Year 1984: The Hacking Marvels of Kevin Poulsen AKA “Dark Dante”

Introduction

In our previous blog posts, we discussed about the lives of several renowned hackers and phone phreakers. We talked about figures like Joybubbles, John Draper, Steve Wozniak & Steve Jobs, and Kevin Mitnick, each leaving a significant mark on the world of hacking and phreaking. Today, we shift our focus to another notable individual in this sphere: Kevin Poulsen. Known for his cyber exploits, Poulsen’s name resonates within the hacking community due to his infamous deeds.

Let’s explore Kevin Poulsen’s life journey and the notorious hacking incidents that have brought him into the spotlight once again.

Kevin Poulsen’s Early Life

Kevin Lee Poulsen was born in 1965 in Pasadena, California. Described as a slim and shy kid with braces, he tended to keep to himself and didn’t engage much with the outside world. His parents, who were farmers, had little involvement with technology. However, Kevin possessed a keen interest in technological advancements, despite his parents’ unfamiliarity with them. Reportedly, Kevin possessed an IQ in the remarkable range of 140.

Kevin’s journey into the world of hacking began with phone phreaking before progressing to hacking. During his youth, he developed a fascination with L.A.’s free telephone party chat lines. These chat lines served as a platform for him to connect with individuals who shared his passion for fantasy novelists. Engaging with these fellow phreakers, who manipulated telephone lines to make free calls, Kevin would spend hours conversing with them. Occasionally, he even arranged to meet them in person at local pizzerias for phone chat parties, a common thing in the 70s. 

Kevin Poulsen & the Hacking World

Kevin Poulsen’s hacking journey began on his 16th birthday when his parents gifted him his first computer, a TRS-80. Adopting the pseudonym “Dark Dante,” Kevin immersed himself in the world of computing. While there are no notable tales of his involvement in significant hacking incidents during his early teenage years, he dabbled in phone phreaking and engaged in occasional hacking activities on his computer. Dissatisfied with school life, he found solace in pursuits like playing Dungeons and Dragons, ultimately leading to his decision to drop out of school during the 11th grade.

In 1983, at the age of 17, Kevin met Ronald Austin at a phone-chat party. Ronald, two years Kevin’s senior and a physics major at UCLA residing in Santa Monica, struck up a friendship with Kevin. This connection eventually led Kevin to become a mentor, teaching Ronald the intricacies of hacking and phone phreaking. The mention of Ronald Austin is crucial here, as it was with his help that Kevin managed to sneak into the ARPANET.

Exploring the ARPANET

By now, it’s evident that the ARPANET, the precursor to the Internet, was a prime target for hackers. Among them was Kevin Poulsen, who, like many others, attempted to breach the ARPANET. In the summer of 1983, Kevin came across a telephone number associated with the ARPANET, which linked major universities and think tanks nationwide. Intrigued, he attempted to connect his modem to this number and found himself linked to military research at the University of California, Berkeley. However, accessing sensitive documents on the university’s computer required a password. Through persistence and several attempts, Kevin successfully cracked the password, which happened to be the initials of the university: UCB.

Hacking the ARPANET

Like Kevin Mitnick, Kevin Poulsen was driven by the desire to experience the excitement of hacking into one of the nation’s most secure networks. His motivations were not purely innocent; rather, he sought a sense of power and superiority through his actions. Poulsen regularly breached the ARPANET network, utilizing his cyber nickname “Dark Dante” to carry out his activities. Despite his attempts to remain anonymous, he slipped up once by using his real name instead of his pseudonym. However, authorities initially allowed him to continue accessing the network.

Ultimately, on September 22, 1983, the Los Angeles District Attorney intervened, confiscating Poulsen’s computer and issuing a warning regarding his illegal activities. Being a juvenile at the time, Poulsen managed to evade arrest, but his dear friend Ronald Austin was arrested for being an accomplice in the crime. 

Landing the “Dream Job”

Kevin Poulsen, being a prodigy in the world of hacking, did not go to jail for his activities. Instead, his talent landed him his “dream job” where he was being paid a hefty amount to hack. He was hired by the Stanford Research Institute to train military officials on how to secure their networks. However, his dream job was short-lived. In 1988, Poulsen got busted when he forgot to pay rent for a storage facility. This led to the owner of the facility to enter the facility and come across something unexpected and worrisome. The owner immediately called the police, who found locksmith tools, forged documents including false ID blanks and birth certificates. They also found several boxes of gadgets, tools, phone company manuals, etc.

Further Investigation

Upon being called for investigation, Poulsen told the authorities that whatever stuff they had found in that storage facility was collected from trash bins. “Dumpster diving”, as the technique was called, was quite prevalent in the 70s and 80s. In this technique, the hackers would search the trash bins outside major corporations in order to find some valuable information. Poulsen tried to cover up his deeds but the authorities were aware of his past criminal activities. As a result, they continued their investigation and found that he had been involved in seeping into U.S. government computers and had transferred those computers’ passwords to others. 

As the investigation unfolded, Poulsen’s web of crimes began to unravel further. Among his criminal activities, it was discovered that he had been illegally entering numerous telephone facilities across Northern California using a false identity over the past year. Once inside, he systematically sought out telephone numbers that could grant him access to the facility’s computer systems. Additionally, he stole manuals, equipment, and a test set during these secret trips. The discovery of an unlisted Soviet number in Poulsen’s possession raised suspicions of espionage among the authorities. 

The Great Busting of Kevin Poulsen

Following the revelation of his extensive criminal activities, Poulsen found himself at the top of the FBI’s Wanted List. After evading capture for 17 months, he was finally apprehended at the Hughes Market in a Los Angeles neighborhood. Subsequently, four of his hacker associates agreed to testify against him.

After a comprehensive two-year investigation, on April 21, 1993, a Los Angeles jury delivered a 19-count indictment against Poulsen. The charges ranged from conspiracy and computer fraud to wiretapping, embezzlement, and theft of public property and records. Facing a maximum sentence of 100 years in prison and fines totaling nearly $5 million, Poulsen’s legal situation was dire.

Poulsen’s Time in Prison

In June 1994, having been held without bail at Alameda County’s Jail for over two years, Kevin pleaded guilty to seven counts, including conspiracy, fraud, and intercepting wire communications. Subsequently, in April 1995, four years after his arrest, he received a sentence of 51 months in federal prison and was fined $56,000. Notably, this marked the longest sentence ever handed down to a hacker at that time. Pouslen was finally released in July 1996, on a condition that prohibited him from using a computer or accessing the Internet for the ensuing three years.

Once out of prison, Poulsen stayed away from his hacking endeavours and went on to become a successful journalist in the field of security and hacking news. In 2013, he along with Aaron Swartz and James Dolan launched a platform called SecureDrop. SecureDrop is first of its kind open-source software platform that allows media houses and NGOs to securely verify anonymous sources.