History and stories
The 414s: teenagers who got in with default passwords
A group of teenagers using home computers and dial-up modems got into a cancer center, a bank and a nuclear weapons laboratory.
1 min readStory
The short version
In 1982 and 1983, a group of Milwaukee teenagers broke into dozens of computer systems, mostly by trying the passwords printed in manuals.
The story
In 1982 and 1983, a group of six young people in Milwaukee, aged 16 to 22, broke into dozens of computer systems across the United States. They named themselves after their telephone area code, 414.
Their targets included Los Alamos National Laboratory, the Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York and Security Pacific National Bank. During one break-in at Sloan-Kettering, they accidentally deleted billing records.
How they got in
The group used inexpensive home computers and modems. Their main technique was simple: many systems still used the default usernames and passwords published in the manufacturer’s manuals. Nobody had changed them.
One member, Neal Patrick, later testified before Congress and said the group did it for the challenge of getting somewhere they were not supposed to be.
What changed afterward
The case made national news in 1983 and was compared to the film WarGames, released the same year. It added to pressure in Congress for new computer crime laws, which led to the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act of 1986.
The lesson today
Default passwords are still one of the easiest ways in. Routers, cameras, printers and new software often ship with a known login. Changing them takes minutes and closes one of the oldest doors there is.
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