[comp.misc] Is Morris the true author of the Internet Worm?

ward@bales.UUCP (Frank A. Ward) (12/01/88)

A friend of mine from Berkeley told me an interesting story about the
Internet Worm.  I do not know if this story is true, but it seems that
it could be.

My friend went to dinner with a group, one of whom claimed to know the
true author of the Worm, and it was not Morris!  He said that the NSA
did not want the true identity to be known so they needed someone to
take the rap.  Morris's father was involved since he is a top computer
security expert.  When Morris (Jr.) learned about the case he said,
"I'll take the rap."  And he did.  There was an understanding that any
legal problems for Morris would be quietly defused.

As supporting evidence: The Worm attempted to report its progress to a
particular machine at berkeley.edu.  This was reported as deliberate
mis-direction on the part of Morris.

Does anyone have any conclusive evidence that Morris is or is not the
true author of the Worm?


 F. Ward ||  And the student asked, "Master, why can you not simply
---------+|  tell me the answer?  Why must learning be so difficult?"
disclaimer|  And the master said, "Why do you ask me these questions?"