The number and complexity of cybersecurity tools have grown at a dizzying pace in recent decades. As cyber threats like ransomware became more numerous and complex, antivirus and threat management tools expanded to meet these challenges. Security experts now often find themselves with too many choices and a market too rich with options. Choosing, running and training on these tools can become a problem.
From the first “computer worm” to ransomware, let’s review the evolution of cyber threats and the expanding cybersecurity ecosystem.
The Birth of the Cybersecurity Industry
With no public internet, computer security in the early days focused mainly on passwords protecting computer systems one at a time. Even 60 years later, passwords remain a foundation of a healthy cybersecurity practice.
In the 1970s, an ethical coder created a program called Creeper, a “worm” that moved from system to system, leaving a message behind on the ARPANET. (ARPANET was the Advanced Research Projects Agency Network, an arm of the U.S. Department of Defense and the forerunner of today’s internet.) A colleague of the Creeper programmer created a program to destroy it called Reaper. It found and deleted the virus, creating the first antivirus program. These were the first virus and antivirus programs, but that didn’t remain true for long.
In the late 1980s, the Morris Worm, a self-replicating malware program, served as a wake-up call to the industry. Designed to demonstrate a known vulnerability, it slowed down the internet and caused widespread damage. The Morris Worm ..
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