51 lines
2.7 KiB
Plaintext
51 lines
2.7 KiB
Plaintext
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HACKERS' OFF HOOK, PROPERTY RETURNED
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By Danna Dykstra Coy
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This article appeared in the Telegram-Tribune Newspaper, San Luis Obispo, CA.
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April 12, 1991. Permission to electronically reproduce this article was given
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by the newspaper's senior editor.
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*****
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Two San Luis Obispo men suspected of computer tampering will not be charged
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with any crime. They will get back the computer equipment that was seized
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from their homes, according to Stephen Brown, a deputy district attorney who
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handled the case. "It appears to have been a case of inadvertent access to a
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modem with no criminal intent," said Brown. San Luis Obispo police were
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waiting on Brown's response to decide whether to pursue an investigation that
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started last month. They said they would drop the matter if Brown didn't file
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a case.
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The officer heading the case, Gary Nemeth, admitted police were learning as
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they went along because they rarely deal with computer crimes. Brown said he
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dosen't believe police overreacted in their investigation. "They had a
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legitimate concern."
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In early March two dermatologists called police when the computer system
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containing patient billing records in their San Luis Obispo office kept
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shutting down. They paid a computer technician about $1,500 to re-program
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their modem, a device that allows computers to communicate through the
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telephone lines. The technician told the doctors it appeared someone was
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trying to tap into their system. The computer's security system caused the
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shutdown after several attempts to gain access failed.
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Police ordered a 10-day phone tap on the modem's line and, after obtaining
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search warrants, searched four residences where calls were made to the skin
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doctors' modem at least three times. One suspect, Ron Hopson, said last week
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his calls were legitimate and claimed police overreacted when they seized his
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computer, telephone, and computer manuals. Hopson could not reached Thursday
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for comment.
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Brown's investigation revealed Hopson, like the other suspects, was trying to
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log-on to a computerized "bulletin-board" that incorrectly gave the doctors'
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number as the key to a system called "Cygnus XI". Cygnus XI enabled computer
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users to electronically send messages to one another. Brown said while this
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may not be the county's first computer crime, it was the first time the
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District Attorney's Office authorized search warrants in a case of suspected
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computer fraud using telephone lines. Police will not be returning several
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illegally obtained copies of software also seized during the raids, he said.
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