In the computer security context, a hacker is someone who seeks and exploits weaknesses in a computer system or computer network. Hackers may be motivated by a multitude of reasons, such as profit, protest, or challenge. The subculture that has evolved around hackers is often referred to as the computer underground and is now a known community. While other uses of the word hacker exist that are not related to computer security, such as referring to someone with an advanced understanding of computers and computer networks, they are rarely used in mainstream context. They are subject to the longstanding hacker definition controversy about the term's true meaning. In this controversy, the term hacker is reclaimed by computer programmers who argue that someone who breaks into computers, whether computer criminal (black hats) or computer security expert (white hats), is more appropriately called a crackerinstead. Some white hat hackers claim that they also deserve the title hacker, and that only black hats should be called crackers.
8. Robert Tappan Morris
Morris, son of former National Security Agency scientist Robert Morris, is known as the creator of the Morris Worm, the first computer worm to be unleashed on the Internet. As a result of this crime, he was the first person prosecuted under the 1986 Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. Morris wrote the code for the worm while he was a student at Cornell. He asserts that he intended to use it to see how large the Internet was. The worm, however, replicated itself excessively, slowing computers down so that they were no longer usable. It is not possible to know exactly how many computers were affected, but experts estimate an impact of 6,000 machines. He was sentenced to three years' probation, 400 hours of community service, and fined $10,500. Morris is currently working as a tenured professor at the MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory. He principally researches computer network architectures including distributed hash tables such as Chord, and wireless mesh networks such as Roofnet.
7. Kevin Poulsen
Also known as Dark Dante, Poulsen gained recognition for his hack of L.A. radio's KIIS-FM phone lines, which earned him a brand new Porsche, among other items. Law enforcement dubbed him "the Hannibal Lecter of computer crime." Authorities began to pursue Poulsen after he hacked into a federal investigation database. During this pursuit, he further drew the ire of the FBI by hacking into federal computers for wiretap information. His hacking specialty, however, revolved around telephones. Poulsen's most famous hack, KIIS-FM, was accomplished by taking over all of the station's phone lines. In a related feat, Poulsen also "reactivated old Yellow Page escort telephone numbers for an acquaintance who then ran a virtual escort agency." Later, when his photo came up on the show Unsolved Mysteries, 1-800 phone lines for the program crashed. Ultimately, Poulsen was captured in a supermarket and served a sentence of five years. Since serving time, Poulsen has worked as a journalist. He is now a senior editor for Wired News. His most prominent article details his work on identifying 744 sex offenders with MySpace profiles.
6. Adrian Lamo
Lamo's claims to fame are his break-ins at major organizations like The New York Times and Microsoft. Dubbed the "homeless hacker," he used Internet connections at Kinko's, coffee shops and libraries to conduct his intrusions. In a profile article, "He Hacks by Day, Squats by Night," Lamo reflects, "I have a laptop in Pittsburgh, a change of clothes in D.C. It kind of redefines the term multi-jurisdictional." Lamo's intrusions consisted mainly of penetration testing, in which he found flaws in security, exploited them and then informed companies of their shortcomings. His hits include Yahoo!, Bank of America, Citigroup and Cingular. When white hat hackers are hired by companies to do penetration testing, it's legal. What Lamo did is not. When he broke into The New York Times' intranet, things got serious. He added himself to a list of experts and viewed personal information on contributors, including Social Security numbers. Lamo also hacked into The Times' LexisNexis account to research high-profile subject matter. For his intrusion at The New York Times, Lamo was ordered to pay approximately $65,000 in restitution. He was also sentenced to six months of home confinement and two years of probation, which expired January 16, 2007. Lamo is currently working as an award-winning journalist and public speaker.
5. Kevin Mitnick
A self-proclaimed "hacker poster boy," Mitnick went through a highly publicized pursuit by authorities. The media hyped his mischief, but his actual offenses may be less notable than his notoriety suggests. The Department of Justice describes him as "the most wanted computer criminal in United States history." His exploits have been detailed in two movies: Freedom Downtime and Takedown. Mitnick had a bit of hacking experience prior to his most famous offences. He started out by exploiting the Los Angeles bus punch card system to get free rides. Then, like Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, he dabbled in phone hacking. Although he has committed numerous offenses, Mitnick was ultimately convicted for breaking into the Digital Equipment Corporation's computer network and stealing software. Mitnick's mischief got serious when he went on a two and a half year "coast-to-coast hacking spree." The CNN article, "Legendary computer hacker released from prison," explains: "he hacked into computers, stole corporate secrets, scrambled phone networks and broke into the national defense warning system." Then he hacked into computer expert and fellow hacker Tsutomu Shimomura's home computer, which led to his undoing. Today, Mitnick has been able to move past his role as a black hat hacker and become a productive member of society. He served five years, about 8 months of it in solitary confinement, and is now a computer security consultant, author and public speaker.
4. Jonathan James
James gained notoriety when he became the first juvenile sent to prison for hacking. He was sentenced at 16 years old. In an anonymous PBS interview, he professes, "I was just looking around, playing around. What was fun for me was a challenge to see what I could pull off." James's major intrusions targeted high-profile organizations. He installed a backdoor into a Defense Threat Reduction Agency server. The D.T.R.A. is an agency of the Department of Defense charged with reducing the threat to the U.S. and its allies from nuclear, biological, chemical, conventional and special weapons. The backdoor he created enabled him to view sensitive emails and capture employee usernames and passwords. James also cracked into N.A.S.A. computers, stealing software worth approximately $1.7 million. According to the Department of Justice, "The software supported the International Space Station's physical environment, including control of the temperature and humidity within the living space." N.A.S.A. was forced to shut down its computer systems, ultimately racking up a $41,000 cost. James explained that he downloaded the code to supplement his studies on C programming, but contended, "The code itself was crappy…certainly not worth $1.7 million like they claimed." Given the extent of his intrusions, if James, also known as "c0mrade," had been an adult he likely would have served at least 10 years. Instead, he was banned from recreational computer use and was slated to serve a six-month sentence under house arrest with probation. However, he has since served six months in prison for violation of parole. Today, James asserts that he's learned his lesson and might start a computer security company.
3. Gary McKinnon
Reports from the Guardian have stated that Gary McKinnon, the so-called “world’s most dangerous hacker,” will be extradited to the United States to face criminal hacking charges. McKinnon, a 42 year old unemployed systems administrator from north London, allegedly hacked into systems belonging to the U.S. Army, Navy, Air Force, and N.A.S.A.According to prosecutors, McKinnon scanned more than 73,000 U.S. government computers, and hacked into 97 machines. He said he was merely searching for evidence of extraterrestrial life, but American officials labeled him the world’s most dangerous hacker and accused him of deleting important files and causing hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of damage.
2. LulzSec
According to reports from Yahoo, Lulz Security really wanted to make clear that its huge dump of Sony Playstation Network user data in June 2011 was very easy to pull off, and a lot of fun, but now that a culprit has pleaded guilty, he faces years in prison after being sold out. Far less fun. Of course 24-year-old Cody Kretsinger probably will not receive close to the maximum sentence of 15 years, but at this point is probably wondering if it was all worth it—especially since the key people supposed to have had his back during the operation turned out to be working for the FBI. One of the people Kretsinger passed his Sony data to, LulzSec leader Sabu, turned out to be an FBI informant who spied on Anonymous and LulzSec members for months. Sabu agreed to cooperate after the Feds caught up to him last summer and his snitching only came out last month. Kretsinger also got the shaft from a site called Hidemyass.com, a proxy server he thought would hide his actions, but which also turned out to be cooperating with the feds. When the FBI arrested Kretsinger in September, their complaint against him bore out exactly what LulzSec had bragged when it first infiltrated Sony: The operation took three days and utilized an SQL injection, which is one of the easiest and most common kinds of cyber-attack. It's also easy to spot, but Kretsinger apparently believed he had some kind of protection in the form of his LulzSec compatriots and Hidemyass.
1. Anonymous
Anonymous hackers reportedly are putting the Chinese and British governments back into their crosshairs. A person claiming to be part of the Anonymous China group that attacked hundreds of Chinese government and commercial sites, defacing many of them last week, said the hackers are gearing up for similar efforts again in the country—in hopes of stirring unrest among Chinese citizens—and taking apart firewall operations the country uses to block content from places like Google, YouTube and Facebook. Speaking to Reuters using the online name “f0ws3r,” a hacker said more attacks in the country are planned. "First we want to alert the Chinese government that we aren't afraid, and we are going to show the truth and fight for justice," f0ws3r told Reuters. Anonymous is a loose collective of hackers who have targeted government agencies and businesses around the world—including in the United States—for protests, or for retribution for occurrences they view as wrong on unjust. In the recent attacks in China the group hacked into and defaced hundreds of sites, railing against what they say is Chinese government oppression.
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