Viruses are programs that self-replicate recursively, meaning that infected systems spread the virus to other systems, which then propagate the virus further. While many viruses contain a destructive payload, it’s quite common for viruses to do nothing more than spread from one system to another.

During the early days of malware, most people had no idea what a virus was or how it spread. It wasn’t until the “Vienna” virus of 1987 attracted media attention that people began to take interest. A search was on for the author of “Vienna” and it was a high school student from (guess what) Vienna who created the code as an experiment. A guy called Bernt Fix was able to neutralize the “Vienna” outbreak, bringing to light the antivirus industry.

So, first big media attention for a virus and first neutralisation procedure of a virus. Not bad, I would say.