Computer viruses have existed for as long as we can remember. Well, almost.
The first computer virus (externally released) is thought to be ‘Elk Cloner’. It is attributed to Rich Skrenta. It infected Apple DOS 3.3 computers and was spread via floppy disc – in those early days, the floppy disc was the main method of spreading viruses. That was back in 1982.
Funnily enough, Skrenta created the Elk Cloner as a simple prank when he was 15 years old. Elk Cloner embedded itself in a computer’s memory when an infected disc was used. It then spread to other discs that were used later on. [Read more…]