The Cyber Crime Hall of Fame

DigitalDame2 writes "Not all hackers are bad guys, but a few fall prey to the dark side and use their talents for evil — not good. In compiling this list of the craziest cyber crimes, PC Mag looked for a few things: ingenuity (had it been done before?), scope (how many computers, agencies, companies, sites, etc. did it affect?), cost (how much in monetary damages did it cause?), and historical significance (did it start a new trend?). Read on about famous hackers John Draper, Robert Morris, Kevin Poulsen, and others."

Comments

Anyone see something WRONG here?

[L4t3r4lu5]

"Vladimir Levin transferred a sum of $10.7 million to accounts in the U.S., Finland, the Netherlands, Israel, and Germany... sentenced to three years in jail, and ordered to pay $240,015 in restitution to CitiBank."

"In 1999, David Smith released the Melissa worm... All told, the worm hit over 300 companies worldwide, including Microsoft, Intel, and Lucent Technologies, forcing them to shut down their e-mail gateways due to mass overcrowding and causing estimated damages nearing $80 million... After pleading guilty, Smith's prison sentence was reduced to 20 months..."

"Jonathan James found out just how much the source code documents for the NASA's International Space Station are worth: $1.7 million... James received six months in prison and probation until he turned 18."

"In February 2000, Calce launched a denial-of-service attack that struck 11 major Web companies... analyst estimates range as high as $1.7 billion Canadian (that's currently about $1.6 billion U.S)... handed a sentence of eight months "open custody," limited Internet use, a small fine, and one year of probation."

" In 2001 and 2002, British hacker Gary McKinnon gained access to Air Force, Army, Navy, NASA, Pentagon, and Department of Defense computersâ"97 in totalâ"in a quest for evidence of flying saucers... Officials claim damages from his entry range close to $700,000... McKinnon is currently facing extradition to the U.S., which could mean up to 70 years in prison."

Anybody spot a GLARING, COMPLETELY LUDICROUS issue here?
Don't talk to me about Govt or National Security; He caused NO significant financial loss and caused NO national security issues past what was already there through inept administration.

Re:Anyone see something WRONG here?

[Madball]

What I see is a comparison of several actual sentences and a theoretical maximum sentence. The two, at least in the US, tend to differ widely.

Re:Anyone see something WRONG here?

[morgan_greywolf]

They want to make an example of McKinnon. Mess with the government and you'll spend the rest of your life in prison. Screwing with banks? Cause financial damage? Yeah, we'll give you hell for it. But screw with the government. Oh, you are SO going down. Nevermind that it's already been established that security on U.S. government systems is horribly inept to the point of being almost ridiculous.

I know it's a pet peeve

[krgallagher]

Here is the quote:

"Everyone wants to be the first at something and claim their spot in history; though being the first hacker tried for releasing a virus isn't exactly the sort of "first" Mom's going to brag about. In 1999, David Smith released the Melissa worm from a computer in New Jersey through a stolen AOL account."

A worm is not a virus. Neither is a trojan. It drives me nuts when the media uses these words interchangeably. I usually forgive the likes of ABC, but you would think PC Magazine would get it right.

MafiaBoy

[SirLestat]

From the article: "then teenage super hacker". I'm sorry but downloading a script from the internet and being stupid enough to run it does not make you a super hacker.

Pengo?

[gambit3]

I was hoping to see Pengo, the East German hacker, but it seems history has forgotten about him.