Ross Greenberg (original) (raw)

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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(1956-09-16)September 16, 1956New York City, New York, U.S.
Died February 16, 2017(2017-02-16) (aged 60)Dahlonega, Georgia, U.S.
Nationality American
Occupation(s) programmer; journalist
Known for antivirus 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.

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]

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]

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

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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]

  1. ^ Yevics, Patricia A. "Flu Shot for Computer Viruses". Americanbar.org.
  2. ^ Strom, David (April 1, 2010). "How friends help friends on the Internet: The Ross Greenberg Story". Wordpress.com.
  3. ^ "Anti-virus is 30 years old". Spgedwards.com. April 2012.
  4. ^ Inc, Ziff Davis (June 28, 1988). "PC Mag". Ziff Davis, Inc. Retrieved August 9, 2017 – via Google Books.
  5. ^ Grimes, Roger A. (June 1, 2001). Malicious Mobile Code: Virus Protection for Windows. O'Reilly Media, Inc. p. 522. ISBN 9781565926820.
  6. ^ Inc, Ziff Davis (October 31, 1988). "PC Mag". Ziff Davis, Inc. Retrieved August 9, 2017 – via Google Books.
  7. ^ "Ross M. Greenberg :: IPG". Netpress.org. Retrieved August 9, 2017.
  8. ^ "Google Groups". Groups.google.com. Retrieved August 9, 2017.
  9. ^ a b c d e Koweek, Toni G. (2017), Obituary—Ross Matthew Greenberg
  10. ^ "Ross Greenberg - Google+". Plus.google.com. Retrieved August 9, 2017.
  11. ^ "A Statement of Gratitude :: IPG". Netpress.org. Retrieved August 9, 2017.
  12. ^ "Obituary for Ross Greenberg - Dahlonega, GA". Dahlonegafuneralhome.com. Retrieved August 9, 2017.