37 years ago this week, the Morris worm infected 10% of the Internet within 24 hours — worm slithered out and sparked a new era in cybersecurity

November 5, 2025

, By Tom’s Hardware

37 years ago this week, the Morris worm infected 10% of the Internet within 24 hours — worm slithered out and sparked a new era in cybersecurity

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This week in 1988, Cornell graduate student Robert Tappan Morris unleashed his eponymous worm upon the Internet. The wave of infections grew to 10% of the entire Internet within 24 hours, causing astronomically expensive damage for the time. However, the pioneering Morris worm malware wasn’t made with malice, says an data-analytics-id=”inline-link” href=”https://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/morris-worm-30-years-since-first-major-attack-on-internet-110218″ target=”_blank” data-url=”https://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/morris-worm-30-years-since-first-major-attack-on-internet-110218″ referrerpolicy=”no-referrer-when-downgrade” data-hl-processed=”none”>FBI retrospective on the “programming error.” It was designed to gauge the size of the Internet, resulting in a classic case of unintended consequences.

id=”elk-6738b81d-fec7-490e-8c7a-0546c9898a4a” href=”” data-url=”” target=”_blank” referrerpolicy=”no-referrer-when-downgrade” data-hl-processed=”none”/>

Morris worm dissection

Known to…

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37 years ago this week, the Morris worm infected 10% of the Internet within 24 hours — worm slithered out and sparked a new era in cybersecurity

November 5, 2025

, Published By Tom’s Hardware

37 years ago this week, the Morris worm infected 10% of the Internet within 24 hours — worm slithered out and sparked a new era in cybersecurity

This week in 1988, Cornell graduate student Robert Tappan Morris unleashed his eponymous worm upon the Internet. The wave of infections grew to 10% of the entire Internet within 24 hours, causing astronomically expensive damage for the time. However, the pioneering Morris worm malware wasn’t made with malice, says an data-analytics-id=”inline-link” href=”https://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/morris-worm-30-years-since-first-major-attack-on-internet-110218″ target=”_blank” data-url=”https://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/morris-worm-30-years-since-first-major-attack-on-internet-110218″ referrerpolicy=”no-referrer-when-downgrade” data-hl-processed=”none”>FBI retrospective on the “programming error.” It was designed to gauge the size of the Internet, resulting in a classic case of unintended consequences.

id=”elk-6738b81d-fec7-490e-8c7a-0546c9898a4a” href=”” data-url=”” target=”_blank” referrerpolicy=”no-referrer-when-downgrade” data-hl-processed=”none”/>

Morris worm dissection

Known to…

Disclaimer

We strive to uphold the highest ethical standards in all of our reporting and coverage. We StartupNews.fyi want to be transparent with our readers about any potential conflicts of interest that may arise in our work. It’s possible that some of the investors we feature may have connections to other businesses, including competitors or companies we write about. However, we want to assure our readers that this will not have any impact on the integrity or impartiality of our reporting. We are committed to delivering accurate, unbiased news and information to our audience, and we will continue to uphold our ethics and principles in all of our work. Thank you for your trust and support.

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