Robert Tappan Morris created the first Internet worm. On November 2, 1988, while a Cornell University computer science student, he released the program from MIT. This event is widely considered one of the first major attacks on the nascent internet. The program, known as the Morris Worm, infected numerous systems at prestigious colleges and research centers.
The Morris Worm: A Defining Moment in Cybersecurity History
- Creator: Robert Tappan Morris
- Release Date: November 2, 1988
- Origin: Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
- Impact: One of the first major internet-wide attacks, highlighting the vulnerabilities of early networking systems.
Several sources confirm this information:
- FBI article on the 30th anniversary of the Morris Worm
- Wikipedia's entry on the Morris Worm
- Britannica's article on computer worms
- Okta's article on the Morris Worm
- Radware's entry on the Morris Worm
It's crucial to distinguish between the Morris Worm, a specific self-replicating computer program, and other uses of the word "worm." The question is ambiguous without this clarification. Other "worms," like the fictional sandworms of Dune or the woolly worm used in folklore to predict winter weather, have different origins.
