Timeline of hacker history
Encyclopedia
timeline of computer security hacker history. Hacking
and system cracking appeared with the first electronic
computer
s. Below are some important events in the history of hacking and cracking.
Hacker (computer security)
In computer security and everyday language, a hacker is someone who breaks into computers and computer networks. Hackers may be motivated by a multitude of reasons, including profit, protest, or because of the challenge...
and system cracking appeared with the first electronic
Electronics
Electronics is the branch of science, engineering and technology that deals with electrical circuits involving active electrical components such as vacuum tubes, transistors, diodes and integrated circuits, and associated passive interconnection technologies...
computer
Computer
A computer is a programmable machine designed to sequentially and automatically carry out a sequence of arithmetic or logical operations. The particular sequence of operations can be changed readily, allowing the computer to solve more than one kind of problem...
s. Below are some important events in the history of hacking and cracking.
1932
- Polish cryptologists: Marian RejewskiMarian RejewskiMarian Adam Rejewski was a Polish mathematician and cryptologist who in 1932 solved the plugboard-equipped Enigma machine, the main cipher device used by Germany...
, Henryk ZygalskiHenryk ZygalskiHenryk Zygalski was a Polish mathematician and cryptologist who worked at breaking German Enigma ciphers before and during World War II.-Life:...
and Jerzy RóżyckiJerzy RózyckiJerzy Witold Różycki was a Polish mathematician and cryptologist who worked at breaking German Enigma-machine ciphers.-Life:Różycki was born in what is now Ukraine, the fourth and youngest child of Zygmunt Różycki, a pharmacist and graduate of Saint Petersburg University, and Wanda, née Benita. ...
broke the Enigma machineCryptanalysis of the EnigmaCryptanalysis of the Enigma enabled the western Allies in World War II to read substantial amounts of secret Morse-coded radio communications of the Axis powers that had been enciphered using Enigma machines. This yielded military intelligence which, along with that from other decrypted Axis radio...
code.
1939
- Alan TuringAlan TuringAlan Mathison Turing, OBE, FRS , was an English mathematician, logician, cryptanalyst, and computer scientist. He was highly influential in the development of computer science, providing a formalisation of the concepts of "algorithm" and "computation" with the Turing machine, which played a...
, Gordon WelchmanGordon WelchmanGordon Welchman was a British-American mathematician, university professor, World War II codebreaker at Bletchley Park, and author.-Education and early career:...
and Harold KeenHarold KeenHarold Hall "Doc" Keen was a British engineer who produced the engineering design, and oversaw the construction of, the British bombe, a codebreaking machine used in World War II to read German messages sent using the Enigma machine. He was known as "Doc" Keen because of his habit of carrying...
worked together to develop the BombeBombeThe bombe was an electromechanical device used by British cryptologists to help decipher German Enigma-machine-encrypted signals during World War II...
(on the basis of Rejewski's works on BombaBomba (cryptography)The bomba, or bomba kryptologiczna was a special-purpose machine designed about October 1938 by Polish Cipher Bureau cryptologist Marian Rejewski to break German Enigma-machine ciphers....
). The Enigma machineEnigma machineAn Enigma machine is any of a family of related electro-mechanical rotor cipher machines used for the encryption and decryption of secret messages. Enigma was invented by German engineer Arthur Scherbius at the end of World War I...
's use of a reliably small key space makes it vulnerable to brute force and thus a violation of CWE-326.
1965
- William D. Mathews from MIT found a vulnerability in a Multics CTSS running on a IBM 7094. This flaw discloses the contents of the password file. The issue occurred when multiple instances of the system text editor were invoked, causing the editor to create temporary files with a constant name. This would inexplicably cause the contents of the system CTSS password file to display to any user logging into the system.
1971
- John T. DraperJohn DraperJohn Thomas Draper , also known as Captain Crunch, Crunch or Crunchman , is an American computer programmer and former phone phreak. He is a legendary figure within the computer programming world.- Background :Draper is the son of a U.S...
(later nicknamed Captain Crunch), his friend Joe EngressiaJoybubblesJoybubbles , born Josef Carl Engressia, Jr. in Richmond, Virginia, USA, was an early phone phreak. Born blind, he became interested in telephones at age four. Gifted with absolute pitch, he was able to whistle 2600 hertz into a telephone . Joybubbles said that he had an IQ of “172 or something.” ...
, and blue boxBlue boxAn early phreaking tool, the blue box is an electronic device that simulates a telephone operator's dialing console. It functioned by replicating the tones used to switch long-distance calls and using them to route the user's own call, bypassing the normal switching mechanism...
phone phreaking hit the news with an Esquire Magazine feature story.
1981
- Chaos Computer ClubChaos Computer ClubThe Chaos Computer Club is an organization of hackers. The CCC is based in Germany and other German-speaking countries.The CCC describes itself as "a galactic community of life forms, independent of age, sex, race or societal orientation, which strives across borders for freedom of...
forms in Germany.
- The Warelords forms in The United States, founded by Black Bart (cracker of Dung Beetles in 1982) in St. Louis, Missouri, and was composed of many teenage hackers, phreakers, coders, and largely black hat-style underground computer geeks. One of the more notable group members was Tennessee Tuxedo, a young man that was instrumental with developing conference calls via the use of trunk line phreaking via the use of the Novation Apple Cat II that allowed them to share their current hacks, phreaking codes, and new software releases. Other notable members were The Apple Bandit, Krakowicz, and Krac-man. Black Bart was clever at using his nationally known and very popular BBS system in order to promote the latest gaming software. He used that relationship to his advantage, often shipping the original pre-released software to his most trusted code crackers during the beta-testing phase, weeks prior to their public release. The Warelords often collaborated with other piracy groups at the time, such as The Syndicate and The Midwest Pirates Guild and developed an international ring of involved piracy groups that reached as far away as Japan. Long before the movie War Games went into pre-production, The Warelords had successfully infiltrated such corporations and institutions as The White House, Southwestern Bell "Ma Bell" Mainframe Systems, and large corporate providers of voice mail systems.
1982
- The 414sThe 414sThe 414s gained notoriety in the early 1980s as a group of friends and computer hackers who broke into dozens of high-profile computer systems, including ones at Los Alamos National Laboratory, Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, and Security Pacific Bank....
break into 60 computer systems at institutions ranging from the Los Alamos Laboratories to Manhattan's Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer CenterMemorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer CenterMemorial Sloan–Kettering Cancer Center is a cancer treatment and research institution founded in 1884 as the New York Cancer Hospital...
. The incident appeared as the cover story of NewsweekNewsweekNewsweek is an American weekly news magazine published in New York City. It is distributed throughout the United States and internationally. It is the second-largest news weekly magazine in the U.S., having trailed Time in circulation and advertising revenue for most of its existence...
with the title Beware: Hackers at play, possibly the first mass-media use of the term hacker in the context of computer security. As a result, the U.S. House of Representatives held hearings on computer security and passed several laws.
1983
- The group KILOBAUDP.H.I.R.M.The PHIRM was an early hacking group which was founded in the early 1980s. First going by the name of "KILOBAUD", the firm was reorganized in 1985 to reflect a favorite television show of the time "Airwolf". By the mid 1980s The PHIRM was sysopping hundreds of boards...
is formed in February, kicking off a series of other hacker groups which form soon after. - The movie WarGamesWarGamesWarGames is a 1983 American Cold War suspense/science-fiction film written by Lawrence Lasker and Walter F. Parkes and directed by John Badham. The film stars Matthew Broderick and Ally Sheedy....
introduces the wider public to the phenomenon of hacking and creates a degree of mass paranoia of hackers and their supposed abilities to bring the world to a screeching halt by launching nuclear ICBMs. - The 414sThe 414sThe 414s gained notoriety in the early 1980s as a group of friends and computer hackers who broke into dozens of high-profile computer systems, including ones at Los Alamos National Laboratory, Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, and Security Pacific Bank....
are caught and investigated by the FBI. Although most members are not charged with a crime, they gain widespread media attention, eventually becoming a cover story of NewsweekNewsweekNewsweek is an American weekly news magazine published in New York City. It is distributed throughout the United States and internationally. It is the second-largest news weekly magazine in the U.S., having trailed Time in circulation and advertising revenue for most of its existence...
entitled "Beware: Hackers at play". - The U.S. House of Representatives begins hearings on computer security hacking.
- In his Turing AwardTuring AwardThe Turing Award, in full The ACM A.M. Turing Award, is an annual award given by the Association for Computing Machinery to "an individual selected for contributions of a technical nature made to the computing community. The contributions should be of lasting and major technical importance to the...
lecture, Ken ThompsonKen ThompsonKenneth Lane Thompson , commonly referred to as ken in hacker circles, is an American pioneer of computer science...
mentions "hacking" and describes a security exploit that he calls a "Trojan horseTrojan horse (computing)A Trojan horse, or Trojan, is software that appears to perform a desirable function for the user prior to run or install, but steals information or harms the system. The term is derived from the Trojan Horse story in Greek mythology.-Malware:A destructive program that masquerades as a benign...
".
1984
- Someone calling himself Lex LuthorLex LuthorLex Luthor is a fictional character, a supervillain who appears in comic books published by DC Comics, and the archenemy of Superman, although given his high status as a supervillain, he has also come into conflict with Batman and other superheroes in the DC Universe. Created by Jerry Siegel and...
founds the Legion of DoomLegion of Doom (hacking)The Legion of Doom was a hacker group active from the 1980s to the late 1990s and early 2000. Their name appears to be a reference to the antagonists of Challenge of the Superfriends...
. Named after a Saturday morning cartoon, the LOD had the reputation of attracting "the best of the best" — until one of the most talented members called Phiber Optik feuded with Legion of Doomer Erik BloodaxeErik Bloodaxe (hacker)Chris Goggans, who used the name Erik Bloodaxe in honor of the Viking king Eric I of Norway, is a founding member of the Legion of Doom group, and a former editor of Phrack Magazine...
and got 'tossed out of the clubhouse'. Phiber's friends formed a rival group, the Masters of DeceptionMasters of DeceptionMasters of Deception was a New York-based hacker group. MOD reportedly controlled all the major telephone RBOC's and X.25 networks as well as controlling large parts of the backbone of the rapidly emerging Internet....
. - The Comprehensive Crime Control Act gives the Secret Service jurisdiction over computer fraud.
- Cult of the Dead CowCult of the Dead CowCult of the Dead Cow, also known as cDc or cDc Communications, is a computer hacker and DIY media organization founded in 1984 in Lubbock, Texas. The group maintains a weblog on its site, also titled "Cult of the Dead Cow"...
forms in Lubbock, TexasLubbock, TexasLubbock is a city in and the county seat of Lubbock County, Texas, United States. The city is located in the northwestern part of the state, a region known historically as the Llano Estacado, and the home of Texas Tech University and Lubbock Christian University...
and begins publishing its ezine. - The hackerHacker (computer security)In computer security and everyday language, a hacker is someone who breaks into computers and computer networks. Hackers may be motivated by a multitude of reasons, including profit, protest, or because of the challenge...
magazine 2600 begins regular publication, right when TAP was putting out its final issue. The editor of 2600, "Emmanuel GoldsteinEmmanuel GoldsteinEmmanuel Goldstein is a character in George Orwell's classic dystopian novel Nineteen Eighty-Four. He is the number one enemy of the people according to Big Brother and the Party, who heads a mysterious and possibly fictitious anti-party organization called The Brotherhood...
" (whose real name is Eric Corley), takes his handle from the leader of the resistance in George OrwellGeorge OrwellEric Arthur Blair , better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English author and journalist...
's 1984. The publication provides tips for would-be hackers and phone phreaks, as well as commentary on the hacker issues of the day. Today, copies of 2600 are sold at most large retail bookstores. - The first Chaos Communication CongressChaos Communication CongressThe Chaos Communication Congress is an annual meeting of the international hacker scene, organized by the Chaos Computer Club. The congress features a variety of lectures and workshops on technical and political issues....
, the annual European hacker conference organized by the Chaos Computer ClubChaos Computer ClubThe Chaos Computer Club is an organization of hackers. The CCC is based in Germany and other German-speaking countries.The CCC describes itself as "a galactic community of life forms, independent of age, sex, race or societal orientation, which strives across borders for freedom of...
, is held in HamburgHamburg-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808... - William GibsonWilliam GibsonWilliam Gibson is an American-Canadian science fiction author.William Gibson may also refer to:-Association football:*Will Gibson , Scottish footballer...
's groundbreaking science fiction novel NeuromancerNeuromancerNeuromancer is a 1984 novel by William Gibson, a seminal work in the cyberpunk genre and the first winner of the science-fiction "triple crown" — the Nebula Award, the Philip K. Dick Award, and the Hugo Award. It was Gibson's debut novel and the beginning of the Sprawl trilogy...
, about Case, a futuristic computer hacker, is published. Considered the first major cyberpunkCyberpunkCyberpunk is a postmodern and science fiction genre noted for its focus on "high tech and low life." The name is a portmanteau of cybernetics and punk, and was originally coined by Bruce Bethke as the title of his short story "Cyberpunk," published in 1983...
novel, it brought into hacker jargon such terms as "cyberspaceCyberspaceCyberspace is the electronic medium of computer networks, in which online communication takes place.The term "cyberspace" was first used by the cyberpunk science fiction author William Gibson, though the concept was described somewhat earlier, for example in the Vernor Vinge short story "True...
", "the matrix", "simstim", and "ICEIntrusion Countermeasures ElectronicsIntrusion Countermeasures Electronics is a term used in cyberpunk literature to refer to security programs which protect computerized data from being accessed by hackers.-Origin of term:...
".
1985
- KILOBAUDKilobaudKilobaud may refer to:*One thousand bauds per second*P.H.I.R.M., a 1980s computer hacking group originally known as Kilobaud*Kilobaud Microcomputing, a homebrew computer magazine from the 1980s...
is re-organized into The P.H.I.R.M.P.H.I.R.M.The PHIRM was an early hacking group which was founded in the early 1980s. First going by the name of "KILOBAUD", the firm was reorganized in 1985 to reflect a favorite television show of the time "Airwolf". By the mid 1980s The PHIRM was sysopping hundreds of boards...
, and begins sysopSysOpA sysop is an administrator of a multi-user computer system, such as a bulletin board system or an online service virtual community. It may also be used to refer to administrators of other Internet-based network services....
ping hundreds of BBSsBulletin board systemA Bulletin Board System, or BBS, is a computer system running software that allows users to connect and log in to the system using a terminal program. Once logged in, a user can perform functions such as uploading and downloading software and data, reading news and bulletins, and exchanging...
through-out the United States, Canada, and Europe. - The online 'zine PhrackPhrackPhrack is an ezine written by and for hackers first published November 17, 1985. Described by Fyodor as "the best, and by far the longest running hacker zine," the magazine is open for contributions by anyone who desires to publish remarkable works or express original ideas on the topics of interest...
is established. - The Hacker's HandbookThe Hacker's HandbookThe Hacker's Handbook is a non-fiction book from the 1980s effectively explaining how computer systems of the period were hacked. It contains candid and personal comments from the book's British author, Hugo Cornwall, a pseudonym of Peter Sommer who is now a Research Fellow in Information Systems...
is published in the UK. - The FBI, Secret Service, Middlesex County NJ Prosecutor's Office and various local law enforcement agencies execute seven search warrants concurrently across New Jersey on July 12, 1985, seizing equipment from BBS operators and users alike for "complicity in computer theft," under a newly-passed, and yet untested criminal statue. This is famously known as the Private Sector Bust, or the 2600 BBS Siezure, and implicated the Private Sector BBS sysop, Store Manager (also a BBS sysop), Beowulf, Red Barchetta, The Vampire, the NJ Hack Shack BBS sysop, and the Treasure Chest BBS sysop.
1986
- After more and more break-ins to governmentGovernmentGovernment refers to the legislators, administrators, and arbitrators in the administrative bureaucracy who control a state at a given time, and to the system of government by which they are organized...
and corporateCorporationA corporation is created under the laws of a state as a separate legal entity that has privileges and liabilities that are distinct from those of its members. There are many different forms of corporations, most of which are used to conduct business. Early corporations were established by charter...
computers, Congress passes the Computer Fraud and Abuse ActComputer Fraud and Abuse ActThe Computer Fraud and Abuse Act is a law passed by the United States Congress in 1986, intended to reduce cracking of computer systems and to address federal computer-related offenses...
, which makes it a crime to break into computer systems. The law, however, does not cover juveniles. - Arrest of a hacker who calls himself The Mentor. He published a now-famous treatise shortly after his arrest that came to be known as the Hacker's Manifesto in the e-zine PhrackPhrackPhrack is an ezine written by and for hackers first published November 17, 1985. Described by Fyodor as "the best, and by far the longest running hacker zine," the magazine is open for contributions by anyone who desires to publish remarkable works or express original ideas on the topics of interest...
. This still serves as the most famous piece of hacker literature and is frequently used to illustrate the mindset of hackers. - Astronomer Clifford StollClifford Stoll*High-Tech Heretic: Reflections of a Computer Contrarian, Clifford Stoll, 2000, ISBN 0-385-48976-5.-External links:* at Berkeley's Open Computing Facility**, December 3, 1989* copy at Electronic Frontier Foundation, May 1988...
plays a pivotal role in tracking down hacker Markus HessMarkus HessMarkus Hess, a German citizen, is best known for his endeavours as a hacker in the late 1980s. Hess was recruited by the KGB to be an international spy with the objective of securing U.S...
, events later covered in Stoll's 1990 book The Cuckoo's EggThe Cuckoo's Egg (book)The Cuckoo's Egg: Tracking a Spy Through the Maze of Computer Espionage is a 1989 book written by Clifford Stoll. It is his first-person account of the hunt for a computer cracker who broke into a computer at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory .-Summary:Clifford Stoll managed some...
.
1987
- Decoder magazine begins in Italy.
- The Christmas Tree EXECChristmas Tree EXECChristmas Tree EXEC was the first widely disruptive computer worm, which paralyzed several international computer networks in December 1987.Written by a student at the Clausthal University of Technology in the REXX scripting language, it drew a crude Christmas tree as text graphics, then sent...
"worm" causes major disruption to the VNETVNETVNET is an international computer networking system deployed in the mid 1970s and still in current, but highly diminished use. It was developed inside IBM, and provided the main email and file-transfer backbone for the company throughout the 1980s and 1990s...
, BITNETBITNETBITNET was a cooperative USA university network founded in 1981 by Ira Fuchs at the City University of New York and Greydon Freeman at Yale University...
and EARN networks.
1988
- The Morris Worm. Graduate student Robert T. Morris, Jr. of Cornell UniversityCornell UniversityCornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...
launches a worm on the government's ARPAnetARPANETThe Advanced Research Projects Agency Network , was the world's first operational packet switching network and the core network of a set that came to compose the global Internet...
(precursor to the Internet). The worm spreads to 6,000 networked computers, clogging government and university systems. Morris is dismissed from Cornell, sentenced to three years probation, and fined $10,000. - First National Bank of Chicago is the victim of $70-million computer theft.
- The Computer Emergency Response TeamCERT Coordination CenterThe CERT Coordination Center was created by DARPA in November 1988 after the Morris worm struck. It is a major coordination center in dealing with Internet security problems....
(CERT) is created by DARPA to address network securityNetwork securityIn the field of networking, the area of network security consists of the provisions and policies adopted by the network administrator to prevent and monitor unauthorized access, misuse, modification, or denial of the computer network and network-accessible resources...
. - The Father Christmas (computer worm)Father Christmas (computer worm)The Father Christmas worm was a computer worm that used the DECnet to attack VAX/VMS systems. It was released in December 1988.The aim of this worm was to send a Christmas greeting from "Father Christmas" from the affected system.-External links:*...
spreads over DECnetDECnetDECnet is a suite of network protocols created by Digital Equipment Corporation, originally released in 1975 in order to connect two PDP-11 minicomputers. It evolved into one of the first peer-to-peer network architectures, thus transforming DEC into a networking powerhouse in the 1980s...
networks.
1989
- Jude MilhonJude MilhonJude Milhon , in Anderson, Indiana, best known by her pseudonym St. Jude, was a hacker and author in the San Francisco Bay Area....
(aka St Jude) and R. U. SiriusR. U. SiriusR. U. Sirius is an American writer, editor, talk show host, musician and cyberculture celebrity. He is best known as co-founder and original Editor-In-Chief of Mondo 2000 magazine from 1989–1993. Sirius was also chairman and candidate in the 2000 U.S. presidential election for The Revolution Party...
launch Mondo 2000Mondo 2000Mondo 2000 was a glossy cyberculture magazine published in California during the 1980s and 1990s. It covered cyberpunk topics such as virtual reality and smart drugs. It was a more anarchic and subversive prototype for the later-founded Wired magazine....
, a major '90s tech-lifestyle magazine, in Berkeley, CaliforniaBerkeley, CaliforniaBerkeley is a city on the east shore of the San Francisco Bay in Northern California, United States. Its neighbors to the south are the cities of Oakland and Emeryville. To the north is the city of Albany and the unincorporated community of Kensington...
. - The politically motivated WANK wormWANK (computer worm)The WANK Worm was a computer worm that attacked DEC VMS computers in 1989 over the DECnet. It was written in DIGITAL Command Language.-Origin:...
spreads over DECnetDECnetDECnet is a suite of network protocols created by Digital Equipment Corporation, originally released in 1975 in order to connect two PDP-11 minicomputers. It evolved into one of the first peer-to-peer network architectures, thus transforming DEC into a networking powerhouse in the 1980s...
. - Dutch magazine Hack-TicHack-TicHack-Tic was a Dutch hacker magazine published between 1989 and 1993. Throughout its existence, Hack-Tic obtained a cult following and upset the authorities beyond the Dutch borders.- History :...
begins. - The Cuckoo's Egg by Clifford Stoll is published.
1990
- Operation SundevilOperation SundevilOperation Sundevil was a 1990 nation-wide United States Secret Service crackdown on "illegal computer hacking activities." It involved raids in approximately fifteen different cities and resulted in three arrests and the confiscation of computers, the contents of electronic bulletin board systems ,...
introduced. After a prolonged sting investigation, Secret Service agents swoop down on organizers and prominent members of BBSs in 14 U.S. cities including the Legion of DoomLegion of Doom (hacking)The Legion of Doom was a hacker group active from the 1980s to the late 1990s and early 2000. Their name appears to be a reference to the antagonists of Challenge of the Superfriends...
, conducting early-morning raids and arrests. The arrests involve and are aimed at cracking down on credit-card theft and telephone and wire fraud. The result is a breakdown in the hacking community, with members informing on each other in exchange for immunity. The offices of Steve Jackson GamesSteve Jackson GamesSteve Jackson Games is a game company, founded in 1980 by Steve Jackson, that creates and publishes role-playing, board, and card games, and the gaming magazine Pyramid.-History:...
are also raided, and the role-playingRole-playing gameA role-playing game is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, either through literal acting, or through a process of structured decision-making or character development...
sourcebook GURPS CyberpunkGURPS CyberpunkGURPS Cyberpunk is a genre toolkit for cyberpunk-themed role-playing games set in a near-future dystopia, such as that envisioned by William Gibson in his influential novel Neuromancer...
is confiscated, possibly because the government fears it is a "handbook for computer crime". Legal battles arise that prompt the formation of the Electronic Frontier FoundationElectronic Frontier FoundationThe Electronic Frontier Foundation is an international non-profit digital rights advocacy and legal organization based in the United States...
, including the trial of Knight LightningCraig NeidorfCraig Neidorf , aka Knight Lightning, was one of the two founding editors of Phrack Magazine, an online, text-based ezine that defined the hacker mentality of the mid 1980s....
. - Australian federal police tracking Realm members PhoenixNahshon Even-ChaimNahshon Even-Chaim , aka Phoenix, was the first major computer hacker to be convicted in Australia. He was one of the most highly-skilled members of a computer hacking group called The Realm, based in Melbourne, Australia, from the late 1980s until his arrest by the Australian Federal Police in...
, ElectronElectron (computer hacker)Electron was the computer handle of Richard Jones, a member of an underground hacker community called The Realm. Jones, born in June 1969, was one of three members of the group arrested in simultaneous raids by the Australian Federal Police in Melbourne, Australia, on 2 April 1990...
and Nom are the first in the world to use a remote data intercept to gain evidence for a computer crime prosecution.
1992
- Release of the movie Sneakers, in which security experts are blackmailed into stealing a universal decoder for encryptionEncryptionIn cryptography, encryption is the process of transforming information using an algorithm to make it unreadable to anyone except those possessing special knowledge, usually referred to as a key. The result of the process is encrypted information...
systemSystemSystem is a set of interacting or interdependent components forming an integrated whole....
s. - MindVoxMindVoxMindVox was a famed early Internet Service Provider in New York City. A controversial sometime media darling — the service was referred to as "the Hells Angels of Cyberspace" — it was founded in 1991 by Bruce Fancher and Patrick Kroupa , two former members of the legendary Legion of Doom hacker...
opens to the public. - Bulgarian virus writer Dark AvengerDark AvengerDark Avenger was a pseudonym of a computer virus writer from Sofia, Bulgaria. He gained considerable popularity during the early 1990s, as some of his viruses spread not only nationwide, but across Europe as well, even reaching the United States....
wrote 12601260 (computer virus)1260, or V2PX, was a computer virus written in 1989 by Mark Washburn that used a form of polymorphic encryption. Derived from Ralph Burger's publication of the disassembled Vienna virus source code, the 1260 altered its signature by randomizing and obfuscating its decryption algorithm in an effort...
, the first known use of polymorphic codePolymorphic codeIn computer terminology, polymorphic code is code that uses a polymorphic engine to mutate while keeping the original algorithm intact. That is, the code changes itself each time it runs, but the function of the code will not change at all...
, used to circumvent the type of pattern recognition used by Anti-virus software, and nowadays also intrusion detection systems.
1993
- The first DEF CONDEF CONDEF CON is one of the world's largest annual computer hacker conventions, held every year in Las Vegas, Nevada...
hacking conference takes place in Las VegasLas Vegas, NevadaLas Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...
. The conference is meant to be a one-time party to say good-bye to BBSs (now replaced by the Web), but the gathering was so popular it became an annual event. - AOLAOLAOL Inc. is an American global Internet services and media company. AOL is headquartered at 770 Broadway in New York. Founded in 1983 as Control Video Corporation, it has franchised its services to companies in several nations around the world or set up international versions of its services...
gives its users access to USENETUsenetUsenet is a worldwide distributed Internet discussion system. It developed from the general purpose UUCP architecture of the same name.Duke University graduate students Tom Truscott and Jim Ellis conceived the idea in 1979 and it was established in 1980...
, precipitating Eternal SeptemberEternal SeptemberEternal September is a Usenet slang expression, coined by Dave Fischer, for the period beginning September 1993...
.
1994
- Summer: Russian crackers siphon $10 million from Citibank and transfer the money to bank accounts around the world. Vladimir LevinVladimir LevinЛевин, Владимир Леонидович is a Russian-born Jewish individual famed for his involvement in the attempt to fraudulently transfer US$10.7 million via Citibank's computers.- The commonly known story :...
, the 30-year-old ringleader, uses his work laptop after hours to transfer the funds to accounts in Finland and IsraelIsraelThe State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
. Levin stands trial in the United States and is sentenced to three years in prison. Authorities recover all but $400,000 of the stolen money. - Hackers adapt to emergence of the World Wide WebWorld Wide WebThe World Wide Web is a system of interlinked hypertext documents accessed via the Internet...
quickly, moving all their how-to information and hacking programs from the old BBSs to new hacker Web sites. - AOHellAOHellAOHell was a tool that greatly simplified 'cracking' online using AOL.-Origin:Released in 1994 by hackers known as "The Rizzer" & "Da Chronic", AOHell provided a number of utilities which ran on top of the America Online client software...
is released, a freewareFreewareFreeware is computer software that is available for use at no cost or for an optional fee, but usually with one or more restricted usage rights. Freeware is in contrast to commercial software, which is typically sold for profit, but might be distributed for a business or commercial purpose in the...
applicationApplication softwareApplication software, also known as an application or an "app", is computer software designed to help the user to perform specific tasks. Examples include enterprise software, accounting software, office suites, graphics software and media players. Many application programs deal principally with...
that allows a burgeoning community of unskilled script kiddieScript kiddieA script kiddie or skiddie, occasionally skid, script bunny, script kitty, script-running juvenile or similar, is a derogatory term used to describe those who use scripts or programs developed by others to attack computer systems and networks and deface websites.-Characteristics:In a Carnegie...
s to wreak havoc on America Online. For days, hundreds of thousands of AOL users find their mailboxes flooded with multi-megabyte email bombs and their chat rooms disrupted with spam messages.
1995
- The movies The Net and Hackers are released.
- February 22: The FBI raids the "Phone Masters".
1996
- Hackers alter Web sites of the United States Department of JusticeUnited States Department of JusticeThe United States Department of Justice , is the United States federal executive department responsible for the enforcement of the law and administration of justice, equivalent to the justice or interior ministries of other countries.The Department is led by the Attorney General, who is nominated...
(August), the CIA (October), and the U.S. Air Force (December). - Canadian hacker group, Brotherhood, breaks into the Canadian Broadcasting CorporationCanadian Broadcasting CorporationThe Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly known as CBC and officially as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian crown corporation that serves as the national public radio and television broadcaster...
. - The U.S. General Accounting Office reports that hackers attempted to break into Defense Department computer files some 250,000 times in 1995 alone. About 65 percent of the attempts were successful, according to the report.
- The MP3 format gains popularity in the hacker world. Many hackers begin setting up sharing sites via FTP, HotlineHotline CommunicationsHotline Communications Limited was a software company founded in 1997, based in Toronto, Canada, with employees also in the United States and Australia. Hotline Communications' main activity was the publishing and distribution of a multi-purpose client/server communication software product named...
, IRC and UsenetUsenetUsenet is a worldwide distributed Internet discussion system. It developed from the general purpose UUCP architecture of the same name.Duke University graduate students Tom Truscott and Jim Ellis conceived the idea in 1979 and it was established in 1980...
.
1997
- A 15-year-old CroatiaCroatiaCroatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
n youth penetrates computers at a U.S. Air Force base in GuamGuamGuam is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States located in the western Pacific Ocean. It is one of five U.S. territories with an established civilian government. Guam is listed as one of 16 Non-Self-Governing Territories by the Special Committee on Decolonization of the United...
. - June: Eligible Receiver 97Eligible Receiver 97Eligible Receiver 97 was a U.S. government exercise conducted under what is known as the No-Notice Interoperability Exercise Program. The exercises were held June 9-13, 1997 and included participants such as the National Security Agency , Central Intelligence Agency, Defense Intelligence Agency,...
tests the American government's readiness against cyberattacks. - December: Information Security publishes first issue.
- First high-profile attacks on Microsoft's Windows NTWindows NTWindows NT is a family of operating systems produced by Microsoft, the first version of which was released in July 1993. It was a powerful high-level-language-based, processor-independent, multiprocessing, multiuser operating system with features comparable to Unix. It was intended to complement...
operating systemOperating systemAn operating system is a set of programs that manage computer hardware resources and provide common services for application software. The operating system is the most important type of system software in a computer system...
http://news.cnet.com/Hackers-jam-Microsofts-site/2100-1023_3-200788.html - In response to the MP3 popularity, the Recording Industry Association of America begins cracking down on FTPs http://www.cnn.com/TECH/computing/9803/26/saltzman_mp3/index.html. The RIAA begins a campaign of lawsuits shutting down many of the owners of these sites including the more popular ripper/distributors The Maxx (Germany, Age 14), Chapel976 (USA, Age 15), Bulletboy (UK, Age 16), Sn4rf (Canada, Age 14) and others in their young teens via their ISPs. Their houses are raided and their computers and modems are taken. The RIAA fails to cut off the head of the MP3 beast and within a year and a half, Napster is released.
1998
- January: Yahoo!Yahoo!Yahoo! Inc. is an American multinational internet corporation headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, United States. The company is perhaps best known for its web portal, search engine , Yahoo! Directory, Yahoo! Mail, Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Groups, Yahoo! Answers, advertising, online mapping ,...
notifies Internet users that anyone visiting its site in recent weeks might have downloaded a logic bombLogic bombA logic bomb is a piece of code intentionally inserted into a software system that will set off a malicious function when specified conditions are met...
and wormWormThe term worm refers to an obsolete taxon used by Carolus Linnaeus and Jean-Baptiste Lamarck for all non-arthropod invertebrate animals, and stems from the Old English word wyrm. Currently it is used to describe many different distantly-related animals that typically have a long cylindrical...
planted by hackers claiming a "logic bomb" will go off if Kevin MitnickKevin MitnickKevin David Mitnick is a computer security consultant, author, and hacker. In the late 20th century, he was convicted of various computer- and communications-related crimes. At the time of his arrest, he was the most-wanted computer criminal in the United States.-Personal life:Mitnick grew up in...
is not released from prison. - January: Anti-hacker runs during Super Bowl XXXIISuper Bowl XXXIISuper Bowl XXXII was an American football game played on January 25, 1998 at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, California to decide the National Football League champion following the 1997 regular season...
- February: The Internet Software Consortium proposes the use of DNSSECDNSSECThe Domain Name System Security Extensions is a suite of Internet Engineering Task Force specifications for securing certain kinds of information provided by the Domain Name System as used on Internet Protocol networks...
(domain-name system security extensions) to secure DNS servers. - June: Information Security publishes its first annual Industry Survey, finding that nearly three-quarters of organizations suffered a security incident in the previous year.
- October: "U.S. Attorney General Janet RenoJanet RenoJanet Wood Reno is a former Attorney General of the United States . She was nominated by President Bill Clinton on February 11, 1993, and confirmed on March 11...
announces National Infrastructure Protection Center."
1999
- Software security goes mainstream In the wake of Microsoft's Windows 98 release, 1999 becomes a banner year for security (and hacking). Hundreds of advisories and patches are released in response to newfound (and widely publicized) bugs in Windows and other commercial software products. A host of security software vendors release anti-hacking products for use on home computers.
- The Electronic Civil Disobedience project, an online political performance-art groupArt groupAn art group refers to an association of artists who may work communally, for the purpose of facilitating the creation of art, either that belonging to the individual, or the collective....
, attacks the Pentagon calling it conceptual artConceptual artConceptual art is art in which the concept or idea involved in the work take precedence over traditional aesthetic and material concerns. Many of the works, sometimes called installations, of the artist Sol LeWitt may be constructed by anyone simply by following a set of written instructions...
and claiming it to be a protest against the U.S. support of the suppression of rebels in southern Mexico by the Mexican government. ECD uses the FloodNetFloodNetThe Zapatista Tactical FloodNet is a Java Applet that assists in the execution of virtual sit-ins by automatically reloading the targeted website several times every minute. Additionally, it allows for users to post statements to the site by sending them to the server log.FloodNet was created by...
software to bombard its opponents with access requests. - U.S. President Bill ClintonBill ClintonWilliam Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
announces a $1.46 billion initiative to improve government computer securityComputer securityComputer security is a branch of computer technology known as information security as applied to computers and networks. The objective of computer security includes protection of information and property from theft, corruption, or natural disaster, while allowing the information and property to...
. The plan would establish a network of intrusion detection monitors for certain federal agencies and encourage the private sector to do the same. - January 7: an international coalition of hackers (including CULT OF THE DEAD COWCult of the Dead CowCult of the Dead Cow, also known as cDc or cDc Communications, is a computer hacker and DIY media organization founded in 1984 in Lubbock, Texas. The group maintains a weblog on its site, also titled "Cult of the Dead Cow"...
, 2600 's staff, PhrackPhrackPhrack is an ezine written by and for hackers first published November 17, 1985. Described by Fyodor as "the best, and by far the longest running hacker zine," the magazine is open for contributions by anyone who desires to publish remarkable works or express original ideas on the topics of interest...
s staff, L0phtL0phtL0pht Heavy Industries was a hacker collective active between 1992 and 2000 and located in the Boston, Massachusetts area.-Name:The second character in its name was originally a slashed zero, a symbol used by old teletypewriters and some character mode operating systems to mean zero...
, and the Chaos Computer ClubChaos Computer ClubThe Chaos Computer Club is an organization of hackers. The CCC is based in Germany and other German-speaking countries.The CCC describes itself as "a galactic community of life forms, independent of age, sex, race or societal orientation, which strives across borders for freedom of...
) issued a joint statement (http://www.cultdeadcow.com/news/statement19990107.html) condemning the LoU's declaration of war. The LoU responded by withdrawing its declaration. - A hacker interviewed by Hilly RoseHilly RoseHilly Rose is an American radio personality and a pioneer of the talk radio format. He currently specializes in paranormal events, with shows available from Fate and guest host appearances Coast to Coast AM. He also writes a monthly column for FATE Magazine.-Early career:Rose began his career as a...
during the Art BellArt BellArthur W. "Art" Bell, III is an American broadcaster and author, known primarily as one of the founders and the original host of the paranormal-themed radio program Coast to Coast AM. He also created and formerly hosted its companion show, Dreamland...
Coast-to-Coast Radio Show exposes a plot by Al-Qaida to derail AmtrakAmtrakThe National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak , is a government-owned corporation that was organized on May 1, 1971, to provide intercity passenger train service in the United States. "Amtrak" is a portmanteau of the words "America" and "track". It is headquartered at Union...
trains. This results in ALL trains being forcibly stopped over Y2K as a safety measure. - March: The Melissa worm is released and quickly becomes the most costly malware outbreak to date.
- July: CULT OF THE DEAD COWCult of the Dead CowCult of the Dead Cow, also known as cDc or cDc Communications, is a computer hacker and DIY media organization founded in 1984 in Lubbock, Texas. The group maintains a weblog on its site, also titled "Cult of the Dead Cow"...
releases Back Orifice 2000Back Orifice 2000Back Orifice 2000 is a computer program designed for remote system administration. It enables a user to control a computer running the Microsoft Windows operating system from a remote location. The name is a pun on Microsoft BackOffice Server software.BO2k debuted on July 10, 1999 at DEF CON 7...
at DEF CONDEF CONDEF CON is one of the world's largest annual computer hacker conventions, held every year in Las Vegas, Nevada... - August: Kevin MitnickKevin MitnickKevin David Mitnick is a computer security consultant, author, and hacker. In the late 20th century, he was convicted of various computer- and communications-related crimes. At the time of his arrest, he was the most-wanted computer criminal in the United States.-Personal life:Mitnick grew up in...
, "the most wanted man in cyberspace", sentenced to 5 years, of which over 4 years had already been spent pre-trial including 8 months solitary confinement. - September: Level SevenLevel SevenThe Level Seven Crew, also known as Level Seven, Level 7 or L7, was a hacking group during the mid to late 90's. Eventually dispersing in early 2000 when nominal head 'vent' was raided by the FBI on February 25, 2000.-Origins:...
hacks The US Embassy in China's Website and places racist, anti-government slogans on embassy site in regards to 1998 U.S. embassy bombings. http://www.cnn.com/TECH/computing/9909/08/hack.folo - September 16: The United States Department of JusticeUnited States Department of JusticeThe United States Department of Justice , is the United States federal executive department responsible for the enforcement of the law and administration of justice, equivalent to the justice or interior ministries of other countries.The Department is led by the Attorney General, who is nominated...
sentences the "Phone Masters". - October: American ExpressAmerican ExpressAmerican Express Company or AmEx, is an American multinational financial services corporation headquartered in Three World Financial Center, Manhattan, New York City, New York, United States. Founded in 1850, it is one of the 30 components of the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The company is best...
introduces the "Blue" smart cardSmart cardA smart card, chip card, or integrated circuit card , is any pocket-sized card with embedded integrated circuits. A smart card or microprocessor cards contain volatile memory and microprocessor components. The card is made of plastic, generally polyvinyl chloride, but sometimes acrylonitrile...
, the industry's first chip-based credit card in the US.
2000
- May: The ILOVEYOUILOVEYOUILOVEYOU, also known as Love Letter, is a computer worm that successfully attacked tens of millions of computers in 2000 when it was sent as an attachment to a user with the text "ILOVEYOU" in the subject line. The worm arrived e-mail on and after May 4, 2000 with the simple subject of "ILOVEYOU"...
worm, also known as VBS/Loveletter and Love Bug worm, is a computer worm written in VBScript. It infected millions of computers worldwide within a few hours of its release. It is considered to be one of the most damaging worms ever. It originated in the Philippines; made by an AMA Computer College student for his thesis. - September: teenage hacker Jonathan James becomes first juvenile to serve jail time for hacking.
2001
- Microsoft becomes the prominent victim of a new type of hack that attacks the domain name server. In these denial-of-service attacks, the DNS paths that take users to Microsoft's Web sites are corrupted.
- February: A Dutch cracker releases the Anna KournikovaAnna KournikovaAnna Sergeyevna Kournikova is a Russian retired professional tennis player. Her beauty and celebrity status made her one of the best known tennis stars worldwide, despite the fact that she never won a WTA singles title. At the peak of her fame, fans looking for images of Kournikova made her name...
virus, initiating a wave of viruses that tempts users to open the infected attachment by promising a sexy picture of the Russian tennisTennisTennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
star. - April: FBI agents trick two into coming to the U.S. and revealing how they were Hacking U.S. banks http://www.theregister.co.uk/2002/10/07/fbi_sting_snares_top_russian/.
- May:
- Spurred by elevated tensions in Sino-American diplomatic relations, U.S. and Chinese hackers engage in skirmishes of Web defacements that many dub "The Sixth Cyberwar".
- July: Russian programmer Dmitry SklyarovDmitry SklyarovDmitry Vitalevich Sklyarov is a Russian computer programmer known for his 2001 arrest by American law enforcement over software copyright restrictions under the DMCA anti-circumvention provision...
is arrested at the annual Def Con hacker convention. He is the first person criminally charged with violating the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). - August: Code Red worm, infects tens of thousands of machines.
2002
- January: Bill GatesBill GatesWilliam Henry "Bill" Gates III is an American business magnate, investor, philanthropist, and author. Gates is the former CEO and current chairman of Microsoft, the software company he founded with Paul Allen...
decrees that Microsoft will secureSecureSecure may refer to:* Security, being protected against danger or loss** Securitate , the secret service of Communist Romania* Security , e.g. secured loans...
its products and services, and kicks off a massive internal trainingTrainingThe term training refers to the acquisition of knowledge, skills, and competencies as a result of the teaching of vocational or practical skills and knowledge that relate to specific useful competencies. It forms the core of apprenticeships and provides the backbone of content at institutes of...
and quality controlQuality controlQuality control, or QC for short, is a process by which entities review the quality of all factors involved in production. This approach places an emphasis on three aspects:...
campaign. - May: Klez.HKLEZKIXV is a radio station broadcasting a country music format. Licensed to Malvern, Arkansas, USA, it serves the Hot Springs, Arkansas and Hot Springs Village, Arkansas, area. The station is currently owned by Noalmark Broadcasting Corporation....
, a variant of the worm discovered in November 2001, becomes the biggest malwareMalwareMalware, short for malicious software, consists of programming that is designed to disrupt or deny operation, gather information that leads to loss of privacy or exploitation, or gain unauthorized access to system resources, or that otherwise exhibits abusive behavior...
outbreak in terms of machines infected, but causes little monetary damage. - June: The Bush administration files a bill to create the Department of Homeland Security, which, among other things, will be responsible for protecting the nation's critical ITInformation technologyInformation technology is the acquisition, processing, storage and dissemination of vocal, pictorial, textual and numerical information by a microelectronics-based combination of computing and telecommunications...
infrastructureInfrastructureInfrastructure is basic physical and organizational structures needed for the operation of a society or enterprise, or the services and facilities necessary for an economy to function...
. - August: Researcher Chris Paget publishes a paper describing "shatter attackShatter attackIn computing, a shatter attack is a programming technique employed by crackers on Microsoft Windows operating systems that can be used to bypass security restrictions between processes in a session...
s", detailing how Windows' unauthenticated messaging system can be used to take over a machine. The paper raises questions about how securable Windows could ever be. - October: The International Information Systems Security Certification Consortium - (ISC)2 - confers its 10,000th CISSP certification.
2003
- March: CULT OF THE DEAD COWCult of the Dead CowCult of the Dead Cow, also known as cDc or cDc Communications, is a computer hacker and DIY media organization founded in 1984 in Lubbock, Texas. The group maintains a weblog on its site, also titled "Cult of the Dead Cow"...
and HacktivismoHacktivismoHacktivismo is an offshoot of CULT OF THE DEAD COW , whose beliefs include access to information as a basic human right. It was founded in 1999....
are given permission by the United States Department of CommerceUnited States Department of CommerceThe United States Department of Commerce is the Cabinet department of the United States government concerned with promoting economic growth. It was originally created as the United States Department of Commerce and Labor on February 14, 1903...
to export software utilizing strong encryption. - December 18: Milford Man pleas guilty to hacking.
2004
- March: Myron Tereshchuk is arrested for attempting to extort $17 million from MicropatentMicropatentMicropatent is a subsidiary of the Thomson Corporation . It is a commercial source for online patent and trademark information...
. - July: North Korea claims to have trained 500 hackers who successfully crack South Korean, Japanese, and their allies' computer systems.
2005
- April 2: Rafael NúñezRafael Núñez (hacker)Rafael Núñez is a white hat computer hacker who used to be a member of the World of Hell and a retired model from Venezuela....
aka RaFaRafa-Places:*Rafah, a town in Gaza Strip*Rafa, Kuyavian-Pomeranian, a village in central northeast Poland- People :* Rafa is short for Rafael* Rafael "Rafa" Nadal , Spanish tennis player...
a notorious member of the hacking group World of Hell is arrested following his arrival at Miami International Airport for breaking into the Defense Information Systems AgencyDefense Information Systems AgencyThe Defense Information Systems Agency is a United States Department of Defense agency that provides information technology and communications support to the President, Vice President, Secretary of Defense, the military Services, and the Combatant Commands.As part of the Base Realignment and...
computer system on June 2001.
- September 13: Cameron Lacroix is sentenced to 11 months for gaining access to T-Mobile USA's network and exploiting Paris Hilton'sParis HiltonParis Whitney Hilton is an American businesswoman, heiress, and socialite. She is a great-granddaughter of Conrad Hilton . Hilton is known for her controversial participation in a sex tape in 2003, and appearance on the television series The Simple Life alongside fellow socialite and childhood...
Sidekick.
- November 3: Jeanson James AnchetaJeanson James AnchetaOn May 9, 2006, Jeanson James Ancheta became the first person to be charged for controlling large numbers of hijacked computers or botnets.-Biography:...
, whom prosecutors say was a member of the "Botmaster Underground", a group of script kiddieScript kiddieA script kiddie or skiddie, occasionally skid, script bunny, script kitty, script-running juvenile or similar, is a derogatory term used to describe those who use scripts or programs developed by others to attack computer systems and networks and deface websites.-Characteristics:In a Carnegie...
s mostly noted for their excessive use of bot attackBotnetA botnet is a collection of compromised computers connected to the Internet. Termed "bots," they are generally used for malicious purposes. When a computer becomes compromised, it becomes a part of a botnet...
s and propagating vast amounts of spamSpam (electronic)Spam is the use of electronic messaging systems to send unsolicited bulk messages indiscriminately...
, was taken into custody after being lured to FBI offices in Los Angeles.
2006
- January: One of the few worms to take after the old form of malware, destruction of data rather than the accumulation of zombie networks to launch attacks from, is discovered. It had various names, including Kama Sutra (used by most media reports), Black Worm, Mywife, Blackmal, Nyxem version D, Kapser, KillAV, Grew and CME-24. The worm would spread through e-mail client address books, and would search for documents and fill them with garbage, instead of deleting them to confuse the user. It would also hit a web page counter when it took control, allowing the programmer who created it as well as the world to track the progress of the worm. It would replace documents with random garbage on the third of every month. It was hyped by the media but actually affected relatively few computers, and was not a real threat for most users.
- February: Direct-to-videoDirect-to-videoDirect-to-video is a term used to describe a film that has been released to the public on home video formats without being released in film theaters or broadcast on television...
film The Net 2.0 is released, as a sequel to The Net, following the same plotline, but with updated technology used in the film, using different characters, and different complications. The director of The Net 2.0, Charles Winkler, is son of Irwin Winkler, the director of The Net. - May: Jeanson James Ancheta receives a 57-month prison sentence, http://www.techweb.com/wire/security/187201459 and is ordered to pay damages amounting to $15,000.00 to the Naval Air Warfare Center in China Lake and the Defense Information Systems Agency, for damage done due to DDoS attacks and hacking. Ancheta also had to forfeit his gains to the government, which include $60,000 in cash, a BMW, and computer equipment http://www.techweb.com/wire/security/187201459.
- May: Largest Defacement in Web History is performed by the TurkishTurkeyTurkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
hacker iSKORPiTX who successfully hacked 21,549 websites in one shot. http://www.zone-h.org/component/option,com_oldstuff/Itemid,31/task,news/id,206009// - July: Robert Moore and Edwin Pena featured on Americas Most Wanted with Kevin MitnickKevin MitnickKevin David Mitnick is a computer security consultant, author, and hacker. In the late 20th century, he was convicted of various computer- and communications-related crimes. At the time of his arrest, he was the most-wanted computer criminal in the United States.-Personal life:Mitnick grew up in...
presenting their case commit the first VOIP crime ever seen in the USA. Robert Moore served 2 years in federal prison with a $152,000.00 restitution while Edwin Pena was sentenced to 10 years and a $1 million restitution. - September: Viodentia releases FairUse4WM tool which would remove DRMDigital rights managementDigital rights management is a class of access control technologies that are used by hardware manufacturers, publishers, copyright holders and individuals with the intent to limit the use of digital content and devices after sale. DRM is any technology that inhibits uses of digital content that...
information off WMA music downloaded from music services such as Yahoo Unlimited, Napster, Rhapsody Music and Urge.
2007
- May 17: EstoniaEstoniaEstonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a state in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by Lake Peipsi and the Russian Federation . Across the Baltic Sea lies...
recovers from massive denial-of-service attack
- June 13: FBI Operation Bot Roast finds over 1 million botnet victims
- June 21: A spear phishing incident at the Office of the Secretary of DefenseOffice of the Secretary of DefenseThe Office of the Secretary of Defense is a headquarters-level staff of the Department of Defense of the United States of America. It is the principal civilian staff element of the Secretary of Defense, and it assists the Secretary in carrying out authority, direction and control of the Department...
steals sensitive U.S. defense information, leading to significant changes in identity and message-source verification at OSD.
- August 11: United NationsUnited NationsThe United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
website hacked by Turkish Hacker Kerem125
- October 7: Trend MicroTrend MicroTrend Micro Inc. is a computer security company. It is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan and markets Trend Micro Internet Security, Trend Micro Worry-Free Business Security, OfficeScan, and other related security products and services...
website successfully hacked by Turkish hacker Janizary(aka Utku)
- November 29: FBI Operation Bot Roast II: 1 million infected PCs, $20 million in losses and 8 indictments
2008
- January 17: Project ChanologyProject ChanologyProject Chanology is a protest movement against the practices of the Church of Scientology by members of Anonymous, a leaderless Internet-based group that defines itself as ubiquitous...
Anonymous attacks Scientology website servers around the world. Private documents are stolen from Scientology computers and distributed over the Internet
- March 7: Around 20 Chinese hackers claim to have gained access to the world's most sensitive sites, including The PentagonThe PentagonThe Pentagon is the headquarters of the United States Department of Defense, located in Arlington County, Virginia. As a symbol of the U.S. military, "the Pentagon" is often used metonymically to refer to the Department of Defense rather than the building itself.Designed by the American architect...
. They operate from a bare apartment on a Chinese island.
2009
- April 4: ConfickerConfickerConficker, also known as Downup, Downadup and Kido, is a computer worm targeting the Microsoft Windows operating system that was first detected in November 2008...
worm infiltrated millions of PCs worldwide including many government-level top-security computer networks
2010
- March 24: UN department of safety and security hacked by turkish hacker DigitALL(1923Turk)Mirror Link
- January 12: Operation AuroraOperation AuroraOperation Aurora was a cyber attack which began in mid-2009 and continued through December 2009. The attack was first publicly disclosed by Google on January 12, 2010, in a blog post. In the blog post, Google said the attack originated in China...
Google publicly reveals that it has been on the receiving end of a "highly sophisticated and targeted attack on our corporate infrastructure originating from China that resulted in the theft of intellectual property from Google" - June: StuxnetStuxnetStuxnet is a computer worm discovered in June 2010. It initially spreads via Microsoft Windows, and targets Siemens industrial software and equipment...
The Stuxnet worm is found by VirusBlokAda. Stuxnet was unusual in that while it spread via Windows computers, its payload targeted just one specific model and type of SCADASCADASCADA generally refers to industrial control systems : computer systems that monitor and control industrial, infrastructure, or facility-based processes, as described below:...
systems. It slowly became clear that it was a cyber attack on Iran's nuclear facilities - with most experts believing that Israel, was behind it - perhaps with US help.
2011
- The Hacker group Lulz security is formed
- April 17: An "external intrusionPlayStation Network outageThe PlayStation Network outage was the result of an "external intrusion" on Sony's PlayStation Network and Qriocity services, in which personal details from approximately 77 million accounts were stolen and prevented users of PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable consoles from playing online...
" sends the PlayStation Network offline, and compromises personally identifying information (possibly including credit card details) of its 77 million accounts, in what is claimed to be one of the five largest data breaches ever.
- The hacker group LulzRaftLulzRaftLulzRaft is the name of a computer hacker group or individual that gained international attention in 2011 due to a series of high-profile attacks on Canadian websites...
is formed
- September: Bangladeshi hacker TiGER-M@TE made world record in defacement history by hacking 700,000 websites in one shot.
- October 16: The YouTubeYouTubeYouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
channel of Sesame StreetSesame StreetSesame Street has undergone significant changes in its history. According to writer Michael Davis, by the mid-1970s the show had become "an American institution". The cast and crew expanded during this time, including the hiring of women in the crew and additional minorities in the cast. The...
was hacked, streaming pornographic content for about 22 minutes.
- November 1: The main phone and Internet networks of the Palestinian territoriesPalestinian territoriesThe Palestinian territories comprise the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Since the Palestinian Declaration of Independence in 1988, the region is today recognized by three-quarters of the world's countries as the State of Palestine or simply Palestine, although this status is not recognized by the...
sustained a hacker attack from multiple locations wordlwide.