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Thursday 4 July 2019

10 Best Hackers The World Has Ever Known world's Most Famous and Best Hackers


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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