A security hacker explores various methods for breaching defences and exploiting weaknesses of a particular computer system or network. These are mostly ethical hackers whose jobs are to strengthen computer programmes and protect them from breaches. However, there have been many hackers who use their knowledge to wreak havoc on cyberspace. Here, we take a look at some of the most infamous hackers.
- Adrain Lamo
Adrián Alfonso Lamo Atwood, an American threat analyst and hacker. Lamo first gained media attention for breaking into several high-profile computer networks, including those of The New York Times, Yahoo!, and Microsoft. When he broke into the New York times server in 2002, he gained access to the personal data of 3000 people who had contributed to the news agency’s Op-Ed column. In 2003, he was arrested and sentenced to two years of probation and fined $65,000 dollars.
2. Vladimir Lenin
Vladimir Leonidovitch Levin is a Russian hacker known for his involvement in the attempt to fraudulently transfer USD 10.7 million via Citibank’s computers. The most interesting fact about the hack was that he never used the internet to execute his hack. He tapped into the telecommunications server and simply listened to customers giving out their personal information to the bank.
3. Albert Gonzales
Perhaps the biggest such fraudster in history, Albert Gonzales is an American computer hacker and computer criminal who is accused of masterminding the combined credit card theft and subsequent reselling of more than 170 million card and ATM numbers from 2005 to 2007. He is currently serving his criminal sentence of 20 years in federal prison.
4. Gary McKinnon
Gary McKinnon, hacker and a Scottish systems administrator. In 2002, the hacker was accused of perpetrating the “biggest military computer hack of all time”. He was able to gain access to 97 American military networks, and reportedly left them a message as well, that read: “Your security is crap.” While the US has tried to extradite him, he remains in the UK’s asylum.
5. Kevin Poulsen
Kevin Lee Poulsen is an American former black-hat hacker. According to the New York Times, to ensure he won a prize from the radio, Poulsen hacked into Los Angeles’ phone network. In what is known as one of the greatest hacks of all time, when a programme displayed a number on the screen to call if they had information about him, all the phone lines of the programme went instantly dead.
