Cybercriminals and Breakfast Cereal

A history of famous hackers, from using toy whistles to targeting NASA
July 2010
by Robin Wark

A toy whistle from a cereal box might not be as cool as an iPad, but it helped one man become famous as one of the first hackers.

John Draper, aka Captain Crunch (after Cap'n Crunch cereal), employed cereal box whistles and, eventually multi-frequency tone generators he built, to "phone phreak." This is the act of cracking phone networks and making free calls.

Thanks to a 1971 Esquire article, the Captain, who went on to work for Apple and develop EasyWriter word processing software, was one of the most famous early hackers. He was soon followed by a long list of cybercriminals. Some hacked into systems for fun, while others did it for personal gain. Others sought to shut down networks or steal intellectual property. Some of the best known cybercriminals include:

Kevin Mitnick: When apprehended in 1995, Mitnick was described as the most wanted computer criminal in the United States. His confirmed cases of cybercrime included breaking into the Digital Equipment Corporation's computer network and stealing software, as well as gaining administrator privileges to an IBM minicomputer at Los Angeles' computer Learning Center to win a bet. He also reportedly stole corporate secrets, scrambled phone networks and hacked into the National Defence warning system. Mitnick served five years in prison – including eight months in solitary confinement because he claims law enforcement convinced a judge Mitnick could "start a nuclear war by whistling into a pay phone." He now works as a security consultant, speaker and author.

Kevin Poulsen Also known by the hacker handle Dark Dante, Poulsen earned a 51-month prison sentence for a variety of crimes related to mail, wire and computer fraud. He is best known for hacking LA radio station KIIS-FM's phone lines so that he was 102nd caller so he could win a Porsche 944. Poulsen also obtained information about the Federal Bureau of Investigation's undercover businesses. When his photo appeared on the TV show Unsolved Mysteries, the phone system for the show's 1-800 number mysteriously crashed. Poulsen is now the senior editor for Wired News and is credited with helping uncover 744 registered sex offenders through their MySpace profiles.

Robert Tappan Morris: Morris earned a couple of firsts: creating the first computer worm to spread on the Internet and, in 1990, being the first person prosecuted under the 1986 Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. He claimed the worm was only created to try to gauge how big the Internet is. However, some claim the worm destroyed some 6,000 machines. Morris was sentenced to community service, probation and fined $10,000. He is now a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Jonathan James: At the age of 16, James became famous when he was the first minor incarcerated in the U.S. for cybercrime. He hacked into the Defense Threat Reduction Agency, a division of the Department of Defense, and intercepted over three thousand of their email messages. As well, he got into the NASA computer system and stole software valued at more than $1.7 million. NASA ended up shutting down its computers for three weeks. James took his own life in 2008. His suicide note indicated he was concerned he would be prosecuted for hacking crimes James maintained he did not commit but was being investigated for.

Adrian Lamo: The "homeless hacker" utilized Internet connections at such places as Kinko's, coffee shops and libraries to gain access into such companies as The New York Times, Yahoo and Microsoft. He was known not for theft, but for warning the companies of the flaws he found in their computer systems. For his Times intrusion, Lamo was sentenced to six months of home confinement, two years probation and restitution of $65,000. He now is a journalist and public speaker.

Gary McKinnon: The Scottish hacker is accused of perpetrating the "biggest military hack of all time," according to one United States prosecutor. McKinnon allegedly hacked into 97 computers on networks owned by such organizations as NASA, the Department of Defense and the United States Army, Navy and Air Force. The U.S. government alleges McKinnon deleted key files and caused systems to be shut down and great expense to be incurred. McKinnon denies causing damage and said he was only looking on these systems for cover-up of UFO activity and technology information that could useful for the general public. In 2002, he was indicted on seven counts of computer-related crimes with a maximum sentence of 10 years per offence, but a decision on extradition has yet to be made in the United Kingdom.

Robert Soloway: Known as the Spam King, Soloway utilized zombie computers and spoofed headers to send millions of spam emails. He commonly made his messages appear like they were from MSN and Hotmail addresses. He was ordered to pay Microsoft $7 million in damages and a small Oklahoma Internet provider $10 million. In 2008, his continued spamming netted him a 47 month federal prison sentence and was ordered to repay over $700,000.

MafiaBoy: When he was a Canadian highschooler, Michael Calce launched several denial-of-service attacks against the websites owned by such companies as Yahoo!, Amazon.com, Dell, eBay and CNN. These attacks stopped the sites from working and caused economic damage estimated to be in the millions of dollars. Calce pleaded guilty to 56 charges and served eight months in a group home.

While these men are among the most famous cybercriminals, there are plenty more out there. According to recently data shows that 90 per cent of online attacks are organized. That means now crooks are banning together to try to take what is yours.

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