Um, "stealing software worth 1.7 million dollars"? Software to do what, exactly? To run the environmental control system on IIS. Ok. So, what exactly does the development cost of the software have to do with the fact that Jonathan James downloaded the code? This makes it sound like NASA was out $1.7 million. Idiot reporters.

Oh it gets even better! He claimed that the software was crap! 1.7 Million dollars of crap to be exact!

That's not the worst part. From the article:

"Today, James asserts that he's learned his lesson and might start a computer security company."

However, if you read the Wikipedia page THAT THEY LINKED TO IN THE ARTICLE you'll learn that Jonathan James committed suicide in 2008.

I believe the Internet term for this is "FAIL".

The list of the most famous hackers has been made over and over again and hasn't changed a whole lot (RTM, Mitnick v. Shimomura, ...), but it seems like the list of famous hacks continues to grow. Are these old school famous hackers really so famous they're that can't be unseated, or are the new jacks just getting the short end of the stick?

I don't get why Shimomura is listed on there? Surely getting owned by Mitnick disqualifies him?

I think getting the FBI to step in qualifies as "winning" in the as much as screaming for your mommy and having her scold the other boy qualifies as "winning" a schoolyard fight. The other guy suffers worse consequences - but you definitely do not get to be the coolest hacker of all time.

The article was just plain uninspired.

Agree on the uninspired point.

Yeah, Shimomura's role may well have been embellished, but as described in Takedown (there's some controversy around the veracity of the story), he was supposed involved in some fairly sophisticated stuff to help the FBI track Mitnick down.

Where is Jon Lech Johansen, aka DVD John? Of DeCSS fame (for playing your purchased DVD in Linux), PyMusique (iTunes purchased music without DRM).

And don't forget this ad about doubleTwist:

http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/06/05/apple-gets-pwned-sf-sto...

Wouldn't you think that the best hackers of all time are the ones we've never heard of? The ones who walked away with the money, rather than the ones that did jail time?

It's in the job description:

Getting caught required. Jail time preferred.

The Top Most? ... of All Time?

They must be really good.

Not to mention there's exactly ten of them. This is the best article ever.

No tributes to Fravia? The list seems incomplete..

I think Bill G. should be on the white list. Even though many people don't like him.

It's amazing how the majority of black hat hackers listed turned out to be successful bussiness men once they "see the error of their ways"

It appears that they compromised systems because they were bored, or merely wanted to prove it could be done.

Thanks for the article, good read.