Donald Fanning:  

Life::: After bailing out of high school, I went to CU-Boulder a year later, then moved to Alaska to finish my degree in Computer Science at the University of Alaska - Anchorage. During that time, I became an intern with IBM and then married at the ripe old age of 20. This lasted for four years, and during that time, I became notorious in Alaska for being the first convicted computer hacker. After my government-paid vacation, I put my life back together first as a consultant. After that, I worked for a few Fortune 500 companies as an FTE. Currently, I sub-contract via telecommuting and traveling, which allows me to work from Starbucks with a laptop (yet I don't drink coffee... strange). To me, life isn't about the destination. It's totally about the journey (which we've all heard before). My life has had quite a few stops along the way, and not all of them are wrong (not even the joint). But, every morning, I wake up with the satisfaction that I have the power and change the world in the same way the Wizard of Oz makes things work. Yes, I know. Not much attention, but I have karaoke (which I also keep reserved). It was beautiful seeing everyone at the last reunion! With all the hits I've been getting on this profile, it's neat to know that I'm more popular now than in High School. Although, maybe it's just as well. I was the gatecrasher at the reunion, never finishing (though I did get the highest score in Social Studies for Arapahoe County for anyone who ever took the GED :-)). I didn't think it would harm anyone me showing up. It just keeps all of you on your toes. ;) I hadn't changed much from who I am now (I started my rebellious years when I moved into the district and haven't looked back). You probably remember the face more than you remember the person. Don't worry... think of me as "That Guy." We all know the social damage that is high school. The facade. The mock-reality of being cool or with it. The typical x-generation mixed with being within the top 5 under Beverly Hills School District attitude. But we all know how vain it was. High School was an experience, but life is part of the journey. Our wrestling/lacrosse team's motto was, "What does not kill you, makes you strong." So maybe as our kids grow and we revisit our friends from school, we'll remember that even though we were one kind of person in school, it doesn't mean we're the same person now. School::: Heh... I guess I can write a few words about this without name tossing. Biggest crush? I would have to say she's married now, but we lived near each other. If I had known what I know now, I probably would have gotten to know her better. Other people? I would have to say I was just a face in the crowd to them, at least from my perspective. I never really cared about what others thought of me as I had my things (see hacking). Even today, I don't follow trends or stay ahead of them. I create my path and strive not to be a movement leader. That's what Gucci is about. ;) Teacher? I would have to say that most of the teachers that inspired me were in middle school. But even to this day, I'm still down with Western Civ. But, on the other hand, I love history and still remember the lectures taught in class even though I don't know his name. Pranks? I'm either responsible or part of a few (sulfur water comes to mind - it was an accident when the bottle broke on a ricochet). But I'm not responsible for the birds who got into the building one day. :) As for the high school itself... I'm not sure. I was always the one on the outside looking in. Not that this is meant to be a pity thread but knowing what you know now in the late 1980s, would you say it was a great time? I don't think I'd do high school again (I plan to home school my children partially except for the senior year, then let them socialize). Instead, if I were allowed to meet with the people I knew during high school, I wouldn't think twice about saying "yes." Sappy? Yes. But it beats reliving the experience for the experience. I'd instead have learned from my mistakes and have the opportunity to change than not have. College::: College? My attorney has advised me not to speak on said matters. (If you know me, you know it's a joke) [Edit: 2022]: I remember always trying to get out on the one or two Apple //e computers at Horizon or Overland that had a computer "modem." This was about 8-10 years before most people learned what they were for and had to endure their screeches in the late 1990s for their first internet connections. While Denver was a very tech-savvy place, the Internet connectivity we would recognize today was limited to UC-Boulder and UC-Denver. Therefore, I spent the first year or two after dropping out at Metro State campus and up in Boulder sweet-talking my way into getting a user account on one of their more giant computers as workstations. This was necessary as the way students (people) used the internet then was "terminal" based as if it were a word processor. However, just like in film today, when they show a "hacker," it's the most basic view that people like me would find helpful and, with time, comfortable. :) The change to a graphical browser happened around 1995-1996 when the software was invented and commercialized for average users. Microsoft retrofitted Windows 95 with a web browser - it originally wasn't included). What does any of this have to do with me? Well, I just mentioned I had to sweet talk my way into getting credentials. But for years before, I wasn't a very "law-abiding individual." So, if I told you that the difference between personal information security in 1988 and 1998 was between sleeping in a tent and sleeping in a hotel, would you believe me? Would you think it only took me three tries to break into a USAF minicomputer? And that it took people like me and those inspired by "Wargames" like hackers to prove the poor state of information security collectively? In the western world, it took all that time and the internet bubble to at least get people working on the information security problem by the first WTC bombing, let alone Y2k and 9/11/2001. Before that, it was easy to steal a person's identity. Merchants couldn't quickly validate a person's address. Banks still depended on human agents, "tellers," to manage and sniff test practically every transaction. Thus, it didn't take much to be a white-collar criminal in 1987. Today, despite all the "data dumps" of passwords and personal information (PII), the most consistent and most accessible way to do the same is to ask for it in a way that doesn't raise the persons' suspicion. At the largest hacking conference globally, I was one of the people responsible for bringing this into the "spotlight." We do this by turning the whole process of "grifting/social engineering" into an annual prized / awarded competition. Do you know those shows like "Leverage" or "White Collar"? Yeah, that's what I have done for a "quazi-legal" hobby at night since I was 13-14. But unfortunately, what is shown on TV often leaves out one or two critical parts, which keeps the natives from being able to be successful... but it's not that far from the truth. We prove how one can gain sensitive information without ever picking a lock. Or, in most cases, leaving the office. Reality: The most significant security problem in businesses is sitting in a chair and having a water flash/coffee cup in your office. It's not the computer or cloud. But one shouldn't help by making things easy due to poor maintenance and information hygiene. While I had a lot of the knowledge before college, I, frankly, spent most of my time online learning whatever I wanted as fast as I could and parlayed it into a career. A college degree in tech is not necessary to break six figures. The Department of Labor has my role within the top 5 highest salaried titles in 2020, just behind Doctor, Lawyer, and Manager/...Expand for more