In this week’s episode of IT SPARC Cast - Top Ten, hosts John Barger and Lou Schmidt dive into the darker side of tech turned bright. We’re counting down the Top 10 Hackers That Ran Afoul of the Law and Then Made Good. These are real-life stories of rogue coders, phone phreaks, worm creators, and cyber anarchists who got busted but eventually turned things around to use their skills to do good—some became teachers, consultants, or even government allies.

Ranked from least to most positive impact, this episode highlights infamous names like Kevin Mitnick, Marcus Hutchins, Captain Crunch, and Sabu, while also giving props to lesser-known figures who helped shape cybersecurity and privacy today. You’ll hear about FBI takedowns, pioneering malware, digital redemption, and even a Porsche giveaway scam gone sideways.

🧠 It’s a wild ride through hacker history—with lessons for anyone in IT, security, or just fascinated by tech mischief turned mentorship.

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⏱️ Timestamps & Topics

00:00 – Intro

01:28 – #10: John Draper (“Cap’n Crunch”)

07:33 – #9: Dmitry Sklyarov

10:35 – #8: Adrian Lamo

13:43 – #7: Mark Abene (“Phiber Optik”)

18:00 – #6: Kevin Poulsen (“Dark Dante”)

20:49 – #5: Samy Kamkar

24:37 – #4: Marcus Hutchins (“MalwareTech”)

28:13 – #3: Hector Monsegur (“Sabu”)

31:04 – #2: Robert T. Morris

34:55 – #1: Kevin Mitnick

37:58 – Wrap Up

•Ethical hackers

•Famous hackers who changed

•Cybersecurity legends

•Kevin Mitnick story

•White-hat hacker transformations

•Top 10 hackers

•Real hacker redemption stories

•IT history podcast

•Infosec top ten

•Cybercrime to cybersecurity

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