From Homeless to legendary Hacker

The Life Story of Gummo: From Homeless to Legendary Hacker

My name is Gummo, and I am a hacker. For the past 36 years, my life has been filled with challenges and adventures that shaped who I am today. My story began in Jacksonville, Florida, where I was born and grew up in poverty. I had two older brothers, one stepbrother, and one biological sibling. My mother, an alcoholic, raised us on her own. Despite her struggles, she tried her best to care for us.

My mother passed away when I was 12, in 1985. From that moment, my life changed drastically. My siblings and I moved in with my aunt, but it didn’t last long. My father was in prison, so we had to stay with family friends temporarily. By the age of 14, I was completely on my own.

I was introduced to computers about three years before my mother died. The night before her passing, she asked about my progress in learning about computers. I lied and said everything was fine, even though I hadn’t done anything. After she passed away, computers became my escape. I had a TRS-80 Model II and taught myself basic coding.

At 14, I began exploring the world of hacking. I acquired an acoustic modem and started connecting to local bulletin boards, meeting other hackers who taught me tricks like phone phreaking. Phreaking involved accessing old telephone systems using specific instructions and codes.

By 15, I had learned how to reprogram credit cards and print UPC codes to get food. I did this out of necessity, as living with family friends who were also struggling financially wasn’t easy. At 16, I began living in my car, a 1982 Chevrolet Chevette, and dropped out of school. I used my hacking skills to steal cars and make quick money.

However, my life took a turn when I met a girl who would later become my wife. She and her family accepted me and motivated me to work hard. I started working at a retail store, bagging groceries, while continuing to learn programming languages like C, COBOL, and FORTRAN.

Two years later, I had the opportunity to attend the Chaos Congress in Germany, an international hacker conference. There, I met Boris Floricic, a renowned hacker known as Tron. We collaborated on smart card projects and successfully decrypted services from several chip card providers.

In 1995, my father had just been released from prison, and I became fascinated by the DirecTV satellite systems he used. Together with Boris, I reprogrammed DirecTV access cards, earning money by providing services to people who didn’t want to pay their bills.

We made around $10 million from selling satellite card programming software. However, after getting caught, I was offered a consulting opportunity with NDS to help them solve conditional access issues in DirecTV systems.

After consulting with NDS, I returned to Jacksonville and continued working in cybersecurity. Later, I moved to Indiana and secured a job at a newspaper, managing their website. A friend then invited me to Chicago to work at his software company as a webmaster.

In Chicago, I met Willard Harper, a major trader at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. He gave me the chance to build a high-speed network connecting the CME with the NYSE. After succeeding, he invested $1 million in me to mine Bitcoin. Together, we mined nearly 80,000 Bitcoins in just a year and a half.

Over the years, I transitioned into cybersecurity consulting, helping companies, celebrities, and prominent figures tackle security issues. With my extensive experience, I became an expert in identifying hackers and mitigating cyber threats.

This is my story, from a poor boy in Jacksonville to a globally recognized hacker. Although my journey was filled with twists and turns, every experience has made me stronger and wiser.

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