5. Adrian Lamo – “The Homeless Hacker”
Adrian Lamo gained fame in 2003 for hacking big sites like Yahoo!, the New York Times, and Microsoft. Known as “The Homeless Hacker” because he often lived on the streets, Lamo also became famous for reporting Chelsea Manning to the FBI. Manning had released many secret US government documents.
Lamo’s hacking started when he got praised by the first website he broke into, which encouraged him to keep going. But things went wrong when he hacked the New York Times. Instead of praise, they got a warrant for his arrest.
Lamo went into hiding but was eventually caught. Later, he was institutionalized and diagnosed with Asperger syndrome. Lamo once said, “Anything I could say about my person or my actions would only cheapen what they have to say for themselves.”