We focus so much on the next great exploit, when have we looked back to see where we come from? Let me take you on a journey back through time, to the first 'hack' ever pulled off. Then, wander with me as we trace the history of our storied profession, from thousands of years ago, all the way to the modern day.

I choose to define hacking as "subverting the rules of a system, in order to force the system to behave in a manner not intended by its creator". This, to me at least, is the hacker mindset - a burning curiosity to make things behave in a way we are told they should not be able to. It is armed with this definition, that I explore the history of hacking, going back through the ages, addressing the incident in 1903 (from which we get the title of this talk), or even to 1834, when the first real 'cyber attack' was pulled off. We go back even earlier than this, observing how the techniques we use today have their roots in the (mis)behaviour of ancient civilisations.

I hope we can learn from the past, to help us shape the future of our great industry. Or, at the very least, we can pay homage to the hackers that came before us, as they laid the groundwork for what we all get to do today.