history of computer viruses

A computer virus is an executable computer program which has replicating capabilities and can move from one computer to another. This replicating probability is harmful to the computer because it quickly uses up all the available memory and makes the whole system come to a halt.
A computer virus can corrupt data that is on the computer or even delete it. The virus can also replicate and spread itself to other computers through email programs. Some viruses are even capable of destroying all the data and information that is found in the hard disk.
The first scientist to theorize about the possible existence of viruses in computers was John von Neumann. He did this in 1944 when he gave a series of lectures on the ‘Theory of self reproducing automata’. In these lectures, he contemplated the occurrence of self replicating computer codes.
One of the first viruses to ever be identified was known as the Creeper in the early 1960s. It was able to replicate itself and spread to other computers on the ARPANET. This was a predecessor of the Internet and was used by the American defense force and universities in America. This virus did not cause much damage but it was proof about the power of viruses.

A more harmful virus known as Wabit was designed in 1974. It would replicate itself over and over again until the machine crashed completely. This was because the replication led to the full utilization of the system’s resources until it could not function at all. This virus also did not cause much damage as there were a very small number of computers in use at that time.
This all changed in the late 70s and early 80s with the introduction of Apple computers. These computers were much affordable and they infiltrated nearly all homes. The Elk Cloner was a virus that spread to so many computers with the use of floppy disks. The virus was designed by a fifteen year old by the name of Rich Skrenta. Luckily, the virus did not do much damage as it was a simple poem with no harmful intentions. The virus did not spread too quickly to the computers due to the diversity of the computer operating systems.
Unfortunately, this changed in the 1990s with most computers running on the Microsoft Windows operating system. The problem this scenario caused was that it provided a leeway for the viruses to spread faster and to many more computers. One reason for this is the mono culture produced which favors the spread of viruses. Another reason why they could spread so fast is because computers were accessible to a bigger population than before.
During this period, the modern Internet developed and viruses no longer needed floppy discs to spread. In 1995, viruses were spreading through Microsoft Word and emails and their attachments.
Since then many companies have tried coming up with effective anti-viruses to stop the virus menace in the Internet. One such product is the Kaspersky antivirus which identifies viruses and destroys them. Other well known antivirus software includes Avast and Avira anti-viruses.