In the 80s of the last century, the unauthorized obtaining of secret information was a terribly popular occupation among representatives of certain circles, among which was “Dark Dante” Kevin Poulsen, a hacker who became famous thanks to his personal ingenuity and disregard for American law.
This young man immortalized his name by falsifying dozens of phone calls to KIIS radio station (Los Angeles) and having committed a number of other illegal actions. For example, one day, at the request of his friend, the owner of a virtual escort agency, he restored old telephone contacts that had once been collected by the staff of the Yellow Pages publication.
As a professional, Poulsen "specialized" in hacking telephone lines. The chosen course of action helped him become the owner of valuable prizes - a trip to Hawaii and a Porsche car.
A little later, this capable programmer (on some content resources his name is written as Kevin Poulsen) managed to hack into the database of the American Federal Bureau of Investigation and gain access to classified information regarding private telephone conversations.
This story deserves to be told in detail and in order.
Hacker youth
Kevin from childhood was attracted to things that are not easy to comprehend. For example, as a young man, he became interested in occultism, as a result of which his personal space for some time resembled the venue of the witch's covens.
For the same reason - lack of simplicity - he was attracted to the networks of the telephone company Ma Bell. Sixteen-year-old Kevin Poulsen could easily win the freaking championship (hacking telephone networks and vending machines), and connecting telephone lines, conducting unauthorized teleconferences and listening to other people's telephone conversations was his favorite pastime.
Needless to say, when his parents gave him a TRS-80 computer worth $ 200, such a “toy” could no longer be useful to him if it had not been equipped with a built-in modem.
Essentially, Poulsen’s fricker career developed in parallel with the activities of another phreaker - the same “green” youth Ron Austin. "Colleagues" often "crossed paths" - first as visitors to the same newsgroups, and then began to maintain computer communications.
No matter how strong the virtual friendship is, it did not bring young crackers together: they were in no hurry to share information "booty" and devote each other to the intricacies of professional secrets. Rather, on the contrary, they tried to use the slightest opportunity to boast of personal success.
When 1983 was drawing to a close, Kevin was caught. He was accused of telephone line fraud and illegal penetration of the UCLA network, but was released in his infancy.
Two years later, Poulsen and his friend, the fricker Mark Lotter, having got a job at SRI International, investigated the reliability of administrative networks during a working day. When working time was running out, instead of a respectable employee Kevin Poulsen, Dark Dante appeared - a night hunter of the World Wide Web, hunting in the secret labyrinths of ARPANet in the hope of obtaining any confidential information.
The desire to learn other people's secrets forced Poulsen to learn how to use thieves' master keys and to get a lot of things that facilitate surveillance and listening. He repeatedly applied the acquired skills, observing federal representatives and personnel serving Pacific Bell, who, in turn, had long been trying to track down an annoying night hacker.
Kevin always preferred to deal with a worthy opponent. Transferring to Sun Microsystems and gaining access to the state network, he often invaded the computer systems of the US Department of Defense and hunted for files whose contents were intended for representatives of US military intelligence.
The feds, looking for Dark Dante, are unlikely to have achieved results if not for one hacker oversight. Kevin forgot to extend the rent for using the garage. The owner of the garage, breaking the lock, saw industrial special equipment, which at that time cost fabulous money, and called the police.
The sentence consisted of 19 points, among which there was a charge of espionage and a mention of the theft of top-secret military information. But the matter didn’t reach the court again - Dark Dante disappeared without a trace …
Kevin (Kevin) Poulsen - a telephone network cracker
It took the Federal Bureau of Investigation seventeen months to track down a craftsman who, meanwhile, had committed an act that had glorified him for centuries — breaking into the Los Angeles telephone line. True, after this victory, the young "specialist", not stopping, won another one, penetrating the network of investment institutions.
Kevin Poulsen was first taken into custody in 1989. He was only 24, but on his “account” there were already several hacked telephone networks and servers.
Quiz from KIIS-FM
Los Angeles radio station KIIS-FM held for its listeners, which probably included Poulsen (Kevin could well be among KIIS-FM fans), a quiz with a prize draw.
The event was held live and attracted the attention of the general public, because the car was at stake. Radio listeners who managed to get through to the editorial office were given the opportunity to try their luck - get the brand new Porsche 944 S2 as a gift.
This wonderful present, according to the terms of the quiz, was supposed to be the property of one hundred and two dialed. Kevin Poulsen blocked the communication network in such a way that not a single participant, except himself, could get through to the radio station, and it was not difficult for the hacker to become the “one hundred and second” to get through.
Strict sentence
In April 1991, employees of the Federal Bureau nevertheless managed to detain the criminal thanks to the denunciation of the anonymous man who notified law enforcement officers about where Poulsen was. Kevin just "shopped" in one of the supermarkets on the outskirts of Los Angeles.
The FBI announced a real hunt for him, after which the former offender, and now the chief editor of the popular publication Wired News, was detained.
The charge was brought in 1994. Kevin Poulsen went to jail for four years - a rather severe punishment for hacking activity at that time.
Cracker Enthusiast
In fact, Kevin Poulsen is a new generation hacker, an enthusiastic programmer, for whom the acquisition of new skills and information (as well as livelihoods) is more important than following generally accepted rules.
Initially, hackers called specialists involved in programming and a detailed study of the results of the activities of their colleagues. In addition, hackers can study and search for opportunities to increase the reliability of systems developed in person or “borrowed” from other professionals.
Kevin Poulsen … Have you ordered a hack?
Today, the word "hacker" traditionally means a specialist who uses his (or someone else's) knowledge of the latest scientific achievements in order to take the initiative that is not approved by applicable law. For example, unauthorized deployment to classified sites, systems and networks.
Crackers, networkers and others
It is also known that there are hackers of various categories whose activities are less generalized. These include:
- Carders, the scope of which is hacking and unauthorized use of information contained on plastic bank cards.
- Crackers are programmers who specialize in illegally obtaining information products that are protected by copyright law.
- Script Kiddy. These "craftsmen" hack into other people's content using ready-made scripts already developed by someone, fragments of program codes and well-known "software weaknesses".
- Network pirates. The field of activity of these “hunters at the call of the network” is the unauthorized sale of other people's designs protected by copyright law (or some kind of contiguous rights).
Also, hackers are divided into “white” and “black”.
Hackers "white" and "black"
"White" hackers ("white caps") do not violate laws. These highly qualified specialists (for decency they are often called ethnic hackers) work for hire, researching and testing the level of protection of the electronic content of the employing company. Some “whites”, working for themselves, are developing new products and programs, again, without violating applicable law.
“Black hackers, ” or “black hats, ” to which Kevin Poulsen also belongs (fame “caught” him precisely in this occupation), are called hackers who use the skills and knowledge available in their arsenal solely for personal gain.
