Evolution of Computer Viruses A Technical Presentation by: Logan Kallop

What to Expect What is a computer virus? What are some types of computer viruses? Famous examples of computer viruses Record setting viruses Modern day viruses

What is a Computer Virus? A program inserted into a computer system to perform some sort of malicious purpose. Some have no purpose besides to spread and self replicate. As of April 2012, Symantec security company had upwards of 18 million Virus Definitions

Different Types of “Viruses” Malware is the proper definition of a computer virus Adware, Spyware, Worms, Ransomware, Trojan Horses, Keyloggers, Rootkits BHO-Browser Helper Object Download.ject

Polymorphic Code Virus infects files with an encrypted copy of itself Virus then decoded with a decryption module Each time the virus replicates, it gains a new encryption and decryption module Virus scanners had a hard time detecting these viruses due to their ever changing state

First “Computer Virus” John von Neumann- 1949 Theory of self-reproducing automata His design for a self-reproducing computer program is considered the worlds first computer virus

The Creeper Virus Written by Bob Thomas in 1971 Infected DEC PDP-10 computers running the TENEX operating system Gained access via the ARPANET Virus displayed message “I’m the creeper, catch me if you can!” The Reaper program was created later to delete Creeper.

Elk Cloner Created by Richard Skrenta in 1981 Written for Apple II systems First large-scale computer virus outbreak in history Intended as a prank at first

Source: Google Images

Jerusalem Virus First detected in Jerusalem 1987 Believed to have been made in Italy Affected the DOS operating systen Infects .EXE and .COM files On every instance of Friday the 13th, deletes every program file that was executed Many different versions exist, became obsolete due to Windows

Michelangelo Virus First discovered in February 1991 in Australia Designed to infect DOS systems, operate at the BIOS level Virus was dormant until March 6, moved all hard disk data so it was unobtainable

Happy99 Written by French virus programmer “Spanska” First appeared mid-January 1999 Spread through emails, Winsock Automatically attaches to all send emails after infection Besides spreading and advertising itself, no real damage to computer One of the most commonly reported viruses in 1999

Source: Google images

ILOVEYOU worm Created by two Filipino computer programmers May 5th 2000 Attacked tens of millions of Windows PC’s Programmed in Visual Basic Script Spread via email Estimated $5.5-8.7 Billion in damages worldwide Considered one of the most damaging worms ever

Anna Kournikova virus Created by Dutch programmer Jan de Wit in 2001 Similar to the ILOVEYOU virus, spread through email Created by a Visual Basic Worm Generator David L. Smith identified de Wit as who was responsible for the virus Minimal damage

SQL Slammer worm Fastest spreading worm of all time Wasn’t programmed in SQL at all Infected Microsoft SQL servers Crashed so many servers, routers, and databases that it slowed down the internet as a whole Worm was only 376 bytes, fit inside a single packet

Mydoom Computer worm affecting Windows systems First sited in January 2004 Fastest spreading email worm ever, exceeding records set by Sobig worm and ILOVEYOU Original purpose was to DDOS against SCO group Later versions attacked Microsoft sites as well as Google

Flame Discovered in 2012, espionage malware Has the ability to record audio, Skype conversations, screenshots, keyboard activity, network traffic, and convert the host computer to a Bluetooth beacon and download contact information from Bluetooth enabled devices Targets Middle Easters countries, has been detected elsewhere

Old vs. New computer viruses Hackers and malicious programmers had changing goals for their programs as time went on Early viruses were designed to be detected, often with some flashy message or image More for the fun of it, not for a malicious purpose Modern viruses are designed to be hidden and cause as much damage as possible

Conclusion Defined computer virus Examples of famous viruses Some languages used to create viruses Commonly infected machines Old vs. New virus objectives

References Wikipedia.com Viruslist.com Virus.wikia.com Google Images Symantec

Questions?