Creeper and Reaper

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Creeper spread in ARPANET in the early 1970s and is the first known computer worm or the first known malware to spread uncontrollably . Reaper was the second known worm and had the purpose of tracking down creepers. This made Reaper the first known malware control program and the first Helpful Worm .

The Creeper experiment is therefore both a milestone and the beginning of computer malware.

Creeper

Creaper
Surname Creaper
Known since 1971
Type Network worm
Other classes Proof of Concept worm
Authors Bob Thomas
Memory resident Yes
distribution ARPANET
system Tenex
info The first known network worm

The name Creeper (English for "tendril plant" or "wild wine") was probably chosen because the worm, figuratively speaking, can spread like weeds. The ARPANET developer Bob Thomas experimented with this program, which could move independently from computer to computer within a network. It was written for the Tenex operating system . In his experiments, Thomas negligently released the first known malware in IT history.

Creeper was originally developed as a security test to find out if a self-replicating program was possible. Creeper was thus also a proof of concept worm. To prevent an uncontrollable logic bomb , Creeper was programmed to delete itself from the previous host with each newly infected computer. But that only partially worked.

In 1971 Creeper got out of hand and spread like a plague in ARPANET. The network worm, harmless in itself, turned out to be extremely annoying. The experiment was out of control. After a short time, the company's entire Tenex network was affected.

In the case of infected systems, a message appears on the monitor: 

I'M THE CREEPER: CATCH ME IF YOU CAN

This could happen several times within a short time with repeated reinfection. Creeper disrupted almost all computers in the network.

Reaper

Reaper
Surname Reaper
Known since 1972
Type Network worm
Other classes Helpful worm
Authors Ray Tomlinson
Memory resident Yes
distribution ARPANET
system Tenex
info The first anti-malware program

The program Reaper (English for "Grim Reaper") was written a few months later by Ray Tomlinson . Tomlinson later became known as the inventor of email .

After Ray Tomlinson's team had weighed up various ideas, Reaper seemed the easiest and most effective method to finally stamp out Creeper.

Reaper was also a network worm , but a so-called Helpful Worm (English for "benign worm" or "helpful worm"). Reaper also spread through the network, using the same methods as Creeper. The worm was programmed to find and delete creepers. Reaper self-extinguished after a while.

Thus, the Reaper was the first antivirus software in the world.

Situation around 1970

In general, computer worms and computer viruses were nothing more than theoretical concepts around 1970. Malware was virtually non-existent and a topic only in science fiction literature. The terms worm and virus in relation to computer programs were also not yet in use and only established themselves years later. Basically, the names were derived from the cyberpunk novel The Shockwave Rider by John Brunner , published in 1975 .

Creeper and Reaper are considered to be the very first worms and for a long time remained unrivaled. In 1987, the XMAS EXEC worm was an issue in specialist circles that completely paralyzed the VNET for a short time. The still young Internet had to contend with the first major failures caused by a worm at the end of 1988. The then twenty-three year old Robert Tappan Morris accidentally paralyzed about a tenth of the 60,000 Internet hosts at the time with his worm, which became known as Morris . Massive incidents caused by worms, some of which took on global proportions, occurred primarily in the "Decade of Worms", from 2000 to 2010. During this time, the Internet established itself as a mass medium and offered worms such as Loveletter , Anna Kournikova , MyDoom or Stuxnet completely new possibilities. Computer worms also became known to the general public as reports became routine in the news media.

Core War

Allegedly inspired by the Creeper experiment and its unexpected consequences, the computer game Core War was created a few years later . The programming game, in which two or more programs written in a simple, assembler-like language called Redcode, compete against each other in the same memory space, came very close to the principle of computer worms. Implementations for numerous systems followed over the next ten years.

Worm or virus

Creeper is often mistakenly referred to as the first computer virus of all time, but Creeper and Reaper are clearly worms, not viruses. According to the established definition, a virus infects files, but worms do not. Creeper and Reaper were independent programs and spread from system to system via the ARPANET. It is therefore clearly network worms. The terms worm and virus were not yet in use in 1971.

As the first known computer virus is Elk Cloner from 1982 for Apple II - Computer .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ https://www.kaspersky.de/resource-center/threats/a-brief-history-of-computer-viruses-and-what-the-future-holds Kaspersky.de: A Brief History of Computer Viruses an what the future holds ...
  2. ↑ Core War: Creeper & Reaper (accessed October 24, 2017)

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