David L. Smith
A little over ten years after the Morris worm wreaked its havoc, computer viruses had evolved quite a bit and David L. Smith, a programming subcontractor for AT&T, helped cement the intrusive power of the malicious program. In 1999, Smith authored and launched the “Melissa virus,” a self-propagating program that, when opened, forwarded itself to the first 50 people in your Microsoft Outlook address book. The virus purportedly caused “millions of dollars” in damages. After being arrested, Smith was sentenced to a stint in federal prison.
