According to an article in the New Yorker in 2014, the term hack in relation to technology
came about in the 1950s.
Back then, it had more benign connotations, mostly meaning working on a technical solution
to something.
Then in the 1970s we started talking about malicious hackers, people who would exploit
vulnerabilities in a system.
These people soon became known as “black hat” hackers, while the hackers that were
less malicious were called “white hats.”
Then we have the term life hacker, which is more or less neutral.
Despite the fact there are the good, the bad, and the ugly in the hacking world, we still
for the most part tend to think of hacking as something of a nefarious activity.
We have good reason too, as you’ll find out in this episode of the Infographics Show,
Hackers Who Broke into the Government.
War Games Some media reports say one of the world’s
most famous hackers, Kevin Mitnick, was the inspiration behind the 1983 movie War Games.
But in numerous interviews he has denied this, although he did admit that he hacked a lot
of big companies.
Some reports tell us he also hacked the FBI and NORAD – the North American Aerospace
Defense Command.
Perhaps he is telling the truth and this is just bad journalism, so we’ll just say some
sources state this happened.
He did say this, though, in an interview with Salon: “Hacking to me was like a video game.
It was about getting trophies.
I just kept going on and on, despite all the trouble I was getting into, because I was
hooked.”
This hacker was revealed to the public, but you’ll see later that some of the world’s
biggest hackers remain faceless.
More War Games No one is denying that a British man called
Matthew Bevan hacked into the United States Air Force, NASA, NATO, and the Korean Atomic
Research Institute.
This guy has been accused by security experts of almost starting World War Three.
Along with another man, well, a 16-year old-boy called Richard Pryce, Bevan hacked into military
computer systems in the USA.
The US government started a case against him but later dropped it.
While reports suggest this really did happen, Bevan told The Guardian in 2002 that the US
government had overblown things at the time.
Speaking about another British hacker who was accused of hacking American military computers,
Bevan said, “I know how the American propaganda works because I've been at the sharp end of
it.
If he is extradited, he is stuffed because they will want to make an example of him.”
The Winner Kevin Poulsen has had an interesting career,
becoming an editor and journalist after starting out as a hacker.
In 1990, he hacked his way to winning a Porsche 944 S2 by hacking a radio station’s telephone
lines.
But it’s also said that at the age of just 17 he hacked into ARPANET, the Pentagon’s
computer network.
He was arrested and sentenced to 5 years in prison.
He was banned from using computers for a few years after his release, but he eventually
became a writer working in tech journalism.
The Loser Like Poulsen, a young hacker called Jonathan
James ended up behind bars, albeit for a probation violation on the back of a cyber security
crime he had committed.
That crime was hacking into the United States Department of Defense, and he did it when
he was just a teenager.
It’s said he hacked many emails of employees and saw a lot of sensitive data.
OPM Hack The US Office of Personnel Management (OPM)
was hacked in 2010.
This is an office that according to Wired staves off around 10 million attempted hacks
per month.
It’s said that in all 21.5 million records were stolen, and all of them were related
to employees at OPM.
This went on for some time, and for a long time no one had any idea who was behind it.
The Washington Post reported in 2017 that a Chinese national had been arrested for the
hack, but it’s thought more people were helping this one man.
It was possible that the Chinese government was behind him and his crew.
The court transcripts said he would “acquire and use malicious software tools, some of
which were rare variants previously unidentified by the FBI and information security community,
including a malicious software tool known as ‘Sakula.’”
Pluck the Police The FBI was certainly embarrassed after a
15-year-old British kid hacked into it in 2015.
The media tells us that this teenager also hacked into the Department of Homeland Security,
and then he plucked and leaked tens of thousands of highly sensitive files.
He was said to be just one kid who belonged to a group called Crackas With Attitude.
Hacking the Democrats In 2016, the media reported that the Democratic
Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) had been hacked, and thousands of emails had been
leaked.
Mashable wrote, “The hack exposed emails indicating supposedly neutral DNC officials
maneuvered in favor of Hillary Clinton over Bernie Sanders.”
Russian hackers were blamed for this incident.
Russian Snakes In 2018, there was another incident involving
Russian hackers.
This time, they were blamed for hacking the German government.
Reuters tells us that a group known as Snake got into government computers and saw a lot
of sensitive files.
While Russian hackers were blamed, the Kremlin denied any part of this hack, saying, “We
note with regret that any hacking attacks in the world are associated with Russian hackers
but that each time they (the allegations) are made without any tangible proof.”
Nonetheless, it’s said this group, which is linked to the Russian government, also
tried to hack many other countries’ governments using the same malware.
Sick Singaporeans The BBC writes that in 2015 Singapore’s
government health database was hacked, so someone got hold of the health information
of 1.5 million people in that country.
The good news is that the hackers only got names and where the people went to the hospital.
They also saw the medicine prescriptions of 160,000 people.
Panicky in the UK The biggest health hack of all time has to
be when Britain’s National Health Service was infiltrated in 2017.
Hackers locked files containing information about people’s health.
They demanded money and then said if they were paid, they would unlock those files.
The Independent wrote at the time, “The ransomware is shocking and horrifying.”
Known as the WannaCry hack, these people got into around 200,000 computers in an estimated
150 countries, so it might well be the hack of all hacks.
It has been reported that North Korea was behind the attacks.
The US government as well as Microsoft and the UK's National Cyber Security Centre also
said that.
In 2018, the US charged a North Korean citizen called Park Jin Hyok for the hack.
The Lost Virginians Staying with health, in 2009 the very personal
health information of 8.3 million Virginians was hacked.
The hackers demanded 10 million dollars or else they would release the information, which
consisted of patient records and prescriptions.
It doesn’t seem like they got paid.
With so many prolific hackers out there, even if you’re not the government you’re going
to need some serious online security.
Luckily for you Dashlane has your back.
Their easy to use tool allows you to store super secure, unique passwords for all your
online accounts, so signing in on any device is as easy as just clicking a button.
Plus their ultra-light VPN will encrypt your online activity to keep prying eyes away,
and their dark web scan will automatically search dark web marketplaces for your personal
information, so you can take steps to immediately protect yourself!
Dashlane actively works to protect you on the internet so you can relax and not stress
about getting hacked.
Head on over to www.dashlane.com/infographics for a free 30 day trial, and if you use the
coupon code ‘infographics’ you can get 10% off a premium subscription today!
These are some of the biggest government hacks ever, but could you tell us if we’ve missed
anything big?
Have you ever hacked anyone, or have you ever been hacked?
Tell us in the comments.
Also, be sure to check out our other show, Most Dangerous Hackers In The World.
Thanks for watching, and, as always, don’t forget to like, share and subscribe.
See you next time!