A computer virus is a program that spreads between computers by hiding itself within a seemingly innocent document or application. A worm, on the other hand, is a program that replicates and travels without infecting anything else on a system. Modern applications combine both as a means to cheat their way onto computer systems.
The first techy creepy crawlies appeared in 1970 and spread between computers connected to the same network. They displayed an annoying message on the screens of the infected machines.
The father of viruses was Elk Cloner, written in 1982 and infecting the innocent computer population via floppy disks.
Source: New Scientist
- Where did they come from in the first place?
- More on the first virus ever created, Elk Cloner
- Be on the lookout for e-mail viruses
- How to protect you computer against them
- Opening a can of worms
- Listed worm descriptions and ways to exterminate them
realmdigital
Date: 25/07/2008
Name: runnerz
Rating: 4
Comment: it is very informative. hope to see more of these such inserts. keep it hip