White Hat Hackers
Hackers that use their hacking skills for good are referred to as "white hat" hackers. Often referred to as Ethical Hackers, these non-criminal hackers are hired by companies to examine and test the integrity of their systems. Other white hat hackers, operate without company permission by bending but not breaking the laws and int progress have created some very cool features. This article examines and selects the Five Best Non-Criminal Hackers and the innovations and technologies that they have developed:
1. Stephen Wozniak
Nicknamed Woz, he is often referred to as the other Steve of Apple. Wozniak and Steve Jobs, co-founded Apple Computer. Woz started his hacking making blue boxes, which are devices that bypass telephone switching mechanisms enabling users to make free long distance calls. Woz and Jobs sold these blue boxes to their classmates in college and even used a blue box to call the Pope while pretending to be Henry Kissinger.
Wozniak dropped out of college and invented the compute that made him famous. Jobs had the idea to sell the computer as a fully assembled PC board. The idea was conceived and developed in Jobs garage. Wozniak and Jobs sold the first 100 of the Apple I to a local dealer for $666.66 each.
Woz currently focuses on philanthropy and no longer works full time for Apple. "Wozniak 'adopted' the Los Gatos School District, providing students and teachers with hands-on teaching and donations of state-of-the-art technology equipment."
2. Tim Berners-Lee
Berners-Lee is credited with being the inventor of the World Wide Web. Berners-Lee has been honored with numerous recognitions incuding the Millennium Technology Prize.
Berners-Lee was first caught hacking access codes with a friend while a student at Oxford University. He was then banned from the University computers.
Berners-Lee realized that hypertext could be joined with the Internet. Berners-Lee recounts how he put them together: "I just had to take the hypertext idea and connect it to the TCP and DNS ideas and – ta-da! – the World Wide Web."
Since his creation of the World Wide Web, Berners-Lee founded the World Wide Web Consortium at MIT. The W3C describes itself as "an international consortium where Member organizations, a full-time staff and the public work together to develop Web standards." Berners-Lee's World Wide Web idea, as well as standards from the W3C, is distributed freely with no patent or royalties due.
3. Linus Torvalds
Torvalds fathered Linux, the very popular Unix-based operating system. He calls himself "an engineer," and has said that his aspirations are simple, "I just want to have fun making the best damn operating system I can."
Torvalds got his start in computers with a Commodore VIC-20, an 8-bit home computer. He then moved on to a Sinclair QL. Wikipedia reports that he modified the Sinclair "extensively, especially its operating system." Specifically, Torvalds hacks included "an assembler and a text editor…as well as a few games."
Torvalds created the Linux kernel in 1991, using the Minix operating system as inspiration. He started with a task switcher in Intel 80386 assembly and a terminal driver. After that, he put out a call for others to contribute code, which they did. Currently, only about 2 percent of the current Linux kernel is written by Torvalds himself. The success of this public invitation to contribute code for Linux is touted as one of the most prominent examples of free/open source software.
Currently, Torvalds serves as the Linux ringleader, coordinating the code that volunteer programmers contribute to the kernel. He has had an asteroid named after him and received honorary doctorates from Stockholm University and University of Helsinki. He was also featured in Time Magazine's "60 Years of Heroes."
4. Richard Stallman
Stallman's fame derives from the GNU Project, which he founded to develop a free operating system. For this, he's known as the father of free software. His "Serious Bio" asserts, "Non-free software keeps users divided and helpless, forbidden to share it and unable to change it. A free operating system is essential for people to be able to use computers in freedom."
Stallman, who prefers to be called rms, got his start hacking at MIT. He worked as a "staff hacker" on the Emacs project and others. He was a critic of restricted computer access in the lab. When a password system was installed, Stallman broke it down, resetting passwords to null strings, then sent users messages informing them of the removal of the password system.
Stallman's crusade for free software started with a printer. At the MIT lab, he and other hackers were allowed to modify code on printers so that they sent convenient alert messages. However, a new printer came along – one that they were not allowed to modify. It was located away from the lab and the absence of the alerts presented an inconvenience. It was at this point that he was "convinced…of the ethical need to require free software."
With this inspiration, he began work on GNU. Stallman wrote an essay, "The GNU Project," in which he recalls choosing to work on an operating system because it's a foundation, "the crucial software to use a computer." At this time, the GNU/Linux version of the operating system uses the Linux kernel started by Torvalds. GNU is distributed under "copyleft," a method that employs copyright law to allow users to use, modify, copy and distribute the software.
Stallman's life continues to revolve around the promotion of free software. He works against movements like Digital Rights Management (or as he prefers, Digital Restrictions Management) through organizations like Free Software Foundation and League for Programming Freedom. He has received extensive recognition for his work, including awards, fellowships and four honorary doctorates.
5. Tsutomu Shimomura
Shimomura reached fame in an unfortunate manner: he was hacked by Kevin Mitnick. Following this personal attack, he made it his cause to help the FBI capture him.
Shimomura's work to catch Mitnick is commendable, but he is not without his own dark side. Author Bruce Sterling recalls: "He pulls out this AT&T cellphone, pulls it out of the shrinkwrap, finger-hacks it, and starts monitoring phone calls going up and down Capitol Hill while an FBI agent is standing at his shoulder, listening to him."
Shimomura out-hacked Mitnick to bring him down. Shortly after finding out about the intrusion, he rallied a team and got to work finding Mitnick. Using Mitnick's cell phone, they tracked him near Raleigh-Durham International Airport. The article, "SDSC Computer Experts Help FBI Capture Computer Terrorist" recounts how Shimomura pinpointed Mitnick's location. Armed with a technician from the phone company, Shimomura "used a cellular frequency direction-finding antenna hooked up to a laptop to narrow the search to an apartment complex." Mitnick was arrested shortly thereafter. Following the pursuit, Shimomura wrote a book about the incident with journalist John Markoff, which was later turned into a movie.
Also see the Top Five (5) Best Criminal Hackers of All Time
http://www.marvquin.com/blog/top-five-5-best-criminal-computer-hackers-a...
45 Comments
norte hit on me.
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i need a hacker to help my son
i tryed get info on my daughterinlaw we know she has screan names in difrent sites we know she cheating on my son while he is in war in iraq he asked 4 my help but those companys swear they will give you background check for certain money but they don't...so i remember years ago use to be hackers to find screan names,profilles,even get info from im...she unfit mother leaving 3 year old at home and hitting clubs if she was in my state would be difrent but she is 7 hours drive away...please help me and my son with his stress he can become easy target in war.its a shame some women marrying millitary guys just for benefits.please write me back zseale@aol.com thank you and god bless you.
how would learn haking
would u please tell me hwo may i learn haking
Help Abt Hotmail Id
Hello,
i know.. i am asking for stupid type of help.. but this help will be must helpfull for me and for my sister's life..
cbi_81@hotmail.com is my sister's hotmail id.. from few days i noticed that she is tensed..
from her friend.. i knew that some 1 threating and blackmailing her on internet via email..
i discussed this thing with my sister, but she said.. leave this.. i have no problem or tension from internet..
she is my sister.. so i don't want that some one tease or threat her on internet.. and also i can't see her depressed..
now i want to access her emails for few minutes.. for better know abt the problem..
with human sympathy please help me out..
waiting for ur response..
Ovais.
Best Hacker
I agree with the comment that said Kevin Coleman of Netscape is by far the best (Whitehat) hacker.
Is Whitehat Hacking an
Is Whitehat Hacking an actual term? I thought that was only used in SEO.
Anonymous emails
Myself,other families, our baseball coach, the principle, and the athletic director have recently received anonymous emails from enote.com. They are slanderous and downright mean. You cannot respond back to the attacker. Is there any way to find out who sent these emails? I unfortunately do not have the means to hire a computer expert. I heard that the emails go through several offline servers overseas etc. and that it is expensive to trace the original sender. Could you give me advice on this matter. Thank you. Linda Lally
i need real hacker that can run this
i need sure real hacker if you are sure off urself conntact me via ,, timothyball10@yahoo.com
the list should be... 1.
the list should be...
1. Linus Torvalds
2.Richard Stallman
3.Tim Berners-Lee
Remove Stephen Wozniak for being a douche.
If someone has a better list I probably wouldn't agree.
Need a western union hacker
i need a very good hack who can help me out.We can both work together to make money.
hw far
lets work together if you are a sure person
computer
i am in learning but i am sure that i will become a good hacker after gaining some information....
what's the job?
what's the job?
hack
wtf what is the best linux there is a lot and i dont no what is the best to hack so poeple help
better hackers than these losers
wtf?!?! you missed 3 hackers that are far better than these guys, and they have never got cought, they use secret names and every thing; Poison Snake, Lava Anymal, -killer-
you comment
the hackers that he was writing about are called white hat hackers meaning they hack legally and ar payed by companies to hack them so the company can see how good their secrity is
You Missed the Top White Hat Hacker of all time
In 2001 I witness first hand the knowledge and skills of Kevin Coleman in a closed door join session of a Congressional committee. An impressive panel of expert authorities includes the Lobbyist of Microsoft, The Privacy Foundation, and other which including Kevin Coleman, the former Chief Strategist of Netscape. Over a 56k dial up and through the latest versions of software, and anti virus as well as a properly configured firewall he compromised the computer in less than 20 seconds. They had the computer operator create a file, which he then stole off of the computer, modified it and sent it back to them. During the demonstration Chris Dodd interrupted and asked "does our defense department know about you" and other Congressional staffer uttered "you are scaring the hell out of me." I have followed his speaking events and recently saw him in person at the SECTOR conference in Toronto Canada. He continues to expose the fact that the nations information infrastructure is vulnerable to attack and the potential of a cyber war. I just saw he is the blog-master for Defensetech.org covering cyber warfare. NO offense to the WAZ, but this guy is the best. That is not just my opinion, but the opinion of at least2 3 letter agencies in this space.
hi
i need a good website of hackers......
So the boys at PARC were ^chop^ liver or what?
How is it not one of the PARC "boys" made this list?
Of all the hacks in the white hat world they surely made a mark. Before there was only Black Screen - Green Text before which was dark amber screen - yellow text (rather unintelligible I might add).
There was the development of the pixel and subsequently the GUI; which led to the Mouse and ultimately a 'windoze' user interactive world. Granted many of these efforts were 'hardware hacks', yet as one who enjoys MAKE and Popular Science among the many DIY genres these are White Hat Hacks nonetheless.
10 guys ask, "What is chroot?" 0ne knows binary, the 0ther doesn't.
Hackers
The best? Captain Crunch, the blind kid in tennessese who couldn't get a job with bell south. He used the whistle to call himself around the world
Captain crunch wasn't blind,
Captain crunch wasn't blind, his friends were... one of them could whistle at the direct frequency that the phone companies used, allowing himself to call around the world to himself.
Captain Crunch found out that a whistle from a Captain Crunch box could make that frequency as well, and used it for free calls.
True Gods they are.
Aw, to put em all together at my dinner table and spend the evening talking about their exploits.
Mana from the Gods.
True Gods they are.
Aw, to put em all together at my dinner table and spend the evening talking about their exploits.
Mana from the Gods.
Where is eric?
I don't think this list is complete without mentioning Eric Raymond....
RMS should come to the top
RMS should come to the top
and what about KEN? (yes,
and what about KEN? (yes, Ken Thompson, that man who invented UNIX)
Right on
Someone said it before I could. Thank you.
Error in Article!
Linus Torvalds based Linux on UNIX, not Minux. He originally planned to call Linux "Minux", but the server administrator of the server Linus' OS was hosted on gave him the directory name of Linux. There is no such system as "Minux" for him to base it upon!
He originally planned to
He originally planned to call Linux "Minux"
Try Freax
Linus Torvalds based Linux
Linus Torvalds based Linux on UNIX, not Minux.
Please do not post what you do not know and provide wrong information.
He originally planned to call Linux "Minux"
Please don't give us this crap. He wanted to call it Lunix. At least google enough before posting such information.
Linux is not an operating
Linux is not an operating system. It's kernel. GNU is the operating system.
Yeah, GNU is an operating
Yeah, GNU is an operating system without an operating system, brrr, sorry, without a kernel I meant...
LOL!
No Minix?
Sorry to spoil your "I'm smarter than you, you're an idiot" party, but there is an operating system called Minix, and it is what Linux was based on.
Minix on Wikipedia
Linux was based on Minix, which was based on Unix.
Linus looks like my uncle...
You know, I never noticed it before, but Linus and one of my uncles bear a striking resemblance to each other...
In any case, good article!
Linus looks like my uncle...
You know, I never noticed it before, but Linus and one of my uncles bear a striking resemblance to each other...
In any case, good article!
Great List
Great list and great write up, thanks for taking the time to create this
Wozniak is awesome
It's always nice when someone gets rich doing what they love, and gives back when they get rich.
One Man. One Year. $100,000 online. Getting rich doing what I love.
http://www.oneyeargoal.com
hacker = "non-criminal
hacker = "non-criminal hacker"
cracker = "criminal hacker"
http://www.catb.org/~esr/jargon/html/H/hacker.html
http://www.catb.org/~esr/jargon/html/C/cracker.html
Stallman's #1
Come on..Stallman should have been #1, Wozniak is nowhere near Stallman, I'm sure Woz was put first to appease the Digg horde..but comeon..watch revolution OS and tell me that Stallmans not worthy of #1, the guys the poster boy for White-Hat hacking and modding.
Are they realy white?
The writer should have given the reference of his statements for authenticity.
I know Mark Lottor, and he
I know Mark Lottor, and he isn't a "friend of Mitnick". Kevin tried to social-engineer him once, and Mark has always considered him a no-talent poseur.
Spelling
Fix your typos... nothing worse than an article with typos (missing words, lack of plurals, etc.)
Woz sold blue boxes door-to-door.
Steve Wozniak sold blue boxes in dormitories at the University of California-Berkeley where he studied as an undergraduate.
Blue boxes are used to commit telephone fraud (phreaking) in addition to theft of phone service (making free calls).
If that's white hat, then I'm Fidel Castro.
Simomura isn't purely a white hat
If you do more research into Shimomura you will find out, he isn't purely a "white hat". It was always widely accepted that he and Mark Lottor (friend to Mitnick) were playing the black hat role. In this article, Shimomura was always suspected as "N.M." and Lottor as V.T.:
http://www.totse.com/en/phreak/cellular_phones/cellhack.html
best white hat hacker
I think I would drop Stallman or Tsutomu from this list and put the name of Ed Felton up there. This is a glaring omission.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Felten