Did you know? Creeper is the first computer virus in the world. Surprisingly, the 1st computer virus in the entire world, developed in 1971, was not built for any malicious intentions. Read further to find out more about computer viruses and Creeper.
What is a computer virus and how do they infect a system?
Ever since the dawn of computers, computer viruses have followed suit closely. Much like viruses in biology their functionalities and goals are comparable. Like how coronavirus enters the host body and starts deteriorating the healthy body, a computer virus does the same for computers.
Computer viruses are typically malicious code or programs that replicate themselves from one computer system to the other while altering normal computer operations. This produces unexpected outputs and hinders computer system functionalities.
These types of unwanted codes or programs operate by sneaking into a computer system in multiple forms such as a simple text file, a program, etc. They lie dormant until someone executes them in the host system. Once executed they can spread rapidly in the host system as well as any other system in the host network. The types of effect the virus has on the host system depend on the type of the attacking virus. Some can have less harmful effects while others can even delete entire data pools.
Some facts about Creeper
Creeper was an experimental computer program. Researcher Bob Thomas created the program as a security experiment to see whether self-replicating programs are possible. Turns out they are possible and can lead to devastating outcomes.
However, Creeper is not a malicious virus and is categorized as a worm. All it does is replicate itself in the computer system that it infects and tries to infect other systems on the network. It does not cause any harm to the system except display a cryptic message that reads “I’M THE CREEPER. CATCH ME IF YOU CAN!“.
Fun fact: the creator of Creeper named it after an infamous bank-robbing villain from the popular cartoon show Scooby-Doo!
Also, read about Only One Reply Per 12 Million Spam Email Sent.
How to prevent yourself from getting a virus?
You should have a general idea about how to keep your computer safe from all viruses. Here are some things you should know in order to protect your computer from viruses.
- The easiest and most effective defense against viruses is to use good antivirus software. Update them often and you should be well protected.
- Do not open any suspicious links or programs. You usually get them in your emails.
- Always be careful with the links you click on suspicious websites.
- Be wary of the attachments you get in your emails.
- Scan your computer regularly.
- Also, be careful while downloading software programs.
Although Creeper is the first virus, there have been many more since then. In the future, there will be even more number of advanced viruses due to the rise of modern computational capabilities.
