Follow Mashable SEA on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube. It’s the story of how one seemingly harmless ape preyed on early internet users and then paid the price, teaching all of us how much we had to lose from so-called “free” downloads. In the third episode of Kernel Panic, we explore the rise and fall of one the friendliest-looking pieces of malware of all time. Behind the facade of that friendly gorilla, Bonzi Software, the company responsible for BonziBuddy, was collecting private information and contacts from the unsuspecting internet users who downloaded it - and bombarding them with ads and pop-ups that Bonzi would profit from. Kids, grandparents, and office employees were all downloading BonziBuddy with abandon - until it all imploded. When that purple gorilla popped up on your screen, it would've seemed just like all the other virtual assistants out there already. Cute virtual assistants, like Microsoft Bob and Clippy, were designed to fill in those knowledge gaps, becoming your friendly guides to the internet. In 2002, the company was hit with a class action lawsuit over its use of deceptive ads.

At the same time, new users were flocking to the internet without any idea what was safe to click on and download. Bonzi Software, the company behind your buddy, faced a few separate legal issues in the time from 1999 to 2004, when BonziBuddy was finally discontinued. You can also upload and share your favorite BonziBuddy wallpapers. In response, the internet turned into an advertising ecosystem, with pop-up ads taking over browsers. Tons of awesome BonziBuddy wallpapers to download for free. Following the burst of the dot com bubble, investors pulled their money from the web and online companies needed a new way to profit. Bonzi wasn’t your friend it was malware, and it was released at the perfect time. It could talk, search for you, sing, send emails - and anyone with a computer could download it for free.

In the early 2000s, a purple, talking gorilla named BonziBuddy was billed as a free virtual assistant, ready for all your internet needs.

Bonzi buddy wallpaper