A closer look
Bob Thomas created the first computer virus in 1971, a purely experimental self-replicating program called Creeper that simply displayed the message 'I'm the creeper, catch me if you can!' on infected ARPANET screens without actually deleting any files. It was an innocent technical prank that accidentally birthed a trillion-dollar cybersecurity nightmare, proving that every terrible thing on the internet starts out as a nerd just trying to see if they can do it. Thanks to this harmless experiment, we now live in a digital hellscape where clicking the wrong link in an email can allow an anonymous syndicate halfway across the globe to encrypt your entire hard drive and demand payment in crypto. The entire concept of malware began as a goofy game of digital tag, and now it shuts down vital hospital infrastructure and crashes international energy grids
