Hacker Given 3 Years’ Probation in ‘Worm’ Case
A computer expert who created a “worm” program that paralyzed thousands of computers nationwide was placed on three years’ probation Friday and fined $10,000 for the crime.
U.S. District Judge Howard Munson also ordered 25-year-old Robert T. Morris to perform 400 hours of community service.
Prosecutors had asked Munson for the maximum sentence of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
Morris, a former Cornell University graduate student, did not speak at the sentencing. He remained grim-faced through most of the hearing, then cracked a wide smile and hugged his mother when the sentence was announced.
In January, Morris became the first person convicted under the 1986 Computer Fraud and Abuse Act for breaking into a federal computer network and preventing authorized use of the system.
He created the “worm” program while at Cornell University in Ithaca on Nov. 2, 1988. The program immobilized an estimated 6,000 computers linked to the Internet research system, including ones at military bases and universities.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
