20 notorious worms, viruses and botnets

The earliest worms and viruses were created for geeky fun and did little harm - oh, how times have changed. Here are 20 worms, viruses and botnets that show the evolution of malware, from Creeper to Flame.

By Joan Goodchild, CSO | Security, botnets, malware

I Love You

Discovered in 2000, the "I love you" or "Love Letter" malware was not the first example of using social engineering to infect computers, but it was the first massively successful one," says Haley.

Subsequently, it provided a foundation for cyber social engineering that still works today: everyone wants to know that someone loves them. On the flip side, it also taught computer users that they can't trust everything they see online or receive in their inbox. (Though that lesson clearly hasn't settled in fully.)