4:11pm
Saint Paul, Minn
Today, Jan 30 1982, the first computer virus was coded.
Richard Skrenta wrote 400 lines of code and disguised the self-spreading malware as harmless software.
Here’s the thing:
Computer viruses generally aren’t good.
But…
Viruses can only spread when the normal software has weaknesses.
Vulnerabilities.
And all software has vulnerabilities.
Lots of them. They’re rooted out all the time.
Which makes the good guys always have to play catch up.
When I worked in IT security, that was a central job function:
Keep things secure against whatever was the new threat. But also all the old ones, too.
Which sometimes meant, “well… you can run this critical software, or you can update the system and everything breaks.”
And of course the client asks, “can’t we do both?”
Not always.
But that’s my old world.
Today’s clients ask, “can it be shorter? can it cost less?”
Not always.
Stay safe on those interwebs, my friend.
Jeffrey