Hacker-turned-cybersecurity-expert Gregory D. Evans on quest to make computers safe
IDSC "BlackTechlogy": FBI put him in their top 10 list for computer hackers in 1996
Editor’s note: The following interview was originally written and published in the Chicago Defender by Shamontiel L. Vaughn on September 1, 2009. Click here for the PDF version: page 1, 2, 3. Click here to read more posts from Vaughn from the Chicago Defender.
Gregory D. Evans claims the FBI put him in their top 10 list for computer hackers in 1996. And while this 40-year-old entrepreneur talks proudly of his self-taught adventures hacking into computers since seventh grade and changing peoples’ grades for money, breaking into law firm and phone company records, he made it into a business for 20 years that ended in him owing back millions of dollars. However, Evans is now working on computers the legal way.
He is the CEO and founder of LIGATT Security since 2003, after selling off another computer security company, The Cyber Group Network Corporation, that specialized in recovering stolen computers in 2002. He’s been featured on countless media outlets like Michael Baisden’s and Tom Joyner’s radio show and FOX News.
In his quest to save people from worldwide computer security issues and identity theft, Evans took time out to speak with the Defender.
Shamontiel L. Vaughn: What made you go the honest route and stop being a hacker?
Gregory D. Evans: The thing is my dad knew that I was hacking. He used to always say when I was younger, “If you could do what you’re doing legally, you could probably make a lot of money from it.” My thing was I’m already making a lot of money. You see all these rappers out here driving Bentleys and Lambos. I had all that when I was 20 years old because of computer hacking. It may not be as glamorous, but once you get in trouble, then you sit back and reflect on your life. So now I’m with a publicly traded company, and yes, I live very well.
SLV: You seem so passionate about computer security and identity theft, even when you used to be a hacker. What made you go from one extreme to the next?
GDE: African-Americans, we don’t get it. Ninety percent of my business is white. The other 7 percent is Asian. African-Americans make up one percent of my business, and that’s the rich ones—big lawyers will have me protect their computers. We always open our newspapers and listen to gossip—Chris Brown and Rihanna. But do we really have a section to tell us how to protect ourselves from identity theft? We get ripped off more than any other race in identity theft because…we don’t check our credit on a regular basis. A lot of African-Americans feel like “You know, my credit is messed up already. What do I need to run it for?”
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SLV: Do you ever think that some African-Americans may have the attitude that hackers go to rich, white folks because of their credit? What other reason would an African-American have their identity stolen?
GDE: Identity theft is not just financial. It’s medical. Also, Black mega churches are vulnerable. I am able right now to walk into any Black mega church out there. Churches will go out and have financial audits done because they have to, but they don’t have computer security audits done. When you go to these mega churches now, you can pay your tithes with a credit card or debit card. When they’re passing the plate around, they’ll have undercover security guards or police officers who are watching all the money being collected.