111 lines
5.6 KiB
Plaintext
111 lines
5.6 KiB
Plaintext
]=]=]> A warning to hackers <[=[=[
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Recently, here in Cherry Hill, NJ, a BBS system by the name "Hackers Heaven"
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was closed down by police. The sysop(s) and users of this system were trading
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pirated programs, unauthorized MCI access codes, passwords for several
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computers in the area, etc. Unlike what happended on the west coast where a
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system was used to post a single PACIFIC BELL access code without the sysop's
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knowledge, this sysop was well aware of the situation, and as far as I know,
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even supported it. (I assume this by rumor, and by what the name suggests).
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My viewpoint differs from the situation out on the west coast; in this case, it
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appears to be the sysops own damned fault! How can someone be as nieve as
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that! I'm glad the sysop out west was released without charges, but these kids
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should go to jail! It's shit like this that gives us sysops a bad name!
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The system was being run on an Apple IIe and with only a simple questionaire,
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users were granted access to use. Rumor also says that the FBI was also
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involved with some fake numbers of some sort. Charges seem to be based however
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on theft of access codes from Dial America; a local long-distance company.
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-Brian Sietz- Sysop FIDO#82 (609)429-6630
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The following is a reprint from an article by David Lee Preston
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appearing in the March 12 issue of the Philadelphia Inquirer. Editorial
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notes [] by myself appear within.
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About $35,000 worth of computer equipment has been confiscated from two homes
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in Cherry Hill and one in Voorhees Township as part of an investigation into an
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alleged ring of youthful computer hackers, Camden County Prosecutor Samuel
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Asbell said yesterday.
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Investigators with search warrants seized computers, modems, printers, disk
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drives, software and other equipment, which four residents of the houses
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allegedly had used to gain access to Dial America, a two-year old long distance
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telephone service based in Camden, Asbell said.
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Although no arrests were made during the Saturday sweep, Asbell said his
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office planned to charge about 20 South Jersey youths with using personal
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computers to make long-distance calls through Dial America.
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Most of the members of the alleged ring live in Camden County, all are males,
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and the oldest is 20, he said.
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Hackers are personal-computer enthusiasts, often in their teens, who use
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their technical skills to gain illegal entry into private or corporate computer
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systems.
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[Ed: Bullshit! That is only the derrogitory term for "Hackers". The real
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meaning is more subtle and not so clearly defined. Hackers are generally
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computer enthusiasts, most often not associated with anything harmful. Using
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this definition, I myself am a "hacker"]
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Gade Kreckel, president of Dial America, said Dial America began an
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investigation in November after a customer reported that there were several
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calls on his bill he had not made.
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The firm, in the Wilson Building on Broadway, used its computers to identify
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calls being made with stolen account numbers and transferred those calls into
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fake accounts, he said.
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"Before the calls ever got onto our customers' bills, we transferred them
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into a fraud account," he said. "In other words, customers get a clean bill."
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The firm turned the case over the prosecutor's office about three weeks ago,
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Kreckel said. He said the fraudulent calls made during the investigation cost
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his firm as much as $6,000.
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Asbell said the alleged hackers would telephone other hackers on computers
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around the country and trade information such as computer access codes.
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"We have taped conversations between the computer hackers," Asbell said. "We
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have calls throughout probably most of the United States... Once you have the
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access code to Dial America, you can go trade it to somebody in the state of
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Oregon for the access code to VISA or Mastercard."
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Dial America says it has 4,000 customers in Burlington, Gloucester and Camden
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Counties.
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"Unless you are from South Jersey, you couldn't use our service," Kreckel
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said. "They would get on there and make long-distance calls. For example, one
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says, 'Do you have Pac-Man? OK, transmit it to me.' And in return, he might
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give him Donkey Kong, then pirate video games and send them back and forth."
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The alleged hackers also were trading AT&T credit-card numbers, Kreckel said.
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The first seizure took place about 7:30AM at the home of a Cherry Hill
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juvenile, Asbell said. Later that morning, investigators seized more equipment
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from a juvenile in Voorhees, he said. About 11PM, they executed a third search
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warrant at the Cherry Hill home of two brothers, ages 18 and 20, he said.
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At each house, Asbell said, the parents reacted with "actual shock and dismay
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as to what was taking place."
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He said the parents were "very cooperative in the first two instances" but
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that the Cherry HIll brothers' father initially resisted the investigators'
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efforts.
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"They don't realize that stealing from a Dial America, or a Sprint or MCI, is
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no different from walking into a 7-Eleven and stealing five or six thousand
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dollars," Kreckel said.
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The ability of long-distance companies to trace fraudulent usage has improved
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measurably in the last year, Kreckel said.
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"When the long distance-industry was in a different stage a year ago,
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computer hackers found it pretty easy to get into systems without being
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detected," he said. "But nowadays, it's such a stupid crime because it's so
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easy to catch them." "The sad part about it is it's almost 95 percent minors
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that are involved in this thing. And that's the case with almost all the
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computer hackers."
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