A Practical Joke Starts 25 Years Of Viruses
Rich Skrenta now has the dubious distinction of being recognized as the first person to write a self-replicating boot-sector virus.
It'd be easy to criticise Mr Skrenta for his choice, but keep in mind that he was a high school student at the time, and will never really be able to complain when somebody infects his PC and swipes his eBay account information.
So how does he feel about his place in computer history? We'll let the man answer that for himself:
It'd be easy to criticise Mr Skrenta for his choice, but keep in mind that he was a high school student at the time, and will never really be able to complain when somebody infects his PC and swipes his eBay account information.
So how does he feel about his place in computer history? We'll let the man answer that for himself:
"It was some dumb little practical joke," Skrenta, now 40, said in an interview. "I guess if you had to pick between being known for this and not being known for anything, I'd rather be known for this. But it's an odd placeholder for (all that) I've done."
Sadly, this achievement has opened the door (that would probably have been opened by someone else sometime later) to further advancements in virus development.
Does anyone else wonder if Symantec sends this guy holiday cards?
Does anyone else wonder if Symantec sends this guy holiday cards?
