What Are the Worst Viruses I Can Get?

Shortly after personal computers became somewhat mainstream, hackers began creating viruses. In the early years of the internet age, computer viruses were more of an annoyance, but today's viruses can do some serious damage. Some viruses are destructive enough to damage computers irreparably, potentially costing users thousands of dollars in replacement costs. An equally big problem that users face today, given the popularity of online shopping, are scams that steal financial information and identities with malware called spyware. The worst spyware can actually record data in real time, meaning it can lay in wait in the background until you to buy something online. When you do, it will steal your credit card number as you type it into the online form. The following are a few of the worst viruses in history and the worst in the present day.

The Worst Viruses in History

The ILOVEYOU Virus

This virus sprang to life in 2000 from an unknown author located somewhere in the Philippines. It was the first virus to be able to hack users' inboxes and send messages to their friends and contacts from the users' actual email addresses. Thus, it would appear that you'd received an email from a friend or contact on your email list. Since this was the first time this had been possible, almost everyone opened the email, thinking it had really come from a trusted source.

Thousands upon thousands of email accounts were hacked and millions of emails were sent with the subject line "ILOVEYOU." Again, users were intrigued or perplexed by the subject line, thinking the email was from a friend, and the vast majority of recipients opened the email without hesitation. The email contained a VBS file that downloaded a ton of spam onto the users' computers and then proceeded to delete as many personal files as it could find, including music, images and other multimedia files.

Slammer

This computer worm was unleashed in 2003 and infected 75,000 users within the first 10 minutes of running wild. The primary purpose of this malware was simply to bog down processing speeds, which it did with astonishing efficacy. On January 25 2003, thousands of websites temporarily shut down because routing systems could not handle the visitor load and the Slammer.

Storm

This backdoor Trojan was created and spread in 2007 and infected more than 10 million computers. The Storm Trojans installed backdoor programs that bombarded users with spam and drastically slowed down computers' processing speeds. Storm spread through an email scamming campaign about a fake weather disaster.

Current Worst Viruses

Right now, according to Kaspersky Labs and Secure List, two viruses out there are quite nasty. The first is Virus.Win32.Virut.ce. This virus spreads through a variety of email scams and phishing sites and eventually cripples users from even completing the most basic tasks on their computers. The reason it's considered one of the worst viruses today is that it's virtually impossible to remove without professional help. Basically, if you get Virus.Win32.Virut.ce, you can expect to pay a pro at least a couple hundred dollars to get rid of it for you.

The second on the list is Exploit.Win32.Pdfka, which is embedded in some corrupt PDF files. If you open a PDF with this virus, the Exploit.Win32.Pdfka will create a hidden portal for downloading files from the internet without your consent. It's important to remember that new viruses are continually being unleashed, and your computer could contract the next major threat before it makes major headlines. That's why it's important to research the top-rated anti-virus software applications and to make sure you always have updated and highly effective anti-virus protection for all your computers and mobile devices.

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