A Who's Who Of Hackers

A Look At The Most Infamous Hackers Of All Time

(CNET)  This story was written by CNET's Jonathan Skillings.

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Now that we've passed through the still waters of Conficker's supposed April 1 activation date, the speculation continues about what the worm might yet hold for the future, and who's behind it.

ABC News online used the opportunity to take a look at some of the most infamous hackers--in the news site's words, "people who unleashed computer chaos--for better or worse"--and what they're up to today.

It focuses on just five most-wanted-character types from the U.S. computing scene. In order, the first four--all logical choices--are Fred Cohen (credited with the first-ever virus, a benign, experimental one), Kevin Mitnick, Robert Morris, and Kevin Poulsen.

Then the list takes an odd turn for No. 5--Napster creator Shawn Fanning. Shawn Fanning? Famous, yes. Disruptive, yes. But hacker? Here's how ABC News rationalized the choice, which comes across as a sort of in-your-face gesture to ill-intentioned (or at least mischievous) hackers with grandiose ambitions: "Shawn Fanning, by most people's definition, is hardly a hacker, but he did more to change the way computers are used than most hackers, for good or evil, can ever hope."

But bad-guy hackers, of course, have been responsible for a huge amount of lost productivity and financial misdeeds over the years. Really, we're the ones who should be hoping that they don't get any more successful (along with keeping our operating systems and antivirus software up to date, resisting those suspicious e-mail come-ons, and using passwords stronger than, well, "password" or "1234".)

I'd also like to try to round out the list of big-time hackers, going beyond those cited above. Here are a few that come immediately to mind for a more complete rogues' gallery. Please chime in with your own thoughts in the comments section below this story.

• Gary McKinnon: A U.K. resident, McKinnon has become a cause celebre as he fights possible extradition to the U.S., where prosecutors say he's responsible for "the biggest military hack of all time."

• David Smith: In 2002, Smith was sentenced to 20 months in prison for creating the Melissa virus, which three years earlier caused widespread disruption as the first mass-mailing computer infection.

• GhostNet: Canadian researchers over the weekend described this "far-reaching" network that has extended into nearly 1,300 computers in more than 100 countries. Working separately, researchers in the U.K. say the network is part and parcel of a "targeted surveillance attack" by the Chinese government that has "potentially fatal consequences for those exposed."

• National governments: China has fallen under suspicion as the possible instigator of the GhostNet and of Conficker and the Nimda virus, along with other Internet malfeasance. Russia has been blamed for cyberwarfare against the former Soviet Union lands of Estonia and Georgia.

• The Paris Hilton hacker: Hacking hits the tabloids! Data from the T-Mobile Sidekick
cell phone of socialite/reality TV star Paris Hilton gets unleashed on the Web, including racy pictures and celebrity friends' phone numbers. In September 2005, a Massachusetts teen was sentenced for breaching T-Mobile USA's internal systems.

And just as I was about to hit the Publish button, a colleague pointed out a separate list on the ITsecurity.com site: "Top 10 Most Famous Hackers of All Time"--black hats and white hats. Enjoy.


By Jonathan Skillings
Copyright ©2008 CNET Networks, Inc., a CBS Company. All rights reserved.

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Add a Comment

by hetup-2009 April 7, 2009 12:16 PM EDT

Cigarette smoking should be encouraged. Start kids off early in schools with frequent smoke breaks. Make smoking mandatory in the military. The medical profession had the lowest rates for health care at the peak of cigarette use. Smoking relieves stress, keeps people skinny and good looking. There is a refreshing ability in blowing smoke rings. Throw in some good booze, some hot sex, and what a winner!

Reply to this comment

by Movn1 April 6, 2009 9:38 AM EDT

These guys should be in jail instead of glorified in your article. Where's your civic responsibility????

Reply to this comment

by inachu1 April 3, 2009 11:03 AM EDT

The old hackers website is alive and kicking at archive.org.

Sometimes people were not really hacking but griefing other players who were cheating.
I remember when Quake came out and people were cheating and getting caught cheating so the hackers would use tools to reboot the cheaters computer and force a BSOD(bl

Reply to this comment

by longtree-2009 April 3, 2009 6:36 AM EDT

if hackers, whatever you want to call them, were executed when found guilty it might not be such an attractive thing for people to do. as it is apparently some hackers are hired for well paying jobs so hacking is a good resume to end up making big bucks and escaping prosecution. start executing them, hacking might be curtailed or eliminated.

Reply to this comment

by incog-nito April 3, 2009 2:32 AM EDT

Infamous? They should only be prosecuted if they actually caused damage. Otherwise they do us all a favor by forcing software companies to write better and more secure code. Why should simply breaking into a military system be considered an offense? Other nations like the Chinese and Russians try to do it all the time. These guys should be recruited to help point out weaknesses in the system so that it can be defended against the real bad guys.

Reply to this comment

by brianbwb-2009 April 2, 2009 10:23 PM EDT

Oh yeah, and I forgot to mention the anti-virus companies themselves, who secretly pay people to create viruses for the companies to sell the software for curing.

Reply to this comment

by brianbwb-2009 April 2, 2009 10:20 PM EDT

Pap, all minor leaguers.

Try H2O, the people who cracked the "uncrackable" Syncrosoft dongle protection, and ZONE, who are at least rumored to be partially credited for cracking the infamous PACE iLok.

Or PHRACK, the geniuses that gave Microsoft so much hell that Microsoft bought them off and turned them into "white hats", or Mark Russinovich, who was so good that Microsoft hired him too, and who btw, discovered the intentional "1st 4 internet" trojan used by Sony, whose CDs installed illegal privacy theft software on it's music CDs, that disabled the computer's CD drive when removed.

Mitnick was a telecom hacker at best, not even close to the "code jockey class" of many others.

Right now the best code jocks are in Russia, and are not bent on the downfall of the US, because the millions of dollars they steal every year would then be worthless, same as the Chinese, contrary to the reporter's feeble attempt at fear mongering.

Reply to this comment

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[hetup-2009]

Cigarette smoking should be encouraged. Start kids off early in schools with frequent smoke breaks. Make smoking mandatory in the military. The medical profession had the lowest rates for health care at the peak of cigarette use. Smoking relieves stress, keeps people skinny and good looking. There is a refreshing ability in blowing smoke rings. Throw in some good booze, some hot sex, and what a winner!

[Movn1]

These guys should be in jail instead of glorified in your article. Where's your civic responsibility????

[inachu1]

The old hackers website is alive and kicking at archive.org.

Sometimes people were not really hacking but griefing other players who were cheating.
I remember when Quake came out and people were cheating and getting caught cheating so the hackers would use tools to reboot the cheaters computer and force a BSOD(bl

[longtree-2009]

if hackers, whatever you want to call them, were executed when found guilty it might not be such an attractive thing for people to do. as it is apparently some hackers are hired for well paying jobs so hacking is a good resume to end up making big bucks and escaping prosecution. start executing them, hacking might be curtailed or eliminated.

[incog-nito]

Infamous? They should only be prosecuted if they actually caused damage. Otherwise they do us all a favor by forcing software companies to write better and more secure code. Why should simply breaking into a military system be considered an offense? Other nations like the Chinese and Russians try to do it all the time. These guys should be recruited to help point out weaknesses in the system so that it can be defended against the real bad guys.

[brianbwb-2009]

Oh yeah, and I forgot to mention the anti-virus companies themselves, who secretly pay people to create viruses for the companies to sell the software for curing.

[brianbwb-2009]

Pap, all minor leaguers.

Try H2O, the people who cracked the "uncrackable" Syncrosoft dongle protection, and ZONE, who are at least rumored to be partially credited for cracking the infamous PACE iLok.

Or PHRACK, the geniuses that gave Microsoft so much hell that Microsoft bought them off and turned them into "white hats", or Mark Russinovich, who was so good that Microsoft hired him too, and who btw, discovered the intentional "1st 4 internet" trojan used by Sony, whose CDs installed illegal privacy theft software on it's music CDs, that disabled the computer's CD drive when removed.

Mitnick was a telecom hacker at best, not even close to the "code jockey class" of many others.

Right now the best code jocks are in Russia, and are not bent on the downfall of the US, because the millions of dollars they steal every year would then be worthless, same as the Chinese, contrary to the reporter's feeble attempt at fear mongering.