4. Loyd Blankenship
Loyd Blankenship, also known as “The Mentor,” was a member of the Legion of Doom, a hacker group that clashed with the Masters of Deception during the Great Hacker War from 1990 to 1991. This online conflict was one of the most famous in hacker history.
Blankenship wrote “The Conscience of a Hacker,” a philosophical piece on hacking, arguing that a hacker’s only crime is curiosity.
This work remains a cornerstone of hacker philosophy and continues to inspire hackers today. Active since the 1970s, Blankenship is still one of the most well-known hackers in the community.