The worst computer viruses of all time

Thu Mar 20, 2008 12:11PM EDT

If you haven't experienced a computer virus yet, just wait -- you probably will.

Fortunately, you missed the real heyday of computer viruses when anti-virus software wasn't very widely used, and virus attacks caused millions of dollars in damages overnight. Today's viruses can still be nightmarish, but for the average user, cleanup is considerably easier than it was just a few years ago, when the only solution in many cases was reformatting your hard drive and starting from scratch (and even that didn't do the trick sometimes).

So join me on a trip down memory lane as we revisit some of the worst viruses of all time and count our blessings that our computers are still up and running despite it all. (Though, please note, "worst" is a matter of considerable debate in the security industry, as the number of infected machines and amount of financial loss is always estimated. If you think another virus was worse than these, please post it in the comments to remind us!)

The worst viruses of all time

Brain, 1986
It all started here: Brain was the first "real" virus ever discovered, back in 1986. Brain didn't really hurt your PC, but it launched the malware industry with a bang and gave bad ideas to over 100,000 virus creators for the next 2 decades.

Michelangelo, 1991
The worst MS-DOS virus ever, Michelangelo attacked the boot sector of your hard drive and any floppy drive inserted into the computer, which caused the virus to spread rapidly. After spreading quietly for months, the virus "activated" on March 6, and promptly started destroying data on tens of thousands of computers.

Melissa, 1999
Technically a worm, Melissa (named after a stripper) collapsed entire email systems by causing computers to send mountains of messages to each other. The author of the virus was eventually caught and sentenced to 20 months in prison.

ILOVEYOU, 2000
This was notable for being one of the first viruses to trick users into opening a file, which in this case claimed to be a love letter sent to the recipient. In reality, the file was a VBS script that sent mountains of junk mail and deleted thousands of files. The results were terribly devastating- one estimate holds that 10 percent of all computers were affected, to a cost of $5.5 billion. It remains perhaps the worst worm of all time.

Code Red, 2001
An early "blended threat" attack, Code Red targeted Web servers instead of user machines, defacing websites and later launching denial-of-service attacks on a host of IP addresses, including those of the White House.

Nimda, 2001
Built on Code Red's attack system of finding multiple avenues into machines (email, websites, network connections, and others), Nimda infected both Web servers and user machines. It found paths into computers so effectively that, 22 minutes after it was released, it became the Internet's most widespread virus at the time.

Klez, 2001
An email virus, Klez pioneered spoofing the "From" field in email messages it sent, making it impossible to tell if Bill Gates did or did not really send you that information about getting free money.

Slammer, 2003
Another fast spreader, this worm infected about 75,000 systems in just 10 minutes, slowing the Internet to a crawl (much like Code Red) and shutting down thousands of websites.

MyDoom, 2004
Notable as the fastest-spreading email virus of all time, MyDoom infected computers so they would, in turn, send even more junk mail. In a strange twist, MyDoom was also used to attack the website of SCO Group, a very unpopular company that was suing other companies over its code being used in Linux distributions.

Storm, 2007
The worst recent virus, Storm spread via email spam with a fake attachment and ultimately infected up to 10 million computers, causing them to join its zombie botnet.

Thanks to Symantec for helping to compile this list.

source: yahoo tech news

Windows XP going off market in June

I just happened to read this today in yahoo tech news. I just want to share it with you especially to those who use Windows XP..well that's what I am also using now until I will buy a new PC next time. here is the news!!

Windows XP going off market in June: What it means

Mon Apr 14, 2008 5:28PM EDT

Microsoft originally announced over a year ago that Windows XP would be going off the market in January 2008. XP was later given a brief stay of execution, to June 30, 2008. That deadline is fast approaching, which has led to much panicking from people who aren't quite sure what XP's "going off market" means, exactly.
People are still as confused as ever. So let's take a stab at clarifying, once again, what's going to happen by answering some frequently asked questions about XP's imminent disappearance.
Will Windows XP really no longer be on sale after June 30? Sorry for the double negative, but no. All this means is that Microsoft will stop selling the OS. Finding a computer with XP preinstalled will likely be very difficult, as well. However, you'll still be able to find copies for the foreseeable future, and likely the unforeseeable one, too. See for yourself: You can find copies of just about any Microsoft product, including ancient versions of Windows and even MS-DOS, by simply searching online. But hang on to your current copy of Windows XP. You may need it down the road if you don't want to move to Vista.
Will I be forced to upgrade to Vista soon? No. But it will get harder and harder not to, especially since new software and peripherals are likely to stop working with XP. That could take years.
Will my XP machine stop working in June? No, but Microsoft will stop releasing non-security software updates to the masses on April 14, 2009. But let's be clear: XP will continue to "work" even after this point.
Will Microsoft shut off product activation for XP after June? No, that would be crazy. While no one has said this will happen, it's conceivable that Windows could shut down product activation for XP at some point. But that would only happen after XP reaches its end-of-support term (when all support plans expire). The good news for you: That happens on April 8, 2014, which should be plenty of time to get the kinks worked out of Vista-or switch to a Mac, Linux, or anything else. Bottom line: Your copy of XP will work, totally legally, for at least six more years.
What about after 2014? Well, that's unclear. But it's possible XP will stop being installable at that point. Microsoft's official policy is that these dates have "no affect [sic] on how long you can use a product," which may imply product activation will work forever. However, two things come to mind:
1) Even the most die-hard XP enthusiast will probably be ready to upgrade at that point (as XP will be nearly 15 years old, and your PC will be dead by then, I'm sure).
2) Even if Microsoft shuts off product activation, the hacker community will certainly make dozens of tools to let you continue using XP with abandon. Fret not.
Can I install XP on a PC that has Vista already on it? Yes. You can delete any partition with any OS on it (and reformat it) during the installation of XP. If you're feeling brave, you can even run both OSes at the same time by setting up a dual-boot machine.
Whew! Does that clear everything up? Feel free to continue sending your queries and adding your comments below.
Note: This post was originally created in April 2007 and updated with new and changed information in April 2008.
Source: yahoo tech news

Minimally invasive surgery reduces risks

SAN FRANCISCO (UPI) -- U.S. medical scientists say a new study shows laparoscopic surgery reduces the risk of nosocomial infections by 52 percent when compared with open surgery.

Ethicon End-Surgery Inc., a Johnson & Johnson company, conducted a retrospective study of more than 11,000 patients undergoing one of three surgical procedures: hysterectomy, cholecystectomy (gallbladder removal) and appendectomy. The researchers said they found laparoscopic surgery was associated with reduction of the risk of nosocomial (hospital acquired) infections during gallbladder removal by 66 percent, and during hysterectomy by 52 percent compared with open surgery.

The study showed the reduction rates of nosocomial infections during laparoscopic appendectomy were not statistically significant.

"This study gives more definitive evidence that laparoscopic surgery reduces the risk of nosocomial infection compared to open surgery, which may lead to improved patient care and potential reductions in costs to the healthcare system, " said Dr. Andrew Brill, director of minimally invasive gynecology at the California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco, one of the lead investigators of the study.

The research appears in the journal Surgical Endoscopy.

www.arcamax.com
Copyright 2008 by United Press International

Australia suffers massive shorebird loss

SYDNEY (UPI) -- Australia has suffered a "truly alarming" decline in its number of migratory and resident shorebirds, a long-term study revealed.

An aerial survey conducted by the University of New South Wales in the eastern third of the continent determined migratory shorebird populations plunged by 73 percent and 15 species of resident shorebirds declined by 81 percent between 1983 and 2006.

"This is a truly alarming result: in effect, three-quarters of eastern Australia's millions of resident and migratory shorebirds have disappeared in just one generation," said Professor Richard Kingsford, an author of the study. "The wetlands and resting places that they rely on for food and recuperation are shrinking virtually all the way along their migration path, from Australia through Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia and up through Asia into China and Russia."

The study that included John Porter and Silke Nebel appears in the journal Biological Conservation.

www.arcamax.com
Copyright 2008 by United Press International

Wordless Wednesday

yummy!! I love Snitzel!! I cooked this last Saturday as mentioned in my post that same day.
It is like a breaded pork...It is one of my favorite!!!

Cheap Phone Cards and Calling Cards

I always call back home to the Philippines at least once a week for almost 5 years now. I am presently living in Germany. Calling from Germany to the Philippines is quite expensive. We always have high telephone bills every month. I even remember the first time I arrived here in Germany way back in 2003 and called back home for 1 hour and we were billed so high !! Can you imagine paying 60Euros for 1 hour calling to the Philippines??? My gosh, that is around four thousand pesos.. A lot of money..huh??

Of course, nobody wants to pay high telephone bills. Everybody want to save money, unless maybe if you are a millionaire and spending money might not be a pain in the pocket. I also have a sister in USA who might also want to save some bucks for telephone bills.

Nowadays prepaid phone cards are already very common and great means to keep in touch with our love ones who are thousand miles away from us. While browsing the net, I stumbled at THERICHCOM.COM. It is an online shop that sells prepaid phone cards to call different countries around the world ranging from Asia to Europe and middle east. Callers can call from the United States to anywhere around the globe for very cheap price compared to leading companies like AT&T, etc.

I am highly recommending this site to my sister in Las Vegas and to all my dear readers and friends to the USA. Since I am also flying to the US this month, I believed I can also save some bucks if I call my family in the Philippines and Germany..What a perfect timing!!

Visit this site for more infos and of course to save some money too!! Great idea right!!!

It's Joke Time!!

Life's a Mess

A poodle and a collie were walking down the street. The poodle turned to the collie and complained, "My life is a mess. My owner is mean, my girlfriend is having an affair with a German shepherd, and I'm nervous as a cat."

"Why don't you go see a psychiatrist?" asked the collie.

"I can't," replied the poodle. "I'm not allowed on the couch."

www.arcamax.com