Before WikiLeaks, there was the Wank Worm. In this week’s episode, we tell you the story of how Australian hackers infiltrated NASA, just months after the country was hooked up to the internet in 1989. Joel Warner, host of Sum of All Parts, helps us tell this story, along with cybersecurity researcher Dr. Suelette Dreyfus.

Check out the transcript right here. 

Selected references: 

• The original Sum of All Parts episode about Phoenix and Electron
• Suelette’s book, written with the help of Julian Assange, about the early Australian hacking movement, Underground
• An in-depth reference on Hactivism

Thanks to our sponsor, Cole Haan. You can hear more of Wendy and other Gimlet hosts in conversation at ExtraordinariesOnTheMic.com, produced in partnership with Cole Haan.

Credits: Original story produced by Joel Werner, for Sum of All Parts, from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Science Vs is Wendy Zukerman, Rose Rimler, Meryl Horn and Odelia Rubin. Our senior producer is Kaitlyn Sawrey. We’re edited by Blythe Terrell. Mixed and sound designed by Emma Munger. Music written by Emma Munger and Bobby Lord. Our fact checker is Michelle Harris. A huge thanks to Alex Goldman, Jason Scott, Dr Chris Avram, Associate Professor Graham Farr, Professor Barbara Ainsworth, the Zukerman Family and Joseph Lavelle Wilson.