Word: arpanet
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...same message systems were slowed dramatically last month when the now-infamous "Cornell Virus," allegedly written by Robert T. Morris '87-'88, infected and disabled more than 6000 computers by spreading itself through the university network, called Arpanet, to Milnet. Unlike the effects of the virus, though, the Pentagon's action has not significantly disrupted the Arpanet operation...
...Mass., discovered Monday that a hacker had breached the security of one of their computers as early as November 3. Although the company found no evidence that the intruder had stolen sensitive data or had broken into any other military computers, the Pentagon responded by severing communication channels between Arpanet and Milnet...
...reports spread that Cornell grad student Robert T. Morris Jr. '87-'88 had disabled thousands of computer terminals at 300 universities, hospitals and research institutions across the country. By introducing a computer virus (a program which reproduces itself from system to system), Morris effectively brought the Pentagon's Arpanet network to a dead stop without so much as an electronic whimper...
...younger Morris apparently created the virus as an experiment, intending that it would slowly copy itself across Arpanet, resting harmlessly in thousands of computers. But a tiny mistake in the programming reportedly caused the virus to replicate much more rapidly than planned. Otherwise, Morris' program was an impressive piece of work. It flew around Arpanet and Milnet at nearly the speed of light, disguised as a piece of ordinary electronic mail. Once inside a computer, it released a small army of surreptitious subprograms. One instructed the computer to make hundreds of copies of the original program. Another searched...
...alerted to the problem by colleagues at Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif., immediately "guillotined" their computers from the network to keep from getting hit. As a preventive measure, Maryland's Goddard Space Flight Center shut off its system on Thursday. Eventually, the Defense Department brought down both Arpanet and Milnet and began efforts to tighten the security of the networks...