Twentieth century developments in technology were a great help in making people’s lives easier, safer and more pleasant.

However, like almost anything in the world, they also have their bad sides. Developments in technology opened fresh opportunities for hackers to work out new and more “effective” computer viruses.

Below is the list of the top three computer viruses of all time:

• ILoveYou–This computer virus attacked many computers in 2000. Many people received e-mails titled “I Love You” with an attachment, which looked like a simple text file and didn’t cause suspicion. Besides harming the system (replacing media and document files with a copy of itself), it sent a copy of itself to all the users in the victim’s address book. This computer virus had a special feature that could download a “password thief” to your computer and easily share your password with others.

• Mydoom–Mydoom is considered to be the fastest spreading e-mail transmitted virus in the history of viruses. The e-mails may be titled in different languages and may include the words “Mail Delivery System,” “Mail Transaction Failed” and “Error.” Just like the previously mentioned virus, Mydoom can also send itself to the users found in the address book. The first symptom of the virus is the decrease of Internet traffic. According to techenclave.com “it slowed global Internet performance by 10 percent and Web load times by up to 50 percent.”

• Conficker–This virus started its harmful “career” in 2008. Since then it has managed to spread to 200 countries worldwide and today is considered to be the most dangerous virus. Conficker is a combination of several malware techniques and is very difficult to detect. Very often your computer may show no signs of infection. However, some basic functions of this computer virus include malfunctions of Windows OS. It is also believed to enable access to antivirus websites.

Being aware about the viruses and about how they work is very important in struggling against them. A high awareness level will tighten computer systems security and will help you protect your computer from viruses and hacker attacks.

Photo © Don Hankins

No related posts.