<P> The Creeper virus was first detected on ARPANET , the forerunner of the Internet , in the early 1970s . Creeper was an experimental self - replicating program written by Bob Thomas at BBN Technologies in 1971 . Creeper used the ARPANET to infect DEC PDP - 10 computers running the TENEX operating system . Creeper gained access via the ARPANET and copied itself to the remote system where the message , `` I 'm the creeper , catch me if you can ! '' was displayed . The Reaper program was created to delete Creeper . In fiction , the 1973 Michael Crichton sci - fi movie Westworld made an early mention of the concept of a computer virus , being a central plot theme that causes androids to run amok . Alan Oppenheimer 's character summarizes the problem by stating that `` ... there 's a clear pattern here which suggests an analogy to an infectious disease process , spreading from one ... area to the next . '' To which the replies are stated : `` Perhaps there are superficial similarities to disease '' and , `` I must confess I find it difficult to believe in a disease of machinery . '' </P>
<P> The Creeper virus was first detected on ARPANET , the forerunner of the Internet , in the early 1970s . Creeper was an experimental self - replicating program written by Bob Thomas at BBN Technologies in 1971 . Creeper used the ARPANET to infect DEC PDP - 10 computers running the TENEX operating system . Creeper gained access via the ARPANET and copied itself to the remote system where the message , `` I 'm the creeper , catch me if you can ! '' was displayed . The Reaper program was created to delete Creeper . In fiction , the 1973 Michael Crichton sci - fi movie Westworld made an early mention of the concept of a computer virus , being a central plot theme that causes androids to run amok . Alan Oppenheimer 's character summarizes the problem by stating that `` ... there 's a clear pattern here which suggests an analogy to an infectious disease process , spreading from one ... area to the next . '' To which the replies are stated : `` Perhaps there are superficial similarities to disease '' and , `` I must confess I find it difficult to believe in a disease of machinery . '' </P>
which was the first virus detected by arpanet
which was the first virus detected by arpanet
The Creeper virus
The Creeper virus