also from Computer underground Digest Sun Oct 3 1993 Volume 5 : Issue 77 ISSN 1004-042X ===cut=here=== Date: Thu, 30 Sep 1993 11:38:00 -0400 (EDT) From: "Daniel P. Lieber - (617) 642-7697." <LIEBER_DANI@BENTLEY.EDU> Subject: File 4--Summary of BBLISA meeting (CuD 5.75) Account of BBLISA Meeting (posted in CuD #5.75) On Wed., Sept. 29, the BBLISA (Back Bay [Boston] Large Installation Systems Administration Group) group had their monthly meeting where they hosted both an FBI agent and a federal prosecutor from the U.S. Attorney General's office. Both speakers were knowledgeable about the subject and tried to answer all of the questions that they could. (I am omitting names as I am not sure of the correct spelling or titles -- both were substitutes for the original speakers.) After a brief welcoming by the leader of the group, the prosecutor spoke extensively on the different types of intruders into systems. Her particular area of expertise in the field of "computer crime" is with kiddie porn. However, she was knowledgeable on the major topic at hand -- intrusions. The most common and least threatening type of break-in artists are the solo hackers and crackers (usually young males) who break into systems for the thrill and to brag about their accomplishment. Usually, they cause little or no damage and no crime is prosecutable (just utilizing resources is not prosecutable). By far, the most serious threat is internal. Disgruntled workers and recently dismissed employees cause the most damage and are usually motivated by revenge and want to inflict injury. The third type of intrusion, for-profit, is growing rapidly. This includes bank and ATM fraud, among other types of information theft. The FBI agent relayed stories about cases he has worked on and the scope of the FBI office in Boston. To be investigatable by the FBI, a monetary or equivalent loss must be $100,000 or the loss must be shared amongst many different parties. He also informed us that there are no agents that just cruise around BBSs looking for crime. The FBI is too busy to do that. From the information discussed at the meeting, there were some conclusions and suggestions that were brought out: * System banners informing all users that unauthorized access is prohibited and that privacy is limited are helpful. * E-mail is usually considered private unless specifically stated otherwise. * System administrators are not obligated to report illegal activities that they detect on their systems. * Law enforcement does not like to confiscate systems and will usually get the information out of the machine without taking it. * To be prosecuted for a crime utilizing a computer, the defendant must have prior knowledge of the criminal materials or intent. For more information on BBLISA, send a message to majordomo@cs.umb.edu with the subject line: subscribe bblisa. Next month's meeting will discuss large-site Internet services. --Daniel Lieber, Systems Manager- _The Vanguard_ at Bentley College