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The Creeper Program

The Genesis of Autonomous Code

"The first experimental demonstration of a program capable of moving from one computer to another."

1971

I'm the Creeper

Bob Thomas, an engineer at BBN Technologies, writes an experimental program on the ARPANET network. It simply displays: "I'M THE CREEPER: CATCH ME IF YOU CAN". It is not a malicious virus, but a proof of concept for software mobility.

1972

The Reaper

Ray Tomlinson creates "Reaper", the first antivirus in history, designed specifically to track and delete Creeper. The first (friendly) cyber war begins.

Mission Status: Complete

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