Australian computer expert and journalist Julian Assange had a special interest in hacking even as a teenager.
Hacking, as some of you might know, is an unauthorized or unpermitted intrusion into a computer, or its network.
Around 1987, Assange used the hacking nickname ‘Mendax’ and infiltrated a number of secure systems, including those at NASA, Pentagon, and the Australian National University. This was done with the help of two other hackers, and together, they formed a group called the ‘International Subversives’. The intelligent programmer had also hacked into the master terminal of Nortel, a Canadian multinational telecommunications corporation.
However, in 1994 Assange was charged with 31 cyber-related crimes by the Australian Federal Police. Luckily for him, there was only a small fine as punishment. After this incident, Assange travelled widely, and joined the University of Melbourne to study physics.
He then worked as a computer security consultant.
Years later, in 2006, Julian Assange was back to hacking with Wiki Leaks. Since then, the team has posted many politically important and controversial documents and messages on the site. Some of them were details about the US military, US wars, and the Afghanistan war logs.
