Fernando Corbató created the first computer password system in 1961 to help multiple users keep their files private on a shared mainframe at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

A closer look

Fernando Corbató created the first computer password system in 1961 to help multiple users keep their files private on a shared mainframe at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Before his death, the celebrated computer scientist publicly admitted that he actually considered his invention a massive mistake. Corbató lamented that the concept of passwords has devolved into an unmanageable nightmare, forcing modern web users to memorize absurd combinations of capital letters, numbers, and hieroglyphs. He engineered a simple organizational tool, and the tech industry mutated it into a digital psychological torture device. Every time you find yourself screaming at your screen because you forgot whether your banking login uses an exclamation mark or an asterisk, you can direct your furious rage at the ghost of a very apologetic MIT researcher