History of malware

TL;DR

This paper reviews the historical evolution of malware over the past three decades, highlighting key types and their purposes, from proof-of-concept to infrastructure sabotage.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive overview of malware history and evolution, emphasizing significant malware examples and their changing roles.

Findings

Malware has evolved from proof-of-concept to sabotage tools.

Key malware types have emerged for financial gain and infrastructure attack.

The history reflects changing cybersecurity challenges.

Abstract

In past three decades almost everything has changed in the field of malware and malware analysis. From malware created as proof of some security concept and malware created for financial gain to malware created to sabotage infrastructure. In this work we will focus on history and evolution of malware and describe most important malwares.