The most dangerous computer virus ever: the story of the Klez virus
Klez was a computer virus that was first discovered in 2001. It was one of the most dangerous and destructive viruses ever created. Klez was a worm that spread itself by email attachments and infected both Windows and Linux computers. It was estimated that Klez caused over $5 billion in damage to businesses and individual users.
Klez was created by a teenager in the Ukraine. The teenager, who went by the name of Igor Sklyarov, was only 17 years old when he created the virus. Sklyarov was a talented computer programmer and was able to create a virus that was incredibly difficult to detect and remove.
Klez would infect a computer and then search through the email address book for other addresses to send itself to. Once Klez had infected a new computer, it would again search through the address book and continue to spread. This process continued until the virus had infected millions of computers around the world.
Klez was so destructive because it would often delete important files on the infected computers. This would render the computers useless and cause serious problems for businesses and individuals. In some cases, Klez would also send out emails that appeared to be from the infected user’s address book. This would often result in the user’s email account being suspended.
Fortunately, Klez was eventually caught and Sklyarov was arrested. He was later convicted and sentenced to five years in prison. However, the damage Klez had caused was already done. The virus continued to spread and infect computers even after Sklyarov’s arrest. It wasn’t until 2003 that a cure for Klez was finally released.
Even today, Klez remains one of the most dangerous and destructive computer viruses ever created. It is estimated that the virus has caused over $5 billion in damage and continues to infect computers around the world. If you suspect that your computer has been infected with Klez, it is important to run a virus scan immediately. See original website
The most dangerous computer virus ever: the story of the W32.Blaster.Worm
August 11, 2003 will go down in history as a day when the Internet came under attack. On that day, the W32.Blaster.Worm began propagating across the globe, infecting millions of computers in just a few hours. The Blaster Worm was one of the most virulent and destructive computer viruses ever seen.
The Blaster Worm was first discovered on July 17, 2003 by a security researcher who goes by the name of GreyMagic. GreyMagic noticed that a new worm was spreading rapidly on IRC, or Internet Relay Chat. IRC is a popular chat service that is used by millions of people around the world. The worm was using a vulnerability in Microsoft Windows to spread itself.
The worm worked by exploiting a flaw in a Windows component called RPC, or Remote Procedure Call. RPC is used by many Windows programs to communicate with each other. The Blaster Worm took advantage of a flaw in RPC to gain control of a victim’s computer. Once a computer was infected, the worm would propagate itself to other computers on the same network.
The worm would then attempt to connect to a specific IP address and download a file called msblast.exe. This file was a copy of the worm, and would allow the worm to infect other computers. The worm would also display a message on the infected computer’s screen, telling the user to “patch up” their system.
The Blaster Worm was particularly dangerous because it had the ability to shut down Microsoft’s Windows Update service. Windows Update is a service that Microsoft uses to distribute security patches and other updates for their operating system. By shutting down Windows Update, the Blaster Worm made it more difficult for users to protect their computers from the worm.
The Blaster Worm also had a destructive payload. The worm would attempt to connect to a specific IP address on port 4444. If it was successful, the worm would send a buffer overflow attack to the IP address. This buffer overflow attack would crash the target computer.
The Blaster Worm was stopped by a joint effort of security researchers and law enforcement. Microsoft released a security patch for the RPC flaw on August 8, 2003, just three days before the worm was scheduled to launch its buffer overflow attack. Law enforcement agencies also tracked down and arrested the author of the worm, a 19-year-old man from Lebanon.
Despite the quick response, the Blaster Worm still managed to infect millions of computers. The worm caused an estimated $8 billion in damages, making it one of the most destructive computer viruses ever seen.
Visit malwarezero.org to learn more about most dangerous computer virus ever. Disclaimer: We used this website as a reference for this blog post.