Word: arpanet
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...least publicized achievements of the computer revolution: a huge, arching communications network connecting 60,000 computers by high-speed data links and ordinary telephone lines. Developed by the U.S. Department of Defense's Advanced Research Projects Agency in the late 1960s, Arpanet, as the information grid is called, has carried everything from unclassified military data to electronic love notes sent from one lonely researcher to another. But last week it became the conduit for something much more dramatic: one of the most sophisticated and infectious computer viruses the world has yet seen...
...biological counterpart, an electronic virus is a program that copies itself by taking control of a computer's internal machinery. Unlike more malicious versions, the new virus did not destroy data stored in computers, but it did disrupt the work of tens of thousands of researchers hooked into Arpanet. It also penetrated unclassified branches of a second, more secure network called Milnet, which is used by military researchers. Said a Government computer expert: "The kid simply put us out of action...
...Pentagon currently relies on the Advanced Research Projects Agency Network (ARPAnet), which is also used by thousands of non--military organizations, including universities and private labs...
When asked if universities and private labs should create their own networks to replace ARPAnet, Shattuck said, "Decentralization is often a good idea, and relying on a huge network can be [problematic], as this case shows...
Last week the Government put an end to the joyride. It broke ARPANET into two separate systems: MILNET for military users and R&DNET for civilians. It was the Government's most drastic step to date against computer penetration. "This is a military system," said one Pentagon official. "It's as if we had this expensive car and always left the keys in the ignition...