Tag: worm
The Creeper and the Reaper make cybersecurity history
“I’M THE CREEPER. CATCH ME IF YOU CAN.” This eerie message is the equivalent of “hello, world!” in cybersecurity history. In 1971, Bob Thomas, an engineer at BBN Technologies in Cambridge, Massachusetts, developed the first computer worm, dubbed the “Creeper.”
Tech Time Warp: Klez.H virus confuses with spoofed emails
It is possible the creator of Klez was rather indecisive. The malware, which confounded computer users in the early 2000s, was all at once a virus, a worm, and a Trojan horse. Basically, Klez contained every trick in the hacker...
Tech Time Warp: Lessons learned from the Sadmind worm
On May 8, 2001, the CERT Division at Carnegie Mellon University issued an alert: A new worm was on the loose. The “sadmind/IIS worm” exploited well-known vulnerabilities in the Sun Microsystems’ Solaris operating system as well as Microsoft’s Internet Information...
Tech Time Warp: Bagle worm spreads through its simplicity
On Jan. 18, 2004, computer users were served a “bagle” that would ruin anyone’s appetite. Also known as the “Beagle” worm, Bagle does not refer to the popular breakfast food that it shares a pronunciation with, despite their different spellings....
Tech Time Warp: Microsoft chases a storm
In early 2007, network administrators began dealing with a trojan that grew into a massive botnet and even stumped Microsoft for more than a year. The Storm worm initially spread via email, promising the recipient news about dangerous storms in...
Tech Time Warp: SoBig.F worm creates some big problems
It’s amazing that the unwitting computer users of 2019 are still clicking on suspicious attachments considering the havoc such files have been wreaking for decades. Back in August 2003, the SoBig.F virus — the sixth variant of the SoBig worm...
Tech Time Warp: Was the Welchia Worm well-intended?
As the old saying goes, two wrongs don’t make a right — especially if the second “wrong” is a computer worm, albeit a benevolent one. In August 2003, hundreds of thousands of PCs were infected by the Blaster worm, which...
Tech Time Warp: This worm might have been “Witty,” but it certainly wasn’t charming
Some viruses are merely pesky; others are downright nasty. The Witty Worm, which made its debut at approximately 8:45 p.m. PST March 19, 2004, falls into the latter category. Within a swift 45 minutes, the Witty Worm had corrupted the...
Tech Time Warp: Microsoft Issues Alert on Blaster Worm
Fifteen years ago, Microsoft had a big problem on its hands. Machines running Windows 2003/XP/2000/NT were being infected by a nasty worm known as Blaster. On Aug. 11, 2003, Microsoft issued an alert warning of Blaster, which exploited a vulnerability...
