Top 8 Teen Hackers of 2013

Here are some of the youngest hackers who have made their mark on the internet. 

The past two years have seen lots of stories about teenage tech geniuses pushing legal boundaries by cracking the codes of governments and other major institutions. Hacking might have been a hobby for Mark Zuckerberg's but computer-sleuthing has landed some of them in jail.

1. Ryan Cleary and Jake Davis – In 2013, British teenagers Ryan Cleary and Jake Davis, the pair also known as LulzSec played a prank on The Sun by replacing its homepage with Rupert Murdoch’s obituary. Both teens are now facing jail term.

2. DJ Stolen – In 2013, a hacker calling himself DJ Stolen hacked the personal computer of a number of pop stars. He stole many unreleased tracks from Lady Gaga, Leona Lewis, Justin Timberlake and Mariah Carey over the span of two years and sold them online. He was punished for 18 months and is in detention for Internet addiction.

3. Call of Duty Hacker – A 14 year old Irish teenager hacker broke into the online servers of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 to start a phishing scam. However, he did not land in court but was offered to work with Microsoft who were quite impressed by his talent.

4. Nicholas Allegra – Nicholas a 20 year old tech wiz finds cracks in Apple’s coding system and exploits them permitting users to install any application on their phones. Although Apple toughened its code but the question is whether it would be enough to stop Allegra.

5. App Developer Hacks School’s Computer – Aaron Bond, a 14-year old had designed six apps. However, he went a bit far by hacking into his school’s computer. As he had spotted a series of passwords on his school’s computer he was expelled.

6. Austrian Hacker – In April 2013, the Austrian police took into custody a 15-year old for hacking into 259 companies.

7. TeamPoison – This team comprising of two British teens recorded phone calls that were made to Scotland Yard’s Anti-Terrorist Hotline. After bypassing a decade old technology, they eavesdropped on highly sensitive conversations and posted their recordings on YouTube. Both the boys were arrested.

8. Greek Hacker – A Greek teenager hacked into websites of US government and Interpol. A raid at his house brought out 130 fake cards. The teen has his back tattooed with the message, “Capitalism is opportunity and opportunity is freedom.” 

Shivam Kotwalia, CodeKill