Gregory Benford
"Worlds Vast, and Various", Eos
ISBN 0-3807-9054-8
2000
Originally published in 1970, "The Scarred Man" is by far the oldest of the stories in this collection. Not surprisingly, it is also the weakest (the bulk of the narrative being comprised of a huge block of expository dialogue). Inspired by Benford's work on the ARPANet project during the late 60s, the "The Scarred Man" is remarkable for how accurately it describes the mechanisms and implications of computer viruses - 13 years before Dr. Fred Cohen "officially" coined the phrase. (Marc Goldstein)