New Docuseries Spotlights Hackers Who Shaped Cybersecurity

Nathan Sportsman, the CEO of offensive security company Praetorian, had a grim epiphany in the summer of 2023: We're beginning to lose some of the hackers and visionaries who laid the foundation of the cybersecurity industry.

"When Kevin Mitnick passed, I realized that he would never be able to tell his story again," Sportsman says. "We're running out of time to tell these stories."

So he decided to document the history of hackers and preserve the stories of those early trailblazers and their groundbreaking contributions. The title of his docuseries project, "Where Warlocks Stay Up Late," pays homage to Katie Hafner and Matthew Lyon's 1996 book, Where Wizards Stay Up Late, which chronicles the origins of the Internet and spotlights the stories of the pioneers responsible for shaping it.

Each month, two long-form video interviews will be released on the Warlocks project's YouTube channel, featuring candid conversations in which cybersecurity pioneers share their technical achievements, as well as their personal journeys, challenges, and ethical dilemmas they faced along the way.

Sportsman and his team — Emmy-winning producer Matthew Wallis, filmmaker Tyson Culver, anthropologist Gabriella Coleman, and historian Matt Goerzen — plan to capture the stories of over 200 cybersecurity pioneers who helped shape the hacking scene of the 1980s and 1990s. These were the hackers who testified before the US Congress in 1998 and claimed they could take down the Internet in 30 minutes. They also exposed vulnerabilities in early wireless networks and were early advocates for encryption. Some of their stories have never been told before, Sportsman says.

Related:Black Hat 2024: Praetorian CEO Teases 'Warlock' Series on Cyber Pioneers

"This is going to be a three- to five-year commitment," Sportsman notes.

The list features prominent groups like L0pht Heavy Industries, Germany's Chaos Computer Club, w00w00, and the Legion of Doom. Smaller yet interesting groups, such as TESO and ADM, will also be represented. Some of the hackers from these groups went on to build successful careers in cybersecurity, becoming CISOs or CEOs, while others found roles in policymaking or intelligence.

Each interviewee is encouraged to bring along a historical artifact that represents their journey or contributions to hacking culture.

"It could be anything," Sportsman says. "It could be an old version of Phrack magazine. It could be a floppy disk, a motherboard."

The goal is to donate the artifacts to a physical museum at some point, maybe the Smithsonian, he says.

"Maybe they create a cyber wing where these stories can be held and all these artifacts can be kept," Sportsman adds.

Mapping Hacking Groups

The overall goal of the Warlocks project is to create a 360-degree view on the origins of the cybersecurity industry. The video interviews will be supplemented by an encyclopedia, which will provide context, and an anthropological map, which will offer a visual representation of the underground groups and the connections among them. By selecting a hacker's name, viewers will be able to access a wealth of information, including biographical details and contributions to the field.

Coleman, a professor in the Department of Anthropology at Harvard University, was "instantly drawn to the Warlocks, like a moth to flame," she says, because the project complements her focus on the politics and cultures of hacking and online activism. Over the years, she has studied distinct hacker communities, such as Anonymous.

"Combining visual data [maps, videos, and pictures] with written and oral histories allows us to make more sturdy, sound, or compelling arguments," Coleman says.

To capture the full picture of the hacking scene, the team plans to talk to all kinds of pioneers "from the no-malicious yet unorthodox underground scene," as Coleman puts it, regardless of where they are located.

"Those studying hackers know there were important waypoints in the transition from underground hacking to professional security, but the full stories of their members still need to be charted," Coleman adds.

Although she has studied hacker communities for over two decades, Coleman admits that some of the names that appear on the anthropological map were initially unfamiliar to her — a reflection of the secrecy that has long shrouded the scene.

"This terra incognita reminds us of the power and importance of what some philosophers call 'epistemic humility,'" she says. "This map both charts known territory and reveals what still needs to be studied."

A (Digital) Museum of Hackers

One of Sportsman's first interviews for the Warlocks project was with Mike Schiffman, editor-in-chief of hacker e-zine Phrack. During the taping, Schiffman and Sportsman reminisced about the early days of IRC channels where hackers hung out to share ideas and cutting-edge research. They discussed how hacker culture has evolved over the years.

"Back then, [Shiffman] would just kick/ban me out of the channel because I was a kid and I was annoying, but I looked up to him because of everything he had already done to that point," Sportsman says.

Schiffman recalls a bizarre incident from his youth, when his phone switch was hijacked and all of his calls were forwarded to a bridge. Anyone trying to reach him was told he had died. While doing some research for the project, Schiffman was able to identify the exact person who hacked his phone switch 25 years ago.

"I'll be interviewing him for Warlocks in February," Schiffman says.

For Schiffman, working on the Warlocks project has been both nostalgic and thought-provoking. He serves as a producer, interviewer, and planner, making sure the project authentically captures the "rich cultural history of the hacking scene."

The motivation to talk about the old days is deeply personal.

"I want my children to know my story," Schiffman says. "They're currently quite young, and I expect them to get different things from this as they watch it at different ages."

More Than Just Hacker Nostalgia

The stories hackers will share on camera offer glimpses into their personal journeys, but they also weave together a collective narrative that will help the next generation understand how everything started.

"There's not a single person in this industry that achieved any type of long-term success without the help of others," says cybersecurity expert Ralph Logan, an adviser to the project.

The desire to tap into the collective memory of the cybersecurity community and capture the stories for the new generation of people entering the cybersecurity workforce is deep-seated. In the past few years, a number of projects have been developed to tell the background stories of major cybersecurity events — an oral history of L0pht and a book on the Cult of the Dead Cow, to name a few. The Computer History Museum and the International Spy Museum also have exhibits highlighting cybersecurity researchers and stories.

The collective aspect of the narrative resonates deeply with Harvard's Coleman, who views hackers as collaborative individuals who embrace partnerships that further their goals. This is why their stories should be told in a way that highlights the intricate web of interactions, collaborations, and shared ambitions that define the community, she says.

"While many industry histories, like those of Walter Isaacson, elevate individual 'tech heroes,' this project showcases how diverse, interconnected hacker collectives worldwide transformed security from an afterthought into a critical priority," Coleman says.

The anthropologist hopes the project will also serve as a template for other areas of technology, including hacktivism, a topic she holds close to her heart. By applying the same methods, researchers could one day uncover groundbreaking insights into the inner workings, cultural dynamics, and broader impacts of groups like the Cult of the Dead Cow, the Electronic Disturbance Theater, or the Xnet collective.

"Like the underground, much material connected to hacktivist circles has either remained historically hidden, is hard to access, or is precariously stored," Coleman says, noting that this is an ideal time for projects like this. "Many [hackers] are seeking and willing to publicize their past. Many have expressed interest in ensuring this history does not get lost to time, while we still have access to firsthand accounts."