17-year-old hacker penetrated DND network
Source: National Post
The leader of an international hacker group that penetrated over a Department of National Defence computer system in 1999 was a 17-year-old high school student who gained access to the security network in 10 minutes from his mother's kitchen table.
Russell Sanford, now 19 and serving two years in a Texas prison, designed complex software that exploited one of Canada's military networks via its Website intermittently for three days.
"I wanted to show everyone how easy it was. I was thrilled to find such a high-profile site with such a common security weakness," said Sanford, whose story has gone untold until now.
"We wanted people to know how weak they actually were. Government security is like a poker bluff. You think they are pretty secure, but when you come down to it, they're not," he said.
