The History of Hacking
The word "hacker" gained notoriety at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the 1960s. The campus culture at the MIT slotted students into two groups. Students who regularly attended classes, spent time in the libraries and turned in their assignments on time where branded as "tools." "Hackers" on the other hand were students who dumped classes, slept during the day and invested their nights in recreational activities. It was the MIT hackers of the 1960s who tampered and rigged the newly installed mainframe systems on campus and thus became the pioneers of computer hacking.
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Early Years- Hacking Coalition
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Hacking in the early years was largely seen as wild but a harmless act of disruption. Those who had access to computer systems and networks and had the ability to hack were elite intellectuals on campuses such as MIT. While MIT hackers were tampering the in-house mainframe computers, "phreaks" or phone hackers were breaking into international telecommunication networks to make free phone calls. Hackers and phreaks began to congregate at the first of their kind network user groups and online forums such as "Sherwood Forest" and "Catch-22." They shared information on how to breach computer system securities.
Early 1980s: Rise in Hacking
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In the early 1980s, hacking practices spread beyond the walls of Ivy league schools and infiltrated into the cultural mainstream. Hacking magazines such as Zine Phrack and 2600 gained popularity and in 1983 the movie "War Games," with a hacker being portrayed as a hero, introduced computer hacking to the larger audience. In the same year six teenagers from a hacking gang called "414" were arrested for breaking into 60 U.S. government computers, including systems that helped develop nuclear weapons. News reports of teenagers hacking into government and corporate computer networks became more common.
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The Late 1980s: Anti-Hacking Laws
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In 1986, the U.S. Congress passed a law called "The Computer Fraud and Abuse Act," and computer hacking became a federal offense. The following year, Robert Morris, a Cornell University drop out, for the first time in Internet history launched a virus that crashed networks of several government agencies and universities. Morris also became the first person to be convicted under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. In the late 1980s hacking, also for the first time, became a means for international espionage. Four hackers from West Germany were arrested for breaching into the U.S. government computers and selling information to the Soviet KGB.
The 1990s- Internet Hacking
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In the 1990s, a computer and a connection to the World Wide Web became a common feature in households across the United States. The hacking of corporate systems and virus launches on the Internet became pervasive. In 1994, Russian student Vladimir Levin partnered with other hackers in the biggest computer heist ever. He stole more than $10 million from Citibank accounts. While hacking became the means for financial theft, the U.S. anti-hacking laws and punishments also hardened. A hacker who rigged a Los Angles radio station's network to win a Porsche in a contest was sentenced to 51 months in prison. It was the highest penalty for a hacker in the U.S. history. Further, in 1999, a techie named Kevin Mitnick became the first hacker to be featured on the FBI's most wanted list.
New Millenium- Identity Theft
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At the turn of the new millennium, the forms of hacking and the laws against it continued to evolve. Hackers continued to breach government, military and corporate networks. However, with the Internet becoming a common tool for mass consumption and household transactions, the cases of consumer identity theft grew drastically. In 2005, for instance, hackers recorded the biggest identity breach in online history. Credit card and related account details of 40 million Mastercard consumers were reportedly stolen.
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