10 Convicted Computer Criminals

Wherever there’s a computer, there’s a way to hack. Computer criminals have jumped through virtual loopholes to steal identities and authorized government information, as well as infect computers and expose personal information. Although some computer criminals hack for experimental or learning purposes, most do it for personal wealth and gain. Either way, computer criminals teach us a great deal about computer security and keep us on our toes. Here are 10 convicted computer criminals:

1. Robert Tappan Morris

   Robert Tappan Morris was convicted of intentionally accessing Federal interest computers without authorization, therefore, preventing authorized access that caused $1,000 in losses. He did so by creating the first worm, a computer virus, which was released on the Internet and drastically slowed down computers and crippled the Internet. Morris was fined, placed on probation for three years and had to complete 400 community service hours. This case was the first prosecution under the United States Code: Title 18, 1030, which involves fraud and related activity in connection with computers.



2. Jeanson James Ancheta

   Jeanson James Ancheta, a member of the infamous “botmaster underground” group, was arrested for selling armies of infected computers to hackers, with the intention of sending large quantities of spam across the Internet, causing damage to protected computers, causing damage to computers used by the federal government in national defense and hacking protected computers without authorization to commit fraud and money laundering. Ancheta was sentenced to 57 months in federal prison and required to pay $15,000 in restitution for the damages he caused to national defense networks.



3. Kevin David Mitnick

   Mitnick was convicted of phone fraud, computer fraud and hacking into networks to steal computer software. Mitnick was most well known for his cell phone hacking spree, specifically the hacking of Digital Equipment Corporation’s network to steal their software, in addition to hacking major cell phone companies, Nokia and Motorola. He was considered one of the most wanted computer hackers in the U.S., but his arrest came after he cracked into fellow hacker Tsutomu Shimomura’s computer and was discovered by the FBI in 1995. He was sentenced to five years in prison.



4. Gary McKinnon

   Gary McKinnon, a British hacker, was convicted of breaking into U.S. military computers, in an attempt to find hidden alien technology that he thought would be the key to solving the global energy crisis. While hacking, McKinnon admitted to deleting files, hard drives and other materials that cost the government $700,000 to fix. McKinnon suffers from Asperger’s syndrome, which his attorneys have used in his defense, while the U.S. government argues his hack jobs were intended to breach American defense systems.



5. Kevin Poulsen

   Kevin Poulsen, also known as the “Dark Dante,” was convicted of wire fraud and money laundering. Considered one of the smartest and sneakiest hackers, Poulsen managed to break-in to the FBI’s database, as well as hacked the phone lines to Los Angeles radio station KIIS, making him the 102nd caller and winner of a Porsche and a Hawaii trip. Poulsen was sentenced to five years in prison.



6. Gerald Wondra

   Gerald Wondra was one the six men involved in a 1983 computer hacking case, called The 414s, in which hackers broke into a number of secured computer systems at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and Security Pacific Bank. Wondra was placed on probation for two years.

7. Raphael Gray

   The Wales teenager, Raphael Gray, was arrested for hacking the databases of e-commerce sites to steal credit card numbers and personal information of 26,000 American, British and credit card holders. Gray, who was also known as the “Curador,” admitted to downloading the credit card numbers, but claimed he didn’t do it for personal gain and was instead trying to help the e-commerce sites. Gray’s penalty was three years of psychiatric treatment.



8. Cameron Lacroix

   Cameron Lacroix was convicted of illegally accessing celebrity Paris Hilton’s cell phone account, and hacking into consumer data giant LexisNexis Inc., which made the personal records of more than 300,000 consumers public. Because Lacroix was a juvenile when the crime occurred, he had to spend 11 months in a juvenile detention facility, and was not allowed to use or own a cell phone, computer or any electronic device that has access to the Internet.

9. Jeffrey Lee Parson

   Jeffrey Lee Parson was convicted of intentionally causing and attempting to cause damage to a protected computer with his version of the Blaster worm, called Blaster.B worm. He released the worm from his house, and it spread to computers using the Microsoft operating systems. Parson’s house was searched by federal agents on suspicion of writing and releasing malicious computer programs. He was arrested at 18 years old and was sentenced to 18 months in federal prison, as well as community service hours and restitution.



10. Adrian Lamo

    Adrian Lamo, also known as “the homeless hacker,” would sleep in abandoned buildings and hack computers at Internet cafes and public libraries. He was arrested for breaking into the databases of high-profile organizations, such as Microsoft, Yahoo and the New York Times. Lamo was placed on probation for two years.

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This entry was posted on Thursday, June 17th, 2010 at 5:48 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.