the 414s

lore

hackingops culture

A group of Milwaukee teenagers who broke into dozens of computer systems in 1983 and put hacking on front pages.

Named after their area code, they accessed systems including a cancer center and Los Alamos National Laboratory, mostly through default and guessed passwords. Their case helped spur the first US computer-crime laws and fixed the young 'hacker' in the public imagination.

Also known as: 414 gang, Milwaukee hackers

Sources

  • Newsweek cover, 'Beware: Hackers at Play' (September 1983)

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