Welcome to CNET Top 5, where each time we meet, we count down another hot
CNET list. I'm Tom Merritt.
Everyone thought the Conficker worm might do something nasty on April 1. It
didn't.
But Top 5 quietest viruses is no fun. So we turn to the London Times and McAfee
who teamed up to list the Top 5 Deadliest viruses.
Let's count 'em down.
At No. 5, Nimda from back in October 2004. What a clever virus. It could be in a
Web page, an instant message, or an e-mail. Sometimes you didn't even have to
open an attachment to get it. It is estimated that no business escaped its infectious
charms.
Coming in at No. 4, The Bagel and Netsky viruses. These two pals came by mail in
2004 and took control of your machine. But the cool part was they tried to disable
each other. It was a battle of malicious software and your PC was the battlefield.
Up to No. 3, The Storm Worm. It arrived like a Christmas present in December 2006
and still hasn't left. While it's entertaining you with a video, it turns your machine
into a zombie member of one of the largest botnets ever.
Sliding in at No. 2, Slammer, the fastest virus ever. It launched January 25, 2003 and
infected 75,000 machines in 30 minutes. Once you were infected, your machine
began reaching out to touch, and infect, other machines. It's speed ground many big
businesses to a halt.
Before we get to No. 1, a question.
Which virus did global risk specialists mi2g estimate caused 38.5 billion dollars in
damage? It's not on this list. Also, many analysts think that mi2g's estimate is too
high.
Be one of the first 10 people to get the answer right by replying to our blog post at
blog.cnettv.com and you could win this throwback CNET fleece. It'll keep you warm
if YOU get a virus.
All right. Let's get to our No. 1.
At No. 1, it's...
ILOVEYOU
No, I mean the virus.
Also known as LoveLetter. It broke hearts around the world in May 2000 by asking
folks to "kindly check the attached love letter coming from me" then hijacked your
e-mail program and sent itself to everyone in your address book. And you were left
cold, alone, and ashamed.
Well That's it for this edition of CNET Top 5.
Don't forget to look for our blog post about this Top 5 at blog.cnettv.com and answer
our question for a chance to win the fleece.
I'm Tom Merritt. See you next time.
