Susan Headley

Last updated

Susan Headley
Born
Susan Headley

1959 (age 66–67)
Altona, Illinois, United States
Other namesSusy Thunder, Susan Thunder
OccupationsFormer phreaker, hacker, social engineer
Years active1977–1983 (hacking/phreaking)

Susan Headley (born 1959), also known as Susy Thunder or Susan Thunder, is an American former phreaker and early computer hacker who was active during the late 1970s and early 1980s. Headley specialized in a type of hacking which uses pretexting and misrepresentation of oneself in contact with targeted organizations in order to elicit information vital to hacking those organizations. [1] She called this "psychological subversion"; it is also called social engineering. [2]

Contents

Biography

Born in Altona, Illinois, in 1959, Headley said she dropped out of school in the eighth grade after a difficult childhood. [3] She later moved to Los Angeles, California, where she worked as a sex worker and was a rock and roll groupie. [4] [2]

As a young person, she developed interest and expertise in telephone networks and circumventing systems. [5] According to The Hacker's Handbook, she successfully hacked the US phone system as a 17-year-old in 1977 and was "one of the earliest of the present generation of hackers". [6] For a while in the late 1970s and early 1980s, she collaborated with computer hacker Kevin Mitnick (also known as Condor) and phone phreaker Lewis de Payne (also known as Roscoe) on hacking into Pacific Bell systems and other systems, although there were conflicts between the group members. [7] [8] In 1981–1982, she testified against Mitnick and de Payne in a theft case related to Pacific Bell, and provided evidence against de Payne in a case related to hacking U.S Leasing, in exchange for immunity. [4] [7] [9]

In 1982, Headley gave an interview on the television show 20/20 about circumventing security systems, including the technique of "garbology": dumpster diving to find system manuals and other useful information thrown away by telephone company staff. [10] [11] On October 25, 1983, Headley testified in front of the United States Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs about the technical capabilities and motivations of hackers and phone phreaks. [12] [13] [14] In the 1980s, she worked as a security consultant and a professional poker player. [15] [5] [8] In 1995, Headley presented a talk at DEF CON about "Social Engineering and Psychological Subversion of Trusted Systems", including about using seduction as part of strategies for social engineering. [16] [8]

In 1991, journalists Katie Hafner and John Markoff published a book, Cyberpunk: Outlaws and Hackers on the Computer Frontier, about Headley, Mitnick, de Payne, and other hackers. [17] Later, she was noted as one of a few women among early phone phreaks and one of the earliest known female hackers. [1] [18] Writer Claire L. Evans, who profiled Headley in The Verge in 2022, [2] described her as "a mythological figure in hacking history". [19] As of 2024, a film based on the profile was in development. [20] [21]

Public service

Headley was elected to public office in California in 1994, as City Clerk of California City. [2]

Personal life

Headley is married and lives in the Midwest. [2] She is a coin collector and coin expert. [2] [18] [22]

References

  1. 1 2 Barth, Bradley (July 10, 2017). "Female blackhats". SC Media. Retrieved December 11, 2018.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Evans, Claire L. (January 26, 2022). "Searching for Susy Thunder" . The Verge. Retrieved November 14, 2025.
  3. ↑ Thorton, Mary (May 21, 1984). "Hackers Ignore Consequences Of Their High-Tech Joy Rides". The Washington Post . Retrieved November 15, 2025.
  4. 1 2 Hafner, Katie; Markoff, John (1991). Cyberpunk: Outlaws and Hackers on the Computer Frontier . New York: Simon & Schuster. pp. 16–17, 51, 56. ISBN   0-671-68322-5.
  5. 1 2 Rosenfeld, Megan (December 18, 1989). "At Surveillance Expo, Sneak Peeks at the Sweet Spy and Buy". The Washington Post. ISSN   0190-8286 . Retrieved November 15, 2025.
  6. ↑ Cornwall, Hugo; Gold, Steve (1990). Hugo Cornwall's New Hacker's Handbook (4th ed.). London: Century. pp. vii, 65. ISBN   978-0-7126-3454-0.
  7. 1 2 Hafner, Katie (August 1995). "Kevin Mitnick, unplugged". Esquire. 124 (2): 80(9). Retrieved January 17, 2026.
  8. 1 2 3 Gehl, Robert W.; Lawson, Sean T (March 8, 2022). "Penetrating: The Desire to Control Media and Minds". Social Engineering: How Crowdmasters, Phreaks, Hackers, and Trolls Created a New Form of Manipulative Communication. The MIT Press. pp. 145, 147, 150. doi:10.7551/mitpress/12984.003.0011. ISBN   978-0-262-36892-6.
  9. ↑ Markoff, John (July 26, 1982). "Sentence meted out to 'phreak'". InfoWorld. 4 (29). InfoWorld Media Group, Inc.: 1 – via Google Books.
  10. ↑ Gehl, Robert W. "Trashing the Phone Company with Suzy Thunder". Hack_Curio. Retrieved January 17, 2026.
  11. ↑ Gehl, Robert W.; Lawson, Sean T. (March 8, 2022). "Trashing: From Dumpster Diving to Data Dumps". Social Engineering: How Crowdmasters, Phreaks, Hackers, and Trolls Created a New Form of Manipulative Communication. The MIT Press. pp. 70–83. doi:10.7551/mitpress/12984.003.0008. ISBN   978-0-262-36892-6 . Retrieved January 17, 2026.
  12. ↑ Computer Security in the Federal Government and the Private Sector: Hearings before the Subcommittee on Oversight of Government Management of the Committee on Governmental Affairs, United States Senate, Ninety-eighth Congress, first session, October 25 and 26, 1983. U.S. Government Printing Office. 1983. pp. 22–29.
  13. ↑ Len, Ackland (October 30, 1983). "Lawmakers hear tales of computerized capones". Chicago Tribune. p. 3. Retrieved November 15, 2025.
  14. ↑ Kluepfel, H.M. (October 1989). "Foiling the wiley hacker: more than analysis and containment". Proceedings. International Carnahan Conference on Security Technology: 15–21. doi:10.1109/CCST.1989.751947 – via IEEE Explore.
  15. ↑ Day, John S. (October 26, 1983). "'Hackers' crack secret data banks". The Bangor Daily News. p. 25. Retrieved November 15, 2025.
  16. ↑ "DEF CON III Archives". DEF CON. July 28, 1999 [1995]. Retrieved November 15, 2025.
  17. ↑ Mosley, Walter (August 11, 1991). "All the Bright Young Criminals". The New York Times. Retrieved November 15, 2025.
  18. 1 2 Watkins, Stephen; Mays, George; Bandes, Ronald M.; Franklin, Brandon; Gregg, Michael; Ries, Chris (November 6, 2006). Hack the Stack: Using Snort and Ethereal to Master The 8 Layers of An Insecure Network. Elsevier. p. 369. ISBN   978-0-08-050774-3.
  19. ↑ Chiotakis, Steve (February 17, 2022). "Phone 'phreakers' in 1980s LA: Digging up the forgotten era". KCRW. Retrieved January 17, 2026.
  20. ↑ Phillips, Michael (December 20, 2023). "Chicagoan of the Year in Film: Screenwriter and director Minhal Baig has been finding new stories to tell". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved January 19, 2026.
  21. ↑ Kit, Borys (April 22, 2024). "Lindsey Anderson Beer and Her Lab Brew Banner Re-Up at Paramount (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved January 19, 2026.
  22. ↑ Zupek, Rachel (April 26, 2009). "10 Creative Ways to Earn Extra Money". Florida Today. p. 49. Retrieved January 17, 2026.
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