Are this Hackers trying to proof their capabilities, or something?

[NotATether]

I don't know if you've heard of them, but many early hackers - pre crypto - used to simply hack into corporate and governmental systems for fun, and to demonstrate their capabilities.

They got arrested too, bt their jail sentences were like 5-20 years for the most part. So many of them have actually came out and became valuable members of the infosec community. The most famous case was Kevin Mitnick (RIP).