NYT on Target Shimomura

[John Young]

John Markoff writes today on security expert Tsutomu Shimomura, the target
of the break-in Markoff wrote about on Monday. 
 
 
For email copy send blank message with subject:  TSU_shi 
 
 
Here's an excerpt: 
 
 
   Mr. Shimomura, one of the country's most skilled computer 
   security experts, is the person who prompted a Government 
   computer agency to issue a chilling warning on Monday. 
   Unknown intruders, the agency warned, had used a 
   sophisticated break-in technique to steal files from Mr. 
   Shimomura's own well-guarded computer in his home near San 
   Diego. And the stealth and style of the attack indicated 
   that many of the millions of computers connected to the 
   global Internet network could be at risk. There have been 
   at least four other known victims so far, including 
   computers at Loyola University of Chicago, the University 
   of Rochester and Drexel University in Philadelphia. 
 
 
   Since Monday, as the F.B.I. has continued to investigate 
   the crime and look for evidence of break-ins elsewhere, Mr. 
   Shimomura has been answering telephone calls and E-mail 
   from government, corporate and university computer 
   administrators seeking advice on how to arm themselves. 
   Between replies, he has been working feverishly to perfect 
   a new type of protective software that would thwart the 
   burglars. Once it is finished, he intends to distribute the 
   software free over the Internet. 
 
 
   But more than anything else, Mr. Shimomura, who is 30, 
   wants to help the Government catch the crooks. And while he 
   acknowledges that the thieves were clever, Mr. Shimomura 
   has also uncovered signs of ineptitude that he says will be 
   the intruders' eventual undoing. 
 
 
   "Looks like the ankle-biters have learned to read technical 
   manuals," Mr. Shimomura said derisively. "Somebody should 
   teach them some manners. "