This one is for the geeks.
In 1988, when the Internet had only about 50,000 computers, 10% of them were crippled by a worm. The worm, a first of its kind, was released into the Internet by a graduate student at Cornell, _______ Tappan ________. What was intended to be a harmless prank became serious, thanks to a design error. The young man surrendered to the FBI. He was convicted, released on probation, fined $ 10,000 and ordered to do community service. He eventually got a Ph.D. from Harvard, made millions developing and selling software and currently teaches at the MIT.
This question is not about him. It is about his father, a pioneering cryptographer who was part of the core team that developed Unix. He is said to have assisted the US government in penetrating Saddam Hussain's defence computer systems leading to crippling missile strikes against key Iraqi installations. The father died last Sunday at the age of 78. Name him to also get the first and last names of the son.
Robert Morris.
ReplyDeleteYes, Robert Morris it is! Follow the link below to read an article about him in the New York Times.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/30/technology/30morris.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=robert%20morris&st=cse