There are 2 types of hackers! The first is what you often see in Hollywood movies, antisocial "nerds" who try to conquer cyberspace and turn everything upside down! The second type are those who simply enjoy looking for new tricks on software source code and hardware gigs.
Yes, that's right! The term hacker most often refers to those who belong to the second type and have no bad intentions! However, the term is often used for cyber criminals. There are both good and bad hackers! Well-intentioned hackers are often called “white hats” and the bad ones are “black hats.”
Let's look at some of the most famous black hat hackers and their history:
Kevin Poulsen
Kevin Poulsen, also known as “Dark Dante,” gained his 15 minutes of fame by using his knowledge of telephone systems. At one point, he hacked into a radio station’s phone lines, making himself the winner of a brand new Porsche. According to the media, Poulsen was called the Hannibal Lecter of cybercrime.
He earned his spot on the FBI's most wanted list when he hacked into federal systems and stole phone surveillance information. The funny thing is, he was later caught in a supermarket and sentenced to 51 months in prison, as well as paying $56,000 in restitution.
Like other hackers, Poulsen changed after serving his sentence. He started out as a journalist and is now a senior editor at Wired News. At one point, he even helped authorities identify 744 sex offenders on MySpace.
Gary McKinnon
Gary McKinnon was known by the alias “Solo.” Using that name, he coordinated the largest military hacking operation in history. The allegations are that over a 13-month period from February 2001 to March 2002, he illegally gained access to 97 computers belonging to the US Armed Forces and NASA.
McKinnon claimed he was only looking for information about energy and UFO activity cover-ups. But according to US authorities, the hacker deleted many critical files, disabled over 300 computers, and caused $700,000 worth of damage.
Of Scottish descent, he operated from the United Kingdom and was able to evade the American government for a year. Today, he continues to fight extradition to the United States.
https://www.secnews.gr/99236/hacker-nasa-%ce%b1%cf%80%ce%bf%ce%ba%ce%b1%ce%bb%cf%8d%cf%80%cf%84%ce%b5%ce%b9-%ce%b1%ce%bc%ce%b5%cf%81%ce%b9%ce%ba%ce%ae-%ce%ad%cf%87%ce%b5%ce%b9-%cf%80%ce%bf%ce%bb%ce%b5%ce%bc%ce%b9%ce%ba%ce%ac/NASA hacker reveals: America has warships!
Vladimir Levin
Russian hacker Vladimir Levin hacked into Citibank's computers in 1995 and transferred $10 million to other accounts around the world.
Interestingly, Levin did not use the Internet to access the computers. Instead, he tapped into the telecommunications systems and listened in on customers entering their account information. All but $400,000 of the money was recovered.
Levin ultimately received three years in prison and was ordered to pay back $240,000 to Citibank.
ASTRA
ASTRA is a Greek mathematician whose real name has never been revealed. The hacker illegally accessed the computers of the French aerospace company Dassault Group, from where he stole secret technology data for weapons.
ASTRA sold information about fighter jets and military aircraft to many countries. All of this cost the Dassault Group more than $360 million.
The hacker was eventually caught by Greek authorities in 2008 and sentenced to 6 years in prison.
https://www.secnews.gr/102978/afierwma-stous-pio-gnwstous-hackers-part1/A tribute to the most famous hackers! Part 1
