Joseph L. Popp Jr.

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Joseph L. Popp Jr. (born September 10, 1950 in Ohio - † June 27, 2006 ) was a biologist and author of the first known ransomware .

The Trojan horse AIDS was developed by Popp around 1989. In contrast to today's malware, it was distributed via data carriers. For this purpose, Popp sent around twenty thousand 5.25 ″ diskettes by post to researchers outside the United States who were researching the AIDS disease. He gave the fictional PC Cyborg Corporation as the sender . The disks were disguised as an interactive database on AIDS syndrome with the label "AIDS Information - Introductory Diskettes" , which was accompanied by an information sheet stating that a license to use the software must be purchased. The installation was nevertheless carried out on around 1000 computers. The screen froze and users were asked to send up to US $ 378 to a post office in Panama for a second floppy disk that would release the data.

Joseph Popp was arrested by the FBI in January 1990 after he was previously noticed by security officers at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol . This thwarted his plan to send another 2 million disks. Due to his unstable mental health, he was released early from prison in 1991.

Popp died in a 2006 traffic accident and is buried in Lake View Cemetery Cleveland , Cuyahoga County , Ohio. The Joseph L. Popp, Jr. Butterfly Conservatory in Oneonta was named after Popp .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ KnowBe4: AIDS Trojan | PC cyborg | Original ransomware | KnowBe4. Retrieved June 11, 2019 .
  2. ↑ a b THE TRADE SECRET - Firms That Promised High-Tech Ransomware Solutions Almost Always Just Pay the Hackers
  3. ↑ Hauke ​​Gierow: The virus of the strange Dr. Popp. In: Golem.de . July 7, 2016. Retrieved June 17, 2017 .
  4. ^ Edward Wilding: Popp Goes The Weasel . In: Virus Bulletin . January 1992, ISSN  0956-9979 , p. 2–3 (English, virusbulletin.com [PDF]).
  5. ↑ Joseph L Popp, Jr. In: Find a grave. October 11, 2011, accessed June 11, 2019 .
  6. ^ Joseph L Popp, Jr. Butterfly Conservatory in Oneonta, New York - Arts & Entertainment - Business Profile at City-data.com. Retrieved June 11, 2019 .
personal data
SURNAME Popp, Joseph L. Jr.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Popp, Joseph L. Jr.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American biologist and ransomware writer
DATE OF BIRTH September 10, 1950
PLACE OF BIRTH Ohio
DATE OF DEATH June 27, 2006