You know, computer viruses and virus removal software actually have something of an interesting history… It would, of course, be better for all of us if we’d never had to deal with viruses in the first place, but at least we get some interesting stories out of the deal.
The first known computer virus, and this was way back in the days when nobody had a home computer, was known as the CREEPER. The CREEPER would simply display a message on the monitor, “I’M THE CREEPER, CATCH ME IF YOU CAN”, and while it wouldn’t do any actual harm to your files, it was very annoying to have this pop up in the middle of writing a five thousand line piece of code.
The first piece of virus removal software was known as THE REAPER, designed specifically to kill THE CREEPER.
Now, the legend surrounding the REAPER is where it gets interesting. The popular consensus is that the coder behind the CREEPER and the REAPER were one and the same person. Speculation continues as to what his overall goals were, of course. Some believe that he created the CREEPER as a joke, not understanding how quickly it would spread, and that he then created the REAPER to atone for his mistakes.
Another theory has it that he created the CREEPER only as a way to get people to pay him good money for the REAPER. Clever plan, unethical, but clever.
Today, known viruses number in the thousands, with dozens more being unleashed on computer users every day. Viruses are evolving. The CREEPER was pretty easy to get rid of, and pretty easy to block back in the days when floppy drives were the primary means of trading information between computers. The internet, and even the very early network systems that predated the internet, allowed a whole new avenue of infection for viruses.
Viruses are evolving, and virus removal software is evolving alongside it.
It’s really a cyclical process. When a new virus is introduced, the software will be updated to combat it, and then the virus makers will have to come up with something to work around the new security measures, and then the software makers will have to figure out how to block that one, too. It goes on and on, much like biological viruses and bacteria, which evolve to overcome older medicines.
So anyways, what we’re getting at here is simply… make sure to keep your computer protected. That means updating your virus removal software on a regular basis, and running a full scan now and then. In the past, viruses were little more than practical jokes. Today, they’re specifically designed to steal money, to steal your identity, or to steal personal information to sell to spammers. So we’re basically saying, stay safe, and stay updated.
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