Dark Tech Pioneers: Evil Internet Firsts

Who sent the first junk email message? What was it for? Who wrote the first computer virus and what did it do? Who first raised the specter of Spyware? Find out as we take a look back as some infamous Internet firsts.

First Computer Virus: Early 70's

There are some conflicting reports on who gets the dubious distinction of being the first ever to write a computer virus. The most substantiated account seems to be of the "Creeper" virus. Unleashed on the ARPANET (the military project that would someday spawn the Internet). Using early modem technology the, virus spread through mainframe computers announcing: "I'M THE CREEPER: CATCH ME IF YOU CAN".

It was a another virus, going my the name of Reaper that answered the call and destroyed Creeper. Several accounts speculate that one person, feeling guilty for their fist creation, may have been responsible for both viruses.

It's interesting to think about what might have happened if this 'anti-body' trend had continued. What would the Internet be like today if programmers had continued to fight viruses this way? Would we now be idle spectators as self-replicating anti-bodies and viruses fought it out in the veins of the Internet?

While this was the likely the first virus, it wasn't recognized as such. The term 'virus' wouldn't get it's computer related meaning until 1983 when Fred Cohen used the term in computer science paper he authored.

First Spam: May 1, 1978

Long before ads for little blue pills started polluting our in box a lone marketing pioneer crafted the first

unsolicited commercial message. What was he offering? Ironically, computer equipment.

Just like the first virus, the first spam would not be recognized as such for several years. The term was first connected with the computer in 1985. A user of a text based of multi-player game started flooding terminals of others on the system with the words "spam spam spam spam", in reference to a Monty Python song. The name and the act have been paired ever since.

First Mention of DDOS in the Mass Media: 1996

Robert Tappan Morris gets credit for at least two firsts. Not only did his worm bring the term Distributed Denial of Service (DDOS) to the public light, he was also the first to be indicted as a cyber criminal. We knew what to call Morris's worm thanks to science fiction author John Brunner. Mr. Brunner described programs like this in his 1975 novel The Shockwave Rider. He is not the only science fiction author to contribute a term to our Internet lives. William Gibson first used the term 'cyberspace' in his novel Necromancer.

First Wide Spread Macro Virus: 1999

The Melissa worm. Named after an exotic dancer and originally hidden in a document purporting to contain passwords for free access to adult websites. The document also contained a macro virus. In 1999 most people were not watching their documents for viruses. Viruses where the scourge of executable programs, not documents. This may be one of the reasons it spread so quickly. While the original version of the virus was not intended to be harmful, it's method of spreading caused the damage. Once it infected a system it would look for an Outlook 97 email client and raid the address book, mailing it's self to the first fifty contacts it found.

The worm's creator (David L. Smith) was apprehended and given a sentence of twenty months in jail and fined $5,000 for his crimes. While the harm caused by this version was largely accidental future version would prove to be intentionally malicious.

First Spyware: 2000

The term spyware had been bounced around for a little while before it came to refer to programs that collect data without the user's knowledge and then report back to the owner. Steve Gibson of Gibson Research used to refer to a program he discovered on his computer when testing one of the first versions of the ZoneAlarm firewall program. He discovered that an unfamiliar program "calling home" and sending information about him across the Internet. He subsequently raised alarm bells that were quickly heard around the Internet.

First ???? 20XX

What will the next scourge to strike the Internet be? Will we recognize it for what is or will it take years for us to give it a label? Given the rapid history of Internet evolution, I doubt we will have to wait long for the answer.

Resources:

Complete text of the first spam:

http://thelongestlistofthelongeststuffatthelongestdomainnameatlonglast.com/first96.html

Fred Cohen

http://pcworld.about.com/news/Nov142000id33864.htm

Worms:
http://www.securityfocus.com/infocus/1515
http://articles.techrepublic.com.com/5100-10881_11-6097189.html

Melissa Virus and It's Author:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melissa_worm

Steve Gibson

http://www.grc.com/sn/SN-105.htm