Word: computerizes
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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In those early days, when each computer was a stand-alone device, there was no threat of a runaway virus. If things got out of control on a particular machine, its keepers could simply shut it down. But all that changed when computers began to be connected to one another...
In 1983 the programmers' code of honor was broken. The culprit was Ken Thompson, the gifted software engineer who wrote the original version of Unix, the computer operating system now coming into widespread use. Thompson was being presented the Association for Computing Machinery's prestigious A.M. Turing Award when he...
Soon software viruses began appearing in university computer systems and in the widely proliferating desktop computers. A rogue program that made the rounds of Ivy League schools featured a creature inspired by Sesame Street called the Cookie Monster. Students trying to do useful work would be interrupted by persistent messages...
But not all viruses are so playful. One particularly vicious program deletes everything stored on the computer and prints the word GOTCHA! on the screen. Another takes the form of a game called "rck.video." It delights unsuspecting users with an animation featuring the singer Madonna before erasing the files on...
In the past, companies that were hit by a virus generally kept it quiet. But the computer-sabotage trial in Fort Worth may be a sign that things are changing. Texas is one of 48 states that have passed new laws against computer mischief, and four years ago President Reagan...