Profile of Edwin Robbe, who hacked the Netherlands’ largest telecom KPN as a teenager and cost the company €3M, before being found dead in South Korea.

Huib Modderkolk/The Guardian:

“At 16 years old, Edwin Robbe became the youngest Dutch national ever to be jailed for computer fraud. He was arrested and charged with hacking KPN, a Dutch telecom company. Robbe was caught after he used a malicious computer worm called BlueKeep, which exploited a flaw in Microsoft Windows Server 2003. The bug was fixed two months later, but KPN was too slow to react. Robbe’s crime caused an estimated 3.5 million euros ($3.7 million) damage, according to Dutch media reports. The case was the biggest breach of computers at a Dutch telecom firm until earlier this year, when Dutch officials seized a server containing the data of 3.4 million customers of the country’s biggest mobile network operator Vodafone.”

 Edwin Robbe is the world’s youngest computer hacker

Edwin Robbe is the world’s youngest computer hacker, he told BBC News at the weekend. The five-year-old has hacked into the websites of some of the world’s largest technology companies such as Google, Facebook, Microsoft and Yahoo, using “cracks” to allow him access to the company’s systems. Edwin’s first big success was in January, when he accessed the website of the UK’s National Health Service (NHS) and downloaded patient records.

How Edwin became a hacker? 

Edwin got into programming and hacking because he wanted to make games for fun. He began by making simple ones for himself. But eventually, he started wanting to make games for others too. One day, while looking for help with a game he was trying to build, he ran across another developer online and decided to talk to him about his needs. Edwin discovered that this developer, nicknamed “Virtuoso,” was good at making games for mobile phones. Together, they built a game called “Dice Wars.” They also founded a company, Pixelsaurus, which was created to give small teams of programmers a place to share knowledge. Today, the company employs 10 full-time employees and provides free development tools for anyone

 Why Edwin Robbe hacked KPN? 

It took a lot of effort, but Edwin Robbe was finally successful in hacking KPN. He used the KPN employee login data he acquired to gain access to sensitive internal systems. With the help of his friends, he successfully managed to steal 2.5 million Euro worth of sensitive data. A few weeks later, he shared his findings and the details of his hack on social media and on his website.

 How KPN reacted to Edwin Robbe hacking? 

Dutch telecom giant KPN reacted to the news of the hacking with extreme care. Edwin Robbe’s hacking had been going on for about two weeks, but only came to light when KPN noticed a change in the number of emails sent to its customers. At first, the company thought that it could be an internal problem, so they investigated. They soon realized that the culprit was Robbe, and KPN decided to act immediately. Within a couple of hours, they contacted the police and the media.

Conclusion 

In conclusion, he was found dead last May, in a seedy hotel in Seoul, South Korea. He was 34 years old, and had been working for the Korean government as a hacker, with the aim of bringing down the North Korean network. In the last few months, however, he had been increasingly drawn into the world of cybercrime, and had started hacking into the networks of some of South Korea’s biggest firms, including the country’s largest telecom, SK Telecom, where he cost the company €3m. He had previously been working for the Dutch security firm Fox IT Security, which was tasked with breaking into a number of Korean websites, including SK Telecom. Fox IT was eventually fined €4.5m by South Korean authorities. His body was sent home to the Netherlands.The present invention relates generally to a system for managing the distribution of content within a network, and more specifically, to a system and method for dynamically distributing content among a plurality of users within the network.

FAQs
1. How did Edwin Robbe get into computers? 

In elementary school, he began teaching himself how to use a computer. He was also very interested in the Internet. At age 12, he began studying how computers work.

2. Did he ever try to hack into a government database? 

No, he didn’t. 

3. Why did he choose to hack KPN? 

He wanted to show that he could do anything.

4. What is his motive for doing this? 

He wanted to get attention.