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In 1972, John T. Draper discovered he could make free long-distance phone calls using a whistle from a Cap'n Crunch cereal box. The whistle emitted a 2,600-hertz tone that got him into the internal authorization system at the phone company.
With another noisy device known as a blue box, Draper – soon to be known as "Cap'n Crunch" – made it possible for many to reach out and touch someone without having to pay for the privilege.
And so was born the modern technology hack. It certainly wasn't the first effort to rig something up to avoid conventional protocols, but it definitely helped trigger a decades-long, sometimes-underground movement to maneuver through security, avoid paying for things, and even cause some malicious damage here and there.
The recent spate of security breaches and e-mail invasions including Monday's news trilogy – the World Economic Forum hack, the JavaScript email wiretapping scare, and the hole discovered in the protocol that is supposed to secure data transmitted wirelessly – recalls some of the most infamous exploits of the past.
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