Witness History
Witness History
Hacking The First Computer Password
Up next
December 19, 2018
9 minutes
Available for over a year
Scientists at MIT in the 1960s had to share computer time. They were given passwords to access the computer and could not use more than their allowance. But one man, Allan Scherr, hacked the system by working out the master password. He has been talking to Ashley Byrne.
Photo: Allan Scherr at his workstation connected to the MIT central system in 1963. Courtesy of Allan Scherr