1982
The first example of Apple malware can be traced back thirty years ago to a high school classroom in Mount Lebanon, Penn. It was there that Richard Skrenta, a student at Mt. Lebanon High School coded Elk Cloner, a virus that was passed around via the now archaic Apple II platform. The virus – still thought to be the first widespread, self-replicating PC virus – infected 5.25 inch floppy disk boot sectors, flashing the accompanying poem (left) every 50th boot. Essentially Elk Cloner did no harm; it merely circulated amongst high school friends, but did set the stage for other viruses that would go on to quickly duplicate themselves.
