| Ross Greenberg | |
| Birth Name: | Ross Matthew Greenberg |
| Birth Date: | 16 September 1956 |
| Birth Place: | New York City, New York, U.S. |
| Death Place: | Dahlonega, Georgia, U.S. |
| Nationality: | American |
| Occupation: | programmer |
| Known For: | antivirus pioneer |
| Notable Works: | 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.
Greenberg attended the State University of New York at Stony Brook, graduating in 1978.[9]
Greenberg's wife, Dawn, was from Marietta, Georgia.
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.
Greenberg suffered from multiple sclerosis, first diagnosed in the mid-1980s. His elder sister described the form of his illness as "aggressive".
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.[10] 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, where he died after contracting pneumonia, in February 2017.[11]