The History of Hacking: 1903 the world's first 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.

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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