The Hacker Who Became the FBI’s Best Weapon and Worst Nightmare

In 2001, Ukrainian Max Popov, a wanted international hacker, defected to the U.S. What he thought the FBI had lineup up for him was a straight shot to the American Dream—he’d help them wage a war against cybercrime and live a normal, gainfully employed life. But what he got instead was an ultimatum: be an FBI informant or go to prison. That’s when things got a whole lot more interesting.

Read Kevin Poulsen’s Wired feature here.

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