Michael Calce

Name: Michael Calce (Internet alias "MafiaBoy")

Born: 1985 in West Island, Quebec, Canada

Computer-related contributions

• Canadian computer hacker.
• Known for creating several highly publicized denial-of-service attacks (DDoS) against large commercial websites, including Yahoo!, Fifa.com, Amazon.com, Dell, Inc., E*TRADE, eBay, and CNN at the age of 15 (2000).
• Sentenced to eight months of "open custody," one year of probation, restricted use of the Internet, and a small fine by the Montreal Youth Court (2001).
• Former member of cybergroup TNT.

Significant publications

• Mafiaboy: A Portrait of the Hacker as a Young Man (2011).
• Mafiaboy: How I Cracked the Internet and Why It's Still Broken (2008).

Quotes

"I can remember sitting and listening to it beep, gurgle and churn as it processed commands. I remember how the screen lit up in front of my face. There was something intoxicating about the idea of dictating everything the computer did, down to the smallest of functions. The computer gave me, a six year old, a sense of control and command. Nothing else in my world operated that way."