Adrian Lamo: biography of a homeless hacker

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:44

The man, which will be discussed below, became famous throughout the world, and by no means the most good deeds. Being a brilliant hacker, he hacked the networks of dozens of companies. By the way, Adrian Lamo was never interested in small "game". Its victims were exclusively giant corporations. Cisco, Microsoft, Bank of America - the list is endless. For him, everything was simple: an hour or two of keystrokes in an ordinary Internet cafe, and - oh, a miracle! - Google is defeated, and Lamo, suffering from a painful thirst for attention, smugly rubs his hands - he has another victory in his piggy bank. However, every cloud has a silver lining: the deeds of a homeless hacker, as he was dubbed by the press for his nomadic lifestyle, have made a significant contribution to the development of information security. And this, perhaps, is already a weighty reason to consider his biography in detail.

Rules are made to be broken

It seems that in the life of a marginal genius, everything developed so that he became what he is. Adrian Lamo, who was born inBoston February 20, 1981, first introduced to the computer at the age of 6-7 years. Agree, quite early, given that in the 80s IT technologies had just begun to develop. One way or another, Lamo's parents got a Commodore 64, on which he committed his first little crime. The boy could not accept that games must be played by the rules, and he found no other way out than to hack his favorite text-based adventure games. And after that, nothing could stop him from enjoying the process. So Lamo realized that the rules can and should be broken. Just for fun.

Young hacker without a roof over his head

Lamo spent his school years in San Francisco, and it was here that the life of the future hacker once took a sharp turn. When the young man turned 17, his parents decided to move to Sacramento, while Adrian himself chose to stay. Is it possible to exchange a noisy metropolis for a dubious prospect of living in a small town? No, for Lamo it was unacceptable. So he ended up alone without a roof over his head and a serious education, but with a good knowledge of computers and information systems.

It's easy to guess that Lamo did not remain without work "in his speci alty", and the young man also solved the problem with shelter: he spent the night right in the offices of companies, where he worked hard during the day. For a while, Lamo even worked as a computer security consultant for a large firm, Levi Strauss. Then there was another job. However, the hacker prefers not to talk about him. There are probably reasons for this, because it was the last, and the next few yearsthe young man led a nomadic life.

Computer Saddam Hussein

Adrian Lamo traveled around the country mainly by hitchhiking, carrying only a laptop, necessary medical supplies, a change of clothes and a warm blanket. The hacker spent his nights with friends, in abandoned buildings and on construction sites.

It was during the years of wandering that Lamo committed his most notorious crimes. Incredibly, in order 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. An extremely modest set for a world-class hacker, however, apparently, it was more than enough.

When hacking the networks of companies like Cingular, Lamo followed certain security rules. The homeless hacker never stayed in any city for more than two nights. As Lamo later admitted, he, like the famous criminal Saddam Hussein, was constantly on the move.

Hacks "for fun"

In September 2001, Adrian Lamo hacked Yahoo! News, gaining 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 found himself, according to the website, under the threat of the death pen alty, and the US Attorney General John Ashcroft held a conference for the "militant hordes", during which he announced that they "will not get their own", and the truth and federal law are directly opposite concepts. Surprisingly, butthe administration of the system would never have known about the hack if Lamo had not reported it himself through SecurityFocus.

In defense of the hacker, we can say that he never pursued selfish goals, but conducted criminal activities solely "for the sake of interest." Lamo called himself a "security researcher" and got away with it for a long time. After all, committing serious, from the point of view of US law, crimes, he did not cause significant damage to his victims, but only informed them about vulnerabilities in the security system.

The most notorious crimes

The hacker later penetrated the Microsoft computer system, gaining access to information about all the corporation's customers, and took control of the WARM web service that manages the routers of internal networks of organizations such as Bank of America, Citicorp and JP Morgan. Suffered from his hands and the company Excite@Home. 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 what he had done. 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.

Beware of a popular cybercriminal

Such tricks could not go unnoticed by the press. Journalists took numerous interviews with the young man, photos of Adrian Lamo adorned print media, and now he was called not only homeless, but alsohelping hacker. Lamo's activities may have annoyed some organizations, but he became incredibly popular, and a lawsuit against him could damage their image. This ultimately led to incredible loy alty to the cybercriminal.

However, it was so for the time being. But so far, Lamo himself did not dislike fame at all, but, on the contrary, pleased him, and he gladly devoted time to his PR. So, once, right in front of the NBC operator's camera, he demonstrated his skills and in 5 minutes "disarmed" … his own television company. Now it is clear why among computer scientists Lamo became a hero and an idol. Although this is only one side of the coin, after all, many accused him of outright posturing in front of the press and a thirst for public attention.

The New York Times is no joke…

Of course, the life story of Adriano Lamo does not consist only of dizzying victories. A homeless hacker was playing with fire and should have been punished at some point. In 2002, that very moment of reckoning came. Then Lamo broke into the New York Times network for fun. In 2 minutes, he found a weak spot in the security system and soon gained access to the personal data of 3,000 people who published articles in the newspaper, as well as famous people who gave them interviews in the past. Just imagine, Bill Gates and Ronald Reagan suddenly found themselves under the hood of a young hacker! However, this was not enough for him. To top it off, Lamo put himself on the New York Times staff list and became the company's information security specialist. You can't deny him a sense of humor,however, the leadership of the newspaper clearly did not appreciate it. The New York Times accused a hacker of breaking into her computer system and stealing passwords, and this time Lamo himself was under the hood, and no one but the FBI.

Every crime is punishable

Already in the fall of 2003, a warrant was issued for the arrest of Adrian Lamo. The hacker, however, did not want to give up and tried to hide from the authorities. Probably, then he really felt like Saddam Hussein. However, unlike the ill-fated Iraqi president, Lamo ended up in a cell within 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. An exceptionally lenient punishment, given the claims of the plaintiff, nevertheless, it stopped the marginal activities of the cybercriminal completely and irrevocably. Lamo's probation by the court expired in early 2007, and during this time, he probably realized that any crime is punishable.

Honest real

The former hacker trained as a journalist, became a well-known lecturer and computer security specialist, and broke with the past forever. True, in 2010, Lamo nevertheless took part in a high-profile scandal. However, this time it was not him at all, but a certain Bradley Manning who was on the other side of the law. The serviceman had the imprudence to tell Lamo aboutsecret video footage of a US air raid on journalists in Iraq, handed over to WikiLeaks by him, and very soon, on a tip from his confidant, was captured by the authorities.

Presumably, Adrian Lamo has completely gone over to the side of the law. And let the American army continue to destroy civilians, and he tied up with criminal activity forever! Well, the management of the New York Times, Microsoft and half a dozen other large corporations can breathe a sigh of relief…