Elk Cloner, a program written by a fifteen-year-old high school student in 1982, holds the distinction of being one of the earliest self-spreading computer viruses. Created for Apple II hardware, the code displayed a poem upon activation. This early technical experiment marked the start of a lengthy career in software engineering and internet infrastructure development for Rich Skrenta.
Formative Years and Education
Born in Pittsburgh in 1967, Skrenta attended Mt. Lebanon High School. His interest in computing manifested early through his development of the Elk Cloner virus. He subsequently pursued higher education at Northwestern University, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in computer science in 1989.
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Following his graduation, Skrenta held positions at several influential technology firms. He worked with Amiga Unix at Commodore Business Machines from 1989 to 1991. He then transitioned to Unix System Labs until 1995. During this decade, he also contributed to the development of early networked environments, including the VMS Monster MUD and the TASS newsreader, which served as a predecessor to the threaded Usenet tool tin.
Entrepreneurial Ventures
Skrenta engaged in game development with the launch of the pay-for-play simulation Olympia in 1994. In the mid-1990s, he focused on encryption at Sun Microsystems before transitioning into directory services as a founder of DMOZ. After the Netscape acquisition, he managed projects including AOL Music and AOL Shopping. He later cofounded Topix LLC, a news aggregation company, which sold a majority stake to a consortium comprising Tribune, Gannett, and Knight Ridder in 2005.
Search Technology and Current Focus
In the late 2000s, Skrenta turned his attention to internet search with the establishment of Blekko Inc. The search engine launched its public beta on November 1, 2010, backed by investment from Marc Andreessen. IBM acquired Blekko in 2015 to integrate the technology into the Watson computing platform. Following a period at Meta, Skrenta assumed his current role as executive director of Common Crawl.
Fast facts
- Born: 1967, Pittsburgh
- High School: Mt. Lebanon High School
- University: Northwestern University
- Virus created: Elk Cloner (1982)
- Search engine founded: Blekko
- Acquisition year: 2015 (IBM)
- Current role: Executive director of Common Crawl
Questions readers ask
What was the purpose of the Elk Cloner virus?
It was a self-spreading program written for Apple II computers that displayed a poem upon execution.
What is Rich Skrenta's current professional affiliation?
As of 2025, he serves as the executive director of the Common Crawl organization.
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