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Pros @ Cons

By
Editors

The most pernicious computer viruses in history have touched millions and cost billions since the early aughts.

Mydoom

  • Jan. 26, 2004–Present

  • 50 million computers

  • $38.5 billion

The fastest-spreading computer worm in history, Mydoom continues to circulate in email inboxes today. Though its original intent remains unclear, some suspect it was created for the purpose of industrial sabotage, as its massive deluge of spam emails generated a “botnet” of infected computers large enough to target the SCO Group (a now defunct software company) and Microsoft Windows with distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks, forcing millions of people offline.

Sobig

  • Jan. 2003–Sept. 10, 2003

  • Unknown

  • $30 billion

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