In today’s world, internet security is almost an afterthought. Most new computers and many Internet Service Providers include anti-virus software and other security measures for all of their users. The world of Internet security continues to evolve however, with hackers devising ingenious new ways to break into systems that previously had been impenetrable. Internet security is in place to ensure that information is kept safe and protected from those who might try to access it without permission or intend to destroy it. To understand why security measures are so important, we must understand the history of the Internet and of internet security.

Today, over 1 billion people have Internet access worldwide. North America accounts for only 18% of worldwide Internet usage. But the Internet started off very small. Originally, the Internet was called the ARPANET, and was developed during the late 1960’s with a goal of having a functioning network regardless of attacks or failures to part of the network.  The ARPANET, first put in place for the U.S. Department of Defense, was designed to reroute information and traffic if there were problems in a different part of the system, so if a part of the system was attacked, the Internet would not shut down entirely.

Soon, the Internet began growing more and more quickly. Universities and other agencies became connected, as information flowed more freely than ever before. Originally, everyone on the Internet had access to all of the posted information and there was no security in place. Without understanding how big the Internet would become, there was no concern about protecting information.

The first widely known security breach occurred in 1986, when users internationally tried to access and copy information on the Internet through US government computers. Two years later, a programmer wrote code that created the first widely known “worm”, this called the Morris worm. Robert Morris, a student at Cornell University, created the worm, which entered a new user computer, began replicating itself inside that computer, and continued through the network. The worm was programmed to use as much of the processing power of the invaded computer as possible, rendering the computer useless. The worm caused 10% of the computers connected to the Internet in 1988 to crash and the need for internet security was born.

By 1989, the ARPANET was known as the Internet and connected over 100,000 computers worldwide. Hackers worked tirelessly to access privileged information. The amount of information on the Internet has grown rapidly over the past 30 years, and as more people have access to the Internet, there is more incentive for hackers than ever before. Personal information is valuable, and programs have been created to decipher encryptions, processes are in place to figure out usernames and passwords, and the Internet has become not only an amazing tool, but a tremendous liability when information is not protected.

As new methods are developed to access and tamper with information on the Internet, internet security is becoming more effective at thwarting attacks and attempts at access, a battle that is likely to rage on for years to come.

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