2.1 Computer Viruses
103
Russian origin—V. A. Vyssotsky, Doug McIlroy, and Robert Morris from Bell Telephone Laboratories (USA)—invented a game, unusual for that time, called “Darwin”,
where a number of assembler programs, called “organisms,” were loaded into the
computer memory.
Some virtual organisms created by one player were to destroy representatives of
another species and capture the maximum living space. The player whose “organisms” captured all the living space (all computer memory) or scored the most points
was the winner.
With the advent of the first personal computers designed by Apple in 1977 and
the development of the network infrastructure of computer technology, a new era in
the history of viruses began.
The first badware appeared. Guised as useful programs, it simply destroyed all
user data after launch.
Trojan badware appeared a bit later, manifesting its destructive essence not
immediately, but later on or under certain conditions.
Year 1987, marked by the appearance of the so-called virus epidemics, can be
considered the next stage in the development of viruses. The term “virus epidemics”
was also introduced in computer technology from biological science. By this time,
relatively cheap IBM PCs were already widespread, which eventually led to a sharp
increase in the scope of infection with computer viruses (epidemics).
Notoriously, in 1987, three major computer virus epidemics broke out at once.
The first virus outbreak was caused by a virus called BRAIN (aka the “Pakistani
virus”)—the first virus created for IBM PCs. It was developed by two brothers,
Amjad and Basit Alvi, in 1986 and was first discovered in the summer of 1987.
Initially, the program had a good purpose. It was aimed at punishing the local
pirates who were stealing software from their firm. The names, addresses, and telephones of the brothers were indicated in the program. However, unexpectedly for
their creators, Brain went beyond the geographical boundaries of Pakistan and only
that year infected more than twenty thousand computers in the USA and hundreds
of computers around the world. Let us add that Brain was also the first virus in the
genus of the so-called “stealth viruses”: as soon as the user tried to read the infected
sector, he automatically “substituted” his uninfected original.
Originating in Lehigh University (USA), the second computer virus epidemic
broke out in November of the same year. Within literally several days, this virus
destroyed or modified the contents of the majority of diskettes from the library of
the university computer center, as well as most of the students’ personal diskettes.
During this virus epidemic, about four thousand computers were infected.
The third virus epidemic broke out at the end of the same year—on December
30. It was caused by a virus found in another part of the globe—the University
of Jerusalem (Israel). Although this virus did not bring significant harm, it quickly
spread throughout the world.
On Friday, May 13, 1988, firms and universities in several countries of the world
simultaneously met the Jerusalem virus—the virus destroyed all files run on that day.
A year later, in November 1988, a Robert Morris Jr. created the so-called Morris
worm, which infected the Internet-connected VAX, DEC, and Sun computers running
103
Russian origin—V. A. Vyssotsky, Doug McIlroy, and Robert Morris from Bell Telephone Laboratories (USA)—invented a game, unusual for that time, called “Darwin”,
where a number of assembler programs, called “organisms,” were loaded into the
computer memory.
Some virtual organisms created by one player were to destroy representatives of
another species and capture the maximum living space. The player whose “organisms” captured all the living space (all computer memory) or scored the most points
was the winner.
With the advent of the first personal computers designed by Apple in 1977 and
the development of the network infrastructure of computer technology, a new era in
the history of viruses began.
The first badware appeared. Guised as useful programs, it simply destroyed all
user data after launch.
Trojan badware appeared a bit later, manifesting its destructive essence not
immediately, but later on or under certain conditions.
Year 1987, marked by the appearance of the so-called virus epidemics, can be
considered the next stage in the development of viruses. The term “virus epidemics”
was also introduced in computer technology from biological science. By this time,
relatively cheap IBM PCs were already widespread, which eventually led to a sharp
increase in the scope of infection with computer viruses (epidemics).
Notoriously, in 1987, three major computer virus epidemics broke out at once.
The first virus outbreak was caused by a virus called BRAIN (aka the “Pakistani
virus”)—the first virus created for IBM PCs. It was developed by two brothers,
Amjad and Basit Alvi, in 1986 and was first discovered in the summer of 1987.
Initially, the program had a good purpose. It was aimed at punishing the local
pirates who were stealing software from their firm. The names, addresses, and telephones of the brothers were indicated in the program. However, unexpectedly for
their creators, Brain went beyond the geographical boundaries of Pakistan and only
that year infected more than twenty thousand computers in the USA and hundreds
of computers around the world. Let us add that Brain was also the first virus in the
genus of the so-called “stealth viruses”: as soon as the user tried to read the infected
sector, he automatically “substituted” his uninfected original.
Originating in Lehigh University (USA), the second computer virus epidemic
broke out in November of the same year. Within literally several days, this virus
destroyed or modified the contents of the majority of diskettes from the library of
the university computer center, as well as most of the students’ personal diskettes.
During this virus epidemic, about four thousand computers were infected.
The third virus epidemic broke out at the end of the same year—on December
30. It was caused by a virus found in another part of the globe—the University
of Jerusalem (Israel). Although this virus did not bring significant harm, it quickly
spread throughout the world.
On Friday, May 13, 1988, firms and universities in several countries of the world
simultaneously met the Jerusalem virus—the virus destroyed all files run on that day.
A year later, in November 1988, a Robert Morris Jr. created the so-called Morris
worm, which infected the Internet-connected VAX, DEC, and Sun computers running