Most of the computer viruses written in the early and mid 1980s were limited to self-reproduction and had no specific damage routine built into the code. That changed when more and more programmers became acquainted with virus programming and created viruses that manipulated or even destroyed data on infected computers.
There are competing claims for the innovator of the first antivirus product. Possibly the first publicly documented removal of a computer virus in the wild was performed by Bernd Fix in 1987. There were also two antivirus applications for the Atari ST platform developed in 1987. The first one was G Data and second was UVK 2000.
Fred Cohen, who published one of the first academic papers on computer viruses in 1984,began to develop strategies for antivirus software in 1988 that were picked up and continued by later antivirus software developers. In 1987, he published a demonstration that there is no algorithm that can perfectly detect all possible viruses.
In 1987 the first two heuristic antivirus utilities were released: Flushot Plus by Ross Greenberg and Anti4us by Erwin Lanting.[citation needed]
Also in 1988 a mailing list named VIRUS-L was started on the BITNET/EARN network where new viruses and the possibilities of detecting and eliminating viruses were discussed. Some members of this mailing list like John McAfee or Eugene Kaspersky later founded software companies that developed and sold commercial antivirus software.
Before internet connectivity was widespread, viruses were typically spread by infected floppy disks. Antivirus software came into use, but was updated relatively infrequently. During this time, virus checkers essentially had to check executable files and the boot sectors of floppy disks and hard disks. However, as internet usage became common, viruses began to spread online.
full article here:
History Antivirus Software/First Antivirus Software
Excellent article, thanks for posting Anthony...really highlights the dawn of the scourge that is now termed malware...and get me quite nostalgic about the 'old days'...;)
Baldrick
Baldrick
Webroot SecureAnywhere Complete Beta Tester v9.0.24.49, imaged by Macrium Reflect v7.2
+54Thank you Antus, I enjoyed that article, it was pretty interesting.
+62Thanks for the interesting article Anthony!
Windows Insider, iMac 2021 27 in i5 Retina 5, iMac OS Sequoia (15.3.2}, Security: iPads, W 10 & (VM:15), ALIENWARE 17R4, W10 Workstation, ALIENWARE 15 R6, W11, Webroot® SecureAnywhere™ Internet Security Complete (Android Samsung Galaxy Ultra Note 23, Webroot Beta Tester. Security
Reply
Rich Text Editor, editor1
Editor toolbars
Press ALT 0 for help
Login to the community
No account yet? Create an account
Enter your E-mail address. We'll send you an e-mail with instructions to reset your password.