In this blog post we will be talking about the world’s most “deadliest” viruses. But it’s not sicknesses we are talking about, we’re talking about computer viruses. Ones that destroy malware, corrupt or delete data, use your own email to spread the virus to others, and delete everything on the hard disk.
Some of the most known viruses are as follows…
- Mydoom
- ILOVEYOU
- Sobig
- WannaCry
- Koobface
The viruses listed above are some of the most deadliest computer viruses the world has ever known.
Mydoom
Mydoom (also know as, Novarg, Mimail.R, and Shimgapi.) was a computer worm that spanned from January 26, 2004- February 12, 2004. But that was just the Mydoom.A variant. There were many variants of Mydoom, such as
- Mydoom
- Mydoom.A
- Mydoom.B
- Mydoom.U
- Mydoom.V
- Mydoom.W
- Mydoom.X
- Mydoom.AO
The worm targeted any computers that ran on windows. It was first found on January 26, 2004 and was one of the fastest spreading e-mail word ever. It even passed the past records of the ILOVEYOU virus and Sobig worm. Mydoom spread fast due to it being disguised like an actual file. Once Mydoom has infected a computer, it can be spread to other devices that are on the same network. The virus was made to create back doors for hackers to gain unauthorized access.
ILOVEYOU
The ILOVEYOU computer virus which was also known as the Love Bug, was a worm that spread quickly through emails. In May of 2000, two students in the Philippines created the virus. Hidden as an email with the subject line being “ILOVEYOU” as well as an attachment named “LOVE-LETTER-FOR-YOU.txt.vbs.” Humans being human, many opened it not knowing what they have just unleashed onto their computer. Once opened the virus would overwrite files on the computer and send a copy of itself to all the other contacts on the computer.
This virus caused damage all over the world and it affected millions of people within hours of it being released. This virus also targeted windows operating systems. Because of its disguise as a cute love letter it was most likely opened (this is the reason it spread so quickly.) This virus caused lots of financial loss and was estimated to be a 10 billion dollar loss. The creators of the ILOVEYOU worm were never convicted of their crimes due to lack of laws in this specification in the philippines in the 2000’s
Koobface
The Koobface virus was a harmful software that targeted social networking platforms. It was first found in 2008 and quickly gained fame for being a rapid spreading virus through popular social media websites. Koobface mainly infected computers running on windows operating systems but it was also found to affect Mac OS X as well as linux systems. The virus was spread due to its trickery.
It tricked users into clicking on infected links or even downloading files disguised as videos or software updates. Once it has infected a computer Koobface gains control over the person’s social media accounts and will send messages to friends and family, trying to convince them to click on infected links. Koobface was known to steal sensitive and private information such as login in information, credit card information, and personal data stored on the computer.
Whats the point??
What was the point of me telling you about these viruses? The point was to let you know how easy it is to get your computer infected. By clicking a button you could let a worm or bug loose on your computer. And fun fact, they still exist, some of the viruses named today are still out there infecting and taking over computers. So, make sure to have an antivirus system and keep your system iup to date!