Creator1

The first case of ransomware appeared in 1989. The creator was not a criminal mastermind, not a nation state trying, but instead, a Harvard educated doctor. Dr. Joseph Popp was a Harvard educated evolutionary biologist. He developed the worlds first ransomware, which he would call the AIDS Trojan. He placed a copy on and distributed 20,000 floppy disks during the WHO’s AIDS conference. These disks would be labeled ‘AIDS Information – Introductory Diskettes.’ the AIDS Trojan would replaces a batch file and would count boot processes. After reaching 90 boots, the malware encrypted the names and all files on the C: drive.

The screen would flash red with text instructions to reach out and pay PC Cyborg Corp $189. Fortunately, the effect was not far reaching, as decryption tools that were able to restore files came out shortly after. Authorities in Great Britain were able to conduct malware forensics investigations and discovered that Dr. Popp was indeed responsible for the ransomware. Scotland Yard issued a warrant for his arrest. He would shortly be detained, where he would be deemed mentally ill and not fit to stand trial. He would be sent back to the United States. Dr. Popp defended his actions stating that he would and had donated all proceeds from his operation to AIDS research, although there is no evidence to suggest that this is true.