The 1988 Internet {worm} perpetrated by {RTM}. This is a play on
Tolkien (compare {elvish}, {elder days}). In the fantasy history of
his Middle Earth books, there were dragons powerful enough to lay
waste to entire regions; two of these (Scatha and Glaurung) were
known as "the Great Worms". This usage expresses the connotation that
the RTM crack was a sort of devastating watershed event in hacker
history; certainly it did more to make non-hackers nervous about the
Internet than anything before or since.
[glossary]
[Reference(s) to this entry by made by: {ARMM}{condom}{elder days}{RTM}{security through obscurity}{worm}]