Linux Fedora is the most popular Linux that I tested. I can mention several reasons for this: The worst computer virus outbreak in history, Mydoom caused estimated damage of $38 billion in 2004...

The 2003 Sobig computer virus is actually another worm. It is second only to the Mydoom virus in its scope...

The only thing I want to say about bunsenlabs is: minimal, fast and easy to use...

The year 2000’s ILOVEYOU virus worked by sending a bogus “love letter”...

First observed in 2001, the Code Red computer virus was yet another worm that penetrated 975,000 hosts. It displayed the words “Hacked by Chinese!” across infected web pages, and it ran entirely in each machine’s memory...

The SQL Slammer worm cost an estimated $750 million across 200,000 computer users in 2003. This computer virus randomly selected IP addresses, exploiting vulnerabilities and sending itself on to other machines. It used these victim machines to launch a DDoS attack on several internet hosts, significantly slowing internet traffic. The Slammer worm hit banks in the U.S. and Canada especially hard, taking ATMs offline in many locations.

Thankfully, ransomware attacks like the 2013 CryptoLocker virus have dipped since their 2017 peak. This malware attacked upwards of 250,000 machines by encrypting their files. It displayed a red ransom note informing users that “your important files encryption produced on this computer.” A payment window accompanied the note. The virus’ creators used a worm called the Gameover Zeus botnet to make and send copies of the CryptoLocker virus. According to a report by security firm Sophos, the average ransomware attack costs a business $133,000. If we estimate that CryptoLocker hit 5,000 companies, that would put its total cost at $665 million.

The Sasser worm was written by a 17-year-old German computer science student named Sven Jaschan. He was arrested at the age of 18 in 2004 after a $250,000 bounty was posted for the computer virus’ creator. A friend of Jaschan’s tipped authorities that the youth had penned not only the Sasser worm but also the damaging Netsky.AC attack. Jaschan was given a suspended sentence after it was found he was a minor when he wrote the malware. The Sasser worm crashed millions of PCs, and though some reports put damages at $18 billion, the relatively low infection rate suggests a more likely cost of $500 million.

This worm tried to harvest data from infected machines to launch a string of DDoS attacks, but was relatively easy to remove.

Yet another worm with several variants, thought to be the result of a cyber-war between Pakistan and India. Swen: Written in C++, the Swen computer worm disguised itself to look like a 2003 OS update. Its financial cost has been pegged at $10.4 billion, but not reliably.

This worm showed up in 2007 and attacked millions of computers with an email about approaching bad weather. Tanatos/Bugbear: A 2002 keylogger virus that targeted financial institutions and spread to 150 countries.

This worm used fake emails to spread to every machine on thousands of local networks.

The most dangerous computer virus in 1999, Melissa sent copies of itself that looked like NSFW pics. The U.S. FBI estimated cleanup and repair costs at $80 million.

A computer worm from 2001 that used counterfeit emails with the subject line, “I send you this file in order to have your advice.

A Mac-only virus, Flashback infected over 600,000 Macs in 2012 and even infected Apple’s home base in Cupertino, Calif. In 2020, there’s now more malware on Macs than on PCs.

This 2009 virus still infects many legacy systems and could do significant damage if it ever activates. Stuxnet: This worm is reported to have destroyed Iranian nuclear centrifuges by sending damaging instructions.

This worm is reported to have destroyed Iranian nuclear centrifuges by sending damaging instructions.