6 Hacker Pioneers Who Turned the Early Internet on Its Head

Kevin Mitnick is likely one of the most infamous digital troublemakers from the early days of the web—incessantly known as the world’s most well-known hacker.

From a really younger age, Mitnick was reportedly a pc whiz—a skillset that shortly led to innumerable digital break-ins. In 1982, on the age of 19, he hacked into the North American Defense Command (NORAD), America’s underground nuclear command middle—an occasion that allegedly served because the inspiration for the basic hacker flick War Games. At different varied factors, he additionally hacked Pacific Bell, the Digital Equipment Corporation, and lots of others. After a warrant was issued for his arrest in 1992, Mitnick went on the lam, remaining at giant for over two years. For the whole period of his flight from the legislation, Mitnick continued to hack into networks and steal knowledge. This white-hot streak got here to an finish in February of 1995 when the FBI lastly arrested him. He was subsequently slapped with a bevy of federal fees and sentenced to a number of years in jail. Today, he’s remade himself as an IT consultant, speaker, and a celeb within the hacking and IT communities.