Word: computerizes
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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For computer buffs visiting Pakistan's historic city of Lahore, it seemed too good a bargain to pass up. A shop called Brain Computer Services was selling brand-name computer programs, such as Lotus 1-2-3 and WordStar, which can cost several hundred dollars in the U.S., for as...
They took away a lot more than a piece of low-cost software. Hidden in nearly every disk was an extra program not supplied by any manufacturer: a snippet of computer code many consider to be the world's most sophisticated computer virus. Every time an unsuspecting user lent his...
Amjad Farooq Alvi, 26, and Basit Farooq Alvi, 19, a pair of self-taught computer experts, are brothers who were raised in a middle-class suburb of Lahore. Amjad is the proprietor of the Brain computer shop. By all accounts he is the stronger programmer. After graduating from Punjab University...
That is when Amjad came up with the idea of creating a virus, a self- replicating program that would "infect" an unauthorized user's computer, disrupt his operations and force him to contact Amjad for repairs. Says brother Basit: "He wanted a way to detect piracy, to catch someone who...
Some, but not all. When Pakistanis came in for, say, Lotus 1-2-3, they were sold clean, uncontaminated copies. But foreigners, particularly Americans, were given virus-ridden versions. Why the special treatment for outsiders? The brothers' somewhat confused rationalization hinges on a loophole in Pakistani law. According to Basit...