How was the Elk Cloner virus born?
The Elk Cloner virus was created in 1982; while in contrast, the first Microsoft OS virus (Brain) only surfaced in 1986 after a gap of 4 years. This is a fact that all Apple users who claim their Macs are completely secure should know. This virus was the first self-replicating computer program to spread on a large scale. Interestingly, the term ‘virus’ was only coined in 1984 to refer to a self-perpetuating program that caused inconvenience. So it is safe to say that the Elk Cloner virus had a major role in this nomenclature.
Elk Cloner was created by a 15 year old called Rich Skrenta who was in the 9th grade at the time. The virus was initially created as a joke and was only meant to be part of a game. Skrenta had absolutely no clue that his creation would reach such commendable heights. The virus spread via floppy disks, which were very popular at the time, and attached itself to Apple 3.3 operating systems.
What did the Elk Cloner virus do?
The Elk Cloner virus was the first virus in history that affected a machine during its boot-up process. Today, the popular term for such viruses is ‘boot sector virus’.
The virus affected the boot sector of infected Apple machines by attaching itself to an innocent looking game. Every 50th time that the machine would boot up, a blank screen and a poem would flash on the screen.
The virus bears very little resemblance to the malicious data stealing programs of today. However, it was a harbinger of all the malicious viruses and security threats that would only grow over time as more people purchased computers and then got connected to the Internet.
So the next time you hear an Apple user say that Macs do not get viruses that a Windows machine contracts, you can boldly claim that Apple was the first platform to get infected by a large-scale and self-replicating computer virus. The Elk Cloner virus, created 4 years before a Microsoft virus, heralded the arrival of massive malware over the increasingly popular Windows platform and other Mac related malware.
If there is one compelling lesson that can be learned here, it is this – No machine is completely invincible against malware threats, not even Apple Macs.
34 Comments
WOW! This NEWS to me! Thanks for this piece of valuable information!
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PANAMA
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this is very good for my pc.
wooowwww dis is a new knowledge about computer virus 4 me..thanks..
why do people still write ‘virus’ programmes?
Apple is not only the fruit available in the market.There are others too.
Got to know the origin of VIRUS – any way thats dudes
Thanks to Quick Heal For the great News. I would like to follow the story.
Ajit
Thanks for the valuable info… Any ideas about whether there are any viruses on the Linux platform???
COOL…
thanks for your g.k tips
thanks a lot
Thankx to give this important information.
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That is just the starting of viruses, that boy was brilliant to create the first virus for mac in 15 years of age…it is actually making me jealous.
Facts … more facts …
Inreresting info. Yes, No machine is completely invincible but can we say that the apple in mostly invincible !
I fail to understand as to why anyone would like to harm innocent owners of PC’s. So I remain in a confused state.
I just don’t know why anyone would like to harm the unsuspecting,innocent owners of PC’s with viruses. What motivates them to do such dirty work? Is there any law against such offenders?
Why not when there are many purposes of PC use and e-commerce is on rise?
thanx for the info
OMG!!!!!!
but nowadays apple computers are more secure than windows
Thanks for history. enliven with facts, it speaks volumes.
Yeah! But this is also a fact! And who knows when history would repeat itself.
How interesting…..!
THANKS FOR THIS USEFUL INFORMATION.
That is really a great information Keep us inform about the updates in cyber crimes. Thanks
My Quick Heal Internet Security is not working properly
It is not detecting viruses, is not activating, is not installing
What shall i do?
Hi Rahul,
You can call our support center for assistance on 927-22-33-000. Alternately, you can visit this link to submit a ticket – https://www.quickheal.co.in/submitticket.asp. Once done, our support team will contact you with a solution.
Regards.
Thanks for Info.
This is extreemly rediculous,and thanks for this useful information.
so quite software
I recently noticed a new icon “Windows CardSpace” in control panel. I am afraid is this a kind of virus or such. Please tell me about this. if it is malicious, please tell me how to remove it from my machine. I am using XP3. I am not so quite sure, I noticed it after installing and uninstalling of nero burnlite 10… Any suggetions would be of great help…
Thanks…
Hi Ram,
Windows CardSpace is a legitimate Windows application. If you got your PC in 2011, or before, then it is ok for this program to be present in your machine. So you do not need to worry.
Regards.
Really very nice information shared Rahul.
It means only due to popularity and bulk share of Microsoft it is specially targeted
Very informative article, thanks! That a lesson to those parents, which thinks that your child shouldn’t spend a lot of time on the computer. This has become famous at the age of 15! And I want to add, that I’ve read on https://www.removalbits.com/ that I was really hard to threat those first viruses, they where really invincible!