🔗 The Morris Worm was released 35 years ago today

🔗 Computer Security 🔗 Computer Security/Computing 🔗 Crime and Criminal Biography

The Morris worm or Internet worm of November 2, 1988, is one of the oldest computer worms distributed via the Internet, and the first to gain significant mainstream media attention. It resulted in the first felony conviction in the US under the 1986 Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. It was written by a graduate student at Cornell University, Robert Tappan Morris, and launched on 8:30 pm November 2, 1988, from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology network.

Clifford Stoll of Harvard wrote that "Rumors have it that [Morris] worked with a friend or two at Harvard's computing department (Harvard student Paul Graham sent him mail asking for 'Any news on the brilliant project')."