Susan Headley (born 1959, also known as Susy Thunder or Susan Thunder) was a
phreaker and early computer
hacker
A hacker is a person skilled in information technology who uses their technical knowledge to achieve a goal or overcome an obstacle, within a computerized system by non-standard means. Though the term ''hacker'' has become associated in popu ...
during the late 1970s and early 1980s. A member of the so-called Cyberpunks, Headley specialized in
social engineering, a type of hacking which uses
pretexting
Pretexting is a type of social engineering attack that involves a situation, or pretext, created by an attacker in order to lure a victim into a vulnerable situation and to trick them into giving private information, specifically information that t ...
and misrepresentation of oneself in contact with targeted organizations in order to elicit information vital to hacking those organizations.
Biography
Born in
Altona, Illinois
Altona (formerly LaPier & Walnut Grove) is a village in Knox County, Illinois, United States. The population was 531 at the 2010 census, down from 570 in 2000. It is part of the Galesburg Micropolitan Statistical Area.
History
Altona was origin ...
in 1959, Headley claims to have dropped out of school in the eighth grade after a difficult childhood.
She later moved to
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wo ...
where she worked as a teenage prostitute and was a rock 'n' roll groupie, claiming all four former members of the Beatles among her conquests.
She met computer hacker
Kevin Mitnick
Kevin David Mitnick (born August 6, 1963) is an American computer security consultant, author, and convicted hacker. He is best known for his high-profile 1995 arrest and five years in prison for various computer and communications-related crim ...
(also known as Condor) in 1980, and together with another hacker,
Lewis de Payne (also known as Roscoe), formed a gang of
phone phreaks. In ''
The Hacker's Handbook'', Headley is referred to as "one of the earliest of the present generation of hackers" and described as successfully hacking the US phone system as a 17-year-old in 1977.
On October 25, 1983, Headley testified in front of the Governmental Affairs oversight committee as to the technical capabilities and possible motivations of modern-day hackers and phone phreaks.
Public service
Headley was elected to public office in California in 1994, as
City Clerk
A clerk is a senior official of many municipal governments in the English-speaking world. In some communities, including most in the United States, the position is elected, but in many others, the clerk is appointed to their post. In the UK, a Tow ...
of
California City.
Personal life
Headley is married, and lives in the Midwest. She is a coin collector.
References
External links
Esquire magazine article on Mitnick, including interview with Susan ThunderCyberpunks: Outlaws and Hackers on the Computer FrontierBook by Katie Hafner
Hendon Mob poker players' database entry for Susy Thunder
Living people
1959 births
American computer criminals
California City, California
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