Kevin Poulsen

Kevin Lee Poulsen (born November 30, 1965) is an American journalist and former computer hacker. He used to work as a senior editor at Wired and now writes for The Daily Beast. In the past, he was known as a black-hat hacker and was sent to prison for computer crimes.

 Early life 
Kevin Poulsen was born in Pasadena, California, on November 30, 1965.

 Hacking and Arrest 
In 1990, Poulsen hacked the phone lines of a radio station in Los Angeles (KIIS-FM). He made sure he would be the 102nd caller and won a Porsche car.

When the FBI tried to catch him, Poulsen ran away and became a fugitive. Later, he was featured on the TV show Unsolved Mysteries, and strangely, the phone lines of the show stopped working. He was arrested in 1991.

In 1994, Poulsen pleaded guilty to computer hacking, fraud, and wiretapping. He was sent to prison for five years. After prison, he was banned from using computers and the internet for three more years. He was the first American to get this kind of ban.

Related pages
 DEF CON
 Kevin Mitnick
 List of computer criminals
 The Secret History of Hacking, a 2001 documentary film featuring Kevin Mitnick

References

Further reading
Jonathan Littman, The Watchman: The Twisted Life and Crimes of Serial Hacker Kevin Poulsen, 1997, publisher: Little, Brown. 

Other websites

 KevinPoulsen.com; Poulsen's personal website
 Threat Level (former 27BStroke6) Blog by Kevin Poulsen and Ryan Singel

Category:1965 births
Category:Criminals from California
Category:People convicted of money laundering
Category:Journalists from California
Category:Living people
Category:People from Pasadena, California
Category:Webby Award winners
Category:Hackers