US Defense Science Board Group Report on Computer Vulnerability was released. It was published by Rand for the Office of the Director of Defense Research and Engineering, Department of Defense. This report outlined security controls for computer systems.
West German hacker Markus Hess, recruited by the KGB as a US spy, attacks Lawrence Berkley National Labs with the intention of securing US military information. Hess was later discovered by Clifford Stoll, and Stoll's efforts to track and capture Hess were later outlined in the popular book the Cuckoo's Egg. This was one of the first incidents for awareness of cyber conflict problems.
The Computer Fraud and Abuse Act passed. This law introduced criminal code provisions that would become increasingly difficult to enforce in the face of swift technological change. Robert Morris was the first person convicted under this Act in 1990.
The Electronic Communications Privacy Act passed. This primarily prohibited unauthorized government access to wire, oral, and electronic communications; surveillance; electronic storage; wire taps; etc.
The Computer Security Act passed. This improved the security and privacy of Federal computer systems and established a “best practices” for computer security. This act was later repealed by the Federal Information Security Management Act
Morris Worm was released by Robert Tappan Morris. This incident unintentionally took down a considerable portion of the Internet. It was designed to infect as many machines as possible, and be difficult to track and stop. The Morris Worm is considered the first worms distributed via the Internet.
Dutch Hackers (teenagers from Holland) intruded into the networks of 34 US military installations during the lead up to the first Gulf War. Using fairly unsophisticated methods, the hackers were searching for information on missiles, nuclear weapons, and DESERT SHIELD.
The Air Force's 609th Information Warfare Squadron was established at Shaw Air Force Base. The 609th created the first INFOCON, now a defensive alert condition. This unit is considered to be the first combat cyber unit.
Strano Network implements first denial of service attack. The Strano Network is considered the first hacktivist group, and targeted ten agencies of the French government for its ongoing nuclear testing in the Pacific. It was the first mass participation of a virtual sit in and demonstrated the potential of cyber hacktivism.
Eligible Receiver (ER97) was a cyber "red team" exercise conducted by the US government. This exercise accelerated plans for a new organizational structure to respond to cyber incidents and implement DoD-wide defensive mechanisms.
