ETHICAL HACKING 

AND 

COMPUTER 
FORENSICS 
 
ASSIGNMENT 
 
Group:  
Rajath J 
Ajun Godson 
Sourrav P.R 
 
 Adrian Lamo 

 
 
 
Adrián Alfonso Lamo Atwood (February 20, 1981 – March 14, 2018) was an 
​
American threat analyst and hacker​ Lamo first gained media attention for 
breaking into several high-profile computer networks, including those of 
The New York Times, Yahoo!, and Microsoft, culminating in his 2003 arrest. 
 
Lamo was best known for reporting U.S. soldier Chelsea Manning to Army 
criminal investigators in 2010 for leaking hundreds of thousands of 
sensitive U.S. government documents to WikiLeaks.  
 
Lamo died in March 2018 at the age of 37. 
 
 
 
 

Early life and education 

 
 
Adrian Lamo was born in Malden, Massachusetts near Boston. His father, 
Mario Ricardo Lamo, was Colombian. 
 
Adrian Lamo attended high schools in Bogotá and San Francisco, from 
which he did not graduate, but received a GED and was court-ordered to 
take courses at American River College,​]​ a community college in 
Sacramento County, California, Known as the "Homeless Hacker" for his 
reportedly transient lifestyle, Lamo claimed that he spent much of his 
travels couch-surfing, squatting in abandoned buildings, and traveling to 
Internet cafés, libraries, and universities to investigate networks, 
sometimes exploiting security holes.  
 
Despite performing authorized and unauthorized vulnerability assessments 
for several large, high-profile entities, Lamo claimed to have refused to 
accept payment for his services. 
 
 
 

Activities 
Lamo first became known for operating AOL watchdog site 
Inside-AOL.com​. 
Security compromise 
In December 2001, Lamo was praised by Worldcom for helping to fortify 
their corporate security. In February 2002, he broke into the internal 
computer network of The New York Times, added his name to the internal 
database of expert sources, and used the paper's LexisNexis account to 
conduct research on high-profile subjects. The New York Times filed a 
complaint, and a warrant for Lamo's arrest was issued in August 2003 
following a 15-month investigation by federal prosecutors in New York. At 
10:15 a.m. on September 9, after spending a few days in hiding, he 
surrendered to the US Marshals in Sacramento, California. He 
re-surrendered to the FBI in New York City on September 11, and pleaded 
guilty to one felony count of computer crimes against Microsoft, 
LexisNexis, and The New York Times on January 8, 2004. 
 
 
In July 2004, Lamo was sentenced to two years probation, with six months 
to be served in home detention, and ordered to pay $65,000 in restitution.​] 
He was convicted of compromising security at The New York Times, 
Microsoft, Yahoo!, and WorldCom.When challenged for a response to 
allegations that he was glamorizing crime for the sake of publicity, his 
response was: "Anything I could say about my person or my actions would 
only cheapen what they have to say for themselves". When approached for 
comment during his criminal case, Lamo frustrated reporters with non 
sequiturs, such as "Faith manages" and "It's a beautiful day." 
 
 
At his sentencing, Lamo expressed remorse for harm he had caused by his 
intrusions. The court record quotes him as adding: "I want to answer for 
what I have done and do better with my life." 
 
 
He subsequently declared on the question and answer site Quora that: "We 
all own our actions in fullness, not just the pleasant aspects of them." 
Lamo accepted that he had committed mistakes. 
 
 

WikiLeaks and Manning 

 
In February 2009, a partial list of the anonymous donors to the WikiLeaks 
not-for-profit website was leaked and published on the WikiLeaks website. 
Some media sources indicated at the time that Lamo was among the 
donors on the list. Lamo commented on his Twitter page, "Thanks 
WikiLeaks, for leaking your donor list ... That's dedication." 
 
 
In May 2010, Lamo reported to U.S. Army authorities that Chelsea Manning 
claimed to have leaked a large body of classified documents, including 
260,000 classified United States diplomatic cables. Lamo stated that 
Manning also "took credit for leaking" the video footage of the July 12, 
2007 Baghdad airstrike, which has since come to be known as the 
"Collateral Murder" video. 
 
Motivation for turning in Manning 
Lamo stated that he would not have turned Manning in "if lives weren't in 
danger ... He [sic] was in a war zone and basically trying to vacuum up as 
much classified information as he could, and just throwing it up into the 
air." WikiLeaks responded by denouncing Lamo and Wired Magazine 
reporter Kevin Poulsen as "notorious felons, informers & manipulators", and 
said: "journalists should take care." 
 
 
Lamo was criticized by fellow hackers, such as those at the Hackers on 
Planet Earth conference in 2010, who labeled him a "snitch". Another 
commented to Lamo, following his speech during a panel discussion, 
saying: "From my perspective, I see what you have done as treason." 
 
The Taliban insurgency later announced its intention to execute Afghan 
nationals named in the leaks as having cooperated with the U.S.-led 
coalition in Afghanistan. By that time, the United States had received 
months of advance warning that their names were among the leaks. 
Manning was arrested and incarcerated in the U.S. military justice system 
and later sentenced to 35 years in confinement, which President Barack 
Obama commuted to a total of seven years at the end of his term, including 
time served. Lamo responded to the commutation with a single post on 
Medium and an interview with U.S. News & World Report. 
 

Criticism of Anonymous 
Lamo had been critical of media coverage of the hacker collective 
Anonymous, saying that media outlets have over-hyped and mythologized 
the group.He also said that Anonymous is not the "invulnerable" group it is 
claimed to be, and he can see "no rational point in what they're doing." 
 
 
 

Tools Used 
Windows 98, Internet Explorer, and Notepad. 
 

Personal life and death 

Lamo said in a W
​ ired​ article that, in May 2010, after he reported the theft of 
his backpack, an investigating officer noted unusual behavior and placed 
him under a 72-hour involuntary psychiatric hold, which was extended to a 
nine-day hold. Lamo said he was diagnosed with Asperger syndrome at the 
psychiatric ward. 
 
For a period of time in March 2011, Lamo was allegedly "in hiding", claiming 
that his "life was under threat" after turning in Manning. During this time, he 
struggled with substance abuse but later claimed that he was in recovery 
and that his security situation had improved. 
 
Lamo died on March 14, 2018, in Wichita, Kansas, at the age of 37. Nearly 
three months later, the Sedgwick County Regional Forensic Science Center 
reported that "Despite a complete autopsy and supplemental testing, no 
definitive cause of death was identified."