All software can be divided into useful and malicious. In the second case, of course, we are talking about computer viruses, the first of which appeared in the 70-80s of the last century. Since then, these pest programs have evolved very much, but even now they have many things in common with their ancestors.
As you might have guessed, this article is about the history of computer viruses. So, you will find out who came up with these ill-fated programs and what path they went from the moment of their formation to the present.
Name history
It’s worth starting with why viruses were named that way, and not otherwise. After all, it was possible to come up with a name more related to computer topics. And the thing is that these programs are very similar in their distribution method to biological viruses. Both ones and others constantly reproduce themselves, gradually capturing more and more new parts of the body. Moreover, both computer and biological viruses are not limited to one carrier, but constantly infect an increasing number of victims.
Unfortunately, it is not known exactly who is the author of this established term. True, many experts argue that the phrase "computer virus" was first used by science fiction writer Gregory Benford. In his work “The Man in Scars,” written in 1970, the virus is called a program that harms computers.
Theory
If we talk about the emergence of various new technologies, then, as often happens, the theory first emerges, and only then it comes to practice. Viruses are no exception to this rule.
Back in 1949, the American mathematician John von Neumann taught a course on complex automatic devices. Then, already in 1951, he published a scientific work called The Theory of Self-Reproducing Devices, which described in detail the possibility of creating a computer program with the ability to copy itself.
Much later, in 1972, Veit Rizak developed the American theory. He described in detail the mechanism of operation of a full-fledged application, which was essentially a virus for the Siemens 4004/35 system. And finally, in 1980, Jürgen Kraus, being a graduate of the University of Dortmund, first compared such a program with a biological infection.
Of course, everything described above had a huge impact on the history of computer viruses. But, as you may have noticed, all the works of scientists were devoted exclusively to harmless programs capable of self-reproduction.
From theory to practice
Inspired by the work of John von Neumann, Bell Laboratories decided to put his theories into practice. They created a game for IBM 7090 computers . The project was named Darwin.
The essence of this toy was that a number of assembler programs (they were called organisms) were placed in the computer's memory. At the same time, the organisms were approximately equally divided between the two players. Then the programs began the process of self-copying, absorbing both disk space and enemy organisms. Accordingly, the winner was the player whose “wards” completely absorbed allotted memory, destroying the opponent’s organisms.
As you can see, the mechanism of Darwin is very similar to modern malware. Even though the game did not actually affect any functions of the computer, it is it that is considered the prototype of all viruses.
Creeper and Reaper
In the wake of the success of Darwin, developers began to create more and more applications with similar functionality, but Creeper should be singled out separately. This is an experimental virus whose appearance dates back to 1970. The program infected DEC PDP-10 computers under the control of the Tenex operating system and displayed a message on their screens: I`m the creeper! Catch me if you can ("I'm Creeper! Catch Me If You Can!"). Despite this behavior, the application did not go beyond the limits of the test stand, therefore it is not considered the first computer virus.
More interesting is the Reaper program, made by the same development team. Oddly enough, it was an antivirus utility whose only task was to find and destroy Creeper. And I must say that she successfully coped with this. Since then, of course, much time has passed, but it was Creeper and Reaper that laid the foundation for the eternal struggle of viruses and antiviruses. What happened next?
Elk cloner
With the onset of the 1980s, the era of the development of personal computers, as well as floppy disks as storage media, began. This is the time when the first computer virus appeared. So, a 15-year-old student Richard Skrenta developed in 1981 a program for Apple II that could hit the DOS operating system loaded from a floppy disk. The virus was called Elk Cloner and, very importantly, it could copy itself to “healthy” media, traveling in this way from one computer to another.
In principle, the program did not greatly harm the PC. The virus for Apple II only displayed a message on the computer screen. It was written in poetic form. However, Elk Cloner was an unpleasant surprise for users. After all, they had never encountered anything like it before. In addition, the program managed to infect a lot of computers, which by the standards of that time completely passed for the first virus epidemic.
Brain
The next major event happened in 1986. The programmers Amjad and Bazit Alvi created the first computer virus for IBM systems, which was called Brain. According to the developers themselves, they wanted to punish local pirates with the help of their brainchild, but the situation got out of their control. To believe them or not is everyone’s personal affair.
The computer virus Brain broke far beyond Pakistan, and it was there that its creators lived, and managed to harm tens of thousands of users. In the United States alone, 20,000 computers were affected. Of course, now this does not sound too threatening, but then it was equated with an epidemic of a global scale.
Floppy-era sunset
As time went on, technology developed, and the era of floppy disks gradually began to decline. At the same time, the Internet gained wide popularity, thanks to which users began to exchange information with each other. Undoubtedly, all these are very positive aspects, but it is because of them that computer viruses have become much more dangerous.
Today, malware has evolved so much that it can spread at an appalling speed. In just a few hours, a particular virus can infect millions of computers, disrupting the work of even government agencies and large companies. What can we say about ordinary users. Moreover, several different types of viruses have formed, each of which has its own characteristics. About them and will be discussed below.
Worms
These malware are self-propagating. To do this, they use the vulnerability of applications, hitting them both through local and global networks (Internet). Theoretically, a "worm" can infect all computers in the world in 15 minutes, but, fortunately, in reality this is impossible.
The first and one of the most famous representatives of this type of virus is the so-called Morris worm. It was created in 1988 and in the shortest possible time managed to infect about 6,200 computers, which then corresponded to about 10% of all PCs connected to the Internet.
Trojans
As for trojans, they, unlike the same “worms,” cannot spread on their own. These viruses enter the computer as a result of certain actions of the users themselves. For example, you can install a program that is legal and harmless at first glance, but malware will hide under its guise.
Having infected a computer, the trojan begins to perform all sorts of unauthorized actions. So, he can collect information, including passwords, or simply use the system’s resources for any unseemly goals.
The first representative of this type of virus is AIDS, which raged in 1989. Then it spread on floppy disks, replaced the AUTOEXEC.BAT file, and began to count the number of system loads. As soon as this number reached 90, the trojan encrypted the names of all the files on drive C, which made it impossible to use the OS. The person, accordingly, was offered to pay to gain access to his information again.
Polymorphs
They stand out because they have an increased level of protection against detection by antivirus utilities. Simply put, these viruses, due to the special programming technique used to create them, can go unnoticed for a long time, harming the system. The first known polymorph is relatively “young”. It appeared in 1990 and was named Chameleon, and its creator is Mark Washburn.
Stealth viruses
Stealth viruses, at first glance, are very similar to polymorphs. They also hide their presence on the computer in the same way, but use several other methods for this. Stealth viruses intercept antivirus programs from accessing the operating system, thereby excluding the possibility of their detection. The first representative of this family is the Frodo program, developed in Israel at the end of 1989, but its debut use took place already in 1990.
A little bit about protection
While viruses were developing, antiviruses, which are the best means of combating them, also did not stand still. So, in addition to the already mentioned Reaper, periodically appeared utilities made to protect against unwanted software. True, until 1981, viruses did not pose a serious threat, and therefore there was no need to somehow resist them.
If we talk about antiviruses in the modern sense of the term, the first of them began to be used in 1985. The program was called DRProtect and prevented all third-party BIOS-related actions by restarting the computer if they were detected.
Nevertheless, the malware developers gradually learned to circumvent the protection provided by primitive antiviruses of the time. It was possible to save the situation only in 1992 thanks to the program of Eugene Kaspersky. An emulator of system code was built into it, which is still used by antiviruses with some changes.
Who needs this?
It is logical that the developers of viruses, creating them, pursue some specific goals. Only here their intentions can be very different, ranging from damage to competitors' equipment and ending with the desire to steal other people's money. Often, during attacks on large companies, the most ordinary users become victims of virus outbreaks, because they can at least protect themselves from them.
Be that as it may, you must be prepared for such situations. Always update your antivirus to the latest version, and you will minimize the chance of your computer becoming infected.