“Back when I was a black hat hacker, I lived isolated and paranoid,” he wrote. “Joining the good guys and being part of a team tackling a larger problem felt unexpectedly rewarding. I realized I could put my technical skills to positive use.”
Lichtenstein, who did not promptly answer Ars’ request for comment, said he was sentenced to 60 months behind bars and spent “nearly [four] years in some of the harshest jails in the country.” While incarcerated, Lichtenstein says he spent as much time as possible in the prison library studying math books to keep his mind engaged and to distract himself from his surroundings.
The 38-year-old added that he had been “released to home confinement earlier this month.”
Cooperation by convicted hackers with federal authorities or turning their lives around is not unprecedented.
One notable example is the late Kevin Mitnick, convicted in multiple phone and computer crime cases in the 1980s and 1990s. Mitnick later founded a security consulting firm and worked as a penetration tester and public speaker for many years before his death in 2023.
“Now the harder task of rebuilding the community’s trust begins,” Lichtenstein concluded, saying he hopes to work in cybersecurity.
“I think like an adversary,” he said. “I used to be one. Now I can apply those same skills to prevent the next billion-dollar breach.”
