Where does this come from, and can I check it?

Two Pakistani brothers wrote the boot sector virus in 1986 to prevent software piracy. The figure is taken from F-Secure Cyber Security Research, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.

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Yes. It sits on the Technology shelf, one of 1,090 sourced facts grouped into space, animals, the human body, history, science and more. Category pages collect every fact in the same field.

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The links under the fact point to a quiz, game, puzzle or calculator on the same subject, and the shelf below shows related facts. The wording here is original, and quoted phrases are marked as quotations.

Mondo Knows Facts

Brain was the first computer virus designed for IBM PC compatible computers

Two Pakistani brothers wrote the boot sector virus in 1986 to prevent software piracy

Basit and Amjad Farooq Alvi written the Brain virus in Lahore, Pakistan, to track and deter pirated copies of their medical software. When copied onto floppy disks, the virus replaced the disk boot sector and altered disk label names. It included the brothers' real phone numbers and contact details to assist infected customers.

Where this comes from

F-Secure Cyber Security Research

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Tags: security, virus, malware

Brain was the first computer virus designed for IBM PC compatible computers: the short answers

Where does this come from, and can I check it?: Two Pakistani brothers wrote the boot sector virus in 1986 to prevent software piracy. The figure is taken from F-Secure Cyber Security Research, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.
Is this really a technology fact?: Yes. It sits on the Technology shelf, one of 1,090 sourced facts grouped into space, animals, the human body, history, science and more. Category pages collect every fact in the same field.
What else can I read about it?: The links under the fact point to a quiz, game, puzzle or calculator on the same subject, and the shelf below shows related facts. The wording here is original, and quoted phrases are marked as quotations.