First commercial antivirus software was created in 1987 in response to a virus named Brain, which was actually written by two brothers in Pakistan just to track pirated copies of their medical software.

A closer look

First commercial antivirus software was created in 1987 in response to a virus named Brain, which was actually written by two brothers in Pakistan just to track pirated copies of their medical software. The brothers even included their names, phone numbers, and physical address in the virus code, essentially asking software pirates to give them a call. This incredibly naive attempt at digital copyright protection accidentally unleashed the very concept of PC malware onto the world, creating a multi-billion dollar cybersecurity panic. Instead of deterring theft, they accidentally spawned an entire industry of subscription-based software that slows down your computer even more than the viruses do. The entire modern antivirus complex traces its roots back to two guys who just wanted people to stop stealing their floppy disks