The PHIRM was an early hacking group which was founded in the early 1980s. First going by the name of "KILOBAUD",
["Beware: Hackers at play", ''Newsweek'', September 5, 1983, pp. 42–46, 48] the firm was reorganized in 1985 to reflect ''
Airwolf
''Airwolf'' is an American action military drama television series that centers on a high-technology military helicopter, code-named ''Airwolf'', and its crew. The show follows them as they undertake various exotic missions, many involving e ...
'', a favorite television show of the time. By the mid-1980s The PHIRM was
sysop
A sysop (; an abbreviation of system operator) is an administrator of a multi-user computer system, such as a bulletin board system (BBS) or an online service virtual community.Jansen, E. & James,V. (2002). NetLingo: the Internet dictionary. Net ...
ping hundreds of boards. Some of the more notable boards included Thieves' Underground sysoped by Jack The Ripper, Angel's Nest sysoped by Archangel, World's Grave Elite sysoped by Sir Gamelord, and SATCOM IV. The PHIRM broke up in 1990, voluntarily, stating that after the
Legion of Doom
The Legion of Doom is a group of supervillains who originated in '' Challenge of the Super Friends'', an animated series from Hanna-Barbera based on DC Comics' Justice League. The Legion of Doom has since been incorporated into the main DC Uni ...
arrests that they had become too high-profile.
In 1985 a
''Phrack'' magazine article brought the group into the public eye, and they began to take on new members. In 1987 two of the founders, Archangel and Stingray, co-authored a report on Cleveland's
Free-net
A free-net was originally a computer system or network that provided public access to digital resources and community information, including personal communications, through modem dialup via the public switched telephone network. The concept or ...
. In 1989 the group published a definitive guide to breaking security on
Bank of America
The Bank of America Corporation (often abbreviated BofA or BoA) is an American multinational investment bank and financial services holding company headquartered at the Bank of America Corporate Center in Charlotte, North Carolina. The bank ...
home banking systems. This brought a great deal of scrutiny on the group and there were arrests. At the time of the break-up of the PHIRM, however, there were still over 100 members.
The PHIRM was the last of the "old school" (1980s)
hacker groups to disband. Most of the membership disappeared. Others went on to start their own groups.
Founding members
* Archangel
* Blade Runner
* Jack The Ripper
* Systematic
* The Stingray
* Sir Gamelord
* Meo Dino
* Chris TC Wilson aka Night Crawler
Later members
* Meo Dino
* Dark Creaper
* The Wiz
* Baron Harkonnen
* Jimmy Jacker
* Electel
* King Blotto
* Da_K3yb0ard_c0w_b0y
* pef (later
AnonymousPEF)
References
{{reflist
External links
Sample Textfile "Breaking Bank of America's Security"
Issue #6 - Influential Hacker Groups
2600 Magazine contributors
Hacker groups