Evolution of Computer Viruses
A Technical Presentation by:
Logan Kallop
What to Expect
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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Defined computer virus
Examples of famous viruses
Some languages used to create viruses
Commonly infected machines
Old vs. New virus objectives
References
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Wikipedia.com
Viruslist.com
Virus.wikia.com
Google Images
Symantec