Masters of Deception

MASTERS OF DECEPTION 9 ULTIMATE HACKERS Lone hackers and government geeks can wreak havoc on your PC, your bank, or the Pentagon – anywhere, anytime, for any reason. Think you're safe? Shatter that illusion with these top hackers and great hacks. JONATHAN "COMRADE" JAMES The only reason I was downloading the source code in the first place was because I was studying C programming, and what better way to learn than reading software written by the government? 6. YEAR ESTIMATED AGE AT TIME OF HACK DAMAGE OF HACK 1999 $41,000 16 FAMOUS HACK Snooping in NASA's snatched top secret files, prompting NASA to shut down some computers for three weeks. He also tapped internal communications within the Defense Threat Reduction Agency. vers, James STATUS: DECEASED Served 6 months in prison. Committed suicide in 2008. TARGETS NASA GARY "SOLO" MCKINNON 8. I am SOLO. I will continue to disrupt at the highest levels. YEAR ESTIMATED AGE AT TIME OF HACK DAMAGE OF HACK 2001-2002 $700,000 40 FAMOUS HACK STATUS: UNCERTAIN McKinnon hacked into dozens of systems belonging to the US Military and NASA, snagged confidential data, and shut down 2,000 military computers for 24 hours. The best part? He was digging for evidence of UFOS. Arrested in the UK. Extradition to the US was blocked in 2012. TARGETS NASA KEVIN “BRIAN MERRILL" MITNICK By the time I walked to the front door, I had the source code to the firmware which controlled the Motorola ultra-light telephone sitting at a server in Colorado. YEAR ESTIMATED AGE AT TIME OF HACK DAMAGE OF HACK 1987-1995 $1 million 24-32 FAMOUS HACK The great phone manipulator broke into various systems, online databases, and cellular phone networks just for the heck of it. Along the way, he gobbled credit card numbers, secret project data, and personal information. STATUS: REHABILITATED Spent 5 years in prison. Now a professional security consultant. TARGETS digital NetCom SCO AA FUJITSU Sun NOKIA NEC microsystems LAURI "ROUTE" LOVE 6. I don't even know what's happening myself to be honest. I need to call my lawyers. YEAR ESTIMATED AGE AT TIME OF HACK DAMAGE OF HACK several million dollars 2012-2013 27 FAMOUS HACK STATUS: ON BAIL Love allegedly hacked US Government and FBI databases, compromising data relating to military staff, defense budgets, and contract bids. Arrested, then released on bail. If convicted, he faces up to five years in prison and a fine. TARGETS NASA VLADIMIR LEVIN YEAR ESTIMATED AGE AT TIME OF HACK DAMAGE OF HACK 1994 $10.7 million 23 FAMOUS HACK In the first large-scale cyber heist in history, Levin instructed Citibank computers to transfer funds to private bank accounts in Finland, Israel, Germany, the Netherlands and the US. STATUS: FREE Jailed for three years and fined $240,600. TARGETS cíti DAVID L. "KWYJIBO" SMITH Here is that document you asked for...don't show it to anyone else. ;-) YEAR ESTIMATED AGE AT TIME OF HACK DAMAGE OF HACK 1999 $80 million 31 FAMOUS HACK Smith designed and unleashed the Melissa Worm, which infected over one million PCs STATUS: FREE through innocuous-looking e-mails. He named the worm after a Miami stripper. Served 20 months in jail and paid $5,000 in fines. TARGETS ROBERT “RIM" TAPPAN MORRIS I never told myself that there was nothing wrong with what I was doing. YEAR ESTIMATED AGE AT TIME OF HACK 1988 DAMAGE OF HACK $97 million 23 FAMOUS HACK STATUS: REHABILITATED While a first-year grad student at Cornell, Morris wrote and launched the devastating Morris Worm in an attempt to measure the size of the internet. Served three years probation and paid $10,000 in fines. Today, Morris holds tenure at MIT. TARGETS 6,000 COMPUTERS (THEN 10% OF THE ENTIRE INTERNET) ALBERTO "J4GUAR" GONZALEZ Defacing a site, to me, is showing the admins [and] government that go to the site that we own them. YEAR ESTIMATED AGE AT TIME OF HACK OF HACK DAMAGE $200-400 2006-2008 25 million FAMOUS HACK STATUS: JAILED Obtained 170 million credit card numbers by cracking retailer networks and tapping online payment systems. Jailed for 20 years. TARGETS Hannafor MSTO A Heartland OfficeMax TJ-Nma ELEVEN MARKE NEAN D&B BUSTER SPORTS AUTHORITY BARNES& NOBLE FOREVER 21 BOOKSELLERS MICHAEL "MAFIABOY" CALCE Everyone at that point in time was running tests and seeing what they could do and what they could infiltrate. YEAR ESTIMATED AGE AT TIME OF HACK DAMAGE OF HACK $7.5 million- $1.2 billion 2000 15 FAMOUS HACK Calce knocked out major websites (including Yahoo and eBay) by overloading them with thousands of information requests. At the time, it was the largest denial-of-service (DoS) attack in history. STATUS: FREE Fined and sentenced to 8 months in prison. TARGETS CNN eb y YAHOO! DELL amazon SOURCES BBC News Profile: Gary McKinnon. BBC News Gary McKinnon extradition to US blocked BBC News Melissa virus creator jailed BBC News Hacking: a History BBC News Major cyber spy network uncovered BBC Today Victim of its own success Business Insider The 10 most destructive hacker attacks of the past 25 years CNN A convicted hacker debunks some myths CNN 'Mafiaboy' breaks silence, paints 'portrait of a hacker Cso Online The 15 worst data security breaches of the 21st Century Fox News Hackers Declare War On Scientology Global Information Assurance Certification The Morris Worm: How it Affected Computer Security and Lessons Learned by it Google Books Webster's New World Hacker Dictionary Google Books Hacking For Beginners: a beginners guide to learn ethical hacking Google Books Computer and Intrusion Forensics McAfee Blog Central 7 Types of Hacker Motivations PBS Frontline Notable Hacks PBS Frontline interview: anonymus PBS Frontline Testimony of an ex-hacker Reuters British Man Charged With hacking US Military Networks Russia Today Anonymus members arraigned in "Operation Payback TIME Business and Money Master Hacker Albert Gonzalez The Guardian Briton Lauri Love faces hacking charges in US The Guardian NSA Files Live The Guardian Iran nuclear experts race to stop Stuxnet Worm The Guardian "Why did I do it? For fun' The New York Times Youth Sentenced in Government Hacking Case The New York Times The Great Cyberheist The New York Times A Youth's Passion for Computers, Gone Sour The Telegraph Vickar's son Lauri Love faces further charges of hacking FBI computers The Telegraph British man charged with hacking US Army and Nasa computer systems The Washington Post Confidential report lists US weapons system designs compromised by Chinese cyberspies The internet companion - A beginners guide to global networking WIRED TJX Hacker Gets 20 Years in Prison WIRED Former Youth Hacker Suicide Linked to TJX Probe WIRED The Greatest Hacks of All Time WIRED Prison Urged For Mafiaboy WIRED Mafiaboy Sentenced for 8 Months WIRED July 26, 1989: First Indictment Under Computer Fraud Act WIRED NSA Intercepted Traffic from Yahoo, Google Data Centers WIR ntagon Hacker McKinnon Wins 10-Year Extr dition Battle WIRED 'Melissa' Wreaks Havoc on Net 3.