4 Chapter 1 ■ Getting Started with Ethical Hacking
before heard of amounts of money, data, and other resources. As computer crime laws
began to be passed, the bragging rights for hacking a website became less attractive. The
prank activity seemed to slow down whereas real criminal activity increased. With online
commerce, skills started going to the highest bidder, with crime rings, organized crime, and
nations with hostile interests using the Internet as an attack vector.Remember that a good number of attacks that occur nowadays can be
attributed to both crime and people pulling pranks. However, no matter
what the underlying motivation of the attack the end result can easily be
the same in many cases: System owners are denied use of their assets
and the law is broken.Hacking: Fun or Criminal Activity?
As stated earlier, hacking is by no means a new phenomenon; it has existed in one form or
another since the 1960s. It is only for a portion of the time since then that hacking has been
viewed as a crime and a situation that needs to be addressed.
Here’s a look at some famous hacks over time:
■ In 1988, Cornell University student Robert T. Morris, Jr. created what is considered to
be the first Internet worm. According to Morris, his worm was designed to count the
number of systems connected to the Internet. Because of a design flaw, the worm rep-
licated quickly and indiscriminately, causing widespread slowdowns across the globe.
Morris was eventually convicted under the 1986 Computer Fraud and Abuse Act and
was sentenced to community service in lieu of any jail time.
■ In 1999, David L. Smith created the Melissa virus, which was designed to e-mail itself
to entries in a user’s address book and later delete files on the infected system.
■ In 2001, Jan de Wit authored the Anna Kournikova virus, which was designed to read
all the entries of a user’s Outlook address book and e-mail itself out to each.
■ In 2004, Adam Botbyl, together with two friends, conspired to steal credit card infor-
mation from the Lowe’s hardware chain.
■ In 2005, Cameron LaCroix hacked into the phone of celebrity Paris Hilton and also
participated in an attack against the site LexisNexis, an online public record aggrega-
tor, ultimately exposing thousands of personal records.
■ In 2011, the hacking group Lulzsec performed several high-profile attacks against tar-
gets such as Sony, CNN, and Fox.com. The group still appears to be active from time
to time despite their claims of retiring.
■ In 2010 through the current day, the hacking group Anonymous also has attacked
multiple targets, including local government networks, new agencies, and others. The
group is still active.