7. Robert Tappan Morris
Robert Tappan Morris is an American computer scientist, best known for creating the Morris Worm in 1988. That was considered the first computer worm on the Internet. Also he was the first person convicted under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.
Morris created the worm while he was a graduate student at Cornell University. He released the worm from MIT to conceal the fact that it actually originated from Cornell. The worm took down one-tenth of the Internet, crippling 6,000 plus computer systems. It didn’t take long for the police to track him down. Due in part to the need for social acceptance that seems to be common among many young hackers, Morris made the fault of chatting about his worm for months before its release on the Internet. Morris claimed it was just a stunt, and added that he truly regretted causing $15 million worth of damage: the estimated amount of carnage his worm left behind. Also See: 20 sexy naughty text messages to initiate phone sex
Morris was one of the first to be tried and convicted under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act . In December, 1990, was sentenced to three years of probation, 400 hours of community service, a fine of $10,050, and the costs of his supervision.
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