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The Computer Virus Turns 25

By NewsDude , Newser Staff

Posted Jul 13, 2007 4:52 PM CDT

(Newser) – A long time ago (1982), in a galaxy not so far, far away, Rich Skrenta, then a clever 9th grader, invented what may have been the first computer virus—Elk Cloner. It was, by current standards, a benign virus that Skrenta installed on his school computer, so that every time one of his fellow students copied a floppy disk, some doggerel from Skrenta appeared on their screens.

Despite his mischievous nature, or perhaps because of it, Skrenta went on to become a successful Silicon Valley entrepreneur, founding NewHoo and Topix.net. He recently stepped down as CEO of Topix following the sale of 75% of the venture to three newspaper companies for about $60 million.

' (R. Skrenta)

Rich Skrenta is the founder of Topix.com, a Palo Alto, California, company that provides local news for every ZIP code in the country. (KRT Photos)

' (Index Open)

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More Newser Stories

Facebook Virus Gang Living in Luxury

Koobface Gang not bothering to hide their identities, location

Facebook Closes 45K Accounts to Stop 'Worm'

Ramnit worm steals login info, spreads nasty links

New Virus Hacks Your Bank Account, Covers Tracks

'SpyEye Trojan' helps thieves go undetected

Millions of Printers in Danger of Being Hacked

Researchers call it a major vulnerability: MSNBC

'Son of Stuxnet' Worm Found in Europe

Duqu designed to gather information on industrial systems, Symantec says

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OTHER STORIES ON OUR RADAR

hacker • computer virus • Rich Skrenta • Elk Cloner

MOST POPULAR STORIES

[ By Views ]

[ By Comments ]

More Newser Stories

Facebook Virus Gang Living in Luxury

Koobface Gang not bothering to hide their identities, location

Facebook Closes 45K Accounts to Stop 'Worm'

Ramnit worm steals login info, spreads nasty links

New Virus Hacks Your Bank Account, Covers Tracks

'SpyEye Trojan' helps thieves go undetected

Millions of Printers in Danger of Being Hacked

Researchers call it a major vulnerability: MSNBC

'Son of Stuxnet' Worm Found in Europe

Duqu designed to gather information on industrial systems, Symantec says

About Us

Site

Newser By Users

Community

Site Maps

Tools

More News

What is Newser?