Hacking has been a fly in the ointment of the internet and all the advances the internet created. There are two different types of hackers though. To distinguish the two types of hacker, those who do so for financial gain are called black hat hackers, those who do so for other reasons are called white hat hackers. Of the history of hacking and hackers some of the best are described below.
Kevin Mitnick was one of two hackers that was actually the subject of an FBI manhunt. His life was portrayed in the movie, “Takedown”. Today he is a security-consultant and speaks around the world on the subject of computer security. Kevin Poulsen is the second hacker sought by the FBI in a manhunt, his life also inspired a book.
Adrian Lamo, he was actually homeless and lived in abandoned buildings. He hacked into several different companies. He did not however attempt anything malicious, he actually called the companies and helped them plug the security loopholes.
Gary McKinnon is a Scottish national who hacked into 97 U.S. government networks, installed malware and deleted files. Though a gifted hacker he has Asberger’s Syndrome and is not known for being reliable or easy to work with. Robert Tappan Morris is considered the father of the computer virus. In 1988, Morris released the first ‘worm’ that infected thousands of Unix computers that as a result were irreparably damaged.
John Draper, dubbed ‘the Phone Freak’ for his ability to use a toy whistle to imitate telephone tones and used that ability to get free calls. Some hackers were known better as a group than as an individual, MOD was a group of hackers that took advantage of the phone system to hack into both corporate and government networks. Some spent time in jail for their crimes.
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