Brain – 1st PC Virus

The virus would infect floppy discs’ boot sectors, and when a computer booted from an infected disk, it would copy itself to the machine’s memory and infect any subsequent inserted floppy disks. The malware additionally showed a message advising people to be more cautious of the applications they use on their PCs. This was an early instance of how security measures for software might be implemented. It became a reminder that we need to pay more attention about the software we use and the consequences of doing so.

The Brain virus did not corrupt the data on infected computers, but it did show a message instructing the user to contact the virus’s makers for a cure. Amjad and Basit made it clear that they engineered the virus to prevent piracy of their software.

Eventually, the brothers developed a virus cleanup tool, which assisted in reducing the harm. The Brain virus was the first known computer virus that spread over floppy disks, and it became a wake-up call to the computer industry about the need for better security measures. It reminds us of how far we’ve come when it comes to software safety and security ever since.