Robert Tappan Morris
Encyclopedia
Robert Tappan Morris, is an American
computer scientist, best known for creating the Morris Worm in 1988, considered the first computer worm
on the Internet
- and subsequently becoming the first person convicted under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act
.
He went on to co-found the online store Viaweb
, one of the first web-based applications, and later the funding firm Y Combinator
- both with Paul Graham. He is a tenured professor in the department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Scienceat the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
.
His father was the late Robert Morris
, a coauthor of UNIX and the former chief scientist at the National Computer Security Center, a division of the National Security Agency
(NSA).
. The original intent, according to him, was to gauge the size of the Internet
. He released the worm from MIT to conceal the fact that it actually originated from Cornell. The worm exploited several vulnerabilities to gain entry to targeted systems, including:
However, the worm had a design flaw. The worm was programmed to check each computer it found to determine if the infection was already present. However, Morris believed that some administrators might try to defeat his worm by instructing the computer to report a false positive. To compensate for this possibility, Morris directed the worm to copy itself anyway, 14% of the time, no matter the response to the infection-status interrogation. This level of replication created system loads that not only brought it to the attention of system administrators, but also disrupted the target computers. It was guessed that the cost in "potential loss in productivity" caused by the worm and efforts to remove it ranged at each system from $200 to more than $53,000.
: Title 18 , the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act
. and in December, 1990, was sentenced to three years of probation, 400 hours of community service, a fine of $10,050, and the costs of his supervision. His appeal was rejected the following March.
s such as Chord
and wireless mesh networks such as Roofnet
.
in his honor. Graham also lists Morris as one of his personal heroes saying "he's never wrong".
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
computer scientist, best known for creating the Morris Worm in 1988, considered the first computer worm
Computer worm
A computer worm is a self-replicating malware computer program, which uses a computer network to send copies of itself to other nodes and it may do so without any user intervention. This is due to security shortcomings on the target computer. Unlike a computer virus, it does not need to attach...
on the Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
- and subsequently becoming the first person convicted under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act
Computer Fraud and Abuse Act
The Computer Fraud and Abuse Act is a law passed by the United States Congress in 1986, intended to reduce cracking of computer systems and to address federal computer-related offenses...
.
He went on to co-found the online store Viaweb
Viaweb
Viaweb was a web-based application that allowed users to build and host their own online stores with little effort and technical expertise, directly from their own web browser. The eponymous company was started in July 1995 by Paul Graham, Robert Morris, and Trevor Blackwell. Graham claims that...
, one of the first web-based applications, and later the funding firm Y Combinator
Y Combinator
Y Combinator is an American seed-stage startup funding firm, started in March 2005. Y Combinator provides seed money, advice, and connections at two 3-month programs per year...
- both with Paul Graham. He is a tenured professor in the department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Scienceat the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...
.
His father was the late Robert Morris
Robert Morris (cryptographer)
Robert Morris , was an American cryptographer and computer scientist. -Family and Education:Morris was born in Boston, Massachusetts. His parents were Walter W. Morris, a salesman, and Helen Kelly Morris...
, a coauthor of UNIX and the former chief scientist at the National Computer Security Center, a division of the National Security Agency
National Security Agency
The National Security Agency/Central Security Service is a cryptologic intelligence agency of the United States Department of Defense responsible for the collection and analysis of foreign communications and foreign signals intelligence, as well as protecting U.S...
(NSA).
The worm
Morris created the worm while he was a graduate student at Cornell UniversityCornell University
Cornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...
. The original intent, according to him, was to gauge the size of the Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
. He released the worm from MIT to conceal the fact that it actually originated from Cornell. The worm exploited several vulnerabilities to gain entry to targeted systems, including:
- a hole in the debug mode of the UnixUnixUnix is a multitasking, multi-user computer operating system originally developed in 1969 by a group of AT&T employees at Bell Labs, including Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie, Brian Kernighan, Douglas McIlroy, and Joe Ossanna...
sendmailSendmailSendmail is a general purpose internetwork email routing facility that supports many kinds of mail-transfer and -delivery methods, including the Simple Mail Transfer Protocol used for email transport over the Internet....
program, - a buffer overrunBuffer overflowIn computer security and programming, a buffer overflow, or buffer overrun, is an anomaly where a program, while writing data to a buffer, overruns the buffer's boundary and overwrites adjacent memory. This is a special case of violation of memory safety....
hole in the fingerd network service, - the transitive trust enabled by people setting up rexec/rshRemote ShellThe remote shell is a command line computer program that can execute shell commands as another user, and on another computer across a computer network.The remote system to which rsh connects runs the rshd daemon...
network logins without password requirements.
However, the worm had a design flaw. The worm was programmed to check each computer it found to determine if the infection was already present. However, Morris believed that some administrators might try to defeat his worm by instructing the computer to report a false positive. To compensate for this possibility, Morris directed the worm to copy itself anyway, 14% of the time, no matter the response to the infection-status interrogation. This level of replication created system loads that not only brought it to the attention of system administrators, but also disrupted the target computers. It was guessed that the cost in "potential loss in productivity" caused by the worm and efforts to remove it ranged at each system from $200 to more than $53,000.
Conviction
Robert Morris was convicted of violating United States CodeUnited States Code
The Code of Laws of the United States of America is a compilation and codification of the general and permanent federal laws of the United States...
: Title 18 , the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act
Computer Fraud and Abuse Act
The Computer Fraud and Abuse Act is a law passed by the United States Congress in 1986, intended to reduce cracking of computer systems and to address federal computer-related offenses...
. and in December, 1990, was sentenced to three years of probation, 400 hours of community service, a fine of $10,050, and the costs of his supervision. His appeal was rejected the following March.
Timeline
- 1983 - Graduated from Delbarton SchoolDelbarton SchoolDelbarton School is a private all-male Roman Catholic college preparatory school in Morristown, New Jersey, educating young men from 7th to 12th grade. Delbarton is a Catholic independent school directed by the Benedictine monks of St. Mary's Abbey....
in Morristown, New JerseyMorristown, New JerseyMorristown is a town in Morris County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the town population was 18,411. It is the county seat of Morris County. Morristown became characterized as "the military capital of the American Revolution" because of its strategic role in the... - 1987 - Received his A.B.Bachelor of ArtsA Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
from Harvard UniversityHarvard UniversityHarvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
. Came up with the idea for the worm while working on arrays in his computer science class - 1988 - Released the Morris worm (when he was a graduate student at Cornell UniversityCornell UniversityCornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...
) - 1989 - Indicted under the Computer Fraud and Abuse ActComputer Fraud and Abuse ActThe Computer Fraud and Abuse Act is a law passed by the United States Congress in 1986, intended to reduce cracking of computer systems and to address federal computer-related offenses...
of 1986 on July 26, 1989 - the first person to be indicted under this Act - 1990 - Convicted in United States v. MorrisUnited States v. MorrisUnited States v. Morris was an appeal of the conviction of Robert Tappan Morris for creating and releasing the Morris worm, one of the first Internet-based worms. This case resulted in the first conviction under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act...
- 1995 - Cofounded ViawebViawebViaweb was a web-based application that allowed users to build and host their own online stores with little effort and technical expertise, directly from their own web browser. The eponymous company was started in July 1995 by Paul Graham, Robert Morris, and Trevor Blackwell. Graham claims that...
, a start-up company that made software for building online stores (with Paul Graham) - 1998 - Viaweb sold for $48 million to Yahoo, who renamed the software "Yahoo! Store"
- 1999 - Received Ph.D. in Applied Sciences from Harvard
- 1999 - Appointed as a professor at MIT
- 2005 - Co-founded Y CombinatorY CombinatorY Combinator is an American seed-stage startup funding firm, started in March 2005. Y Combinator provides seed money, advice, and connections at two 3-month programs per year...
, a seed-stage startupStartup companyA startup company or startup is a company with a limited operating history. These companies, generally newly created, are in a phase of development and research for markets...
funding firm, that provides seed money, advice, and connections at two 3-month programs per year (with Paul Graham, Trevor BlackwellTrevor BlackwellTrevor Blackwell is a computer programmer, engineer and entrepreneur based in Silicon Valley.Blackwell is a developer of humanoid robots. He is also the inventor of the Eunicycle, essentially a one-wheeled Segway. Dr. Blackwell is the founder and CEO of Anybots and a partner at Y Combinator.- Life...
, and Jessica LivingstonJessica LivingstonJessica Livingston is an author and a founding partner of the seed stage venture firm Y Combinator. She also organizes Startup School. She has a B.A...
) - 2006 - Awarded tenureTenureTenure commonly refers to life tenure in a job and specifically to a senior academic's contractual right not to have his or her position terminated without just cause.-19th century:...
- 2006 - Technical advisor for Meraki NetworksMerakiMeraki is a cloud networking company that provides hardware and software for building large scale wired and wireless networks. These networks are used by businesses, schools, and other organizations that need wireless access points, multi-site wired networks, or both. It uses a centralized...
- 2008 - Released the Arc programming languageArc (programming language)Arc is a dialect of the Lisp programming language now under development by Paul Graham and Robert Morris.- History :In 2001 Paul Graham announced that he was working on a new dialect of Lisp named "Arc"...
, a Lisp dialectProgramming language dialectA dialect of a programming language is a variation or extension of the language that does not change its intrinsic nature. With languages such as Scheme and Forth, standards may be considered insufficient, inadequate or even illegitimate by implementors, so often they will deviate from the...
(with Paul Graham). - 2010 - Awarded the 2010 SIGOPS Mark WeiserMark WeiserMark D. Weiser was a chief scientist at Xerox PARC in the United States. Weiser is widely considered to be the father of ubiquitous computing, a term he coined in 1988.-Biography:...
award.
Research
His principal research interest is computer network architectures which includes work on distributed hash tableDistributed hash table
A distributed hash table is a class of a decentralized distributed system that provides a lookup service similar to a hash table; pairs are stored in a DHT, and any participating node can efficiently retrieve the value associated with a given key...
s such as Chord
Chord project
In computing, Chord is a protocol and algorithm for a peer-to-peer distributed hash table. A distributed hash table stores key-value pairs by assigning keys to different computers ; a node will store the values for all the keys for which it is responsible...
and wireless mesh networks such as Roofnet
Roofnet
Roofnet is an experimental 802.11b/g mesh network currently under development at the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology...
.
Personal
Morris is a longtime friend of Paul Graham. Graham dedicated his book ANSI Common Lisp to him, and named the programming language that generates the online stores' web pages RTMLRTML
RTML is a proprietary programming language used exclusively by Yahoo!'s Yahoo! Store and Yahoo! Site web hosting services.-History:...
in his honor. Graham also lists Morris as one of his personal heroes saying "he's never wrong".