10 Worst Computer Viruses of All Time

Computer viruses can be a nightmare. Some can wipe out the information on a hard drive, tie up traffic on a computer network for hours, turn an innocent machine into a zombie and replicate and send themselves to other computers. If you've never had a machine fall victim to a computer virus, you may wonder what the fuss is about. But the concern is understandable -- according to Consumer Reports, computer viruses helped contribute to $8.5 billion in consumer losses in 2008 [source: MarketWatch]. Computer viruses are just one kind of online threat, but they're arguably the best known of the bunch.
Computer viruses have been around for many years. In fact, in 1949, a scientist named John von Neumann theorized that a self-replicated program was possible [source: Krebs]. The computer industry wasn't even a decade old, and already someone had figured out how to throw a monkey wrench into the figurative gears. But it took a few decades before programmers known as hackers began to build computer viruses.
While some pranksters created virus-like programs for large computer systems, it was really the introduction of the personal computer that brought computer viruses to the public's attention. A doctoral student named Fred Cohen was the first to describe self-replicating programs designed to modify computers as viruses. The name has stuck ever since.

 
­In the good­ old days (i.e., the early 1980s), viruses depended on humans to do the hard work of spreading the virus to other computers. A hacker would save the virus to disks and then distribute the disks to other people. It wasn't until modems became common that virus transmission became a real problem. Today when we think of a computer virus, we usually imagine something that transmits itself via the Internet. It might infect computers through e-mail messages or corrupted Web links. Programs like these can spread much faster than the earliest computer viruses.
We're going to take a look at 10 of the worst computer viruses to cripple a computer system. They are:

Melissa,  I love you,T he Klez Virus, Code Red and code Red II, Nimda, Sql  Slammer  / Sapphire, My Doom, Sasser and Netsky, Leap A/Oompa A, Storm Worm

PRACTICAL TIPS TO PROTECT YOUR PRIVACY ONLINE

Identity theft is all about control. Who as control over your personal and financial

Information? Is it you, or the criminal on the other end of you’re computer using your

Information to apply for a credit card? Losing control of your personal information can be all too easy online. But by taking some precautions, you can maintain privacy while safely surfing the internet.

1. Adjust social –network privacy settings

   -Face book has been working to simplify their privacy settings, but they can still be confusing to the average users. Spend about 10 minutes a month making sure that your privacy settings, are what they should be and are actually protecting your privacy.

To get there, log in to  Face book, in the top right of your screen it should say “account “ when you scroll over or click on that tab you can see your privacy settings. Click here for a step by step process of how to adjust your privacy settings.

Twitter, another popular social network, also lets you lock your account from public view .in settings, there’s a feature called “protect my tweets.” They have had breaches before, so it is always good to take every precaution you can to protect your information.

2. Frequently change password- It is good to rotate passwords on sites you use often. Especially sites that hold your financial information Every 6 months or so you should change your passwords just in case someone has access to your online profile  A good way to keep track of these password is with a password  keeper such as 1 password. This way you can store your password to all sites in one places and use a master password to gain access
3. Opt-out ad tracking – Online ad network often install a small file on the computer of people who visit certain websites. These so-called cookies can log your surfing habits, allowing advertisers to tailor ads to your interest.

If you are trying to keep some online privacy then you should opt out .in the settings panel of your web browser make sure panel disable cookies from third party websites. Most advertising company’s use they see where you go on line and keep a record.

4. use a secure inter internet connection-

Don’t browse private sites and look at personal or financial information while on a public wifi connection. Never shop online at your local coffee shop because you never know who may be spying on you with that very same open internet connection. If you are making an online banking, emailing a personal story or photo, ONLY do so on secure password protected internet connection.