The person about whom will be discussed below, has become famousto the whole world, and by no means the most good deeds. Being a genius hacker, he hacked the networks of dozens of companies. By the way, Adriana Lamo never was interested in small game. Its victims were exclusively giant corporations. Cisco, Microsoft, Bank of America - the list can be continued indefinitely. For him, everything was simple: an hour or two clicks on the keys in a mediocre Internet cafe, and - oh, a miracle! - Google is defeated, and Lamo, suffering from a painful thirst for attention, smothes his hands smugly - in his piggy bank another victory. However, there is no harm without good: the actions of a homeless hacker, as he was dubbed by the press for a nomadic way of life, made a significant contribution to the development of information security. And this, perhaps, is already a weighty reason to consider in detail his biography.
It seems that in the life of a marginal genius,so that he becomes what he is. Adrian Lamo, born in Boston on February 20, 1981, first met with a computer at the age of 6-7 years. Agree, it's quite early, considering that in the 80's IT technologies have just begun to develop. Anyway, and Lamo's parents got Commodore 64, on which he committed his first small crime. The boy could not reconcile that games should be played by the rules, and he did not find any way out except to hack his favorite text adventures. And after that, nothing could stop him from enjoying the process. So Lamo realized that the rules can and should be broken. At least for the fun.
Lamo spent his school years in San Francisco, andit was here in the life of a future hacker that a sharp turn happened one day. When the boy turned 17, his parents decided to move to Sacramento, and Adrian himself preferred to stay. Is it possible to exchange a noisy metropolis for a dubious prospect of living in a small town? No, that was unacceptable for Lamo. So he was alone without a roof over his head and serious education, but with a good knowledge of computers and information systems.
It is not hard to guess that without work "byLamo did not stay, and the young man solved the problem with the roof too: he slept right at the offices of the companies where he worked hard during the day.Some time, Lamo even worked as a computer security consultant for a large firm, Levi Strauss. He prefers not to spread the hacker about him, probably for some reason, because it was the last one, and the next few years the young man led a nomadic way of life.
Adrian Lamo traveled the country mainlyhitch-hiking, having only a laptop, necessary medicines, a set of change clothes and a warm blanket. Night hacker spent with friends, in abandoned buildings and on construction sites.
It was during the years of travel Lamo made his veryhigh-profile crimes. Incredibly, to penetrate the networks of large organizations, he used only Wi-Fi in Internet cafes or libraries, a browser on his laptop and an IP scanner. Extremely modest set for a world-class hacker, however, judging by everything, it was enough with a vengeance.
Engaging in hacking networks companies like Cingular,Lamo observed certain safety rules. The homeless hacker did not stop in any city for more than two nights. As Lamo later confessed, he, like a well-known criminal Saddam Hussein, was constantly on the move.
In September 2001, Adrian Lamo hacked Yahoo! News, having access to news editing. The hacker made changes to the publications for about three weeks, as a result of which the programmer Dmitry Sklyarov unexpectedly turned out, under the website version, under the threat of death, and the US Attorney General J. Ashcroft held a conference for "militant hordes", during which he announced that they "will not get it," and the truth and the federal law are just the opposite. Surprisingly, the administration of the system would not have known about the hacking if Lamo had not reported it himself via SecurityFocus.
In defense of the hacker, you can say that he neverpursued mercenary goals, and led criminal activity exclusively "for the sake of interest." Lamo called himself a "security researcher," and for a long time he got away with it. After committing serious crimes from the point of view of the US law, he did not cause significant damage to his victims, but merely informed them of security vulnerabilities.
Later, the hacker penetrated the computer systemMicrosoft, having gained access to information on all of the corporation's customers, and took control of the WARM web service, which manages the routers of the internal networks of organizations such as Bank of America, Citicorp and JP Morgan. Excite @ Home also suffered at his hands. However, the most interesting crime in the biography of Adrian Lamo was the hacking of the network of the largest US Internet provider WorldCom. As in previous cases, he himself informed the company about the deed. It is noteworthy that her administration immediately contacted the hacker, listened to all his recommendations for improving the security system and did not make a single complaint.
Such foci could not remainundetected by the press. Journalists took numerous interviews with the young man, Adrian Lamo's photos were adorned with prints, and now he was called not only homeless, but also a helping hacker. Perhaps the activities of Lamo and annoyed some organizations, but he became incredibly popular, and the lawsuit against him could damage their image. This ultimately led to incredible loyalty to the cybercriminal.
However, it was so for the time being. But while Lamo himself did not hate glory at all, but, on the contrary, rejoiced, and he happily paid time to his PR. So, one day he was right in front of the camera operator NBC demonstrated his skills and for 5 minutes "disarmed" ... his own broadcaster. Now it is understandable why in the environment of computer scientists Lamo became a hero and an idol. Although this is only one side of the coin, many people accused him of openly pouting before the press and a thirst for public attention.
Of course, Adriano Lamo's life story does not consist ofonly from dizzying victories. A homeless hacker played with fire and once had to suffer punishment. In 2002, the very moment of reckoning came. Then Lamo entered the New York Times network for fun. For 2 minutes he found a weak spot in the security system and soon got access to personal data of 3000 people who published articles in the newspaper, as well as famous persons who gave them in the past interview. Just imagine, Bill Gates and Ronald Reagan were suddenly under the hood of a young hacker! However, this was not enough for him. To top it all off, Lamo has included himself in the New York Times staff list and has become an information security specialist in the company. In a sense of humor, he can not refuse, but the newspaper's management clearly did not appreciate it. The New York Times accused the hacker of illegally entering her computer system and stealing passwords, and this time Lamo himself was under the hood, and not at anyone but the FBI.
Already in autumn 2003 an arrest warrant was issuedAdriana Lamo. The hacker, however, did not want to surrender and tried to hide from the authorities. Probably, then, he really felt like Saddam Hussein. However, unlike the ill-fated Iraqi president, Lamo was in a cell in a few days, although he was released on bail after a single night behind bars.
After 15 months of litigation,The verdict was announced: the hacker had to pay compensation of 65 thousand dollars. In addition, he was sentenced to 6 months of house arrest and 2 years of probation. Exceptionally mild punishment, considering the claims of the plaintiff, nevertheless it stopped the marginal activity of the cybercrime completely and irrevocably. The probation period appointed by Lamo by the court expired in early 2007, and during this time, he probably realized that every crime is punishable.
A former hacker got journalistic education,became a famous lecturer and specialist in computer security and forever broke with the past. However, in 2010, Lamo still took part in a loud scandal. However, this time on the other side of the law was not he, but a certain Bradley Manning. The serviceman had the imprudence to tell Lamo about the secret videotape of the US air raid on journalists in Iraq, transferred to them by WikiLeaks, and very soon on the tip of his confidant was seized by the authorities.
Apparently, Adrian Lamo completely switched toside of the law. And let the American army further destroy civilians, and it is tied up with criminal activity forever! Well, the management of the New York Times, Microsoft and even half a dozen large corporations can breathe a sigh of relief ...
