forwarded message follows: 8<--------- cut here ------------ From: risks@csl.sri.com (RISKS Forum) Newsgroups: comp.risks Subject: RISKS DIGEST 15.22 Date: 6 Nov 93 01:57:47 GMT Sender: daemon@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU Reply-To: risks@csl.sri.com Date: 04 Nov 93 17:37:14 EST From: "Mich Kabay / JINBU Corp." <75300.3232@compuserve.com> Subject: Master of Disaster Phiber Optik sentenced Mark Abene, 21, widely known as Phiber Optik, was sentenced to a year and a day in prison. He will serve 600 hours of community service. He pleaded guilty last July to conspiracy, wire fraud and other federal charges relating to his activities as one of five Masters of Disaster indicted for breaking into telephone, educational, and commercial computer systems. [Perhaps in a few years more, they will be Doctors of Disaster?] [PGN Excerpting Service, drawn from the Associated Press and Reuters, both on 3 November 1993] The Reuter article give background information, including o the charges against MoD marked the first use of wiretaps to record both conversations and datacomm by accused hackers. o the hackers attacked phone switching computers belonging to Southwestern Bell, New York Telephone, Pacific Bell, U.S. West and Martin Marietta Electronics Information and Missile Group. o they broke into credit-status reporting companies including TRW, Trans Union and Information America, stealing at least 176 TRW credit reports. o the young men were apparently competing with each other and other hacker groups for "rep" (reputation) and were also interested in harassing people they didn't like. o the Reuter article mentions that "they wiped out almost all of the information contained on a system operated by the Public Broadcasting System affiliate in New York, WNET, that provided educational materials to schools in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut" and left the message, ""Happy Thanksgiving you turkeys, from all of us at MOD." Michel E. Kabay, Ph.D., Director of Education, National Computer Security Assn 8<---------- cut here --------- Cheers. _____________________________________________________________________________ Paul Ferguson Mindbank Consulting Group fergp@sytex.com Fairfax, Virginia USA ferguson@icp.net