Short answer: Yes. Long answer: LOL, definitely yes.
Let’s go back in time — before TikTok, before Wi-Fi, before we were arguing with strangers in the comments section of anything.
We’re talking 1960s to 1980s, when the Internet (then called ARPANET) was just a bunch of universities and nerds trying to make computers talk to each other across wires and good intentions.
And here’s the thing:
Security? What’s that? Can it help me send this email?
The original Internet was designed like a chill commune. Everyone trusted each other. Everyone was excited about this new thing called “packet switching.” No one was hoarding passwords or launching ransomware attacks yet.
The developers were like:
“Hey, can I connect to your server and transfer files?”
“Sure! No password needed, bestie.” :))
And that, kids, is how the modern cyber threat landscape began.
Why wasn’t security built in from the start?
Because no one thought they’d need it. Seriously.
Here’s the logic:
- “We all know each other.”
It was literally just universities, research labs, and the U.S. military. A closed club of nerds. - “Who would ever abuse this?”
They didn’t imagine trolls, nation-state hackers, or Kevin from HR accidentally clicking on a phishing email. - “We’ll figure that out later.”
(They didn’t. We are.)
Protocols that trusted too much
Some greatest hits from the “oops, we forgot security” era:
- FTP: Send files in plain text. Including passwords. What could go wrong?
- Telnet: Remote login with zero encryption. Hacker’s dream.
- SMTP (email): Designed to send email. Not to check who’s sending it.
- DNS: “Let’s trust every server that says it’s legit.” (lol)
And then came the viruses, worms, spam, spoofing, man-in-the-middle attacks, and enough headaches to spawn an entire billion-dollar cybersecurity industry.
When did people finally go: “Hey… maybe we should secure this”?
Basically, once the Internet went public and everyone jumped on board in the 1990s, things got wild. Suddenly:
- Hackers showed up (and weren’t wearing lab coats).
- People started stealing credit card numbers.
- Worms like Morris took the Internet down for a day.
- Everyone panicked and invented firewalls.
Then came SSL/TLS, VPNs, MFA, zero trust, and all the lovely things we now pretend to understand while silently Googling “how does encryption work?”
TL;DR:
- The Internet was made by friendly nerds for other friendly nerds.
- Nobody expected cybercrime, spam, or Nigerian princes.
- Security was slapped on after everything was already working.
- And now we have patch Tuesdays, CVE alerts, and that one guy who still uses Telnet in 2025.
Final thoughts?
Next time your security lab crashes because of one missing semicolon, just remember:
You’re fixing problems caused by someone in 1973 who said, “Eh, security can wait.”