Who invented viruses?

According to the theory of evolution, one of the first biological organisms that have appeared on our planet, there were viruses. Computer viruses have received its name due to its ability to spread itself via electronic networks, and multiply, cause damage to computer systems, also emerged at the dawn of computer technology. And if you trace the history of the origin of the protein of viruses with a high degree of reliability is no longer possible to answer the question of who and what came up with a computer virus, is relatively easy. As the saying goes, history does not forget its heroes. It is natural that many millions of PC users should keep in mind the people, through which came to light is known to every schoolboy now a thing as a computer virus.

The idea, through which much later came the technology to create software viruses, considered to be an American programmer Bob Thomas. In 1971, the computer laboratory of the company Bolt, Beranek and Newman, where he worked, Thomas, was commissioned to design a distributed software system for air traffic control services, controlling the movement of passenger aircraft. According to customer requirements that are included in the program have been set to automatically transfer control of aircraft course from one computer to another over a computer network, displaying on the screens of all connected to this network of computers is constantly changing information about the current state of aircraft in the air. Experimenting with the systems of data transmission between computers, Thomas wrote a program which is called a "slider". "Creeper" self-copying itself from one computer to another, thus moving through the network, and displays each terminal the following message: "I - Creeper! If you can, catch me. " This little program is not multiplied, but merely "crawling" from one network node to another to entertain users and system administrators. When other programmers have learned about the invention of Thomas, they began to create a similar program that demonstrated on the screens of various colleagues in the laboratory of funny phrases. When someone from the experts Bolt, Beranek and Newman tired to fight endlessly distracting him from the work of "sliders", he wrote another program that is exactly the same independently moved on the network, but with an entirely different purpose: it is caught and cruelly destroyed all "Polzunov" who came across her path. Stung to the quick developers' Polzunov "not far behind: to improve the source code, they are taught to hide their programs from the" killer "in the bowels of the operating system masquerading as its components and necessary for the normal operation of a computer library. The bloody struggle between the "sliders" and "Killer" went on for several months, after which it lost its fascination with novelty and was abandoned, and how not having received any serious development.

However, the idea of ​​Bob Thomas was not forgotten. In 1975 an American science fiction writer John Brunner released a science fiction novel "Mounted blast wave", which is based somewhat modified the story of "sliders". The book told of a computerized society, which is controlled by a global electronic network of the government of dictators and tyrants. The programmer who decides to save the world from dictatorship, wrote the program, which the author of the novel called "worms", this program is to copy itself from one computer to another, destroying the stored information in them. To stop the "worm", the government was forced to turn off the network, thus deprived of power. The novel quickly became a bestseller, becoming truly a cult book in just then an emerging medium of computer hackers. It is through this novel in 1980, two employees of Xerox, which at that time enjoyed great popularity produced personal computers, with the possibility of combining the local network, we decided to create a program similar to that mentioned in the novel Brunner brainchild of programmer-rebel named "Worm" . Actually, the "worm" Jonah Hepp and John Shock would be a positive mission: to design reasons, moving between networked computers, "worm" was intended to check the operating system for any hidden defects, and if possible eliminate them. Hepp and Shock conceived two more versions of "The Worm": one of them was intended for distribution on which the administrator can be sent to all users of computer networks, the second would allow the flexibility to reallocate resources between networked computers. However, in practice it turned out quite differently, as the developers have conceived. Running the experimental version of the evening, "the Worm", Hepp and Shock went home. In the morning the programmers returned to work, they saw that all the computers installed in high-rise building research center Xerox, located in the town of Paolo Alto, safely hung. In the source code "Worm" was made a minor error, due to which the program began to spread uncontrollably among the various nodes in the network and block their activity. Rebooting the machine did not help: the part of members of the network of computers was installed in closed rooms, which Hepp, and Shock do not have access, and once the machine starts to reboot the operating system, the "worm" immediately copied itself in her memory from another computer, after then the system immediately broke down. Disabling one of the machines from the network, programmers had to urgently create another program that would destroy the raging "Worm." The complete elimination of the consequences of their joint creative work took several days.

Lead programmer at Bell Labs by Bob Morrisson admissions colleagues was the best specialists in their field, often turned to him for all sorts of advice, in particular - the security of computer systems. Morrisson was laconic, but opponents often argued their case in practice. Once the employees of the department, which worked for Bob for several months to work on improving the security of a computer network operated by inventing more and more software modules. When the work was finished, they boasted Bob, now the network is protected from possible failures on the one hundred percent. Shrugging his shoulders, threw a burning Morrisson silently standing near the butt into the trash can with papers, the contents of the bucket immediately caught fire, fire alarm system worked, and flowing from the ceiling mounted in the laboratory water pipes resulted in two seconds the whole computer system inoperable. Then, in the late eighties, among programmers was very popular game called Core Wars. The game had a built-in programming language, the player was required to write in that language a special "military program." The purpose of this program was simple: to destroy rivals similar programs, looking for vulnerabilities in their code. The winner is the developer, whose creation has continued to work when all other programs have been damaged or destroyed. Virtual battles "fighting program" for a few months became a "fad" programmers from Bell Labs; it lasted as long as it does not come from a Bob Morrisson. His "military program" proved to be invincible: the code consisted of only 30 lines, but this is not just a tiny file attacked by opponents, he analyzed the methods of their protection and, accordingly altering, destroying the enemy's file from the "inside", choosing a strategy of attack based on its logical structures. After this game Core Wars has lost all meaning: Morrisson invented "polymorph" did not leave competitors a chance. Soon Bob Morrisson left his job at Bell, and was promoted to an expert on computer security at the National Security Agency of the U.S. - the only organization in America, engaged in investigating computer crimes.

The eldest son of Bob Morrisson, Robert grew quiet and modest boy, his only passion was computers. Already at the age of fourteen, he rewrote the popular computer game in adolescents The Four Corners, adding a lot of new features in the 16 years he has become a real expert on security system UNIX, found in the "classical" Berkeley code, this platform is a lot of bugs that have not slowed correct. However, he did not disdain to use the discovered "holes" in the defense, from time to time by connecting to a remote electronic networks to find information of interest to him. This interest has led to what is soon in a computer magazine appeared Smitsonian material in which Robert was called one of the most famous young hackers in America. It was Robert Morrisson is an author and developer of one of the best known implementations of the protocol data UUCP - Unix-To-Unix CoPy. While studying in my fourth year at Harvard University, Robert has lectured at the National Security Agency and the U.S. research laboratories of the Navy for security of the operating system UNIX.

Robert received during its self-development and study of existing experience in other programming knowledge required practical application. As an experiment, Robert decided to write a program that is using it finds flaws in the established protocol for UNIX FTP or sendmail program could independently distributed between networked computers, like the "Worm" Hepp and shock, but was able to effectively "hide" in the operating system and self-replicate. In other words, the "worm" Morrisson was to combine the advantages of all previous attempts to create similar programs. Since this development was only a scientific experiment, test the security of networked computer systems, Robert laid down in the code "Worm" algorithms that constrain its spread, there are no modules that destroy attacked computer file system, as was intended. November 2, 1988 at 18:30, Robert Morrisson connected to the computer Artificial Intelligence Laboratory at MIT and has launched its program for execution. When half an hour later, he again tried to connect to the network to check the progress of the experiment, the remote computer is not answered by crept into the source code error "worm" began to multiply uncontrollably, blocking the normal operation of computer systems, and soon broke away from the MIT network on the Internet.

The program Morrisson, Jr. was a real disaster for the United States, within a few days functioning of the Internet has been almost completely paralyzed. It was then for its ability to spread rapidly and infect more and more nodes in the network the first time journalists have dubbed the creation of Robert "virus". According to various estimates of the epidemic hit 6,000 computers - about 10% of working time on the Internet computers, a virus caused the damage was estimated from a modest figure of 150 000 and a large amount of U.S. $ 75 million. Soon, the FBI joined the case, but the investigation did not last long: Morrisson had confessed to the crime. Press the scandal inflated to incredible scale, gave a special piquancy to the situation by the fact that the father of Robert Morrisson - Bob Morrisson was one of the leading experts of the National Security Agency, engaged in investigating computer crimes.

The legal case against Robert Morrisson was one of the first cases on charges of committing a computer crime in the U.S. before on this article, the court has got a world-famous hacker Kevin Mitnick. Morrisson was found guilty and sentenced to a fine of 10,000 dollars and 400 hours of community service. However, the Glory of Robert Morrisson, has received wide recognition by the virus he created, is still haunted by hundreds and thousands of hackers on different continents. The last attempt to outdo the creator of the first in history of the virus of "mass destruction" was a notorious program "Melissa", which destroyed a total of more than 30,000 computers. Since then, hundreds and thousands of ambitious young men, versed in programming, sooner or later comes to mind to try his hand in the creation of the program, which spreads through the network, could destabilize the various computer systems. It is their desire for cheap fame is now bringing a lot of sleepless nights spent by users for the restoration of damaged systems, and the substantial profits to companies engaged in the development of anti-virus programs.