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Kevin Poulsen was born
Kevin Poulsen was born on November 30, 1965, in Pasadena, California. -
TRS-80
The RadioShack TRS-80 Color Computer is a line of home computers based on the Motorola 6809 processor. The Tandy Color Computer line started in 1980 with what is now called the CoCo 1 and ended in 1991 with the more powerful CoCo 3. All three CoCo models maintained a high level of software and hardware compatibility, with few programs are written for the older model being unable to run on the newer ones. -
Hacked the US Department of Defense
Poulsen used his TRS-80 to hack into the US Department of Defense's Arpanet. However he did not get prosecuted because he was a minor. He was later a computer programmer at SRI and Sun Microsystems and worked as a consultant testing Pentagon computer security. -
On the run
Authorities had suspected Poulsen has cracked a database on the federal investigation of Ferdinand Marcos. They came after him and he disappeared. As a fugitive, Poulsen needled the FBI by hacking federal computers and revealing details of wiretaps on foreign consulates, suspected mobsters, and the American Civil Liberties Union. He also hacked into the details on FBI front companies. At the highest levels of U.S. law enforcement, they started calling him "The Hannibal Lecter of computer crime". -
Unsolved Mysteries
When Poulsen was featured on Unsolved Mysteries, a reality crime-solving show, the program's 800 number went dead as Poulsen's picture came on the screen. -
Hacking the radio
Poulsen hacked a Los Angeles radio station, KIIS FM, to be the 102nd caller and win the prize. Poulsen had won two Porche 944 S2, $20,000, and two Hawaiian vacations. -
Caught
But Poulsen was captured shortly after the episode aired in 1991, when employees in a supermarket recognized him and tackled him in the aisles. Poulsen later said he regretted shopping at the store, and was considering organizing "a high-tech boycott". -
Caught
Poulsen pleaded guilty to seven counts of conspiracy, fraud, and wiretapping. He was sentenced to five years in a federal penitentiary, as well as banned from using computers or the internet for 3 years after his release. He was the first American to be released from prison with a court sentence that banned him from using computers and the internet after his prison sentence. -
Released from jail
Poulsen was released from jail after serving 5 years in federal prison. -
New life
Poulsen has reinvented himself as a journalist since his release from prison and sought to distance himself from his criminal past. -
MySpace
In October 2006, Poulsen released information detailing his successful search for registered sex offenders using MySpace to solicit sex from children. His work identified 744 registered people with MySpace profiles and led to the arrest of one, Andrew Lubrano. -
Chelsea Manning
In June 2010, Poulsen broke the initial story of the arrest of U.S. service member Chelsea Manning and published the logs of Manning's chats with Adrian Lamo regarding WikiLeaks. -
SecureDrop
Poulsen, Aaron Swartz, and James Dolan designed and developed SecureDrop, an open-source software platform for secure communication between journalists and sources. It was originally developed under the name DeadDrop. After Swartz's death, Poulsen launched the first instance of the platform at The New Yorker, on 15 May 2013. Poulsen later turned over the development of SecureDrop to the Freedom of the Press Foundation and joined the foundation's technical advisory board. -
Accused of doxing
Poulsen was accused of doxing Shawn Brooks, a 34-year-old Trump supporter living in The Bronx, when Poulsen revealed his identity in an article published in the The Daily Beast on June 1, 2019 for being the alleged creator and disseminator of a fake video, which showed Nancy Pelosi speaking in a slurred manner.
