I Was a Teenage Hacker

My first computer was a Commodore 64, received as a Christmas present from my parents in ’84 or ’85. Sometime in ’87, I had my first modem connected to it. At that time I also had a new friend who was very into computers — even more technical with them than I was.

This friend introduced me to the concept of hooking into computer systems not intended for public access. Ironically, and fortunately, this friend was not malicious. He was just fascinated by the process. To my knowledge, he never knowingly did any harm to the computer systems he hacked into — he just wanted to see if he could get in, and then see what all was there.

Personally, my first solo hack (really just an “invasion”) was getting into the local telephone company’s computer system. From my bedroom, with my C64 and a 12″ black-and-white TV, I could get into a “big company” computer system and see all their data on all their telephone numbers.

By today’s standards, and even by the standards of real hackers in the ’80s, I was no more than a peeping Tom, a voyeur. I could see all the telephone numbers in our town, and I could see the status of those numbers. The data was just a bunch lines of information scrolling down the TV screen, but I figured out what all the numbers and codes meant.

I remember the feeling of having snuck in somewhere I wasn’t supposed to be, and it was thrilling. But that’s the only real invasion I ever did, even though my friend gave me his list of computer systems in our town.

He had programmed his computer to, overnight, dial up every phone number in our town and log every number that had a computer system answer. He then printed out the list and gave me a copy. It had a couple dozen numbers which he would later personally investigate to find out exactly what the system was.

I flashed that list around to some of my other friends at the time, saying, “Ain’t this cool?” It was very cool to me, but pursuing them turned out pretty boring. Since I wasn’t interested in screwing up some company’s computer system (intentionally or accidentally), and fooling around even a little made me nervous I’d get caught, I didn’t really catch the hacking bug.

So my hacking days were few in number. My modem became just a hunk of plastic attached to my computer for a few months until my friend introduced me to BBSs (bulletin board systems) — that’s where the fun with a modem was to be found. I could actually dial in and do something besides just look at data. I could play games with other players from all over . . . my town, and I could access porn pictures, for free!

After trying to download the first free picture over a 1200 baud line, well, I gave up that idea. But the daily-turn based games hooked me forever on online computer games. We’ve come a long way, baby.

Bullgrit