The Terrifying Computer Virus Of 1988! (Video)
Posted by Alex_Pasternack on Wednesday, Jul 07, 2010
When a computer virus swept across the US in 1988, it brought the Internet to a standstill, according to a 10 o’clock newscast in Boston. “It arrived at MIT in the middle of the night. The students were safe. Their computers WEREN’T,” intones the reporter, without even a touch of irony.
Just how insidious was it? “Well… it spread very quickly,” says Mark Eichin – “student… and part time virus hunter” – whose face betrays a mix of bemusement and nonchalance, not to mention a certain Amish-ness. Could the culprit be any more obvious? Says a professor: “I suspect it was an A student. A good A student.”
In any case, Eichin wrote a paper on the virus back then, exploring how it spread across the Internet of 1988, “a collection of networks consisting of 60,000 host computers implementing the TCP/IP protocol,” and deliberating over what exactly to call it.
The virus didn’t do anything harmful. In fact, it may have been helpful, reminding us how to react in the face of terrifying viruses and end-of-the-world computer bugs.
See a visualization of computer viruses and don’t forget about the scientist who actually caught a computer virus.
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Email: alexp at motherboard dot tv. @pasternack,
