Famous Hacker

1. 5 OF THE WORLD’S MOST
FAMOUS HACKERS & WHAT
HAPPENED TO THEM

2. JONATHAN JAMES WAS KNOWN AS “C0MRADE” ON THE INTERNET. WHAT IS HIS TICKET TO FAME? HE WAS
CONVICTED AND SENT TO PRISON FOR HACKING IN THE UNITED STATES–ALL WHILE HE WAS STILL A MINOR. AT
ONLY FIFTEEN YEARS OF AGE, HE MANAGED TO HACK INTO A NUMBER OF NETWORKS, INCLUDING THOSE
BELONGING TO BELL SOUTH, MIAMI-DADE, THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE, AND NASA.
YES, JAMES HACKED INTO NASA’S NETWORK AND DOWNLOADED ENOUGH SOURCE CODE TO LEARN HOW THE
INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION WORKED. THE TOTAL VALUE OF THE DOWNLOADED ASSETS EQUALED $1.7
MILLION. TO ADD INSULT TO INJURY, NASA HAD TO SHUT DOWN THEIR NETWORK FOR THREE WHOLE WEEKS
WHILE THEY INVESTIGATED THE BREACH, WHICH COST THEM $41,000.
THE STORY OF JAMES HAS A TRAGIC ENDING, HOWEVER. IN 2007, A NUMBER OF HIGH PROFILE COMPANIES FELL
VICTIM TO A MASSIVE WAVE OF MALICIOUS NETWORK ATTACKS. EVEN THOUGH JAMES DENIED ANY
INVOLVEMENT, HE WAS SUSPECTED AND INVESTIGATED. IN 2008, JAMES COMMITTED SUICIDE, BELIEVING HE
WOULD BE CONVICTED OF CRIMES THAT HE DID NOT COMMIT.
Jonathan James

3. Albert Gonzalez
Kevin Mitnick is the “Most Wanted Computer Criminal” in U.S history. There are two featured films
based on Kevin Mitnick – Takedown (2000) and Freedom Downtime. What did he do? He hacked
the cell phone and made free calls, he had stolen the code from companies like Sun Microsystems
and Novell. Kevin also hacked into NSA (National Security Agency) phone calls. When he found
guilty in many frauds charges, he had been sent to prison for five years. Nowadays, he works as a
professional Security Consultant.

4. Kevin Poulsen
ATM card numbers over a period of 2 years. Yep. That’s equal to a little over half the population of
the United States.
Gonzalez started off as the leader of a hacker group known as ShadowCrew. This group would go
on to steal 1.5 million credit card numbers and sell them online for profit. ShadowCrew also
fabricated fraudulent passports, health insurance cards, and birth certificates for identity theft
crimes totaling $4.3 million stolen.
The big bucks wouldn’t come until later, when Gonzalez hacked into the databases of TJX
Companies and Heartland Payment Systems for their stored credit card numbers. In 2010,
Gonzalez was sentenced to prison for 20 years (2 sentences of 20 years to be served out
simultaneously).

5. Gary McKinnon
Kevin Poulsen, also known as “Dark Dante,” gained his fifteen minutes of fame by utilizing his
intricate knowledge of telephone systems. At one point, he hacked a radio station’s phone lines and
fixed himself as the winning caller, earning him a brand new Porsche. According to media, he was
called the “Hannibal Lecter of computer crime.”
He then earned his way onto the FBI’s wanted list when he hacked into federal systems and stole
wiretap information. Funny enough, he was later captured in a supermarket and sentenced to 51
months in prison, as well paying $56,000 in restitution.
Like Kevin Mitnick, Poulsen changed his ways after being released from prison. He began working
as a journalist and is now a senior editor for Wired News. At one point, he even helped law
enforcement to identify 744 sex offenders on MySpace.

6. Gary McKinnon
Scottish computer hacker, Gray McKinnon was popular as Internet handle “Solo.” He gained access
97 American Military Networks and NASA between 2001 and 2002, and leaving the message on
military website, “Your Security is Crap.” However, he claimed that he was just searching for
information about energy suppression and UFO activity cover-ups. It has registered “Biggest
Military Computer Hack of all the time.” But, now he has reinvented as a SEO wizard and charging
40 Pounds per hour to help websites cum blog ranks.