The Most Destructive Viruses of All Time

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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…]

Social Media Sites Risk Growing Threats and Attacks

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Exploring Social Media article series badgeAccording to Investor’s Business Daily, evil is sweeping social networks, moving beyond email and blogs to where you like to virtually hang out and congregate:

Security experts last week warned that a new strain of the Koobface virus is hitting Facebook, MySpace and other social networking sites. It looks for links and passwords to other social networking sites.

Social networking site owners work actively to put a lid on nefarious activity. On Tuesday, a federal judge in northern California issued a temporary restraining order against three people accused of widespread spamming and phishing attacks on Facebook. It comes three months after Facebook won a suit that prevents another group of spammers from using or accessing Facebook data and applications.

Virus creators are increasingly targeting social networking sites and other Web 2.0 technologies such as the micro-blogging site Twitter and instant messaging services from Google, AOL and others. Virus writers are also creating fake profiles of celebrities, real friends or business associates hoping people will link with them. Users can be tricked into linking to the fake profile, which can be loaded with various forms of malicious software.

The article by Brian Deagon showcased Facebook users who responded to an email from a “friend on Facebook” to visit a link that initiated a program that “rifled through his hard drive, installed malicious software and sent the same e-mail to all of Daradics’ friends on his Facebook profile.” [Read more…]

PC Live Launches Computer Troubleshooting Blog

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PC users know that the ‘blue screen of death’ can always be seconds away. To help alleviate a potential headache, services like PCLive exist. Starting at around $60, they’ll fix your computer remotely. And if they can’t, you don’t pay a cent.

Since we’re always searching for free ways to get out of jams, blogs are a good place to turn for PC troubleshooting help. For PC’s Sake is the latest such blog. Started by the aforementioned PCLive,the blog is designed to provide an interactive community that helps educate users on how to solve simple but nagging PC problems, and to share tips and tricks from both customers and the PCLive.com staff.

“PCs are subject to all kinds of issues,” said Robert O’Dell, CEO of SecurityCoverage, Inc., PCLive.com’s parent company. “Some, like viruses, spyware, pop-ups, etc. come from the outside. Others come from the inside – for example an incorrect setting that keeps a software application from running properly. Often when these issues occur, the first thought is ‘someone must have figured out how to solve this before.’ Our new blog is designed to draw upon the collective knowledge of PC users all over the world, creating a central location where users can find simple answers to their questions, and share their knowledge of a particular issue with others.”

Kicking off the blog is Dan Gookin, author of the PCs for Dummies book series. Look for other well-known writers in the future.

Killing viruses, spyware and pop-ups is always satisfying, especially when you can figure out how you can do it on your own.