History of Viruses
History of Viruses
Software viruses can infect and computer, cause it to act randomly, and allow the producer to access a lot of key information regarding personal data. To put simply, viruses aren't fun and they can be a nuisance to remove from your computer once they get in. In this article, we are going to help you become more familiar with viruses by covering their history.
Early Days
A lot of the traditional computer viruses that we see today were first introduced in the 1980's. And there are a few reasons for this. For one, personal computers were on a rise. Prior to 1980, PC's were virtually non-existent. As personal computers began to increase in popularity, so did various software programs like Apple Macintosh. As we closed in to the early 90's, computers were a vital part of home and college campus life.
The second reason why viruses became so prominent is because of the high usage of computer bulletin boards. For those who don't know, these were basically programs that could be downloaded with a modem. For example, games were extremely popular as well as simple word processors. This is when our first major virus popped its head out into society.
The Trojan Horse
A virus known as €The Trojan Horse€ became very known in the 80's, when bulletin boards were still being used on a regular basis. And since the virus had such an attractive name, many people were oblivious to the fact that it was something that could instantly erase your entire hard drive.
Just when you believed that you were going to download a game, the entire computer would crash. Trojan horses were short-lived and luckily, not many people experienced their wrath. They were quickly discovered and many game downloaders quickly realized that they needed to be careful with what they were downloading.
Floppy Disk Viruses in the 80's
Other popular viruses which came around in the 80's were often delivered through floppy disks. Since programs were so small during this time span, most of them could easily and conveniently fit on a floppy. Unfortunately, this was also the perfect platform for individuals to create viruses and transfer them to other computers. The authors of various virus programs would create self-replicating programs that would ultimately destroy a hard drive.
Viruses Today
Today, viruses are becoming incredibly complex. From Malware to Spyware, the amount of threats on the Internet are increasing every day. Luckily, we live in a time where anti-virus software's are stronger than ever. As long as you are using a strong system defender, a firewall, and staying away from unwanted links, you should have no trouble keeping your computer virus free.
Software viruses can infect and computer, cause it to act randomly, and allow the producer to access a lot of key information regarding personal data. To put simply, viruses aren't fun and they can be a nuisance to remove from your computer once they get in. In this article, we are going to help you become more familiar with viruses by covering their history.
Early Days
A lot of the traditional computer viruses that we see today were first introduced in the 1980's. And there are a few reasons for this. For one, personal computers were on a rise. Prior to 1980, PC's were virtually non-existent. As personal computers began to increase in popularity, so did various software programs like Apple Macintosh. As we closed in to the early 90's, computers were a vital part of home and college campus life.
The second reason why viruses became so prominent is because of the high usage of computer bulletin boards. For those who don't know, these were basically programs that could be downloaded with a modem. For example, games were extremely popular as well as simple word processors. This is when our first major virus popped its head out into society.
The Trojan Horse
A virus known as €The Trojan Horse€ became very known in the 80's, when bulletin boards were still being used on a regular basis. And since the virus had such an attractive name, many people were oblivious to the fact that it was something that could instantly erase your entire hard drive.
Just when you believed that you were going to download a game, the entire computer would crash. Trojan horses were short-lived and luckily, not many people experienced their wrath. They were quickly discovered and many game downloaders quickly realized that they needed to be careful with what they were downloading.
Floppy Disk Viruses in the 80's
Other popular viruses which came around in the 80's were often delivered through floppy disks. Since programs were so small during this time span, most of them could easily and conveniently fit on a floppy. Unfortunately, this was also the perfect platform for individuals to create viruses and transfer them to other computers. The authors of various virus programs would create self-replicating programs that would ultimately destroy a hard drive.
Viruses Today
Today, viruses are becoming incredibly complex. From Malware to Spyware, the amount of threats on the Internet are increasing every day. Luckily, we live in a time where anti-virus software's are stronger than ever. As long as you are using a strong system defender, a firewall, and staying away from unwanted links, you should have no trouble keeping your computer virus free.
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