Anonymous is gaining a lot of notoriety these days, appealing to people around the globe, as they mastermind hacks attacks against authorities in an effort to safeguard internet freedom in the public’s best interest. Though sometimes illegal and perhaps ethically questioned at other times, they are certainly not the first to use hacking to make a point.
Have you ever heard of Guglielmo Marconi? He is considered the father of modern radio, but he learned a very good lesson from Nevil Maskelyne, a British wireless pioneer. In 1903, at a demo at the Royal Academy of Sciences, Marconi stood ready to transmit a message from Cornwall to London, a tad over 300 miles away. Just as Marconi’s demonstration of point-to-point wireless broadcasting was about to begin, the receiving apparatus began to tap out a message in Morse code.
“Rats.”
“Rats.”
“Rats.”
“There was a young fellow of Italy, who diddled the public quite prettily.”
A few more rude comments and Shakespearean references came through, much to the frustration and embarrassment of Marconi. However, the point was made clearly that radio was not as private as he had made it out to be.
While we’re not sure if Marconi ever reconciled with Maskelyne, we’re fairly confident that Donald Trump will not forgive or forget Anonymous thanks to the Trump Tower website hack late last year. You can learn more about that hack and others here.
And then some,
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