Gutsy computer whizzes have become modern day superheroes. They use their coding skills for good, to protect us from the bad guys who want to wreak havoc on the internet. By day, they are mild-mannered coders, toiling away at their desks. But when danger strikes, they don their virtual capes and go into fighting mode.
We all know about Batman, Spiderman, and Superman, but these are the real life superheroes you should be keeping an eye on.
Meet White Hat Hackers
Also known as ethical hackers, white hat hackers use their powers for good. They find weaknesses in computer systems and then fix them before the bad guys can exploit them.
One of the most famous white hat hackers is Marcus Hutchins, aka “MalwareTech”. He’s the one who stopped the WannaCry ransomware attack in its tracks.
While working on his own web development project, Hutchins stumbled upon a new type of ransomware. He realized that it was about to unleash a global pandemic, so he took action. He bought the Domain Name System (DNS) kill switch for $10.69 and registered it. This stopped the ransomware in its tracks and prevented it from spreading any further.
Hutchins is just one example of a white hat hacker using his skills for good. There are many others out there, working tirelessly to keep us safe from harm.
Meet the Black Hats
On the other side of the coin are the black hats. These are the hackers who use their skills for nefarious purposes.
One of the most famous black hat hackers is Anonymous. This is a decentralized group of hackers who have taken on some of the world’s biggest corporations and governments.
Some of their more famous hacks include taking down the Westboro Baptist Church website, exposing government secrets, and taking down the ISIS website.
While Anonymous is a group of hackers, there are also some famous individual black hat hackers out there. one of the most notorious is Gary McKinnon. He’s a British hacker who was accused of “the biggest military computer hack of all time”.
He allegedly hacked into 97 US military and NASA computers, causing $800,000 worth of damage. He claims he was just looking for evidence of alien life. McKinnon was never extradited to the US, but he did lose his battle to avoid a trial in the UK.
The cyber world is a dangerous place. But luckily, we have these modern day superheroes to help keep us safe.
