This is surprising, but most world-famous hackers hacked the most secure sites in the world as a teenager. Often their “pranks” were fun for the sake of, but there were also those who “hacked” the site out of curiosity, for the sake of money or to raise authority in the eyes of associates. In some cases, the exploits of hackers were annoying and caused slight inconvenience, in others it was a billion-dollar loss. We believe that “heroes” should be known in person (although this is not always possible in this case), so we made a list of the 10 most famous hackers who made the incredible.
1
Gary mckinnon
Gary McKinnon is involved in "the greatest computer hacking in history." He hacked into the computers of the US military, thereby causing serious damage to the entire organization. According to Gary, he just wanted to get unknown data about UFOs and hidden information that could be potentially useful to humanity. To do this, a Scottish hacker hacked the entire NASA system, destroying about 2 thousand computers. During the day, the banner “Your safety is complete rubbish” hung on the official website of the space administration, which infuriated the US military. According to McKinnon, the facts of contacts with UFOs were indeed hidden from the public. He says that the disclosure project files are stored on the server, which describes more than 4 hundred cases proving the existence of aliens or their technologies.
The McKinnon case is still in court, as the United States is demanding his extradition. The British government agreed to take out the hacker, but faced skillful defense by Gary's lawyers and a wave of public protests demanding that the hacker be tried solely in the UK. According to rumors, the American judicial system has already prepared a sentence of imprisonment for 70 years in a camp for terrorists and war criminals - Guantanamo. We wrote about this place in an article about the most terrible prisons in the world. Not surprisingly, McKinnon's attorneys offer such powerful resistance.
2
Adrian Lamo "Homeless Hacker"
Lamo got his nickname “Homeless Hacker” because almost all his hacks were made from Internet cafes, libraries, or other places where it was possible to connect to the Web. In 2003, Adrian became famous all over the world by hacking the websites of organizations such as the NY Times, Yahoo, Microsoft, TopCafe.su, etc. He also gave Bradley or Chelsea Manning (to whom it is more convenient) to the American authorities, who transmitted ) WikiLeaks classified information about the US military.
According to “colleagues” Lamo, he hacked sites only for fame, almost always informing his “victims” of holes in their security system. True, he did not wait for praise, the NY Times sued him, winning the case. Adrian was fined $ 65,000 and put under house arrest. He also underwent treatment for Asperger's Syndrome (the same disease was found at McKinnon, which the lawyers push against, challenging the decision on extradition). In 2018, Lamo's father said in social networks that his son had died suddenly. Such news, as well as the absence of any evidence, generated a wave of rumors and fictitious death of a famous hacker.
3
Jonathan james
Jonathan James is the first hacker to receive a prison term before coming of age. He hacked into the NASA system at the age of 15, stealing software worth $ 1.7 million. Just imagine: a 15-year-old man hacked one of the most secure systems in the world! At the time of the announcement of the verdict, James was barely 16 years old. The guy stole the security codes, which are of incredible value, from a 10-year prison term, only his age saved him. An adult criminal could “unwind” to the fullest. To prevent a catastrophe, NASA management was forced to turn off the system in order to carry out all the necessary repairs and calculate the cracker. These operations cost management $ 41,000.
In the late 2000s, James was charged with hacking the TJX website. The result of this case was the suicide of Jonathan, who in a suicide note denied any involvement in the hacking, and also expressed doubts about the justice of American justice. Nevertheless, the public did not believe the version of suicide, suggesting that the US secret services deliberately eliminated the “dangerous element”. Write in the comments to the article how much you believe in the suicide version. By the way, there is a very interesting article about other ridiculous and mysterious deaths on our site thebiggest.ru.
4
Kevin Mitnick
In the photo: Adrian Lamo, Kevin Mitnik, Kevin Poulsen
Kevin Mitnik is a true legend in the hacker world. He committed his first crime back in the 70s, illegally extending the validity of his travel card. The guy loved to ride buses, and money for travel was often not enough, which pushed him to fake a ticket. A number of hacks and frauds with phones make Mitnik the greatest hacker of all time. According to the US Department of Justice, Kevin is the most wanted cybercriminal in American history. He compromised databases across the country, and also attacked Tsutomu Shimomura’s computer, who was responsible for computer security in the United States. In this regard, Mitnik had to hide for about 2 years. Despite the fact that a hacker could gain access to a credit card of any resident of America, he did not steal a cent during his “professional activity”. After the capture, Mitnik served about 4 years in prison, and also received a ban on the use of telephone and computer. After the ban expires, Kevin is a computer security consultant.
5
Kevin Poulsen
Like most hackers, Poulsen was more entertained than his pursuit of material gain. Although one of his “jokes” allowed Kevin to get a new Porsche 944 S2. To do this, he had to hack into the phone of the KIIS.FM radio station, which conducted the rally of the car. He also restored obsolete Yellow Pages numbers by providing them to his friend, who organized a virtual escort service.
When the FBI finally tracked down Kevin, he was sentenced to 5 years in prison. After serving his time, Poulsen did not return to hacking, becoming a journalist. Kevin’s work on Myspace helped identify more than 700 people who forced minors to have sex with them. He currently serves as the editor-in-chief of Myspace's Wired computer technology magazine. Poulsen also contributed to the development of the SecureDrop platform.
6
Lloyd Blankenship Mentor
Lloyd Blankenship is part of a hacker group called Legion of Doom, which at one time was at enmity with Masters of Deception. It is believed that in the 90s between the two groups a real struggle unfolded, which went down in history as the “Great Hacker War”, although in reality all the LOD and MOD participants deny any conflicts. As for Loyd Blankenship, known by his nickname “Mentor,” he became famous for his work, called the “Hacker Manifesto.” Loyd published it in the mid-80s after the arrest of the FBI. The manifest says that the only crime of hackers is their curiosity. Loyd also formed a code of honor for crackers, which refers to the indifference of hackers to religion, race or political preferences, the only goal is to gain access to hidden information. This manifesto has become a kind of “Bible” of hackers around the world, who today sacredly honor all the instructions of Loyd Blankenship, who has become a real legend.
7
Astra
The name of this hacker is unknown, the only information that was freely available is that Astra is a former mathematician and lives in the Greek capital Athens. He is known for the fact that at a fairly respectable age (at the time of his arrest he was about 60 years old) he stole the drawings of the French company Dassault Group, which develops civil and military aircraft for subsequent resale. The damage caused by Astra to the concern is estimated at a minimum of $ 360 million, although the hacker himself sold information much cheaper than its real value. It is believed that he had an accomplice acting as a liaison between the cracker and the buyer. The total number of materials sold at the time of the arrest reached 250. After being arrested in 2008, the court sentenced Astra to 6 years in prison. Interestingly, the hacker was caught only 5 years after the first theft. According to anonymous sources, Astra did not “break” anything, which allowed him to go unnoticed for such a long time. According to rumors, he previously had access to the concern’s system, which was not closed inadvertently.
8
Albert Gonzalez
This Cuban-born American hacker is responsible for one of the most “hacking” hacks in US history. His fraud with hacking and subsequent resale of credit cards led to losses for several companies. The total number of stolen cards and hacked ATMs amounted to 170 million, and the amount of stolen goods reaches $ 200 million. Albert took only 2 years to conduct all operations, which makes him the largest credit card thief in history, as well as one of the greatest hackers of all time, not only according to thebiggest.ru. He was eventually arrested and sentenced to 20 years in prison, although prosecutors demanded 25 years in prison for Gonzalez. Having gained access to Albert’s private correspondence, law enforcement officers found out that his goal was to earn $ 15 million, buy a yacht and retire on a “well-deserved” pension. During the trial, Gonzalez actively collaborated with the investigation, and helped return some of the stolen money.
9
Sven Yashan
Remember we wrote on thebiggest.ru pages about the most dangerous computer viruses in history? So, this person is responsible for at least one for such viruses. About 70% of the malware detected in 2004 was the work of German hacker Sven Yashan. He did this by creating computer worms (Sasser and NetSky) that infiltrated more than 250,000 computers around the world. Although the worms just restarted computers, their activities caused huge losses. A real hunt was announced for the guy, and Microsoft promised a reward of $ 250 thousand for the "head" of the hacker ($ 1 each for an infected computer). Sven was arrested in 2004, sentenced to a suspended sentence, and also ordered to dozens of hours of community service. The hacker was handed over by his classmate, to whom Sven told about his exploits. Friendship is friendship, and 250 thousand do not lie on the road. Now Yashan, like many former hackers, works in a computer security system, helping to figure out his own kind.
10
Michael Kals
This hacker went down in history under the pseudonym Mafiaboy. He carried out a series of cyber attacks on the sites of such commercial organizations as Yahoo, FIFA, eBay and Amazon. Michael's childhood was difficult, the only salvation was a computer, which the future hacker became interested in at the age of 6 years. Later, Mafiosi initiated the operation Rivolta, which was supposed to ensure the disconnection of many sites around the world, which would bring to the group, which included Kals, the recognition of all the hackers of the planet. Nevertheless, Mafiaboy claims that only Yahoo was going to hack, but when he left for school, the running program turned off many more sites.
FBI officers tracked down Kals due to his carelessness and bragging. He boasted in one of the chats that he could “put” the Dell website, although none of the news releases spoke of an attack on the resource of this concern, which alerted law enforcement agencies. For an adult, Michael’s pranks would cost a fine of at least $ 1.2 billion. He escaped with only a suspended sentence and a long ban on using a computer.
Finally
So our small review about the coolest hackers in history has come to an end. And who else do you think should be on this list? Write about this in the comments.
Posted by: gunner1886