H
Hackers
Definition People who use programming skills to
gain unauthorized access into computer
systems, usually for malicious purposes
The introduction of personal computers and computer net-
works in the 1980’s invited attacks by a number of hackers.
By the 1990’s, these attacks had alarmed those in govern-
ment, law enforcement, and the general public to such an
extent that some of the hackers were prosecuted and incar-
cerated.
Humankind devised ways of misusing or damaging
the resources of others long before the invention of
computers and networks. One of the earliest misuses
of technology was the phreaking attacks by John
Draper, nicknamed “Captain Crunch,” and others
in the 1970’s. They devised methods of simulating a
long-distance telephone signal and were able to
make free long-distance phone calls. In 1972,
Draper was one of the first technology abusers to be
successfully prosecuted. In 1980, a group called the
414s, who took their name from the Milwaukee area
code, executed one of the earliest attacks on a com-
puter. They used personal computers with modems
to break into a number of mainframes. The attacks
were simple, including guessing passwords, but were
among the first computer break-ins.
Viruses and Worms A virus is a self-replicating
code that spreads by inserting copies of itself into
programs or other files. A worm is a self-replicating
program that spreads by sending copies of itself to
other computers on a network. In addition to repli-
cation, viruses and worms damage the computers
they are stored on by deleting files, slowing compu-
tation, or other actions. In the late 1980’s and early
1990’s, a number of viruses and worms were intro-
duced. The Morris worm flooded ARPANET (the
precursor to the Internet) in 1988, becoming one of
the first denial-of-service attacks. In 1991, the Mi-
chelangelo virus was discovered on a computer in
New Zealand. It was a boot sector virus aimed at MS-
DOS and designed to attack computers on the Re-
naissance artist’s birthday. Many predicted that the
Michelangelo virus would do great damage, but ef-
fective countermeasures were developed that lim-
ited its effect.
In 1995, the first macro virus, called WM.Concept,
was developed. While it was not a serious threat, the
Melissa macro virus that appeared in 1999 was. When
a user opened an infected file, Melissa attempted to
e-mail a copy of the virus to fifty other people using
the Microsoft Outlook address book. In May, 2000,
the ILOVEYOU worm appeared and began spread-
ing around the world. It infected graphics files on a
computer and spread by causing copies of itself to be
sent to everyone in an infected computer’s address
book. While Melissa and ILOVEYOU created havoc
for computer users in the late 1990’s, antivirus ven-
dors developed effective countermeasures to these
and other viruses and worms that appeared during
this period.The Two Kevins While there were many hackers at
work during the 1990’s, the most famous were Kevin
Mitnick and Kevin Poulsen. In 1989, Kevin Mitnick
(who had earlier been arrested for phreaking) was
convicted and placed on probation for monitoring
the e-mails of workers at Digital Equipment Corpo-
ration (DEC). He continued to hack computers and
by 1992 was on the run after his probation was re-
voked. In 1994, he attacked the computer of Tsu-
tomu Shimomura. Shimomura, a very capable com-
puter security expert, helped the Federal Bureau of
Investigation (FBI) find Mitnick in North Carolina
in 1995. Mitnick pleaded guilty to hacking and
served almost five years in prison. He was released in
2000 and has become a computer security expert,
specializing in preventing social-engineering at-
tacks.
Poulsen, nicknamed “Dark Dante,” specialized in
hacking government and military systems. In 1989,
he was charged with a number of attacks and went
into hiding. He continued to hack computers, often