200 lines
10 KiB
Plaintext
200 lines
10 KiB
Plaintext
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********** PUMPCON BUSTED!!! ***********
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10/31/92
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written by someone who was there
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who wishes to remain anonymous
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NOTICE: The word "Hacker" is used frequently throughout this file - it
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is to be interperated as "a computer literate person", and NOT as
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"someone who engages in illegal activities using a computer".
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Friday, October 30, Pumpcon began, at the Courtyard of the Marriott, in
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Greenburgh, NY. All in all, about 30 hackers showed up, and had a great
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time. At least until the evening of Oct. 31st, when 8-10 members of
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the Greenburgh police force showed up and raided the Con. At the time
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of the raid, there were between 20 and 25 hackers in the hotel. 3 of
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the 4 rooms rented by Con attendees were raided. All the occupants of
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these rooms were taken to a conference room, and then another hotel room
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(255) where they were held approximately 6-8 hours for questioning.
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The police all came in unmarked police cars, and parked on all 4 sides
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of the hotel. No one noticed they were there, until they were standing
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in the hall where all 4 rooms were located. The officers stood in the
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hall outside the doors, but did not enter the rooms right away. They
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waited about five minutes, for some unknown reason, which was just
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enough time for them to be noticed by the hackers in at least one of the
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rooms. Unfortunately, there was no way the hackers in one room could
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warn the other rooms - the fone lines were busy, and the cops in the
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hall kinda left the "walk down and tell 'em in person" option out.
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The police produced copies of a search warrant to search rooms 246, 233,
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and 237. Room 246 was the one where everyone was hanging out; it was
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pretty much THE room. It was where the computers were located, and
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where most of the Con attendees were 99% of the time. The other two
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rooms were rented by attendees of the con, and were simply used for
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sleeping quarters.
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Before too long, the police entered the rooms, and began rounding up
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poeple. My recollection of this time period is a bit faint, and I don't
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remember all the minute details. All I know is that we all ended up in
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a conference room, and then room 255.
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A few hackers who had been out driving around during the time of the
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bust returned a few hours later, and when they were seen by police, they
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were immediately taken to 255 and questioned. (They were walking down
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the hall, when a cop appeared, and told them to step into a room) The
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cops asked them if they were hackers, and when they didn't answer, one
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police officer reached into the coat pocket of one of the people, and
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produced an auto dialer. This in itself was enough to send the three to
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room 255, where the rest of the hackers were being held for questioning.
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My question to you - isn't that just a bit illegal? Bodily search
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without probable cause OR a warrant? Ooops - I'm forgetting - we're
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HACKERS! We're ALL BAD! We're ALWAYS breaking the law. We don't have
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RIGHTS!
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Room 255 was packed. No one was allowed to smoke, and everyone was
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nervous as hell. One by one people were called to be interviewed, with
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some interviews lasting 5 minutes, others lasting 30 or 45 minutes.
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Some people were sleeping, others were conversing, and still others were
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shaking, and looked like they were about to puke at any second. Even
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though the situation was quite serious, a few joked around, saying
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things like "So guys, I guess PumpCon '93 won't be held here, eh?".
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No one knew who was going to be arrested, or when they would be
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released. The 2 cops in the room with them were actually pretty cool,
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and answered any questions they could to the best of their knowledge.
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They weren't the guys in charge of the investigation; they were simply
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there to make sure we didn't leave. Of course, as friendly as they
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seemed, they were still cops...
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All the people who were detained were held until between 5:45 and
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6:30am. Four hackers were arrested, 1 because 2 of the rooms were
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registered in his name, a second because he signed for the rooms, and
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the others for previous crimes, apparently. No one knows as of yet. As
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of this message, no news on what will become of those arrested is known.
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They have not yet been arraigned. The other hackers were all searched,
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questioned, and then released pending further investigation. Those
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under the age of 18 had their parents notified.
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To my knowledge, there were no federal investigators there at the time
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of the bust. However, people kept mentioning the FBI and the Secret
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Service, and it is very possible that they will be called in to
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investigate. Actually, it's more than just possible, it's almost
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guaranteed. The police said that although most of those detained were
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released, there will most likely be more arrests in the near future, as
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more is learned about the alleged illegal doings.
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3 computers (2 Amigas, and 1 AT&T dumb term) were confiscated, along
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with anything which looked like it could have been involved in phone
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fraud. For some odd reason, although Auto Dialers were listed on the
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search warrant, not all of them were confiscated. I acutally don't know
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if ANY were, I do know that not ALL were. ;)
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In one of the rooms, there were about 2 dozen computer magazines which
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were apparently confiscated, although the warrant did not specify that
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magazines could be taken. But, when you're busting HACKERS, I suppose
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you can take what you want. After all, hackers are evil geniuses, and
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don't have the same rights as NORMAL criminals do.
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As of yet, the actual charges against the hackers are not known. The
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raid apparently stemmed because the hackers were ALLEGEDLY using stolen
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calling card numbers and/or access codes to obtain free phone calls.
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One of these card numbers or codes was rummored to have tripped a flag
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at AT&T, which alerted security personel that something was possibly
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wrong.
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This assumption about the calling card fraud is made because the police
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confiscated any calling card found during their searches, and some of
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the questions they asked the detained centered entirely around calling
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card theft and use. A few other questions asked me were "Do you know
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what computer systems were accessed?", "Do you refer to each other with
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handles?", "Who was primarily responsible for this meeting?", and "Where
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did you hear about this meeting?"
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My interview lasted only about 10 minutes, and it started at about
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5:50am. Everyone was dead tired, and the cops wanted to get everything
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over with as fast as possible so they could get some sleep. After the
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interviews were over, everyone left, to wait and see what the next few
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days will bring. I am releasing this file now, to prevent any rumors
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from starting, and to try to make the outside world aware of what
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happened during PumpCon. I have left out any specific incidences and
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references to specific people as a precaution, since the investigation
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is only beginning. We were hoping to write a file of all the attendees
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of PumpCon, to share with the world the names of those who were there.
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However, as you can obviously see, that would be highly stupid. For
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anyone who WAS there who is reading this, rest assured that the running
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list of names which was kept made a very tasteless dinner for the one
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who had it in his pocket.
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Oh, BTW, one of the cops who was apparently in charge made a comment to
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me... he said "You can post a message on the boards telling your
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friends to stay out of Greenburgh". Well boys, you heard him - PumpCon
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'93 will be held in Greenburgh, at the Courtyard Marriott....
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*--------------*
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The following is a word for word copy of the search warrant issued to
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each person who was detained and questioned. No spelling errors were
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corrected, but I probably made a few when I typed this in. Oh well.
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TOWN of GREENBURGH POLICE DEPARTMENT
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WESTCHESTER COUNTY, NEW YORK
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ORDER OF SEARCH AND SEIZURE
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-----
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( signed here by Det. Hugh F. Gallagher #103)
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----------------------------------------------
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JUSTICE COURT, TOWN OF GREENBURGH
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WESTCHESTER COUNTY, NEW YORK ORDER
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-----
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IN THE MATTER OF Room 233, 237, & 246 Westchester Marriott Courtyard
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THE APPLICATION FOR AN ORDER OF SEARCH AND SEIZURE OF: (Specify)
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Computers Disketts Computer
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Printers
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Computer Terminals Auto Dialers Disketts
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Calling Card Computer Systems & Wire
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Computer Printouts Disk Drives
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Modems Hand Written Notes About Credit Co.
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" " " " Computer Service.
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______________________________________________________________________X
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IN THE NAME OF THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
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TO: ANY POLICE OFFICER OF THE TOWN OF GREENBURGH POLICE DEPARTMENT
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PROOF by affidavit having been made before me this day by
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Det.H.Gallagher #103
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____________(Affiant) of the Town of Greenburgh Police Department that
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certain property, which is (stolen/unlawfully possessed, used to commit
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an offense...) and which constitutes evidence and tends to demonstrate
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that an offense has been committed and that a particular person
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participated in the commission of an offense will be found at the
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location captioned above.
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YOU ARE THEREFORE COMMANDED,
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** (Between the hours of 6:AM - 9:00 PM / AT ANY TIME OF DAY OR NIGHT)
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**
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** (WITHOUT GIVING NOTICE OF YOUR AUTHORITY AND PURPOSE)**
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TO MAKE A SEARCH of the above described (location/person)** for the
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following property: (describe fully)
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Room # 233, 237, & 246 of the West. Marriott Courtyard
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and all its occupants as listed on this attached affidavit.
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>><< Suspects name was written here >><<
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AND if any such property is found, you are hereby directed to seize the
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same and without unnecessary delay, return it to the court, together
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with this warrant and a written inventory of such property subscribed
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and sworn by you.
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THIS COURT DIRECTS THAT this SEARCH WARRANT and ORDER issued this 1 day
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ETC ETC ETC ETC ETC ETC ... see the PUMPBUST File online ........
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---
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