Once Internet has reached almost every household and global network has become a support for services of various companies, computer viruses have spread increasingly more and began to wreak havoc really significant, compromising not only data on ordinary users' computers, but also the paramount of various institutions, banks or airlines. Here is a list with the most dangerous computer viruses in history.

1. The 15 deadliest viruses of all time
https://factsempire.com/

2. 1 The Creeper(1971)
• The Creeper, the first
computer virus was
created in 1971 by Bob
Thomas. The virus did not
affect computers, he just
self-replicate and leave
behind the following
message: `I'm the
creeper, catch me if you
can!". For his removal
was created the first
program "The Reaper",
the first anti-virus in
history.

3. 2 Morris(1988)
• The virus was created by a
Cornell University graduate
Robert T Morris. This virus
initially wanted to find out
how big the internet
network, but an error
caused the virus to infect
6,000 computers in
universities and military
bases. Estimated damage:
between 10 million and 100
million US dollars.
•

4. 3 Mellissa(1999)
• The virus was created by
David L.Smith, and named
after a lap dancer from
Florida. Mellissa is one of
the first viruses transmitted
via email. Once activated
the virus multiplies and
sends itself to 50 contacts in
the user’s Windows address
book.
• The impact of this virus was
so big that giant companies:
Alcatel, Microsoft, Intel
closed their operating
systems through email to
find a solution.
•

5. 4 CIH(1998)
• The creator of the virus is
Chen Ing-Hau, a student at
Tatung University in Taiwan.
He wanted to test the
efficiency of the
• The virus infects and
destroys the BIOS.
• 60 million computers from
around the world were
infected. Damages are
estimated at 1 billion US
Dollar
• Creator came with an anti-
virus and the problem was
solved

6. 5 I LOVE YOU(2000)
• Onel De Guzman has created the
virus in the year 2000.
• The purpose for which it was created:
the theft of passwords.
• Its mode of transmission is via email.
If the victim opened the attachment:
LOVE-LETTER-FOR-YOU.TXT.vbs , the
virus overwrites all image files on the
PC and steals all the passwords. Also,
the virus multiplies and emails itself
to all contacts in the user’s Windows
address book.
• 10% of Internet-connected PCs have
been infected during that time.
• Damage: 15 billion dollars
•

7. 6 Stuxnet(2009)
• The virus spreads through
USB. It was developed by
Israel in collaboration
with the Americans for
sabotage Iran's nuclear
program. The virus was
discovered in 2010, but it
affecting the system since
2009. The virus has
managed to destroy one-
fifth of the number of
centrifuges Iran.

8. 7 Conficker(2009)
• The creator of the virus
remains unknown.
• The virus uses the errors
from the operating
system to create a botnet
(military computers) to
launch DDOS
• 9 million computers were
infected and the damage
is estimated at $ 9 billion.
•

9. 8 Cryptolocker(2013)
• It was discovered in
2013. It spreads via
email and botnet. After
encrypting files, the
virus displays a message
demanding a ransom.
The virus was isolated
in 2014.

10. 9 Code Red (2001)
• The virus has infected a
million computers and
360,000 hosts. The
contaminated PC Were
Used for a DDOS attack
on White House website.
• This worm exploited an
OS vulnerability in
machines with W 2000
and NT.
• The White House
managed to repulse the
attack.

11. 10 Nimida(2001)
• Nimda was a worm designed
to infect servers, considerably
slowing the internet traffic.
The virus has been released a
week after the 11 September
2001 terrorist attacks. The
virus was spreading through
four pathways: email,
vulnerable server, shared
folder, file transfer.
• Many considered it a terrorist
attack and made the link with
Al Qaeda.
•

12. 11 Zeus(2009)
• Zeus is a Trojan virus
created by a criminal
organization in 2009. The
targets of this virus were big
banks and corporations. The
criminals managed to steal
70 million dollars but were
caught. 74000 FTP accounts
were compromised PC and
3.6 million were infected in
the US.
•

13. 12 Slammer (2003)
• A worm virus that caused
DDoS attacks on internet
hosts. The virus could double
its size every 8.5 seconds.
• The virus randomly selects IP
addresses and launch DDoS
attacks. In total 200,000
computers were infected.
Among the victims are Bank
America ATM, 911 in
Washington D.C emergency,
Continental Airlines and a
nuclear power plant in Ohio.
Damage: $ 1200000000.

14. 13 Sasser(2004)
• Compared to other
viruses, does not spread
via email and requires no
user action. He exploits a
flaw in the operating
system. A million PCs
were infected and vital
infrastructures were
affected. Estimated
damage: 18 billion US
Dollars.

15. 14 Sobig.F (2003)
• It is both worm and Trojan.
Once the user opened the
email, it triggered the virus,
which then went hunting
for addresses.
• The virus managed to
paralyze airlines in Canada
and closed / slowed the
activity of several
corporations.Two million
computers have been
compromised .Estimated
Damage: 37 billion US
dollars.

16. 15 My Doom(2004)
• The fastest spreading
virus ever
• It spreads via email.
When the victim
opened the email, the
virus was transmitted to
all addresses. Estimated
damage: 38.5 billion
dollars.

17. For more interesting facts please visit
my website:
https://factsempire.com/