The History of Hacking: 1903 the world's first Hack
In 1903 the world’s first hacking incident occurred, marking the start of an era. At the Royal Academy of Sciences in England, Nevil Maskelyne pulled off an unharmful yet very embarrassing hack.

So what actually happened with the world's first hack that occurred in 1903? Well, first we need to set the scene. In 1903 Guglielmo Marconi, an Italian inventor who’s considered to be the father of modern radio came up with a wireless broadcasting technology that could potentially replace the telegraph. This made telegraph operators worried that their business might be in jeopardy. Guglielmo Marconi claimed that the technology was secure, but there was some doubt and this is where the Eastern Telegraph Company saw an opportunity to sabotage a demo Guglielmo Marconi had planned with John Ambrose Fleming for the technology. The Eastern Telegraph Company hired Nevil Maskelyne, a British magician and inventor, but also a manager of Anglo-American Telegraph Company which controlled the Valdemar Poulsen radio patents.
On the day of the demo, at the Royal Academy of Sciences in London England, John Ambrose Fleming sat ready to receive Guglielmo Marconi’s message from 300 miles away in Cornwall, but right as the demo was about to begin a message in Morse code began to arrive, however that message wasn’t from Guglielmo Marconi. How were they able to tell you might ask? Well, one word was repeated over and over “Rats”. More and more messages started coming through in Morse and they got more personal, mocking Marconi: "There was a young fellow of Italy, who diddled the public quite prettily".
How did Nevil Maskelyne do this? Well, it was quite simple he used powerful wireless pulses to send out his messages and demonstrated that radio was not as private of a channel as Marconi had made it out to be. It showed that wireless messages could both be intercepted and interfered with.
CMMC practice AC.3.012 can protect wireless access using authentication and encryption. By using authentication and encryption to protect your WiFi networks you prevent unauthorized persons from accessing your network. This prevents attackers from easily sniffing your WiFi traffic or accessing your network resources.
1903
The Royal Academy of Sciences in London England
Nevil Maskelyne
Nevil Maskelyne was a British magician and inventor, but also a manager of Anglo-American Telegraph Company which controlled the Valdemar Poulsen radio patents.
Guglielmo Marconi
Keep reading
More on Cybersecurity & Compliance.

Which Logs Prove Session Authenticity Maturity? (SC.L2-3.13.15)
Use session authenticity maturity evidence logs to score SC.L2-3.13.15 from ad hoc TLS proof to monitored, optimized mutual authentication.

What Security Terms Go in an Offer Letter? ISO 27001 vs SOC 2 vs NIST
offer letter security terms ISO 27001 SOC 2 NIST map employment security clauses to evidence that supports enterprise reviews and audits.

What Questions Should You Ask a Media Disposal Vendor?
Use these questions to ask a media disposal vendor about destruction methods, chain of custody, evidence, contracts, and ISO 27001 alignment.
See LakeRidge in action.
Talk with our team about your framework, your gaps, and the right plan.
Get a demo