Viruses/Worms News

Malware's worst list: Conficker, ILoveYou among most notorious

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Web security researchers at Panda Security have come up with a list of the worst pieces of malware from the last 20 years, based on notoriety and widespread damage. The most recent, Conficker, has infected millions of PCs globally in the past year.

Compared to today's crop of malware - computer viruses that can give hackers control of a victim's computer for stealing information and sending spam - those on Panda's list seem almost whimsical in their mischief.

One example from 1997, the Cascade or Falling Letters virus, would make the letters on the screen fall in a cascade whenever it infected a computer. In 200, the ILoveYou virus spread from the Philippines via spam emails with the subject "ILoveYou" to infect millions of computers around the world.

Despite what may seem like good-natured fun on the part of malware authors, malware is a serious business that can lead to all kinds of cybercrime, from sending spam to identity theft.

The Nimda virus that originated in China in 2001 was able to create administrator privileges on infected computers, which could be used to hijack a machine or access personal or sensitive information.

Conficker, which appeared in November 2008, has been used to spread phony antivirus products and blocks access to legitimate anti-malware sites.