Hackers are generally categorized by the type of hacking they do. We can classify them into three major categories. Number One – The White hat hackers who choose to use their power for good rather than evil. These hackers are also called as “Ethical hackers”. Number Two – The Black hat hackers who usually break into computer networks by bypassing security protocols and steal data from others. Number Three – Grey hat hackers who blend for both black and white hat activities. Often, Grey hat hackers will look for vulnerabilities in a system without the owner’s permission or knowledge.
So, now coming to the top 5 notorious hackers of all the time, there are a few hackers who are as follows:
- Jonathan James
- Kevin Mitnick
- Albert Gonzalez
- Kevin Poulsen
- Gary McKinnon
1) JONATHAN JAMES:
He was the first juvenile ever in the United States to be convicted of a cyber crime. He is known as “Comrade” on the internet. He intercepted emails and passwords from the Defence Threat Reduction Agency, which analyses both domestic and foreign threats. He also got a hold of the International Space Station’s source code, which controls living conditions on the spacecraft. Once his hacking was detected, it caused NASA to shut down the station for three weeks.
2) KEVIN MITNICK:
His journey as a computer hacker was so interesting and compelling that the U.S. Department of Justice called him as “the most wanted computer criminal in U.S. history”. His story is so wild that we could take two featured films. After serving a year in prison for hacking into the Digital Equipment Corporation’s network, he was let out for 3 years of supervised release. He fled and went for about 2.5-year hacking spree that involved breaching the national defense warning system and stealing corporate secrets. He now runs Mitnick Security Consulting, LLC.
3) ALBERT GONZALEZ:
He is a criminal mastermind who the government claims was responsible for the biggest credit card and debit card fraud in history. This guy has collected over 170 million credit cards and ATM card numbers for almost in a period of 2 years which is equal to little over half the population of the United States. He has started as the leader of a hacker group known as “ShadowCrew”. This group would go on to steal 1.5 million credit card numbers and sold them online for profit. He also fabricated fraudulent passports, health insurance cards, and birth certificates which in totaling 4.3 million stolen.
4) KEVIN POULSEN:
He gained attention by hacking into all of the telephone lines for a Los Angeles radio station and guaranteed that he would be the 102nd caller for the prize of a Porsche 944 s2. He is also known as Dark Dante. He earned his way onto the FBI’s wanted list when he hacked into federal systems and stole wiretap information. He has been captured in a supermarket and sentenced to 51 months in prison, as well paying 56,000 dollars in restitution. Later on which he began to work as a journalist.
5) GARY MCKINNON:
He was known by his internet handle as “Solo”. Using that name, he coordinated what would become the largest military computer of all the time. The allegations are that he, over a 13-month period accessed into the 97 computers belonging to the U.S. Armed Forces and NASA. He deleted a number of critical files, rendering over 300 computers inoperable and resulting in over 700,000 dollars in damage.
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