10 Most Destructive Computer Viruses

The pc security world is presently noisy regarding one in every of the newest computer viruses to hit the computing world, W32.Stuxnet. Containing a record four zero-day exploits, Stuxnet is that the subject of abundant speculation regarding the meant target, because it infects and permits for exploits in Siemens systems management software system, that is wide employed in industrial systems. Security firm Symantec has disassembled and analyzed the virus, finding that it uses four antecedently unknown exploits in Windows and different software system. owing to the complexness, sophistication and nature of the virus, several ar theorizing that it had been created by an outsized cluster, or doubtless a governmental intelligence.





So, we tend to determined to require a glance back at ten of the foremost harmful pc worms and viruses to ever be created. From the unbelievably ancient (in pc time) worms like CIH and Melissa, to the newest and speedily spreading Conficker, these viruses and worms maximized their harm and wreaked mayhem on the pc world.



1. MyDoom – $38 Billion



Mydoom, conjointly referred to as W32.MyDoom@mm, Novarg, Mimail.R and Shimgapi, may be a pc worm moving Microsoft Windows. it had been initial sharp-sighted on twenty six Gregorian calendar month 2004. It became the fastest-spreading e-mail worm ever (as of Gregorian calendar month 2004), extraordinary previous records set by the Sobig worm. Mydoom seems to possess been commissioned by e-mail spammers thus on send e-mail through infected computers. The worm contains the text message “andy; I’m simply doing my job, nothing personal, sorry,” leading several to believe that the worm’s creator was paid. Early on, many security corporations expressed their belief that the worm originated from a computer user in Russia. the particular author of the worm is unknown. MyDoom caught up world web access by common fraction, and caused some web site access to be reduced by fifty p.c. Upon infection, it probe for email addresses from contact lists and sent itself to any addresses it found. it had been aforementioned that in the primary few days, one out of 10 email messages sent contained the virus. it had been solely stopped from spreading once a couple of month. (For recommendations on eradicating mass mailing viruses, scan Email Scanners – Protection from viruses and malware).

2. Sobig.F – $37 Billion



Computer users were still ill  from the harm caused by workman in 2003 once another mass-mailer referred to as Sobig.F attacked. This computer program caused billions of bucks in harm by obstruction or fully unmitigated web gateways and email servers, leading to the tigerish deceleration down of worldwide web access. It harvested email addresses from numerous documents found within the infected computers. The virus then sent itself to those addresses. it had been able to send over 1,000,000 copies of itself inside some hours of the occurrence. By September of 2003, it had deactivated itself, having been programmed to try to to thus. It then ceased to be a threat.

3. ILOVEYOU – $15 Billion



ILOVEYOU, a.k.a. LoveLetter, may be a pc worm that with success attacked tens of innumerable Windows computers in 2000 once it had been sent as associate degree attachment to associate degree email message with the text “ILOVEYOU” within the subject line. The worm arrived in email inboxes on and once might four, 2000 with the straightforward subject of “ILOVEYOU” associate degreed an attachment “LOVE-LETTER-FOR-YOU.TXT.vbs”. the ultimate ‘vbs’ extension was hidden by default, leading unsuspecting users to suppose it had been a mere computer file. Upon gap the attachment, the worm sent a duplicate of itself to everybody within the Windows Address Book and with the user’s sender address. It conjointly created variety of malicious changes to the user’s system. The virus was written by a Filipino computer user UN agency was still a school student at that point. He aforementioned the discharge of the virus was solely “accidental.” This virus unfold throughout the globe in mere every day, infecting computers of enormous firms and governments, together with the Pentagon within the u.  s.. It caused $15 billion in damages. the particular “damage” occurred throughout the removal of the infection from computers, as email servers and pc networks had to be clean up before the virus may well be removed.

4. Conficker: $9.1 billion



The Conficker worm was free in 2007, infecting innumerable computers round the world. Once a pc was infected, this worm downloaded and put in malware from sites controlled by the hackers, together with things like keystroke loggers and remote PC-control software system.

5. Code Red – $2 Billion



The world had not nevertheless recovered from the harm caused by the ILOVEYOU virus once Code Red was free in mid-2001. not like different viruses, this one solely targeted sure computers running the Microsoft IIS (Internet data Server) internet Server, exploiting a bug within the software system. Once a pc was compromised by the virus, it'd modify the handled web site, displaying the message “Welcome to http://www.worm.com! Hacked by Chinese!” Then, it'd later get different computers running the online server software system and do identical factor. once regarding time period of infection, the virus was programmed to launch DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) attacks on sure websites, together with the server of the White House.

6. Melissa Virus – $1.2 Billion



Released in 1999, the Melissa virus was another mass-mailing malware that was aforementioned to possess infected up to twenty p.c of computers worldwide. This enclosed the networks of Microsoft, Intel, and different corporations that relied on MS Outlook as their email shopper. Email servers round the world were forced to clean up so as to forestall the virus from spreading, further on take away the virus from their system. The virus came through email together with associate degree MS Word attachment. once opened, it emailed itself to the primary fifty individuals within the MS Outlook contact list. It conjointly overwrote the document files within the infected pc with quotes from the far-famed cartoon TV series “The Simpsons.”

7. SQL Slammer – $750 Million



SQL Slammer is that the least damaging virus during this list. It still caused a substantial quantity of harm, though, by overwhelming routers, inflicting them to clean up. The target of this virus was internet servers running a vulnerable version of Microsoft SQL Server. solely computers that ran this server software system were infected, however it caused the delay of web access round the world. in mere underneath 10 minutes, it had been able to infect thousands of servers center away. Upon infection of a server, the virus generated random science addresses through that it tried to additional infect different computers.


8. Sasser – $500 Million



Sasser was another complicated computer program that halting thousands of computers, and was written by a 17-year-old German student in 2004. Sasser failed to unfold through email, and failed to need any human intervention to compromise computers. It infected computers by exploiting vulnerability gift in each Windows 2000 and Windows XP machines, referred to as the RPC (Remote Procedure Call) exploit – identical vulnerability employed by the workman virus. Sasser with success infected and clean up thousands of pc networks in mere a matter of days. once infecting a pc, it's programmed to access the net to go looking for different vulnerable machines in order that it will infect them. Sasser conjointly displayed a notice indicating that the system was move down.

9. Blaster – $320 Million



The workman virus was a posh malware that unfold itself not through email, however through a vulnerability in each the Windows 2000 and Windows XP machines. This malicious software system was detected in mid-2003 and by then had infected many thousands of computers. Once a pc was infected, it displayed a message box indicating that the system would clean up during a number of minutes. it had been conjointly programmed to launch a DDoS attack to a server travel by Microsoft by Gregorian calendar month 2003, however was already contained by that point. Discovered within the code was a hidden message to Microsoft founder entrepreneur spoken communication “Billy Gates, why does one create this possible? Stop creating cash, and fix your software!”

10. CIH – $80 Million

This virus was thought of {one of|one among|one during all|one amongst|one in every of} the foremost dangerous and most harmful viruses ever as a result of it had the flexibility to stay undetected  in a computer’s memory, infecting each application that was run. initial free in 1998, the CIH virus infected workable files of the in operation systems Windows ninety five, 98, and ME. This virus conjointly was accidentally distributed by a software system trafficker, contributive to the huge infection of computers. What created this virus dangerous was that it had a trigger date. Once that date was reached, it overwrote the files on the drive and fully destroyed its contents. It conjointly had the flexibility to write the BIOS of the pc to forestall it from booting up. This virus was conjointly referred to as the metropolis virus as a result of some variants were set to destroy knowledge in computers that coincided with the atomic energy plant accident.

SEE MORE