A Computer Virus is a malicious Software which replicates itself by modifying computer programs and the affected the internal software of computer.
Today I will tell you about some Worst Viruses Ever in the history of Internet.
1. I LOVE YOU
This was a virus which was started in 5 May 2000. Basically it was a worm which spread when the victims opens a file. This virus was created by Onel de Guzman who was also responsible for creating other forms of malware. In 2002 I LOVE YOU virus made a world record for being the most malicious virus of that time as it infected 45 million windows computers worldwide.
2. Melissa
This virus was created by David L. Smith in 1999. This virus was started using an infected word document which was uploaded on alt.sex usenet group. When people opened it the macro inside was unleashed and then the virus will mail itself to top 50 people in the e-mail address book which caused an increase of e-mail traffic, disrupting the e-mail services of government and corporations.
3. Code Red
Code Red virus was surfaced on 2001 and lasted till July 2001. It was first noticed by two senior security engineers. It was named Code Red because the pair were drinking Code Red Mountain Dew at the time they discovered about it. It was a worm which caused a buffered overflow problem in the system. Once infected, it will make 100 copies of itself but due to a bug In the program it would duplicate more and consume more system resources. No one knows who created the virus but it from the webpage it was clear that the virus was from china. There were rumours that virus coding group 29A were responsible for this virus.
4. Sasser
Sasser is a worm which was created by a Computer Science Student in Germany who was also behind Netsky. The virus caused billions of dollars of damage in 2004. Sasser caused many computers to slow down or crash, causing some high profile damage. The German student who was behind all this was named Sven Jaschan.
5.Wanna Cry
This virus came into action in May, 2017 and affected the entire world. This virus works by entering victim's computer through e-mail or third-party software. Mostly, Windows operating system was affected from this virus. Wanna cry encrypts the victim’s computer and demands for ransom payments. The payments were taken in Bitcoin Cryptocurrency. This virus affected many banks and organizations across the world. This virus affected more than 200,000 computer all around the globe and caused billions of dollars of damage.
6.MyDoom
This virus came into action in the Jan 2004. This virus mostly affected windows Operating system. This virus spread through E-mails and it has world record of fastest spreading E-mail worms ever.
The worm simply contains a small text message “andy: I’m just doing up my job, nothing personal, sorry”.The virus targeted approximately 2 million computers.
Later it was found that the developer of this worm was from Russia. But the actual developer is still unknown.
7.SQL Slammer
This virus appeared in 2003. It was a worm which caused to slow down an internet server and then slowed down the entire Internet Traffic within few minutes. The worm doubled each time the numver of victims increased. It caused billions of dollars lost by crashing Bank of Americas ATM Network.
This worm was so fast that it infected more than 75,000 victims within 10 minutes.
8. Nimda
This computer worm appeared on September 18, 2001. This virus was so malicious that it even surpassed the damage caused by Code Red. Nimda affected both user workstations (clients) running Windows 95, 98, NT, 2000 or XP and servers running Windows NT and 2000. Nimda normally affected computers with Microsoft Windows as the Operating System. The main priority of this worm was to attack the internet servers and to destroy internet traffic through emails.
If you know some viruses which I have missed including in this list then please comment the name of the virus.