Hackers and Internet hacking is not a new phenomenon on the Internet. Since the birth of the Internet there have been others who wish to test the limit on what this powerful technological network could do.
Here is a look at some of the most famous Internet hacks of all-time.
Hacking ARPANet
Kevin Mitnick is one of the most famous hackers of all time. Kevin gained fame by hacking into the ARPANet, which was the predecessor to the Internet. At this time the ARPANet was used by large corporations, the army, and universities.
Mitnick used this knowledge to hack into the Pentagon, and accessed sensitive information from their computer systems. After this Mitnick, who was also a master of social engineering, used his skills primarily to download source code from major companies such as Qualcomm and Nokia.
Once the FBI caught on, Mitnick turned these skills back on them when he hacked into Pacific Bell and managed to wiretap their phones. Mitnick eventually was arrested for his exploits, and later became a computer security consultant.
The Morris Worm
Robert Tappan Morris is infamous for producing the first computer worm. In 1988, Morris released the Morris Worm, which damaged over 6,000 Unix systems. Morris stated he was trying to test how large the young Internet was at this time, but the worm did not account for already having infected a system.
The result was a worm that would reinfect a system multiple times until it was unusable. Morris was convicted for this crime as the first person to be tried under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.
Hacking to win a Porsche
Kevin Poulsen, or Dark Dante as he was best known, was a famous phone phreak, or phone hacker. Poulsen gained notoriety when he took over all of Los Angeles radio station KIIS-FM’s telephone lines to be the 102nd caller to win a Porsche.
Poulsen eventually landed himself onto Unsolved Mysteries when the FBI was pursuing him. During the airing of the episode, the 1-800 number used to help citizens provide the FBI with hints crashed mysteriously.
Poulsen was eventually arrested for his crimes, but is now employed as Wired.com’s senior news editor.
These hacks may have been some of the first, and most famous, of their type. This does not mean that Internet hacking is no longer in practice. Computer systems on the Internet will always have vulnerabilities, and because of this, there will always be someone willing to exploit them.
Many Internet providers have safeguards against many types of hacks and attacks. Satellite Internet providers are no different. Learn more about what satellite Internet can mean for you by checking out www.satelliteinternetspecials.net.
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