ImSick***

There was a time when viruses are defined as microorganisms that causes sickness to every living thing. 

 

...Now, it could also refer to threats in our precious computers. 

 

 

 

Here are the some of the Most Infamously Devastating Viruses that ever roamed the net.

1. Melissa Virus (1999)

Melissa was among the first to spread via e-mail attachment. When opened, the virus seeks for the Microsoft Outlook address book to e-mail itself to the first 50 names on the list with a message “Here is that document you asked for…”

It also caused the largest internet manhunt that the FBI had ever launched at that time.
 
David L. Smith, the author of the said virus, was then sentenced to 20 months in federal prison and a fine of $5000. He said he wrote the virus for a stripper named Melissa, whom he met somewhere in Florida.

...he must've had a rough time...

2. ILOVEYOU Virus (2000)

Try to imagine this scene: 

You were dreaming about your crush while browsing in the web, when an e-mail came up out of nowhere with a subject line: "ILOVEYOU"and with cutesy file attached saying that its a love letter just for you.Of course, you'd hurry up and open it. Who knows it might just be Alex Pettyfer, right?

Now imagine your dismay when you open it and find your system's multimedia files being infected by some stupid virus who played with your feelings. I guess the 10% of the internet users that fell victim to it felt the same.  

And all thanks to two young kababayan computer programmers named Reonel Ramones and Onel de Guzman. But since there were no laws in the Philippines against writing malware at the time, both Ramones and de Guzman were released with all charges dropped by state prosecutors.

The virus spread quickly overnight and caused $5.5 billion worth of damages...

...and an awful lot of damaged hearts. 

3. Code Red I and II (2001)

These were very sneaky viruses that brought down more than 400,000 servers including the White House web server. 

And unlike the the other ones in this list, you didn't need to open a strange e-mail file to acquire it. All it took was an active Internet connection for the virus to take advantage of a flaw in the Windows operating system, and lets some offsite guy take control on your computer and everything in it...Scary.

4. Nimda Virus (2001)

Which is "Admin" spelled backwards, was believed to be a cyberterror attack, since it was released about a week after the 9/11 attacks. 

It only took 22 minutes for it to be a the most widespread computer threat on earth.

It did so via emails, websites, and server vulnerabilities. The primary purpose of this virus was actually to slow down the internet traffic considerably causing a denial-in-service. 

... which probably freaked a lot of busy college students back then.
  

5. Sasser Virus (2004)

The virus made a HUGE name for itself by attacking BIG targets like the British Coast Guard, which lost its mapping capabilities; Agence France-Presse, which lost its satellite communications; and Delta Airlines, which had to cancel flights when their computer system went down.
 Universities, hospitals and large corporations all reported infections that caused computers to repeatedly crash. 

Such a big damage made by a 17-year old German teenager. 

Yup. You read it right. The Sasser Virus, a cyber beast, was created by 17-year old Sven Jaschan, who, by the way, also created the NetSky worms. 

...talk about young talent...

6. Storm Virus (2007)

Another e-mail con that created a widespread damage is the  Storm Worm. 

It was called so because of its method of trapping. An e-mail would show up with the subject line: "230 dead as storm batters Europe," and a link to the story... Once you click the link, you're led to an infected site and find yourself downloading the virus, like it or not. 

Harsh right?

What's more, Storm has gotten sneakier over time, sending out emails that appear to be from tech support saying to click on a link for a security upgrade (quite the contrary) or sending links to online porn or celebrity photos or even an ecard. Even now, it still lurks somewhere and continues to spread by other means. *yikes*

7. Conficker (2008)

Aka: Downup/ Downadup/ Kido is a computer virus that...well... it hasn't done anything YET.

But it HAS assembled an army of zombie computers which has the potential to steal financial data and other important information from your system.

It uses flaws in Windows OS and dictionary attacks on administrator passwords to propagate while forming its botnet--which is, by the way the zombie computers, and has been unusually difficult to counter because of its combined use of many advanced malware techniques.


There are still a lot of potentially BIG viruses out there, so it pays to be safe, secure, and informed. 

Can't touch this, hun