Results for: tech time warp
Tech Time Warp: Remembering the magic of GeoCities
Like so many relics of the internet, GeoCities is now a common punch line, as the pre-MySpace home of sparkly GIFs and questionable web design. But if you can shuck your too-cool-for-school UX eye, it’s no stretch to appreciate GeoCities...
Tech Time Warp: SQL Slammer reveals a harsh truth
Network admins the world over had a bad weekend in late January 2003. That’s when the SQL Slammer took the world by storm and, in the process, reminded everyone of a harsh truth: A security patch does no good if...
Tech Time Warp: Wikipedia launches as a side project to Nupedia
Still not a solid entry in a bibliography, Wikipedia is a highly useful place to find answers to your pressing questions—and it’s definitely a mainstay of contemporary life. The website at the top of your search results was launched January...
Tech Time Warp: The brothers behind the “Brain” PC virus
Over the years, the motives for malware creation have ranged from simple curiosity to monetary gain. In the case of the Alvi brothers from Pakistan, it was revenge, dished up on a floppy disk.
Tech Time Warp: Father Christmas worm visits NASA
Even hackers get into the holiday spirit. The Santy worm brought unwelcome gifts in December 2004, and the CHRISTMA EXEC brought a charming ASCII tree to screens in 1987. On December 22, 1988, the Father Christmas worm traveled to NASA...
Tech Time Warp: Time names the computer “Machine of the Year”
The announcement of Time magazine’s “Person of the Year” has been a year-end tradition since 1927, when Charles Lindbergh was named “Man of the Year” following his solo flight across the Atlantic.
Tech Time Warp: FBI MoneyPak ransomware packs a punch
Imagine you’re mindlessly surfing the internet, when suddenly your screen locks and displays an ominous message: The FBI has “seized and frozen access” to your device because of online activities violating federal law. This convincing message would take even savvy...
Tech Time Warp: Regin malware opens eyes
One of the first Google results for “Regin malware” is from the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. It’s a Nov. 25, 2014, alert about the malware, providing an overview of Regin’s multi-stage structure. The alert notes that the “sophisticated...
Tech Time Warp: Conficker, the Botnet that became too hot to handle
Conficker is a piece of malware we just can’t seem to quit. Despite first being identified in November 2008, some estimate that as of September 2020 there were still 150,000 Conficker detections a month, mostly in vastly populated Brazil and...
Tech Time Warp: The first computer election prediction
In a year when we’ve all become amateur epidemiologists, this week we’ve also received a crash course in ballot counting and election predictions. So it’s only fitting to look back at Nov. 4, 1952, a night of multiple presidential election...
