What year was a networked computer first infected with a 'virus'?

• 1971

• 1981

• 1991

• 2001

Answer explanation

1971: Robert Thomas, from the company BBN, creates Creeper, a program that infects computers connected to the ARPANET network by displaying the message: "I'm the creeper: catch me if you can".

What year was the word 'virus' first used to describe a 'computer security problem'?

• 1973

• 1983

• 1993

• 2003

Answer explanation

Fred Cohen and Leonard Adleman coin the term "computer virus". Cohen presents the first virus named as such, a code that infects machines using the Unix operating system. Shortly thereafter, he publishes the theoretical foundations of viral computation.

One of the first 'worms' to spread through the Internet happened in 1988. What's the definition of a worm?

• Malicious software that can self-replicate and spread through a network
• A type of virus that only affects plants
• A type of computer hardware used for data storage
• A type of insect that burrows into the ground

Answer explanation

The Morris worm is one of the first to spread through the Internet, still in its infancy. It is created by Robert Morris, a graduate from Cornell University, and launched from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Morris is the first person prosecuted in the US under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act of 1986.

The concept of a virus hiding in a document, such as a Microsoft Excel file first appeared in 1995. In 1999 the Melissa virus arrived and was so infamous that it was mentioned in the cartoon "The Simpsons". Approximately how many computers were thought to have been infected with the Melissa virus?

• 50,000

• 100,000

• 250,000

• 500,000

The first malware (named 'Fizzer') designed to earn money appeared in 2003. How did it earn money?

• Selling fake antivirus software
• Hijacking online bank accounts
• Mining cryptocurrency using infected computers
• Sending spam marketing emails and installing a backdoor on infected computers

What was the name of the malware that was first to damage infrastructure (property). It damaged 1000 uranium centrifuges in Iran. It was suspected that a country who was an enemy of Iran created it.

• Stuxnet
• ILOVEYOU
• Melissa
• WannaCry

The first big ransomware malware hit the news in 2013. It was called the CryptoLocker Trojan. What did it do?

• It encrypted files on the infected computer and demanded a ransom to unlock them.
• It displayed a message congratulating the user for being infected
• It deleted all files on the infected computer
• It automatically sent a copy of the malware to all contacts in the user's email address book

On May 12th 2017 the WannaCry ransomware infects more than 200,000 computers in a single day including systems of large organisations like our NHS. Approximately how many countries did this ransomware affect?

• 1000
• 150
• 50
• 300

Now (2024), how many pieces new pieces of malware are detected every day?

• 500 new pieces of malware are detected every day.

• 10,000 new pieces of malware are detected every day.

• 100,000 new pieces of malware are detected every day.

• Over 500,000 new pieces of malware are detected every day.

Answer explanation

560,000 new pieces of malware are detected every day.

There are now more than 1 billion malware programs out there.

Every minute, four companies fall victim to ransomware attacks.

Trojans account for 58% of all computer malware.

In 2022, the United States was the country that was targeted most by ransomware attacks. Which country was second?

• India
• China
• United Kingdom

• Germany

Answer explanation

Source: Top countries attacked by ransomware 2022 | Statista

Though I also find it hard to believe that Russia, China and India weren't up there. Maybe because no data was collected regarding those countries?