118 lines
6.3 KiB
Plaintext
118 lines
6.3 KiB
Plaintext
Phile 1.6 of 1.14
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THE HACKER MENACE AND ELECTRONIC BULLETIN BOARDS
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Typed by: {ode {racker
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This was taken out of the Network Security Magazine published by Datapro
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Research. I found this article to be quite funny along with antinque
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news. So I thought I share it with you for a laugh or whatever.
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Also this article was written by a EX-HACKER! How does one become a
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EX-HACKER, please tell me!!!!
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HACKER GANGS
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------------>
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Early computer hackers tended to be college students. With the advent
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of home computers, and the teaching of computer basics at the grade
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school level, the average age of the begininning (youth) hacker has
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dropped to only 14!! The overwhelming majority of BBS owners and users
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are teenagers. Teens tend to form cliques and peer groups, so the
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formation of phone phreak and hacker gangs was inevitable. The parents
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of these bright teens usually do not, themselves, understand the power
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of the computer. This means that the teens are not subject to the same
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parental restrictions that would govern their using the family car.
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Many parents veiw the home computer as an excellent baby-sitting device.
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If their child spends an evening quietly in his/her room with the computer
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the parents feel that thier offspring is not getting into any trouble.
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In reality, these teens may be engaging in electronic gang activites
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that have very serious implications. Losses to the software industry
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alone are staggering!!!
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Unfortunately, many of the gang leaders are older, more experienced
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teens, perhaps college students. These people are interested in hacking
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not for its intellectual challenge, for for its financial rewards. A
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few gang leaders are adults who are politically or firal adults who are major figures behind the cracking and
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distribution of pirated software for resale to the public. One
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adult gang leader openly solicited credit card numbers from the
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juvenile members in exchange for fraudulently obtained hard disk drives
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and other equipment. Some of the teenage leaders seek notoriety and
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acclaim from their peers. They strive to be the biggest phreaker or
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to have broken into the greatest number of computer systems.
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The gangs may be local in nature such as the infamous "Milwaukee 414
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gang"; they may be national in nature, like the "Inner Circle"; or
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even international. One such international group is "NYSHII" or
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"CHAOS" both cracking and pirating clubs with headquaters in both
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West Germany and the United States. All of these groups had a BBS
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that was their main base of operations and served supposedly as a
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sercure communications center. The 414s had a private BBS that was
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so sercet it didn't even have a namme. The Inner Circle had a
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Securityland BBS and Illegitimate accounts on GTE'S Telemail network.
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Chaos operates on a variety of BBS's in both the U.S. and West Germany.
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NYSHII (New York Safehouse II) to this date has baffled local and
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international law enforcement agencys as to it's true whereabouts.
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The Sysop "The Line Breaker" has found a way of changing the BBS's
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location on a weekly basis without moving the master computer.
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ORGANIZED CRIME AND THE BBS
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--------------------------->
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Naturally, an underground BBS could be used by organized crime in
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much the same manner as the teen hacker gangs use them. The author
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has good reason to believe thgat organized crime is controlling a
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number of BBS systems in the Midwest, the New York City area, and
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in Florida. One informant claims there is a bbs that is located
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in an off-track betting parlor. Teenagers are easily recruited to
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act as information gathers for organized crime. The young people
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work for little or nothing and, in most cases, do not even know
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that they are being used. The author and other adult hackers have
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been approached and offered large sums of money tamper with
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banking and credit data computer systems. Organized crime is
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moving into this new area of crime. There is a real and present
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danger if BBSs continue to be alloowed to operate unchecked.
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Underground BBSs may be creating a whole new generation of
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criminals. As the youthful hackers mature, their interest in hacking
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as an intellectual challenge and rebellion against authority
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may be replaced by profit motive. College students always seem
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to need money and the teens who do not go to college may find it
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difficult to obtain a job. It is only natural that these individuals
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would graviate into hacking for personal gain. For example, many
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bulletin boards cater to those who are involved in credit card fraud.
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There is also evidence that drug dealers use BBSs to arrange swaps
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of stolen property for drugs. Hackers who have learned how to access
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credit bureau systems, such as TRWs, have discovered that making
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unauthorized credit checks foe
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business.
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Credit bureau computer penetrations are routine in the hacker under-
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ground. The typical hacker gang obtains credit card numbers from
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discarded charge slip carbons. As an alternative, one or more
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hackers who work in retail establishments may supply card numbers.
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Other gang members can then check the cards for credit limits and
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expiuration dates by using the telephone or illegally accessing
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credit bureau computers. Others in the gang set up mail drops
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and safe houses for the deliverly of the merchandise ordered by mail
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and charged to the credit card numbers. Since the gangs know no
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geographic boundaries, it is difficult to investigate these frauds.
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Some commerical time-sharing services, such as Comp-u-serve, allow
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merchandise to be ordered via computer and shipped to the user's
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address. ime-sharing accounts are easily obtained with a stolen
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credit card. This allows the thief to order merchandise with little
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fear of being traced. These new high tech thieves are replacing
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more traditional criminals.
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The hackers and phone phreaks have knowledge and skill to completly
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disrupt major communication and computer networks. All that is lacking
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is organization, planning and financing. If enemy power should
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infiltrate and organize this underground, the consequences could
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be disastrous.
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