Although Gunn has not been affected by any serious computer virus threats, minor glitches have been the cause of general concern among students. “There was a pop-up on all of the computers that was driving my whole class crazy,” sophomore Raz Steinhart said.

Anti-Virus Scanner, a program installed earlier this year by the administration, shocked both students and teachers when it began exhibiting behavior associated with malignant viruses. “The same notification, from the same program, popped up every thirty seconds for nearly two days,” Mac lab instructor Sharon Cooper said. After receiving complaints from computer frequenters, the actual problem was uncovered by Gunn tech support.

As the name implies, the program’s purpose is to alert the administration of viruses. The scanner got caught on a common virus afflicting Mac lab computers. It was most likely spread through Word documents, and transferred through student e-mails or interaction with PCs. According to Cooper, the Mac Lab’s “permissions”, which bar certain activities from specific groups of users, were set up incorrectly and prevented the administration from wiping out the virus. “The program stopped in the middle,” Cooper said.

Fortunately, tech support was able to successfully wipe out the virus from all computers. “The annoying pop-up was a one time thing,” Cooper assured. Students have also experienced trouble with Facebook. “Viruses aren’t the worst thing out there on the internet,” junior Kevin Yang said. “Apparently there’s a Facebook application run by Burger King that asks you to delete 10 of your friends in exchange for a free Whopper coupon. Have fun explaining to someone that they’re worth a tenth of a $3 sandwich.” According to a number of anonymous sources, certain applications like the Honesty Box and Friends for Sale have also been cause of recurrent irritation.

On an international scale, historians confirm that a virus called “Brain” was one of the first ever to replicate from computer to computer. “Brain” was created by two Pakistani brothers, who claimed that the virus’ original purpose was to protect medical programs from copyright infringement in their home country. However, the virus’ domain quickly spread from just Pakistan, to areas across the world, including the United States, United Kingdom and several Middle Eastern countries.

In terms of cost for removal and productivity loss, the Love-Bug e-mail virus was by far the most catastrophic virus ever. The virus, created by a college student from the Philippines in 2000, took a mere day to spread across the planet. Approximately 10 percent of computers worldwide were affected. The Love-Bug virus worked by copying itself over documents, programs and files, and sent itself to every contact in the victim’s e-mail address book. The virus overwrote hundreds of files on both the corporation and home level scope. Systems at the CIA and the Pentagon were forced to shut down in order to remove the virus. Because there are no laws against the spread of viruses in the Philippines, the perpetrator managed to escape from initial charges unscathed.