Creeper (program)

Last updated

Creeper
Type Computer worm [1]
Isolation1971
Author(s)Bob Thomas
Operating system(s) affected TENEX

Creeper was an experimental computer program written by Bob Thomas at BBN in 1971. [2] Its original iteration was designed to move between DEC PDP-10 mainframe computers running the TENEX operating system using the ARPANET, with a later version by Ray Tomlinson designed to copy itself between computers rather than simply move. [3] This self-replicating version of Creeper is generally accepted to be the first computer worm. [1] [4] Creeper was a test created to demonstrate the possibility of a self-replicating computer program that could spread to other computers.

Contents

The program was not actively malicious software as it caused no damage to data, the only effect being a message it output to the teletype reading "I'M THE CREEPER; CATCH ME IF YOU CAN". [4]

Reaper

Reaper
Original author(s) Ray Tomlinson
Initial release1972
Operating system TENEX

Reaper, an anti-virus, was created by Ray Tomlinson to move across the ARPANET and delete the self-replicating Creeper virus. [3]

Cultural impact

The conflict between Creeper and Reaper served as inspiration for the programming game Core War , [3] while fictionalized versions of Reaper have been used as antagonists in the anime Digimon Tamers [5] and the visual novel Digital: A Love Story . [6] A humanized Creeper has also appeared in the webcomic Internet Explorer, alongside the likewise personified Morris Worm. [7]

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Reaper was the first anti-virus software. It was created by Ray Tomlinson to move across the ARPANET and delete the transmitting Creeper program. Creeper had been an experimental computer program originally written by Bob Thomas at BBN in 1971. Its original iteration was designed to move between DEC PDP-10 mainframe computers running the TENEX operating system using the ARPANET. A later version by Ray Tomlinson designed to copy itself between computers rather than simply move, thus making Ray Tomlinson the father of the computer worm.

References

  1. 1 2 IEEE Annals of the History of Computing. Vol. 27–28. IEEE Computer Society. 2005. p. 74. [...]from one machine to another led to experimentation with the Creeper program, which became the world's first computer virus: a computation that used the network to recreate itself on another node, and spread from node to node. The source code of creeper remains unknown.
  2. Thomas Chen, Jean-Marc Robert (2004). "The Evolution of Viruses and Worms" (PDF). Retrieved 31 July 2019.
  3. 1 2 3 John Metcalf (2014). "Core War: Creeper & Reaper" . Retrieved 1 May 2014.
  4. 1 2 From the first email to the first YouTube video: a definitive internet history. Tom Meltzer and Sarah Phillips. The Guardian . 23 October 2009
  5. "Chronicle, The Background Hsitory". www.konaka.com.
  6. Christine Love (February 2010). Digital: A Love Story. *Blue Sky: When Mother realized the mistake it had made, *Reaper was created to combat the self-replicating mess it had created, and fabricated the story about a "creeper virus" in order to obfuscate the matter to human observers.
  7. Merryweatherey (w),Princess Hinghoi (a).  {{{title}}}  Ep. 51:n/a({{{date}}}), retrieved on 2019-12-18