Technology History: Michelangelo

The Michelangelo virus was the first computer virus to capture the attention of the mass media. Set to execute on March 6, 1992 (the birth day of the famous Renaissance artist of the same name), the virus was predicted to destroy data on all personal computers on which it was loaded. The hype lead to many first-time installations of anti-virus software and other computer checks. All told, less than 10,000 PCs worldwide were affected as a result of the Michelangelo virus.
The good news is that consumers woke up to the fact that hackers were out there trying to damage their systems.