Exclusive: Hacker breaks silence following a decade behind bars in Cybernews documentary

GhostExodus, an infamous hacker who pleaded guilty to infecting a Texas private clinic with malware, talks about the pursuit of power and the trail of consequences that just can’t be undone.

In 2011, the ex-chief of Electronik Tribulation Army (ETA), a hacking collective, received a nine-year prison term for deploying malware on computers within a Texas private clinic. A decade later, the hacker known as GhostExodus has broken years of silence, revealing insights in an exclusive documentary for the very first time.

“I was the first person in recent United States history ever convicted for corrupting industrial control systems. There was never a case like mine before, so it set a precedent of what would happen next to whoever did something like this”, he explains.

GhostExodus (full name: Jesse William McGraw) has served his sentence and has taken the opportunity to share reflections on his experiences on camera for the Cybernews documentary.

In 2009, McGraw attracted the FBI's attention when he posted a YouTube video portraying an "infiltration" operation at an office building. Subsequently, the hacker admitted guilt a year later for deploying malware on numerous machines within the clinic.

In the new documentary, the former hacker gang leader admits that his lack of ability to connect with his peers at a young age made him very isolated, prompting him to turn to the internet as a form of escape. His hacking group ETA combated cyberbullying, hunting, and dismantling what they thought were “problematic” hacking groups.

An addiction to power can result in imprisonment, as was the case with GhostExodus. Initially driven by a desire to aid victims of bullying, the acquisition of power led to a blurred distinction between right and wrong.

GhostExodus' narrative serves as a cautionary tale, depicting how the pursuit of power can metamorphose a person with good intentions into a perpetrator of misdeeds, leaving irreversible consequences in its wake.

“The problem is that when dealing with cyberbullies, you have to become a bigger bully than the bully to get them to cease. Knowing that you have the power to make someone's life better or to destroy them, not to be a cliche, but it feels like God,” says GhostExodus.

Jesse William McGraw is a regular contributor to Cybernews. You can read his articles here.