The Pikachu virus is believed to be the first computer virus geared at children, as it contained Pikachu from the Pokémon series. It arrived in the form of an e-mail titled "Pikachu Pokemon [sic]" with the subject: "Pikachu is your friend."
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Opening the email met users with an image of Pikachu, along with a message stating, "Between millions of people around the world I found you. Don’t forget to remember this day every time MY FRIEND."
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The virus itself appeared in the attachment to the email, a file named "PikachuPokemon.exe".
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It was often compared to the Love Bug, though the Pikachu virus was noted to be far less dangerous and slower in its dissemination.[4]
Spread
editThe virus was mainly spread through Microsoft Outlook email attachments. The email containing the attached virus propagated through infected users by attempting to send a similar email to all contacts in their address book. [5]
Execution
editWhen the user clicked on the attachment, PikachuPokemon.exe added the lines "del C:\WINDOWS" and "del C:\WINDOWS\system32" to the file "autoexec.bat" These commands would be executed at the next boot, attempting to delete two critical directories of the Windows operating system.
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However, users would be given a prompt asking whether or not they wanted to delete those folders.
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It is due to this defect, many believe, that the virus did not become more widespread and cause more damage to computer systems.[8]
References
edit- ^ Szor, Peter (February 13, 2007). "W32.Pokey.Worm". Symantec. Retrieved 2009-10-14.
- ^ Staff writer (August 24, 2000). "Pikachu Virus Begins to Grow". Accounting Web. Retrieved March 3, 2012.
- ^ Virus and threat descriptions. F-Secure Corporation http://www.f-secure.com/v-descs/pikachu.shtml. Retrieved 2014-06-09.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ^ Staff writer (November 10, 2000). "Pikachu virus hits North America". CBC News. Retrieved March 3, 2012.
- ^ "Pokemon virus contained". news.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 13 November 2014.
- ^ "Pikachu". Panda Security. Retrieved 13 February 2013.
- ^ Don Singleton. "Pikachu Virus". Tulsa Computer Society. Retrieved March 3, 2012.
- ^ Staff writer (August 24, 2000). "Pokemon turns nasty in new computer virus". Independent Online. Retrieved March 3, 2012.
Further reading
edit- Staff writer (August 28, 2000). "Pikachu Virus Targeting Children". Reuters. Retrieved March 3, 2012.
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