A virus called Brain, and a 'Sputnik moment' speech

I have a phrase of the day for this posting.

But, first, a Frankenstein event in the computing world is marked.

I knew a long time ago that the world's first computer "virus" was created by two young Pakistani brothers. But even though the Internet is now an encyclopedia of information, including -- I am sure -- stuff on these two siblings, I never got round to finding out more about them.

Now, someone writing in the New York Times has reminded everyone that it was 25 years ago this month -- January 1986 -- that Basit and Amjad Alvi wrote the first piece of code that has since led to the viruses, worms and other malicious software that imposes on ordinary users like you and me the need to install sometimes ineffective protective software.

Ironically, the brothers -- both programmers who lived in Lahore -- had embedded a "stealth" program into their own original heart-monitoring software, to protect it from piracy; that is, their intention was not malicious.

They called this "father of viruses to come" Brain. Here's how it worked, as described in the NYT:

"Computers that ran their program, plus this new bit of code, would stop working after a year, though they cheerfully provided three telephone numbers, against the day. If you were a legitimate user, and could prove it, they’d unlock you.

"But in the way of all emergent technologies, something entirely unintended happened. The Alvis’ wheel-clamp was soon copied by a certain stripe of computer hobbyist, who began to distribute it, concealed within various digital documents that people might be expected to want to open."

Thus did viruses, etc, proliferate. It was glacial at first, since the Internet was in its infancy and storage devices were typically limited-capacity floppy disks (today's kids will have no idea what are floppy disks!).

But, fast forward to today's superhighway Internet and the plethora of compact, huge-capacity mass storage devices. and one can appreciate the humongous numbers of malicious software lurking around. Thanks for nothing, Basit and Amjad !

Now for the phrase of the day: "Sputnik moment".

US President Barack Obama used this expression in his State of the Union address on Tuesday (Wednesday in Singapore). He said:

"Half a century ago, when the Soviets beat us [ie Americans] into space with the launch of a satellite called Sputnik, we had no idea how we'd beat them to the moon.

"But after investing in better research and education, we didn't just surpass the Soviets -- we unleashed a wave of innovation that created new industries and millions of new jobs.

"This is our generation's Sputnik moment. At stake is whether new jobs and industries take root in this country or somewhere else."

The Today newspaper (27 Jan) headlined its front page lead: "Obama's Sputnik moment... US President sees America slipping behind China if nation does not step up".

Commentators are divided over the appropriateness of Mr Obama's obvious attempt to rally the American people using the Cold War imagery, and tapping into their fears of a rising China. I think he simply liked what his speechwriters showed him.

Time will likely show that it was not a great State of the Union address. But, for now, it has launched a thousand wagging tongues (or keyboard clicks, more likely).

Interestingly, The Straits Times simply ignored that reference to a Sputnik moment. I am not privy to the reason why, but I think this is poor judgment of a news event. Commentaries can later offer explanations, if any, as to why ST thinks the expression Mr Obama used is inapt.