They are lurking everywhere on the internet, just waiting to attack our computers, mobile phones, and the like. We’re talking about computer viruses. While computer viruses used to be designed in such a way that they were usually not even noticed, viruses today can paralyze entire company servers for days.
The emergence of computer viruses
The history of computer viruses goes back a long way. It’s hard to believe, but the first documented idea of a computer virus dates back to 1948. In the 1980s, what was originally a harmless idea became bitterly serious and the first computers were already affected.
While the first virus initially only affected personal computers, the Commodore 64 was soon attacked by a mass virus. Luckily, with the emergence of viruses, antivirus programs were also developed. McAfee and Co successfully protect end devices against malware.
The viruses continue to spread
Computer viruses first became a problem in the early 1990s. While previously computers were rarely used and computer viruses tended to wreak havoc in less well-known operating systems and therefore did not cause any real damage, the computer market slowly began to boom with industrialization.
This is also when viruses were first used for fraudulent purposes.
The trigger for the first mass panic regarding viruses was the Michelangelo virus, which had managed to infect floppy disks without being noticed. The Michelangelo virus itself was nothing special.
It only became problematic when it became known that computer and software manufacturers had inadvertently delivered products with the Michelangelo virus pre-installed.
Computer viruses as leverage
Over time, what started out as a harmless virus has grown into a veritable lobby. There was even no stopping cell phones now. Cybercriminals have discovered the purpose of viruses as a means of exerting pressure on themselves and are now attempting to cause maximum damage to users.
While individuals and households are being left out, attacks on businesses are increasing. Programmers try to use the viruses to obtain data and information from those affected.
What’s the future like?
Although numerous companies succeed in protecting themselves from attacks with various systems, the bitter truth is that computer viruses in particular will become more and more intelligent and therefore more problematic in the future. Viruses in combination with artificial intelligence can create new challenges in the future.
