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All-time Most Notorious Hackers

slavezero — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 14:46:36 +0000

While I was browsing on some sites I stumbled on several sites, and saw their article about the most notorious hackers of our time. The post was very interesting so I decided to share it with all of my readers. They have great minds but they really wasted their talents. They are just a few of those great computer minds that instead of doing some helpful deeds, protecting the cyberworld, helping and sharing their knowledge to other people they do some crazy stuffs, not just an ordinary crazy stuff but destructive stuffs.

Here are some of them:

Gary McKinnon

Gary McKinnon, 40, accused of mounting the largest ever hack of United States government computer networks — including Army, Air Force, Navy and NASA systems — listens to a reporter’s question outside the Bow Magistrates Court in central London Wednesday May 10, 2006. The court has recommended that McKinnon be extradited to the United States to face charges of illegally accessing 97 computers, causing US$700,000 (400,000 pounds; euro 588,000) in damage. British Home Secretary John Reid will make the final decision on extradition but if he approves it, McKinnon will appeal to the High Court, the alleged hacker said.

Kevin Mitnick (Several Convictions in the 1990’s)

For several years he made a career out of hacking into computers, stealing corporate secrets, scrambling phone networks, and breaking into the national defense warning system which caused millions of dollars in losses. He has spent almost six years in prison in solitary confinement for his notorious crimes.

It seems his hacking days are over, however. He is now a computer consultant, author, and public speaker. His story has inspired two Hollywood movies: Takedown and Freedom Downtime.

Adrian Lamo (Convicted in 2004)

Adrian Lamo admitted to various computer crimes directed at companies like Yahoo!, Microsoft, Ameritech, Cingular, AOL Time Warner, Bank of America, Citigroup, McDonald’s and Sun Microsystems, but he is best known his intrusion into “The New York Times” internal computer system. He repeatedly hacked into the system to add his name to confidential databases of expert sources. He also used the paper’s LexisNexis account to conduct research on high-profile subjects.

In 2004, he surrendered to FBI and pleaded guilty to one count of computer crimes against Microsoft, Lexis-Nexis and “The New York Times”. He was sentenced to six months’ detention at his parents’ home plus two years probation, and was ordered to pay roughly $65,000 in restitution.

Lamo is now an award winning journalist and public speaker. He has interviewed personalities like John Ashcroft and Oliver Stone.

Jonathan James (Convicted in 2000)

Jonathan James was the first juvenile, at the age of 16, to be jailed for computer crimes in the United States. His crimes were directed toward NASA and the US Department of Defense.

NASA claimed he downloaded $1.7 million worth of proprietary software. He then admitted to installing a “sniffer” on the Department of Defense’s computer system which allowed him to intercept over three thousand messages passing to and from employees, along with numerous usernames and passwords of other DoD employees. At least ten of the computers he hacked into were military computers

Although he could have served up to ten years in jail, the fact that he was a juvenile reduced his initial sentence to six months in jail and probation until he was 18 (he was also required to write apology letters to NASA and DoD). The judge then reduced the sentence to six months of house arrest and probation until the age of 21. After violating probation he was required to serve the full six months in a federal correctional facility.

Operation Web Snare (2004)

As of 2004, operation Web Snare is the “largest and most successful” law enforcement operation related to online fraud. The operation included more than 150 investigations of Internet-related crimes, including denial-of-service attacks, computer hacking, selling counterfeit software, phishing, and identity theft. More than 870,000 victims lost more than $210 million dollars from such crimes.

Among those convicted were Utah resident Mark Pentrack who offered car parts, aircraft parts, and other items for sale over the Internet, but did not own those items. More than ten people sent Pentrack more than $200,000 for such items. He hired secretaries in five states outside Utah to receive payments from the consumers, used an Australia based e-mail service, and used an “anonymizing” program when conducting online activities. He was sentenced to more than 11 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to mail fraud, misuse of a Social Security number, attempted destruction of evidence, and making a false statement in connection with an Internet fraud scheme.

Max Ray Butler (Convicted in 2001)

Also known as Max Vision, Max Ray Butler was a talented computer specialist who ran a computer security company in Silicon Valley. He was also a highly-skilled hacker who went to prison for creating an Internet worm that hacked into systems at McChord Air Force Base, NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, the Argonne and Brookhaven National Labs, IDSoftware, and an unspecified Defense Department system.

Interestingly, Max was an FBI informant for five years. He supplied to the FBI information about several major cracks and helped track down other computer hackers.

Police arrested Max in March 2000 after he refused to wear a wiretap to a meeting with a friend who was being suspected of cyber-crimes. He was later charged with 15 counts of hacking-related crimes including computer intrusion, possession of stolen passwords and interception of communications. He was sentenced to 18 months in prison.

His hacking career didn’t end with his prison sentence, though. Recently he was in court facing with charges of wire fraud and identity theft. He faces a possible sentence of 40 years in prison and a $1.5 million fine if convicted.

Nahshon Even-Chaim (Convicted in 1993)

Nahshon Even-Chaim , aka Phoenix, belonged to an elite computer hacking group known as The Realm. He was the first major computer hacker to be convicted in Australia. His targets centered on defense and nuclear weapons research networks. He was so skilled that many of his victims weren’t aware they were victimized until the evidence was presented after the arrests.

Some of his crimes include stealing a password cracking program from NASA, gaining unauthorized access to universities involved in nuclear energy research, tampering with files and crashing the system at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory which controlled the world’s most powerful laser, and many more.

Wire and data taps gave police all the evidence they needed to charge Even-Chaim with 48 offenses, most of which carried a maximum ten year sentence. After negotiations, however, his sentence was reduced to 500 hours of community service and a 12 month suspended jail term.

Vasiliy Gorshikov and Alexey Ivanov (Convicted in 2001)

After a very complex undercover FBI operations, Vasiliy Gorshikov and Alexey Ivanov of Chelyabinsk, Russia were arrested for 20 counts of computer crimes, fraud and conspiracy. They were convicted for stealing approximately 50,000 credit card numbers from U.S. online banks, e-commerce companies and Internet service providers.

Gorshikov was sentenced to three years in prison and ordered to pay $690,000 in restitution charges, while Ivanov received a 3 years and 8 month sentence and restitution charges of $800,000.

Jeanson James Ancheta (Convicted in 2006)

Jeanson James Ancheta of California was charged with 17 counts of conspiracy, fraud and other crimes connected to a 14-month hacking spree that started in June 2004. He pleaded guilty to seizing control of hundreds of thousands of computers and renting the zombie network to people who used it to send out spam. He silently downloaded Spy ware/Ad ware to more than 400,000 infected computers that he controlled. He admitted to gaining for himself and a co-conspirator more than $100,000 in advertising affiliate proceeds.

Among the computers he attacked were some at the Weapons Division of the U.S. Naval Air Warfare Center in China Lake, California, and at the U.S. Department of Defense.

Ancheta was sentenced to almost five years in federal prison and ordered to pay approximately $15,000 to the United States federal government for inflicting damage on military computers. He was also forced to return to the government more than $60,000 in cash, a BMW automobile and computer equipment.

See more of them Convicted Notorious of our time

More White-Black-Grey Hat Hackers

Choosing the right Internet Service Provider

slavezero — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 05:03:01 +0000

When choosing a ISP (Internet Service Provider) whether it is for personal or business it is always important to take time in conducting a study on various providers of Internet. There are lots of different Internet Service provider that offers different technology, rates and services. You can choose from a DSL, Cable or Wireless.

When choosing between Digital Subscriber Line, Wireless or Cable, consider all the factors involved in the decision. Before we proceed with the tips let me first explain those services that I mention.

DSL (Digital Subscriber Line)- An Internet access service typically offered by telephone companies. Uses the same physical wire as your existing telephone, yet allows you to browse the Web and make a phone call at the same time. Speeds vary, from a low of 128kbps to 5mbps. The most popular here in the Philippines are PLDT MyDSL and Globe. But base on my experience and other clients experience PLDT provides the best DSL service.

Cable – This service is typically offered by cable TV companies. It uses the same physical wire as your existing cable TV, yet allows you to browse the Web and watch TV at the same time.

Wireless (Wi-Fi) – Unlike Cable and DSL this doesn’t need a physical wire to provide internet connection. It uses a canopy to provide service. The most popular here in the Philippines is SmartBro. Smartbro can supply a speed ranging from 128kbps to 384kbps but Globe Wireless can now provide a speed up to 1.8mbps (This will depend on your location).

Which is better? well… here some factors to consider to help you choose the right service for you.

Availability – This is the first thing you should consider because not all services are available on all locations specially the Wi-Fi service your location must be on the hotspot before you can avail their service. Cable are also limited specially on rural places.

Speed/Performance – Though cable can be a great deal quicker than Digital Subscriber Line, there are examples when cable doesn’t in reality give you what it claims to. The downside is that people in the neighborhood who use the same service simultaneously time may draw on your service and slow the speed of the cable connection. DSL offers a “guaranteed” bandwidth. Wi-Fi is only recommended for personal use because of limited speed.

Security Levels – Regarding security, security systems are set up for both the Digital Subscriber Line and cable networks. But many individuals have genuine fears about the security of their system while using cable.

Price – The most affordable one is WiFi you can get an unlimited connection for only PhP 999 ($20) a month. But Wi-Fi connection is not recommended if your going to use it for business purposes because of speed limitation and stability. DSL and Cable are has almost the same in pricing but for business it is much better to choose DSL so you can bundle it with your phone connection. PLDT MyDSL has a package plan of Php 999 bundled with phone unlimited plan with a speed of 1.0mbps.

Support Services – One of the top priorities when choosing a Internet Service Provider is their ability to offer the best customer service and technical support. What is the use of giving your money to a service that won’t let you log on to the Internet due to some type of technical problem and you can’t get in touch with anybody to get the trouble solved. Your first thought is running your business enterprise, and without online access you merely can not be as effective.

If you want to run an online business enterprise from your home, it is vital that you select a service that will not compromise the privacy of the information your customers give you. You do not want this data to be available to anyone in order to prevent any fraudulent uses.

Start your comparison of Digital Subscriber Line, Cable and Wireless service providers by asking friends, family, and neighbors what they do or do not like about the provider they use. By taking this precaution, you will be able to evaluate the service first hand, and you will know whether or not it will meet the specific needs that you have.

Internet Service Provider comparison shopping will help to you ensure that you get the best value for your money. It’s easy to find the right service for your business concern if you simply keep these pointers in mind.