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Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (November 2007) | This article is about computer security hackers. For other types of computer hackers, see Hacker (computing). In a security context, a hacker is someone involved in computer security/insecurity, specializing in the discovery of exploits in systems (for exploitation or prevention), or in obtaining or preventing unauthorized access to systems through skills, tactics and detailed knowledge. In the most common general form of this usage, "hacker" refers to a black-hat hacker (a malicious or criminal hacker). There are also ethical hackers (more commonly referred to as white hats), and those more ethically ambiguous (grey hats). To disambiguate the term hacker, often cracker is used instead, referring either to computer security hacker culture as a whole to demarcate it from the academic hacker culture (such as by Eric S. Raymond[1]) or specifically to make a distinction within the computer security context between black-hat hackers and the more ethically positive hackers (commonly known as the white-hat hackers). The context of computer security hacking forms a subculture which is often referred to as the network hacker subculture or simply the computer underground. According to its adherents, cultural values center around the idea of creative and extraordinary computer usage. Proponents claim to be motivated by artistic and political ends, but are often unconcerned about the use of criminal means to achieve them. Image File history File links Question_book-3. ...
This article is about computer hacking. ...
This article describes how security can be achieved through design and engineering. ...
Many current computer systems have only limited security precautions in place. ...
For other uses, see Black hat (disambiguation). ...
The Conscience of a Hacker (also known as The Hacker Manifesto) is a small essay written January 8, 1986 by a hacker who went by the handle (or pseudonym) of The Mentor (born Loyd Blankenship). ...
A Whitehat, also rendered as White hat or White-hat, is, in the realm of Information technology, a name that describes a person who is ethically opposed to the abuse of Computer systems. ...
A Grey Hat in the computer security community, refers to a skilled hacker who sometimes acts legally, sometimes in good will, and sometimes not. ...
In academia, a hacker is a person who follows a spirit of playful cleverness and enjoys programming. ...
Eric S. Raymond (FISL 6. ...
History -
This is a timeline of hacker history. ...
Artifacts and customs Contrary to the academic hacker subculture, networking hackers have no inherently close connection to the academic world. They have a tendency to work anonymously and in private. It is common among them to use aliases for the purpose of concealing identity, rather than revealing their real names. This practice is uncommon within and even frowned upon by the academic hacker subculture. Members of the network hacking scene are often being stereotypically described as crackers by the academic hacker subculture, yet see themselves as hackers and even try to include academic hackers in what they see as one wider hacker culture, a view harshly rejected by the academic hacker subculture itself. Instead of a hacker – cracker dichotomy, they give more emphasis to a spectrum of different categories, such as white hat (“ethical hacking”), grey hat, black hat and script kiddie. In contrast to the academic hackers, they usually reserve the term cracker to refer to black hat hackers, or more generally hackers with unlawful intentions. In academia, a hacker is a person who follows a spirit of playful cleverness and enjoys programming. ...
A Whitehat, also rendered as White hat or White-hat, is, in the realm of Information technology, a name that describes a person who is ethically opposed to the abuse of Computer systems. ...
A Grey Hat in the computer security community, refers to a skilled hacker who sometimes acts legally, sometimes in good will, and sometimes not. ...
For other uses, see Black hat (disambiguation). ...
In hacker culture, a script kiddie (occasionally script bunny, skidie, script kitty, script-running juvenile (SRJ), or similar) is (sometimes) a derogatory term used for an inexperienced malicious cracker who uses programs developed by others to attack computer systems, and deface websites. ...
The network hacking subculture is supported by regular gatherings, so called Hacker cons. These have drawn more and more people every year including SummerCon (Summer), DEF CON, HoHoCon (Christmas), PumpCon (Halloween), H.O.P.E. (Hackers on Planet Earth) and HEU (Hacking at the End of the Universe). They have helped expand the definition and solidify the importance of the network hacker subculture. In Germany, members of the subculture are organized mainly around the Chaos Computer Club. Hacker con is a term that describes a hacker convention. ...
Summercon is one of the oldest hacker conventions. ...
This article does not cite any references or sources. ...
HoHoCon (or XmasCon) was a conference series which took place shortly before or after Christmas in Houston, Texas, sponsored by Drunkfux and the hacker ezine CULT OF THE DEAD COW. The fourth and fifth HoHoCons were also sponsored by Phrack magazine and took place in Austin, Texas. ...
Hackers on Planet Earth or HOPE is a conference series sponsored by the hacker magazine 2600 The Hacker Quarterly. ...
The Chaos Computer Club (CCC) is one of the biggest and most influential hacker organisations. ...
The subculture has given birth to what its many members consider to be novel forms of art, most notably ascii art. It has also produced its own slang and various forms of unusual alphabet use, for example leetspeak. Both things are usually seen as an especially silly aspect by the academic hacker subculture. In part due to this, the slangs of the two subcultures differ substantially. Political attitude usually includes views for freedom of information, freedom of speech, a right for anonymity and most have a strong opposition against copyright. Writing programs and performing other activities to support these views is referred to as hacktivism by the subculture. Some go as far as seeing illegal elephant cracking ethically justified for this goal; the most common form is website defacement. ASCII art, an artistic medium relying primarily on computers for presentation, consists of pictures pieced together from characters (preferably from the 95 printable characters defined by ASCII). ...
This article does not adequately cite its references or sources. ...
Not to be confused with copywriting. ...
Hacktivism (from hack and activism) is often understood as the writing of code, or otherwise manipulating bits, to promote political ideology - promoting expressive politics, free speech, human rights, or information ethics. ...
The security hackers have also edited some magazines, most notably:
Fall 2004 (21:3) 2600 Issue 2600: The Hacker Quarterly is a traditional (printed) magazine named for the fact that phreakers in the 1960s found that the transmission of a 2600 Hertz tone (which could be produced perfectly with a plastic toy whistle given away free with Capn Crunch...
Hakin9 is a bi-monthly publication on IT Security. ...
Look up tap in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...
Documents Hackers from the network hacking subculture often show an adherence to fictional cyberpunk and cyberculture literature and movies. Widely recognized works include: Berlins Sony Center reflects the global reach of a Japanese corporation. ...
Cyberculture is a frequently and flexibly used term lacking an explicit meaning. ...
Absorption of fictional pseudonyms, symbols, values, and metaphors from these fictional works are very common. A non-fictional document with which many members of the subculture identify is the Hacker's Manifesto. Hackers (ISBN 0-441-00375-3) is an anthology of short stories edited by Jack Dann and Gardner Dozois. ...
The Hacker Crackdown: Law and Disorder on the Electronic Frontier is a book written by science fiction writer Bruce Sterling in 1992. ...
Snow Crash is Neal Stephensons third science fiction novel, published in 1992. ...
For other persons named William Gibson, see William Gibson (disambiguation). ...
The Sprawl-trilogy, of which Neuromancer is the first part. ...
This article is about the 1983 US movie. ...
The Matrix series consists primarily of three films, The Matrix, The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions. ...
Antitrust is a 2001 film directed by Peter Howitt and written by Howard Franklin. ...
Hackers - Poster 1 Hackers - Poster 2 Hackers - German Poster Hackers is a movie released in 1995 that follows the misfortunes of young hacker Dade Murphy (aka Crash Override/Zero Cool, played by Jonny Lee Miller), Kate (aka Acid Burn, played by Angelina Jolie) and their friends. ...
Enemy of the State is a 1998 film written by David Marconi, produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, and directed by Tony Scott, and starring Will Smith, Gene Hackman, Jon Voight, Lisa Bonet and Regina King. ...
Sneakers is a 1992 film directed by Phil Alden Robinson (Field of Dreams) and starring Robert Redford, Dan Aykroyd, Ben Kingsley, Mary McDonnell, River Phoenix, Sidney Poitier, and David Strathairn. ...
Swordvag1na (sometimes referred to as Password: Swordvag1na or Operation: Swordvag1na) is an action/thriller film. ...
The Net is a 1995 film directed by Irwin Winkler and starring Sandra Bullock, Jeremy Northam and Dennis Miller. ...
The Net 2. ...
Die Hard 4. ...
The Conscience of a Hacker (a. ...
Hacker attitudes The term "Hacker" may mean simply a person with mastery of computers; however the mass media most often uses "Hacker" as synonymous with a (usually criminal) computer intruder. See hacker, and Hacker definition controversy. In computer security, several subgroups with different attitudes and aims use different terms to demarcate themselves from each other, or try to exclude some specific group with which they do not agree. This article is about computer hacking. ...
The terms hacker and hacking have controversial definitions. ...
White hat -
A white hat hacker or ethical hacker is someone who breaks security but who does so for altruistic or at least non-malicious reasons. White hats generally have a clearly defined code of ethics, and will often attempt to work with a manufacturer or owner to improve discovered security weaknesses, although many reserve the implicit or explicit threat of public disclosure after a "reasonable" time as a prod to ensure timely response from a corporate entity. The term is also used to describe hackers who work to deliberately design and code more secure systems. To white hats, the darker the hat, the more the ethics of the activity can be considered dubious. Conversely, black hats may claim the lighter the hat, the more the ethics of the activity are lost. A Whitehat, also rendered as White hat or White-hat, is, in the realm of Information technology, a name that describes a person who is ethically opposed to the abuse of Computer systems. ...
Grey hat -
A grey hat hacker is a hacker of ambiguous ethics and/or borderline legality, often frankly admitted. A Grey Hat in the computer security community, refers to a skilled hacker who sometimes acts legally, sometimes in good will, and sometimes not. ...
Blue Hat -
A blue hat hacker is someone outside computer security consulting firms that are used to bug test a system prior to its launch, looking for exploits so they can be closed. Microsoft also uses the term BlueHat to represent a series of security briefing events. Blue Hat is a term used to refer to outside computer security consulting firms that are employed to bug test a system prior to its launch, looking for exploits so they can be closed. ...
Microsoft Corporation, (NASDAQ: MSFT, HKSE: 4338) is a multinational computer technology corporation with global annual revenue of US$44. ...
Black Hat -
A black hat hacker is someone who subverts(To destroy completely) computer security without authorization or who uses technology (usually a computer or the Internet) for terrorism, vandalism(malicious destruction), credit card fraud, identity theft, intellectual property theft, or many other types of crime. This can mean taking control of a remote computer through a network, or software cracking. For other uses, see Black hat (disambiguation). ...
Software cracking is the modification of software to remove protection methods: copy prevention, trial/demo version, serial number, hardware key, CD check or software annoyances like nag screens and adware. ...
Script kiddie -
Main article: Script kiddie A script kiddie is a person, usually not an expert in computer security, who breaks into computer systems by using pre-packaged automated tools written by others. In hacker culture, a script kiddie (occasionally script bunny, skidie, script kitty, script-running juvenile (SRJ), or similar) is (sometimes) a derogatory term used for an inexperienced malicious cracker who uses programs developed by others to attack computer systems, and deface websites. ...
Hacktivist -
A hacktivist is a hacker who utilizes technology to announce a political message. Web vandalism is not necessarily hacktivism. Hacktivism (from hack and activism) is often understood as the writing of code, or otherwise manipulating bits, to promote political ideology - promoting expressive politics, free speech, human rights, or information ethics. ...
Common methods There are several recurring tools of the trade and techniques used by computer criminals and security experts:
Security exploit -
A security exploit is a prepared application that takes advantage of a known weakness. An exploit is a piece of software, a chunk of data, or sequence of commands that take advantage of a bug, glitch or vulnerability in order to cause unintended or unanticipated behavior to occur on computer software, hardware, or something electronic (usually computerized). ...
Vulnerability scanner -
A vulnerability scanner is a tool used to quickly check computers on a network for known weaknesses. Hackers also commonly use port scanners. These check to see which ports on a specified computer are "open" or available to access the computer, and sometimes will detect what program or service is listening on that port, and its version number. (Note that firewalls defend computers from intruders by limiting access to ports/machines both inbound and outbound, but can still be circumvented.) A vulnerability scanner is a computer program designed to search for and map systems for weaknesses in an application, computer or network. ...
A port scanner is a piece of software designed to search a network host for open ports. ...
This article is about the network security device. ...
Packet Sniffer -
Main article: Packet sniffer A packet sniffer is an application that captures TCP/IP data packets, which can maliciously be used to capture passwords and other data while it is in transit either within the computer or over the network. A packet sniffer (also known as a network analyzer or protocol analyzer or, for particular types of networks, an Ethernet sniffer or wireless sniffer) is computer software or computer hardware that can intercept and log traffic passing over a digital network or part of a network. ...
Spoofing attack -
A spoofing attack is a situation in which one person or program successfully masquerades as another by falsifying data and thereby gaining illegitimate access. In the context of network security, a spoofing attack is a situation in which one person or program successfully masquerades as another by falsifying data and thereby gaining an illegitimate advantage. ...
Rootkit -
A rootkit is a toolkit for hiding the fact that a computer's security has been compromised, is a general description of a set of programs which work to subvert control of an operating system from its legitimate(in accordance with established rules) operators. Usually, a rootkit will obscure its installation and attempt to prevent its removal through a subversion of standard system security. Root kits may include replacements for system binaries so that it becomes impossible for the legitimate user to detect the presence of the intruder on the system by looking at process tables. A rootkit is a general description of a set of programs which work to subvert control of an operating system from its legitimate operators. ...
In computing, a process is a running instance of a program, including all variables and other state. ...
Social engineering -
Social Engineering is simply the art of getting unsuspecting persons to reveal sensitive information about a system. This is usually done by impersonating someone or by convincing people to believe you have permissions to obtain such information. A typical example would be eavesdropping on or discussing company security details at a cafe. A more subtle method would be via impersonation: requesting promotional material or technical reference material regarding a company's systems while pretending to be co-worker or contractor working under pressure or within unseen limitations. Social engineering is the practice of obtaining confidential information by manipulation of legitimate users. ...
Trojan horse -
A Trojan horse is a program designed as to seem to being or be doing one thing, such as a legitimate software, but actually being or doing another. They are not necessarily malicious programs but can be. A trojan horse can be used to set up a back door in a computer system so that the intruder can return later and gain access. Viruses that fool a user into downloading and/or executing them by pretending to be useful applications are also sometimes called trojan horses. (The name refers to the horse from the Trojan War, with conceptually similar function of deceiving defenders into bringing an intruder inside.) See also Dialer. In the context of computing and software, a Trojan horse, or simply trojan, is a piece of software which appears to perform a certain action but in fact performs another such as a computer virus. ...
A backdoor in a computer system (or cryptosystem or algorithm) is a method of bypassing normal authentication or securing remote access to a computer, while attempting to remain hidden from casual inspection. ...
For other uses, see Trojan Horse (disambiguation). ...
The fall of Troy, by Johann Georg Trautmann (1713–1769). ...
REDIRECT Dialer ...
Virus -
Main article: Computer virus A virus is a self-replicating program that spreads by inserting copies of itself into other executable code or documents. Thus, a computer virus behaves in a way similar to a biological virus, which spreads by inserting itself into living cells. A computer virus is a computer program that can copy itself and infect a computer without permission or knowledge of the user. ...
This article is about biological infectious particles. ...
Worm -
Main article: Computer worm Like a virus, a worm is also a self-replicating program. The difference between a virus and a worm is that a worm does not create multiple copies of itself on one system: it propagates through computer networks. After the comparison between computer viruses and biological viruses, the obvious comparison here is to a bacterium. Many people conflate the terms "virus" and "worm", using them both to describe any self-propagating program. It is possible for a program to have the blunt characteristics of both a worm and a virus. A computer worm is a self-replicating computer program. ...
Phyla/Divisions Actinobacteria Aquificae Bacteroidetes/Chlorobi Chlamydiae/Verrucomicrobia Chloroflexi Chrysiogenetes Cyanobacteria Deferribacteres Deinococcus-Thermus Dictyoglomi Fibrobacteres/Acidobacteria Firmicutes Fusobacteria Gemmatimonadetes Nitrospirae Omnibacteria Planctomycetes Proteobacteria Spirochaetes Thermodesulfobacteria Thermomicrobia Thermotogae Bacteria (singular, bacterium) are a major group of living organisms. ...
Notable intruders and criminal hackers
The 414s -
The 414s were a gang of six teenagers named after their Milwaukee, Wisconsin area code, who broke into dozens of computer systems throughout the United States and Canada in 1983. Their exploits included Los Alamos National Laboratory, Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and Security Pacific Bank. [2][3] The incident appeared as the cover story of Newsweek with the title Beware: Hackers at play,[4] possibly the first mass-media use of the term hacker in the context of computer security. As a result, the U.S. House of Representatives held hearings on computer security and passed several laws [5]. The 414s gained fame in the early 1980s as a group of friends and computer hackers who broke into dozens of high-profile computer systems, including ones at Los Alamos National Laboratory, Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and Security Pacific Bank [1]. They were eventually identified as six teenagers, taking their...
For other places with the same name, see Milwaukee (disambiguation). ...
A telephone numbering plan is a system that allows subscribers to make and receive telephone calls across long distances. ...
For the Jimi Hendrix song, see 1983. ...
Los Alamos National Laboratory, aerial view from 1995. ...
The original New York Cancer Hospital[1], first built between 1884 and 1886, now converted to luxury condominiums, at 455 Central Park West and 106th St. ...
Security Pacific National Bank (SPNB) was a large US bank headquartered in Los Angeles, California. ...
The Newsweek logo Newsweek is a weekly news magazine published in New York City and distributed throughout the United States and internationally. ...
The House of Representatives is the larger of two houses that make up the U.S. Congress, the other being the United States Senate. ...
Mark Abene -
Mark Abene (also known as Phiber Optik) inspired thousands of teenagers around the country to "study" the internal workings of the United States phone system. One of the founders of the Masters of Deception group. Mark Abene, at an undisclosed location, September 2005. ...
The Masters of Deception (MOD) were a New York-based hacker group. ...
Dark Avenger -
Main article: Dark Avenger Dark Avenger is the pseudonym of a Bulgarian virus writer who invented polymorphic code in 1992 as a means to circumvent the type of pattern recognition used by Anti-virus software, and nowadays also intrusion detection systems. Dark Avenger (also known as Eddie) was the pseudonym for a famous computer virus writer from Sofia, Bulgaria. ...
In computer terminology, polymorphic code is code that mutates while keeping the original algorithm intact. ...
Year 1992 (MCMXCII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display full 1992 Gregorian calendar). ...
Anti-virus software consists of computer programs that attempt to identify, thwart and eliminate computer viruses and other malicious software (malware). ...
An Intrusion Detection System or IDS is a software tool used to detect unauthorised access to a computer system or network. ...
John Draper -
Main article: John Draper John Draper (also known as Captain Crunch) is widely credited with evangelizing the use of the 2600 hertz tone generated by whistles distributed in Captain Crunch cereal boxes in the 1970s, and sometimes inaccurately credited with discovering their use. Draper served time in prison for his work, and is believed to have introduced Steve Wozniak to phone phreaking through the 2600Hz tone. Draper now develops anti-spam and security software. John T. Draper (born 1944), also known as Captain Crunch, Crunch or Crunchman (after Capn Crunch, the mascot of a breakfast cereal), is a former phone phreak. ...
2600 Hz is the frequency in hertz (cycles per second) that AT&T formerly put as a steady signal on any long-distance telephone line that was not currently in use. ...
Captain Crunch can refer to. ...
Stephan Gary Woz Wozniak (born August 11, 1950 in San Jose, California) is an American computer engineer and the co-founder of Apple Computer (now Apple Inc. ...
Phreaking is a slang term coined to describe the activity of a subculture of people who study, experiment with, or explore telecommunication systems, like equipment and systems connected to public telephone networks. ...
Farid Essebar -
Main article: Farid Essebar Farid Essebar (also known as Diabl0) is the creator of Zotob Farid Essebar (born in 1987 and also known as Diabl0) is a Moroccan Dark-side hacker. ...
Wikinews has news related to this article: CNN headquarters infected with computer worm, exaggerates global threat The Zotob worm and several variations of it, known as Rbot. ...
Nahshon Even-Chaim -
Main article: Nahshon Even-Chaim Nahshon Even-Chaim (also known as Phoenix) was a leading member of Australian hacking group The Realm. He targeted US defense and nuclear research computer systems in late 1980s until his capture by Australian Federal Police in 1990. He and fellow Realm members Electron and Nom were the world's first computer intruders prosecuted based on evidence gathered from remote computer intercept. Nahshon Even-Chaim (b. ...
Electron was the computer handle of Richard Jones, a member of an underground hacker community called The Realm. ...
Markus Hess -
Main article: Markus Hess Markus Hess is a West German who hacked into United States Military sites and collected information for the KGB; he was eventually tracked down by Clifford Stoll. Markus Hess, a West German citizen, was a computer prodigy and particularly effective hacker. ...
West Germany was the informal but almost universally used name for the Federal Republic of Germany from 1949 until 1990, during which years the Federal Republic did not yet include East Germany. ...
The armed forces of the United States of America consist of the United States Army United States Navy United States Air Force United States Marine Corps United States Coast Guard Note: The United States Coast Guard has both military and law enforcement functions. ...
This article is about the KGB of the Soviet Union. ...
Clifford Stoll (or Cliff Stoll) is a U.S. astronomer, computer systems administrator, and author. ...
Jonathan James -
Jonathan James (also known as c0mrade) downloaded $1.7 million dollars worth of software which controlled the International Space Station's life sustaining elements, and intercepted thousands of electronic messages relating to U.S. nuclear activities from the Department of Defense. Sentenced at age 16, he was the youngest person ever incarcerated for cybercrime in the United States. Jonathan James (b. ...
ISS redirects here. ...
The United States Department of Defense (DOD or DoD) is the federal department charged with coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the government relating directly to national security and the military. ...
ne0h -
Main article: ne0h ne0h was reported to have been employed by a Pakistani terrorist with Al-Qaeda connections, in order to steal student information from a Chinese university (reportedly, one comparable to MIT[citation needed]), India's Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, and SIPRNet, the U.S. Department of Defense's Defense Data Network. Al-Qaeda (Arabic: القاعدة, the foundation or the base) is the name given to a worldwide network of militant Islamist organizations under the leadership of Osama bin Laden. ...
The Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) is Indias primary nuclear research facility. ...
The SIPRNet (Secret [formerly Secure] Internet Protocol Router Network) is a system of interconnected computer networks used by the U.S. Department of Defense to transmit classified information (up to and including information classified SECRET//NOFORN) by packet switching over the TCP/IP protocols in a completely secure environment. ...
The United States Department of Defense, abbreviated DoD or DOD and sometimes called the Defense Department, is a civilian Cabinet organization of the United States government. ...
Adrian Lamo -
Main article: Adrian Lamo Lamo surrendered to federal authorities in 2003 after a brief manhunt, and was charged with nontechnical but surprisingly successful intrusions into computer systems at Microsoft, The New York Times, Lexis-Nexis, MCI WorldCom, SBC, Yahoo!, and others. His methods were controversial, and his full-disclosure-by-media practices led some to assert that he was publicity-motivated. Adrian Lamo (born 1981) is a former grey hat hacker and journalist, principally known for breaking into a series of high-security computer networks, and his subsequent arrest. ...
Year 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...
Microsoft Corporation, (NASDAQ: MSFT, HKSE: 4338) is a multinational computer technology corporation with global annual revenue of US$44. ...
The New York Times is a daily newspaper published in New York City and distributed internationally. ...
LexisNexis is a popular searchable archive of content from newspapers, magazines, legal documents and other printed sources. ...
MCI logo MCI, Inc. ...
SBC Communications NYSE: SBC is an American telecommunications company based in San Antonio, Texas. ...
Yahoo redirects here. ...
Vladimir Levin -
Main article: Vladimir Levin Vladimir Levin allegedly masterminded the Russian hacker gang that tricked Citibank's computers into spitting out $10 million. To this day, the method used, or even if Vladimir was a mathematician, is unknown. Vladimir Levin is the handle of the mathematician who is alleged to be the mastermind of the Russian cracker gang that stole US$10 million from Citibanks computer system. ...
Citibank is a major international bank, founded in 1812 as the City Bank of New York. ...
Kevin Mitnick -
Main article: Kevin Mitnick Kevin Mitnick was held in jail for four and a half years and released on January 21, 2000. He was convicted of computer related crimes and possession of several forged identification documents. Once "the most wanted man in cyberspace", Mitnick went on to be a prolific public speaker, author, and media personality. Kevin David Mitnick (born October 6, 1963) is a controversial computer cracker and convicted criminal in the United States. ...
Robert Tappan Morris -
Robert T. Morris, while a graduate student at Cornell University in 1988, created the first worm, Morris Worm, which used buffer overflows to propagate. He is the son of Robert Morris, the former chief scientist at the National Computer Security Center, a division of the National Security Agency (NSA). Morris was not exactly a hacker of the computer security hacker culture, but a user of the MIT-AI, the home machine of the early academic hacker culture. According to Steven Levy, he was a true hacker who blundered. Robert Tappan Morris (born 1965) is an associate professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. ...
Cornell redirects here. ...
Year 1988 (MCMLXXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Friday (link displays 1988 Gregorian calendar). ...
A computer worm is a self-replicating computer program. ...
The Morris worm or Internet worm was one of the first computer worms distributed via the Internet; it is considered the first worm and was certainly the first to gain significant mainstream media attention. ...
v00d00 -
Main article: Jason Burks Jason Burks born October 2 1976, also referred to as "v00d00" is a former computer hacker, and malicious software writer. He is best known for writing the Juggernaut Hydra, and releasing it into the Progressive Insurance mainframe.
Craig Neidorf -
Main article: Craig Neidorf In 1990, Neidorf (a co-founder of Phrack) was prosecuted for stealing the E911 document from BellSouth and publicly distributing it online. BellSouth claimed that the document was worth $80,000; they dropped the charges after it was revealed that copies of the document could simply be ordered for a minuscule $13. Craig Neidorf (1969), aka Knight Lightning, is a hacker, and one of the founding editors of Phrack. ...
Phrack is an underground ezine made by and for hackers that has been around since November 17, 1985. ...
Brian Salcedo -
Main article: Brian Salcedo Brian Salcedo was convicted in 2004 of conspiracy to commit wire and computer fraud for hacking the Lowe's home improvement chain's unsecured wireless LAN in an attempt to capture credit card numbers used during transactions. The FBI claimed that the crime could have caused more than $2.5 million in damages. He was sentenced to 9 years in federal prison. The government claims that at the time of its imposition, Brian Salcedo's sentence was the longest federal prison sentence ever given for a computer related offense. Brian Salcedo was convicted in 2004 of conspiracy to commit wire and computer fraud in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 371 for accessing a home improvement chains wireless LAN in an attempt to recover credit card numbers. ...
Year 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ...
“Lowes†redirects here. ...
This article is about the television series. ...
The notebook is connected to the wireless access point using a PC card wireless card. ...
In law, damages refers to the money paid or awarded to a claimant (as it is known in the UK) or plaintiff (in the US) following their successful claim in a civil action. ...
In law, a sentence forms the final act of a judge-ruled process, and also the symbolic principal act connected to his function. ...
This article is about the federal government of the United States. ...
David L. Smith -
In 1999, Smith launched the Melissa Worm, causing $80 million dollars worth of damage to businesses. Originally sentenced to 40 years, he eventually served only 20 months when he agreed to work undercover for the FBI. In March of 1999, David L. Smith, a 31-year old New Jersey programmer, released the Melissa virus in Aberdeen Township, New Jersey. ...
The Melissa worm, also known as Mailissa, Simpsons, Kwyjibo, or Kwejeebo, is a computer worm that also functions as a macro virus, hence making it a multipartite virus. // History First found on March 26, 1999, Melissa shut down Internet mail systems that got clogged with infected e-mails propogating from...
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is a federal criminal investigative, intelligence agency, and the primary investigative arm of the United States Department of Justice (DOJ). ...
Notable Security Hackers
Eric Corley -
Eric Corley (also known as Emmanuel Goldstein) is the long standing publisher of 2600: The Hacker Quarterly and founder of the H.O.P.E. conferences. He has been part of the hacker community since the late '70s. Left to right: Deth Vegetable, Eric Emmanuel Goldstein Corley and Joe630 in Freedom Downtime Eric Gorden Corley is a member of the computer hacker community and goes by the name Emmanuel Goldstein, after the leader of the underground in George Orwells classic, Nineteen Eighty-Four. ...
This article is about the character in Nineteen Eighty-Four. ...
(Redirected from 2600 The Hacker Quarterly) Fall 2004 (21:3) 2600 Issue 2600: The Hacker Quarterly is a traditional (printed) magazine named for the fact that phreakers in the 1960s found that the transmission of a 2600 Hertz tone (which could be produced perfectly with a plastic toy whistle given...
Hackers on Planet Earth or HOPE is a conference series sponsored by the hacker magazine 2600 The Hacker Quarterly. ...
Fyodor -
Main article: Gordon Lyon Gordon Lyon (better known as Fyodor) authored the Nmap Security Scanner as well as many network security books and web sites. He is a founding member of the Honeynet Project and Vice President of Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility. Fyodor at the 2006 Hackers on Planet Earth conference Gordon Lyon, also known by his pseudonym Fyodor, is a network security expert, open source programmer, writer, and self-proclaimed hacker. ...
For the maternity policy see National Maternity Action Plan Nmap is a free security scanner written by Gordon Lyon. ...
The Honeynet Project, led by Lance Spitzner, is a project to develop and analyze computer honeynet and honeypot data, and to further research into how malicious hackers act. ...
Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility (CPSR) is an organization focusing on the aspect of computer technology on society. ...
Johan Helsingius -
Johan "Julf" Helsingius operated the world's most popular anonymous remailer, the Penet remailer (called penet.fi), until he closed up shop in September 1996. Johan Julf Helsingius, born in Finland, started and ran the Anon. ...
An anonymous remailer is a server computer which receives messages with embedded instructions on where to send them next, and which forwards them without revealing where they originally came from. ...
The Penet remailer (anon. ...
Year 1996 (MCMXCVI) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display full 1996 Gregorian calendar). ...
Tsutomu Shimomura -
Shimomura helped catch Kevin Mitnick, the United States' most infamous computer intruder, in early 1994. He is the co-author of a book about the Mitnick case, Takedown: The Pursuit and Capture of Kevin Mitnick, America's Most Wanted Computer Outlaw-By the Man Who Did It (ISBN 0-7868-8913-6), though Mitnick himself has raised questions about the book's accuracy. Tsutomu Shimomura Tsutomu Shimomura is a Japanese scientist and computer security expert based in the United States, who gained fame when he, together with computer journalist John Markoff, tracked down and helped the FBI arrest hacker Kevin Mitnick. ...
Kevin David Mitnick (born October 6, 1963) is a controversial computer cracker and convicted criminal in the United States. ...
Year 1994 (MCMXCIV) The year 1994 was designated as the International Year of the Family and the International Year of the Sport and the Olympic Ideal by the United Nations. ...
Solar Designer -
Main article: Solar Designer Solar Designer is the pseudonym of the founder of the Openwall Project. Solar Designer is security specialist from Russia known by his publications on exploitations techniques (Return into (g)libc buffer overflow exploitation), computer security protection techniques (privilege separation for daemon process), security audit tools (John-the-Ripper) and Linux programming (OpenWall Project) . Categories: Computer stubs ...
Openwall is a source for different software, including Openwall GNU/*/Linux (Owl), a security-enhanced GNU/*/Linux-based server platform. ...
Michal Zalewski -
Michal Zalweski (lcamtuf) is a prominent security researcher. Michal Zalewski is a hacker in the Jargon File meaning of the word and a young yet well-known computer security expert from Poland. ...
References - ^ The glider: an Appropriate Hacker Emblem
- ^ Detroit Free Press, September 27, 1983
- ^ The 414 Gang Strikes Again, Philip Elmer-DeWitt, Time magazine, Aug. 29, 1983, p. 75
- ^ Beware: Hackers at play, Newsweek, September 5, 1983, pp. 42-46,48
- ^ David Bailey, "Attacks on Computers: Congressional Hearings and Pending Legislation," sp, p. 180, 1984 IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy, 1984.
(Clockwise from upper left) Time magazine covers from May 7, 1945; July 25, 1969; December 31, 1999; September 14, 2001; and April 21, 2003. ...
Related literature - Clifford Stoll (1990). The Cuckoo's Egg. The Bodley Head Ltd. ISBN 0-370-31433-6.
- Code Hacking: A Developer's Guide to Network Security by Richard Conway, Julian Cordingley
- Kevin Beaver. Hacking For Dummies.
- Katie Hafner & John Markoff (1991). Cyberpunk: Outlaws and Hackers on the Computer Frontier. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0-671-68322-5.
- David H. Freeman & Charles C. Mann (1997). @ Large: The Strange Case of the World's Biggest Internet Invasion. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0-684-82464-7.
- Suelette Dreyfus (1997). Underground: Tales of Hacking, Madness and Obsession on the Electronic Frontier. Mandarin. ISBN 1-86330-595-5.
- Bill Apro & Graeme Hammond (2005). Hackers: The Hunt for Australia's Most Infamous Computer Cracker. Five Mile Press. ISBN 1-74124-722-5.
- Stuart McClure, Joel Scambray & George Kurtz (1999). Hacking Exposed. Mcgraw-Hill. ISBN 0-07-212127-0.
Underground: Tales of Hacking, Madness and Obsession on the Electronic Frontier is a 1997 book by Suelette Dreyfus. ...
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