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We have prepared a short list of the top 10 viruses that have destroyed most computers in the world and have infected a large population of computers (those with Windows platform obviously). Remember that Linux has no viruses, and a PC with Linux operating system is not at risk from viruses (for now).
To find the 10 worst viruses and their creators and brief history, just go on reading...
Melissa
Created in 1999 by David L. Smith, it was one of the first viruses to attract public attention. Based on a Microsoft Word macro, Melissa was sent as an attachment in an email. Once opened, it forwarded itself to 50 addresses. Its creator was tried and sentenced to 20 months in prison and a fine of 5,000 dollars.
I LOVE YOU
A worm that spread from the Philippines in 2000 was initially distributed by e-mail, but also circulated via chats and online. It is estimated that generated losses by this worm is estimated at 10,000 million dollars. But its creator was never punished.
Klez
Founded in late 2001, this virus was a precursor of a new generation of malware, since it could act as a worm or Trojan. It could also disable the antivirus scanning tools, and disable alerts given by a virus detector. It was also a precursor of spoofing - a form of spam that replaces the name of the sender of the message.
Code Red and Code Red II
Two worms that exploited a security hole in Windows 2000 and Windows NT. Computers infected by the first, launched a DoS attack against the servers of the White House. The second, creates a backdoor on the infected computer resulting the user losing control of the machine.
Nimda
Another virus from 2001 is listed as the fastest expansion in history. It only needed 22 minutes to go on the Internet and joined the lists of leading attacks. Although many home PCs were infected, Nimda was originally programmed to attack servers on the Internet in order to collapse the traffic on the Web.
SQL Slammer / Sapphire
A virus released in January 2003, caught a host of security systems, unprepared, which then prepared plans. It infected systems from companies like Continental Airlines and ATMs of Bank of America, as well as half the servers that support Internet traffic. An entire country like Korea temporarily shut down access to the Internet because of this virus.
MyDoom
Another virus creating backdoors, and had several waves in 2004. It was also able to collapse several search engines, by sending numerous requests to search. At the peak of time, one out of every 12 e-mails circulating on the Internet was infected with MyDoom.
Sasser and Netsky
These two worms were created by a young German of 17 years - Sven Jascha. Being a minor, he will be saved from more punishments, but his two creations grew by creating their own variations, and causing multiple losses and inconvenience.
Leap-A/Oompa-A
A virus that shows that Mac users are not immune to this threat, despite the fact that Apple’s operating system is shielded by the virus. Leap-A was expanded in 2006 through the messaging program iChat, which sent a file with a corrupt image file format for all contacts. It caused no major damage, but it showed that like PC, Mac is also vulnerable.
Storm Worm
A Trojan that was released in late 2006, becoming responsible for infected zombie computers, which can be controlled remotely to send spam or steal information. With its many versions, it is considered as the most widespread viruses in the history. However, it is not difficult to detect and remove the virus completely.
