James was still a schoolboy, as he would attend classes in the morning and hacking for fun at night.Īt the end of his hacking journey, in September 1999, C0mrade detected a backdoor install on a server in Dulles, Virginia, letting every user on the Internet to connect to it. The system was designed to maintain the physical environment in the living rooms of the ISS, and It was firstly estimated to worth millions of dollars.Īfter NASA security experts discovered that their network was compromised, they disconnected the server, alongside the compromised machines for a period of 3 weeks to analyze the intrusion which led to 40 thousand dollars direct damages for NASA.įBI was working with NASA as they informed them from as soon as they detect the intrusion and begin tracking down the “dangerous” hacker.
Marshall Space Flight Center, located in Huntsville, Alabama - source: Ĭ0mrade gained access to a program’s source code which controlled critical elements of life support of the ISS. The unit has a lot of importance for NASA as it is the place where they develop and test rocket engines as well as communication systems for the ISS (International Space Station). The network comprised surprisingly belonged to a unit NASA, the Marshall Space Flight Center, located in Huntsville, Alabama. He managed to escalate his privileges into the system, and then pivoted to another 13 computers on the compromised network.
When he found one in Huntsville, Alabama, he went on and installed malware on it. In June 1999, he was looking for vulnerable servers to connect by bypassing their firewalls. His main goal was not to profit or stealing information but more about testing his hacking abilities on a bigger target like AT&T Bellsouth.
The hacking details are not completely known, but C0mrade hacked into the company’s servers without doing any damage. His first target was AT&T BellSouth, one of the largest telecommunications companies at the time in the US.
Between June 23, 1999, and October 27, 1999, he committed a series of intrusions into various systems. S ee Also: Offensive Security and Ethical Hacking CourseĪt the age of 15, James had enough with hacking his educational institutions and set bigger hacking goals. Later it was found that he hacked into the network of educational institutions in Miami-Dade County and corrected his scores in the reports.Īround that time, James came up with his own hacking alias “c0mrade”, as he spent most of his time communicating with other hackers online and learning more about hacking day by day. He ran away from home refusing to come back until his parents return his computer, insisting that programming and video games weren’t affecting his grades (as he was getting high marks). At the age of 13, this led his parents to take stronger measures and took away his computer.
James installed Linux on his father’s computer from curiosity to test the unfamiliar operating system and understand how it works.ĭuring his teen years, he became obsessed with computers and technology as he was spending most of his free time day and night on his computer. His curiosity about computers came to light as a surprise to his father when he came home one day to see that his personal computer was converted from windows OS to Linux OS. His interests gradually changed with age, from playing games to learning the C language. James’s parents would quickly realize that their son was spending too much time in front of the computer screen and tried to impose restrictions, which eventually James bypassed using his hacking “charisma” from a very young age. His interest in computers began at the age of 6 where he would regularly use his father’s computer to play video games. Pinecrest, Miami-Dade County, Florida - source: His father was a computer programmer and his mother was a housewife. Jonathan James was born on December 12, 1983, in a small Village called Pinecrest that is located in Miami-Dade County, Florida. Early Life – The start of his hacking journey