Bonzi Buddy

Bonzi Buddy was a virtual assistant active from 1999 to 2005, when it was eventually discontinued. Despite being an unassuming purple virtual gorilla, Bonzi Buddy was found to be a malicious tool used to gather people's information and deceive users. The program was created by Joe and Jay Bonzi and was developed for Office Assistant, a program that helped introduce users to their computer with tips and instructions on navigating their systems. Although over time, new articles would begin to uncover this Trojan virus for what it truly was.

Bonzi Buddy was infected with spyware and adware. When downloaded on a person’s computer, Bonzi Buddy would collect information about that user as well as create advertisement pop-ups unprompted. Obviously, this is unlawful and would at the very least be annoying, but in the worst case (and most often) cause much damage to people’s privacy.

To learn more, click on one of the books on the left next to the Bonzi icon.