Computer hacking and cybersecurity is a serious issue
But, what do you actually know about people who work as hackers?
Read on to learn about the most famous hackers in history.
1. Kevin Poulsen
Kevin Poulsen is one of the first hackers ever, this is part of what made him so famous. He managed to hack into the Pentagon when he was just 17 years old. In 1990, he hacked into a radio station so that he could win a contest.
Poulsen currently works as a journalist, rather than as a hacker.
2. Albert Gonzalez
Albert Gonzalez is credited with one of the biggest credit card frauds in history. He was allegedly part of a group of hackers called ShadowCrew, which stole over a million credit card numbers. In 2007, he then stole millions of credit and debit card numbers from TJX Companies.
Gonzalez was arrested in 2008, and in 2010 he was sentenced to 20 years in prison.
3. Anonymous
This isn’t one individual hacker; Anonymous is more of a collection of different hackers working together. Anonymous started out on 4Chan, and first gained notoriety for their work targeting Scientology.
Anonymous participated in supporting the Arab Spring Movement, Occupy Wall Street, and the protests after the death of George Floyd. Other groups that Anonymous have hacked include the Westboro Baptist Church, the United Nations, Thailand Justice, the South African Broadcasting Corporation, the Government of Nigeria, and many others.
4. Aaron Swartz
Aaron Swartz was a hacker and computer programmer, known for his work on RSS feeds and the social networking site Reddit. He was also an activist for freedom of information and lobbied against various anti-piracy initiatives.
Swartz was arrested and charged with wire fraud, computer fraud, and related charges after a laptop owned by him was discovered downloading journal articles at MIT, which he was allegedly posting for free on websites for people to access without a paywall.
Unfortunately, after months of legal pressure, Swartz died by suicide at just 26 years old.
5. Kevin Mitnick
Kevin Mitnick is notorious for his computer hacking skills. He began hacking in 1979, when he was promptly arrested for copying Digital Equipment Corporation’s software. He was subsequently arrested for hacking into Pacific Bell. He has also been accused of hacking NORAD.
Currently, Mitnick runs a computer security consulting company.
6. Gary MacKinnon
If you’ve heard about military hackers, you’ve probably heard about Gary MacKinnon. He was accused of hacking into dozens of American Military computers in the early 2000s. The US military said that he deleted files on their servers that caused security issues.
He was indicted in 2002, but the U.K. government eventually blocked his extradition to the United States.
Now You Know the Most Famous Hackers
Knowing about these famous hackers is a great way to avoid being hacked. Since now, you can avoid all their sneaky tricks!
Looking for more stories in the world of technology and science? Take a look at some of the rest of the articles on this website for more.