Beware of the Creeper: A Brief History of Computer Viruses

As we enter the great Spooktober, I think there’s no better time to tell the chilling and mortifying (but mostly interesting) tale of the creatures that haunt our innerwebs and the “walls” that guard us.

The development of cybersecurity goes hand in hand with the history of technological advancements and the human drive to perpetuate war. Though industrial automation and the concept of a cyber realm have only manifested within the past century and a half, the development of these systems has created rapid and enduring change for the global stage. Just like the royal coffers of a medieval kingdom, all things within the realm of Information Technology have been essential to modernization and economic growth of the world’s nations. And as is common knowledge, these critical infrastructures remain targets for any would be enemies.

Though the term “cybersecurity” did not enter the English lexicon until the early 1990s, the actual practice existed for decades prior. The computers invented during the early stages of digitization and automation in human history were a far cry from what would typically be considered the computer by today’s standards. In the late 19th century, the industrial revolution had given way to the use of wooden punch cards and steam-driven calculating machines that could be used to speed the production of factories.

In 1936, Alan Turing would later build upon the general concepts behind these systems to develop his “universal machine”, an invention that would later serve as the basis for the creation of the modern computer. Turing would also use his research to create a code-breaking machine known as the Bombe which would allow the Allied forces to decipher the messages generated by Enigma, the enciphering machine of the Axis powers.

In the decades following the World Wars the use of computers and the internet would become far more common for government agencies and the private sector, despite this expansion, however, the majority of the vulnerabilities that these systems faced came from external sources like insider threats or traditional espionage. It wasn’t until the 1970s when the first known conventional malware, famously named The Creeper, came into existence as a result of a research experiment performed by Robert Thomas at BBN technologies.

Years later, in 1988, Robert T. Morris would become the first person under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act after unintentionally creating a computer worm that could replicate itself into countless machines that were connected to the internet. In the end, Morris was sentenced to three years of probation and fined $10,000, the event would trigger a new era of computer security initiatives and the development of the antivirus software industry.

As time went on, this trend to foster cyber readiness would only become more critical to global security, leading us to the state we find ourselves in today. Now, cyberattacks of all sorts have become more frequent and severe than ever before. So tread carefully as most humanity continues to watch from the sidelines of cyberwarfare!