November 2nd, 1988. A single line of code changed the internet forever. When Cornell graduate student Robert Tappan Morris pressed Enter on his computer, he unleashed the first internet worm that brought 6,000 computers to their knees and caused $100 million in damage.

This is the story of how 99 lines of code written out of pure curiosity became the catalyst for modern cybersecurity. From the innocent days of ARPANET to the birth of computer emergency response teams, discover how one young programmer's experiment transformed our digital world forever.

Join Alex and White Sentinel as they explore the technical details, human psychology, and lasting impact of the Morris Worm - the event that ended the internet's age of innocence and began the eternal battle between hackers and defenders. We'll uncover Morris's background and motivations, examine the fatal 14% reinfection rate that caused exponential chaos, follow the hour-by-hour timeline of global spread, and reveal how this single event created the foundation of modern cybersecurity practices.

From the FBI's first cybercrime investigation to Morris's incredible redemption story as an MIT professor, this episode reveals how one mistake sparked a revolution in digital security that continues to protect us today.