The Complex Life of Max Butler: Hacker, Informant, and Convict

Max Butler lived three lives for five years. As "Max Vision," he was an incredibly skilled hacker and security expert who boasted that he'd never met a computer system he couldn't crack. As "The Equalizer," he was an FBI informant, reporting . . . Max Butler lived three lives for five years. As "Max Vision," he was an incredibly skilled hacker and security expert who boasted that he'd never met a computer system he couldn't crack. As "The Equalizer," he was an FBI informant, reporting on the activities of hackers who considered him a colleague and, in some cases, a friend.

As Max Butler, he was a family man in Santa Clara, California who ran a Silicon Valley security firm. At Max Vision Network Security, he specialized in running "penetration tests," attempting to break into corporate networks to prove that their security wasn't as good as it could be.

And now Max is a number in the federal prison system.

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