1.

Jerusalem - 1987

For the first time it was discovered in 1987 on October 1. The virus was dubbed
Jerusalem because it was identified in a Hebrew university, but in 1991 antivirus experts
found that Italy is the country were the first traces of the computer virus were noticed.
Jerusalem is believed to be one of the oldest computer viruses in history, being able to
infect both .EXE and .COM files. Initially the Jerusalem virus included a bug that led to a
repeat infection of the files that continued until the size of the files overcome computer
resources. In addition, each Friday 13 it deleted all programs in the infected system as a
result of a malicious payload that set off on the respective day. Jerusalem considerably
slowed down the machine. A person could identify the virus but noticing two lines on the
monitor.

2. Morris (a.k.a. Internet Worm) - 1988

Previously at www.InfoNIAC.com we wrote about this computer worm, which is

believed to be one of the first worms that spread over the Internet. The name of the virus
comes from its developer Robert Tappan Morris, who was a student at Cornell
University. The computer worm was set off on November 2, 1988 and after some time it
managed to infect 6,000 to 9,000 machines. It overloaded the whole Internet, leading to
the failure of a large number of servers. According to its developer, the goal was to
discover just how far and fast a computer worm can spread all over the network. Robert
Tappan Morris was found guilty and sentenced to 3 years of probation along with 400
hours of community service. In addition, he had to pay a $10,000 fine.

3. Barrotes - 1993

This is believed to be the first popular computer virus developed in Spain. As soon as it
infected the system, it would remain there until January the 5th, when it would set off
showing a series of bars on the screen. It infected .COM, .EXE and overlay files. The
Barrotes computer virus represents a resident virus - it becomes a resident of the
computer memory each time the machine starts up. Due to a series of vertical lines that
appear on the monitor, it was easy to identify the virus. It could also overwrite the Master
Boot Record of the HDD, thus making it impossible for the uses to access the hard disk.

4. Solar Sunrise - 1998

This is not the name of the computer virus, it is the name of the situation that occurred in
1998 when a team of hackers managed to take control of more than 500 computer system
of the army, government as well as private sector of the United States. The name Solar
Sunrise comes after the well-known vulnerabilities in machines that run on the Sun
Solaris OS. At first the attack was believed to have been organized by hackers from Iraq,
but later it was discovered that the ones to blame were two American youngsters from
California.
5. CIH (a.k.a. Chernobyl) - 1998

Our list of the most dangerous computer viruses on the 20th century continues with CIH
virus that caused an estimated damage of $20 to $80 million around the globe. After its
launch, the computer virus managed to affect huge amounts of data stored on computers.
Later it was discovered that the computer virus was launched in Taiwan. It has been
recognized to be one of the most dangerous computer viruses in history. It infected
Windows 95, 98, and ME executable files. In addition, CIH remained resident in the
memory of the machine, being able to carry on infecting other executables. After being
activated, the virus overwrote data on the HDD of the infected PC, making the latter
inoperable. CIH could also overwrite the BIOS of the infected computer, thus preventing
boot-up. The second name of the virus - Chernobyl - was given because some of the
biggest damages occurred on the day when the nuclear reactor exploded.

6. Melissa - 1999

For the first time computers got acknowledged with Melissa computer virus on March 26,
1999, when the virus shut down the Internet mail system, which got blocked with e-
mails infected by the worm. It is worth mentioning that at first Melissa was not meant to
cause any harm, but after overloading the servers, it led to serious problems. For the first
time it spread in the Usenet discussion group alt.sex. Melissa was hidden within a file
called "List.DiC", which featured passwords that served as keys to unlocking 80
pornographic websites. The original form of the virus was sent through e-mail to different
users.

Melissa computer virus was developed by David L. Smith in Aberdeen Township, New
Jersey. Its name comes from a lap dancer that the programmer got acknowledged with
while in Florida. After being caught, the creator of the virus was sentenced to 20 months
in federal prison and ordered to pay a fine of $5,000. The arrest was made by a team of
representatives from FBI, New Jersey State Police and Monmouth Internet.

Melissa had the ability to multiply on Microsoft Word 97 and Word 2000, as well as on
Microsoft Excel 97, 2000 and 2003. In addition, the virus had the ability to mass-mail
itself from Microsoft Outlook 97 and Outlook 98.

7. I Love You - May 2000

Using a similar method as the Melissa, the computer virus dubbed "I Love You"
managed to infect millions of computers around the world overnight. Just like Melissa
this computer virus sent passwords and usernames, which were stored on the attacked
computers, back to the developer of the virus. After authorities traced the virus they
found that a young Filipino student was behind the attack. The young man was released
due to the fact that the Philippines did not have any law that would prevent hacking and
spreading malware. This situation served as one of the premises for creating the
European Union's global Cybercrime Treaty.
8. The Code Red worm - July 2001

This 21st century computer virus managed to penetrate tens of thousands of systems that
ran Microsoft Windows NT and Windows 2000 server software. The damages caused by
the Code Red computer virus were estimated at $2 billion. Core Red was developed to
use the power of all computers it infected against the official website of the White House
at a predetermined date. In collaboration with different virus hunters and tech firms, the
White House managed to decipher the code of the Code Red virus and stop traffic as the
malware started its attacks.

9. Nimda - 2001

Shortly after the September 11 tragedy this computer virus infected hundreds of
thousands of computers worldwide. Nimda was considered to be one of the most
complicated viruses, having 5 different methods of infecting computers systems and
being able to duplicate itself.

10. Downadup - 2009

The latest and most dangerous virus is the "downadup" worm, which was also called
"Conficker". The computer security company F-Secure stated that the computer virus has
infected 3.5 million computers worldwide. This malicious program was able to spread
using a patched Windows flaw. Downadup was so "successful" in spreading across the
Web, because it used a flaw that Microsoft patched in October in order to distantly
compromise computers that ran unpatched versions of Microsoft's operating system. But
the greatest power of the worm is believed to be the ability of computers, infected with
the worm, to download destructive code from a random drop point. F-Secure stated that
three of the most affected countries were China, Brazil and Russia.
1. Kaspersky Anti-Virus 2010
Kaspersky leads the pack due to its very high detection rate (96%)
while being the product which slows down the PC the least. We
recommend this as the #1 choice for home PCsIt helps the system to
prevent all types of malwares that are either known or
unknownIt is very important to have secured passwords when
you do net banking and other transaction. The antivirus will help
you from phishing and other scams.
The Kaspersky internet security will help you in making your
system run in a safe mode and lets you run suspicious program
in a safe environment.
This is very user friendly and will help you in accessing the
gadget in an easy manner where in all the icons will available in
the desktop.
2. Symantec Norton AntiVirus 2010
Norton antivirus is the worlds most sold anti-virus and also has very
impressive detection rate (96%) while not slowing the PC down
much. In the 2009 version it is better than ever before. The Norton
software is user friendly. It can be used by everyone with great
ease. There is a guide provided so that you can just make it
activated with just few clicks.There is always a good customer
support to guide you through all the steps.
3. BitDefender Antivirus 2010
BitDefender Antivirus 2010 is one of a family of computer security
systems offered by BitDefender. BitDefender 2010 products are
compatible with Windows Vista, Windows XP and Windows 7.
BitDefender security products protect PCs against viruses, Trojans,
spyware and other malware. They can block spam from e-mail
inboxes, run unobtrusively in gaming systems, give parents control
over their childrenХs Web surfing activities, encrypt confidential files
and run computer maintenance operations. BitDefender products
consistently score well when compared by independent laboratories
with similar products produced by competing Internet security
companies.
4. Eset NOD32

5. Panda Antivirus Pro 2010

 This is categorized as the “good” product. It helps in any real time
protection against the scams or the hackers. It can also protect your
PC from the spyware. It helps you from phishing problem and
protects your system from unwanted threats. The cost of this software
is about $49.99 that accommodates three systems. A great offer is
given such that if it does not work for you properly then there is 7 day
money back guarantee.

7. Grisoft AVG 7.5 Professional

AVG is very popular anti-virus software that has ruled the
market for years. There are millions and millions of users
who have handed over the safety of their systems to the
AVG anti-virus AVG has recently launched AVG Anti-Virus
Free Edition 2011. This version of AVG Anti-virus has
overpowered the previous versions of the same. It has so
much to offer, the motive behind this, every system user
does have the rights to have the protection for their system
without any additional cost. It has a lot of new features
compared to other similar programs.
8. Trend Micro

9. McAfee VirusScan
McAfee VirusScan for Mac provides complete, proactive
malware protection for Mac systems and users. Using
proven protection methods, it stops all types of viruses and
malicious code, including spyware, adware, Trojans, and
new, unknown threats.With the McAfee ePolicy
Orchestrator (ePO) platform, you can efficiently deploy
and manage your Mac, Windows, and Linux clients on
your network, giving you better security visibility across
your entire infrastructure. Control policy configuration,
deployment, and reporting for all your endpoints from the
ePO platform’s single, web-based console.
10. F-secure
F-Secure has a marvelously intuitive and clean
user interface that splits the program’s main
functions in to current status and the ability to
enable or disable the different modules is
extremely easy to figure out without the need to
reach for any manuals. The most common tasks
are the ones that are presented to you first, indeed
the entire layout has been well thought out and you
can tell that F-Secure have spent many hours
thinking about the way that their users will actually
want the program to look and feel. One of my
favorite functions was the statistics screen which
shows you in real time what the software is doing
and what it has already done.