WHITE HAT HACKERS
38. Fydor
Fydor, the hacker pseudonym of Gordon Lyon, is known as the maker of Nmap ("Network Mapper") - a free open source utility for network exploration or security auditing. It was designed to rapidly scan large networks, although it works fine against single hosts. Nmap uses raw IP packets in novel ways to determine the security characteristics of the computer system it’s running on. Thousands of people download Nmap every day. It is among the top ten (out of 30,000) programs at the Freshmeat.Net repository.
39. Honeynet Project
The Honeynet Project, led by Lance Spitzner, is a project to develop and analyze computer honeynet and honeypot data, and to further research into how malicious hackers act. A honeypot is a trap set to detect, deflect or in some manner counteract hacker attempts to break into information systems - as valuable as a surveillance and early warning tool.
40. Mark Russinovich
Mark Russinovich is an expert on Windows architecture and programming; noted for identifying the limited differences between Windows NT Server and Workstation, and discovering the 2005 Sony Rootkit software. As a copy protection measure, Sony BMG included the Extended Copy Protection on music CDs, which was automatically installed on desktop computers when customers played the CDs, opening security holes that allowed viruses to break in.
41. Kevin Mitnick
Mitnick is a ex-convict, having served time for crimes involving his black-hat hacking activities including identity theft, phone phreaking and social engineering. Since his release from prison, Mitnick has donned a white hat and started his own security firm, Mitnick Security Consulting, LLC.
42. Tsutomu Shimomura
Tsutomu Shimomura is a computer security expert who gained fame when he, together with computer journalist John Markoff, tracked down and helped the FBI arrest hacker Kevin Mitnick. "Takedown," his 1996 book on the subject, was later adapted for the screen in Takedown.
43. Solar Designer
Alexander Peslyak (aka Solar Designer) is a Russian security expert know for his exploitation techniques and security audit tools. He is the founder of the Openwall Project, which has designed a security rich operating system for servers.
44. Michal Zalewski
A Polish born security expert, Zalewski has been white-hat hacking since the mid 1990s, when he started posting on BugTraq. He has written software for Unix systems and recently wrote a book, "Silence on the Wire: A Field Guide to Passive Reconnaissance and Indirect Attacks."
45. Kevin Poulsen
Wired News editor/blogger and former hacker, Poulen wrote a wrote a 1,000 line Perl script that checked MySpace for registered sex offenders. Sifting through the results, he manually confirmed over 700 offenders, including a serial child molester in New York actively trying to hook up with underage boys on the site, and who has now been arrested as a result. MySpace told Congress that it didn't have this capability. The script is now available for free.
46. H.D. Moore
Moore founded the Metasploit Project in 2003, which helps white hat hackers who perform penetration testing and exploit research. The Metasploit Framework, a product of the project, helps security developers test exploit code.
47. David Maynor
Maynor is a senior researcher at SecureWorks where his duties include vulnerability development, developing and evaluating new evasion techniques, and development of protection for customers. In 2006, he demonstrated how to hack into Apple’s MacBook via a weakness in the laptop’s wireless internet connection. He also blogs about security at http://erratasec.blogspot.com/
48. SANS Internet Storm Center
Today the Internet Storm Center gathers millions of intrusion detection log entries every day, from sensors covering over 500,000 IP addresses in over 50 countries. The ISC was created in 2001 following the successful detection, analysis, and widespread warning of the Li0n worm. Today, the ISC provides a free analysis and warning service to thousands of Internet users and organizations, and is actively working with internet service providers to fight back against the most malicious attackers.