Virus Examples
What can viruses do to your computer? What is it that some of these viruses do? I've put together this page to show exactly what it is that some particular viruses do. Keep in mind there are thousands of viruses, and they can each do things that are not covered in this list.
Michelangelo
The computer virus named "Michelangelo" was discovered in 1991. It was programmed to delete all information on the infected computer's hard drive on March 6th of each year. It was named after the famous painter, Michelangelo, whose birth date was March 6, 1475.
- Vmyths.com has more information about the Michelangelo virus scare.
- For more information on the painter, go to Wikipedia's article on Michelangelo.
ILOVEYOU
In the year 2000 many people got emails with the subject "ILOVEYOU". When people opened the attachment, the virus copied itself to the computer, and then sent itself out to all the people in the user's email address list.
The copied itself in to existing files. People lost music files, or movies. Also, the virus initiated a DoS attack on the White House website. It is estimated that this virus did $10 billion dollars worth of economic damage around the world.
(Source: Wikipedia's article on VBS/Loveletter)Mostly harmless viruses
The Macintosh Virus
This was a virus that didn't actually do any harm. The virus displayed a universal peace message, and then destroyed itself.
The IBM Christmas Tree
This virus displayed a Christmas greeting to the screen.
The New Zealand Marijuana Virus
This virus displayed messages encouraging the legalization of marijuana.
(Source of mostly harmless virus info: http://acct.tamu.edu/smith/virus.htm)Send feedback!
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