Famed Hacker Cut His Teeth On…Lucasarts’ X-Wing

Virgil Griffith is a hacker. You might not know him by name, but you may well know him by deed, he’s the guy behind WikiScanner, the tool that lets you find out who’s been tinkering with Wikipedia entries. His background in exploiting security systems could see him labelled a hacker. He prefers the term “disruptive technologist”. Either way, the guy had one hell of an education, as he got his start playing around with code with a game that’s very dear to my heart:

I remember in particular there was a ‘Star Wars’ game, X-Wing…Only one of my computer-controlled wingmen was any good. My very first hack at age 9 was noticing there was a file for each pilot, and I simply copied the pilot file for the good wingman 20 times, giving me a plentiful supply of the best wingmen from then on.

Oh, to be able to go back in time, and apply then what I know (via Griffith) now.

Internet Man of Mystery [NY Times]