Morris Worm Turning 20

netbuzz writes "The Internet will mark an infamous anniversary Sunday, when the Morris worm turns 20. Considered the first major attack on the 'Net, Morris served as a wake-up call about the risk of software bugs, and it set the stage for network security to become an important area of computer science. It was also the first time many non-techies heard of the 'Net, as the mainstream media covered the story extensively." Reader maximus1 contributes a brief ITWorld story about Robert Morris himself.

terrorist!

[gEvil (beta)]

Robert Tappan Morris, the 21-year-old Cornell University student who unleashed the first worm attack on the Internet in 1988, has fully rehabilitated his reputation in the computer science community. Today, he is a respected associate professor of computer science at MIT.

Sounds like a terrorist to me. And anyone who's ever taken one of his classes or worked with him is guilty of palling around with terrorists.

Re:terrorist!

[Attila Dimedici]

You mean he has explicitly said he doesn't regret it and that he wishes he had done more damage?

Re:terrorist!

[Anonymous Coward]

you mean he pals around with _theorists_?

Doesn't make sense

[gsgriffin]

How can a worm on the "net" be 20 years old? Gore wasn't in office yet!

At first i saw "Mourning Worm Turns 20", then,

[davidsyes]

i thought about the Doors, for some reason...

Re:terrorist!

[IgnoramusMaximus]

Theorists? Terrorists?

Same thing really. Just lookie at some of them theories, them cotton pickin' high falutin' theorists came up with! I mean the Earth not being 6000 year old like the Bible says it must be and all that evolube...shion thing! Next thing them be trying to say that the Sun does not go round the Earth as the Lord intended! I say get them all commie theorizing terrorists in the Gitmo where they belong!

Re:It's dead

[interstellar_donkey]

That's why I have all of my servers set to operate without rhythm, so as not to attract the worm.

Re:not far from the tree

[idontgno]

rtm's dad, who was a crypto hacker himself, so they all weren't entirely unbiased about the incident.

I've often wondered about that myself, both before I became a father (and therefore put myself into rtm's place) and after (when I put myself into Morris Sr.'s place).

The scenario pretty much involved Sr. saying "My kid did what?!

Re:Wakeup call implies people actually woke up

[interstellar_donkey]

Indeed.

Writing sloppy code is cheaper and raises profits for software developers, from the OS on down.

Exploiting that sloppy code helps kids stay off the streets.

Writing anti-virus software and operating network security companies need the kids to write the viruses that exploit the sloppy code which increased profits for the initial developers.

It's kind of like the circle of life, and everybody wins!

Re:terrorist!

[Anonymous Coward]

Sounds like a terrorist to me. And anyone who's ever taken one of his classes or worked with him is guilty of palling around with terrorists.

I have to say it, this is apalling!