Welcome to the dungeon

Hello Reader,

It’s 1986. Doctor Who returns to the screen after an 18-month hiatus, Ringo Starr narrates his last ever episode of Thomas the Tank Engine, and 30.15 million viewers tune in to watch Dirty Dennis and Angie file their divorce papers on Eastenders.

But if you owned a personal computer back then, you might remember something a little more sobering – the ‘Brain’ computer virus.

The first of its kind, the ‘Brain’ computer virus originated from bespoke software made for a doctor in Pakistan, which eventually found it’s way around the world – corrupting personal computers with the message ‘Welcome to the dungeon. Contact us for vaccination’.

The code created by two brothers was never meant to become a worldwide virus. But within no time at all, it found it’s way around the globe, going down in computing history as the first-ever known piece of code to spread through software.

That’s a lovely story, Capt. But what’s your point?

You don’t need me to tell you viruses have come a long way since 1986. And if your system isn’t protected by the right antivirus software, you could be one of 5.5 billion attacks reported every year.

Although the ‘Brain’ was never meant to be more than a playful bit of code, modern alternatives are not to be taken lightly. So if you value your data and security, my advice is to put some protection in place before it’s too late.

Alright, you’ve made your point. So what next?

If you’d like to know how Northstar IT can protect your systems from viruses, call us today on 01903 25 99 23. We have the vaccination.

Until the next time.