Tag Archive for: space

Space Rogue, From L0pht Hacker to IBM Security Influencer

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Before he was Space Rogue, before L0pht, before testifying in front of Congress about what used to be a very unknown risk of networked computers, and before he embarked on a career in cybersecurity, he was just young Cris Thomas with a homemade flashlight.

Growing up in a mobile home in rural Maine in the 1970s, Thomas didn’t have a whole lot of access to technology in his early years. But at the tender age of five, armed with a hammer and a worn-out sealed alkaline flashlight — the kind that you threw away after the batteries lost their juice — he was able to first learn the basics of electrical circuits. Cannibalizing parts from those flashlights and adding C and D cell batteries and wires consisting of garbage bag twist ties, he was in business with his very own lighting device.

That kind of tinkering is the very essence of a hacker’s modus operandi, and it was the start of his love affair with hacking and his eventual profession as a cybersecurity leader. Over the years, Thomas has done stints at the likes of Trustwave Security, Tenable, and almost six years now at IBM as Global Lead of Policy and Special Initiatives. But at its root his beginnings have all the same flavor of self-directed experimentation and trial-and-error with his flashlight. His route was circuitous and full of ups and downs, but he says that in some ways it was easier for him to go down that path than those trying to get their break in cybersecurity today without the traditional path straight from college.

“There’s still people who are trying to break into the industry with little to no formal education, and the debate of college or certifications is still raging. So, I think getting into the industry, from an austere beginning and maybe even skipping the formal education and being self-taught — it is possible,” he says. “It’s a lot more difficult today, because I think people put a lot of importance on the college degree and the formal education, and so it’s hard to get around that stigma.”

After early grade school he moved to a bigger town, was exposed to computers in bits and pieces, and mastered the basics of BASIC from chance encounters, clubs, and high school computer class. But it wasn’t until…

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World: Air Power | Air & Space Forces Magazine – Air & Space Forces Magazine

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World: Air Power | Air & Space Forces Magazine  Air & Space Forces Magazine

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Hacker Space Rogue to Release Book on Hacking Group L0pht Heavy Industries in February

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PHILADELPHIA, PA, January 11, 2023 — The memoir of world-renowned hacker Cris Thomas “Space Rogue: How the Hackers Known as L0pht Changed the World” is available for pre-order now. The new book, to be released on February 16, 2023, will cover the influential hacking group L0pht Heavy Industries, the hacker underground of the 1990s, the L0pht’s rise to prominence, their testimony in front of the US Senate, their claim of being able to “take down the Internet”, and how their legacy continues to shape the security of the online world today.

“Cyber security has become a critical part of today’s world. The L0pht was there at the start. We helped shape the cyber industry, and form the online world we all live in today.” –Space Rogue

In May 1998, the US Congress invited the seven members of the L0pht to testify on the state of government computer security. Two years later, that same group rode the dot-com bubble to create the preeminent security consultancy the industry has ever known, @stake. Along the way, they stood up against tech giants like Microsoft, Oracle, Novell and others to expose weaknesses in those companies’ premiere products. Despite the L0pht’s technical prowess, the group could not keep what they had built together as money and internal politics turned friend against friend. Look inside L0pht Heavy Industries, or simply The L0pht, one of the most influential hacker groups in history. From formation, to congressional testimony, to going legit and the aftermath that followed. 

Follow the hacker ‘Space Rogue’ as he takes you on a journey through the magical hacker scene of the 1990s. The L0pht hacker collective no longer exists, but its legacy lives on. L0pht set the standard for how the cyber security industry now releases vulnerability information. Famous hackers that were once L0pht members, Mudge, Weld Pond, Kingpin, Dildog, Space Rogue, and others have done even more impressive things in the following years. The hackers and consultants hired by @stake and indoctrinated into the L0pht way of thinking have now become giants in the industry. All the hackers who read security information off the L0pht’s website, downloaded software from the…

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US military creates space unit in SKorea amid NKorea threats

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SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — The U.S. military formally launched a space force unit in South Korea on Wednesday, a move that will likely enable Washington to better monitor its rivals North Korea, China and Russia.

The activation of the U.S. Space Forces Korea at Osan Air Base near Seoul came after North Korea test-fired a barrage of nuclear-capable ballistic missiles designed to strike the U.S. mainland and its allies South Korea and Japan in recent months.

“Just 48 miles north of us exists an existential threat; a threat that we must be prepared to deter, defend against, and – if required – defeat,” Lt. Col. Joshua McCullion, chief of the new space unit, said during the activation ceremony at Osan. He apparently refered to North Korea, whose heavily fortified border with South Korea is just an hour’s drive from Seoul, the South’s capital.

The unit belongs to the U.S. Space Force, which was launched in December 2019 under then-President Donald Trump as the first new U.S. military service in more than 70 years.

The Space Force was seen soberly as an affirmation of the need to more effectively organize for the defense of U.S. interests in space — especially satellites used for civilian and military navigation, intelligence and communication. A previous Pentagon report said China and Russia had embarked on major efforts to develop technologies that could allow them to disrupt or destroy American and allied satellites in a crisis or conflict.

The U.S. Space Forces Korea is a subordinate of a bigger U.S. Space Force unit established within the Indo-Pacific command in Hawaii last month.

Jung Chang Wook, head of the Korea Defense Study Forum think tank in Seoul, said the U.S. Space Force was created to bring together diverse surveillance assets including space-based satellites in one organization to manage and develop them in an effective, systemic manner. He said its unit in South Korea would work like a field unit while the other one in the Indo-Pacific Command would be its headquarters.

“The U.S. Space Forces Korea would maintain, operate and asses related equipment. Simply speaking, I…

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