39 votes

Searching for Susy Thunder [a famous computer hacker of the 80s]

Posted by ignorabimus
Tags: duplicate post, history, susy thunder, susan headley, hacking, phreaking, social engineering, bdsm, dumpster diving, lewis depayne, kevin mitnick, crime, abuse.child, abuse.sexual, groupies, 1980s, author.claire l evans, source.the verge, long read
https://www.theverge.com/c/22889425/susy-thunder-headley-hackers-phone-phreakers-claire-evans

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Title
She was a notorious hacker in the '80s - then she disappeared
Authors
Claire L. Evans
Published
Jan 26 2022
Word count
6980 words

7 comments

  1. [4]
    drannex
    Link
    I think about this concept, a lot.

    “All the best hackers, all the best phreakers in the world, we don’t know who they are because they never got arrested. And they never went to prison. This is why you don’t know who the best ones in the world are. This is the truth. Think about it.”

    I think about this concept, a lot.

    16 votes
    1. [3]
      ignorabimus
      Link Parent
      Me too, but about intelligence agencies. If the stuff that we do know about includes a scheme where they sliced open fibre optic cables to listen in on all internet communication then what must...

      Me too, but about intelligence agencies. If the stuff that we do know about includes a scheme where they sliced open fibre optic cables to listen in on all internet communication then what must the stuff they got away with look like! Or perhaps the most extreme and out there stuff gets leaked and the only casually evil stuff isn't something whistleblowers think will have much of an impact if leaked.

      5 votes
      1. GunnarRunnar
        Link Parent
        Depends on why we know it. Is it because someone blew the whistle or did they get caught? The same applies to the "best" hackers. Some have bad luck, bad relatives, etc. Some have to brag. Some...

        Depends on why we know it. Is it because someone blew the whistle or did they get caught?

        The same applies to the "best" hackers. Some have bad luck, bad relatives, etc. Some have to brag. Some are bad with money. Those things don't directly affect their skills. But yeah there's probably a good number of just skilled people both in hacking and keeping themselves out of trouble.

        10 votes
      2. caliper
        Link Parent
        Those agencies have incredible budgets, the fact that they can pull off crazy stuff doesn’t impress me much. With enough money you can hire anybody and have unlimited resources to make things...

        Those agencies have incredible budgets, the fact that they can pull off crazy stuff doesn’t impress me much. With enough money you can hire anybody and have unlimited resources to make things happen. It’s the people that figure stuff out on their own that I find most impressive. Stories, like this article, really blow my mind. These people I’d love to spend some time with and listen to old stories.

        1 vote
  2. zenen
    Link
    This is the sort of mythical flex that I assume just can't really happen anymore.

    In 1981, Scott Ellentuch — known online as “Tuc” — was the teenage system operator of a BBS frequented by phreakers. One day, a message popped up on his screen from a user named Susan Thunder. She was asking about his system. Trying to impress her, Scott told Susan his BBS was highly secure, locked in a vault 10 feet underground, and served by a single phone line. “Scott, you know that’s not true,” she responded. “Let’s get off here and talk on the phone.” In the other room, he heard the phone ring, and then his mother’s voice, yelling — “Scott, phone for you!”

    This is the sort of mythical flex that I assume just can't really happen anymore.

    16 votes
  3. Maelstrom
    Link
    Fascinating read, those early hacker days are always so intruiging.

    Fascinating read, those early hacker days are always so intruiging.

    9 votes
  4. caliper
    Link
    This article has occupied my mind today. It’s such a sad story to me, and at the same time I’m also envious of her being part of that part of history. I really enjoyed my time on the Internet in...

    This article has occupied my mind today. It’s such a sad story to me, and at the same time I’m also envious of her being part of that part of history. I really enjoyed my time on the Internet in the early 2000s, it was such a wild west. Many opportunities to find your own way, following your own rules. It felt like freedom. But these were the real pioneers. I’ve read stories about dumpster diving before, and it feels like that was the golden age. So many things to find out, so many opportunities, such an uncharted land. And then also finding likeminded people in your area, it sounds awesome. But maybe I’m glorifying it…

    4 votes