The most famous computer viruses in history
The top 3 according to 26 votes from people: Brain (1986) · Zeus (2007) · Creeper (1971). (Updated Mar 3, 2025.)
From the harmless Creeper of 1971 to the WannaCry that crippled hospitals: the viruses, worms and malware that caused the biggest stir. Which one did you have to suffer?
Automatically translated (original in Español). See the original
Top 16
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1
Brain (1986)
Created by two Pakistani brothers, it left their contact details.
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2
Zeus (2007)
The trojan that stole banking details.
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3
Creeper (1971)
The first known virus: it hopped across ARPANET and just showed a message.
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4
Elk Cloner (1982)
A 15-year-old made it as a prank for the Apple II.
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5
ILOVEYOU (2000)
The fake love letter that reached millions of inboxes.
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6
Industroyer (2016)
It knocked out power in part of Kyiv.
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7
Clop (2019)
Ransomware that also stole data before encrypting it.
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8
Stuxnet (2010)
The first cyberweapon, aimed at Iran's nuclear centrifuges.
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9
Mirai (2016)
It used cameras and routers with factory passwords to take down half the internet.
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10
CryptoLocker (2013)
One of the first ransomware programs to demand a ransom for your files.
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11
Emotet (2014)
Dubbed "the king of malware".
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12
WannaCry (2017)
More than 200,000 computers in 150 countries, including British hospitals.
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13
DarkSide (2021)
The attack that shut down the Colonial Pipeline in the US.
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14
Morris worm (1988)
It infected about 10% of the computers on the internet.
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15
Mydoom (2004)
The fastest-spreading email worm ever.
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16
NotPetya (2017)
It posed as ransomware but only destroyed.
How is this ranking ordered? By people's votes: each ▲ adds a point and each ▼ takes one away. Anyone can vote and add what is missing.
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Comments (1)
El ILOVEYOU lo recuerdo perfectamente, en la oficina de mi padre lo abrieron todos jaja. Quién no iba a abrir una carta de amor