Elk Cloner

Elk Cloner
TypeApple II
SubtypeBoot sector virus
ClassificationComputer virus
OriginMt. Lebanon, Pennsylvania, U.S.
AuthorsRich Skrenta
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Elk Cloner is one of the first known microcomputer viruses that spread "in the wild", i.e., outside the computer system or laboratory in which it was written.[1][2][3][4] It attached itself to the Apple II operating system and spread by floppy disk. It was written around 1982 by programmer and entrepreneur Rich Skrenta as a 15-year-old high school student, originally as a joke, and put onto a game disk.

  1. ^ "Prank starts 25 years of computer security woes". CTV. Associated Press. Archived from the original on 2008-01-07.
  2. ^ "Elk Cloner". Retrieved 2010-12-10.
  3. ^ "Top 10 Computer Viruses: No. 10 - Elk Cloner". Retrieved 2010-12-10.
  4. ^ "List of Computer Viruses Developed in 1980s". Retrieved 2010-12-10.