The first computer virus,
called "Elk
Cloner" is
credited with being the first to appear "in the wild" --
that is, outside the single computer or lab where it was created. Written
in 1982 by 15-year old Rich Skrenta, it attached itself to the Apple
II computers DOS 3.3 operating system and spread by floppy disk.
Like many of the early viruses, Elk Cloner did not cause any deliberate
harm. Like many of the early viruses, however, it did cause annoyance:
on every 50th booting the virus would display a short "poem",
as follows:
Elk Cloner: The program with a personality
It will get on all your disks
It will infiltrate your chips
Yes it's Cloner!
It will stick to you like glue
It will modify ram too
Send in the Cloner!
A more complete computer virus history can be found at <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_notable_computer_viruses_and_worms> . |
