Michelangelo computer virus
Definition A destructive piece of computer code
designed to make a person’s computer
unusable and trigger on March 6 of a given year
The Michelangelo virus was hyped by the media to propor-
tions that far exceeded its actual distribution and caused
panic among computer users. The incident also damaged
the credibility of many of the industr y experts.
The Michelangelo computer virus was first discov-
ered in 1991. It overwrote the boot sector of a com-
puter’s hard drive running an operating system
based on DOS (Disk Operating System) as well as
floppy disks inserted into an infected machine. The
boot sector contains the information that a com-
puter needs to start. This virus would have made the
computer unusable and the data irretrievable for
the average user. The name is derived from the vi-
rus’s activation date of March 6, the birthday of Ital-
ian Renaissance artist Michelangelo.
Leading Edge, a major computer manufacturer
at the time, accidently shipped five hundred com-
puters infected with the virus in January of 1992.
This prompted the manufacturer to start shipping
all new computers with antivirus software prein-
stalled. A computer virus expert wrongly called the
Michelangelo virus the third most commonly dis-
tributed virus after the announcement. Soon after,
about nine hundred infected floppy disks were
shipped by another vendor in the computer indus-
try. The two incidents brought the virus to the fore-
front of media attention. The infection numbers
were further inflated to five million possible com-
puters worldwide by the antivirus industry, and the
media also reported, incorrectly, that the virus could
be spread through computer bulletin boards.
A few reporters and industry experts remained
skeptical about the claims of millions of infected
computers, but by the end of February, 1992, the
media had fueled the public’s fears and the experts
were largely ignored. The antivirus industry added
to the furor by offering free detectors that could be
downloaded. Symantec, another industry leader,
placed a full page ad inComputerworldin order to
take advantage of the media attention. The days
leading up to the virus activation date saw the virus
receiving constant media reports, including specula-
tion that damages could be in the millions. March 6,
1992, brought a mere ten to twenty thousand cases
of reported data loss. The low rates of infection were
touted as a success by the antivirus industry and me-
dia coverage. Analysts, however, saw nowhere near
the initial reported rates of infection. The virus
dropped from the headlines by the following day.
The first report about the virus surfaced a full two
weeks after the virus release date and criticized the
industry and the media for the whole incident.
Impact The media hype and poor reporting about
the Michelangelo virus caused a panic among com-
puter users. Antivirus experts inflated claims of in-
fection and companies that produced antivirus pro-
grams took advantage of the hysteria to sell their
products. The poor handling of the reporting dam-
aged the reputation of computer-virus experts for
some time to come, and the media lost a measure of
credibility.
Further Reading
Caldwell, Wilma R., ed.Computer Security Sourcebook.
Detroit, Mich.: Omnigraphics, 2003.
Erbschloe, Michael.Trojans, Worms, and Spyware: A
Computer Security Professional’s Guide to Malicious
Code. Boston: Elsevier Butterworth Heinemann,
2005.
Furnell, Steven.Cybercrime: Vandalizing the Informa-
tion Society. Boston: Addison-Wesley, 2002.
James J. HeineySee also America Online; Computers; Hackers;
Internet; Microsoft; Science and technology; World
Wide Web; Y2K problem. Microsoft
Identification Computer software company
As manufacturer of Windows, the leading microcomputer
operating system, Microsoft came under fire for alleged anti-
trust violations.
At the beginning of the 1990’s, Microsoft was one of
the leading computer software companies. During
the second half of the 1980’s its Disk Operating Sys-
tem, often called MS-DOS, had come to dominate the
home computer market, displacing earlier systems
such as CP/M. However, it was a command-line inter-
face, which required users to memorize commands
and type them exactly at the C-prompt. A mistyped
command could destroy hours or even days of work.566 Michelangelo computer virus The Nineties in America