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DP29 Kevin Poulsen hacks phones to win a Porsche
Hackers over the years change after a while. They aren’t always hellbent on causing chaos and destruction. In fact, in a lot of cases, most hackers tend to change dramatically once they have been arrested.
One example is Kevin Poulsen. It only took one time for Poulsen to change his ways. The instance involved him hacking into all of the phone lines that were going to a Los Angeles radio show. The reason? In 1990, the radio show KIIS-FM held a contest where the 102nd caller would win a Porsche 944 S2.
Though Kevin technically won said Porsche, police were suspicious and found that he won the prize illegitimately. When they went to capture Poulsen, he fled and went underground as a fugitive. Eventually, police captured him in April 1991.
It wasn’t until 1994 though when Poulsen was sentenced for his crime. There were seven counts of conspiracy, fraud, and wiretapping which caused him to spend five years in a federal penitentiary, and was banned from using a computer or the internet for 3 years after his release. This was the first person in United States history to be banned from the internet for a period of time and to serve it. Chris Lamprecht received the same punishment, but he was still in jail while Poulsen was free and serving his ban sentence.
What happened after Poulsen was done prison was reform entirely. He moved away from hacking entirely to now being a journalist. He first found work at SecurityFocus where he started to write news on hacking and security in the early 2000s. Despite this news being late to the market, SecurityFocus News became well-known within the industry. So much so that Symantec acquired that section later on.
Even the mainstream press picked up Poulsen’s articles and research. Because of this, this solidified Poulsen as a quality writer. This amongst other things helped Poulsen jump into freelance writing and worked for various companies. Of note was his work with Wired News and now The Daily Beast.
Since then, Poulsen has been crucial in revealing information about particular people. Some of his work has led to captures of various criminals as well.
In October 2006, Poulsen’s work on MySpace managed to capture 744 users on MySpace who were registered as sex offenders.
In June 2010, Poulsen reported the initial story of Chelsea Manning being arrested. He also published the logs of Manning’s chats with Adrian Lamo pertaining to WikiLeaks.
Poulsen’s work and his life story to this point echoes similar themes to various hackers I’ve talked about before. Not all hackers resort to a life of crime after they’ve been caught and released. In many cases, hackers use their strengths to do good and to contribute to the society as a whole. Remember this moving forward with the many hackers out there in the world. Sometimes they need guidance and maybe a rude wake-up call.
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By dpappHackers over the years change after a while. They aren’t always hellbent on causing chaos and destruction. In fact, in a lot of cases, most hackers tend to change dramatically once they have been arrested.
One example is Kevin Poulsen. It only took one time for Poulsen to change his ways. The instance involved him hacking into all of the phone lines that were going to a Los Angeles radio show. The reason? In 1990, the radio show KIIS-FM held a contest where the 102nd caller would win a Porsche 944 S2.
Though Kevin technically won said Porsche, police were suspicious and found that he won the prize illegitimately. When they went to capture Poulsen, he fled and went underground as a fugitive. Eventually, police captured him in April 1991.
It wasn’t until 1994 though when Poulsen was sentenced for his crime. There were seven counts of conspiracy, fraud, and wiretapping which caused him to spend five years in a federal penitentiary, and was banned from using a computer or the internet for 3 years after his release. This was the first person in United States history to be banned from the internet for a period of time and to serve it. Chris Lamprecht received the same punishment, but he was still in jail while Poulsen was free and serving his ban sentence.
What happened after Poulsen was done prison was reform entirely. He moved away from hacking entirely to now being a journalist. He first found work at SecurityFocus where he started to write news on hacking and security in the early 2000s. Despite this news being late to the market, SecurityFocus News became well-known within the industry. So much so that Symantec acquired that section later on.
Even the mainstream press picked up Poulsen’s articles and research. Because of this, this solidified Poulsen as a quality writer. This amongst other things helped Poulsen jump into freelance writing and worked for various companies. Of note was his work with Wired News and now The Daily Beast.
Since then, Poulsen has been crucial in revealing information about particular people. Some of his work has led to captures of various criminals as well.
In October 2006, Poulsen’s work on MySpace managed to capture 744 users on MySpace who were registered as sex offenders.
In June 2010, Poulsen reported the initial story of Chelsea Manning being arrested. He also published the logs of Manning’s chats with Adrian Lamo pertaining to WikiLeaks.
Poulsen’s work and his life story to this point echoes similar themes to various hackers I’ve talked about before. Not all hackers resort to a life of crime after they’ve been caught and released. In many cases, hackers use their strengths to do good and to contribute to the society as a whole. Remember this moving forward with the many hackers out there in the world. Sometimes they need guidance and maybe a rude wake-up call.