Informative Speech Outline
Name: Yaqi Huang
Presentation Title: The History of Computer Viruses
Purpose: To inform the audience of the history of computer viruses, specifically on why they are
created, what they are affecting the computer system, and how to prevent them in the future.
Introduction:
I. computer viruses have existed for decades now. As some infamous viruses damage our
property and cause leakage of our personal information, however, they are not initially designed
as evil.
II. How we approached the development of computer viruses
A. We researched the background of the first-ever computer virus
B. We analyzed the purpose of later infamous malicious viruses
C. We compared them with viruses existing nowadays
Body
I. Analysis of phases of computer virus development
A. The background of first computer virus in the world
1. "creeper system" was the first-ever computer virus invented in the world. "It was
an experimental self-replicating virus made by BBN technology released in 1971.
2. The program was not harmful, and it did not damage the data; the only thing it
would do is to output the following text to screen: "I'M THE CREEPER; CATCH
ME IF YOU CAN."
B. The malicious viruses and what would they do to computers
1. The first malicious virus, the Rabbit. It was developed in 1974. What it does is to
make multiple copies of itself and fill up the system storage. The system
performance will slow down and crash eventually.
2. The LoveLetter Virus. This virus was developed in 2000 and has caused a loss of
15 billion dollars. The virus attacked users' contact lists and sent out love letters to
each of the contacts, but their real purpose was to steal passwords of their online
accounts.
3. The worst computer virus by far is called "Mydoom." It has caused 52.2 billion
losses and infected over 50 million computers in the world. It was first sighted in
2004 and then became the most fast-spreading computer virus ever in history.
C. How was the virus widely spread compared to those existing nowadays
1. In the early stage of the development of the Internet industry, the lack of control
systems and norms allowed many computer viruses to have room for survival.
Nowadays, the firewall and other anti-malware systems helped us inhibit the
growth of computer viruses. The most harmful ones have been blocked out by the
majority, but there are still many of them existing.
2. Most viruses existing nowadays would not harm your computer system but will
cause information leakage. For example, the virus "Zeus Gameover" can bypass
centralized servers and create independent servers to send sensitive information.
In other words, they are not traceable.
II. Impact caused by the viruses
A. Impact on the performance of computer systems
1. System slowdown. Due to the characteristics of early computer viruses, they will
duplicate themselves and occupy the empty system storage, and slow down the
system.
2. Data damages. Some computer viruses are programmed to damage programs,
delete files, or reformat the hard drive. It will cause massive data loss and destroy
the operating system.
B. Impact on personal data
1. Some computer viruses will steal your sensitive data, such as bank account and
passwords.
2. Other viruses would cause leakage of your privacy and personal information, such
as accessing contacts, photos, and messages.
C. Other impacts
1. Some browser extension viruses will automatically lead you to their website when
you are trying to use the search engine. They keep haunting you unless you
uninstall and reboot the system. If you made a backup, you would still find them
in your backup files, and they can't be removed.
2. Spams. For example, a window of spam comes out of nowhere when you are
surfing on the internet. Some viruses attack a website and disguise themselves
with the same appearance as the website they occupied. They do so to acquire
users' account information they entered. Users thought they were only logging on
to their accounts, but in reality, their passwords were passed to the spam virus.
III. Solution - how to protect ourselves under the virus attacks
A. e should install anti-malware firewalls on our computer
1. Firewalls are the essential tools to prevent computer virus infections. Even
Though most people think firewalls are useless, they are still protecting us from
most virus attacks.
2. Firewalls will identify harmful files according to their malware database. What
they do is to prevent users from accessing harmful websites, downloading, and
opening files that might contain malware.
B. We should carefully screen the content we are downloading
1. Downloading content from untrustworthy websites would be dangerous.
2. When we are about to download anything, check for the website information as
well as the file name.
C. We should enter sensitive informations with cautious
1. To avoid the UserInput scam, check the website URL before entering any
information.
2. Never click on any URL through email from a stranger.
Conclusion: The computer viruses rampaged throughout the early 2000s, causing massive loss
of properties. Thanks to the improvement of rules and regulations, the internet is a much safer
place now. However, rules are already lagging at the second they are formulated. We need to
remember we are still under attack by computer viruses, and we need to cautiously protect
ourselves from them.
References
Tom Gerencer (November 4, 2020). The Top 10 Worst Computer Viruses in History.
Retrieved from
https://www.hp.com/us-en/shop/tech-takes/top-ten-worst-computer-viruses-in-history
AO Kaspersky Lab. A Brief History of Computer Viruses & What the Future Holds.
Retrieved from https://usa.kaspersky.com/resource-center/threats/a-brief-history-of-computer-
viruses-and-what-the-future-holds
Sophie Anderson. 10 Latest (MOST DANGEROUS) Virus & Malware Threats in 2021.
Retrieved from
https://www.safetydetectives.com/blog/most-dangerous-new-malware-and-security-threats/
Mary Atamaniuk (2021). The Symptoms and Effects of Computer Viruses You Need To Know
Retrieved from
https://clario.co/blog/computer-virus-symptoms-effects/
