Biography:Ross Greenberg

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Short description: American software developer (1956–2017)
Ross Greenberg
Ross Greenberg (August 2016)
Ross Greenberg at Chelsey Park Health and Rehab. (August 2016)
Born
Ross Matthew Greenberg

New York City , New York, U.S.
DiedFebruary 16, 2017(2017-02-16) (aged 60)
Dahlonega, Georgia, U.S.
NationalityAmerican
Occupationprogrammer; journalist
Known forantivirus pioneer
Notable work
Flushot Plus

Ross Matthew Greenberg (September 16, 1956 – February 16, 2017) was an American software developer, noted for creating one of the first antivirus software products. He also worked in journalism, and was a founding member of the Internet Press Guild.

Career

Flushot Plus

In 1987, as Software Concepts Design, Greenberg released one of the first two heuristic antivirus software utilities, Flushot Plus.[1][2][3] He released it as shareware for $10.[4]

O'Reilly book author Roger A. Grimes described Flushot Plus as "the first holistic program to fight MMC [malicious mobile code]".[5]

Journalism

In the 1980s, Greenberg was a frequent contributor to PC Magazine, and was the primary sysop of its CompuServe forum, PC MagNet.[6]

In 1996, he became a founder member of the Internet Press Guild.[7][8]

Personal life

Greenberg was born in New York City , and raised in Syosset. His parents were Muriel and Walter Greenberg. He had two sisters: Toni (Richard) Koweek and Carla G. Kaplan.[9]

Greenberg attended the State University of New York at Stony Brook, graduating in 1978.[10]

Greenberg's wife, Dawn, was from Marietta, Georgia.[9]

Greenberg was survived by his wife, son Wade Maxwell Greenberg of Marietta, step-daughter Chanice Hughes-Greenberg of NYC, and elder sister Toni of Hudson.[9]

Health issues and death

Greenberg suffered from multiple sclerosis, first diagnosed in the mid-1980s. His elder sister described the form of his illness as "aggressive".[9]

In late 2009, after his condition became too challenging for his family to care for him, Greenberg moved to a nursing home near Atlanta, Georgia.[11] He later moved to a nursing home in Forsyth, Georgia. In August 2015, he was moved to Chelsey Park Health and Rehabilitation Center, Dahlonega, Georgia,[9] where he died after contracting pneumonia,[citation needed] in February 2017.[12]

See also

  • Interrupt List for MS-DOS

References

  1. Yevics, Patricia A.. "Flu Shot for Computer Viruses". Americanbar.org. https://www.americanbar.org/newsletter/publications/gp_solo_magazine_home/gp_solo_magazine_index/tsp97flushot.html. 
  2. Strom, David (April 1, 2010). "How friends help friends on the Internet: The Ross Greenberg Story". Wordpress.com. https://strom.wordpress.com/2010/04/01/ross-greenberg/. 
  3. "Anti-virus is 30 years old". Spgedwards.com. April 2012. http://www.spgedwards.com/2012/04/anti-virus-is-30-years-old.html. 
  4. Inc, Ziff Davis (June 28, 1988). "PC Mag". Ziff Davis, Inc.. https://books.google.com/books?id=-9qzy8Z8SKEC&q=%22PC+Magazine%22+flushot&pg=PA36. Retrieved August 9, 2017. 
  5. Grimes, Roger A. (June 1, 2001). Malicious Mobile Code: Virus Protection for Windows. O'Reilly Media, Inc.. pp. 522. ISBN 9781565926820. https://books.google.com/books?id=GKDtVYJ0wesC&q=%22Ross+Greenberg%22+flushot&pg=PA43. 
  6. Inc, Ziff Davis (October 31, 1988). "PC Mag". Ziff Davis, Inc.. https://books.google.com/books?id=0VKjwnGrhNwC&q=PC+Magazine+%22Ross+Greenberg%22&pg=PA4. Retrieved August 9, 2017. 
  7. "Ross M. Greenberg :: IPG". http://netpress.org/member/ross-m-greenberg/. Retrieved August 9, 2017. 
  8. "Google Groups". https://groups.google.com/d/topic/alt.internet.media-coverage/IuOb-FY75e8/discussion. Retrieved August 9, 2017. 
  9. 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 Koweek, Toni G. (2017), Obituary—Ross Matthew Greenberg 
  10. "Ross Greenberg - Google+". https://plus.google.com/110254001667540839539. Retrieved August 9, 2017. 
  11. "A Statement of Gratitude :: IPG". http://netpress.org/a-statement-of-gratitude/. Retrieved August 9, 2017. 
  12. "Obituary for Ross Greenberg - Dahlonega, GA". http://www.dahlonegafuneralhome.com/sitemaker/sites/Dahlon1/obit.cgi?user=00895440_RGreenberg. Retrieved August 9, 2017.