List of Computer Viruses from 2000 Onward

In the 21st century the number of computer viruses considerably increased. To be able to tackle these viruses you need to install an effective anti-virus software like the Antivirus and Security All-in-One-Suite, which, besides checking for any computer viruses, will be able to block pop-ups, spam and even stop hacker attacks on your computer.

Our computer virus list features descriptions of a large number of dangerous computer viruses, worms and Trojans that appeared starting with 2000 and till this day.





Inta - 2000

This computer virus was released by the members of an underground group called 29 A. As soon as the virus was released, it attacked Windows 2000 files even before the software giant, Microsoft, managed to announce the commercial version of its OS. Inta was the first computer virus to infect Windows 2000.


LoveLetter - 2000

This script virus caused a real pandemic on May 5, 2000. Most users were unaware of the fact that VBS and TXT files could cause harm, but they did, being infected with this dangerous virus. As soon as the virus is uploaded, it destroys numerous files and then sends itself to everyone in the MS Outlook contact list.


Timofonica - first cellular virus - 2000

For the first time the Timofonica virus was spotted on June 6, 2000. It was the first mobile phone virus. Besides being able to spread through email, the virus also sent messages to different mobile phones that were in the MoviStar cellular network, owned by Telefonica, global telecommunications giant.

Liberty virus - 2000

This computer virus was identified in August. It is considered to be the first Trojan to be able to affect PalmOS of Palm Pilot, which is why it was included in our computer virus list. When the virus was installed on the machine, it deleted files. However, the good news is that the virus could not replicate itself.


Mandragore - 2001

The year 2001 was the one in which instant messaging services registered a significant increase in popularity. Some of them were ICQ and MS Instant Messenger, thus they served as guinea pigs for spreading malicious code. The Internet worm Mandragore used these services to install into the system and copy itself to Windows CurrentUser startup directory as "Gspot.exe" file. Because it was placed in the Startup folder, the worm was automatically run by the operating system on the next Windows startup. Then it ran two background processes, while remaining in Windows memory. The threads displayed two messages:

"I'm Gnutella node, and here is file you are looking for." and "the filename you are looking for" with ".exe" extension, and with worm code in it."


Ramen - 2001

This computer virus managed to affect numerous corporate networks in just a few days. It penetrated NASA, A&M University as well as the Taiwanese hardware vendor Supermicro. Shortly after the launch of the virus, a lot of clones appeared along with a large number of new Linux worms. Ramen was a 300K multi-component worm that included 26 files and is the first known computer virus to infect RedHat Linux systems. You can find more information about



Klez - 2002

The Klez worm-virus managed to cause serious trouble in 2002. Initially detected on October 26 it continued to be considered one the most dangerous malware for the next two years. By the end of 2002, about 60 percent of all infections were the result of the Klez virus. Written in Microsoft Visual C++, it spread through the Internet, being attached to emails.

Slapper – 2002

This Internet worm was able to infect computers that run on Linux. The virus' source was about 68.4KB in size. Not only did it infect computer, it also managed to spread further, being able to act as a backdoor on the infected machine. Thus it made possible for the attacker to run different commands and start Denial-of-Service attacks by taking advantage of a distributed network maintained between the infected computers.

Lentin (aka Yaha) - 2002

Just like Klez this computer virus spread over the Internet being attacked to infected emails. It represents a mass-mailing worm that initially looks for emails in Windows Address Book, MSN, .NET messenger cache folders as well as HTM(L) files. It was able to spread with the help of a 'VALENTIN.SCR' file attached to a message that read:

* Subject 1:
* Melt the Heart of your Valentine with this beautiful Screen saver
* Body 1:
* This e-mail is never sent unsolicited. If you need to unsubscribe, follow the instructions at the bottom of the message.


Slammer - 2003

This Internet worm features in our computer virus list because it is the first fileless worm. Slammer was able to spread by taking advantage of the vulnerability found in the SQL Server. It fully showed the abilities of a flash-worm. The worm caused a denial of service on several Internet hosts and considerably slowed down the overall Internet traffic. The computer virus managed to infect about 75,000 computers in just 10 minutes.

Lovesan – 2003

This computer worm for the first time appeared in August 2003, showing the vulnerability of Windows. Lovesan took advantage of the vulnerability of the operating system in order to replicate itself - a technique similar that used by the Slammer. The virus downloads and the tries to run a file called msblast.exe. In addition, the user receives the following message:

* "I just want to say LOVE YOU SAN!!
* billy gates why do you make this possible? Stop making money and fix your software!!"

Mimail - 2003

This computer worm used the newest vulnerability in Internet Explorer in order to activate itself. It is worth mentioning that the vulnerability made it possible for the worm to extract the binary code from HTML files and the execute it. For the first time Minmail was used in Russia.

Zotob - 2005

This computer virus was launched on August 14, 2005. It used the Plug and Play (PnP) vulnerabilities, thus making big problems on the system. When Zotob infects a machine, it slows it down, causing the computer to repeatedly crash and reboot. Infected computers running Windows 2000 were left exposed to additional attacks, while those that run Windows XP only spread the worms.


Strorm - 2007

This computer virus holds a special place in our computer virus list. For the first time Storm was spotted at the beginning of 2007. It hid in email attachments that had the following title line: "230 dead as storm batters Europe." Users that opened the attachment let the virus in and their machines joined an ever-growing botnet. Security experts spread in opinions regarding the number of computers that were infected with this computer virus: some say that the number reached 10 million, while others claim that between a few thousand and about 1 million computers were infected. Computers infected with Storm virus could be used to launch millions of spam emails that would advertise Web links, and if someone clicked those links, they would download the computer virus on their machine. The Storm botnet was able to attack the online operations carried out by security vendors and analysts who tried to investigate the computer virus. The United States Federal Bureau of Investigation believes that Storm represents a major treat to increased bank fraud, identity theft, and a number of other cybercrimes.


The Conficker - 2008

This is a computer worm that for the first time was spotted in November 2008. Besides infecting the user's computer, the worm spreads to other machines throughout the network automatically. It managed to affects the computers of the French Navy, UK Ministry of Defense, Sheffield Hospital, German Bundeswehr as well as Norwegian Police. Microsoft decided to give away $250,000 for valuable information that could help capture the developer of Conficker.


W32.Dozer - 2009

Detected this year, the computer worm can load malicious files onto the infected machine. It was developed to delete information on infected computers and prevent them from being rebooted.

Other viruses that appeared during this period of time include:

2000: Dilber,CIH, SK, Bolzano, Jer, Stream, Fable, Pirus, Hybris;

2001: CodeRed, Nimda, Aliz, BadtransII, Magistr, SirCam, California.IBM, Girl Thing;

2002: LFM, Donut, Tanatos (aka Bugbear), Thus, TheSecond, Marker, Flop, Elkern, CIH, FunLove, Spaces;

2003: Ganda, Avron, Sobig, Tanatos.b, I-Worm.Swen, Backdoor.Agobot, Afcore;

2004: Witty worm, Nuclear RAT, Vundo, Bitfrost, Santy, Stratio-Zip, Netsky-D and MyDoom-O;

2005: Samy XSS, Zlob Trojan, Bandook;

2006: OSX/Leap-A, Stration (a.k.a. Warezov);

2008: MacSweeper, Sinowal (a.k.a. Mebroot), The Koobface.

Original resources: http://www.infoniac.com/

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Eye controlled Mouse System it make easie for users

A Swedish company called Tobii recently announced the launch of its new eye-control device dubbed PCEye. The firm's invention tracks movement of a user's eyes and coverts it into mouse cursor on the screen.

According to Tobii, the device is connected through a USB. It is compatible with a large number of software. The company's main goal was to create a device that would improve the interactivity for stroke victims and other people suffering from impaired motor skills.



Tobii's representatives also mentioned that the device can work with displays that have a diagonal ranging from 15 to 20-inches. The optimal distance at which the invention can operate ranges from 19.7 – 31.5-inches (50 – 80 cm).

It is worth mentioning that in order to work properly the device should be connected to a computer that has at least a 1GHz dual-core processor.

The advanced algorithms developed by Tobii specialists, in combination with high-res cameras can track and register the eye movement of about 95 percent of people. PCEye works perfectly in different light conditions and irrespective of the user's eye color.


orignal resources: http://www.infoniac.com/hi-tech/latest-invention-pceye-eye-controlled-mouse-system-from-tobii.html

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Plastic Computer Memory Device Uses Electron Spin to Read and Write Data

 Researchers at Ohio State University have demonstrated the first plastic computer memory device that utilizes the spin of electrons to read and write data. An alternative to traditional microelectronics, so-called "spintronics" could store more data in less space, process data faster, and consume less power.
In the August 2010 issue of the journal Nature Materials, Arthur J. Epstein and colleagues describe how they created a prototype plastic spintronic device using techniques found in the mainstream computer industry today.


At this point, the device is little more than a thin strip of dark blue organic-based magnet layered with a metallic ferromagnet and connected to two electrical leads. (A ferromagnet is a magnet made of ferrous metal such as iron. Common household refrigerator magnets are ferromagnets.) Still, the researchers successfully recorded data on it and retrieved the data by controlling the spins of the electrons with a magnetic field.
Epstein, Distinguished University Professor of physics and chemistry and director of the Institute for Magnetic and Electronic Polymers at Ohio State, described the material as a hybrid of a semiconductor that is made from organic materials and a special magnetic polymer semiconductor. As such, it is a bridge between today's computers and the all-polymer, spintronic computers that he and his partners hope to enable in the future.

Normal electronics encode computer data based on a binary code of ones and zeros, depending on whether an electron is present in a void within the material. But researchers have long known that electrons can be polarized to orient in particular directions, like a bar magnet. They refer to this orientation as spin -- either "spin up" or "spin down" -- and have been working on a way to store data using spin. The resulting electronics, dubbed spintronics, would effectively let computers store and transfer twice as much data per electron.
But higher data density is only part of the story.
"Spintronics is often just seen as a way to get more information out of an electron, but really it's about moving to the next generation of electronics," Epstein said. "We could solve many of the problems facing computers today by using spintronics."
Typical circuit boards use a lot of energy. Moving electrons through them creates heat, and it takes a lot of energy to cool them. Chip makers are limited in how closely they can pack circuits together to avoid overheating.

Flipping the spin of an electron requires less energy, and produces hardly any heat at all, he explained. That means that spintronic devices could run on smaller batteries. If they were made out of plastic, they would also be light and flexible.
"We would love to take portable electronics to a spin platform," Epstein said. "Think about soldiers in the field who have to carry heavy battery packs, or even civilian 'road warriors' commuting to meetings. If we had a lighter weight spintronic device which operates itself at a lower energy cost, and if we could make it on a flexible polymer display, soldiers and other users could just roll it up and carry it. We see this portable technology as a powerful platform for helping people."
The magnetic polymer semiconductor in this study, vanadium tetracyanoethanide, is the first organic-based magnet that operates above room temperature. It was developed by Epstein and his long-standing collaborator Joel S. Miller of the University of Utah. Postdoctoral researcher Jung-Woo Yoo called the new material an important milestone in spintronic research.
"Our main achievement is that we applied this polymer-based magnet semiconductor as a spin polarizer -- meaning we could save data (spin up and down) on it using a tiny magnetic field -- and a spin detector -- meaning we could read the data back," he said. "Now we are closer to constructing a device from all-organic material."

In the prototype device, electrons pass into the polymer, and a magnetic field orients them as spin up or spin down. The electrons can then pass into the conventional magnetic layer, but only if the spin of electrons there are oriented in the same way. If they are not, the resistance is too high for the electrons to pass. So the researchers were able to read spin data from their device based on whether the resistance was high or low.
Collaborators at the University of Wisconsin-Madison prepared a sample of conventional magnetic film, and Yoo and his Ohio State colleagues layered it together with the organic magnet to make a working device.
As a test, the researchers exposed the material to a magnetic field that varied in strength over time. To determine whether the material recorded the magnetic pattern and functioned as a good spin injector/detector, they measured the electric current passing through the two magnetic layers. This method is similar to the way computers read and write data to a magnetic hard drive today.
The results, Yoo said, were "textbook" -- they retrieved the magnetic data in its entirety, exactly as they stored it.
The patented technology should transfer easily to industry, he added. "Any place that makes computer chips could do this. Plus, in this case, we made the device at room temperature, and the process is very eco-friendly."

Coauthors on the paper included Chia-Yi Chen and Vladimir Prigodin of Ohio State, and H.W. Jang, C.W. Bark, and Chang-Beom Eom of the University of Wisconsin-Madison.This research was funded by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, the Department of Energy, the National Science Foundation, and the Office of Naval Research.
Original resources: http://sciencedaily.com/

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Researchers Advance Toward Hybrid Spintronic Computer Chips

Researchers here have created the first electronic circuit to merge traditional inorganic semiconductors with organic "spintronics" -- devices that utilize the spin of electrons to read, write and manipulate data.

Ezekiel Johnston-Halperin, assistant professor of physics, and his team combined an inorganic semiconductor with a unique plastic material that is under development in colleague Arthur J. Epstein's lab at Ohio State University.



Last year, Epstein, Distinguished University Professor of physics and chemistry and director of the Institute for Magnetic and Electronic Polymers at Ohio State, demonstrated the first successful data storage and retrieval on a plastic spintronic device.

Now Johnston-Halperin, Epstein, and their colleagues have incorporated the plastic device into a traditional circuit based on gallium arsenide. Two of their now-former doctoral students, Lei Fang and Deniz Bozdag, had to devise a new fabrication technique to make the device.

In a paper published onlineon April 13 in the journal Physical Review Letters, they describe how they transmitted a spin-polarized electrical current from the plastic material, through the gallium arsenide, and into a light-emitting diode (LED) as proof that the organic and inorganic parts were working together.

"Hybrid structures promise functionality that no other materials, neither organic nor inorganic, can currently achieve alone," Johnston-Halperin said. "We've opened the door to linking this exciting new material to traditional electronic devices with transistor and logic functionality. In the longer term this work promises new, chemically based functionality for spintronic devices."

Normal electronics encode computer data based on a binary code of ones and zeros, depending on whether an electron is present or not within the material. But researchers have long known that electrons can be polarized to orient in particular directions, like a bar magnet. They refer to this orientation as spin -- either "spin up" or "spin down" -- and this approach, dubbed spintronics, has been applied to memory-based technologies for modern computing. For example, the terabyte drives now commercially available would not be possible without spintronic technology.

If scientists could expand spintronic technology beyond memory applications into logic and computing applications, major advances in information processing could follow, Johnston-Halperin explained. Spintronic logic would theoretically require much less power, and produce much less heat, than current electronics, while enabling computers to turn on instantly without "booting up." Hybrid and organic devices further promise computers that are lighter and more flexible, much as organic LEDs are now replacing inorganic LEDs in the production of flexible displays.

A spintronic semiconductor must be magnetic, so that the spin of electrons can be flipped for data storage and manipulation. Few typical semiconductors -- that is, inorganic semiconductors -- are magnetic. Of those that are, all require extreme cold, with operating temperatures below -150 degrees Fahrenheit or -100 degrees Celsius. That's colder than the coldest outdoor temperature ever recorded in Antarctica.

"In order to build a practical spintronic device, you need a material that is both semiconducting and magnetic at room temperature. To my knowledge, Art's organic materials are the only ones that do that," Johnston-Halperin said. The organic magnetic semiconductors were developed by Epstein and his long-standing collaborator Joel S. Miller of the University of Utah.

The biggest barrier that the researchers faced was device fabrication. Traditional inorganic devices are made at high temperatures with harsh solvents and acids that organics can't tolerate. Fang and Bozdag solved this problem by building the inorganic part in a traditional cleanroom, and then adding an organic layer in Epstein's customized organics lab -- a complex process that required a redesign of the circuitry in both parts.

"You could ask, why didn't we go with all organics, then?" Johnston-Halperin said. "Well, the reality is that industry already knows how to make devices out of inorganic materials. That expertise and equipment is already in place. If we can just get organic and inorganic materials to work together, then we can take advantage of that existing infrastructure to move spintronics forward right away."

He added that much work will need to be done before manufacturers can mass-produce hybrid spintronics. But as a demonstration of fundamental science, this first hybrid circuit lays the foundation for technologies to come.

For the demonstration, the researchers used the organic magnet, which they made from a polymer called vanadium tetracyanoethylene, to polarize the spins in an electrical current. This electrical current then passed through the gallium arsenide layer, and into an LED.

To confirm that the electrons were still polarized when they reached the LED, the researchers measured the spectrum and polarization of light shining from the LED. The light was indeed polarized, indicating the initial polarization of the incoming electrons.

The fact that they were able to measure the electrons' polarization with the LED also suggests that other researchers can use this same technique to test spin in other organic systems.

Coauthors on the paper included former doctoral student Chia-Yi Chen and former postdoctoral researcher Patrick Truitt.

This research was funded by the National Science Foundation's Materials Research Science and Engineering Centers program, Ohio State's Institute for Materials Research, and the Department of Energy.

original resources:http://sciencedaily.com/

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