A computer virus is a computer program that can copy itself and infect a computer. The term "virus" is also commonly but erroneously used to refer to other types of malware, including but not limited to adware and spyware programs that do not have the reproductive ability. A true virus can spread from one computer to another (in some form of executable code) when its host is taken to the target computer; for instance because a user sent it over a network or the Internet, or carried it on a removable medium such as a floppy disk, CD, DVD, or USB drive.
Viruses can increase their chances of spreading to other computers by infecting files on a network file system or a file system that is accessed by another computer.
As for some examples, we have been searching through the internet and found Top Ten List of viruses.
1. Creeper - (1971) This is noted as possibly the first ever computer virus. It infected computers on ARPANET. Mostly harmless, the concept of Creeper has infected the minds of rogue programmers through today.
2. Elk Cloner - (1982) Despite Apple's marketing that their systems are less prone to viruses that was not always the case. Notable as possible the first personal computer virus, Elk Cloner infected the boot sector of Apple II floppies.
3. The Morris Internet Worm - (1988) The grandfather of computer worms, the Morris worm infected Unix systems and was notable for its "accidental" virulence.
4. Melissa - (1999) The Melissa virus is notable because it is a Word macro virus. It cleverly spread via e-mails sent to contacts from the infected users' address books.
5. ILOVEYOU - (2000) One of the most widespread and rapidly spreading viruses ever, the ILOVEYOU virus spread via e-mail, posing as an executable attachment sent by a friend from the target's contact list.
6. Code Red - (2001) IIS on Windows servers were the target of this virus. It also launched denial of service (DoS) attacks.
7. Nimda - (2001) Nimda used seemingly every possible method to spread, and was very effective at doing so. Nimda is notable for being one of the fastest spreading and most widespread viruses ever.
8. Sasser - (2004) Sasser exploited a buffer overflow and spread by connecting to port 445 on networked Windows systems. The chaos caused was possibly the worst ever, as systems restarted or crashed.
9. Blaster - (2003) Blaster exploited a Windows operating system vulnerability and let users know of its presence with a system shutdown warning.
10. SQL Slammer - (2003) This tiny virus infected servers running Microsoft's SQL Server Desktop Engine, and was very fast to spread.
And from our personal experience, we can add that now most of the viruses are spreading through the Internet, Emails, software and others. You may just download the file and you won’t know if there is a virus there. Even antivirus programs can’t detect all of the viruses. Most of viruses (about 70%) are spreading through Emails. You receive just a letter of advertising and when you open it the virus automatically downloads to your computer.
Hacker, in the original sense of the word, is a man who loves studying of details of programmable systems, learning issues to enhance their capabilities and programming something with enthusiasm. Nowadays, the word "hacker" is primarily used to determine the person who uses his or others' knowledge in the field of computer and other high technologies to commit criminal activities, such as, for example, illegal entry into the closed network.
Kevin Mitnick, breaking into ARPANet
Kevin Mitnick is considered the most famous hacker in the world. Journalists call him the father and founder of hacking; he has become a household name in the world of information security. One of the biggest successes came to Kevin Mitnick in 1983, when he made a truly impressive act. At that time he was a student at the University of Southern California. Using one of the University computers, Mitnick entered into a global network ARPANet, the predecessor to the Internet, which at that time was intended for military purposes and united large corporations and universities.
When he got into the network, Mitnick reached the most secure computers of that time - computers of Pentagon. He got access to all files of the Ministry of Defense. There were no traces of information theft or damage: Mitnick acted simply because of curiosity and was checking his abilities.
But one of the administrators found the act of invasion and raised the alarm. The investigation revealed the author of the attack, and Kevin Mitnick was arrested right on the territory of the University campus. He was condemned and served his first real sentence for unlawful entry into a computer system, having spent six months in California Youth Authority's Karl Holton Training School, a juvenile prison in Stockton, California.
This case has shocked people who were related to the field of information security and largely thanks to it Mitnick gained his fame. However, he did not stop hacking on that and had flurried the world for many years more. Everything was over for Mitnick when, after nearly two years of harassment, he was arrested on February 15, 1995 by FBI agents and sentenced to 5 years and 8 months. After serving the sentence he is now a security specialist and owner of his own company “Mitnick Security Consulting”.
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