The Computer Virus Turns 25. "I guess if you had to pick between being known for this and not being known for anything, I'd rather be known for this. But it's an odd placeholder for (all that) I've done." In 1982, ninth-grade student Rich Skrenta decided to play a prank on his friends. He wrote the Elk Cloner virus that infected Apple II machines. It is thought to be the first computer virus to be unleashed "in the wild." Related: A History Of Viruses.
posted by amyms on Sep 1, 2007 - 10 comments

FBI software cracks encryption wall The FBI is developing software capable of inserting a computer virus onto a suspect’s machine and obtaining encryption keys...
posted by Brilliantcrank on Nov 20, 2001 - 7 comments

Mass-marketing e-mail spreads virus Shoppingplanet.com sends out 50,000 copies of ‘kak’ with its subscriber newsletter
posted by palegirl on May 27, 2000 - 0 comments

- came into work this morning and a new virus has infected our server, and we've had many of our customers call in that have already been infected. It's subject line is "iloveyou". Attached to it is a VB Script- but I assume that most of the readership here would be smart enough to not open attachments like that. But figured it warrented a warning.
posted by TuxHeDoh on May 4, 2000 - 23 comments