Petya
- WhenMarch 2016
- TypeRansomware
- What it didLocked the whole disk behind a red skull
Twenty-five years of malware, in one walk.
From a love letter in 2000 to a cursed Windows XP update. Keep an eye on the taskbar.
- ILOVEYOU
- WhenMay 4, 2000
- TypeWorm, by email
- What it didMailed itself to everyone in your address book
It came from someone you knew.
Then it went from you, to everyone you knew.
Tens of millions of PCs in about ten days. Email at the Pentagon and the British Parliament got switched off.
- Jenny LinILOVEYOU
- HR DepartmentILOVEYOU
- MomILOVEYOU
- Mark DavisILOVEYOU
- IT SupportILOVEYOU
- AccountingILOVEYOU
- Prof. ReyesILOVEYOU
- Board of DirectorsILOVEYOU
- GrandmaILOVEYOU
- Front DeskILOVEYOU
- Newsletter TeamILOVEYOU
- YouILOVEYOU
June 2000
The Philippines passes its first law against computer crimes. Too late for ILOVEYOU: its author is never convicted, and stays quiet for twenty years. The whole story
2002 – 2004
You Are an Idiot
A prank website. Close a window, get more windows. Keep going, I dare you.
August 2004
Windows XP Service Pack 2 gives Internet Explorer a pop-up blocker. You Are an Idiot did not take it well. Read more
2006 – 2011
None of it was real.
Rogue antivirus programs invented infections and sold you the cure. In 2011 the FBI took down one ring that had made around 72 million dollars doing it. How to spot them
2016
The joke years
YouTube’s virus testers met a new kind of malware: made to be watched. Funny, until you restart.
MEMZ
- WhenJuly 10, 2016
- TypeTrojan
- What it didMemes, chaos, then a cat where Windows used to be
VineMEMZ
- When2016
- TypeTrojan
- What it didMEMZ with no warnings and more chaos
000.exe
- When2016
- TypeTrojan
- What it didRenamed you “UR NEXT” and wiped your desktop
And then 2017 happened.
Microsoft fixes a bug in Windows file sharing.
A hacking tool built by the NSA leaks online. It uses that exact bug.
WannaCry. 150+ countries, 200,000+ computers, in a day. Stopped by a $10 domain name.
NotPetya. A wiper dressed as ransomware. Around $10 billion in damage.
The fix had been out for two months.
Around 2019
Windows XP Horror Edition
A friendly update that stops at 66%. Then the screen turns red. It scared me as a kid, no shame. Read more
October 2025
Windows 10 stops getting free updates.
Look back along the taskbar. Almost everything in it needed the same thing to win: a PC that wasn’t up to date. So, update your stuff. Seriously. I’m begging you.
- Your PC
- WhenToday
- StatusUp to you
- NextRead the stories or check a suspicious file
Every date on this page
- ILOVEYOU: A “love letter” email starts spreading from Manila. Within days it reaches tens of millions of PCs and shuts down email at the Pentagon, the CIA and the British Parliament.
- The Philippines passes the E-Commerce Act: Its first law against computer crimes, written because of ILOVEYOU, but too late to punish its author.
- You Are an Idiot: A prank website opens bouncing pop-ups that multiply every time you close one, freezing PCs (and egos) running Internet Explorer.
- Windows XP Service Pack 2: Internet Explorer finally gets a pop-up blocker. You Are an Idiot did not take it well.
- The fake antivirus era: Rogue programs like WinFixer and Antivirus 2009 invent infections and sell you the “cure”.
- Operation Trident Tribunal: The FBI takes down a scareware ring that made around $72 million selling fake antivirus software.
- Petya: Ransomware that encrypts the whole disk before Windows starts, behind a flashing red skull.
- MEMZ: Leurak builds MEMZ for danooct1’s Viewer-Made Malware series: memes, chaos, and a Nyan Cat where Windows used to be. My favourite.
- VineMEMZ: A special MEMZ for Vinesauce Joel, with no warnings and even more chaos.
- 000.exe: FlyTech Videos’ creepypasta prank: a scary video, “UR NEXT” everywhere, and a reboot.
- Microsoft fixes the SMB bug (MS17-010): The security update that would have stopped WannaCry comes out two months before the attack.
- The Shadow Brokers leak EternalBlue: A hacking tool developed by the NSA is published online for anyone to use.
- WannaCry: A ransomware worm built on EternalBlue hits more than 150 countries in a day, until a $10 domain name stops it. Best $10 ever spent.
- NotPetya: A wiper disguised as Petya spreads from a hacked Ukrainian accounting update and causes around $10 billion in damage.
- Windows XP Horror Edition: WobbyChip’s screamer turns a friendly XP update into a red screen, an eye and jumpscares. Scared me as a kid, no shame.
- ILOVEYOU’s author speaks: Twenty years later, Onel de Guzman admits to writing the worm, in an interview with BBC reporter Geoff White.
- youareanidiot.cc taken down: The registrar takes Enderman’s preservation site offline after abuse reports. It comes back online later.
- Windows 10 stops getting free updates: Millions of PCs stop getting security fixes: exactly the kind of machines worms like WannaCry love. Update your stuff, people.
Images: ILOVEYOU inbox, 000.exe desktop and the red eye are AI-generated illustrations made for this site. Petya skull: public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. MEMZ on a netbook: BrayLockBoy, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. WannaCry map: TheAwesomeHwyh, based on a map by Roke, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons. VineMEMZ: a frame from my own video.