10 Notorious Hackers That Made Headlines

When people hear of the word 'hacker', they usually think of those who are considered black hat hackers. As opposed to white hat hackers, who hack computer systems to help patch flaws in the security, black hat hackers hack for more illicit gains. Whether it is for money, personal information or just for the thrill of it, black hat hackers wreak havoc on computer systems and usually leave a trail of victims behind. In this post, we will briefly look into the lives, motivations and outcomes of 10 hackers who have made the headlines by targeting and hacking into large organizations and even governments. Some bear good intentions while other have no qualms of hacking for personal benefit, but no matter what their reasoning is, these are hackers that keep major organization on their toes when it comes to the security measures they employ in their systems. Recommended Reading: Here's How You Are Helping Hackers Steal Your Data

1. Hector Xavier Monsegur (Sabu)

Sabu is well known as one of the founders of LulzSec, the infamous black hat hacker group that broke into and stole information from government and corporate websites, all mainly "for the lulz" or in other speak, entertainment. His real identity was eventually discovered by the FBI and he was given a choice: turn informant or go to prison. Monsegur chose the former and co-operated with the FBI, hacking with his Lulzsec team all the while keeping tabs of their activities and reporting to the feds. This eventually lead to the capture of the other members and the end of Lulzsec. Monsegur spent a mere [...]