The World's 10 Most Dangerous Computer Viruses
Computer viruses, which are today's digital plague, are becoming more and more effective every day. In the past, viruses, which were only small jokes that bothered users, have risen to the position of a virtual threat that threatens the entire world economy.
Viruses, which are basically computer programs, affect the working conditions of machines and sometimes render devices inoperable by using the attack methods used by their developers. Although it is hard to believe, the business world has suffered $85 billion in losses due to computer viruses.
So, would you like to see which of these viruses, which are every computer user's nightmare, are the most dangerous? Here are the 10 most damaging viruses.
1. Mydoom - $38 billion damage
Mydoom was one of the most dangerous malware in history. Mydoom, which emerged in 2004, had an interesting structure that apologized to the computer it infected.
The virus, whose author was never determined, paralyzed world e-mail traffic at the time it was released. Mydoom caused $38 billion in damage worldwide.
2. Sobig.F $35 billion damage
The Sobig.f virus was no different from a disaster that spread rapidly in the virtual world. The virus, which infected more than 500 million people worldwide, caused $35 billion in damage in 2003 when it emerged.
The most dangerous aspect of the virus, which slowed down computers to the point of unusability, was that it overloaded e-mail servers worldwide and paralyzed all e-mail traffic. It was able to copy itself to more than 1 million computers within the first hour of its activation.
4. I Love You – $15 billion damage
This virus was famous for breaking the heart of the person it attacked as well as causing financial damage. Like the Melissa virus, the malware spread via e-mail introduced itself as a love letter.
The virus took over the computer of the person who read the letter and then sent itself to everyone it found on the list. The virus that deleted important files caused a financial loss of $15 billion in 2000.
5. WannaCry – $4 billion damage
The 2017 WannaCry computer virus is ransomware, a virus that takes over your computer (or cloud files) and holds them hostage. The WannaCry ransomware ripped through computers in 150 countries, causing massive productivity losses as businesses, hospitals, and government organizations that didn’t pay were forced to rebuild systems from scratch.
The malware raged like wildfire through 200,000 computers worldwide. It stopped when a 22-year-old security researcher in the U.K. found a way to turn it off. Computers with out-of-date operating systems were hit especially hard. That’s why security experts always recommend updating your systems frequently.
Ransomware strikes again
In September 2020, one of the potentially largest computer virus attacks in medical history hit Universal Health Services. The U.S. hospital chain, which has more than 400 locations, was reportedly struck by damaging ransomware. The attack forced the cancellation of surgeries and made healthcare workers switch to paper records.
6. Zeus (2007) $3 billion damage
It was malware aimed to use for stealing banking credentials and gaining access into systems of Fortune 500 companies. Zeus is an example of cybercrime that focuses on financial theft, and estimates bring damages to $3 billion.
7. Code Red (2001) $2.4 billion damage
This worm attacked web servers, vandalising sites with a message and even inviting a Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack on the White House. The 2017 worm caused $2.4 billion in damages and this compelled large institutions to review their cybersecurity protocols.
8.SQL Slammer $1.2 billion damage
This malware has become the nightmare of people who use servers the most. The virus, which suddenly appeared in 2003, was sending itself to computers via a random IP address.
If there was a SQL Server on the computer using that IP address that had not been patched, it would disconnect from the network. The virus, which spread to 75 thousand computers worldwide in just 10 minutes, caused a loss of 750 million dollars.
9. CryptoLocker – $665 million damage
The ransomware assault known as CryptoLocker may have punctuated a turning point in our cybercriminal history back in 2013. It first landed on over 250,000 systems global wide, encrypting critical files and showing a red ransom note on the display, asking for money to retrieve files! Victims were extorted to pay or risk having data wiped forever, with numerous businesses facing financial and operational impacts.
How CryptoLocker Spread
CryptoLocker authors leveraged the Gameover Zeus botnet, a poo.
CryptoLocker looms large, as the classic all-time warning shot of ransomware, but it's also an example of how fear drives people to invest in their own security to create a better solution long-term.
10. Sasser $500 million damage
The Sasser worm was written by a 17-year-old German computer science student named Sven Jaschan. He was arrested at the age of 18 in 2004 after a $250,000 bounty was posted for the computer virus’ creator. A friend of Jaschan’s tipped authorities that the youth had penned not only the Sasser worm but also the damaging Netsky.AC attack.
Jaschan was given a suspended sentence after it was found he was a minor when he wrote the malware. The Sasser worm crashed millions of PCs, and though some reports put damages at $18 billion, the relatively low infection rate suggests a more likely cost of $500 million.
