165 lines
9.2 KiB
Plaintext
165 lines
9.2 KiB
Plaintext
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$$$$$$$$$$$
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$$$$$$$$$$$ hogz of entropy #192
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$$$$$P $$$$ $$$$ moo, oink, up your butt.
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$$$$P $$$$ x$$$$
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$$$P $$$$ xP$$$$ d$$$$$$$$$$$.
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$$$. $$$$xP $$$$ $$$$$$' >$$$$
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$$$$$$$$$. $$$$P $$$$ 4$$$$$. .$$$$'
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$$$$'`4$$$b. $$$$ $$$$ 4$$$$$$$$$P'
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$$$$b 4$$$$b. $$$$$$$$$$$ 4$$$< %%
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$$$$$b 4$$$$$x $$$$$$$$$$$ 4$$$$$$$$$ %%
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>> "The 815 Bust Revisted" <<
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by -> Neko
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"Rub a dub dub, three men in a tub, leave 'em in there too long and
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they'll get AIDS," said the cop as I washed my hands of the fingerprinting
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solution. I had been fingerprinted because I had been arrested. Arrested
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because I committed some crimes. Some crimes which had something to do with
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computers.
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It pretty much started and finished in the summer I was 15. I had
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learned how to place free phone calls, to "phreak", and was becoming
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increasingly interested in computer hacking. I found friends with a similar
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interest in telephone and computer systems and we banded together.
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When I say pretty much, I mean most of the "work" we did. The actual
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start of our escapades was in the spring of 1995. Rockford's first public
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Internet Service Provider, the Sinnisippi Valley Freenet Association
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(SinnFree), began offering free Internet access. My friends Draugr, Entity,
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and Gnarf were immediately drawn to their system because they allowed us to
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be beta testers - to find flaws in their system. To hack their system.
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Hack their system is exactly what we did. The people who setup
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SinnFree were not computer gurus in the slightest regard. Novices who had
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stumbled into grant money, SinnFree had not set their system up very
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securely. Entity and Draugr pulled off the first hack during spring break
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and scored the entire password file. Soon after, we were using other
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people's accounts to access more of the system.
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Normal users of the system were allowed to email and visit web sites
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that SinnFree had placed on their menu. Using other users' accounts, users
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with more privileges, we were able to transfer files, visit any web site we
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wanted to, and chat on the Internet. Moreover, we were able to give
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ourselves these same privileges.
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The one thing that we were supposed to do was report our findings to
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SinnFree. Initially our group called after every find. Soon, after not
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receiving responses to phone messages and emails, we decided to install more
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holes every time we would find a hole. This way we could report a hole or
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two and have future accessibility assured to us.
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We found numerous ways to hack SinnFree and added another member to
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our little group, Cstone. Cstone and I were in constant connection with the
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outside world of hackers. Trading tips, information and exploits, we even
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ended up in a Philadelphia-based hackers group called Computer Abuse For
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Better Living (CAFBL).
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Eventually we got bored with hacking SinnFree and started branching
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out. Other local targets included Rock Valley College, Midwest Information
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SuperHighway Associates, "R" World BBS, and, of course, the Rockford
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Register Star's BBS.
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During the summer of 1995, I ran a bulletin board system (BBS) and
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invited the users of the Register Star's BBS to call. A few did. One who did
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was the system administrator. Reviewing my logs, I noticed that she had
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logged in and immediately changed her password. I chuckled, thinking that
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she wasn't stupid enough to use the same password on my BBS as she did on
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her BBS.
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Turns out, she was stupid enough. I logged on to the Register Star's
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BBS about 10 PM early in August and changed the logon message to say 'You've
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been hacked!', made a fake account and gave it administrator privileges,
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and, finally, uploaded copies of CAFBL's magazine.
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I was hoping that this hack would gain notoriety. After all, the hack
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was perpetrated on the newspaper. You'd think they'd report on it. Well,
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they didn't. Not at this time anyway.
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Afterwards, I went on vacation for a week and a half. Soon after I
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returned home, on August 24th, school started. During my third hour class,
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one of the assistant principals came and asked to talk to me. He told me to
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get my backpack and come with him. In his office resided two men wearing
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suits, and I was told they were detectives with the Rockford Police
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Department.
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We left school and drove downtown to the police station. They asked
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me repeatedly if I knew why they were talking to me. I told them no. I told
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them that I had been with my friends at a city park the day before and some
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of them had smoked pot. They laughed and told me that had nothing to do with
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this. Computers never even crossed my mind.
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When we arrived at the Public Safety Building, as we were walking
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inside I saw one of the detectives had a computer hard drive. This was the
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first time I'd panicked - I thought they had raided my house and taken my
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computer apart. They didn't tell me anything and just ushered me into a
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small room, gave me a Coke, and told me to wait. I waited and hoped that my
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dad didn't find out about this. The next thing I heard was my dad's voice
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outside.
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After what seemed like an eternity one of the detectives came into
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the little room and told me that my dad and a lawyer were here and that
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things could go easily and I could talk to the police alone, or we could be
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here for hours and I could talk with my lawyer. I chose the latter option. I
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was questioned and answered most of their questions. It seemed like the
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already knew most of what they were asking, anyway. (I later found out that
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Entity had apparently told them everything when he was questioned).
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Questions I avoided answering were those I knew to be federal crimes
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(interstate phone fraud) and anything I simply didn't do.
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Questioning finally ended and I went home. The detectives had told me
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not to tell anyone. The first person I told was Cstone. Cstone told Gnarf. I
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thought about it some more and decided that we all _had_ to know so that we
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could work together. I talked to Draugr and he told me that he and Entity
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had already been questioned. Gnarf and Cstone soon followed, as did the
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questioning of many of our acquaintances not involved in illegal activities.
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Nothing happened for more than three months. Gnarf, Draugr and I hung
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out together a lot, and even wanted to see movie Hackers together, almost
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hoping to be arrested at the screening. Just when I thought everything had
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ended, we got a phone call. On December 4th, 1995 I was told to come
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downtown so I could be arrested.
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Again, nothing happened, save for a week-long 'probe' article in the
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Rockford Register Star. On January 19th, 1996, Gnarf and I were served with
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subpoenas (Draugr, being 17 and charged as an adult, was given his court
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date when arrested; Cstone and I had lost touch; Entity was not arrested).
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We all went to court on the same day and plead not guilty.
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Ironically, I guess, a few months later we plea bargained. The
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interesting thing about this was that the court system had presumed us
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guilty before we had even plead either way. We all had to go in for a court
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social hearing, to determine our family situation and whatnot. On the
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written part the asked me what I thought of the process. I told them I
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thought it was long, drawn out, and silly to encourage schooling and then
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pull students out of school for court appearances. When I talked to my
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social worker, she asked me how I got involved with hacking. I grinned slyly
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and prefaced my remarks with, "Assuming I _was_ involved with hacking."
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Somehow this, coupled with my parents reluctance to disclose such things as
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their income, added up to a hostile opinion of the court. It was pretty
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funny to read my social history. It went on for pages and pages talking
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about how I was a Boy Scout, in Key Club, Amnesty International, Student
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Council, was an honor roll student, etc, and then to have the court
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recommend, among other things, a week-long stay in the county juvenile
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detention center.
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The ordeal wasn't terribly exciting, although it was interesting how
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excited people became when they found out that I _had_ been arrested. One
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day I was into computers and no one cared, the next day I was the most
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interesting guy in school. After pleading guilty, I was basically faced with
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a year's probation and community service. Neither were terribly difficult to
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complete.
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Now everything is done. Do I regret doing what I have done? Not
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really. Do I regret getting caught? You bet. If you're interested in
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hacking, I wholeheartedly recommend that you explore it, but get the
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permission of the computer's owners first.
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For more information, visit http://www.dto.net/~neko/815bust/
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----------------------------------------------------------------------------
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* (c) HoE publications. HoE #192 -- written by Neko -- 1/22/98 *
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