{"slug": "in-1988-the-morris-worm-took-out-10-of-the-internet", "title": "In 1988, the Morris worm took out 10% of the Internet", "summary": "The Morris worm disabled roughly 10% of the Internet in 1988, including key national security and research assets, according to a retrospective comparing historical malware damage to AI's security record. The same account cites the 1992 Michelangelo virus scare, the FBI's report that the 1999 Melissa virus compromised more than 300 companies and over one million accounts, and the 2000-2001 ILOVEYOU and CodeRed outbreaks that caused billions in economic damage. The author argues that AI has produced relatively few security-significant events despite heavy spending and what the author calls a relative lack of security sophistication among AI developers.", "body_md": "In 1988, the Morris worm took out 10% of the Internet including taking out key national security and research assets.\nIn 1992 the Michelangelo virus was expected to cause a digital apocalypse\n99' the FBI reported that the Melissa virus compromised more than 300 companies and over one million accounts disrupted\n00' and 01' we saw ILOVEYOU and CodeRed causing billions in economic damage. \nSince the creation of the Internet we had a constant stream of vulnerabilities impacting critical infrastructure, nationally sensitive resources, and causing billions in economic damage. \nIn contrast, It really is remarkable how relatively few security significant events we've seen with AI despite all the effort and money trying to will it into existence. And relative lack of security sophistication from those developing it.", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/in-1988-the-morris-worm-took-out-10-of-the-internet", "canonical_source": "https://twitter.com/martin_casado/status/2098470828602270009", "published_at": "2026-09-11 18:26:36+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-09-11 18:46:00.808538+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["ai-safety"], "entities": ["Morris worm", "Michelangelo virus", "FBI", "Melissa virus", "ILOVEYOU", "CodeRed"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/in-1988-the-morris-worm-took-out-10-of-the-internet", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/in-1988-the-morris-worm-took-out-10-of-the-internet.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/in-1988-the-morris-worm-took-out-10-of-the-internet.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/in-1988-the-morris-worm-took-out-10-of-the-internet.jsonld"}}