4. Anonymous
The concept of being a “digital
Robin Hood” was far from being conceived, but in the computer age, it is very
likely that someone somewhere has bagged this title. A “hacktivist group”
called Anonymous are known with the pen name of being the “digital Robin Hood”
amongst its supporters. Identified in public by wearing Guy Fawkes Masks,
Anons, as they are widely known, have publicized themselves by attacking the
government, religious and corporate websites. The Vatican, the FBI, the CIA,
PayPal, Sony, Mastercard, Visa, Chinese, Israeli, Tunisian, and Ugandan
governments have been amongst their targets. Although Anons have been arguing
whether to engage in serious activism or mere entertainment, many of the
group members have clarified their intent which is to attack internet
censorship and control.
What did they do?
Since their debut in 2003,
Anonymous has been credited for attacking several notable targets, including
Amazon, PayPal, Sony, the Westboro Baptist Church, the Church of Scientology,
parts of the dark web, and the governments of Australia, India, Syria, The United States, among dozens of others.
Where are they now?
Anonymous continues its hacktivism
to this day. Since 2011, two related hacking groups have spawned from
Anonymous: LulzSec and AntiSec.
5. Astra
Astra, a Sanskrit word for the weapon
was the pen name of a hacker who dealt in the weapon stealing and selling. A
58-year-old Greek Mathematician hacked into the systems of France’s Dassault
Group, stole vulnerable weapons technology data and sold it to different
countries for five long years. While the real identity of the ASTRA remains
untraced, officials have said that he had been wanted since 2002. Astra sold
the data to approximately 250 people from around the globe, which cost Dassault
$360 millions of damage.
6. Guccifer 2.0
Who is Guccifer 2.0? Nobody knows
for sure. It could be a person, or a group masquerading as a person. The name
pays homage to a Romanian hacker (known as “Guccifer”) who often targeted US
government officials and others of political prominence.
What did they do?
During the 2016 US Presidential
Election, the Democratic National Convention’s network was hacked. Thousands of
documents were leaked on WikiLeaks and elsewhere. Many believe that Guccifer
2.0 is a cover for Russian intelligence but in an interview with Vice,
Guccifer 2.0 claimed he was Romanian and not Russian.
Where are they now?
Guccifer 2.0 disappeared just
before the 2016 US Presidential Election, then reappeared once in January 2017
to assert that he had no ties to Russian intelligence.
7. Julian Assange
Julian Assange began hacking at the
age of 16 under the name “Mendax.” Over four years, he hacked into various
government, corporate, and educational networks—including the Pentagon, NASA,
Lockheed Martin, Citibank, and Stanford University.
What did he do?
Assange went on to create WikiLeaks
in 2006 as a platform for publishing news leaks and classified documents from
anonymous sources. The United States launched an investigation against Assange
in 2010 to charge him under the Espionage Act of 1917.
Where is he now?
Assange is currently a citizen of
Ecuador and holed up in the Ecuadorian embassy in London, fearing extradition
to the United States.
8. Kevin Mitnick
Clad in an Armani suit, when a
bespectacled face in his mid-40s smiles at you from the computer screen, you
can hardly consider the man a cyber-criminal. Such is the case with Kevin David
Mitnick. Once upon a time, the most wanted cyber-criminal of US now is an
affluent entrepreneur. Kevin, who is now a security consultant, was convicted
of hacking Nokia, Motorola, and Pentagon. He pleaded guilty to seven counts of
fraud that included wire fraud, computer fraud and of illegal interception a
wire communication. After five years of incarceration that included eight
months of solitary confinement, Mitnick now has started afresh. However, his
knack with the computers is still reminisced and was even depicted on celluloid
in the films Takedown and Freedom Downtown.
The US Department of Justice called
him the “most wanted computer criminal in US history.” Kevin Mitnick’s story is
so wild that it was even the basis for a featured film called Track Down.
What did he do?
After serving a year in prison for
hacking into the Digital Equipment Corporation’s network, he was let out for
three years of supervised release. But near the end of that period, he fled and
went on a 2.5-year hacking spree that involved breaching the national defense
warning system and stealing corporate secrets.
Where is he now?
Mitnick was eventually caught and
convicted with a five-year prison sentence. After fully serving those years, he
became a consultant and public speaker for computer security. He now runs
Mitnick Security Consulting, LLC.
9. Kevin Poulsen
How far would you go to win your dream
car or a dream house? How far will you go to win an online contest or a radio
show contest? Perhaps, you shall keep trying your luck, unless you are Kevin
Poulsen! Poulsen infiltrated a radio shows call-in contest just so he could win
a Porsche. Dark Dante, as he was better known, went underground after FBI
started pursuing him. He, later, was found guilty of seven counts of mail, wire
and computer fraud, money laundering and the likes. What turned out to be
rewarding in Dark Dante’s case is – his past crafted his future. Poulsen now
serves as a Senior Editor at Wired.
Kevin Poulsen, also known as “Dark
Dante” earned his 15 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 the “Hannibal Lecter of computer crime.”
What did he do?
Poulsen got himself onto the FBI’s
wanted list when he hacked into federal systems and stole wiretap information.
He was later captured in a supermarket (of all places) and sentenced to 51
months in prison and a bill for $56,000 in restitution.
Where is he now?
Poulsen changed his ways after
being released from prison in 1995. He began working as a journalist and is now
a contributing editor for Wired. In 2006, he even helped law enforcement to
identify 744 sex offenders on MySpace.
10. LulzSec
LulzSec or Lulz Security, a high
profile, the Black Hat hacker group, gained credentials for hacking into Sony, News
International, CIA, FBI, Scotland Yard, and several noteworthy accounts. So
notorious was the group that when it hacked into News Corporations account, they
put across a false report of Rupert Murdoch having passed away. While the group
claims to have retired from their vile duties, the motto of the group,
“Laughing at your security since 2011!” stays alive. There are assertions of
the group has hacked into the websites of the newspapers like The Times and
The Sun to post its retirement news. Many, however, claim that this group had
taken it upon itself to create awareness about the absence of efficient
security against hackers.
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