{"id":287836,"date":"2024-07-31T08:27:02","date_gmt":"2024-07-31T08:27:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/?p=287836"},"modified":"2024-07-31T08:27:02","modified_gmt":"2024-07-31T08:27:02","slug":"samy-kamkar-interview-the-day-i-took-myspace-offline","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/samy-kamkar-interview-the-day-i-took-myspace-offline","title":{"rendered":"Samy Kamkar: The Day I Took MySpace Offline"},"content":{"rendered":"

After creating the MySpace Samy worm in 2005, causing MySpace to shut down, and then agreeing to a felony plea deal that included not touching a computer or accessing the Internet for four years, Samy Kamkar learned a valuable lesson: “Do unto others…”<\/p>\n

A lot of Kamkar’s life has been built around navigating what he thinks is moral and what he thinks is ethical. And generally, he tries to live by the Golden Rule: “Only do to others what he would be OK being done to him.”<\/p>\n

“After the MySpace hack, I learned that it wasn’t OK to change something which someone else considers their own \u2014 whether it’s MySpace’s server or someone else’s profile. I don’t own any of those things, so I shouldn’t be modifying them”.<\/p>\n

Kamker held a reflective talk with Techopedia about what two decades as a gray hat hacker<\/a> has taught him.<\/p>\n

About Samy Kamkar<\/span><\/h2>\n

\"Samy<\/p>\n

A famous “gray hat” hacker, Samy Kamkar is a security researcher, known for creating the MySpace worm, the fastest-spreading virus of all time. He is the co-founder of Openpath Security Inc., which was acquired by Motorola Solutions Inc.<\/p>\n

His open-source<\/a> software, hardware, and research highlights the insecurities and privacy implications in everyday technologies \u2014 from the Evercookie, which produces virtually immutable respawning cookies, to SkyJack, a drone that wirelessly hijacks and autonomously controls other drones.<\/p>\n

Kamkar’s work has been cited by the National Security Agency, triggered hearings on Capitol Hill, and has been the basis for security advancements across vehicles, smartphones, and other technologies.<\/p>\n

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Key Takeaways<\/span><\/h2>\n