Creeper: The First Virus

In 1971, a program called Creeper began spreading across ARPANET — the first self-replicating program in history. It moved from machine to machine and displayed a simple message:

“I’m the creeper, catch me if you can!”

It was not malicious. It was an experiment. Shortly after, another program called Reaper was created for one purpose only: to chase and delete Creeper.

The first virus had its own predator. CyberSpace has always been an ecosystem.