Hackers: Under the hood

Unlike many so-called hackers, Lamo was never interested in impressing his peers.

"I became deeply interested in the hacker culture, reading everything I could about it before ever actually encountering it," he said. "Once I encountered it, I was turned off by it, so I chose to go solo. Exploration need not be competition," he told ZDNet Australia  in an interview last month.

At 18, his parents decided to move to Sacramento from San Francisco but Lamo decided to stay put.

He was the lead network administrator for a law firm at the time. "I stayed with friends, sometimes in abandoned buildings, sometimes in storage areas of office buildings I had access to. Sometimes, I'd just nod off at my desk," he recalled.

After a while, he dipped into his savings and hit the road, spending the next two years wandering around the United States.

"There's a lot to be said for just having your clothes, a backpack, and the ability to buy a bus ticket and not have anything to tie you down.

"I spent time in New York, Washington DC, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Ohio, parts of California, Virginia, and points in between -- usually because I knew people there, or wanted to see the city, or other circumstances," he said.

Lamo has travelled far and wide but ranks his time in Philadelphia as the best.

"I'd wake up early, go for a walk, check my e-mail wirelessly from a window ledge that had a clear shot to an unsecure 802.11 [wireless network], wander around with friends and hack from university libraries, Kinkos, coffee shops, read in the sun all day, or just explore the city physically. I loved it."

Over the years, Lamo has carved a reputation as someone who didn't care much for rules. He used his skills to gain access into high-profile networks owned by America Online, Microsoft, and many others.

But there was never any malicious intent. After penetrating these networks, Lamo would contact the network maintainers and tell them how he did it.

This modus operandi worked well for a while ... up until the time he hacked into The New York Times' network in 2002 and accessed its contributor database.

It's important to remember that the average contributor to The New York Times isn't Joe Bloggs from down-the-road. Lamo reportedly accessed the social security numbers of many high profile public figures, including former US president Jimmy Carter, Hollywood actors Robert Redford and Warren Beatty, and former United Nations weapons inspector Richard Butler. Some of the entries in the database included home phone numbers.

The Times, one of the world's most influential publications, was not impressed. US authorities issued a warrant for Lamo, who turned himself in and pleaded guilty to one charge of computer crime. Sentencing has been postponed until June.

"I'll either get prison, or house arrest," Lamo predicts, before becoming philosophical. "I hope for the best ... [and] will make the best possible experience out of any sentence that's handed down. No experience we ever have is wasted."

When he was arrested, he was dubbed the "homeless hacker" by media outlets due to the nature of his nomadic lifestyle. "I've never described myself as 'homeless'. It's something the media picked up," Lamo insisted.

Lamo is currently living with his parents in Sacramento by order of the court. He draws parallels between his chosen lifestyle offline and his activities online. "I didn't, and don't, draw a clear distinction between the two kinds of exploration. I try to see things differently, no matter what venue I'm in. I'd be just as likely to spend the morning talking to a stranger who just got out of city jail, buy him breakfast, and learn about his life, as i would be to break into a company ... or just randomly explore the Net. It's all the same principle, the same desire to see things that other people gloss over in their daily lives."

It's this curious mind that has led Lamo to his new passion -- journalism. He's currently a staff writer for the American River Current, a bi-weekly Californian newspaper, and a freelance writer on the side.

"I'm interested in journalism because it's an extension of what i do: exploring, finding angles for things that others miss, sharing the uniqueness of the world. That's especially why i try to do my own photos when possible. It lets me capture moments in time in ways that words sometimes fail," he revealed.

A similar path was taken by the legendary hacker Kevin Poulsen, who is now the editor of online security portal SecurityFocus.com -- which was acquired by anti-virus maker Symantec in 2002. Poulsen was best known for hacking a telephone system in order to rig a radio contest. He won a Porsche 944 S2 before being caught and eventually spent some time in prison. He delved into journalism after his release.

Writing about security seems to hold less interest for Lamo. "I look to him [Poulsen] as a model of what I don't aspire to be: typecast, and locked into a one-trick career," Lamo said, while acknowledging his respect for Poulsen as a journalist.

Lamo doesn't want to work in the security industry either, believing that accepting payment for his talents would amount to "whoring himself".

"I don't believe it's an honest industry, which is why I've declined all security jobs offered to me. Journalism isn't an honest industry either, but at least I have some personal control over the degree of dishonesty levelled against my victims," he joked.

It's no surprise that Lamo is accustomed to the lifestyle of a nomad -- which began from a relatively young age. During the interview, he eluded to, at least, some degree of financial hardship -- riches-to-rags style. "We were well-off, we were poor, we had a house, then we had a tiny apartment," he recalled.

His parents have always been supportive, Lamo said, despite their concern over his chosen lifestyle.

"My parents are well-educated. My dad has a degree in anthropology and intercultural administration; my mom is a former English teacher. We moved around a lot, and they both tried to provide me a content-rich environment in which to grow up," he said.

If you think that using "content-rich environment" sounds like a peculiar way to describe up-bringing, just remember that Linux creator Linus Torvalds captioned a photograph of his daughter "Linus v2.0" on his Web-site. In fact, Lamo insists he's not a "dork".

"My curiosity isn't purely technological. Quite the opposite; I don't consider myself a tech person, I just see things differently and apply that to any environment I'm in. I spend a lot of time on my photography these days ... it acts as something of a surrogate to network intrusion," he said.

For now Lamo awaits his sentence but remains fatalistic.

"Actions have consequences. I never thought it was inevitable, but I always knew that something like that could happen." -- Patrick Gray