Computer Viruses: Overview
Author: Daniel Davis

Computers have incredible capabilities.  They can accomplish
great tasks, communicate clearly, make things move and think
beyond human measure.  Computers have become like humans in
nearly every conceivable manner, so it's no surprise that
computers can also get sick.

The computer revolution first began picking up speed in the
late 1980s.  Since then, it has evolved to be a vital element
in our society, our corporate and our personal lives.
Computers have become part and parcel to virtually everything
we do day in, and day out. But with all good comes a little
bad.  Some users have maliciously created computer viruses that
have grave effects.  The range of computer viruses existing in
our modern networks has a huge prominence in our lives, because
of all the ways we depend on computers.  Despite our need for
dependable computers, some people have nothing better to do but
exercise their computer knowledge in a destructive way, creating
computer viruses.

The first computer virus, called "The Brain", was created in
1986.  The Brain is a boot-sector virus, which occupies unused
space on the disk to eliminate further use of memory space.
After it was created, The Brain quickly spread worldwide in
1987. The Brain virus was considered first to use stealth
techniques, making the virus difficult to detect.

On November 1, 1987 another virus appeared.  The Lehigh virus
was named after Lehigh University, the place where this
particular virus was first discovered.  One Friday the
thirteenth, in December of that same year, the Jerusalem virus
was discovered at Hebrew University.  This virus has also gone
by the names "ArabStar", "Friday the 13th" and the "Black
Window".  This is one of the oldest and best-known computer
viruses in the world.

Two more viruses surfaced in 1988:  the Stone, which was the
first bootstrap virus, and the Internet Worm.  The Internet
Worm caused mayhem in the corporate world as it crossed the
United States overnight through a series of computer networks.
Then in 1989, the Dark Avenger was introduced.  This was a
fast-infector that possessed the capability to infect new files
despite the presence of anti-virus software.  The Dark Avenger
computer virus was designed to damage a system slowly.  The
virus would go unnoticed at first, and damaged files would not
be backed up. Slowly it would consume more and more of your
computer until it had created permanent damage.

Computer manufacturers and software engineers began the public
war against computer viruses around 1990.  Corporations began
to respond to growing public concern and the number of
anti-virus products began to rise.  The threat of computer
viruses was finally taken seriously.  McAfee, IBM, Digital
Dispatch and Iris all introduced their anti-virus products and
software in 1990.  Despite their efforts, computer viruses grew
faster, stronger and sneakier.  Symantec Norton anti-virus was
introduced was introduced in 1991.

The introduction of Windows 95 brought both relief and
discomfort to anti-virus companies when it was released in
1995.  At that time, most common computer viruses were still
boot viruses that worked on DOS, but couldn't replicate on
Windows 95.  Then micro viruses were discovered in late 1995.
These computer viruses performed in the MS-Word environment,
rather than DOS.  Again, the anti-virus industry faced
challenges to fight against these new batches of viruses.  With
the introduction and growing popularity of the Internet in the
late 1990s, viruses began to spread at a much faster rate.

Throughout 1998 there was no lessening of computer virus
attacks MS Office, MS Windows, MS Office and network
applications.  New viruses continued to appear, and computers
and advanced network-to-do applications continued to be
affected.  In 1999, another virus appeared, infecting computers
using Microsoft Word.  This computer virus may have been passed
on via MS Outlook, or through Outlook Express e-mail programs.

The "Loveletter" virus, also known as "Love Bug" and the "I
Love You" virus, is believed to have struck one in five PCs
worldwide, making it the most widespread and the most costly
computer virus the world had ever seen.  The "I Love You Virus"
created panic and discord around the globe.  The virus was
transferred by e-mail.  When the receiver opened the
attachment, the virus was automatically sent to everyone in the
user's address book. The "I Love You" computer virus spread at a
dizzying rate of speed.

As long as we continue to use the Internet and share computer
files, we are at risk of catching computer viruses.  Even
today, more and more viruses are still being discovered,
leading to big problems for all users, and creating ongoing
dilemmas for the creators of anti-virus programs.

Like people, getting sick is an unfortunate fact of life for
computers.  Using up-to-date anti-virus software is a sort of
preventative medicine, helping to keep computers healthy and
computer viruses at bay.


About The Author: Daniel Davis contributes to several Internet
magazines, including http://zylep.com and http://bekad.com