The Nation - News from May 26, 1989

Cornell University has suspended the graduate student accused of writing a software virus that last year infected thousands of computers hooked up to a national network, his lawyer said. Thomas Guidoboni, the lawyer for Robert Tappan Morris, confirmed a New York Times report that a letter telling Morris he had violated the school’s code of academic integrity had been sent to his client, but he would not comment further. The virus entered the national computer network Internet in November, “infecting” as many as 6,000 computers at universities, corporations and military installations. The letter, dated May 16, said Morris was suspended until the fall of 1990.