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eight months suspended. He spent two months in Brixton and Wands-worth prisons and was released in March 1991.

Nick was the first person in Britain to be convicted of offences relating to hacking. The overtones in his case - with allegations of MI5 snooping and break-ins at the MoD - were enough to bring pressure on Parliament to propose a new computer crime law. The Computer Misuse Act came into effect in 1990: it made any attempt, successful or otherwise, to alter computer data with criminal intent an offence punishable by up to five years in jail. It could be called Nick Whiteley's legacy.

The contrast between Nick - generally polite, easy-going and articulate - and his alter ego, the Mad Hacker, impressed everyone who met him. Nick Whiteley would never leave messages redolent with sexual aggression for Marlyn: that was the Mad Hacker, or Alan Dolby. Nick Whiteley wouldn't cause damage to an ICL: again, that was the Mad Hacker. Like so many hackers Nick played out his fantasies on the computer keyboard. He was no longer Nick Whiteley from Enfield when he was hacking, he was the Mad Hacker, the Mr Hyde of QMC and Hull and Glasgow and JANET. With a computer he could become anyone he wanted; without a computer he was just Nick Whiteley.

Even when the computer underground was in its infancy, back in the early 1960s in the US, the use of aliases had become a sign of belonging to the subculture. Early phreakers had names like Cheshire Catalyst, Dr No, Midnight Skulker and, of course, Captain Crunch. Hackers continued to use aliases to hide their identities - and more often than not to disguise their real selves behind a fearsome mask. Later, aliases became known as handles, after CB slang.

A handle with high-tech allusions (Fibre Cables, Apple Maniac, Byte Ripper) or suggesting personal instability (Perfect Asshole, The Prisoner, Right Wing Fool) is considered perfectly acceptable. Some hackers opt for fiercer handles (Knight Stalker, The Scorpion) or just co-opt the names of celebrities (there are hackers called Pink Floyd and Robin Williams). Behind these sometimes demonic handles often lurks a fourteen- or fifteen-year-old kid. These are generally kids who are hooked on technology, who spend hours on their own in their

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