I'm a Convicted Hacker and Ex Prisoner - Ask Me Anything

Reply 200

cascadingstylez

OP

18

Original post by Andylol

Please please please do this over at Reddit as well, they will love you over there!

But Reddit is a place full of savage beasts :frown:

Reply 201

FreedomCostsTax

12

Original post by cascadingstylez

Im on license, but I'm not being monitored. My probation officer trusts me enough to not go backwards. He knows how serious I am about putting my life back on track. I really like my probation officer, he's like a friend at times.

But are the police monitoring your internet activity?

Reply 202

cascadingstylez

OP

18

Original post by FreedomCostsTax

But are the police monitoring your internet activity?

No.

Reply 203

username945458

18

What did your family say when they found out you were going to prison? How did prison change you?

Reply 204

troach

Original post by cascadingstylez

This seems like a cool thing to do that a lot of people are doing. I get asked questions constantly about the topic title, so to heck with it. Here goes.

Some background info on me:

I'm 29 years old.
I'm a software developer.
I work with Facebook as an Ethical Hacker.
I spent 12 months in prison.
Studied 2 years at uni (Software Engineering).

Ask me anything at all. I'll answer with complete honesty.

Would you be able to boost the awareness of my charity Level Trust? @LevelTrust

Reply 205

cascadingstylez

OP

18

Original post by Just Another Girly

What did your family say when they found out you were going to prison? How did prison change you?

They were worried. They didn't think I'd cope in prison, especially because at the time I was very depressed and already self harmed in the past. In terms of the crime, they didn't say anything. They wanted to make sure I was ok, and they supported me through it.

Prison changed me in a lot of ways. It broke my deep depression. I couldn't afford to be depressed in prison, I had to get over the depression and focus on getting out. It made me think about life differently. When you have all that time on your hands you do a lot of thinking. It made me think about my actions and what I was doing to other people.

It didn't make me respect the law. What I mean by this is I've always been for the freedom movement. I believe in freedom. So there are a lot of laws (I say laws, but I really mean statutes) that I do not agree with. It done nothing to change the way I feel about that. But it did install fear, and prison is fear. That's not to say I sacrifice my beliefs and succumb to the oppression because I fear prison, but I must go about things differently, and within the law regardless if I respect them or not.

If I didn't have a family, maybe I'd think differently, but I can't be selfish when I have them to think about.

Prison gave me an opportunity to focus on some business ideas. I knew I'd be out in 12 months, so I used the time to get some ideas and some planning down. I used what resources I had available i.e. the library, and speaking to other prisoners who were successful in business.

It was a great motivator. I never lost sight of the future, and now I'm out I'm working towards what I planned. Making those dreams in prison a reality. It's all I can do.

I also studied a lot of philosophy in prison. I really enjoyed reading Descartes Meditation's. Sadly I'm too busy to read philosophy - although I have plenty of time to spend on TSR.

Finally, I'm not one to own up to mistakes. I don't believe humans make mistakes, as everything we do is intentional. But we do take the wrong path and make wrong decisions at times. I hurt a lot of people with what I did, and worried a lot of women. I'm also not one to care about other peoples feelings (Aspergers), but I have understood that what could have caused some serious implications for those involved. And as I expressed in my letter for BPAS I am genuinely sorry for that.

Were my actions a mistake? No, I planned to do what I did. Was it wrong? Yes, it was unethical and immoral.

I must learn, in order to do the greater good.

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 206

cascadingstylez

OP

18

Original post by troach

Would you be able to boost the awareness of my charity Level Trust? @LevelTrust

I can certainly offer advice to improve your online presence and awareness.

Reply 207

meganht

1

OP - I'm glad you just spoke about philosophy. As a philosophy student who has little knowledge of hacking or anything mildly complicated to do with computers (I leave that to my brother...), I've been very interested by this thread.

The change that came about you in prison, and the way you write about your experiences with such clarity is fascinating. I've never heard of ethical hacking before and it's just another example of a 'bad thing' not necessarily being bad. "For the greater good" as you put a few posts back (although this does remind me Grindelwald in Harry Potter). I'm also a fan of your opinion on human mistakes, it's an interesting idea and one I've written down to play with when I study determinism and free will. :smile:

As for the whole situation that you were sentenced for, personally I'm amused you thought that would help the situation, as I always am with organisations like Anonymous and so. But tweeting about it of all things... However as someone who also suffers from mental health issues I can understand thought processes not being 100% accurate. For what it's worth I disagree on your views with abortion but you're the first person I've spoken to (calmly that is, I don't count people online who can't string two sentences together) who is totally against it.

I don't really have any questions, just thought I'd share my two pence. Wish you the best for starting a family in the future!

Reply 208

yo radical one

6

How much can you deadlift?

Reply 209

cascadingstylez

OP

18

Original post by meganht

OP - I'm glad you just spoke about philosophy. As a philosophy student who has little knowledge of hacking or anything mildly complicated to do with computers (I leave that to my brother...), I've been very interested by this thread.

The change that came about you in prison, and the way you write about your experiences with such clarity is fascinating. I've never heard of ethical hacking before and it's just another example of a 'bad thing' not necessarily being bad. "For the greater good" as you put a few posts back (although this does remind me Grindelwald in Harry Potter). I'm also a fan of your opinion on human mistakes, it's an interesting idea and one I've written down to play with when I study determinism and free will. :smile:

As for the whole situation that you were sentenced for, personally I'm amused you thought that would help the situation, as I always am with organisations like Anonymous and so. But tweeting about it of all things... However as someone who also suffers from mental health issues I can understand thought processes not being 100% accurate. For what it's worth I disagree on your views with abortion but you're the first person I've spoken to (calmly that is, I don't count people online who can't string two sentences together) who is totally against it.

I don't really have any questions, just thought I'd share my two pence. Wish you the best for starting a family in the future!

Thank you the reply. I smiled reading that. It's good to know that humans can share differences in opinions, and still respect one another. I think I'm correct in saying that not many humans are able to do this. We all posses the freedom of speech and freedom to have an opinion, but as one who studies philosophy I'd imagine you're used to heated debates, yet still remaining respectful of each others opinions. I think a lot of people would benefit from studying philosophy :tongue:

Reply 210

cascadingstylez

OP

18

Original post by yo radical one

How much can you deadlift?

I'm current working on a bulking regime at the moment, I can do 5 reps x 3 sets at 60kg. I could probably do 1 - 2 reps at 80kg if I was to really push.

Reply 211

mightyfrog2_10

14

what's the hardest program you've ever written?

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 212

cascadingstylez

OP

18

Original post by mightyfrog2_10

what's the hardest program you've ever written?

Good question. I once had to write software for an insurance company that would spider lots of insurance providers websites for quotes, aggregate the data, perform some analytics on that data, and return the data. Sounds fairly simple, but this had to be done in 2 days. Some of the providers didn't have api's, and had to manually submit the forms in order to get a quote. This in itself caused headaches. It wasn't so much difficult, it was the timeframe I had, and the complexity of some of the sites. I completed it though :smile:

Reply 213

Al-Mudaari

Original post by cascadingstylez

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/abortion-site-hacker-james-jeffery-jailed-7643734.html

Edit: I'm not proud of what I done. I'm honest though.

lmao, I approve.

Reply 214

mightyfrog2_10

14

Original post by cascadingstylez

Good question. I once had to write software for an insurance company that would spider lots of insurance providers websites for quotes, aggregate the data, perform some analytics on that data, and return the data. Sounds fairly simple, but this had to be done in 2 days. Some of the providers didn't have api's, and had to manually submit the forms in order to get a quote. This in itself caused headaches. It wasn't so much difficult, it was the timeframe I had, and the complexity of some of the sites. I completed it though :smile:

that's awesome! you must have got paid loads :biggrin:

Reply 215

SparkleDust231

2

Hi
I didnt read every page so you may have answered my question but did you do hack the FBI aswell?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2113118/Did-abortion-hacker-hit-FBI-Anonymous-zealot-targeted-CIA-Parliament-too.html

A member of hacking group Anonymous who broke into the website of Britain's biggest abortion provider may also have launched cyber attacks on the CIA, FBI and Houses of Parliament, a court heard yesterday.

Described as an 'able' hacker, who boasted of his feat on Twitter, Jeffery also identified ‘vulnerabilities’ on a string of websites belonging to major international organisations.

Did you apologise/speak with the women you knew afterwards?

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 216

cascadingstylez

OP

18

Original post by SparkleDust231

Hi
I didnt read every page so you may have answered my question but did you do hack the FBI aswell?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2113118/Did-abortion-hacker-hit-FBI-Anonymous-zealot-targeted-CIA-Parliament-too.html

A member of hacking group Anonymous who broke into the website of Britain's biggest abortion provider may also have launched cyber attacks on the CIA, FBI and Houses of Parliament, a court heard yesterday.

Described as an 'able' hacker, who boasted of his feat on Twitter, Jeffery also identified ‘vulnerabilities’ on a string of websites belonging to major international organisations.

Did you apologise/speak with the women you knew afterwards?

Can't comment on the first stuff question bud. But the second question yes I did apologise. We're all still friends.

Reply 217

cascadingstylez

OP

18

Original post by DivinityA

Genuinely one of the most interesting AMAs here. Pleased to see you've turned over a new leaf.

Two questions, I'm unsure if it applies to you, but were you ever banned from using the internet as part of your sentence (I recall some other hackers having this as part of theirs, not too sure), and if not, how come, since I assume after what you did they would've looked into that.

Also, what is/was your opinion on what LulzSec did throughout 2011?

I wasn't banned from the Internet. Whilst I was in prison my probation officer was looking at this, but I explained I wanted to continue at University (which was true at the time) and that a limit on my Internet restrictions would mean I can't study. We had many long chats and she agreed she wouldn't place any restrictions on me. If it happened again though I'd be banned from the Internet. She said part of the problem with banning the Internet is that if I refuse, and appeal on her decision the chances of me winning the appeal are very high because limiting the Internet these days is like banning someone from using a phone. It can infringe on human rights. Or something along those lines.

Those who were banned were on bail waiting to go to court for trial/sentencing. I was on remand the entire time so I didn't have access to the Internet anyway. The only person that got a ban upon release to my knowledge was Ryan Cleary, but that's because he was placed on the sex offender register for possessing child porn. Thankfully I had no contact with him.

The LulzSec stuff was fun. I done some stuff with Lulzsec on their final dump. If you Google you'll find it. The police know about it, and thankfully the US didn't want to extradite me over it, so I'm all clear. Hint ... US Navvy.

Reply 218

sbj

6

Original post by cascadingstylez

No, it's nothing like the movies ha ha.

What do you mean by different looking surfaces?

When you watch them using softwares, programms, scripts, they have this specific GUI style. I guess just made up by Hollywood, but still it would be interesting if "nerds" have their own GUI, futuristic lookings.

Like: