Trial to Begin Today For Computer Hacker

The trial of a Harvard graduate accused of unleashing a computer "virus" which infected an estimated 6000 computers nationwide in early November, 1988 is scheduled to begin in Syracuse today.

Robert T. Morris '88 is accused of creating the virus program that crippled computers in many major universities and government research facilities across the country, causing the majority of them to shut down temporarily. Morris pleaded not guilty when he was indicted this summer.

Under the 1986 Federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, Morris could face fines of up to $5000 or twice the value of any financial loss caused by the virus. In addition, he could be sentenced to one year in jail.

Morris was a graduate student at Cornell when the incident occurred.

He said he wrote the virus as an experiment, and introduced it into Arpanet, the Department of Defense's computer network.

A virus is a computer program hidden within another piece of software that infects any computer exposed to the software. While some computer viruses have been known to destroy information and valuable files on smaller computer networks, associates of Morris have said that his was simply intended to move from one computer to the next without causing any damage.

But the program had a design flaw, and the virus began multiplying, filling up computer memories and slowing down the computers.

When Morris discovered the mistake in his program, he called a friend at Harvard and arranged for him to sendout a set of instructions destroying the virus.But the message reached few people.

The virus quickly spread through the UNIXoperating system, eventually hooking up toInternet, a nation-wide communications network.Computer systems at many research institutionswere subsequently afflicted, including the ones atHarvard, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology(MIT), Boston University and the NationalAeronautics and Space Administration's AmesResearch Center in California.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)started an investigation in November, 1988 todetermine whether Morris had violated the 1986Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. That act prohibitsunauthorized or fraudulent access to anygovernment computer, but has never been tested incourt.

"This was an extensive investigation by theFBI," said FBI spokesperson Charles Steinmetz."It's a very unique case--one of the first casesof its kind, [a case dealing with] computer fraud.The case will probably set a historical for othercases."

Mark Friedall, an assistant professor ofcomputer science at Harvard who was Morris' seniorthesis advisor, said yesterday that Morris doesnot deserve to go to jail.

"The prospect of Robert Morris going to jail isquite frightening," Friedall said. "This is notsomeone who is comparable to a person who hascommitted a murder. If you look at theevidence...it would appear he'd violated a federalstatute. It would mean the federal penitentiary.He did something that was quite irresponsible andadolescent, but it was not criminal, in theordinary sense of the word."

And Pascal Chesnais, an MIT research specialistwho first spotted the virus at that school, saidthe virus "was more of a nuisance than a thingthat was criminal in intent."

Ironically, Morris' father is a chief scientistat the National Computer Security Center inBethesda, Maryland, a branch of the NationalSecurity Agency devoted to protecting computersagainst intruders