that sinking feeling when the first signs show — your browser freezes, your system slows, error messages pop up repeatedly, and bizarre antivirus software you never installed “scans” your computer. In worst case scenarios, it can spread to other computers, erase your hard drive, and ruin your machine altogether. A problem that predates the internet, the first virus was created 40 years ago, setting forth a problem that has grown with our dependence on computers. The following bugs are among the worst in history, and have caused many businesses and people to seek some form of insurance just in case.

1.  Elk Cloner (1982)

A first of its kind, the Elk Cloner didn’t harm a lot of computers, but it did set an unsettling precedent as the first wild virus, one that can freely spread on its own. Created by Richard Skrenta, a computer savvy high school prankster, it merely infected boot sectors, featuring a threatening message that read “It will get on all your disks. It will infiltrate your chips. Yes it’s Cloner!” Fittingly, Skrenta is now a computer programmer and Silicon Valley entrepreneur with extensive experience in the industry.

2.  Brain (1986)

Viruses were made more complicated and resilient with the formation of Brain, the first full-stealth virus capable of evading early disk utility programs. Infecting floppy disks, it caused only minor problems, as it slowed the  disks and sometimes made them unusable. Brain originated in Lahore, Pakistan and its effects surfaced in 1987 and 1988, when infections were discovered at the University of Delaware and the Providence Journal-Bulletin, the latter of which experienced the deletion of work as a result. Today’s viruses that refuse to die are all grandchildren of Brain, which is why it will forever be considered among the most disruptive — it bred them.

3.  Morris Worm (1988)

The sanctity of the Internet was breached with the proliferation of the Morris Worm, which garnered mainstream attention because it resulted in the first US conviction under the 1986 Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. By attacking vulnerabilities in Unix sendmail, finger and rhs/rexec multiple times, it could cause programs to become unusable. Approximately 6,000 UNIX systems were infected by it, a disruption that couldn’t be ignored. Creator Robert Tappan Morris, a student at Cornell University, was convicted and sentenced to three years probation, 400 hours of community service, and given a $10,000 fine. Currently, the former outlaw is a tenured professor at MIT.

4.  CIH Virus (1998)

As the internet was rapidly expanding in the late ’90s, the first truly feared viruses emerged. The CIH virus did the most damage, as it overwrote critical information in system drives and corrupted system BIOS. Present in several thousand IBM Aptivas, it first surfaced on a large scale in Asia — it was created in Taiwan by Chen Ing-Hau — destroying numerous PCs. Measures of protection were implemented, but the virus returned in varying forms in the early 2000s.

5.  Melissa (1999)

Named after a lap dancer who creator David Smith met in Florida, Melissa rose to fame after it infected numerous mail systems, essentially shutting them down. When it arrived in inboxes, the message was titled “Important Message From [account sending the virus]” and contained an attachment with a list of 80 porn sites. Most disconcerting was its ability to send other documents that could’ve held sensitive information. For the trouble he caused, Smith served 20 months in a federal prison and paid a $5,000 fine.

6.  ILOVEYOU (2000)

The desire to be loved might explain why so many people opened those pesky emails with the subject line of “ILOVEYOU.” Readers were enticed to open the attachment titled “LOVE-LETTER-FOR-YOU.TXT.vbs” that appeared to be sent from someone they knew, causing the spamming of contacts in their address books and changes to their systems. Tens of millions of computers were infected and $8.75 billion in damage resulted. Onel A. de Guzman, a student of AMA Computer University in Makati, Philippines, admitted to being the culprit, claiming that he accidently discharged the virus.>/p>

7.  CodeRed (2001)

The aptly named CodeRed virus originated in the Philippines and featured the memorable text string “Hacked by Chinese,” exploiting indexing software in Microsoft’s Internet Information Server (IIS). Because it ran entirely on memory, infected computers’ hard drives were erased. Estimated to have affected one to two million people, CodeRed caused $2.75 billion in damage and even received the attention of the FBI, which classified it as worthy of crippling the entire internet.

8.  Blaster Worm (2003)

Microsoft was compelled to offer a cash reward to people who provided information leading to the capture of the creator of Blaster, a worm that launched a denial of service attack on the company’s website. Damage totaled $320 million, and, unfortunately for the many who dealt with it, the culprit was never found. One can only image the wrath he’d face given the punishment levied on the creator of the B variant, 18-year-old Jeffrey Lee Parson, who was sentenced to 18 months in prison in 2005.

9.  MyDoom (2004)

According to some sources, MyDoom is the most destructive and costly worm in the history of the Internet, causing $38.5 billion in damage and effecting 20 to 30 percent of worldwide email traffic. Rapidly spread through email and the popular file sharing application Kazaa, it presented itself as a transmission error and spread to other emails by prompting readers to open its attachment. As with the Blaster Worm episode, the creator of MyDoom wasn’t found, but some have speculated that he or she was paid and lived in Russia.

10.  Conflicker (2007)

If you’ve contracted a virus in recent years that presented itself as antivirus software, then it may have been Conflicker. Its purpose is to steal personal information from the owner of the infected computer, sticking around by disabling already existing, legitimate antivirus software. At one point, it controlled more than seven million computers worldwide, with several different variants that served to strengthen the original. The authors are still unknown, and are said to be tracking anti-malware developments designed to eradicate it.

EVOLUTION OF COMPUTER DISPLAY

Displays: The Changing View 

Take a good look at this paragraph. You're reading it thanks to the magic of a computer display, whether it be LCD, CRT, or even a paper printout. Since the beginning of the digital era, users have needed a way to view the results of the programs they run on a computer--but the manner in which computers have spit out data has changed considerably over the last 70 years. Let's take a tour.

1-Blinking Indicator Lights 

While almost every early computer provided some sort of hard-copy printout, the earliest days of digital displays were dominated by rows of blinking indicator lights--tiny light bulbs that flashed on and off when the computer processed certain instructions or accessed memory locations.

2-Punch Cards In, Punch Cards Out 

The ENIAC, among other early electronic computers, usedHollerith punched cards as both input and output. To write a program, an operator typed on a typewriter-like machine that encoded the instructions into a pattern of holes punched into a paper card. A person then dropped a stack of cards into the computer, which read and ran the program. For output, the computer punched encoded results onto blank punch cards, which operators then had to decode with a device like the IBM 405 tabulator (shown at right), which tallied and printed card values onto sheets of paper.

3-Decoding Paper Tape 

As an alternative to punched cards, many early computers used long rolls of paper tape punched in a pattern that represented a computer program. Many of those same computers also punched the program results onto the same type of paper tape. An operator then ran the tape through a machine like the one shown here, and the electric typewriter automatically typed the computer output in human-readable form (numerals and letters) onto larger rolls of paper.

4-Early Days of the CRT Display 

The first cathode-ray tubes first appeared in computers as a form of memory, not as displays (see Williams tubes). It wasn't long before someone realized that they could use even more CRTs to show the contents of that CRT-based memory (as shown in the two computers on the left). Later, designers adapted radar and oscilloscope CRTs to use as primitive graphical displays (vector only, no color), such as those in the SAGE system and the PDP-1. They were rarely used for text at that time.

5-The Early Teletype Monitor 

Prior to the invention of the electronic computer, people had been using teletypes to communicate over telegraph lines since 1902. A teletype is an electric typewriter that communicates with another teletype over wires (or later, over the radio) using a special code. By the 1950s, engineers were hooking teletypes up to computers directly, to use them as display devices. The teletypes provided a continuous printed output of a computer session. They remained the least expensive way to interface with computers until the mid-1970s.

6-The Glass Teletype 

Sometime in the early 1960s, computer engineers realized that they could use CRTs as virtual paper in a virtual teletype (hence the term "glass teletype," an early name for such terminals). Video displays proved far faster and more flexible than paper; such terminals became the dominant method for interfacing with computers in the early to mid-1970s. The devices hooked up to computers through a cable that commonly transmitted code only for text characters--no graphics. Until the 1980s, few supported color.

7-Composite Video Out 

Teletypes (even paper-based ones) cost a fortune in 1974--far out of reach of the individual in the do-it-yourself early PC days. Seeking cheaper alternatives, three people (Don Lancaster, Lee Felsenstein, and Steve Wozniak) hit on the same idea at the same time: Why not build a cheap terminal device using an inexpensive CCTV video monitor as a display? It wasn't long before both Wozniak and Felsenstein built such video terminals into computers (the Apple I and theSol-20, respectively), creating the first computers with factory video outputs in 1976.

8-More Composite Monitors 

In addition to RF television output, many early home PCs supported composite-video monitors (shown here) for a higher-quality image. (The Commodore 1702 also offered an alternative, higher-quality display through an early S-Video connection.) As the PC revolution got into full swing, computer makers (Apple, Commodore, Radio Shack, TI) began to design and brand video monitors--both monochrome and color--especially for their personal computer systems. Most of those monitors were completely interchangeable.

9-A Monitor Already in Every Home 

With video outputs came the ability to use ordinary television sets as computer monitors. Enterprising businesspeople manufactured "RF modulator" boxes for the Apple II that converted composite video into a signal that simulated an over-the-air broadcast--something a TV set could understand. The Atari 800 (1979), like video game consoles of the time, included an RF modulator in the computer itself, and others followed. However, bandwidth constraints limited the useful output to low resolutions, so "serious" computers eschewed TVs for dedicated monitors.

10-Early Plasma Displays 

In the 1960s, an alternative display technology emerged that used a charged gas trapped between two glass plates. When a charge was applied across the sheets in certain locations, a glowing pattern emerged. One of the earliest computer devices to use a plasma display was the PLATO IV terminal. Later, companies such as IBM and GRiD experimented with the relatively thin, lightweight displays in portable computers. The technology never took off for PCs, but it surfaced again years later in flat-panel TV sets.

11-The Early LCD Era 

Yet another alternative display technology--the liquid crystal display--arrived on the scene in the 1960s and made its commercial debut in pocket calculators and wristwatches in the 1970s. Early portable computers of the 1980s perfectly utilized LCDs, which were extremely energy-efficient, lightweight, and thin displays. Early LCDs were monochrome and low contrast, and they required a separate backlight or direct illumination for users to read them properly.

12-Early IBM PC Displays 

In 1981, the IBM PC shipped with a directly attached monochrome video display standard (MDA) that rivaled a video terminal in sharpness. For color graphics, IBM designed the CGA adapter, which hooked to a composite-video monitor or the IBM 5153 display (which used a special RGB connection). In 1984, IBM introduced EGA, which brought with it higher resolutions, more colors, and, of course, new monitors. Various third-party IBM PC video standards competed with these in the 1980s--but none won out as IBM's did.

13-Macintosh Monitors 

The first Macintosh (1984) included a 9-inch monochrome monitor that crisply rendered the Mac's 512-by-342-pixel bitmapped graphics in either black or white (no shades of gray here). It wasn't until the Macintosh II (1987) that the Mac line officially supported both color video and external monitors. The Mac II video standard was similar to VGA. Mac monitors continued to evolve with the times, always known for their sharpness and accurate color representation.

14-RGB to the Rescue 

The 1980s saw the launch of PC competitors to both the Macintosh and the IBM PC that boasted sharp, high-resolution, color graphics. The Atari ST series and the Commodore Amiga series both came with proprietary monochrome and RGB monitors that allowed users of those systems to enjoy their computer's graphics to the fullest.

15-Two Important Monitor Innovations 

In the early days of the IBM PC, users needed a different monitor for each display scheme, be it MDA, CGA, EGA, or something else. To address this, NEC invented the first multisync monitor (called "MultiSync"), which dynamically supported a range of resolutions, scan frequencies, and refresh rates all in one box. That capability soon became standard in the industry.

In 1987, IBM introduced the VGA video standard and the first VGA monitors, in league with IBM's PS/2 line of computers. Almost every analog video standard since then has built off of VGA (and its familiar 15-pin connector).

16-Laptop LCDs Improve 

When LCDs first appeared, they were low-contrast monochrome affairs with slow refresh rates. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, LCD technology continued to improve, driven by a market boom in laptop computers. The displays gained more contrast, better viewing angles, and advanced color capabilities, and they began to ship with backlights for night viewing. The LCD would soon be poised to leap from the portable sector into the even more fertile grounds of the desktop PC.

17-The Beige-Box Era 

In the mid-1990s, just about all monitors--for PCs and for Macs--were beige. This was the era of the inexpensive, color, multisync VGA monitor that could handle a huge range of resolutions with aplomb. Manufacturers began experimenting with a wide assortment of physical sizes (from 14 inches to 21 inches and beyond) and shapes (the 4:3 ratio or the vertically oriented full-page display). Some CRTs even became flat in the late 1990s.

18-Early Desktop LCDs 

Computer companies had experimented with desktop LCD monitors since the 1980s in small numbers, but those monitors tended to cost a lot and offer horrible performance in comparison with the more prevalent CRTs. That changed around 1997, when a number of vendors such as ViewSonic (left), IBM (center), and Apple (right) introduced color LCD monitors with qualities that could finally begin to compete with CRT monitors at a reasonable price. These LCDs used less desk space, consumed less electricity, and generated far less heat than CRTs, which made them attractive to early adopters.

19-Present-Day Monitors 

Today, LCD monitors (many widescreen) are standard across the PC industry (except for tiny niche applications). Ever since desktop LCD monitors first outsold CRT monitors in 2007, their sales and market share have continued to climb. Recently, LCD monitors have become so inexpensive that many people experiment with dual-monitor setups like the one shown here. A recent industry trend emphasizes monitors that support 3D through special glasses and ultrahigh refresh rates.

With most TV sets becoming fully digital, the lines between monitor and TV are beginning to blur just as they did in the early 1980s. You can now buy a 42-inch high-def flat-panel display for under $999 that you can hook to your computer, something that would make anyone's head explode if you could convey the idea to people in the 1940s--back when they were still using paper.

Evolution of Mouse

The Computer Mouse: Patient Zero

(image via: Techeblog)

Though it may look somewhat primitive – who am I kidding here, it’s positively Soviet – the first computer mouse was custom crafted for a purpose and did its job so well, it became the model for generations of mice to follow. Credit Douglas Engelbart for contriving this contraption from a block of wood, a couple of gear wheels and a shiny, candy-like red light/button that just begs to be pushed. By December of 1968, Englebart had cobbled up a three-button mouse suitable for demonstration before a bemused audience at the Fall Joint Computer Conference in San Francisco.

Xerox Copies , But at a Price

(image via: Oldmouse)

Englebart’s mouse was no one-trick pony, though it would be some time before the computer mouse made its way to home computers. The Xerox 8010 Information System debuted in 1981 and was one of the first commercial all-in-one computing systems to hit the market. Significantly, it included a mouse! Not that many 8010′s were sold, but then again, not that many home computer users had $16,595 to splurge back then.

Apple’s Small Wonder

(image via: Funnyphotos.au)

Apple’s wonder Stevies, Jobs & Woz, had a knack for noting other folks’ good ideas and making them better. The mouse was a case in point. The Apple Lisa of 1983 came with a mouse but was rather pricey ($9,995) for home users; that all changed with the introduction of the Macintosh the very next year.

The Puck Stops Here

(images via: PC-Advisor and Carl Lostritto)

Apple would stick with squarish, boxy styling for some time… too long, some say, before overshooting the mark in 1998 with the Apple USB Mouse, product number M4848. Designed more to match the sensuous curves of the groundbreaking iMac then to address any ergonomic concerns, the so-called “hockey puck” may not have cramped anyone’s style – but their hands were another matter.

Microsoft Makes a Mouse

(images via: Marcin Wichary and Macworld)

Microsoft one-upped the Apple Lisa by bringing the version of the IBM PC mouse to market in 1983. It featured two buttons – that’s the “one-upped” part – and retailed for $195 each. The price sounds shocking today but compared to the $400 three-button Hawley X063Xfrom the Mouse House it seemed quite reasonable.

Logitech Flies Without Wires

(image via: GearCrave)

By the late 1980s, Logitech had emerged as the leading “alternative” peripherals provider. After first releasing a 3-button mouse in 1982, Logitech introduced the MouseMan Left, MouseMan Right and MouseMan Large in 1990. It then released the first wireless mouse, Logitech’s Cordless MouseMan, the very next year. As the first mouse without a tail, so to speak, the Cordless MouseMan used RF (radio frequency) technology which didn’t require line-of-sight alignment and was powered by a quartet of Ni-Cad batteries.

It’s the Wheel Thing, Part 1

(image via: FAQ-TIFAQ)

1995 brought us ProAgio, the first mouse with a built-in scroll wheel… or rather, Mouse Systems did. The Fremont, CA based company was ahead of its time but behind the 8-ball when it came to advertising. Here’s what Mouse Systems had to say about their great leap forward: “Surfing the Net has never been easier – with ProAgio ($49.99), the incredible five-button PC mouse. ProAgio is the latest wave in Web technology, with a scrolling roller that lets you zoom through Web pages without ever touching the scrollbar. So, why crawl when you can cruise the Web with ProAgio’s unparalleled speed, performance, and flexibility?” Why indeed.

It’s the Wheel Thing, Part 2

(image via: Coding Horror)

Mouse Systems made a good case for the scroll wheel but it wasn’t until Microsoft jumped on the bandwagon that things really began to scroll. In 1996, the first Microsoft Intellimouse was released featuring a third mouse button under the wheel. Curiously, an MS engineer named Eric Michelman claims to have originated the idea for the mouse scroll wheel in 1993, though it took some time to get Microsoft, a many-layered behemoth even then, behind the idea. Even odder, Microsoft didn’t file for a patent on the mouse wheel concept until 1999.

The Light at the End of the Mousehole

(images via: Tech-IMO and PC Techguide)

1999 was a pivotal year for mouse tech as a number of major manufacturers brought out versions of the optical mouse. Originally infrared LED based, optical mice would eventually go to laser tracking, with Logitech’s MX-1000 (above) leading the way. By the dawn of the new millenium, one could happily click away on a wireless, optical mouse that needed neither cleaning nor a dedicated mouse pad.

The Shapes of Mice to Come

(images via: TechLocation and Yanko Design)

What’s next for the computer mouse? They seem to be at the peak of development so the next step may be fragmentation into a range of market niches. Tiny mice, gaming mice, mice that warm your hand, even a Heartbeat Indicator Mouse – these specialty mice are available now and more specialized versions are certainly in development. Others are in the concept stage, such as the I-Contact, a contact lens mouse. Eye caramba!

The Blow-Up Mouse

(image via: New Launches)

Actually it’s called the Jelly Click mouse; I’m sure Mickey has no trouble getting a date. We’ve now moved beyond futuristic to just plain weird, and the Jelly Click mouse is weirdness squared. To be fair, this mouse concept by designers Bongkun Shin, Heungkyo Seo, Jiwoong Hwang and Wooteik Lim could have some practical applications… such as, it’s safe for use poolside or its shape conforms to any hand.

Moldable Mouse is Like Putty in Your Hands

(image via: DVice)

Want a soft & squeezable mouse but need even MORE flexibility? TheMoldable Mouse design concept by Lite-On answers the question only one of the Fantastic Four would ask. Bend it, shape it, anyway you want it, the Moldable Mouse is made to be pushed around. As for the buttons, they’re RF stick-ons that you can put anywhere you want, sort of like Mr. Potato Head. Ditto for the touch-sensitive scroll pad. It’s so much fun you’ll never have time to do any work!

The Phone-y Mouse

(image via: Favordeals)

Curser and cursor in one! The Skype Mouse VOIP Phone manages to combines two very different functions – that of a Skype phone and a 2-button, scroll wheel computer mouse – and perform both very well while managing to look simply smashing! The sliding cover reveals a standard phone keypad and incorporates a generously sized backlit LCD screen.

BRRRAAAAIIINNSS!!!

(image via: Pat Says Now)

Repetitive, soul-killing job got you feeling like a zombie? Got an uncontrollable urge to off the prime minister of Malaysia? Then the Brain Mouse is just what you need! According to the manufacturer,Pat Says Now, “The Brain Mouse has been used to advertise the Paramount movie Zoolander”. It comes in Metallic Gold or Bilious Green… but unfortunately not Blue Steel.

Brass Clickers

(images via: Steampunk Workshop and Brass Goggles)

Steampunk style has come to computers in a big way, and the computer mouse is not immune from those who work with wood, copper and brass. A prime example is the Steampunk Furnace Mouse(above, top), a labor of love whose creator is happy to share each step in its construction.

Stone Mouse Really Rocks

(images via: EnglishRussia and Hardware Canucks)

Second cousin to the Steampunk Mouse is the Stone Mouse, a pet (rock) project by a Russian designer named Neko who figured the best way to move forward was to go back – WAY back. Though the cracked and polished surface of the mouse is undeniably attractive, the cheesy beige plastic scroll wheel and cord tend to detract. Logitech goes for the stone look, or at least that of cracked asphalt with its G5 laser gaming mouse. Rock on, dudes!

The Big Cheese’s Mouse

(image via: FabStuff)

Just got your AIG bonus and not gonna give it back? Step on over to Pat Says Now (yes, the Brain Mouse people) for what may be the world’s most expensive mouse: about £12,400.00 / $24,180.00 USD. The 3-button, scroll wheel optical mouse comes with a 3-year warranty in case any of the 59 brilliant cut diamonds falls off. Choose from yellow, red or white 18K gold with white or black trim.

One Fugly Mouse

(image via: Fugly.com)

Now this is one fugly mouse… it must be, since it’s posted atfugly.com. Not much is known about the workings of the device and seriously, I wouldn’t want to get too near it either. It appears to sprout bristly hairs on the back of the “hand” along with simulated veins, dirty fingernails and a faded Body House tattoo. For some odd reason, there are two rows of teeth underneath, making it the world’s first computer mouth.