LITER

ARY FR

EEWA

RE —

Not fo

r Com

mercial U

se

Sid

eways P

DF versio

n 0

.1 b

y E-Scrib

e <in

fo@

e-scribe.co

m>

by B

ruce S

terlin

g<b

ruces@

well.s

f.ca.u

s>

CO

NT

EN

TS

Pre

face to

the Electronic R

elease of T

he Hacker C

rackdow

n

Chro

nolo

gy o

f the Hacker C

rackdow

n

Intro

ductio

n

Part 1

: CRA

SH

ING

TH

E SYSTEM

A B

rief Histo

ry of T

elepho

ny/ B

ell's Gold

en V

aporw

are / Universal S

ervice / Wild

Boys

and W

ire Wom

en / The Electro

nic Com

munities / T

he Ung

entleG

iant / The B

reakup / In D

efense of the S

ystem / T

he Crash

Post- M

ortem

/ Landslid

es in Cyb

erspace

Part 2

: TH

E DIG

ITA

L UN

DER

GRO

UN

D S

teal This Pho

ne /Phreaking

and H

acking / T

he View

From

Und

er theFlo

orb

oard

s / Board

s: Core o

f the Und

ergro

und / Phile Phun /

The R

ake's Progress / S

trong

hold

s of the Elite / S

ting B

oard

s/ H

ot Po

tatoes / W

ar on the Leg

ion / T

erminus / Phile 9

-1-1

/ War G

ames / R

eal Cyb

erpunk

Part 3

: LAW

AN

D O

RD

ER C

rooked

Board

s / The W

orld

'sBiggest H

acker Bust / T

each Them

a Lesson / The U

.S. SecretService / T

he Secret S

ervice Battles the B

oodlers / A

Walk

Dow

ntow

n / FCIC

: The C

utting-Ed

ge M

ess / Cyb

erspace

Ran

gers / FL

ETC

: Train

ing th

e Hacker-T

rackers

Part 4

: TH

E CIV

IL L

IBER

TA

RIA

NS N

uPro

meth

eus +

FBI =

Grateful D

ead / W

hole Earth +

Com

puter R

evolutio

n = W

ELL /Phib

er Runs U

nderg

round

and A

cid S

pikes the W

ell / The T

rialof K

night Lig

htning / S

hadow

hawk Plum

mets to

Earth / Kyrie

in the Confessio

nal / $7

9,4

99

/ A S

cholar Investig

ates /Com

puters, Freed

om

, and Privacy

Ele

ctro

nic

Afte

rword

to *T

he Hacker C

rackdow

n,* New

Years' D

ay 19

94

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

G —

TH

E H

AC

KE

R C

RA

CK

DO

WN

N

OT

FO

R C

OM

ME

RC

IAL

US

E2

Pre

face to

the E

lectro

nic

Rele

ase

of T

he H

acke

r Cra

ckd

ow

n

January 1, 1

99

4 —

Austin, T

exas

Hi, I'm

Bruce S

terling, the autho

r of this electro

nic book.

Out in the trad

itional w

orld

of p

rint, *The H

acker Crackd

ow

n* is ISBN

0-5

53

-08

05

8-X

, and is fo

rmally catalo

gued b

y the L

ibrary o

fCongress as "1

. Com

puter crimes —

United States. 2

. Telephone —

United

States —

Corrup

t practices. 3

. Program

ming

(Electronic co

m-

puters) —

United

States —

Corrup

t practices." 'C

orrup

t practices,' I

always g

et a kick out o

f that descrip

tion. Lib

rarians are very ingenio

uspeo

ple.

The p

aperb

ack is ISBN

0-5

53

-56

37

0-X

. If you g

o an

d b

uy a p

rint

version o

f *The H

acker Crackd

ow

n,* an action I enco

urage heartily, yo

um

ay notice that in the front of the book, beneath the copyright notice —"C

opyrig

ht (C) 1

99

2 b

y Bruce S

terling" —

it has this little blo

ck of

printed

legal b

oilerp

late from

the pub

lisher. It says, and I q

uote:

"No p

art of this b

ook m

ay be rep

roduced

or transm

itted in any fo

rm o

rby any m

eans, electronic o

r mechanical, includ

ing p

hoto

copying

,reco

rding

, or b

y any inform

ation sto

rage and

retrieval system, w

ithout

perm

ission in

writin

g fro

m th

e publish

er. For in

form

ation ad

dress:

Bantam

Books."

This is a p

retty good d

isclaimer, as such d

isclaimers g

o. I co

llect intel-lectual-p

roperty d

isclaimers, and

I've seen dozens o

f them, and

this one

is at least pretty straig

htforw

ard. In this narro

w and

particular case,

how

ever, it isn't quite accurate. B

antam B

ooks p

uts that disclaim

er on

every book they pub

lish, but B

antam B

ooks does not, in fact, own the

electronic rig

hts to this b

ook. I d

o, b

ecause of certain extensive co

n-tract m

aneuverings m

y agent and I w

ent through b

efore this book w

as

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

G —

TH

E H

AC

KE

R C

RA

CK

DO

WN

N

OT

FO

R C

OM

ME

RC

IAL

US

E3

written. I w

ant to g

ive those electro

nic pub

lishing rig

hts away thro

ugh

certain not-fo

r-pro

fit channels, and I've co

nvinced B

antam that this is

a good idea.

Since Bantam

has seen fit to peacably agree to this scheme of m

ine,Bantam

Books is not going to fuss about this. Provided you don't try to

sell the book, they are not going to bother you for what you do w

ith theelectro

nic copy o

f this book. If yo

u want to

check this out p

ersonally,

you can ask them

; they're at 15

40

Bro

adw

ay NY N

Y 1

00

36

. How

ever,if yo

u were so

foolish as to

print this b

ook and

start retailing it fo

rm

oney in vio

lation o

f my co

pyrig

ht and the co

mm

ercial interests of

Bantam

Books, then B

antam, a p

art of the g

igantic B

ertelsmann m

ulti-natio

nal pub

lishing co

mbine, w

ould

roust so

me o

f their heavy-duty

attorneys o

ut of hib

ernation and

crush you like a b

ug. T

his is only to

be

expected. I didn't write this book so that you could m

ake money out of it.

If anybody is gonna make m

oney out of this book, it's gonna be me and m

ypublish

er.

My publisher deserves to m

ake money out of this book. N

ot only did thefolks at B

antam B

ooks comm

ission me to w

rite the book, and pay me a

hefty sum to

do so

, but they b

ravely printed

, in text, an electronic d

oc-

ument the reproduction of w

hich was once alleged to be a federal felony.

Bantam

Books and

their numero

us attorneys w

ere very brave and

forth-

right ab

out this b

ook. Furtherm

ore, m

y form

er edito

r at Bantam

Books,

Betsy M

itchell, genuinely cared

about this p

roject, and

worked

hard o

nit, and had a lot of w

ise things to say about the manuscript. B

etsydeserves g

enuine credit fo

r this book, cred

it that edito

rs too rarely g

et.

The critics w

ere very kind to

*The H

acker Crackd

ow

n,* and co

mm

er-cially the b

ook has d

one w

ell. On the o

ther hand, I d

idn't w

rite this book

in ord

er to sq

ueeze every last nickel and d

ime o

ut of the m

itts of im

pov-

erished sixteen-year-o

ld cyb

erpunk hig

h-school-stud

ents. Teenag

ersdon't have any m

oney — (no, not even enoug

h for the six- dollar*H

acker Crackd

ow

n* p

aperb

ack, with

its attractive brig

ht-red

cover

and useful ind

ex). That's a m

ajor reaso

n why teenag

ers som

etimes

succumb to the tem

ptation to do things they shouldn't, such as swiping

my b

ooks o

ut of lib

raries. Kid

s: this one is all yo

urs, all right? G

ogive

the p

rint ve

rsion b

ack. *8-)

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

G —

TH

E H

AC

KE

R C

RA

CK

DO

WN

N

OT

FO

R C

OM

ME

RC

IAL

US

E4

Well-m

ean

ing, p

ublic-sp

irited civil lib

ertarian

s don't h

ave m

uch

money, either. A

nd it seems alm

ost criminal to snatch cash out of the

hands o

f Am

erica's direly und

erpaid

electronic law

enforcem

ent com

-m

unity.

If you're a co

mputer co

p, a hacker, o

r an electronic civil lib

ertiesactivist, yo

u are the target aud

ience for this b

ook. I w

rote this b

ook

because I wanted to help you, and help other people understand you and

your uniq

ue, uhm, p

roblem

s. I wro

te this book to

aid yo

ur activities,and

to co

ntribute to

the pub

lic discussio

n of im

portant p

olitical issues.

In giving

the text away in this fashio

n, I am d

irectly contrib

uting to

thebook's ultim

ate aim: to

help civilize cyb

erspace.

Inform

ation *w

ants* to b

e free. And

the inform

ation insid

e this book

long

s for freed

om

with a p

eculiar intensity. I genuinely b

elieve that thenatural hab

itat of this b

ook is insid

e an electronic netw

ork. T

hat may

not be the easiest direct method to generate revenue for the book's

author, b

ut that doesn't m

atter; this is where this b

ook b

elong

s by its

nature. I've written o

ther books —

plenty o

f other b

ooks —

and I'll

write m

ore and

I am w

riting m

ore, b

ut this one is sp

ecial. I am m

aking*T

he Hacker C

rackdow

n* available electro

nically as wid

ely as I canco

nveniently manag

e, and if yo

u like the book, and

think it is useful,then I urge you to do the sam

e with it.

You can copy this electronic book. Copy the heck out of it, be m

y guest,and give those copies to anybody w

ho wants them

. The nascent w

orld ofcyb

erspace is fu

ll of sysad

min

s, teachers, train

ers, cybrarian

s, netg

u-

rus, and vario

us species o

f cybernetic activist. If yo

u're one o

f those

people, I know about you, and I know

the hassle you go through to try tohelp

peo

ple learn ab

out the electro

nic frontier. I ho

pe that p

ossessing

this book in electro

nic form

will lessen yo

ur troub

les. Granted

, thistreatm

ent of o

ur electronic so

cial spectrum

is not the ultim

ate in acade-

mic rig

or. A

nd p

olitically, it has so

mething

to o

ffend and

troub

le almost

everyone. B

ut hey, I'm to

ld it's read

able, and

at least the price is rig

ht.

You can upload the book onto bulletin board systems, or Internet nodes,

or electro

nic discussio

n gro

ups. G

o rig

ht ahead and

do that, I am

giving

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

G —

TH

E

HA

CK

ER

CR

AC

KD

OW

N

NO

T F

OR

CO

MM

ER

CIA

L U

SE

5

you exp

ress perm

ission rig

ht now

. Enjoy yo

urself.

You can put the book on disks and give the disks away, as long as you

don't take any money for it.

But this b

ook is no

t pub

lic dom

ain. You can't co

pyrig

ht it in your o

wn

name. I ow

n the copyright. Attem

pts to pirate this book and make

money fro

m sellin

g it m

ay invo

lve you in

a serious litig

ative snarl.

Believe m

e, for the p

ittance you m

ight w

ring o

ut of such an actio

n, it'sreally not w

orth it. This b

ook don't "belong

" to you. In an odd but very

genuine way, I feel it doesn't "belong" to m

e, either. It's a book aboutthe p

eople o

f cybersp

ace, and d

istributing

it in this way is the b

est way

I know

to actually m

ake this inform

ation availab

le, freely and easily, to

all the peo

ple o

f cybersp

ace — includ

ing p

eople far o

utside the b

ord

ersof the U

nited States, who otherw

ise may never have a chance to see any

editio

n of the b

ook, and

who

may p

erhaps learn so

mething

useful from

this strange sto

ry of d

istant, obscure, b

ut portento

us events in so-

called "A

merican cyb

erspace."

This electro

nic book is no

w literary freew

are. It now

belo

ngs to

theem

ergent realm

of alternative info

rmatio

n econo

mics. Y

ou have no

right

to make this electronic b

ook part of the conventional flow of com

merce.

Let it be part of the flow of know

ledge: there's a difference. I've dividedthe b

ook into

four sectio

ns, so that it is less ung

ainly for up

load

anddow

nload

; if there's a section o

f particular relevance to

you and

your

colleagues, feel free to reproduce that one and skip the rest.

Just make m

ore when you need them

, and give them to w

hoever might

want them

.

Now

have fun.

Bruce S

terling —

bruces@

well.sf.ca.us

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

G —

TH

E H

AC

KE

R C

RA

CK

DO

WN

N

OT

FO

R C

OM

ME

RC

IAL

US

E6

CHRONOLOGY O

F T

HE

HACKER C

RACKDOW

N

1865 U

.S. S

ecret Service (U

SSS) fo

unded

.

1876 A

lexander G

raham B

ell invents telepho

ne.

1878 First teenag

e males flung

off p

hone system

by enrag

ed autho

ri-ties.

1939 "Futurian" science-fictio

n gro

up raid

ed b

y Secret S

ervice.

1971 Y

ippie p

hone p

hreaks start YIPL/T

AP m

agazine.

1972 *R

amparts* m

agazin

e seized in

blu

e-box rip

-off scan

dal.

1978 W

ard C

hristenson and

Rand

y Suess create first p

ersonal co

m-

puter b

ulletin board

system.

1982 W

illiam G

ibso

n coins term

"cybersp

ace."

1982 "4

14

Gang

" raided

.

1983-1983 A

T&

T d

ismantled

in divestiture.

1984 C

ong

ress passes C

om

prehensive C

rime C

ontro

l Act g

iving U

SSS

jurisdictio

n over cred

it card fraud

and co

mputer fraud

.

1984 "Legion of D

oom" form

ed.

1984 *2

60

0: T

he Hacker Q

uarterly* found

ed.

1984 *W

hole Earth S

oftw

are Catalo

g* p

ublished

.

1985 First p

olice "sting

" bulletin b

oard

systems estab

lished.

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

G —

TH

E H

AC

KE

R C

RA

CK

DO

WN

N

OT

FO

R C

OM

ME

RC

IAL

US

E7

1985 W

hole Earth 'Lectro

nic Link com

puter co

nference (WELL) g

oes

on-lin

e.

1986 C

omputer Fraud and A

buse Act passed.

1986 Electro

nic Com

municatio

ns Privacy Act p

assed.

1987 C

hicago prosecutors form C

omputer Fraud and A

buse Task

Force.

1988

July. Secret S

ervice covertly vid

eotap

es "Sum

merC

on" hacker co

nven-tio

n.

Sep

tember. "Pro

phet" cracks B

ellSouth A

IMSX co

mputer netw

ork and

downloads E9

11 D

ocument to his ow

n computer and to Jolnet.

Sep

tember. A

T&

T C

orp

orate Info

rmatio

n Security info

rmed

of

Prophet's actio

n.

Octo

ber. B

ellcore S

ecurity inform

ed o

f Prophet's actio

n.

1989

January. Prophet up

load

s E91

1 D

ocum

ent to K

night Lig

htning.

Febru

ary 25

. Knig

ht L

ightn

ing p

ublish

es E91

1D

ocu

men

t in *P

hrack*

electronic new

sletter.

May. C

hicago T

ask Force raid

s and arrests "K

yrie."

June. "NuPro

metheus Leag

ue" distrib

utes Apple C

om

puter p

roprietary

softw

are.

June 13

. Florid

a pro

batio

n office cro

ssed w

ith pho

ne-sex line insw

itching-statio

n stunt.

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

G —

TH

E H

AC

KE

R C

RA

CK

DO

WN

N

OT

FO

R C

OM

ME

RC

IAL

US

E8

July. "Fry Guy" raid

ed b

y USSS and

Chicag

o C

om

puter Fraud

and A

buse

Task Fo

rce.

July. S

ecret Service raid

s "Pro

phet," "L

eftist," and "U

rvile" inG

eorg

ia.

1990

January 15

. Martin Luther K

ing D

ay Crash strikes A

T&

T lo

ng-d

istancenetw

ork natio

nwid

e.

January 18

-19

Chicag

o T

ask Force raid

s Knig

ht Lightning

in St. Lo

uis.

January 24

. USSS and

New

York S

tate Police raid

"Phiber O

ptik,"

"Acid

Phreak," and "S

corp

ion" in N

ew Y

ork C

ity.

Febru

ary 1. U

SSS raid

s "Term

inus" in

Marylan

d.

February 3

. Chicag

o T

ask Force raid

s Richard

And

rews' ho

me.

February 6

. Chicag

o T

ask Force raid

s Richard

And

rews' b

usiness.

Febru

ary 6. U

SSS arrests T

ermin

us, P

rophet, L

eftist, and U

rvile.

February 9

. Chicag

o T

ask Force arrests K

night Lig

htning.

February 2

0. A

T&

T S

ecurity shuts dow

n pub

lic-access "attctc" com

-pute

r in D

allas.

February 2

1. C

hicago T

ask Force raid

s Robert Izenb

erg in A

ustin.

March 1

. Chicag

o T

ask Force raid

s Steve Jackso

n Gam

es, Inc.,"M

entor," and

"Erik Blo

odaxe" in A

ustin.

May 7

,8,9

. USSS and

Arizo

na Org

anized C

rime and

Racketeering

Bureau

cond

uct "Operatio

n Sund

evil" raids in C

incinnatti, Detro

it, Los A

ngeles,

Miam

i, New

ark, Phoenix, Pittsb

urgh, R

ichmond

, Tucso

n, San D

iego, S

anJo

se, and S

an Francisco.

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

G —

TH

E H

AC

KE

R C

RA

CK

DO

WN

N

OT

FO

R C

OM

ME

RC

IAL

US

E9

May. FB

I interview

s John P

erry Barlo

w re N

uPro

meth

eus case.

June. Mitch K

apor and

Barlo

w fo

und Electro

nic Frontier Fo

undatio

n;Barlo

w p

ublishes *C

rime and

Puzzlement* m

anifesto.

July

24

-27

. Trial o

f Knig

ht L

ightn

ing.

1991

February. C

PSR R

ound

table in W

ashingto

n, D.C

.

March 2

5-2

8. C

om

puters, Freed

om

and Privacy co

nference in San

Francisco.

May 1

. Electronic Fro

ntier Found

ation, S

teve Jackson, and

others file

suit against m

embers o

f Chicag

o T

ask Force.

July 1-2

. Sw

itching statio

n pho

ne softw

are crash affects Washing

ton,

Los A

ngeles, Pittsb

urgh, S

an Francisco.

Sep

tember 1

7. A

T&

T p

hone crash affects N

ew Y

ork C

ity and three air-

ports.

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

G —

TH

E H

AC

KE

R C

RA

CK

DO

WN

N

OT

FO

R C

OM

ME

RC

IAL

US

E1 0

IN

TR

OD

UC

TIO

N

This is a b

ook ab

out co

ps, and

wild

teenage w

hiz- kids, and

lawyers, and

hairy-eyed

anarch

ists, and in

dustrial tech

nician

s, and h

ippies, an

dhig

h-tech millio

naires, and g

ame ho

bbyists, and

com

puter security

experts, and

Secret S

ervice agents, and

grifters, and

thieves.

This b

ook is ab

out the electro

nic frontier o

f the 19

90

s. It concerns

activities that take place insid

e com

puters and

over telep

hone lines.

A science fictio

n writer co

ined the useful term

"cybersp

ace" in 19

82

.But the territo

ry in questio

n, the electronic fro

ntier, is about a hund

redand

thirty years old

. Cyb

erspace is the "p

lace" where a telep

hone co

n-versatio

n appears to

occur. N

ot insid

e your actual p

hone, the p

lasticdevice on your desk. N

ot inside the other person's phone, in some other

city. *The p

lace betw

een* the pho

nes. The ind

efinite place *o

ut there,*w

here the two o

f you, tw

o hum

an being

s, actually meet and

com

muni-

cate.

Altho

ugh it is no

t exactly "real," "cybersp

ace" is a genuine p

lace.Things happen there that have very genuine consequences. T

his "place"is no

t "real," but it is serio

us, it is earnest. Tens o

f thousand

s of p

eople

have ded

icated their lives to

it, to the p

ublic service o

f pub

lic com

mu-

nication b

y wire and

electronics.

People have w

orked

on this "fro

ntier" for g

enerations no

w. S

om

e peo

ple

becam

e rich and fam

ous fro

m their effo

rts there. Som

e just played

init, as ho

bbyists. O

thers soberly p

ond

ered it, and

wro

te about it, and

regulated

it, and neg

otiated

over it in internatio

nal forum

s, and sued

one

another ab

out it, in g

igantic, ep

ic court b

attles that lasted fo

r years.A

nd almost since the b

eginning

, some people have com

mitted crim

es inthis p

lace.

But in the p

ast twenty years, this electrical "sp

ace," which w

as once

thin and d

ark and o

ne-dim

ensional —

little more than a narro

w sp

eak-ing

-tube, stretching

from

pho

ne to p

hone —

has flung itself o

pen like a

gig

antic jack-in- the- box. Lig

ht has flooded

upon it, the eerie lig

ht of

the glo

wing

com

puter screen. T

his dark electric netherw

orld

has

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becom

e a vast flowering

electronic landscape. Since the 1960s, the

world

of the telep

hone has cro

ss-bred

itself with co

mputers and

televi-sion, and thoug

h there is still no substance to cyb

erspace, nothing you

can handle, it has a strange kind of physicality now

. It makes g

ood sensetoday to talk of cyberspace as a place all its ow

n.

Because peo

ple live in it now

. Not just a few

people, no

t just a fewtechnicians and eccentrics, b

ut thousands of people, quite normal people.

And

not just fo

r a little while, either, b

ut for ho

urs straight, o

verw

eeks, and months, and years. C

yberspace today is a "Net," a

"Matrix," internatio

nal in scope and

gro

wing

swiftly and

steadily. It's

gro

wing

in size, and w

ealth, and p

olitical im

portance.

People are m

aking entire careers in m

odern cyb

erspace. S

cientists andtechnicians, o

f course; they've b

een there for tw

enty years now

. But

increasin

gly, cyb

erspace is fillin

g w

ith jo

urn

alists and d

octo

rs and

lawyers and

artists and clerks. C

ivil servants make their careers

there now

, "on-line" in vast g

overnm

ent data- b

anks; and so

do sp

ies,ind

ustrial, political, and

just plain sno

ops; and

so d

o p

olice, at least a

few o

f them. A

nd there are child

ren living there no

w.

People have m

et there and b

een married

there. There are entire living

com

munities in cyb

erspace to

day; chattering

, gossip

ping

, planning

,co

nferring and

scheming

, leaving o

ne another vo

ice-mail and

electronic

mail, g

iving o

ne another b

ig w

eightless chunks o

f valuable d

ata, both

legitim

ate and illeg

itimate. T

hey busily p

ass one ano

ther com

puter

softw

are and the o

ccasional festering

com

puter virus.

We d

o no

t really understand

how

to live in cyb

erspace yet. W

e are feel-ing

our w

ay into it, b

lundering

about. T

hat is not surp

rising. O

ur livesin

the p

hysical w

orld

, the "real" w

orld

, are also far fro

m p

erfect,desp

ite a lot m

ore p

ractice. Hum

an lives, real lives, are imperfect b

ytheir nature, and

there are human b

eings in cyb

erspace. T

he way w

elive in cyb

erspace is a funho

use mirro

r of the w

ay we live in the real

world. W

e take both our advantag

es and our troubles w

ith us.

This b

ook is ab

out tro

uble in cyb

erspace. S

pecifically, this b

ook is ab

out

certain strange events in the year 1

99

0, an unp

recedented

and startling

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year for the the g

row

ing w

orld

of co

mputerized

com

municatio

ns.

In 19

90

there came a natio

nwid

e crackdow

n on illicit co

mputer hack-

ers, w

ith arre

sts, crimin

al charg

es, o

ne d

ramatic sh

ow

-trial, seve

ralguilty pleas, and huge confiscations of data and equipm

ent all over theU

SA

.

The H

acker Crackd

ow

n of 1

99

0 w

as larger, b

etter org

anized, m

ore

delib

erate, and m

ore reso

lute than any previo

us effort in the b

rave neww

orld

of co

mputer crim

e. The U

.S. S

ecret Service, p

rivate telepho

nesecurity, and state and local law

enforcement g

roups across the countryall joined forces in a determ

ined attempt to b

reak the back of A

merica's

electronic und

ergro

und. It w

as a fascinating effo

rt, with very m

ixedresults.

The H

acker Crackdow

n had another unprecedented effect; it spurred thecreatio

n, within "the co

mputer co

mm

unity," of the Electro

nic Frontier

Foundation, a new and very odd interest group, fiercely dedicated to the

establish

men

t and p

reservation o

f electronic civil lib

erties. The crack-

dow

n, remarkab

le in itself, has created a m

elee of d

ebate o

ver electronic

crime, p

unishment, freed

om

of the p

ress, and issues o

f search andseizure. Po

litics has entered cyb

erspace. W

here peo

ple g

o, p

olitics

follo

w.

This is the story of the people of cyberspace.

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PA

RT

O

NE

Cra

shin

g th

e S

yste

m

On January 1

5, 1

99

0, A

T&

T's lo

ng-d

istance telepho

ne switching

sys-tem

crashed.

This w

as a strange, d

ire, huge event. S

ixty thousand

peo

ple lo

st theirtelep

hone service co

mpletely. D

uring the nine lo

ng ho

urs of frantic

effort that it to

ok to

restore service, so

me seventy m

illion telep

hone

calls went unco

mpleted

.

Losses of service, known as "outages" in the telco trade, are a know

n andaccepted hazard of the telephone business. H

urricanes hit, and phonecables get snapped by the thousands. Earthquakes w

rench throughburied

fiber-o

ptic lines. S

witching

stations catch fire and

burn to

theground. T

hese things do happen. There are contingency plans for them

,and decades of experience in dealing w

ith them. B

ut the Crash of

January 15

was unp

recedented

. It was unb

elievably hug

e, and it

occurred

for no

apparent p

hysical reason.

The crash started

on a M

ond

ay afternoon in a sing

le switching

-station

in Manhattan. B

ut, unlike any merely p

hysical dam

age, it sp

read and

spread

. Statio

n after station acro

ss Am

erica collap

sed in a chain reac-

tion, until fully half o

f AT&

T's netw

ork had

gone hayw

ire and the

remaining

half was hard

-put to

handle the o

verflow

.

Within nine ho

urs, AT&

T so

ftware eng

ineers more o

r less understo

od

what had

caused the crash. R

eplicating

the pro

blem

exactly, poring

over

software line b

y line, took them a couple of w

eeks. But b

ecause it was

hard to

understand

technically, the full truth of the m

atter and its

implicatio

ns were no

t wid

ely and tho

roug

hly aired and

explained

. The

root cause o

f the crash remained

obscure, surro

unded

by rum

or and

fear.

The crash w

as a grave co

rporate em

barrassm

ent. The "culp

rit" was a

bug in AT&

T's ow

n software —

not the sort of admission the telecom

mu-

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nications g

iant wanted

to m

ake, especially in the face o

f increasing co

m-

petitio

n. Still, the truth *w

as* told

, in the baffling

technical terms

necessary to exp

lain it.

Somehow

the explanation failed to persuade Am

erican law enforcem

entofficials and

even telepho

ne corp

orate security p

ersonnel. T

hese peo

ple

were no

t technical experts o

r softw

are wizard

s, and they had

their ow

nsusp

icions ab

out the cause o

f this disaster.

The p

olice and

telco security had

important so

urces of info

rmatio

ndenied to

mere so

ftware eng

ineers. They had info

rmants in the co

mput-

er underg

round

and years o

f experience in d

ealing w

ith high-tech ras-

cality that seemed to grow

ever more sophisticated. For years they had

been expecting a direct and savage attack against the Am

erican nationaltelephone system

. And w

ith the Crash of January 1

5 —

the first month

of a new

, high-tech d

ecade —

their pred

ictions, fears, and

suspicio

nsseem

ed at last to have entered the real world. A

world w

here the tele-pho

ne system had

not m

erely crashed, b

ut, quite likely, *b

een* crashed—

by "hackers."

The crash created

a large d

ark cloud

of susp

icion that w

ould

colo

r cer-tain people's assum

ptions and actions for months. T

he fact that it tookplace in the realm

of software w

as suspicious on its face. The fact that

it occurred

on M

artin Luther King

Day, still the m

ost p

olitically to

uchyof A

merican ho

lidays, m

ade it m

ore susp

icious yet.

The C

rash of January 15 gave the H

acker Crackdow

n its sense of edgeand

its sweaty urg

ency. It mad

e peo

ple, p

ow

erful peo

ple in p

ositio

ns of

pub

lic authority, w

illing to

believe the w

orst. A

nd, m

ost fatally, it

helped

to g

ive investigato

rs a willing

ness to take extrem

e measures and

the determ

ination to

preserve alm

ost to

tal secrecy.

An o

bscure so

ftware fault in an ag

ing sw

itching system

in New

York w

asto

lead to

a chain reaction o

f legal and

constitutio

nal troub

le all across

the country.

__

__

_

Like the crash in the telepho

ne system, this chain reactio

n was read

y

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and w

aiting to

happen. D

uring the 1

98

0s, the A

merican leg

al systemw

as extensively patched to deal with the novel issues of com

puter crime.

There w

as, for instance, the Electro

nic Com

municatio

ns Privacy Act o

f1

98

6 (elo

quently d

escribed

as "a stinking m

ess" by a p

rom

inent lawenfo

rcement o

fficial). And

there was the d

raconian C

om

puter Fraud

andA

buse Act of 1

986, passed unanim

ously by the United States Senate,

which

later would

reveal a large n

um

ber o

f flaws. Exten

sive, well-

meant efforts had been m

ade to keep the legal system up to date. B

ut inthe d

ay-to-d

ay grind

of the real w

orld

, even the most eleg

ant softw

aretends to crum

ble and suddenly reveal its hidden b

ugs.

Like the advancing telephone system

, the Am

erican legal system

was

certainly not ruined

by its tem

porary crash; b

ut for tho

se caught und

erthe w

eight of the collapsing

system, life b

ecame a series of b

lackouts andano

malies.

In ord

er to und

erstand w

hy these weird

events occurred

, both in the

world of technology and in the w

orld of law, it's not enough to understand

the merely technical p

roblem

s. We w

ill get to

those; b

ut first and fo

re-m

ost, we m

ust try to understand the telephone, and the business of tele-phones, and the com

munity of hum

an beings that telephones have creat-ed

._

__

__

Techno

logies have life cycles, like cities d

o, like institutio

ns do, like

laws and governm

ents do.

The first stage of any technology is the Q

uestion Mark, often know

n asthe "G

olden Vaporw

are" stage. At this early point, the technology is

only a p

hantom

, a mere g

leam in the invento

r's eye. One such invento

rw

as a speech teacher and

electrical tinkerer named

Alexand

er Graham

Bell.

Bell's early inventio

ns, while ing

enious, failed

to m

ove the w

orld

. In1

86

3, th

e teenag

e Bell an

d h

is bro

ther M

elville mad

e an artificial talk-

ing m

echanism o

ut of w

ood, rub

ber, g

utta-percha, and

tin. This w

eirddevice had a rubber-covered "tongue" m

ade of movable w

ooden seg-m

ents, with vib

rating rub

ber "vo

cal cord

s," and rub

ber "lip

s" and

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"cheeks." While M

elville puffed

a bello

ws into

a tin tube, im

itating the

lungs, yo

ung A

lec Bell w

ould

manip

ulate the "lips," "teeth," and

"tong

ue," causing the thing

to em

it high-p

itched falsetto

gib

berish.

Ano

ther would

-be technical b

reakthroug

h was the B

ell "pho

nautograp

h"of 1

874, actually m

ade out of a human cadaver's ear. C

lamped into place

on a tripod, this grisly g

adget drew

sound-wave im

ages on sm

oked glass

throug

h a thin straw g

lued to

its vibrating

earbones.

By 1

87

5, B

ell had learned

to p

roduce aud

ible so

unds —

ugly shrieks and

squaw

ks — b

y using m

agnets, d

iaphrag

ms, and

electrical current.

Most "G

olden Vaporw

are" technologies go nowhere.

But the second stage of technology is the Rising Star, or, the "G

oofyPrototype," stage. T

he telephone, Bell's m

ost ambitious gadget yet,

reached this stage on M

arch 10, 1

876. O

n that great day, A

lexanderG

raham B

ell becam

e the first perso

n to transm

it intelligib

le human

speech electrically. A

s it happened

, young

Professo

r Bell, ind

ustrious-

ly tinkering in his B

osto

n lab, had

spattered

his trousers w

ith acid.

His assistan

t, Mr. W

atson, h

eard h

is cry for h

elp —

over B

ell's experi-

mental aud

io- teleg

raph. T

his was an event w

ithout p

recedent.

Techno

logies in their "G

oofy Pro

totyp

e" stage rarely w

ork very w

ell.They're exp

erimental, and

therefore half- b

aked and

rather frazzled.

The prototype m

ay be attractive and novel, and it does look as if it oughtto

be g

ood fo

r som

ething-o

r-other. B

ut nobody, includ

ing the invento

r,is q

uite sure what. Invento

rs, and sp

eculators, and

pund

its may have

very firm id

eas about its p

otential use, b

ut those id

eas are often very

wro

ng.

The natural hab

itat of the Goofy Prototype is in trade show

s and in thepopular p

ress. Infant technolo

gies need

pub

licity and investm

entm

oney like a to

ttering calf need

milk. T

his was very true o

f Bell's

machine. T

o raise research and

develo

pm

ent money, B

ell toured

with

his device as a stage attraction.

Contem

porary press reports of the stage debut of the telephone showed

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pleased

astonishm

ent mixed

with co

nsiderab

le dread

. Bell's stag

e tele-phone w

as a large w

ooden box w

ith a crude speaker-nozzle, the whole

contraption about the size and shape of an overg

rown B

rownie cam

era.Its b

uzzing steel so

undplate, p

umped

up b

y pow

erful electrom

agnets,

was lo

ud eno

ugh to

fill an audito

rium. B

ell's assistant Mr. W

atson, w

hoco

uld m

anage o

n the keyboard

s fairly well, kicked

in by p

laying the

org

an from

distant ro

om

s, and, later, d

istant cities. This feat w

as con-

sidered

marvello

us, but very eerie ind

eed.

Bell's o

riginal no

tion fo

r the telepho

ne, an idea p

rom

oted

for a co

uple o

fyears, w

as that it would becom

e a mass m

edium. W

e might recognize

Bell's idea today as som

ething close to modern "cable radio."

Telep

hones at a central so

urce would

transmit m

usic, Sund

ay sermons,

and im

portant p

ublic sp

eeches to a p

aying netw

ork o

f wired

-up sub

-scrib

ers.

At the tim

e, most people thought this notion m

ade good sense. In fact,Bell's id

ea was w

orkab

le. In Hung

ary, this philo

sophy o

f the telepho

new

as successfully put into

everyday p

ractice. In Bud

apest, fo

r decad

es,fro

m 1

89

3 u

ntil after W

orld

War I, th

ere was a g

overn

men

t-run

inform

ation service called

"Telefo

n Hirm

ond

o=

." Hirm

ond

o=

was a

centralized so

urce of new

s and entertainm

ent and culture, includ

ingsto

ck reports, p

lays, concerts, and

novels read

aloud

. At certain ho

ursof the d

ay, the pho

ne would

ring, yo

u would

plug

in a loud

speaker fo

r theuse o

f the family, and

Telefo

n Hirm

ond

o=

would

be o

n the air — o

rrather, o

n the pho

ne.

Hirm

ondo= is dead tech today, but H

irmondo=

might be considered a

spiritual ancesto

r of the m

odern telep

hone-accessed

com

puter d

ata ser-vices, such as C

om

puS

erve, GEnie o

r Prodig

y. The p

rinciple b

ehindH

irmond

o=

is also no

t too far fro

m co

mputer "b

ulletin- board

systems"

or B

BS's, w

hich

arrived in

the late 1

97

0s, sp

read rap

idly acro

ssA

merica, an

d w

ill figure larg

ely in th

is book.

We are used

to using

telepho

nes for ind

ividual p

erson-to

-perso

nspeech, because w

e are used to the Bell system

. But this w

as just onepossib

ility among

many. C

om

municatio

n networks are very flexib

le andpro

tean, especially w

hen their hardw

are beco

mes sufficiently ad

vanced.

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They can be put to all kinds of uses. A

nd they have been — and they w

illbe.

Bell's telep

hone w

as bound

for g

lory, b

ut this was a co

mbinatio

n of

political d

ecisio

ns, can

ny in

fightin

g in

court, in

spire

d in

dustrial le

ad-

ership, recep

tive local co

nditio

ns and o

utright g

ood luck. M

uch the same

is true of comm

unications systems today.

As B

ell and his b

ackers struggled

to install their new

fangled

system in

the real world

of nineteenth-century N

ew Eng

land, they had

to fig

htag

ainst skepticism

and ind

ustrial rivalry. There w

as already a stro

ngelectrical co

mm

unications netw

ork p

resent in Am

erica: the telegrap

h.The head

of the W

estern Unio

n telegrap

h system d

ismissed

Bell's p

roto

-type as "an electrical toy" and refused to b

uy the rights to B

ell's patent.The telep

hone, it seem

ed, m

ight b

e all right as a p

arlor entertainm

ent—

but no

t for serio

us business.

Teleg

rams, unlike m

ere telepho

nes, left a perm

anent physical reco

rd o

ftheir m

essages. T

elegram

s, unlike telepho

nes, could

be answ

eredw

henever the recipient had time and convenience. A

nd the telegram had

a much lo

nger d

istance-range than B

ell's early telepho

ne. These facto

rsm

ade telegraphy seem a m

uch more sound and businesslike technology —

at least to some.

The teleg

raph system

was hug

e, and w

ell-entrenched. In 1

87

6, the

United

States had

21

4,0

00

miles o

f telegrap

h wire, and

85

00

telegrap

hoffices. T

here were sp

ecialized teleg

raphs fo

r businesses and

stock

traders, g

overnm

ent, police and

fire dep

artments. A

nd B

ell's "toy" w

asbest kno

wn as a stag

e-mag

ic musical d

evice.

The third stage of technology is know

n as the "Cash C

ow" stage. In the

"cash cow" stag

e, a technology finds its place in the w

orld, and matures,

and becomes settled and productive. A

fter a year or so, Alexander

Graham

Bell and

his capitalist b

ackers conclud

ed that eerie m

usic pip

edfro

m nineteenth-century cyb

erspace w

as not the real selling

-point o

fhis inventio

n. Instead, the telep

hone w

as about sp

eech — ind

ividual,

personal speech, the human voice, hum

an conversation and human

interaction. The telephone w

as not to be managed from

any centralized

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broadcast center. It was to be a personal, intim

ate technology.

When you picked up a telephone, you w

ere not absorbing the cold outputof a m

achine — you w

ere speaking to another human being. O

nce peoplerealized

this, their instinctive dread

of the telep

hone as an eerie,

unnatural device, sw

iftly vanished. A

"telepho

ne call" was no

t a "call"fro

m a "telep

hone" itself, b

ut a call from

another hum

an being

, som

e-one you w

ould generally know

and recognize. T

he real point was not

what the m

achine could

do fo

r you (o

r to yo

u), but w

hat you yo

urself, aperso

n and citizen, co

uld d

o *thro

ugh* the m

achine. This d

ecision o

nthe p

art of the yo

ung B

ell Com

pany w

as abso

lutely vital.

The first telephone netw

orks went up around B

oston — m

ostly among the

technically curious and

the well-to

-do (m

uch the same seg

ment o

f theA

merican p

opulace that, a hund

red years later, w

ould

be b

uying p

erson-

al computers). Entrenched backers of the telegraph continued to scoff.

But in January 1

87

8, a d

isaster mad

e the telepho

ne famous. A

traincrash

ed in

Tarriffville, C

onnecticu

t. Forw

ard-lo

okin

g d

octo

rs in th

enearb

y city of H

artford

had had

Bell's "sp

eaking telep

hone" installed

.A

n alert local d

ruggist w

as able to

telepho

ne an entire com

munity o

flocal doctors, w

ho rushed to the site to give aid. T

he disaster, as disas-ters do, aroused intense press coverag

e. The phone had proven its use-

fuln

ess in th

e real world

.

After T

arriffville, the telepho

ne network sp

read like crab

grass. B

y1

89

0 it w

as all over N

ew Eng

land. B

y '93

, out to

Chicag

o. B

y '97

, intoM

innesota, N

ebraska and

Texas. B

y 19

04

it was all o

ver the continent.

The telephone had becom

e a mature technology. Professor B

ell (nowgenerally kno

wn as "D

r. Bell" d

espite his lack o

f a form

al deg

ree)becam

e quite w

ealthy. He lo

st interest in the tedio

us day-to

-day b

usi-ness m

uddle of the boom

ing telephone netw

ork, and gratefully returned

his atten

tion to

creatively hackin

g-aro

und in

his vario

us lab

orato

ries,w

hich

were n

ow

much

larger, b

etter- ventilated

, and g

ratifyingly b

et-ter-eq

uipped

. Bell w

as never to have ano

ther great inventive success,

thoug

h his speculatio

ns and p

roto

types anticip

ated fib

er-optic trans-

missio

n, m

anned

flight, so

nar, h

ydro

foil sh

ips, tetrah

edral co

nstru

c-

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E S

TE

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E H

AC

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R C

RA

CK

DO

WN

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OT

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IAL

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tion, and

Montesso

ri educatio

n. The "d

ecibel," the stand

ard scientific

measure o

f sound

intensity, was nam

ed after B

ell.

Not all B

ell's vaporw

are notio

ns were insp

ired. H

e was fascinated

by

human eug

enics. He also

spent m

any years develo

ping

a weird

perso

nalsystem

of astro

physics in w

hich gravity d

id no

t exist.

Bell w

as a definite eccentric. He w

as something

of a hypochondriac, andthro

ugho

ut his life he habitually stayed

up until fo

ur A.M

., refusing to

rise before noon. B

ut Bell had accom

plished a great feat; he w

as an idolof m

illions and

his influence, wealth, and

great p

ersonal charm

, com

-bined w

ith his eccentricity, made him

something

of a loose cannon ondeck. B

ell maintained

a thriving scientific salo

n in his winter m

ansion

in Washing

ton, D

.C., w

hich gave him

consid

erable b

ackstage influence in

governm

ental and scientific circles. H

e was a m

ajor financial b

acker of

the the mag

azines *Science* and

*Natio

nal Geo

grap

hic,* both still

flourishing

today as im

portant o

rgans o

f the Am

erican scientific estab-

lishment.

Bell's co

mpanio

n Tho

mas W

atson, sim

ilarly wealthy and

similarly o

dd,

becam

e the ardent p

olitical d

isciple o

f a 19

th-century science-fiction

writer and

would

-be so

cial reform

er, Edw

ard B

ellamy. W

atson also

trod the b

oard

s briefly as a S

hakespearian acto

r.

There w

ould

never be ano

ther Alexand

er Graham

Bell, b

ut in years toco

me there w

ould

be surp

rising num

bers o

f peo

ple like him

. Bell w

as apro

totyp

e of the hig

h-tech entrepreneur. H

igh-tech entrep

reneursw

ill play a very p

rom

inent role in this b

ook: no

t merely as technicians

and b

usinessmen, b

ut as pio

neers of the technical fro

ntier, who

cancarry the p

ow

er and p

restige they d

erive from

high-techno

logy into

thepolitical and

social arena.

Like later entrepreneurs, B

ell was fierce in d

efense of his o

wn techno

-lo

gical territo

ry. As the telep

hone b

egan to

flourish, B

ell was so

on

involved

in violent law

suits in the defense o

f his patents. B

ell's Bosto

nlaw

yers were excellent, ho

wever, and

Bell him

self, as an elecution

teacher and g

ifted p

ublic sp

eaker, was a d

evastatingly effective leg

alw

itness. In the eighteen years o

f Bell's p

atents, the Bell co

mpany w

as

BR

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OR

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involved

in six hundred

separate law

suits. The leg

al record

s printed

filled 1

49

volum

es. The B

ell Com

pany w

on every sing

le suit.

After B

ell's exclusive patents exp

ired, rival telep

hone co

mpanies

sprang

up all o

ver Am

erica. Bell's co

mpany, A

merican B

ell Telep

hone,

was so

on in d

eep tro

uble. In 1

90

7, A

merican B

ell Telep

hone fell into

the h

ands o

f the rath

er sinister J.P

. Morg

an fin

ancial cartel, ro

bber-

baro

n speculato

rs who

dom

inated W

all Street.

At this p

oint, histo

ry mig

ht have taken a different turn. A

merican

mig

ht well have b

een served fo

rever by a p

atchwork o

f locally o

wned

telepho

ne com

panies. M

any state politicians and

local b

usinessmen

consid

ered this an excellent so

lution.

But the new

Bell ho

lding

com

pany, A

merican T

elepho

ne and T

elegrap

h or

AT&

T, p

ut in a new m

an at the helm, a visio

nary industrialist nam

edTheo

dore V

ail. Vail, a fo

rmer Po

st Office m

anager, und

erstood larg

eorg

anizations and

had an innate feeling

for the nature o

f large-scale

com

municatio

ns. Vail q

uickly saw to

it that AT&

T seized

the technolo

gi-

cal edge once again. The Pupin and C

ampbell "loading coil," and the

deForest "audion," are both extinct technology today, but in 1913 they

gave V

ail's com

pany the b

est *long

-distance* lines ever b

uilt. By co

n-tro

lling lo

ng-d

istance — the links b

etween, and

over, and

above the

smaller lo

cal pho

ne com

panies —

AT&

T sw

iftly gained

the whip

-handover them

, and was soon devouring

them rig

ht and left.

Vail p

low

ed the p

rofits b

ack into research and

develo

pm

ent, starting the

Bell trad

ition o

f huge-scale

and b

rilliant in

dustrial re

search

.

Technically and

financially, AT&

T g

radually steam

rollered

the opposi-

tion. Ind

epend

ent telepho

ne com

panies never b

ecame entirely extinct,

and hundreds of them flourish today. B

ut Vail's A

T&

T becam

e thesuprem

e comm

unications company. A

t one point, Vail's A

T&

T bought

Western U

nion itself, the very co

mpany that had

derid

ed B

ell's tele-phone as a "toy." V

ail thoroughly reform

ed Western U

nion's hidebound

business alo

ng his m

odern p

rinciples; b

ut when the fed

eral governm

entgrew

anxious at this centralizatio

n of p

ow

er, Vail p

olitely g

ave Western

Unio

n back.

BR

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This centralizing

pro

cess was no

t unique. V

ery similar events had

hap-

pened

in Am

erican steel, oil, and

railroad

s. But A

T&

T, unlike the o

therco

mpanies, w

as to rem

ain suprem

e. The m

ono

poly ro

bber-b

arons o

fthose other industries w

ere humbled and shattered b

y governm

enttru

st-bustin

g.

Vail, the fo

rmer Po

st Office o

fficial, was q

uite willing

to acco

mm

odate

the US g

overnm

ent; in fact he would

forg

e an active alliance with it.

AT&

T w

ould become alm

ost a wing of the A

merican governm

ent, almost

another Post Office —

though not quite. A

T&

T w

ould willing

ly subm

it tofed

eral regulatio

n, but in return, it w

ould

use the governm

ent's regula-

tors as its own police, w

ho would keep out com

petitors and assure theBell system

's pro

fits and p

reeminence.

This w

as the second

birth —

the political b

irth — o

f the Am

erican tele-pho

ne system. V

ail's arrangem

ent was to

persist, w

ith vast success, for

many decades, until 1

982. H

is system w

as an odd kind of Am

ericanind

ustrial socialism

. It was b

orn at ab

out the sam

e time as Leninist

Com

munism

, and it lasted almost as long —

and, it must be adm

itted, toco

nsiderab

ly better effect.

Vail's system

worked. Except perhaps for aerospace, there has b

een notechnology m

ore thoroughly dominated by A

mericans than the telephone.

The telephone w

as seen from the b

eginning

as a quintessentiallyA

merican techno

logy. B

ell's policy, and

the policy o

f Theo

dore V

ail, was

a pro

found

ly dem

ocratic p

olicy o

f *universal access.* Vail's fam

ous

corp

orate slo

gan, "O

ne Policy, O

ne System

, Universal S

ervice," was a

political slo

gan, w

ith a very Am

erican ring to

it.

The A

merican telephone w

as not to become the specialized tool of gov-

ernment o

r business, b

ut a general p

ublic utility. A

t first, it was true,

only the w

ealthy could

afford

private telep

hones, and

Bell's co

mpany

pursued

the business m

arkets prim

arily. The A

merican p

hone system

was a capitalist effo

rt, meant to

make m

oney; it w

as not a charity. B

utfro

m the first, alm

ost all co

mm

unities with telep

hone service had

pub

-lic telep

hones. A

nd m

any stores —

especially d

rugsto

res — o

ffered p

ub-

lic use of their phones. You might not ow

n a telephone — but you could

BR

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always get into the system

, if you really needed to.

There w

as nothing inevitab

le about this decision to m

ake telephones"p

ublic" and

"universal." Vail's system

involved

a pro

found

act of trust

in the pub

lic. This d

ecision w

as a political o

ne, inform

ed b

y the basic

values of the A

merican rep

ublic. T

he situation m

ight have b

een verydifferent; and

in other co

untries, under o

ther systems, it certainly

was.

Joseph Stalin, for instance, vetoed plans for a Soviet phone system soon

after the Bolshevik revo

lution. S

talin was certain that p

ublicly acces-

sible telep

hones w

ould

beco

me instrum

ents of anti-S

oviet co

unterrevo-

lution and

consp

iracy. (He w

as pro

bab

ly right.) W

hen telepho

nes did

arrive in the Soviet U

nion, they w

ould

be instrum

ents of Party autho

ri-ty, and

always heavily tap

ped

. (Alexand

er Solzhenitsyn's p

rison-cam

pno

vel *The First C

ircle* describ

es efforts to

develo

p a p

hone system

more suited

to S

talinist purp

oses.)

France, with its trad

ition o

f rational centralized

governm

ent, had fo

ught

bitterly even ag

ainst the electric telegrap

h, which seem

ed to

the Frenchentirely to

o anarchical and

frivolo

us. For d

ecades, nineteenth- century

France com

municated

via the "visual telegrap

h," a nation-sp

anning,

government-ow

ned semaphore system

of huge stone towers that sig-

nalle

d fro

m h

illtops, acro

ss vast distan

ces, w

ith b

ig w

indm

ill-likearm

s. In 18

46

, one D

r. Barb

ay, a semap

hore enthusiast, m

emorab

lyuttered

an early version o

f what m

ight b

e called "the security exp

ert'sargum

ent" against the open media.

"No, the electric teleg

raph is no

t a sound

invention. It w

ill always b

e atthe m

ercy of the slig

htest disrup

tion, w

ild yo

uths, drunkard

s, bum

s,etc.... T

he electric telegraph m

eets those destructive elements w

ith onlya few

meters o

f wire o

ver which sup

ervision is im

possib

le. A sing

lem

an could

, witho

ut being

seen, cut the telegrap

h wires lead

ing to

Paris,and

in twenty-fo

ur hours cut in ten d

ifferent places the w

ires of the

same line, w

ithout b

eing arrested

. The visual teleg

raph, o

n the con-

trary, has its to

wers, its h

igh w

alls, its gates w

ell-guard

ed fro

m in

side

by stro

ng arm

ed m

en. Yes, I d

eclare, substitutio

n of the electric tele-

grap

h for the visual o

ne is a dread

ful measure, a truly id

iotic act."

BR

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Dr. B

arbay and

his high-security sto

ne machines w

ere eventuallyunsuccessful, b

ut his argum

ent — that co

mm

unication exists fo

r thesafety and convenience of the state, and m

ust be carefully protected fromthe w

ild boys and the gutter rabble who m

ight want to crash the system

— w

ould be heard again and again.

When the French telep

hone system

finally did

arrive, its snarled inad

e-quacy w

as to be notorious. Devotees of the A

merican B

ell System often

recom

mend

ed a trip

to France, fo

r skeptics.

In E

dw

ardian

Britain

, issues o

f class and p

rivacy were

a ball-an

d-ch

ainfor telephonic progress. It w

as considered outrageous that anyone —any w

ild fo

ol o

ff the street — co

uld sim

ply b

arge b

ellow

ing into

one's

office o

r hom

e, preced

ed o

nly by the ring

ing o

f a telepho

ne bell. In

Britain, p

hones w

ere tolerated

for the use o

f business, b

ut private

phones tended be stuffed away into closets, sm

oking rooms, or servants'

quarters. T

elepho

ne operato

rs were resented

in Britain b

ecause theydid not seem

to "know their place." A

nd no one of breeding would print a

telephone number on a business card; this seem

ed a crass attempt to

make the acquaintance of strangers.

But phone access in A

merica w

as to becom

e a popular right; som

ethinglike universal suffrag

e, only m

ore so

. Am

erican wom

en could

not yet

vote when the phone system

came through; yet from

the beginningA

merican w

omen doted on the telephone. T

his "feminization" of the

Am

erican telephone was often com

mented on by foreigners. Phones in

Am

erica were no

t censored

or stiff o

r form

alized; they w

ere social,

private, intim

ate, and d

om

estic. In Am

erica, Mother's D

ay is by far the

busiest day of the year for the phone network.

The early telephone com

panies, and especially AT&

T, w

ere among

theforem

ost employers of A

merican w

omen. T

hey employed the daughters

of the A

merican m

iddle-class in g

reat armies: in 1

89

1, eig

ht thousand

wom

en; by 1

94

6, alm

ost a q

uarter of a m

illion. W

om

en seemed

toenjo

y telepho

ne work; it w

as respectab

le, it was stead

y, it paid

fairlyw

ell as wom

en's work w

ent, and — not least —

it seemed a genuine con-

tribution to the social good of the comm

unity. Wom

en found Vail's ideal

BR

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of p

ublic service attractive. T

his w

as especially tru

e in ru

ral areas,w

here w

om

en o

perato

rs, runnin

g exten

sive rural p

arty- lines, en

joyed

consid

erable so

cial pow

er. The o

perato

r knew everyo

ne on the p

arty-line, and

everyone knew

her.

Altho

ugh B

ell himself w

as an ardent suffrag

ist, the telepho

ne com

pany

did not employ w

omen for the sake of advancing fem

ale liberation. AT&

Tdid

this for so

und co

mm

ercial reasons. T

he first telepho

ne operato

rs of

the Bell system

were not w

omen, but teenage A

merican boys. T

hey were

telegraphic m

essenger b

oys (a group ab

out to be rendered technically

obsolescent), who sw

ept up around the phone office, dunned customers

for b

ills, and m

ade p

hone co

nnections o

n the switchb

oard

, all on the

cheap.

Within the very first year o

f operatio

n, 18

78

, Bell's co

mpany learned

a sharp lesson about combining teenage boys and telephone sw

itchboards.Putting teenage boys in charge of the phone system

brought swift and

consistent d

isaster. Bell's chief eng

ineer describ

ed them

as "Wild

Indians." The boys w

ere openly rude to customers. T

hey talked back tosub

scribers, saucing

off, uttering

facetious rem

arks, and g

enerallygiving

lip. T

he rascals took S

aint Patrick's Day o

ff witho

ut perm

ission.

And

worst o

f all they played

clever tricks with the sw

itchboard

plug

s:disco

nnecting calls, cro

ssing lines so

that custom

ers found

themselves

talking to

strangers, and

so fo

rth.

This co

mbinatio

n of p

ow

er, technical mastery, and

effective anonym

ityseem

ed to act like catnip on teenage boys.

This w

ild-kid

-on-the-w

ires pheno

meno

n was no

t confined

to the U

SA

;from

the beg

inning, the sam

e was true of the B

ritish phone system. A

nearly B

ritish com

mentato

r kindly rem

arked: "N

o d

oub

t boys in their

teens found

the work no

t a little irksom

e, and it is also

highly p

robab

lethat under the early conditions of em

ployment the adventurous and

inquisitive sp

irits of w

hich the average healthy b

oy o

f that age is p

os-

sessed, were not alw

ays conducive to the best attention being given to thew

ants of the telep

hone sub

scribers."

So the boys were flung off the system

— or at least, deprived of control

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of the sw

itchboard

. But the "ad

venturous and

inquisitive sp

irits" of the

teenage boys would be heard from

in the world of telephony, again and

again.

The fourth stag

e in the technological life-cycle is death: "the D

og," dead

tech. The telephone has so far avoided this fate. O

n the contrary, it isth

riving, still sp

readin

g, still evo

lving, an

d at in

creasing sp

eed.

The telephone has achieved a rare and exalted state for a technological

artifact: it has becom

e a *household object.* T

he telephone, like theclo

ck, like pen and

pap

er, like kitchen utensils and running

water, has

becom

e a technology that is visib

le only by its ab

sence. The telephone is

technolo

gically transp

arent. The g

lobal telep

hone system

is the largest

and m

ost co

mplex m

achine in the world

, yet it is easy to use. M

ore

remarkab

le yet, the telepho

ne is almost entirely p

hysically safe for the

user.

For the averag

e citizen in the 18

70

s, the telepho

ne was w

eirder, m

ore

shocking

, more "hig

h-tech" and hard

er to co

mprehend

, than the most

outrageous stunts of advanced computing for us A

mericans in the 1

990s.

In trying to

understand

what is hap

pening

to us to

day, w

ith our b

ul-le

tin-b

oard

syste

ms, d

irect o

verse

as diallin

g, fib

er- o

ptic tran

smis-

sions, co

mputer viruses, hacking

stunts, and a vivid

tangle o

f new law

sand

new crim

es, it is important to

realize that our so

ciety has been

throug

h a similar challeng

e befo

re — and

that, all in all, we d

id rather

well b

y it.

Bell's stag

e telephone seemed b

izarre at first. But the sensations of

weird

ness vanished q

uickly, once p

eople b

egan to

hear the familiar

voices o

f relatives and friend

s, in their ow

n hom

es on their o

wn tele-

phones. The telephone changed from

a fearsome high-tech totem

to aneveryd

ay pillar o

f human co

mm

unity.

This has also

happened

, and is still hap

pening

, to co

mputer netw

orks.

Com

puter netw

orks such as N

SFnet, B

ITnet, U

SEN

ET, JA

NET

, aretechnically ad

vanced, intim

idating

, and m

uch harder to

use than tele-pho

nes. Even the popular, co

mm

ercial com

puter netw

orks, such as

GEnie, Pro

dig

y, and C

om

puS

erve, cause much head

-scratching and

have

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been d

escribed

as "user-hateful." Nevertheless they to

o are chang

ingfro

m fancy hig

h-tech items into

everyday so

urces of hum

an com

munity.

The w

ords "comm

unity" and "comm

unication" have the same root.

Wherever yo

u put a co

mm

unications netw

ork, yo

u put a co

mm

unity asw

ell. And

whenever yo

u *take away* that netw

ork —

confiscate it, o

ut-law

it, crash it, raise its price b

eyond

afford

ability —

then you hurt

that com

munity.

Com

munities w

ill fight to

defend

themselves. Peo

ple w

ill fight hard

erand

more b

itterly to d

efend their co

mm

unities, than they will fig

ht todefend

their ow

n individ

ual selves. And

this is very true of the "elec-

tronic co

mm

unity" that arose aro

und co

mputer netw

orks in the 1

98

0s

— o

r rather, th

e *various* electro

nic co

mm

unities, in

telephony, law

enforcement, com

puting, and the dig

ital underground that, b

y the year1

99

0, w

ere

raidin

g, rally

ing, arre

sting, su

ing, jailin

g, fin

ing an

dissuing

angry m

anifestos.

None of the events of 1

990 w

ere entirely new. N

othing happened in

19

90

that did

not have so

me kind

of earlier and

more und

erstandab

leprecedent. W

hat gave the Hacker C

rackdown its new

sense of gravityand im

portance was the feeling

— the *com

munity* feeling

— that the

political stakes had

been raised

; that troub

le in cybersp

ace was no

longer m

ere misch

ief or in

conclu

sive skirmish

ing, b

ut a g

enuin

e fight

over g

enuine issues, a fight fo

r com

munity survival and

the shape o

f thefuture.

These electro

nic com

munities, having

flourished

throug

hout the 1

98

0s,

were b

ecom

ing aw

are of them

selves, and increasing

ly, beco

ming

aware

of o

ther, rival com

munities. W

orries w

ere spro

uting up

right and

left,w

ith com

plaints, rum

ors, uneasy sp

eculations. B

ut it would

take a cat-alyst, a sho

ck, to m

ake the new w

orld

evident. Like B

ell's great p

ublic-

ity bre

ak, the T

arriffville R

ail Disaste

r of Jan

uary 1

87

8, it w

ould

takea cause celeb

re.

That cause w

as the AT&

T C

rash of January 1

5, 1

99

0. A

fter the Crash,

the wounded and anxious telephone com

munity w

ould come out fighting

hard.

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__

__

_

The co

mm

unity of telep

hone technicians, eng

ineers, operato

rs andresearchers is the o

ldest co

mm

unity in cybersp

ace. These are the vet-

erans, the most developed g

roup, the richest, the most respectab

le, inm

ost ways the m

ost powerful. W

hole generations have come and gone

since Alexand

er Graham

Bell's d

ay, but the co

mm

unity he found

ed sur-

vives; peo

ple w

ork fo

r the pho

ne system to

day w

hose g

reat-grand

par-

ents worked for the phone system

. Its specialty mag

azines, such as*T

elepho

ny,* *AT&

T T

echnical Journal,* *T

elepho

ne Engineer and

Manag

ement,* are d

ecades o

ld; they m

ake com

puter p

ublicatio

ns like*M

acworld

* and *P

C W

eek* lo

ok like

amate

ur jo

hnny-co

me-late

lies.

And the phone com

panies take no back seat in high- technology, either.O

ther com

panies' ind

ustrial researchers may have w

on new

markets;

but the researchers o

f Bell Lab

s have won *seven N

obel Prizes.* O

nepotent d

evice that Bell Lab

s orig

inated, the transisto

r, has createden

tire *gro

ups* o

f industries. B

ell Lab

s are world

-famous fo

r gen

er-ating

"a patent a day," and have even made vital discoveries in astrono-

my, p

hysics and co

smolo

gy.

Thro

ugho

ut its seventy-year history, "M

a Bell" w

as not so

much a co

m-

pany as a w

ay of life. U

ntil the cataclysmic d

ivestiture of the 1

98

0s,

Ma B

ell was p

erhaps the ultim

ate maternalist m

ega-em

plo

yer. The

AT&

T corporate im

age w

as the "gentle g

iant," "the voice with a sm

ile,"a vag

uely so

cialist-realist world

of clean

shaven

linem

en in

shin

y hel-

mets and

bland

ly pretty p

hone-g

irls in headsets and

nylons. B

ellSystem

emplo

yees were fam

ous as ro

ck-ribbed

Kiw

anis and R

otary

mem

bers, Little-Leag

ue enthusiasts, school-b

oard

peo

ple.

During

the long

heyday o

f Ma B

ell, the Bell em

plo

yee corp

s were nur-

tured to

p-to

-botto

n on a co

rporate etho

s of p

ublic service. T

here was

good m

oney in B

ell, but B

ell was no

t *about* m

oney; B

ell used p

ublic

relations, b

ut never mere m

arketeering. Peo

ple w

ent into the B

ellSystem

for a good life, and they had a good life. But it w

as not mere

money that led B

ell people out in the midst of storm

s and earthquakes tofig

ht with toppled phone-poles, to w

ade in flooded manholes, to pull the

red- eyed

graveyard

-shift o

ver collap

sing sw

itchin

g-system

s. The B

ell

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ethic was the electrical eq

uivalent of the p

ostm

an's: neither rain, nor

snow

, nor g

loom

of nig

ht would

stop these co

uriers.

It is easy to be cynical ab

out this, as it is easy to be cynical ab

out anypolitical or social system

; but cynicism

does not change the fact that

thousands of people took these ideals very seriously. And som

e still do.

The B

ell ethos w

as about p

ublic service; and

that was g

ratifying; b

ut itw

as also ab

out p

rivate *pow

er,* and that w

as gratifying

too. A

s a cor-

poratio

n, Bell w

as very special. B

ell was p

rivileged

. Bell had

snuggled

up close to the state. In fact, Bell w

as as close to government as you

could

get in A

merica and

still make a w

hole lo

t of leg

itimate m

oney.

But unlike o

ther com

panies, B

ell was ab

ove and

beyo

nd the vulg

ar com

-m

ercial fray. Thro

ugh its reg

ional o

perating

com

panies, B

ell was

om

nipresent, lo

cal, and intim

ate, all over A

merica; b

ut the centralivo

ry tow

ers at its corp

orate heart w

ere the tallest and the ivo

riestaro

und.

There w

ere other p

hone co

mpanies in A

merica, to

be sure; the so

-calledind

epend

ents. Rural co

operatives, m

ostly; sm

all fry, mostly to

lerated,

sometim

es warred upon. For m

any decades, "independent" Am

ericanpho

ne com

panies lived

in fear and lo

athing o

f the official B

ell mono

poly

(or the "B

ell Octo

pus," as M

a Bell's nineteenth- century enem

iesdescrib

ed her in many ang

ry newspaper m

anifestos). Some few

of theseind

epend

ent entrepreneurs, w

hile legally in the w

rong

, foug

ht so b

it-terly ag

ainst the Octo

pus that their illeg

al pho

ne networks w

ere castinto

the street by B

ell agents and

pub

licly burned

.

The p

ure technical sweetness o

f the Bell S

ystem g

ave its operato

rs,inventors and eng

ineers a deeply satisfying sense of pow

er and mastery.

They had

devo

ted their lives to

impro

ving this vast natio

n-spanning

machine; o

ver years, who

le human lives, they had

watched

it impro

veand

gro

w. It w

as like a great techno

logical tem

ple. T

hey were an elite,

and they knew it —

even if others did not; in fact, they felt even more

pow

erful *because* o

thers did

not und

erstand.

The deep attraction of this sensation of elite technical pow

er should

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never be und

erestimated

. "Technical p

ow

er" is not fo

r everybody; fo

rm

any peo

ple it sim

ply has no

charm at all. B

ut for so

me p

eople, it

beco

mes the co

re of their lives. Fo

r a few, it is o

verwhelm

ing, o

bses-

sive; it becomes som

ething close to an addiction. People — especially

clever teenage b

oys w

hose lives are o

therwise m

ostly p

ow

erless andput-up

on —

love this sensatio

n of secret p

ow

er, and are w

illing to

do

all sorts o

f amazing

things to

achieve it. The technical *p

ow

er* of elec-

tronics has m

otivated

many strang

e acts detailed

in this book, w

hichw

ould

otherw

ise be inexp

licable.

So B

ell had p

ow

er beyo

nd m

ere capitalism

. The B

ell service ethos

worked

, and w

as often p

ropag

andized

, in a rather saccharine fashion.

Over the decades, people slow

ly grew

tired of this. And then, openly

impatient w

ith it. By the early 1

98

0s, M

a Bell w

as to find

herself with

scarcely a real friend in

the w

orld

. Vail's in

dustrial so

cialism h

adbeco

me ho

pelessly o

ut-of-fashio

n politically. B

ell would

be p

unishedfor that. A

nd that punishment w

ould fall harshly upon the people of thetelep

hone co

mm

unity._

__

__

In 19

83

, Ma B

ell was d

ismantled

by fed

eral court actio

n. The p

ieces of

Bell are now

separate corporate entities. The core of the com

panybecam

e AT&

T C

om

municatio

ns, and also

AT&

T Ind

ustries (form

erlyW

estern Electric, Bell's m

anufacturing arm

). AT&

T B

ell Labs b

ecom

eBell C

om

municatio

ns Research, B

ellcore. T

hen there are the Reg

ional

Bell O

perating

Com

panies, o

r RBO

Cs, p

rono

unced "arb

ocks."

Bell w

as a titan and even these reg

ional chunks are g

igantic enterp

rises:Fo

rtune 50

com

panies w

ith plenty o

f wealth and

pow

er behind

them.

But the clean lines o

f "One Po

licy, One S

ystem, U

niversal Service" have

been shattered

, apparently fo

rever.

The "O

ne Policy" of the early Reagan A

dministration w

as to shatter asystem

that smacked of noncom

petitive socialism. Since that tim

e, therehas b

een no real telephone "policy" on the federal level. Despite the

breakup, the rem

nants of Bell have never b

een set free to compete in the

open m

arketplace.

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The R

BO

Cs are still very heavily reg

ulated, b

ut not fro

m the to

p.

Instead, they strug

gle p

olitically, eco

nom

ically and leg

ally, in what

seems an end

less turmoil, in a p

atchwork o

f overlap

ping

federal and

state ju

risdictio

ns. In

creasin

gly, like

oth

er m

ajor A

merican

corp

ora-

tions, the R

BO

Cs are b

ecom

ing m

ultinational, acq

uiring im

portant

com

mercial interests in Euro

pe, Latin A

merica, and

the Pacific Rim

.But this, to

o, ad

ds to

their legal and

political p

redicam

ent.

The people of w

hat used to be Ma B

ell are not happy about their fate.They feel ill-used

. They m

ight have b

een grud

ging

ly willing

to m

ake afull transitio

n to the free m

arket; to b

ecom

e just com

panies am

id o

thercom

panies. But this never happened. Instead, A

T&

T and the RB

OCS

("the Bab

y Bells") feel them

selves wrenched

from

side to

side b

y statereg

ulators, b

y Cong

ress, by the FC

C, and

especially b

y the federal co

urtof Judg

e Harold G

reene, the mag

istrate who ordered the B

ell breakup and

who has been the de facto czar of A

merican telecom

munications ever

since 19

83

.

Bell p

eople feel that they exist in a kind

of p

aralegal lim

bo to

day. T

heydon't understand w

hat's demanded of them

. If it's "service," why aren't

they treated like a p

ublic service? A

nd if it's m

oney, then w

hy aren'tthey free to com

pete for it? No one seem

s to know, really. T

hose who

claim to

know

keep chang

ing their m

inds. N

obody in autho

rity seems

willing

to g

rasp the nettle fo

r once and

all.

Telephone people from

other countries are amazed b

y the Am

ericantelephone system

today. Not that it w

orks so well; for now

adays even theFrench telephone system

works, m

ore or less. They are am

azed that theA

merican telep

hone system

*still* works *at all,* und

er these strange

cond

itions.

Bell's "O

ne System

" of lo

ng-d

istance service is now

only ab

out eig

htypercent o

f a system, w

ith the remaind

er held b

y Sprint, M

CI, and

them

idget lo

ng-d

istance com

panies. U

gly w

ars over d

ubio

us corp

orate

practices such as "slamm

ing" (an underhanded m

ethod of snitchingclien

ts from

rivals) break o

ut w

ith so

me reg

ularity in

the realm

of

long

-distance service. T

he battle to

break B

ell's long

-distance m

ono

p-

oly was long

and ugly, and since the b

reakup the battlefield has not

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beco

me m

uch prettier. A

T&

T's fam

ous sham

e-and-b

lame ad

vertise-m

ents, which em

phasized

the shoddy w

ork and

purp

orted

ethical shadi-

ness of their co

mpetito

rs, were m

uch remarked

on fo

r their studied

psycho

logical cruelty.

There is m

uch bad

blo

od in this ind

ustry, and m

uch long

-treasuredresentm

ent. AT&

T's p

ost-b

reakup co

rporate lo

go, a strip

ed sp

here, iskno

wn in the ind

ustry as the "Death S

tar" (a reference from

the movie

*Star W

ars,* in which the "D

eath Star" w

as the spherical hig

h- techfo

rtress of th

e harsh

-breath

ing im

perial u

ltra-bad

die, D

arth V

ader.)

Even AT&

T em

plo

yees are less than thrilled b

y the Death S

tar. A p

opu-

lar (thoug

h banned

) T- shirt am

ong

AT&

T em

plo

yees bears the o

ld-

fashioned

Bell lo

go o

f the Bell S

ystem, p

lus the newfang

led strip

edsp

here, with the b

efore-and

-after com

ments: "T

his is your b

rain —This is yo

ur brain o

n drug

s!" AT&

T m

ade a very w

ell-financed and

determ

ined effo

rt to b

reak into the p

ersonal co

mputer m

arket; it was

disastro

us, and telco

com

puter exp

erts are derisively kno

wn b

y theirco

mpetito

rs as "the pole-clim

bers." A

T&

T and

the Bab

y Bell arb

ocks

still seem to

have few friend

s.

Und

er cond

itions o

f sharp co

mm

ercial com

petitio

n, a crash like that of

January 15

, 19

90

was a m

ajor em

barrassm

ent to A

T&

T. It w

as a direct

blo

w ag

ainst th

eir m

uch

-treasu

red re

putatio

n fo

r reliab

ility. With

indays o

f the crash AT&

T's C

hief Executive Officer, B

ob A

llen, officially

apolo

gized

, in terms o

f deep

ly pained

humility:

"AT&

T had

a majo

r service disrup

tion last M

ond

ay. We d

idn't live up

toour o

wn stand

ards o

f quality, and

we d

idn't live up

to yo

urs. It's as sim-

ple as that. And that's not acceptable to us. O

r to you.... We understand

how m

uch people have come to depend upon A

T&

T service, so our A

T&

TBell Lab

orato

ries scientists and o

ur network eng

ineers are doing

every-thing

possib

le to g

uard ag

ainst a recurrence.... We kno

w there's no

way

to make up for the inconvenience this prob

lem m

ay have caused you."

Mr A

llen's "open letter to

custom

ers" was p

rinted in lavish ad

s all over

the country: in the *W

all Street Jo

urnal,* *USA

Today,* *N

ew Y

ork

Tim

es,* *L

os A

ngele

s Tim

es,* *C

hicag

o T

ribune,* *P

hilad

elp

hia

Inquire

r,* *San

Francisco

Chro

nicle

Exam

iner,* *B

osto

n G

lobe,*

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*Dallas M

orn

ing N

ew

s,* *Detro

it Free P

ress,* *W

ashin

gto

n P

ost,*

*Housto

n C

hro

nicle

,* *Cle

velan

d P

lain D

eale

r,* *Atlan

ta Journ

alC

onstitu

tion,* *M

inneap

olis S

tar Trib

une,* *S

t. Pau

l Pio

neer P

ress

Disp

atch,* *Seattle T

imes/Po

st Intelligencer,* *T

acom

a New

sT

ribune,* *M

iami H

erald

,* *Pittsb

urg

h P

ress,* *S

t. Louis P

ost

Disp

atch,* *Denver Po

st,* *Phoenix R

epub

lic Gazette* and

*Tam

pa

Trib

une.*

In another press release, AT&

T w

ent to some pains to suggest that this

"softw

are glitch" *m

ight* have hap

pened

just as easily to M

CI,

althoug

h, in fact, it hadn't. (M

CI's sw

itching so

ftware w

as quite d

iffer-ent from

AT&

T's —

though not necessarily any safer.) A

T&

T also

announced their plans to offer a rebate of service on V

alentine's Day to

make up

for the lo

ss during

the Crash.

"Every technical resource availab

le, including

Bell Lab

s scientists andeng

ineers, has been d

evoted

to assuring

it will no

t occur ag

ain," thepub

lic was told. T

hey were further assured that "T

he chances of arecurrence are sm

all — a p

roblem

of this m

agnitud

e never occurred

befo

re."

In the meantim

e, how

ever, police and

corp

orate security m

aintainedtheir o

wn susp

icions ab

out "the chances o

f recurrence" and the real

reason why a "prob

lem of this m

agnitude" had appeared, seem

ingly out

of no

where. Po

lice and security knew

for a fact that hackers o

funp

recedented

sophisticatio

n were illeg

ally entering, and

repro

gram

-m

ing, certain d

igital sw

itching statio

ns. Rum

ors o

f hidden "viruses"

and secret "lo

gic b

om

bs" in the sw

itches ran rampant in the und

er-gro

und, w

ith much cho

rtling o

ver AT&

T's p

redicam

ent, and id

le specu-

lation o

ver what unsung

hacker genius w

as responsib

le for it. S

om

ehackers, includ

ing p

olice info

rmants, w

ere trying hard

to fing

er one

another as the true culp

rits of the C

rash.

Telco

peo

ple fo

und little co

mfo

rt in objectivity w

hen they contem

plated

these possibilities. It w

as just too close to the bone for them

; it was

embarrassing

; it hurt so m

uch, it was hard

even to talk ab

out.

There has alw

ays been thieving

and m

isbehavio

r in the pho

ne system.

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There has alw

ays been tro

uble w

ith the rival indep

endents, and

in thelocal loops. B

ut to have such trouble in the core of the system

, the long-

distance sw

itching statio

ns, is a horrifying

affair. To telco

peo

ple, this

is all the difference b

etween find

ing ro

aches in your kitchen and

big

horrid

sew

er-rats in

your b

edro

om

.

From the outside, to the averag

e citizen, the telcos still seem g

igantic

and im

perso

nal. The A

merican p

ublic seem

s to reg

ard them

as som

e-thing

akin to Soviet apparats. Even when the telcos do their b

est corpo-rate- citizen ro

utine, subsid

izing m

agnet hig

h-schools and

sponso

ringnew

s-show

s on p

ublic televisio

n, they seem to

win little excep

t pub

licsusp

icion.

But fro

m the insid

e, all this looks very d

ifferent. There's harsh co

mpe-

tition. A leg

al and political system that seem

s baffled and b

ored, when

not actively hostile to telco interests. There's a loss of m

orale, a deepsensation of having som

ehow lost the upper hand. T

echnological changehas caused a loss of data and revenue to other, new

er forms of transm

is-sion. T

here's theft, and new form

s of theft, of grow

ing scale and b

old-ness and

sophisticatio

n. With all these facto

rs, it was no

surprise to

seethe telco

s, large and

small, b

reak out in a litany o

f bitter co

mplaint.

In late '88

and thro

ugho

ut 19

89

, telco rep

resentatives grew

shrill intheir co

mplaints to

those few

Am

erican law enfo

rcement o

fficials who

make it their b

usiness to try to understand w

hat telephone people aretalking

about. T

elco security o

fficials had d

iscovered

the com

puter-

hacker underg

round

, infiltrated it tho

roug

hly, and b

ecom

e deep

lyalarm

ed at its grow

ing expertise. H

ere they had found a target that w

asno

t only lo

athsom

e on its face, b

ut clearly ripe fo

r counterattack.

Tho

se bitter rivals: A

T&

T, M

CI and

Sprint —

and a cro

wd o

f Bab

y Bells:

PacBell, B

ell South, S

outhw

estern Bell, N

YN

EX, U

SW

est, as well as the

Bell research co

nsortium

Bellco

re, and the ind

epend

ent long

-distance

carrier Mid

-Am

erican —

all were to

have th

eir role in

the g

reat hack-

er dragnet of 1990. A

fter years of being battered and pushed around,the telco

s had, at least in a sm

all way, seized

the initiative again. A

fteryears o

f turmoil, telco

s and g

overnm

ent officials w

ere once ag

ain tow

ork smoothly in concert in defense of the System

. Optim

ism b

lossomed;

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enthusiasm grew

on all sides; the prospective taste of vengeance was

sweet.

__

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From the beginning —

even before the crackdown had a nam

e — secrecy

was a b

ig prob

lem. T

here were m

any good reasons for secrecy in the

hacker crackdow

n. Hackers and

code-thieves w

ere wily p

rey, slinkingback to

their bed

room

s and b

asements and

destro

ying vital incrim

inat-ing

evidence at the first hint o

f troub

le. Furthermore, the crim

es them-

selves were heavily technical and

difficult to

describ

e, even to p

olice —

much less to

the general p

ublic.

When such crim

es *had* b

een describ

ed intellig

ibly to

the pub

lic, inthe p

ast, that very pub

licity had tend

ed to

*increase* the crimes eno

r-m

ously. T

elco o

fficials, while p

ainfu

lly aware o

f the vu

lnerab

ilities of

their systems, w

ere anxious no

t to p

ublicize tho

se weaknesses.

Experience showed them

that those weaknesses, once discovered, w

ouldbe p

itilessly explo

ited b

y tens of tho

usands o

f peo

ple —

not o

nly by p

ro-

fessional g

rifters and b

y underg

round

hackers and p

hone p

hreaks, but

by m

any otherw

ise more-o

r-less honest everyd

ay folks, w

ho reg

arded

stealing service fro

m the faceless, so

ulless "Phone C

om

pany" as a kind

of harm

less indoor sp

ort. W

hen it came to

pro

tecting their interests,

telcos had long since g

iven up on general pub

lic sympathy for "the V

oicew

ith a Sm

ile." Now

adays the telco

's "Voice" w

as very likely to b

e aco

mputer's; and

the Am

erican pub

lic show

ed m

uch less of the p

roper

respect and gratitude due the fine pub

lic service bequeathed them

by D

r.Bell and

Mr. V

ail. The m

ore efficient, hig

h-tech, com

puterized

, andim

personal the telcos became, it seem

ed, the more they w

ere met by

sullen pub

lic resentment and

amoral g

reed.

Telco

officials w

anted to

punish the p

hone-p

hreak underg

round

, in aspub

lic and exem

plary a m

anner as possib

le. They w

anted to

make d

ireexam

ples o

f the worst o

ffenders, to

seize the ringlead

ers and intim

idate

the small fry, to

disco

urage and

frighten the w

acky hobbyists, and

sendth

e pro

fessional g

rifters to jail. T

o d

o all th

is, publicity w

as vital.

Yet operational secrecy was even m

ore so. If word got out that a nation-

wid

e crackdow

n was co

ming

, the hackers mig

ht simply vanish; d

estroy

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the evidence, hid

e their com

puters, g

o to

earth, and w

ait for the cam

-paig

n to b

low

over. Even the yo

ung hackers w

ere crafty and susp

icious,

and as fo

r the pro

fessional g

rifters, they tended

to sp

lit for the nearest

state-line at the first sign o

f troub

le. For the crackd

ow

n to w

ork w

ell,they w

ould all have to be caught red-handed, swept upon suddenly, out of

the blue, fro

m every co

rner of the co

mpass.

And

there was ano

ther strong

motive fo

r secrecy. In the worst-case

scenario, a blown cam

paign might leave the telcos open to a devastating

hacker counter-attack. If there w

ere indeed

hackers loose in A

merica

who

had caused

the January 15

Crash —

if there were truly g

ifted hack-

ers, loose in the natio

n's long

-distance sw

itching system

s, and enrag

edor frig

htened b

y the crackdow

n — then they m

ight react unp

redictab

lyto an attem

pt to collar them. Even if caught, they m

ight have talentedand

vengeful friend

s still running aro

und lo

ose. C

onceivab

ly, it could

turn ugly. V

ery ugly. In fact, it w

as hard to

imag

ine just how

ugly

things m

ight turn, g

iven that possib

ility.

Counter-attack fro

m hackers w

as a genuine co

ncern for the telco

s. Inpoint o

f fact, they would

never suffer any such counter-attack. B

ut inm

onths to come, they w

ould be at some pains to publicize this notion and

to utter g

rim w

arnings ab

out it.

Still, that risk seem

ed w

ell worth running

. Better to

run the risk of

vengeful attacks, than to

live at the mercy o

f potential crashers. A

nyco

p w

ould

tell you that a p

rotectio

n racket had no

real future.

And

pub

licity was such a useful thing

. Corp

orate security o

fficers,includ

ing telco

security, generally w

ork und

er cond

itions o

f great d

is-cretio

n. And

corp

orate security o

fficials do no

t make m

oney fo

r theirco

mpanies. T

heir job is to

*prevent the lo

ss* of m

oney, w

hich is much

less glam

oro

us than actually winning

pro

fits.

If you are a co

rporate secu

rity official, an

d yo

u d

o yo

ur jo

b b

rilliantly,

then nothing bad happens to your company at all. B

ecause of this, youap

pear co

mpletely sup

erfluous. T

his is one o

f the many unattractive

aspects of security work. It's rare that these folks have the chance to

draw som

e healthy attention to their own efforts.

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Publicity also

served the interest o

f their friends in law

enforcem

ent.Public o

fficials, inclu

din

g law

enfo

rcemen

t officials, th

rive by attract-

ing favo

rable p

ublic interest. A

brilliant p

rosecutio

n in a matter o

fvital p

ublic interest can m

ake the career of a p

rosecuting

attorney. A

ndfo

r a police o

fficer, good p

ublicity o

pens the p

urses of the leg

islature; itm

ay bring

a citation, o

r a pro

motio

n, or at least a rise in status and

theresp

ect of o

ne's peers.

But to have both publicity and secrecy is to have one's cake and eat it too.

In months to

com

e, as we w

ill show

, this impossib

le act was to

causegreat pain to the ag

ents of the crackdown. B

ut early on, it seemed possi-

ble —

mayb

e even likely — that the crackd

ow

n could

successfully com

-bine the b

est of b

oth w

orld

s. The *arrest* o

f hackers would

be heavily

pub

licized. T

he actual *deed

s* of the hackers, w

hich were technically

hard to

explain and

also a security risk, w

ould

be left d

ecently obscured

.The *threat* hackers p

osed

would

be heavily trum

peted

; the likelihood

of their actually co

mm

itting such fearso

me crim

es would

be left to

thepub

lic's imag

ination. T

he spread

of the co

mputer und

ergro

und, and

itsgro

wing

technical sophisticatio

n, would

be heavily p

rom

oted

; the actualhackers them

selves, mostly b

espectacled

mid

dle-class w

hite suburb

anteenag

ers, would

be d

enied any p

ersonal p

ublicity.

It does not seem to have occurred to any telco official that the hackers

accused w

ould

dem

and a d

ay in court; that jo

urnalists would

smile up

on

the hackers as "good co

py;" that w

ealthy high-tech entrep

reneursw

ould

offer m

oral and

financial support to

crackdow

n victims; that co

n-stitutio

nal lawyers w

ould

show

up w

ith briefcases, fro

wning

mig

htily.This possib

ility does not seem to have ever entered the g

ame-plan.

And

even if it had, it p

robab

ly would

not have slo

wed

the ferocio

us pur-

suit of a sto

len pho

ne-com

pany d

ocum

ent, mellifluo

usly know

n as"C

ontro

l Office A

dm

inistration o

f Enhanced 9

11

Services fo

r Special

Services and

Majo

r Acco

unt Centers."

In the chapters to

follo

w, w

e will exp

lore the w

orld

s of p

olice and

theco

mputer und

ergro

und, and

the large shad

ow

y area where they o

verlap.

But first, w

e must exp

lore the b

attlegro

und. B

efore w

e leave the world

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of the telcos, we m

ust understand what a sw

itching system

actually isand

how

your telep

hone actually w

orks.

__

__

_

To the averag

e citizen, the idea of the telephone is represented by, w

ell,a *telep

hone:* a d

evice that you talk into

. To a telco

pro

fessional, ho

w-

ever, the telepho

ne itself is know

n, in lord

ly fashion, as a "sub

set."The "sub

set" in your ho

use is a mere ad

junct, a distant nerve end

ing, o

fthe central sw

itching statio

ns, which are ranked

in levels of heirarchy,

up to

the long

-distance electro

nic switching

stations, w

hich are som

e of

the largest co

mputers o

n earth.

Let us imag

ine that it is, say, 19

25

, befo

re the introductio

n of co

mput-

ers, when the phone system

was sim

pler and somew

hat easier to grasp.

Let's further imag

ine that you are M

iss Leticia Luthor, a fictio

nal oper-

ator fo

r Ma B

ell in New

York C

ity of the 2

0s.

Basically, yo

u, Miss Lutho

r, *are* the "switching

system." Y

ou are

sitting in fro

nt of a larg

e vertical switchb

oard

, know

n as a "cord

board

,"m

ade o

f shiny wooden p

anels, with ten tho

usand m

etal-rimm

ed ho

lespunched

in them, kno

wn as jacks. T

he engineers w

ould

have put m

ore

holes into your switchb

oard, but ten thousand is as m

any as you canreach w

ithout actually having

to g

et up o

ut of yo

ur chair.

Each of these ten tho

usand ho

les has its ow

n little electric lightb

ulb,

know

n as a "lamp," and

its ow

n neatly printed

number co

de.

With the ease o

f long

habit, yo

u are scanning yo

ur board

for lit-up

bulbs. This is w

hat you do most of the tim

e, so you are used to it.

A lam

p lights up. This m

eans that the phone at the end of that line hasbeen taken off the hook. W

henever a handset is taken off the hook, thatclo

ses a circuit inside the p

hone w

hich then signals the lo

cal office, i.e.

you, auto

matically. T

here mig

ht be so

meb

ody calling

, or then ag

ain thephone m

ight be simply off the hook, but this does not m

atter to you yet.The first thing

you d

o, is reco

rd that num

ber in yo

ur logbook, in yo

urfin

e Am

erican p

ublic-sch

ool h

andw

riting. T

his co

mes first, n

aturally,

since it is done fo

r billing

purp

oses.

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You no

w take the p

lug o

f your answ

ering co

rd, w

hich goes d

irectly toyo

ur headset, and

plug

it into the lit-up

hole. "O

perato

r," you anno

unce.

In operato

r's classes, befo

re taking this jo

b, yo

u have been issued

alarg

e pam

phlet full o

f canned o

perato

r's responses fo

r all kinds o

f con-

tingencies, w

hich you had to mem

orize. You have also b

een trained in apro

per no

n- regio

nal, non-ethnic p

ronunciatio

n and to

ne of vo

ice. You

rarely have the occasion to make any spontaneous rem

ark to a cus-to

mer, and

in fact this is frow

ned up

on (excep

t out o

n the rural linesw

here peo

ple have tim

e on their hand

s and g

et up to

all kinds o

f mis-

chief).

A tough-sounding user's voice at the end of the line gives you a num

ber.Im

med

iately, you w

rite that number d

ow

n in your lo

gbook, next to

thecaller's num

ber, w

hich you just w

rote earlier. Y

ou then lo

ok and

see ifthe num

ber this g

uy wants is in fact o

n your sw

itchboard

, which it g

en-erally is, since it's g

enerally a local call. Lo

ng d

istance costs so

much

that peo

ple use it sp

aringly.

Only then do you pick up a calling

-cord from a shelf at the b

ase of thesw

itchboard. T

his is a long elastic cord m

ounted on a kind of reel so thatit w

ill zip b

ack in when yo

u unplug

it. There are a lo

t of co

rds d

ow

nthere, and w

hen a bunch of them are out at once they look like a nest of

snakes. Som

e of the g

irls think there are bug

s living in tho

se cable-

holes. They're called "cable m

ites" and are supposed to bite your handsand

give yo

u rashes. You d

on't b

elieve this, yourself.

Grip

ping

the head o

f your calling

-cord

, you slip

the tip o

f it deftly into

the sleeve of the jack for the called person. Not all the w

ay in, though.

You just to

uch it. If you hear a clicking

sound

, that means the line is

busy and yo

u can't put the call throug

h. If the line is busy, yo

u have tostick the calling

-cord

into a "b

usy-tone jack," w

hich will g

ive the guy a

busy-to

ne. This w

ay you do

n't have to talk to

him yo

urself and abso

rbhis n

atural h

um

an fru

stration.

But the line isn't b

usy. So yo

u pop the co

rd all the w

ay in. Relay cir-

cuits in your b

oard

make the d

istant pho

ne ring, and

if som

ebody p

icks

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it up off the hook, then a phone conversation starts. You can hear thisco

nversation o

n your answ

ering co

rd, until yo

u unplug

it. In fact you

could

listen to the w

hole co

nversation if yo

u wanted

, but this is sternly

frow

ned up

on b

y manag

ement, and

frankly, when yo

u've overheard

one,

you've p

retty much heard

'em all.

You can tell ho

w lo

ng the co

nversation lasts b

y the glo

w o

f the calling-

cord

's lamp, d

ow

n on the calling

-cord

's shelf. When it's o

ver, you

unplug

and the calling

-cord

zips b

ack into p

lace.

Having done this stuff a few

hundred thousand times, you becom

e quitegood at it. In fact you're plugging, and connecting, and disconnecting,ten, tw

enty, forty co

rds at a tim

e. It's a manual hand

icraft, really,quite satisfying

in a way, rather like w

eaving o

n an uprig

ht loom

.

Sho

uld a lo

ng-d

istance call com

e up, it w

ould

be d

ifferent, but no

t allthat different. Instead of connecting

the call through your ow

n localsw

itchboard, you have to g

o up the hierarchy, onto the long-distance

lines, know

n as "trunklines." Dep

ending

on ho

w far the call g

oes, it m

ayhave to

work its w

ay throug

h a who

le series of o

perato

rs, which can

take quite a w

hile. The caller d

oesn't w

ait on the line w

hile this com

-plex process is negotiated across the country by the gaggle of operators.Instead

, the caller hangs up

, and yo

u call him b

ack yourself w

hen thecall has finally w

orked

its way thro

ugh.

After fo

ur or five years o

f this work, yo

u get m

arried, and

you have to

quit yo

ur job, this b

eing the natural o

rder o

f wom

anhood in the

Am

erican 1920s. T

he phone company has to train som

ebody else —m

aybe two people, since the phone system

has grown som

ewhat in the

meantim

e. And this costs m

oney.

In fact, to use any kind

of hum

an being

as a switching

system is a very

expensive p

ropositio

n. Eight tho

usand Leticia Lutho

rs would

be b

aden

ough, b

ut a q

uarter o

f a millio

n o

f them

is a military-scale p

roposi-

tion and

makes d

rastic measures in auto

matio

n financially worthw

hile.

Although the phone system

continues to grow today, the num

ber ofhum

an being

s employed b

y telcos has been dropping

steadily for years.

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Phone "o

perato

rs" now

deal w

ith nothing

but unusual co

ntingencies, all

routine operations having been shrugged off onto m

achines.Conseq

uently, telepho

ne operato

rs are consid

erably less m

achine-likenow

adays, and have been known to have accents and actual character in

their voices. W

hen you reach a hum

an operato

r today, the o

perato

rs arerather m

ore "hum

an" than they were in Leticia's d

ay — b

ut on the o

therhand

, human b

eings in the p

hone system

are much hard

er to reach in the

first place.

Over the first half o

f the twentieth century, "electro

mechanical"

switching

systems o

f gro

wing

com

plexity w

ere cautiously intro

duced

into the p

hone system

. In certain backw

aters, som

e of these hyb

ridsystem

s are still in use. But after 1

965, the phone system

beg

an to go

completely electronic, and this is b

y far the dominant m

ode today.Electro

mechanical system

s have "crossb

ars," and "b

rushes," and o

therlarg

e moving

mechanical p

arts, which, w

hile faster and cheap

er thanLeticia, are still slo

w, and

tend to

wear o

ut fairly quickly.

But fully electro

nic systems are inscrib

ed o

n silicon chip

s, and are

lightning

-fast, very cheap, and

quite d

urable. T

hey are much cheap

erto m

aintain than even the best electrom

echanical systems, and they fit

into half the sp

ace. And

with every year, the silico

n chip g

row

s small-

er, faster, and cheap

er yet. Best o

f all, autom

ated electro

nics work

around

the clock and

don't have salaries o

r health insurance.

There are, ho

wever, q

uite serious d

rawbacks to

the use of co

mputer-

chips. When they do b

reak down, it is a daunting

challenge to fig

ure outw

hat the heck has gone wrong w

ith them. A

broken cordboard generallyhad

a pro

blem

in it big

enoug

h to see. A

bro

ken chip has invisib

le,m

icroscopic faults. And the faults in bad softw

are can be so subtle as tobe p

ractically theolo

gical.

If you want a m

echanical system to do som

ething new, then you m

usttravel to

where it is, and

pull p

ieces out o

f it, and w

ire in new p

ieces.This costs m

oney. How

ever, if you want a chip to do som

ething new

, allyo

u have to d

o is chang

e its softw

are, which is easy, fast and

dirt-cheap

.You don't even have to see the chip to change its program

. Even if you didsee the chip

, it would

n't look like m

uch. A chip

with p

rogram

X d

oesn't

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look o

ne whit d

ifferent from

a chip w

ith pro

gram

Y.

With the proper codes and sequences, and access to specialized phone-

lines, you can chang

e electronic sw

itching system

s all over A

merica

from

anywhere yo

u please.

And so can other people. If they know

how, and if they w

ant to, they cansneak into

a micro

chip via the sp

ecial pho

nelines and d

iddle w

ith it,leaving

no p

hysical trace at all. If they bro

ke into the o

perato

r's station

and held

Leticia at gunp

oint, that w

ould

be very o

bvio

us. If they bro

keinto

a telco b

uilding

and w

ent after an electrom

echanical switch w

ith atoolbelt, that w

ould at least leave many traces. B

ut people can do allm

anner of am

azing thing

s to co

mputer sw

itches just by typ

ing o

n a key-board

, and keyb

oard

s are everywhere to

day. T

he extent of this vulnera-

bility is d

eep, d

ark, bro

ad, alm

ost m

ind-b

oggling

, and yet this is a

basic, p

rimal fact o

f life about any co

mputer o

n a network.

Security exp

erts over the p

ast twenty years have insisted

, with g

row

ingurg

ency, that this basic vulnerab

ility of co

mputers rep

resents anentirely new

level of risk, o

f unknow

n but o

bvio

usly dire p

otential to

society. A

nd they are rig

ht.

An electro

nic switching

station d

oes p

retty much everything

Letitia did

,except in nanoseconds and on a m

uch larger scale. Com

pared to Miss

Luthor's ten tho

usand jacks, even a p

rimitive 1

ESS sw

itching co

mputer,

60

s vintage, has a 1

28

,00

0 lines. A

nd the current A

T&

T system

of

choice is the m

onstro

us fifth-generatio

n 5ES

S.

An Electro

nic Sw

itching S

tation can scan every line o

n its "board

" in atenth of a second, and it does this over and over, tirelessly, around theclock. Instead of eyes, it uses "ferrod scanners" to check the condition oflo

cal lines and trunks. Instead

of hand

s, it has "signal d

istributo

rs,""central p

ulse distrib

utors," "m

agnetic latching

relays," and "reed

switches," w

hich com

plete and

break the calls. Instead

of a b

rain, it hasa "central p

rocesso

r." Instead o

f an instruction m

anual, it has a pro

-gram

. Instead o

f a handw

ritten logbook fo

r record

ing and

billing

calls,it has m

agnetic tapes. And it never has to talk to anybody. Everything a

custom

er mig

ht say to it is d

one b

y punching

the direct-d

ial tone b

ut-

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tons o

n your sub

set.

Althoug

h an Electronic Switching

Station can't talk, it does need aninterface, so

me w

ay to relate to

its, er, emplo

yers. This interface is

know

n as the "master co

ntrol center." (T

his interface mig

ht be b

etterkno

wn sim

ply as "the interface," since it d

oesn't actually "co

ntrol"

pho

ne calls directly. H

ow

ever, a term like "M

aster Contro

l Center" is

just the kind o

f rhetoric that telco

maintenance eng

ineers — and

hack-ers —

find p

articularly

satisfyin

g.)

Using

the master control center, a phone eng

ineer can test local andtru

nk lin

es for m

alfunctio

ns. H

e (rarely she) can

check vario

us alarm

disp

lays, measure traffic o

n the lines, examine the reco

rds o

f telepho

neusage and the charges for those calls, and change the program

ming.

And, of course, anybody else w

ho gets into the master control center by

remote co

ntrol can also

do these thing

s, if he (rarely she) has manag

edto

figure them

out, o

r, more likely, has so

meho

w sw

iped

the know

ledge

from

peo

ple w

ho alread

y know

.

In 1

98

9 an

d 1

99

0, o

ne p

articular R

BO

C, B

ellSouth

, which

felt partic-

ularly troub

led, sp

ent a purp

orted

$1

.2 m

illion o

n com

puter security.

Som

e think it spent as m

uch as two m

illion, if yo

u count all the asso

ci-ated

costs. T

wo m

illion d

ollars is still very little co

mpared

to the g

reatco

st-saving utility o

f telepho

nic com

puter system

s.

Unfo

rtunately, com

puters are also

stupid

. Unlike hum

an being

s, com

-puters p

ossess the truly p

rofo

und stup

idity o

f the inanimate.

In the 19

60

s, in the first shocks o

f spread

ing co

mputerizatio

n, therew

as much easy talk about the stupidity of com

puters — how

they could"o

nly follo

w the p

rogram

" and w

ere rigid

ly required

to d

o "o

nly what

they were told." T

here has been rather less talk ab

out the stupidity ofcom

puters since they began to achieve grandmaster status in chess

tournam

ents, and to

manifest m

any other im

pressive fo

rms o

f apparent

cleverness.

Nevertheless, co

mputers *still* are p

rofo

undly b

rittle and stup

id; they

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are simply vastly m

ore sub

tle in their stupid

ity and b

rittleness. The

com

puters o

f the 19

90

s are much m

ore reliab

le in their com

ponents

than earlier com

puter system

s, but they are also

called up

on to

do far

more co

mplex thing

s, under far m

ore challeng

ing co

nditio

ns.

On a b

asic mathem

atical level, every single line o

f a softw

are pro

gram

offers a chance fo

r som

e possib

le screwup

. Softw

are does no

t sit stillw

hen it works; it "runs," it interacts w

ith itself and w

ith its ow

n inputs

and o

utputs. B

y analogy, it stretches like p

utty into m

illions o

f possib

leshapes and conditions, so m

any shapes that they can never all be suc-

cessfully tested, not even in the lifespan of the universe. Sometim

es theputty snap

s.

The stuff w

e call "softw

are" is not like anything

that human so

ciety isused

to thinking

about. S

oftw

are is som

ething like a m

achine, and so

me-

thing like m

athematics, and

som

ething like lang

uage, and

som

ething like

thought, and art, and inform

ation.... but softw

are is not in fact any ofthose other things. T

he protean quality of software is one of the great

sources o

f its fascination. It also

makes so

ftware very p

ow

erful, verysu

btle, very u

npred

ictable, an

d very risky.

Some softw

are is bad and b

uggy. Som

e is "robust," even "b

ulletproof."The best softw

are is that which has been tested by thousands of users

under tho

usands o

f different co

nditio

ns, over years. It is then kno

wn as

"stable." T

his does *no

t* mean that the so

ftware is no

w flaw

less, freeof b

ugs. It g

enerally means that there are p

lenty of b

ugs in it, b

ut thebug

s are well-id

entified and

fairly well und

erstood.

There is sim

ply no

way to

assure that softw

are is free of flaw

s. Tho

ugh

softw

are is mathem

atical in nature, it cannot b

y "pro

ven" like a mathe-

matical theo

rem; so

ftware is m

ore like lang

uage, w

ith inherent ambi-

guities, w

ith d

ifferent d

efinitio

ns, d

ifferent assu

mptio

ns, d

ifferent lev-

els of m

eaning that can co

nflict.

Hum

an being

s can manag

e, more or less, w

ith human lang

uage b

ecausew

e can catch the gist of it.

Com

puters, d

espite years o

f effort in "artificial intellig

ence," have

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pro

ven spectacularly b

ad in "catching

the gist" o

f anything at all. T

hetiniest b

it of sem

antic grit m

ay still bring

the mig

htiest com

puter tum

-bling dow

n. One of the m

ost hazardous things you can do to a computer

pro

gram

is try to im

pro

ve it — to

try to m

ake it safer. Softw

are"p

atches" represent new

, untried un- "stab

le" softw

are, which is b

ydefin

ition riskie

r.

The m

odern telep

hone system

has com

e to d

epend

, utterly and irretriev-

ably, up

on so

ftware. A

nd the S

ystem C

rash of January 1

5, 1

99

0, w

ascaused

by an *im

pro

vement* in so

ftware. O

r rather, an *attempted

*im

pro

vement.

As it happened, the prob

lem itself —

the problem

per se — took this

form. A

piece of telco software had b

een written in C

languag

e, a stan-dard language of the telco field. W

ithin the C softw

are was a long "do...

while" co

nstruct. The "d

o... w

hile" construct co

ntained a "sw

itch" state-m

ent. The "sw

itch" statement contained an "if" clause. T

he "if" clauseco

ntained a "b

reak." The "b

reak" was *sup

posed

* to "b

reak" the "ifclause." Instead, the "b

reak" broke the "sw

itch" statement.

That w

as the problem

, the actual reason why people picking

up phoneson January 1

5, 1

99

0, co

uld no

t talk to o

ne another.

Or at least, that w

as the subtle, ab

stract, cybersp

atial seed o

f the pro

b-

lem. T

his is how

the pro

blem

manifested

itself from

the realm o

f pro

-gram

ming

into the realm

of real life.

The S

ystem 7

softw

are for A

T&

T's 4

ESS sw

itching statio

n, the "Generic

44

E14

Central O

ffice Sw

itch Softw

are," had b

een extensively tested, and

was considered very stable. B

y the end of 1989, eighty of A

T&

T's

switching

systems natio

nwid

e had b

een pro

gram

med

with the new

soft-

ware. C

autiously, thirty- fo

ur stations w

ere left to run the slo

wer,

less-capable System

6, b

ecause AT&

T suspected there m

ight b

e shake-dow

n problem

s with the new

and unprecedently sophisticated System 7

network.

The stations w

ith System 7

were prog

ramm

ed to switch over to a b

ackupnet in case o

f any pro

blem

s. In mid

-Decem

ber 1

98

9, ho

wever, a new

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high-velo

city, high- security so

ftware p

atch was d

istributed

to each o

fthe 4

ESS switches that w

ould enable them to sw

itch over even more

quickly, m

aking the S

ystem 7

network that m

uch more secure.

Unfo

rtunately, every one o

f these 4ES

S sw

itches was no

w in p

ossessio

nof a sm

all but d

eadly flaw

.

In ord

er to m

aintain the network, sw

itches must m

onito

r the cond

ition

of o

ther switches —

whether they are up

and running

, whether they

have temporarily shut dow

n, whether they are overloaded and in need of

assistance, and so forth. The new

software helped control this b

ook-keep

ing functio

n by m

onito

ring the status calls fro

m o

ther switches.

It only takes fo

ur to six seco

nds fo

r a troub

led 4

ESS sw

itch to rid

itselfof all its calls, d

rop everything

temporarily, and

re-boot its so

ftware

from

scratch. S

tarting o

ver from

scratch w

ill gen

erally rid th

e switch

of any so

ftware p

roblem

s that may have d

eveloped

in the course o

f run-ning

the system. B

ugs that arise w

ill be sim

ply w

iped

out b

y thispro

cess. It is a clever idea. T

his pro

cess of auto

matically re-b

ooting

from

scratch is know

n as the "norm

al fault recovery ro

utine." Since

AT&

T's so

ftware is in fact excep

tionally stab

le, systems rarely have to

go into

"fault recovery" in the first p

lace; but A

T&

T has alw

ays boasted

of its "real w

orld

" reliability, an

d th

is tactic is a belt-an

d-su

spen

ders

routine.

The 4

ESS sw

itch used its new

softw

are to m

onito

r its fellow

switches as

they recovered from faults. A

s other switches cam

e back on line after

recovery, they w

ould

send their "O

K" sig

nals to the sw

itch. The sw

itchw

ould make a little note to that effect in its "status m

ap," recognizing

that the fellow sw

itch was back and ready to go, and should be sent som

ecalls and

put b

ack to reg

ular work.

Unfo

rtunately, while it w

as busy b

ookkeep

ing w

ith the status map

, thetiny flaw

in the brand

-new so

ftware cam

e into p

lay. The flaw

caused the

4ES

S sw

itch to interacted

, subtly b

ut drastically, w

ith incom

ing tele-

pho

ne calls from

human users. If —

and o

nly if — tw

o inco

ming

pho

ne-calls happened to hit the sw

itch within a hundredth of a second, then a

small patch of data w

ould be garbled by the flaw.

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But the sw

itch had b

een pro

gram

med

to m

onito

r itself constantly fo

r anypossible dam

age to its data. When the sw

itch perceived that its data hadbeen som

ehow g

arbled, then it too w

ould go dow

n, for swift repairs to

its softw

are. It would

signal its fello

w sw

itches not to

send any m

ore

work. It w

ould

go into

the fault- recovery m

ode fo

r four to

six second

s.A

nd then the switch w

ould be fine again, and would send out its "O

K,

ready fo

r work" sig

nal.

How

ever, the "OK, read

y for w

ork" sig

nal was the *very thing

that hadcaused the sw

itch to go dow

n in the first place.* And *all* the System

7 sw

itches had the same flaw

in their status-map softw

are. As soon as

they stopped to make the bookkeeping note that their fellow

switch w

as"O

K," then they too w

ould become vulnerable to the slight chance that

two p

hone-calls w

ould

hit them w

ithin a hundred

th of a seco

nd.

At ap

pro

ximately 2

:25

p.m

. EST o

n Mond

ay, January 15

, one o

f AT&

T's

4ES

S to

ll switching

systems in N

ew Y

ork C

ity had an actual, leg

itimate,

mino

r pro

blem

. It went into

fault recovery ro

utines, announced

"I'mgoing

down," then announced, "I'm

back, I'm

OK." A

nd this cheery mes-

sage then blasted throughout the network to m

any of its fellow 4

ESSsw

itches.

Many o

f the switches, at first, co

mpletely escap

ed tro

uble. T

hese luckysw

itches were no

t hit by the co

incidence o

f two p

hone calls w

ithin ahundredth of a second. T

heir software did not fail —

at first. But three

switches —

in Atlanta, S

t. Louis, and

Detro

it — w

ere unlucky, and w

erecaught w

ith their hands full. And they w

ent down. A

nd they came back

up, almost im

mediately. A

nd they too began to broadcast the lethal mes-

sage that they, too, w

ere "OK" ag

ain, activating the lurking

software b

ugin yet o

ther switches.

As m

ore and more sw

itches did have that bit of bad luck and collapsed,the call-traffic b

ecame m

ore and

more d

ensely packed

in the remaining

switches, w

hich were g

roaning to keep up w

ith the load. And of course,

as the calls becam

e more densely packed, the sw

itches were *m

uch more

likely* to b

e hit twice w

ithin a hundred

th of a seco

nd.

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It only to

ok fo

ur second

s for a sw

itch to g

et well. T

here was no

*physi-

cal* dam

age o

f any kind to

the switches, after all. Physically, they

were w

orking

perfectly. T

his situation w

as "only" a so

ftware p

roblem

.

But the 4

ESS sw

itches were leap

ing up

and d

ow

n every four to

six sec-ond

s, in a virulent spread

ing w

ave all over A

merica, in utter, m

anic,m

echanical stupid

ity. They kep

t *knocking

* one ano

ther dow

n with

their contagious "OK" m

essages.

It took ab

out ten m

inutes for the chain reactio

n to crip

ple the netw

ork.

Even then, switches w

ould

perio

dically luck-o

ut and m

anage to

resume

their norm

al work. M

any calls — m

illions o

f them —

were m

anaging

toget thro

ugh. B

ut millio

ns weren't.

The sw

itching stations that used System 6

were not directly affected.

Thanks to these old-fashioned sw

itches, AT&

T's national system

avoidedcom

plete collapse. This fact also m

ade it clear to engineers that System7

was at fault.

Bell L

abs e

ngin

eers, w

orkin

g fe

verish

ly in

New

Jerse

y, Illin

ois, an

dO

hio, first tried

their entire reperto

ire of stand

ard netw

ork rem

edies

on the malfunctioning System

7. N

one of the remedies w

orked, ofcourse, because nothing like this had ever happened to any phone systembefo

re.

By cutting

out the b

ackup safety netw

ork entirely, they w

ere able to

reduce the frenzy of "OK" m

essages by about half. The system

thenbeg

an to recover, as the chain reaction slowed. B

y 11:3

0 pm

on Monday

January 15

, sweating

engineers o

n the mid

night shift b

reathed a sig

h of

relief as the last switch cleared

-up.

By T

uesday they w

ere pulling

all the brand

-new 4

ESS so

ftware and

replacin

g it w

ith an

earlier version o

f System

7.

If these had b

een human o

perato

rs, rather than com

puters at w

ork,

someone w

ould simply have eventually stopped scream

ing. It w

ould havebeen *obvious* that the situation w

as not "OK," and com

mon sense w

ouldhave kicked in. H

umans possess com

mon sense —

at least to some

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extent. Com

puters sim

ply d

on't.

On the other hand, com

puters can handle hundreds of calls per second.H

umans sim

ply can't. If every sing

le human b

eing in A

merica w

orked

for the phone company, w

e couldn't match the perform

ance of digitalsw

itches: d

irect-d

ialling, th

ree-w

ay callin

g, sp

eed-callin

g, call- w

ait-ing

, Caller ID

, all the rest of the co

rnucopia o

f dig

ital bounty.

Rep

lacing co

mputers w

ith operato

rs is simply no

t an optio

n any more.

And

yet we still, anachro

nistically, expect hum

ans to b

e running o

urphone system

. It is hard for us to understand that we have sacrificed

huge am

ounts o

f initiative and co

ntrol to

senseless yet pow

erfulm

achines. When the phones fail, w

e want som

ebody to b

e responsible.

We w

ant somebody to blam

e.

When the C

rash of January 1

5 hap

pened

, the Am

erican populace w

assim

ply no

t prep

ared to

understand

that enorm

ous land

slides in cyb

er-sp

ace, like the Crash itself, can hap

pen, and

can be no

body's fault in

particular. It w

as easier to b

elieve, mayb

e even in som

e odd w

ay more

reassuring to

believe, that so

me evil p

erson, o

r evil gro

up, had

done

this to us. "H

ackers" had d

one it. W

ith a virus. A tro

jan horse. A

soft-

ware b

om

b. A

dirty p

lot o

f som

e kind. Peo

ple b

elieved this, resp

onsi-

ble p

eople. In 1

99

0, they w

ere looking

hard fo

r evidence to

confirm

their h

eartfelt susp

icions.

And they w

ould look in a lot of places.

Com

e 19

91

, how

ever, the outlines o

f an apparent new

reality would

begin to emerge from

the fog.

On July 1

and 2

, 19

91

, com

puter-so

ftware co

llapses in telep

hone

switching

stations d

isrupted

service in Washing

ton D

C, Pittsb

urgh, Lo

sA

ngeles and San Francisco. O

nce again, seem

ingly m

inor maintenance

pro

blem

s had crip

pled

the dig

ital System

7. A

bout tw

elve millio

n peo

-ple w

ere affected in the C

rash of July 1

, 19

91

.

Said the New

York T

imes Service: "T

elephone company executives and

federal reg

ulators said

they were no

t ruling o

ut the possib

ility of sab

o-

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tage by computer hackers, but m

ost seemed to think the problem

sstem

med from

some unknow

n defect in the software running

the net-w

orks."

And sure enoug

h, within the w

eek, a red-faced software com

pany, DSC

Com

municatio

ns Corp

oratio

n of Plano

, Texas, o

wned

up to

"glitches" in

the "signal transfer p

oint" so

ftware that D

SC had

desig

ned fo

r Bell

Atlantic and

Pacific Bell. T

he imm

ediate cause o

f the July 1 C

rash was a

single m

istyped

character: one tiny typ

ograp

hical flaw in o

ne single

line of the so

ftware. O

ne mistyp

ed letter, in o

ne single line, had

dep

rived the natio

n's capital o

f pho

ne service. It was no

t particularly

surprising

that this tiny flaw had

escaped

attention: a typ

ical System

7statio

n requires *ten m

illion* lines o

f code.

On T

uesday, September 1

7, 1

991, cam

e the most spectacular outage yet.

This case had

nothing

to d

o w

ith softw

are failures — at least, no

t direct-

ly. Instead, a g

roup

of A

T&

T's sw

itching statio

ns in New

York C

ity hadsim

ply run o

ut of electrical p

ow

er and shut d

ow

n cold

. Their b

ack-upbatteries had failed. A

utomatic w

arning system

s were supposed to w

arnof the loss of battery pow

er, but those automatic system

s had failed asw

ell.

This tim

e, Kenned

y, La Guard

ia, and N

ewark airp

orts all had

their voice

and d

ata com

municatio

ns cut. This ho

rrifying event w

as particularly

ironic, as attacks o

n airport co

mputers b

y hackers had lo

ng b

een a stan-dard

nightm

are scenario, m

uch trumpeted

by co

mputer- security

experts who feared the com

puter underground. There had even been a

Hollyw

ood th

riller about sin

ister hackers ru

inin

g airp

ort co

mputers —

*Die

Hard

II.*

Now

AT&

T itself had

crippled

airports w

ith com

puter m

alfunctions —

not just o

ne airport, b

ut three at once, so

me o

f the busiest in the w

orld

.

Air traffic cam

e to a stand

still throug

hout the G

reater New

York area,

causing m

ore than 5

00

flights to

be cancelled

, in a spread

ing w

ave allover A

merica and

even into Euro

pe. A

nother 5

00

or so

flights w

eredelayed

, affecting, all in all, ab

out 8

5,0

00

passeng

ers. (One o

f thesepasseng

ers was the chairm

an of the Fed

eral Com

municatio

ns

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

G —

TH

E H

AC

KE

R C

RA

CK

DO

WN

N

OT

FO

R C

OM

ME

RC

IAL

US

E5 1

Com

missio

n.)

Strand

ed p

assengers in N

ew Y

ork and

New

Jersey were further infuri-

ated to discover that they could not even manage to m

ake a long distancepho

ne call, to exp

lain their delay to

loved

ones o

r business asso

ciates.Thanks to

the crash, about fo

ur and a half m

illion d

om

estic calls, andhalf a m

illion internatio

nal calls, failed to

get thro

ugh.

The S

eptem

ber 1

7 N

YC C

rash, unlike the previo

us ones, invo

lved no

t aw

hisper o

f "hacker" misd

eeds. O

n the contrary, b

y 19

91

, AT&

T itself

was suffering

much o

f the vilification that had

form

erly been d

irected at

hackers. Cong

ressmen w

ere grum

bling

. So w

ere state and fed

eral regu-

lators. A

nd so

was the p

ress.

For their p

art, ancient rival MC

I took o

ut snide full- p

age new

spap

erad

s in New

York, o

ffering their o

wn lo

ng- d

istance services for the

"next time that A

T&

T goes dow

n."

"You w

ould

n't find a classy co

mpany like A

T&

T using

such advertising

,"pro

tested A

T&

T C

hairman R

obert A

llen, unconvincing

ly. Once ag

ain, out

came the full-p

age A

T&

T ap

olo

gies in new

spap

ers, apolo

gies fo

r "aninexcusab

le culminatio

n of b

oth hum

an and m

echanical failure." (This

time, ho

wever, A

T&

T o

ffered no

disco

unt on later calls. U

nkind critics

suggested that AT&

T w

ere worried about setting any precedent for

refunding

the financial losses caused

by telep

hone crashes.)

Industry jo

urnals asked p

ublicly if A

T&

T w

as "asleep at the sw

itch."The telep

hone netw

ork, A

merica's p

urported

marvel o

f high-tech relia-

bility, had

gone d

ow

n three times in 1

8 m

onths. *Fo

rtune* mag

azinelisted the C

rash of September 1

7 am

ong the "Biggest B

usiness Goofs of

19

91

," cruelly paro

dying

AT&

T's ad

campaig

n in an article entitled"A

T&

T W

ants You B

ack (Safely O

n the Gro

und, G

od W

illing)."

Why had

those N

ew Y

ork sw

itching system

s simply run o

ut of p

ow

er?Because no hum

an being had attended to the alarm system

. Why did the

alarm system

s blare auto

matically, w

ithout any hum

an being

noticing

?Because the three telco

technicians who

*should

* have been listening

were ab

sent from

their stations in the p

ow

er-room

, on ano

ther floor o

f

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

G —

TH

E H

AC

KE

R C

RA

CK

DO

WN

N

OT

FO

R C

OM

ME

RC

IAL

US

E5 2

the build

ing —

attending

a training class. A

training class ab

out the

alarm system

s for the p

ow

er room

!

"Crashing the System

" was no longer "unprecedented" by late 1

991. O

nthe co

ntrary, it no lo

nger even seem

ed an o

ddity. B

y 19

91

, it was clear

that all the policemen in the w

orld could no longer "protect" the phone

system fro

m crashes. B

y far the worst crashes the system

had ever

had, had

been inflicted

, by the system

, upon *itself.* A

nd this tim

enobody w

as making cocksure statem

ents that this was an anom

aly,som

ething that would never happen again. B

y 1991 the System

'sdefenders had m

et their nebulous Enemy, and the Enem

y was —

theSystem

.

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

G —

TH

E H

AC

KE

R C

RA

CK

DO

WN

N

OT

FO

R C

OM

ME

RC

IAL

US

E5 3

PA

RT

T

WO

THE D

IGIT

AL U

NDERGROUND

The d

ate was M

ay 9, 1

99

0. T

he Pope w

as touring

Mexico

City.

Hustlers fro

m th

e Med

ellin C

artel were tryin

g to

buy b

lack-market

Sting

er missiles in Flo

rida. O

n the com

ics pag

e, Doonesb

ury characterA

ndy was dying

of AID

S. And then.... a hig

hly unusual item w

hose novel-ty and

calculated rheto

ric won it head

scratching attentio

n in newsp

apers

all over A

merica.

The U

S A

ttorney's o

ffice in Phoenix, A

rizona, had

issued a p

ress releaseanno

uncing a natio

nwid

e law enfo

rcement crackd

ow

n against "illeg

alco

mputer hacking

activities." The sw

eep w

as officially kno

wn as

"Operatio

n Sund

evil."

Eight p

aragrap

hs in the press release g

ave the bare facts: tw

enty-sevensearch w

arrants carried o

ut on M

ay 8, w

ith three arrests, and a hun-

dred

and fifty ag

ents on the p

row

l in "twelve" cities acro

ss Am

erica.(D

ifferent counts in lo

cal press rep

orts yield

ed "thirteen," "fo

urteen,"and

"sixteen" cities.) Officials estim

ated that crim

inal losses o

f rev-enue to

telepho

ne com

panies "m

ay run into m

illions o

f dollars." C

redit

for the S

undevil investig

ations w

as taken by the U

S S

ecret Service,

Assistant U

S Attorney T

im H

oltzen of Phoenix, and the Assistant

Atto

rney General o

f Arizo

na, Gail T

hackeray.

The p

repared

remarks o

f Garry M

. Jenkins, appearing

in a U.S

.D

epartm

ent of Justice p

ress release, were o

f particular interest. M

r.Jenkins w

as the Assistant D

irector o

f the US S

ecret Service, and

thehig

hest-ranking fed

eral official to

take any direct p

ublic ro

le in thehacker crackd

ow

n of 1

99

0.

"Today, the Secret Service is sending a clear m

essage to those computer

hackers who

have decid

ed to

violate the law

s of this natio

n in the mis-

taken belief that they can successfully avoid detection b

y hiding b

ehindthe relative ano

nymity o

f their com

puter term

inals.(...) "Und

ergro

undgro

ups have b

een form

ed fo

r the purp

ose o

f exchanging

inform

ation rel-

evant to their crim

inal activities. These g

roup

s often co

mm

unicate with

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

G —

TH

E H

AC

KE

R C

RA

CK

DO

WN

N

OT

FO

R C

OM

ME

RC

IAL

US

E5 4

each other through message system

s between com

puters called 'bulletinboard

s.' "Our exp

erience show

s that many co

mputer hacker susp

ects areno

long

er misg

uided

teenagers, m

ischievously p

laying g

ames w

ith theirco

mputers in their b

edro

om

s. Som

e are now

high tech co

mputer o

pera-

tors using com

puters to engag

e in unlawful conduct."

Who

were these "und

ergro

und g

roup

s" and "hig

h- tech operato

rs?"W

here had they co

me fro

m? W

hat did

they want? W

ho *w

ere* they?W

ere they "mischievo

us?" Were they d

angero

us? How

had "m

isguid

edteenagers" m

anaged to alarm the U

nited States Secret Service? And just

how

wid

espread

was this so

rt of thing

?

Of all the m

ajor p

layers in the Hacker C

rackdow

n: the pho

ne com

panies,

law enfo

rcement, the civil lib

ertarians, and the "hackers" them

selves —the "hackers" are b

y far the most m

ysterious, b

y far the hardest to

understand

, by far the *w

eirdest.*

Not o

nly are "hackers" novel in their activities, b

ut they com

e in avariety o

f odd sub

cultures, with a variety o

f languag

es, motives and

values.

The earliest p

roto

-hackers were p

robab

ly those unsung

mischievo

usteleg

raph b

oys w

ho w

ere summ

arily fired b

y the Bell C

om

pany in

18

78

.

Legitim

ate "hackers," those co

mputer enthusiasts w

ho are ind

epend

ent-m

inded

but law

-abid

ing, g

enerally trace th

eir spiritu

al ancestry to

elite technical universities, especially M

.I.T. and

Stanfo

rd, in the

19

60

s.

But the g

enuine roots o

f the modern hacker *und

ergro

und* can p

robab

lybe traced

most successfully to

a now

much-o

bscured

hippie anarchist

movem

ent known as the Y

ippies. The Y

ippies, who took their nam

efro

m the larg

ely fictional "Y

outh Internatio

nal Party," carried o

ut alo

ud an

d lively p

olicy o

f surrealistic su

bversio

n an

d o

utrag

eous p

oliti-

cal mischief. T

heir basic tenets w

ere flagrant sexual p

rom

iscuity, open

and co

pio

us drug

use, the political o

verthrow

of any p

ow

ermong

er over

thirty years of age, and an im

mediate end to the w

ar in Vietnam

, by any

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

G —

TH

E

HA

CK

ER

CR

AC

KD

OW

N

NO

T F

OR

CO

MM

ER

CIA

L U

SE

5 5

means necessary, includ

ing the p

sychic levitation o

f the Pentagon.

The tw

o m

ost visib

le Yip

pies w

ere Abbie H

offm

an and Jerry R

ubin.

Rub

in eventually becam

e a Wall S

treet bro

ker. Hoffm

an, ardently

soug

ht by fed

eral authorities, w

ent into hid

ing fo

r seven years, inM

exico, France, and

the United

States. W

hile on the lam

, Hoffm

an con-

tinued to

write and

pub

lish, with help

from

sympathizers in the

Am

erican anarcho-leftist und

ergro

und. M

ostly, H

offm

an survivedthro

ugh false ID

and o

dd jo

bs. Eventually he und

erwent facial p

lasticsurg

ery and ad

opted

an entirely new id

entity as one "B

arry Freed."

After surrend

ering him

self to autho

rities in 19

80

, Hoffm

an spent a

year in priso

n on a co

caine convictio

n.

Hoffm

an's world

view g

rew m

uch darker as the g

lory d

ays of the 1

96

0s

faded. In 1989, he purportedly com

mitted suicide, under odd and, to

som

e, rather suspicio

us circumstances.

Abbie H

offman is said to have caused the Federal B

ureau of Investigation

to am

ass the single larg

est investigatio

n file ever opened

on an ind

ivid-

ual A

merican

citizen. (If th

is is true, it is still q

uestio

nab

le wheth

erthe FB

I regard

ed A

bbie H

offm

an a serious p

ublic threat —

quite p

ossi-

bly, his file w

as enorm

ous sim

ply b

ecause Hoffm

an left colo

rful leg-

endry w

herever he went). H

e was a g

ifted p

ublicist, w

ho reg

arded

electronic media as both playground and w

eapon. He actively enjoyed

manip

ulating netw

ork T

V and

other g

ullible, im

age- hung

ry med

ia,w

ith vario

us w

eird lies, m

indbogglin

g ru

mors, im

perso

natio

n scam

s,and

other sinister d

istortio

ns, all abso

lutely guaranteed

to up

set cops,

Presidential candidates, and federal judges. H

offman's m

ost famous

work w

as a book self-reflexively kn

ow

n as *S

teal This B

ook,* w

hich

pub

licized a num

ber o

f metho

ds b

y which yo

ung, p

enniless hippie ag

ita-tors m

ight live off the fat of a system

supported by hum

orless drones.*S

teal This B

ook,* w

hose title urg

ed read

ers to d

amag

e the very means

of d

istributio

n which had

put it into

their hands, m

ight b

e describ

ed as a

spiritual ancesto

r of a co

mputer virus.

Hoffm

an, like many a later co

nspirato

r, mad

e extensive use of p

ay-pho

nes for his ag

itation w

ork —

in his case, generally thro

ugh the use o

fcheap

brass w

ashers as coin-slug

s.

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

G —

TH

E

HA

CK

ER

CR

AC

KD

OW

N

NO

T F

OR

CO

MM

ER

CIA

L U

SE

5 6

During

the Vietnam

War, there w

as a federal surtax im

posed

on tele-

phone service; Hoffm

an and his cohorts could, and did, argue that in

systematically stealing

pho

ne service they were eng

aging

in civil dis-

obed

ience: virtuously d

enying tax fund

s to an illeg

al and im

moral w

ar.

But this thin veil o

f decency w

as soon d

ropped

entirely. Rip

ping

-off the

System

found

its ow

n justification in d

eep alienatio

n and a b

asic outlaw

contem

pt fo

r conventio

nal bourg

eois values. Ing

enious, vag

uely politi-

cized varieties o

f rip-o

ff, which m

ight b

e describ

ed as "anarchy b

yco

nvenience," becam

e very popular in Y

ippie circles, and

because rip

-off w

as so useful, it w

as to survive the Y

ippie m

ovem

ent itself.

In th

e early 19

70

s, it required

fairly limited

expertise an

d in

gen

uity to

cheat payp

hones, to

divert "free" electricity and

gas service, o

r to ro

bvending

machines and parking

meters for handy pocket chang

e. It alsoreq

uired a co

nspiracy to

spread

this know

ledge, and

the gall and

nerveactually to com

mit petty theft, b

ut the Yippies had these qualifications

in plenty. In June 1

97

1, A

bbie H

offm

an and a telep

hone enthusiast sar-

castically know

n as "Al B

ell" beg

an pub

lishing a new

sletter called*Y

outh Internatio

nal Party Line.* This new

sletter was d

edicated

to co

l-lating

and sp

reading

Yip

pie rip

-off techniq

ues, especially o

f pho

nes, tothe joy of the freew

heeling underg

round and the insensate rage of all

straight p

eople.

As a p

olitical tactic, p

hone-service theft ensured

that Yip

pie ad

vocates

would alw

ays have ready access to the long-distance telephone as am

edium

, desp

ite the Yip

pies' chro

nic lack of o

rganizatio

n, discip

line,m

oney, or even a steady home address.

*Party Line* was run o

ut of G

reenwich V

illage fo

r a coup

le of years,

then "Al B

ell" more o

r less defected

from

the faltering ranks o

fYip

pied

om

, changing

the newsletter's nam

e to *T

AP* o

r *Technical

Assistance Program

.* After the V

ietnam W

ar ended, the steam began

leaking rap

idly o

ut of A

merican rad

ical dissent. B

ut by this tim

e, "Bell"

and his dozen or so core contributors had the bit between their teeth,

and had

beg

un to d

erive tremend

ous g

ut-level satisfaction fro

m the sen-

sation o

f pure *technical p

ow

er.*

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

G —

TH

E

HA

CK

ER

CR

AC

KD

OW

N

NO

T F

OR

CO

MM

ER

CIA

L U

SE

5 7

*TA

P* articles, o

nce h

ighly p

oliticized

, becam

e pitilessly jarg

onized

and technical, in ho

mag

e or p

arody to

the Bell S

ystem's o

wn technical

docum

ents, which *T

AP* stud

ied clo

sely, gutted

, and rep

roduced

witho

utperm

ission. T

he *TA

P* elite revelled in g

loating

possessio

n of the sp

e-cialized know

ledge necessary to beat the system.

"Al B

ell" dropped out of the game by the late 7

0s, and "T

om Edison" took

over; T

AP read

ers (som

e 14

00

of them

, all told

) now

beg

an to sho

wm

ore interest in telex sw

itches and the g

row

ing p

henom

enon o

f com

put-

er systems.

In 19

83

, "Tom

Ediso

n" had his co

mputer sto

len and his ho

use set on fire

by an arso

nist. This w

as an eventually mortal b

low

to *T

AP* (tho

ugh

the legendary nam

e was to b

e resurrected in 1990 b

y a youngK

entuckian com

puter- o

utlaw nam

ed "Pred

at0r.")

__

__

_

Ever since telephones began to make m

oney, there have been peoplew

illing to rob and defraud phone companies. T

he legions of petty phonethieves vastly o

utnumber tho

se "pho

ne phreaks" w

ho "exp

lore the sys-

tem" fo

r the sake of the intellectual challeng

e. The N

ew Y

ork m

etropol-

itan area (long

in the vanguard

of A

merican crim

e) claims o

ver1

50

,00

0 p

hysical attacks on p

ay telepho

nes every year! Stud

ied care-

fully, a m

odern

payp

hone reveals itself as a little fo

rtress, carefully

designed and redesig

ned over generations, to resist coin- slug

s, zaps ofelectricity, chunks o

f coin-shap

ed ice, p

rybars, m

agnets, lo

ckpicks,

blastin

g cap

s. Public p

ay- phones m

ust su

rvive in a w

orld

of u

nfrien

d-

ly, greedy people, and a m

odern payphone is as exquisitely evolved as acactus.

Because the phone netw

ork pre-dates the computer netw

ork, thesco

fflaws kno

wn as "p

hone p

hreaks" pre-d

ate the scofflaw

s know

n as"co

mputer hackers." In p

ractice, today, the line b

etween "p

hreaking"

and "hacking

" is very blurred

, just as the distinctio

n betw

een tele-phones and com

puters has blurred. The phone system

has been digitized,and

com

puters have learned

to "talk" o

ver pho

ne-lines. What's w

orse

— and this w

as the point of the Mr. Jenkins of the Secret Service —

some

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

G —

TH

E

HA

CK

ER

CR

AC

KD

OW

N

NO

T F

OR

CO

MM

ER

CIA

L U

SE

5 8

hackers have learned to steal, and some thieves have learned to hack.

Desp

ite the b

lurrin

g, o

ne can

still draw

a few u

seful b

ehavio

ral distin

c-tio

ns betw

een "phreaks" and

"hackers." Hackers are intensely interested

in the "system" p

er se, and enjo

y relating to

machines. "Phreaks" are

more so

cial, manip

ulating the system

in a roug

h-and-read

y fashion in

order to get through to other human beings, fast, cheap and under the

table.

Phone p

hreaks love no

thing so

much as "b

ridges," illeg

al conference

calls of ten o

r twelve chatting

consp

irators, seab

oard

to seab

oard

, last-ing

for many hours —

and running, of course, on som

ebody else's tab

,preferab

ly a large co

rporatio

n's.

As p

hone-p

hreak conferences w

ear on, p

eople d

rop o

ut (or sim

ply leave

the phone off the hook, while they sashay off to w

ork or school orbab

ysitting), and

new p

eople are p

honed

up and

invited to

join in, fro

mso

me o

ther continent, if p

ossib

le. Technical trivia, b

oasts, b

rags, lies,

head

-trip d

eceptio

ns, w

eird ru

mors, an

d cru

el gossip

are all freelyexchang

ed.

The low

est rung of phone-phreaking

is the theft of telephone accesscodes. C

harging a phone call to somebody else's stolen num

ber is, ofco

urse, a pig

-easy way o

f stealing p

hone service, req

uiring p

racticallyno

technical expertise. T

his practice has b

een very wid

espread

, espe-

cially among

lonely p

eople w

ithout m

uch money w

ho are far fro

m ho

me.

Code theft has flo

urished esp

ecially in colleg

e dorm

s, military b

ases,and, notoriously, am

ong roadies for rock bands. Of late, code theft has

spread

very rapid

ly among T

hird

World

ers in th

e US, w

ho p

ile up en

or-

mous unp

aid lo

ng-d

istance bills to

the Carib

bean, S

outh A

merica, and

Pakistan.

The sim

plest w

ay to steal p

hone-co

des is sim

ply to

look o

ver a victim's

should

er as he punches-in his o

wn co

de-num

ber o

n a pub

lic payp

hone.

This techniq

ue is know

n as "should

er-surfing," and

is especially co

m-

mon in airp

orts, b

us terminals, and

train stations. T

he code is then so

ldby the thief for a few

dollars. The b

uyer abusing

the code has no com-

puter exp

ertise, but calls his M

om

in New

York, K

ingsto

n or C

aracas

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and ru

ns u

p a h

uge b

ill with

impunity. T

he lo

sses from

this p

rimitive

phreaking

activity are far, far greater than the m

onetary lo

sses causedby co

mputer-in

trudin

g h

ackers.

In the mid

-to-late 1

98

0s, until the intro

ductio

n of sterner telco

secu-rity m

easures, *com

puterized

* code theft w

orked

like a charm, and

was

virtually om

nipresent thro

ugho

ut the dig

ital underg

round

, among

phreaks and

hackers alike. This w

as accom

plished

throug

h pro

gram

-m

ing one's computer to try random

code numbers over the telephone

until one o

f them w

orked

. Sim

ple p

rogram

s to d

o this w

ere wid

elyavailab

le in the underg

round

; a com

puter running

all night w

as likely tocom

e up with a dozen or so useful hits. T

his could be repeated week

after week until o

ne had a larg

e library o

f stolen co

des.

Now

adays, the computerized dialling

of hundreds of numbers can b

edetected w

ithin hours and swiftly traced. If a stolen code is repeatedly

abused, this too can be detected within a few

hours. But for years in the

19

80

s, the pub

lication o

f stolen co

des w

as a kind o

f elementary eti-

quette fo

r fledgling

hackers. The sim

plest w

ay to estab

lish your b

ona-

fides as a raider was to steal a code through repeated random

dialling andoffer it to the "com

munity" for use. C

odes could be both stolen, andused

, simply and

easily from

the safety of o

ne's ow

n bed

room

, with very

little fear of d

etection o

r punishm

ent.

Befo

re com

puters and

their pho

ne-line modem

s entered A

merican ho

mes

in gig

antic numbers, p

hone p

hreaks had their o

wn sp

ecial telecom

muni-

cations hardware g

adget, the fam

ous "blue b

ox." This fraud device (now

rendered

increasingly useless b

y the dig

ital evolutio

n of the p

hone sys-

tem) co

uld trick sw

itching system

s into g

ranting free access to

long

-distance lines. It d

id this b

y mim

icking the system

's ow

n signal, a to

neof 2

60

0 hertz.

Steven Jobs and Steve W

ozniak, the founders of Apple C

omputer, Inc.,

once d

abbled

in selling b

lue-boxes in co

llege d

orm

s in Califo

rnia. For

man

y, in th

e early days o

f phreakin

g, b

lue-b

oxin

g w

as scarcely per-

ceived as "theft," b

ut rather as a fun (if sneaky) way to

use excesspho

ne capacity harm

lessly. After all, the lo

ng-d

istance lines were

*just sittin

g th

ere*.... Whom

did

it hurt, really? If yo

u're n

ot *d

am-

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aging

* the system, and

you're no

t *using up

any tangib

le resource,*

and if no

body *find

s out* w

hat you d

id, then w

hat real harm have yo

udone? W

hat exactly *have* you "sto

len," anyway? If a tree falls in the

forest and

nobody hears it, ho

w m

uch is the noise w

orth? Even no

w this

remains a rather d

icey questio

n.

Blue-b

oxing

was no

joke to

the pho

ne com

panies, ho

wever. Ind

eed,

when

*Ram

parts* m

agazin

e, a radical p

ublicatio

n in

Califo

rnia, p

rinted

the wiring

schematics necessary to

create a mute b

ox in June 1

97

2,

the mag

azine was seized

by p

olice and

Pacific Bell p

hone- co

mpany o

ffi-cials. T

he mute b

ox, a b

lue-box variant, allo

wed

its user to receive

long

-distance calls free o

f charge to

the caller. This d

evice was clo

selydescrib

ed in a *R

amparts* article w

ryly titled "R

egulating

the Phone

Com

pany In Y

our H

om

e." Publicatio

n of this article w

as held to

be in

violatio

n of C

alifornian S

tate Penal Code sectio

n 50

2.7

, which o

utlaws

ow

nersh

ip o

f wire-frau

d d

evices and th

e selling o

f "plan

s or in

struc-

tions fo

r any instrument, ap

paratus, o

r device intend

ed to

avoid

tele-pho

ne toll charg

es."

Issues of *R

amparts* w

ere recalled o

r seized o

n the newsstand

s, and the

resultant loss of income helped put the m

agazine out of b

usiness. This

was an o

mino

us preced

ent for free-exp

ression issues, b

ut the telco's

crushing o

f a radical-fring

e mag

azine passed

witho

ut serious challeng

eat the tim

e. Even in the freewheeling

Califo

rnia 19

70

s, it was w

idely

felt that there was som

ething sacrosanct about what the phone com

panyknew

; that the telco had

a legal and

moral rig

ht to p

rotect itself b

y shut-ting

off the flo

w o

f such illicit inform

ation. M

ost telco

inform

ation w

asso "specialized" that it w

ould scarcely be understood by any honestm

ember o

f the pub

lic. If not p

ublished

, it would

not b

e missed

. To

print such m

aterial did

not seem

part o

f the legitim

ate role o

f a freepress.

In 19

90

there would

be a sim

ilar telco-insp

ired attack o

n the electron-

ic phreak/h

acking "m

agazin

e" *Phrack.* T

he *P

hrack* leg

al casebecam

e a central issue in the Hacker C

rackdown, and g

ave rise to great

contro

versy. *Phrack* would

also b

e shut dow

n, for a tim

e, at least,but this tim

e both the telco

s and their law

-enforcem

ent allies would

pay

a much

larger p

rice for th

eir actions. T

he *P

hrack* case w

ill be

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examined

in detail, later.

Phone-p

hreakin

g as a so

cial practice is still very m

uch

alive at this

mom

ent. Today, p

hone-p

hreaking is thriving

much m

ore vig

oro

uslythan the b

etter-know

n and w

orse-feared

practice o

f "com

puter hack-

ing." N

ew fo

rms o

f phreaking

are spread

ing rap

idly, fo

llow

ing new

vulnerabilities in so

phisticated

pho

ne services.

Cellu

lar phones are

esp

ecially

vuln

erab

le; th

eir ch

ips can

be re

-pro

-gram

med

to p

resent a false caller ID and

avoid

billing

. Doing

so also

avoid

s police tap

ping

, making

cellular-pho

ne abuse a favo

rite among

dru

g-d

ealers. "Call-sell o

peratio

ns" u

sing p

irate cellular p

hones can

,and

have, been run rig

ht out o

f the backs o

f cars, which m

ove fro

m"cell" to

"cell" in the local p

hone system

, retailing sto

len long

-distance

service, like som

e kind o

f dem

ented electro

nic version o

f the neighb

or-

hood ice-cream

truck.

Private branch-exchang

e pho

ne systems in larg

e corp

oratio

ns can be

penetrated

; phreaks d

ial-up a lo

cal com

pany, enter its internal p

hone-

system, hack it, then use the com

pany's own PB

X system to dial back out

over the public netw

ork, causing the com

pany to be stuck w

ith theresulting

long

-distance b

ill. This techniq

ue is know

n as "diverting

.""D

iverting" can b

e very costly, esp

ecially because p

hreaks tend to

travel in packs and

never stop talking

. Perhaps the w

orst b

y-pro

duct

of this "PBX fraud" is that victim

companies and telcos have sued one

another o

ver the financial responsib

ility for the sto

len calls, thusen

richin

g n

ot o

nly sh

abby p

hreaks b

ut w

ell-paid

lawyers.

"Voice-m

ail systems" can also

be ab

used; p

hreaks can seize their ow

nsections of these sophisticated electronic answ

ering m

achines, and usethem

for trad

ing co

des o

r know

ledge o

f illegal techniq

ues. Voice-m

ailab

use does not hurt the company directly, b

ut finding supposedly em

ptyslo

ts in your co

mpany's answ

ering m

achine all cramm

ed w

ith phreaks

eagerly chattering

and hey-d

uding

one ano

ther in impenetrab

le jargon

can cause sensations of almost m

ystical repulsion and dread.

Worse yet, p

hreaks have som

etimes b

een know

n to react truculently to

attempts to

"clean up" the vo

ice-mail system

. Rather than hum

bly

BR

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acquiescing

to b

eing thro

wn o

ut of their p

laygro

und, they m

ay very well

call up the co

mpany o

fficials at work (o

r at hom

e) and lo

udly d

emand

free voice-m

ail addresses o

f their very ow

n. Such b

ullying is taken

very seriously b

y spooked

victims.

Acts o

f phreak reveng

e against straig

ht peo

ple are rare, b

ut voice-m

ailsystem

s are especially tem

pting

and vulnerab

le, and an infestatio

n of

angry p

hreaks in one's vo

ice-mail system

is no jo

ke. They can erase

legitim

ate messag

es; or sp

y on p

rivate messag

es; or harass users w

ithrecorded taunts and obscenities. T

hey've even been known to seize con-

trol o

f voice-m

ail security, and lo

ck out leg

itimate users, o

r even shutdow

n the system entirely.

Cellu

lar phone-calls, co

rdless p

hones, an

d sh

ip-to

- shore telep

hony

can all be m

onito

red b

y various fo

rms o

f radio

; this kind o

f "passive

monito

ring" is sp

reading

explo

sively today. T

echnically eavesdro

pping

on o

ther peo

ple's co

rdless and

cellular pho

ne-calls is the fastest-gro

wing

area in phreaking

today. T

his practice stro

ngly ap

peals to

thelust fo

r pow

er and co

nveys gratifying

sensations o

f technical superio

ri-ty o

ver the eavesdro

pping

victim. M

onito

ring is rife w

ith all manner o

ftem

pting

evil mischief. S

imple p

rurient snooping

is by far the m

ost

com

mon activity. B

ut credit-card

numbers unw

arily spoken o

ver thephone can be recorded, stolen and used. A

nd tapping people's phone-calls(w

hether throug

h active telepho

ne taps o

r passive rad

io m

onito

rs) does

lend itse

lf conve

nie

ntly to

activities like

blackm

ail, industrial e

spi-

onag

e, and p

olitical d

irty tricks.

It should be repeated that telecomm

unications fraud, the theft of phoneservice, causes vastly g

reater monetary lo

sses than the practice o

fentering

into co

mputers b

y stealth. Hackers are m

ostly yo

ung sub

ur-ban A

merican w

hite males, and

exist in their hundred

s — b

ut "phreaks"

come from

both sexes and from m

any nationalities, ages and ethnicbackg

round

s, and are flo

urishing in the tho

usands.

__

__

_

The term

"hacker" has had an unfo

rtunate history. T

his book, *T

heH

acker Crackd

ow

n,* h

as little to say ab

out "h

acking" in

its finer, o

rigi-

nal sense. The term

can signify the free-w

heeling intellectual exp

lo-

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ration of the highest and deepest potential of computer system

s.H

acking can describe the determination to m

ake access to computers and

inform

ation as free and

open as p

ossib

le. Hacking

can involve the

heartfelt conviction that beauty can b

e found in computers, that the fine

aesthetic in a perfect p

rogram

can liberate the m

ind and

spirit. T

his is"hacking

" as it was d

efined in S

teven Levy's much-p

raised histo

ry of the

pio

neer co

mpute

r milie

u, *H

ackers,* p

ublish

ed in

19

84

.

Hackers o

f all kinds are ab

solutely so

aked thro

ugh w

ith heroic anti-

bureaucratic sentim

ent. Hackers lo

ng fo

r recognitio

n as a praisew

orthy

cultural archetype, the p

ostm

odern electro

nic equivalent o

f the cow

boy

and m

ountain m

an. Whether they d

eserve such a reputatio

n is som

e-thing

for histo

ry to d

ecide. B

ut many hackers —

including

those o

utlawhackers w

ho are co

mputer intrud

ers, and w

hose activities are d

efined as

criminal —

actually attempt to

*live up to

* this techno-co

wboy rep

uta-tio

n. And

given that electro

nics and teleco

mm

unications are still larg

e-ly u

nexp

lore

d te

rritorie

s, there

is simply *n

o te

lling* w

hat h

ackers

mig

ht uncover.

For so

me p

eople, this freed

om

is the very breath o

f oxyg

en, the inven-tive sp

ontaneity that m

akes life worth living

and that fling

s open d

oors

to m

arvellous p

ossib

ility and ind

ividual em

pow

erment. B

ut for m

anypeo

ple —

and increasing

ly so —

the hacker is an om

inous fig

ure, asm

art- aleck socio

path read

y to b

urst out o

f his basem

ent wild

ernessand

savage o

ther peo

ple's lives fo

r his ow

n anarchical convenience.

Any fo

rm o

f pow

er witho

ut responsib

ility, witho

ut direct and

form

alchecks and b

alances, is frightening

to people — and reasonab

ly so. Itsho

uld b

e frankly adm

itted that hackers *are* frig

htening, and

that thebasis o

f this fear is n

ot irratio

nal.

Fear of hackers g

oes w

ell beyo

nd the fear o

f merely crim

inal activity.

Sub

version and

manip

ulation o

f the pho

ne system is an act w

ith dis-

turbing

political o

vertones. In A

merica, co

mputers and

telepho

nes arepotent sym

bols of organized authority and the technocratic businesselite.

BR

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But there is an elem

ent in Am

erican culture that has always stro

ngly

rebelled

against these sym

bols; reb

elled ag

ainst all large ind

ustrialco

mputers and

all pho

ne com

panies. A

certain anarchical tinge d

eep in

the Am

erican soul d

elights in causing

confusio

n and p

ain to all b

ureau-cracies, includ

ing techno

logical o

nes.

There is so

metim

es malice and

vandalism

in this attitude, b

ut it is adeep and cherished part o

f the Am

erican national character. T

he outlaw

,the reb

el, the rugged

individ

ual, the pio

neer, the sturdy Jefferso

nianyeo

man, the p

rivate citizen resisting interference in his p

ursuit of

happiness —

these are figures that all A

mericans reco

gnize, and

thatm

any will stro

ngly ap

plaud

and d

efend.

Many scrup

ulously law

-abid

ing citizens to

day d

o cutting

-edge w

ork

with electro

nics — w

ork that has alread

y had trem

endous so

cial influ-ence and

will have m

uch more in years to

com

e. In all truth, these tal-ented

, hardw

orking

, law-ab

iding

, mature, ad

ult peo

ple are far m

ore

disturbing to the peace and order of the current status quo than anysco

fflaw g

roup

of ro

mantic teenag

e punk kid

s. These law

-abid

ing hack-

ers have the pow

er, ability, and

willing

ness to influence o

ther peo

ple's

lives quite unp

redictab

ly. They have m

eans, motive, and

opportunity to

med

dle d

rastically with the A

merican so

cial ord

er. When co

rralledinto

governm

ents, universities, or larg

e multinatio

nal com

panies, and

forced to follow ruleb

ooks and wear suits and ties, they at least have

some conventional halters on their freedom

of action. But w

hen loosedalo

ne, or in sm

all gro

ups, and

fired b

y imag

ination and

the entrepre-

neurial spirit, they can m

ove m

ountains —

causing land

slides that w

illlikely crash

directly in

to yo

ur o

ffice and livin

g ro

om

.

These p

eople, as a class, instinctively reco

gnize that a p

ublic, p

oliti-

cized attack on hackers will eventually spread to them

— that the term

"hacker," once demonized, m

ight be used to knock their hands off thelevers of pow

er and choke them out of existence. T

here are hackersto

day w

ho fiercely and

pub

licly resist any besm

irching o

f the noble title

of hacker. N

aturally and und

erstandab

ly, they deep

ly resent the attackon their values im

plicit in using

the word

"hacker" as a synonym

for

com

pute

r-crimin

al.

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This b

ook, sad

ly but in m

y opinio

n unavoid

ably, rather ad

ds to

thedeg

radatio

n of the term

. It concerns itself m

ostly w

ith "hacking" in its

com

monest latter-d

ay definitio

n, i.e., intruding

into co

mputer system

sby stealth and

witho

ut perm

ission.

The term

"hacking" is used

routinely to

day b

y almost all law

enforce-

ment o

fficials with any p

rofessio

nal interest in com

puter fraud

andab

use. Am

erican police d

escribe alm

ost any crim

e com

mitted

with, b

y,thro

ugh, o

r against a co

mputer as hacking

.

Most im

portantly, "hacker" is w

hat com

puter- intrud

ers choose to

call*them

selves.* Nobody w

ho "hacks" into

systems w

illingly d

escribes

him

self (rare

ly, herse

lf) as a "com

pute

r intru

der," "co

mpute

r tres-

passer," "cracker," "w

orm

er," "darksid

e hacker" or "hig

h tech streetgangster." Several other dem

eaning terms have been invented in the

hope that the p

ress and p

ublic w

ill leave the orig

inal sense of the w

ord

alone. But few

people actually use these terms. (I exem

pt the term"cyb

erpunk," w

hich a few hackers and

law enfo

rcement p

eople actually

do use. T

he term "cyb

erpunk" is d

rawn fro

m literary criticism

and has

som

e odd and

unlikely resonances, b

ut, like hacker, cyberp

unk too has

beco

me a crim

inal pejo

rative today.)

In any case, breaking

into co

mputer system

s was hard

ly alien to the

orig

inal hacker traditio

n. The first to

ttering system

s of the 1

96

0s

require

d fairly e

xtensive

inte

rnal su

rgery m

ere

ly to fu

nctio

n d

ay-by-

day. Their users "invaded" the deepest, m

ost arcane recesses of theiroperating

softw

are almost as a m

atter of ro

utine. "Com

puter security"

in these early, prim

itive systems w

as at best an aftertho

ught. W

hatsecurity there w

as, was entirely p

hysical, for it w

as assumed

that any-one allo

wed

near this expensive, arcane hard

ware w

ould

be a fully q

ual-ified

pro

fessional exp

ert.

In a campus enviro

nment, tho

ugh, this m

eant that grad

students, teach-

ing assistants, und

ergrad

uates, and eventually, all m

anner of d

ropouts

and hangers-on ended up accessing and often running the works.

Universities, even m

odern universities, are no

t in the business o

fm

aintain

ing secu

rity over in

form

ation. O

n th

e contrary, u

niversities,

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as institutions, p

re-date the "info

rmatio

n econo

my" b

y many centuries

and are no

t- for-p

rofit cultural entities, w

hose reaso

n for existence

(purp

orted

ly) is to d

iscover truth, co

dify it thro

ugh techniq

ues of

scholarship

, and then teach it. U

niversities are meant to

*pass the

torch o

f civilization,* no

t just dow

nload

data into

student skulls, and

thevalues of the academ

ic comm

unity are strongly at odds with those of all

would

-be in

form

ation em

pires. T

eachers at all levels, fro

m kin

der-

garten up, have proven to be shameless and persistent softw

are and datapirates. U

niversities do no

t merely "leak info

rmatio

n" but vig

oro

uslybroadcast free thought.

This clash o

f values has been fraug

ht with co

ntroversy. M

any hackersof the 1

96

0s rem

ember their p

rofessio

nal apprenticeship

as a long

guerilla w

ar against the up

tight m

ainframe-co

mputer "info

rmatio

npriestho

od." T

hese com

puter-hung

ry young

sters had to

struggle hard

for access to computing pow

er, and many of them

were not above cer-

tain, er, shortcuts. B

ut, over the years, this p

ractice freed co

mputing

from

the sterile reserve of lab

-coated

technocrats and

was larg

elyresp

onsib

le for the exp

losive g

row

th of co

mputing

in general so

ciety —esp

ecially *perso

nal* co

mputin

g.

Access to technical pow

er acted like catnip on certain of these young-

sters. Most o

f the basic techniq

ues of co

mputer intrusio

n: passw

ord

cracking, trap

doors, b

ackdoors, tro

jan horses —

were invented

in col-

lege enviro

nments in the 1

96

0s, in the early d

ays of netw

ork co

mput-

ing. S

om

e off-the-cuff exp

erience at com

puter intrusio

n was to

be in

the inform

al resume o

f most "hackers" and

many future ind

ustry giants.

Outside of the tiny cult of com

puter enthusiasts, few people thought

much ab

out the im

plicatio

ns of "b

reaking into

" com

puters. T

his sort o

factivity had

not yet b

een pub

licized, m

uch less criminalized

.

In the 19

60

s, definitio

ns of "p

roperty" and

"privacy" had

not yet b

eenextended to cyberspace. C

omputers w

ere not yet indispensable to soci-ety. T

here were no

vast datab

anks of vulnerab

le, pro

prietary info

rma-

tion sto

red in co

mputers, w

hich mig

ht be accessed

, copied

witho

ut per-

missio

n, erased, altered

, or sab

otag

ed. T

he stakes were lo

w in the early

days —

but they g

rew every year, exp

onentially, as co

mputers them

-selves g

rew.

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By the 1

99

0s, co

mm

ercial and p

olitical p

ressures had b

ecom

e over-

whelm

ing, and

they bro

ke the social b

ound

aries of the hacking

subcul-

ture. Hacking had becom

e too important to be left to the hackers.

Society was now

forced to tackle the intangib

le nature of cyberspace-

as-pro

perty, cyb

erspace as p

rivately-ow

ned unreal-estate. In the

new, severe, resp

onsib

le, high- stakes co

ntext of the "Info

rmatio

nSociety" o

f the 19

90

s, "hacking" w

as called into

questio

n.

What d

id it m

ean to b

reak into a co

mputer w

ithout p

ermissio

n and use

its com

putatio

nal pow

er, or lo

ok aro

und insid

e its files witho

ut hurtinganything

? What w

ere com

puter-intrud

ing hackers, anyw

ay — ho

wsho

uld so

ciety, and the law

, best d

efine their actions? W

ere they just*b

row

sers,* h

armle

ss inte

llectu

al exp

lore

rs? W

ere

they *vo

yeurs,*

snoops, invad

ers of p

rivacy? Sho

uld they b

e sternly treated as p

otential

*agents o

f espio

nage,* o

r perhap

s as *industrial sp

ies?* Or w

ere theybest d

efined as *tresp

assers,* a very com

mon teenag

e misd

emeano

r?W

as hacking *theft o

f service?* (After all, intrud

ers were g

ettingso

meo

ne else's com

puter to

carry out their o

rders, w

ithout p

ermissio

nand

witho

ut paying

). Was hacking

*fraud?* M

aybe it w

as best

describ

ed as *im

perso

nation.* T

he com

monest m

ode o

f com

puter intru-

sion was (and is) to sw

ipe or snoop somebody else's passw

ord, and thenenter the com

puter in the guise of another person —

who is com

monly

stuck with the b

lame and

the bills.

Perhaps a medical m

etaphor was b

etter — hackers should b

e defined as"sick," as *co

mputer ad

dicts* unab

le to co

ntrol their irresp

onsib

le,co

mpulsive b

ehavior.

But these w

eighty assessments m

eant little to the people who w

ere actu-ally b

eing jud

ged

. From

inside the und

ergro

und w

orld

of hacking

itself,all these p

erceptio

ns seem q

uaint, wro

nghead

ed, stup

id, o

r meaning

less.The m

ost im

portant self-p

erceptio

n of und

ergro

und hackers —

from

the1

96

0s, rig

ht throug

h to the p

resent day —

is that they are an *elite.*The d

ay-to-d

ay struggle in the und

ergro

und is no

t over so

ciolo

gical d

ef-initions —

who cares? —

but for pow

er, knowledg

e, and status among

one's p

eers.

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When yo

u are a hacker, it is your o

wn inner co

nviction o

f your elite

status that enables yo

u to b

reak, or let us say "transcend

," the rules. Itis no

t that *all* rules go b

y the board

. The rules hab

itually bro

ken by

hackers are *unimportant* rules —

the rules of d

opey g

reedhead

telcobureaucrats and

pig

-igno

rant governm

ent pests.

Hackers have their *o

wn* rules, w

hich separate b

ehavior w

hich is cool

and elite, fro

m b

ehavior w

hich is rodentlike, stup

id and

losing

. These

"rules," how

ever, are mostly unw

ritten and enfo

rced b

y peer p

ressureand

tribal feeling

. Like all rules that dep

end o

n the unspoken co

nviction

that everybody else is a g

ood old boy, these rules are ripe for ab

use. The

mechanism

s of hacker p

eer- pressure, "teletrials" and

ostracism

, arerarely u

sed an

d rarely w

ork. B

ack-stabbin

g slan

der, th

reats, and elec-

tronic h

arassmen

t are also freely em

plo

yed in

dow

n- an

d-d

irty intra-

hacker feuds, b

ut this rarely forces a rival o

ut of the scene entirely.

The o

nly real solutio

n for the p

roblem

of an utterly lo

sing, treachero

usand

rodentlike hacker is to

*turn him in to

the police.* U

nlike theM

afia or M

edellin C

artel, the hacker elite cannot sim

ply execute the

big

mouths, creep

s and tro

ublem

akers among

their ranks, so they turn

one ano

ther in with asto

nishing freq

uency.

There is no

traditio

n of silence o

r *om

erta* in the hacker underw

orld

.H

ackers can be shy, even reclusive, b

ut when they d

o talk, hackers tend

to b

rag, b

oast and

strut. Alm

ost everything

hackers do is *invisib

le;*if they d

on't b

rag, b

oast, and

strut about it, then *no

body w

ill everknow

.* If you don't have something to brag, boast, and strut about, then

nobody in the und

ergro

und w

ill recognize yo

u and favo

r you w

ith vitalco

operatio

n and resp

ect.

The w

ay to w

in a solid

reputatio

n in the underg

round

is by telling

other

hackers things that co

uld o

nly have been learned

by excep

tional cunning

and stealth. Fo

rbid

den kno

wled

ge, therefo

re, is the basic currency o

f thedig

ital underg

round

, like seashells among

Tro

briand

Islanders. H

ackersho

ard this kno

wled

ge, and

dw

ell upon it o

bsessively, and

refine it, andbarg

ain with it, and

talk and talk ab

out it.

Many hackers even suffer from

a strange ob

session to *teach* — to

spread the ethos and the knowledge of the digital underground. T

hey'll do

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this even when it g

ains them no particular advantag

e and presents agrave

perso

nal risk.

And

when that risk catches up

with them

, they will g

o rig

ht on teaching

and p

reaching —

to a new

audience this tim

e, their interrogato

rs from

law enfo

rcement. A

lmost every hacker arrested

tells everything he

know

s — all ab

out his friend

s, his mento

rs, his discip

les — leg

ends,

thre

ats, horro

r storie

s, dire

rum

ors, g

ossip

, hallu

cinatio

ns. T

his is, o

fcourse, convenient for law

enforcement —

except when law

enforcement

beg

ins to b

elieve hacker legend

ry.

Phone p

hreaks are u

niq

ue am

ong crim

inals in

their w

illingness to

callup

law enfo

rcement o

fficials — in the o

ffice, at their hom

es — and

give

them an extend

ed p

iece of their m

ind. It is hard

not to

interpret this as

*beg

ging

for arrest,* and

in fact it is an act of incred

ible fo

olhard

iness.Po

lice are naturally nettled b

y these acts of chutzp

ah and w

ill go w

ellout o

f their way to

bust these flaunting

idio

ts. But it can also

be inter-

preted

as a pro

duct o

f a world

-view so

elitist, so clo

sed and

hermetic,

that electronic p

olice are sim

ply no

t perceived

as "police," b

ut ratheras *enem

y phone phreaks* who should b

e scolded into behaving

"decent-ly."

Hackers at their m

ost g

randilo

quent p

erceive themselves as the elite

pioneers of a new electronic w

orld. Attem

pts to make them

obey thedem

ocratically estab

lished law

s of co

ntemporary A

merican so

ciety areseen as rep

ression and

persecutio

n. After all, they arg

ue, if Alexand

erG

raham B

ell had g

one alo

ng w

ith the rules of the W

estern Unio

n tele-graph com

pany, there would have been no telephones. If Jobs and

Wozniak had

believed

that IBM

was the b

e-all and end

-all, there would

have been no

perso

nal com

puters. If B

enjamin Franklin and

Tho

mas

Jefferson had

tried to

"work w

ithin the system" there w

ould

have been

no U

nited S

tates.

Not o

nly do hackers p

rivately believe this as an article o

f faith, but they

have been known to w

rite ardent manifestos about it. H

ere are some

revealing excerp

ts from

an especially vivid

hacker manifesto

: "The

Techno

- Revo

lution" b

y "Dr. C

rash," which ap

peared

in electronic

form

in *P

hrack* V

olu

me 1

, Issue 6

, Phile

3.

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"To fully exp

lain the true motives b

ehind hacking

, we m

ust first take aquick lo

ok into

the past. In the 1

96

0s, a g

roup

of M

IT stud

ents built the

first modern co

mputer system

. This w

ild, reb

ellious g

roup

of yo

ungm

en were the first to bear the nam

e 'hackers.' The system

s that theydeveloped w

ere intended to be used to solve world problem

s and to bene-fit all of m

ankind. "As w

e can see, this has not been the case. The com

-puter system

has been solely in the hands of b

ig b

usinesses and the gov-

ernment. T

he wonderful device m

eant to enrich life has becom

e aw

eapon which dehum

anizes people. To the g

overnment and larg

e busi-

nesses, people are no more than disk space, and the governm

ent doesn'tuse com

puters to arrange aid for the poor, b

ut to control nuclear deathw

eapons. The averag

e Am

erican can only have access to a small m

icro-co

mputer w

hich is worth o

nly a fraction o

f what they p

ay for it. T

hebusinesses keep

the true state-of-the-art eq

uipm

ent away fro

m the

peo

ple b

ehind a steel w

all of incred

ibly hig

h prices and

bureaucracy. It

is because o

f this state of affairs that hacking

was b

orn.(...) "O

f course,

the government doesn't w

ant the monopoly of technology broken, so they

have outlawed hacking and arrest anyone w

ho is caught.(...) The phone

company is another exam

ple of technology abused and kept from people

with hig

h prices.(...) "H

ackers often find

that their existing eq

uipm

ent,due to the m

onopoly tactics of computer com

panies, is inefficient fortheir p

urposes. D

ue to the exo

rbitantly hig

h prices, it is im

possib

le toleg

ally purchase the necessary eq

uipm

ent. This need

has given still

another segment of the fight: C

redit Carding. C

arding is a way of

obtaining the necessary goods without paying for them

. It is again due tothe com

panies' stupidity that Carding is so easy, and show

s that thew

orld

's businesses are in the hand

s of tho

se with co

nsiderab

ly lesstechnical kno

w-ho

w than w

e, the hackers. (...) "Hacking

must co

ntinue.W

e must train new

com

ers to the art o

f hacking.(....) A

nd w

hatever you

do, co

ntinue the fight. W

hether you kno

w it o

r not, if yo

u are a hacker,yo

u are a revolutio

nary. Don't w

orry, yo

u're on the rig

ht side."

The d

efense of "card

ing" is rare. M

ost hackers reg

ard cred

it-card theft

as "poiso

n" to the und

ergro

und, a sleazy and

imm

oral effo

rt that, worse

yet, is hard to get aw

ay with. N

evertheless, manifestos advocating

credit- card

theft, the delib

erate crashing o

f com

puter system

s, andeven acts of violent physical destruction such as vandalism

and arson do

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exist in the underg

round

. These b

oasts and

threats are taken quite seri-

ously b

y the police. A

nd no

t every hacker is an abstract, Plato

nic com

-puter- nerd

. Som

e few are q

uite experienced

at picking

locks, ro

bbing

pho

ne-trucks, and b

reaking and

entering b

uilding

s.

Hackers vary in their d

egree o

f hatred fo

r authority and

the violence o

ftheir rheto

ric. But, at a b

otto

m line, they are sco

fflaws. T

hey don't

regard

the current rules of electro

nic behavio

r as respectab

le efforts to

preserve law

and o

rder and

pro

tect pub

lic safety. They reg

ard these

laws as im

moral effo

rts by so

ulless corp

oratio

ns to p

rotect their p

rofit

marg

ins and to

crush dissid

ents. "Stup

id" p

eople, includ

ing p

olice,

businessm

en, politicians, and

journalists, sim

ply have no

right to

judge

the actions o

f those p

ossessed

of g

enius, techno-revo

lutionary inten-

tions, and

technical expertise.

__

__

_

Hackers are g

enerally teenagers and colleg

e kids not engag

ed in earning a

living. T

hey o

ften co

me fro

m fairly w

ell-to-d

o m

iddle-class b

ack-gro

unds, and

are marked

ly anti-materialistic (excep

t, that is, when it

comes to com

puter equipment). A

nyone motivated by greed for m

erem

oney (as opposed to the greed for power, know

ledge and status) issw

iftly written-o

ff as a narrow

- mind

ed b

readhead

who

se interests canonly b

e corrup

t and co

ntemptib

le. Having

gro

wn up

in the 19

70

s and1

98

0s, the yo

ung B

ohem

ians of the d

igital und

ergro

und reg

ard straig

htso

ciety as awash in p

lutocratic co

rruptio

n, where everyo

ne from

thePresid

ent dow

n is for sale and

who

ever has the gold

makes the rules.

Interestingly, there's a funho

use-mirro

r imag

e of this attitud

e on the

other side of the conflict. The police are also one of the m

ost markedly

anti-materialistic g

roup

s in Am

erican society, m

otivated

not b

y mere

money b

ut by id

eals of service, justice, esp

rit-de-co

rps, and

, of

course, their o

wn b

rand o

f specialized

know

ledge and

pow

er.Rem

arkably, the p

ropag

anda w

ar betw

een cops and

hackers has always

involved

angry alleg

ations that the o

ther side is trying

to m

ake a sleazybuck. H

ackers consistently sneer that anti-p

hreak pro

secutors are

angling

for cushy jo

bs as telco

lawyers and

that com

puter- crim

e police

are aiming

to cash in later as w

ell-paid

com

puter-security co

nsultantsin the p

rivate sector.

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AC

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OW

N

NO

T F

OR

CO

MM

ER

CIA

L U

SE

7 2

For th

eir part, p

olice p

ublicly co

nflate all h

acking crim

es with

robbin

gpayp

hones w

ith crow

bars. A

llegatio

ns of "m

onetary lo

sses" from

com

-puter intrusio

n are noto

riously inflated

. The act o

f illicitly copying

adocum

ent from

a com

puter is m

orally eq

uated w

ith directly ro

bbing

aco

mpany o

f, say, half a millio

n dollars. T

he teenage co

mputer intrud

erin p

ossessio

n of this "p

roprietary" d

ocum

ent has certainly not so

ld it

for such a sum

, would

likely have little idea ho

w to

sell it at all, andquite probably doesn't even understand w

hat he has. He has not m

ade acent in p

rofit fro

m his felo

ny but is still m

orally eq

uated w

ith a thiefw

ho has ro

bbed

the church poorb

ox and

lit out fo

r Brazil.

Police w

ant to b

elieve that all hackers are thieves. It is a tortuo

us andalm

ost unb

earable act fo

r the Am

erican justice system to

put p

eople in

jail because they w

ant to learn thing

s which are fo

rbid

den fo

r them to

know

. In an Am

erican context, alm

ost any p

retext for p

unishment is

better than jailing

peo

ple to

pro

tect certain restricted kind

s of info

r-m

ation. N

evertheless, *policing

inform

ation* is p

art and p

arcel of the

struggle ag

ainst hackers.

This d

ilemm

a is well exem

plified

by th

e remarkab

le activities of

"Emm

anuel Gold

stein," edito

r and p

ublisher o

f a print m

agazine kno

wn

as *26

00

: The H

acker Quarterly.* G

old

stein was an Eng

lish majo

r atLo

ng Island

's State U

niversity of N

ew Y

ork in the '7

0s, w

hen he becam

einvo

lved w

ith the local co

llege rad

io statio

n. His g

row

ing interest in

electronics caused

him to

drift into

Yip

pie *T

AP* circles and

thus intothe d

igital und

ergro

und, w

here he becam

e a self-describ

ed techno

- rat.H

is mag

azine pub

lishes techniques o

f com

puter intrusio

n and telep

hone

"exploration" as well as g

loating exposes of telco m

isdeeds and govern-

mental failing

s.

Gold

stein lives q

uietly an

d very p

rivately in a larg

e, crum

blin

gV

ictorian m

ansion in S

etauket, New

York. T

he seaside ho

use is deco

rat-ed

with telco

decals, chunks o

f driftw

ood, and

the basic b

ric-a-brac o

f ahip

pie

crash-p

ad. H

e is u

nm

arried, m

ildly u

nke

mpt, an

d su

rvives

mostly on T

V dinners and turkey-stuffing

eaten straight out of the b

ag.

Gold

stein is a man o

f consid

erable charm

and fluency, w

ith a brief, d

is-arm

ing sm

ile and the kind

of p

itiless, stubborn, tho

roug

hly recidivist

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HA

CK

ER

CR

AC

KD

OW

N

NO

T F

OR

CO

MM

ER

CIA

L U

SE

7 3

integrity that A

merica's electro

nic police find

genuinely alarm

ing.

Gold

stein took his no

m-d

e-plum

e, or "hand

le," from

a character inO

rwell's *1

98

4,* w

hich may b

e taken, correctly, as a sym

pto

m o

f thegravity o

f his socio

political w

orld

view. H

e is not him

self a practicing

com

puter intrud

er, thoug

h he vigoro

usly abets these actio

ns, especially

when they are p

ursued ag

ainst large co

rporatio

ns or g

overnm

entalag

encies. Nor is he a thief, fo

r he loudly sco

rns mere theft o

f phone

service, in favor o

f 'explo

ring and

manip

ulating the system

.' He is

pro

bab

ly best d

escribed

and und

erstood as a *d

issident.*

Weird

ly, Gold

stein is livin

g in

modern

Am

erica under co

nditio

ns very

similar to

those o

f form

er East European intellectual d

issidents. In

other w

ord

s, he flagrantly esp

ouses a value-system

that is deep

ly andirrevocably opposed to the system

of those in power and the police. T

hevalu

es in *2

60

0* are g

enerally exp

ressed in

terms th

at are ironic,

sarcastic, parad

oxical, o

r just dow

nright co

nfused. B

ut there's no m

is-takin

g th

eir rad

ically anti-au

thoritarian

tenor. *2

60

0* h

old

s that

technical pow

er and sp

ecialized kno

wled

ge, o

f any kind o

btainab

le,belong

by rig

ht in the hands of those individuals brave and b

old enough

to d

iscover them

— b

y whatever m

eans necessary. Devices, law

s, or

systems that forb

id access, and the free spread of knowledg

e, are provo-catio

ns that any free and self-resp

ecting hacker sho

uld relentlessly

attack. The "p

rivacy" of g

overnm

ents, corp

oratio

ns and o

ther soulless

technocratic organizations should never be protected at the expense ofthe lib

erty and free initiative o

f the individ

ual techno-rat.

How

ever, in our co

ntemporary w

orkad

ay world

, both g

overnm

ents andco

rporatio

ns are very anxious ind

eed to

police info

rmatio

n which is

secret, pro

prietary, restricted

, confid

ential, copyrig

hted, p

atented,

hazard

ous, illeg

al, uneth

ical, embarrassin

g, o

r oth

erwise sen

sitive.This m

akes Gold

stein perso

na non g

rata, and his p

hiloso

phy a threat.

Very little ab

out the co

nditio

ns of G

old

stein's daily life w

ould

astonish,

say, Vaclav H

avel. (We m

ay note in p

assing that Presid

ent Havel o

ncehad

his word

-pro

cessor co

nfiscated b

y the Czecho

slovak p

olice.)

Gold

stein lives by *sam

izdat,* acting

semi-o

penly as a d

ata-center for

the underg

round

, while challeng

ing the p

ow

ers-that-be to

abid

e by

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

G —

TH

E

HA

CK

ER

CR

AC

KD

OW

N

NO

T F

OR

CO

MM

ER

CIA

L U

SE

7 4

their own stated rules: freedom

of speech and the First Am

endment.

Gold

stein thoro

ughly lo

oks and

acts the part o

f techno-rat, w

ith shoul-

der-len

gth

ringlets an

d a p

iratical black fish

erman

's-cap set at a rak-

ish angle. He often show

s up like Banquo's ghost at m

eetings of computer

pro

fessionals, w

here h

e listens q

uietly, h

alf-smilin

g an

d takin

g th

or-

ough notes.

Com

puter p

rofessio

nals g

enerally m

eet publicly, an

d fin

d it very d

iffi-cult to

rid them

selves of G

old

stein and his ilk w

ithout extraleg

al andunco

nstitutional actio

ns. Sym

pathizers, m

any of them

quite resp

ectable

peo

ple w

ith responsib

le jobs, ad

mire G

old

stein's attitude and

surrepti-

tiously p

ass him info

rmatio

n. An unkno

wn b

ut presum

ably larg

e pro

-portio

n o

f Gold

stein's 2

,00

0-p

lus read

ership

are telco secu

rity per-

sonnel and

police, w

ho are fo

rced to

subscrib

e to *2

60

0* to

stayab

reast of new developm

ents in hacking. T

hey thus find themselves

*payin

g th

is guy's ren

t* while g

rindin

g th

eir teeth in

anguish

, a situa-

tion that would have delighted A

bbie Hoffm

an (one of Goldstein's few

idols).

Gold

stein is pro

bab

ly the best-kno

wn p

ublic rep

resentative of the

hacker underg

round

today, and

certainly the best-hated

. Police reg

ardhim

as a Fagin, a co

rrupter o

f youth, and

speak o

f him w

ith untempered

loathing

. He is q

uite an accom

plished

gad

fly.

After the M

artin Luther King

Day C

rash of 1

99

0, G

old

stein, for

instance, adep

tly rubbed

salt into the w

ound

in the pag

es of *2

60

0.*

"Yeah, it was fun for the phone phreaks as w

e watched the netw

orkcrum

ble," he ad

mitted

cheerfully. "But it w

as also an o

mino

us sign o

fw

hat's to come... Som

e AT&

T people, aided b

y well-m

eaning b

ut igno-

rant media, w

ere spreading the notion that many com

panies had the same

software and therefore could face the sam

e problem som

eday. Wrong.

This w

as entirely an AT&

T so

ftware d

eficiency. Of co

urse, other co

mpa-

nies could

face entirely *different* so

ftware p

roblem

s. But then, so

too

could

AT&

T."

After a technical d

iscussion o

f the system's failing

s, the Long

Islandtechno

-rat went o

n to o

ffer thoug

htful criticism to

the gig

antic multi-

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

G —

TH

E

HA

CK

ER

CR

AC

KD

OW

N

NO

T F

OR

CO

MM

ER

CIA

L U

SE

7 5

national's hund

reds o

f pro

fessionally q

ualified eng

ineers. "What w

edon't kno

w is ho

w a m

ajor fo

rce in com

municatio

ns like AT&

T co

uld b

eso sloppy. W

hat happened to backups? Sure, computer system

s go down

all the time, b

ut people making

phone calls are not the same as people

logging on to computers. W

e must m

ake that distinction. It's notacceptable for the phone system

or any other essential service to 'godow

n.' If we continue to trust technolog

y without understanding

it, we

can look forward to m

any variations on this theme. "A

T&

T ow

es it to itscusto

mers to

be p

repared

to *instantly* sw

itch to ano

ther network if

som

ething strang

e and unp

redictab

le starts occurring

. The new

s hereisn't so

much the failure o

f a com

puter p

rogram

, but the failure o

fA

T&

T's entire structure."

The very id

ea of this.... this *p

erson*.... o

ffering "ad

vice" about

"AT&

T's entire structure" is m

ore than so

me p

eople can easily b

ear.H

ow

dare this near-crim

inal dictate w

hat is or isn't "accep

table"

behavio

r from

AT&

T? Esp

ecially when he's p

ublishing

, in the very same

issue, detailed

schematic d

iagram

s for creating

various sw

itching-net-

work sig

nalling to

nes unavailable to

the pub

lic.

"See what happens w

hen you drop a 'silver box' tone or two dow

n yourlo

cal exchange o

r throug

h different lo

ng d

istance service carriers,"ad

vises *26

00

* contrib

utor "M

r. Upsetter" in "H

ow

To B

uild a S

ignal

Box." "If yo

u experim

ent systematically and

keep g

ood reco

rds, yo

u will

surely disco

ver som

ething interesting

."

This is, o

f course, the scientific m

ethod, g

enerally regard

ed as a p

raise-w

orthy activity and

one o

f the flow

ers of m

odern civilizatio

n. One can

indeed

learn a great d

eal with this so

rt of structured

intellectual activi-ty. T

elco em

plo

yees regard

this mode o

f "explo

ration" as akin to

fling-

ing sticks of dynamite into their pond to see w

hat lives on the bottom.

*26

00

* has been p

ublished

consistently since 1

98

4. It has also

run abulletin

board

com

puter system

, prin

ted *2

60

0* T

-shirts, taken

faxcalls... T

he Spring

19

91

issue has an interesting anno

uncement o

n pag

e4

5: "W

e just disco

vered an extra set o

f wires attached

to o

ur fax lineand heading up the pole. (T

hey've since been clipped.) Your faxes to usand to anyone else could be m

onitored."

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

G —

TH

E H

AC

KE

R C

RA

CK

DO

WN

N

OT

FO

R C

OM

ME

RC

IAL

US

E7 6

In the world

view o

f *26

00

,* the tiny band

of techno

- rat bro

thers(rarely, sisters) are a b

eseiged

vanguard

of the truly free and

honest.

The rest o

f the world

is a maelstro

m o

f corp

orate crim

e and hig

h-levelgovernm

ental corrup

tion, o

ccasionally tem

pered

with w

ell-meaning

igno

rance. To read

a few issues in a ro

w is to

enter a nightm

are akin toSolzhenitsyn's, so

mew

hat tempered

by the fact that *2

60

0* is o

ftenextrem

ely funny.

Goldstein did not becom

e a target of the Hacker C

rackdown, though he

pro

tested lo

udly, elo

quently, and

pub

licly about it, and

it added

consid

-erably to his fam

e. It was not that he is not regarded as dangerous,

because he is so reg

arded. Goldstein has had b

rushes with the law

in thepast: in 1

98

5, a *2

60

0* b

ulletin board

com

puter w

as seized b

y theFB

I, and so

me so

ftware o

n it was fo

rmally d

eclared "a b

urglary to

ol in

the form

of a co

mputer p

rogram

." But G

old

stein escaped

direct rep

res-sio

n in 19

90

, because his m

agazine is p

rinted o

n pap

er, and reco

gnized

as subject to Constitutional freedom

of the press protection. As w

as seenin the *R

amparts* case, this is far fro

m an ab

solute g

uarantee. Still,

as a practical m

atter, shutting d

ow

n *26

00

* by co

urt-ord

er would

create so m

uch legal hassle that it is sim

ply unfeasib

le, at least for the

present. Throug

hout 1990, b

oth Goldstein and his m

agazine w

erepeevish

ly th

riving.

Instead, the C

rackdow

n of 1

99

0 w

ould

concern itself w

ith the com

put-

erized versio

n of fo

rbid

den d

ata. The crackd

ow

n itself, first and fo

re-m

ost, w

as about *b

ulletin board

systems.* B

ulletin Board

System

s,m

ost o

ften know

n by the ug

ly and un-p

luralizable acro

nym "B

BS," are

the life-blo

od o

f the dig

ital underg

round

. Board

s were also

central tolaw

enforcement's tactics and strateg

y in the Hacker C

rackdown.

A "b

ulletin board

system" can b

e form

ally defined

as a com

puter w

hichserves as an info

rmatio

n and m

essage- p

assing center fo

r users dialing

-up over the phone-lines through the use of m

odems. A

"modem

," orm

odulato

r- dem

odulato

r, is a device w

hich translates the dig

italim

pulses o

f com

puters into

audib

le analog telep

hone sig

nals, and vice

versa. Modem

s connect computers to phones and thus to each other.

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

G —

TH

E H

AC

KE

R C

RA

CK

DO

WN

N

OT

FO

R C

OM

ME

RC

IAL

US

E7 7

Large-scale m

ainframe com

puters have been connected since the

19

60

s, but *p

ersonal* co

mputers, ru

n b

y individ

uals o

ut o

f their

hom

es, were first netw

orked

in the late 19

70

s. The "b

oard

" created b

yW

ard C

hristensen and R

andy S

uess in February 1

97

8, in C

hicago,

Illinois, is g

enerally re

gard

ed as th

e first p

erso

nal-co

mpute

r bulle

tinboard system

worthy of the nam

e.

Board

s run on m

any different m

achines, emplo

ying m

any different kind

sof so

ftware. Early b

oard

s were crud

e and b

uggy, and

their manag

ers,kno

wn as "system

operato

rs" or "syso

ps," w

ere hard-w

orking

technicalexp

erts who

wro

te their ow

n softw

are. But like m

ost everything

else inthe w

orld

of electro

nics, board

s becam

e faster, cheaper, b

etter-desig

ned, and

generally far m

ore so

phisticated

throug

hout the 1

98

0s.

They also m

oved swiftly out of the hands of pioneers and into those of the

general p

ublic. B

y 19

85

there were so

mething

in the neighb

orho

od o

f4

,00

0 b

oard

s in Am

erica. By 1

99

0 it w

as calculated, vag

uely, thatthere w

ere about 3

0,0

00 b

oards in the US, w

ith uncounted thousandsoverseas.

Com

puter b

ulletin board

s are unregulated

enterprises. R

unning a b

oard

is a rough-an

d-re

ady, catch

- as-catch-can

pro

positio

n. B

asically,anyb

ody with a com

puter, modem

, software and a phone-line can start a

board

. With seco

nd-hand

equip

ment and

pub

lic-dom

ain free softw

are,the price of a b

oard mig

ht be quite sm

all — less than it w

ould take topub

lish a mag

azine or even a d

ecent pam

phlet. Entrep

reneurs eagerly

sell bulletin- b

oard

softw

are, and w

ill coach no

ntechnical amateur

sysops in its use.

Board

s are not "p

resses." They are no

t mag

azines, or lib

raries, or

pho

nes, or C

B rad

ios, o

r traditio

nal cork b

ulletin board

s dow

n at thelo

cal laundry, tho

ugh they have so

me p

assing resem

blance to

those ear-

lier med

ia. Board

s are a new m

edium

— they m

ay even be a *larg

e num-

ber* o

f new m

edia.

Consider these unique characteristics: b

oards are cheap, yet they canhave a national, even g

lobal reach. B

oards can be contacted from

any-w

here in the glo

bal telep

hone netw

ork, at *no

cost* to

the perso

n run-ning

the board

— the caller p

ays the pho

ne bill, and

if the caller is local,

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

G —

TH

E H

AC

KE

R C

RA

CK

DO

WN

N

OT

FO

R C

OM

ME

RC

IAL

US

E7 8

the call is free. Board

s do no

t involve an ed

itorial elite ad

dressing

am

ass audience. T

he "sysop" o

f a board

is not an exclusive p

ublisher o

rw

riter — he is m

anaging

an electronic salo

n, where ind

ividuals can

address the g

eneral pub

lic, play the p

art of the g

eneral pub

lic, and also

exchange p

rivate mail w

ith other ind

ividuals. A

nd the "co

nversation" o

nboard

s, thoug

h fluid, rap

id, and

highly interactive, is no

t spoken, b

utw

ritten. It is also relatively ano

nymous, so

metim

es com

pletely so

.

And b

ecause boards are cheap and ub

iquitous, regulations and licensing

requirem

ents would

likely be p

ractically unenforceab

le. It would

almost be easier to "regulate" "inspect" and "license" the content of

private m

ail — p

robab

ly more so

, since the mail system

is operated

by

the federal g

overnm

ent. Board

s are run by ind

ividuals, ind

epend

ently,en

tirely at their o

wn w

him

.

For the syso

p, the co

st of o

peratio

n is not the p

rimary lim

iting facto

r.O

nce the investment in a com

puter and modem

has been made, the only

steady co

st is the charge fo

r maintaining

a pho

ne line (or several p

hone

lines). The p

rimary lim

its for syso

ps are tim

e and energ

y. Board

sreq

uire upkeep

. New

users are generally "valid

ated" —

they must b

eissued

individ

ual passw

ord

s, and called

at hom

e by vo

ice-pho

ne, so that

their identity can b

e verified. O

bno

xious users, w

ho exist in p

lenty,m

ust be chided or purged. Proliferating messages m

ust be deleted when

they grow old, so that the capacity of the system

is not overwhelm

ed.A

nd so

ftware p

rogram

s (if such things are kep

t on the b

oard

) must b

eexam

ined fo

r possib

le com

puter viruses. If there is a financial charg

eto

use the board

(increasingly co

mm

on, esp

ecially in larger and

fanciersystem

s) then accounts must b

e kept, and users must b

e billed. A

nd ifthe b

oard crashes — a very com

mon occurrence —

then repairs must b

em

ade.

Boards can b

e distinguished b

y the amount of effort spent in reg

ulatingthem

. First, we have the com

pletely open board, w

hose sysop is offchug

ging

brew

s and w

atching re-runs w

hile his users generally d

egen-

erate over time into peevish anarchy and eventual silence. Second com

esthe sup

ervised b

oard

, where the syso

p b

reaks in every once in a w

hileto

tidy up

, calm b

rawls, issue anno

uncements, and

rid the co

mm

unity of

dolts and

troub

lemakers. T

hird is the heavily sup

ervised b

oard

, which

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

G —

TH

E H

AC

KE

R C

RA

CK

DO

WN

N

OT

FO

R C

OM

ME

RC

IAL

US

E7 9

sternly urges ad

ult and resp

onsib

le behavio

r and sw

iftly edits any m

es-sag

e consid

ered o

ffensive, impertinent, illeg

al or irrelevant. A

nd last

com

es the com

pletely ed

ited "electro

nic pub

lication," w

hich is pre-

sented to

a silent audience w

hich is not allo

wed

to resp

ond

directly in

any way.

Boards can also b

e grouped b

y their degree of anonym

ity. There is the

completely anonym

ous board, w

here everyone uses pseudonyms —

"han-dles" —

and even the sysop is unaware of the user's true identity. T

hesyso

p him

self is likely pseud

onym

ous o

n a board

of this typ

e. Seco

nd,

and rather m

ore co

mm

on, is the b

oard

where the syso

p kno

ws (o

rthinks he kno

ws) the true nam

es and ad

dresses o

f all users, but the

users don't know one another's nam

es and may not know

his. Third is

the board

where everyo

ne has to use real nam

es, and ro

leplaying

andpseud

onym

ous p

osturing

are forb

idden.

Board

s can be g

roup

ed b

y their imm

ediacy. "C

hat- lines" are board

slin

king several u

sers togeth

er over several d

ifferent p

hone-lin

essim

ultaneously, so that people exchange messages at the very m

oment

that they type. (M

any large b

oard

s feature "chat" capab

ilities along

with o

ther services.) Less imm

ediate b

oard

s, perhap

s with a sing

lephoneline, store m

essages serially, one at a tim

e. And som

e boards are

only o

pen fo

r business in d

aylight ho

urs or o

n weekend

s, which g

reatlyslo

ws resp

onse. A

*network* o

f board

s, such as "FidoN

et," can carryelectro

nic mail fro

m b

oard

to b

oard

, continent to

continent, acro

ss huge

distances — but at a relative snail's pace, so that a m

essage can takeseveral d

ays to reach its targ

et audience and

elicit a reply.

Boards can be grouped by their degree of com

munity. Som

e boardsem

phasize the exchang

e of p

rivate, perso

n-to-p

erson electro

nic mail.

Others em

phasize public posting

s and may even purg

e people who

"lurk," merely read

ing p

osts b

ut refusing to

openly p

articipate. S

om

eboard

s are intimate and

neighb

orly. O

thers are frosty and

highly tech-

nical. Som

e are little more than sto

rage d

umps fo

r softw

are, where

users "download" and "upload" prog

rams, b

ut interact among

themselves

little if at all.

Boards can be grouped by their ease of access. Som

e boards are entirely

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

G —

TH

E H

AC

KE

R C

RA

CK

DO

WN

N

OT

FO

R C

OM

ME

RC

IAL

US

E8 0

pub

lic. Others are p

rivate and restricted

only to

perso

nal friends o

f thesysop. Som

e boards divide users by status. On these boards, som

eusers, esp

ecially beg

inners, stran

gers o

r child

ren, w

ill be restricted

togeneral topics, and perhaps forb

idden to post. Favored users, though,

are granted the ab

ility to post as they please, and to stay "on-line" aslong as they like, even to the disadvantage of other people trying to callin. H

igh- status users can b

e given access to

hidden areas in the b

oard

,such as o

ff-colo

r topics, p

rivate discussio

ns, and/o

r valuable so

ftware.

Favored users may even becom

e "remote sysops" w

ith the power to take

remote control of the board through their ow

n home com

puters. Quite

often "rem

ote syso

ps" end

up d

oing

all the work and

taking fo

rmal co

n-tro

l of the enterp

rise, desp

ite the fact that it's physically lo

cated in

someone else's house. Som

etimes several "co-sysops" share pow

er.

And b

oards can also be g

rouped by size. M

assive, nationwide com

mercial

networks, such as C

om

puS

erve, Delp

hi, GEnie and

Prodig

y, are run on

mainfram

e com

puters and

are generally no

t consid

ered "b

oard

s," thoug

hthey share m

any of their characteristics, such as electro

nic mail, d

is-cussio

n topics, lib

raries of so

ftware, and

persistent and

gro

wing

pro

b-

lems w

ith civil-liberties issues. S

om

e private b

oard

s have as many as

thirty pho

ne-lines and q

uite sophisticated

hardw

are. And

then thereare tiny b

oard

s.

Board

s vary in popularity. S

om

e board

s are huge and

crow

ded

, where

users must claw

their way in ag

ainst a constant b

usy-signal. O

thers arehug

e and em

pty —

there are few thing

s sadder than a fo

rmerly flo

urish-ing board w

here no one posts any longer, and the dead conversations ofvanished

users lie about g

athering d

igital d

ust. Som

e board

s are tinyand

intimate, their telep

hone num

bers intentio

nally kept co

nfidential so

that only a sm

all number can lo

g o

n.

And

som

e board

s are *underg

round

.*

Board

s can be m

ysterious entities. T

he activities of their users can b

ehard

to d

ifferentiate from

consp

iracy. Som

etimes they *are* co

nspira-

cies. Board

s have harbored

, or have b

een accused o

f harboring

, allm

anner of fringe groups, and have abetted, or been accused of abetting,every m

anner o

f frow

ned

-upon, sleazy, rad

ical, and crim

inal activity.

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

G —

TH

E H

AC

KE

R C

RA

CK

DO

WN

N

OT

FO

R C

OM

ME

RC

IAL

US

E8 1

There are S

atanist board

s. Nazi b

oard

s. Porno

grap

hic board

s.Ped

ophile b

oard

s. Drug

- dealing

board

s. Anarchist b

oard

s. Com

munist

board

s. Gay and

Lesbian b

oard

s (these exist in great p

rofusio

n, many o

fth

em

quite

lively w

ith w

ell-e

stablish

ed h

istorie

s). Relig

ious cu

ltboard

s. Evangelical b

oard

s. Witchcraft b

oard

s, hippie b

oard

s, punk

board

s, skateboard

er board

s. Board

s for U

FO b

elievers. There m

ay well

be b

oard

s for se

rial killers, airlin

e te

rrorists an

d p

rofe

ssional assas-

sins. There is sim

ply no

way to

tell. Board

s spring

up, flo

urish, anddisap

pear in larg

e numbers, in m

ost every co

rner of the d

eveloped

world

. Even apparently inno

cuous p

ublic b

oard

s can, and so

metim

es do,

harbor secret areas know

n only to a few. A

nd even on the vast, public,

com

mercial services, p

rivate mail is very p

rivate — an

d q

uite p

ossib

lycrim

inal.

Boards cover m

ost every topic imag

inable and som

e that are hard toim

agine. T

hey cover a vast sp

ectrum o

f social activity. H

ow

ever, allboard users do have som

ething in com

mon: their possession of com

put-ers and

pho

nes. Naturally, co

mputers and

pho

nes are prim

ary topics o

fco

nversation o

n almost every b

oard

.

And hackers and phone phreaks, those utter devotees of com

puters andpho

nes, live by b

oard

s. They sw

arm b

y board

s. They are b

red b

yboard

s. By the late 1

98

0s, p

hone-p

hreak gro

ups and

hacker gro

ups,

united b

y board

s, had p

roliferated

fantastically.

As evid

ence, here is a list of hacker g

roup

s com

piled

by the ed

itors o

f*P

hrack* o

n A

ugust 8

, 19

88

.

The A

dministration. A

dvanced Telecom

munications, Inc. A

LIAS.

Am

erican Tone T

ravelers. Anarchy Inc. A

pple M

afia. The A

ssociatio

n.A

tlantic P

irates Guild

.

Bad

Ass M

other Fuckers. B

ellcore. B

ell Sho

ck Force. B

lack Bag

.

Cam

orra. C

&M

Productio

ns. Catho

lics Ano

nymous. C

haos C

om

puter

Club

. Chief Executive O

fficers. Circle O

f Death. C

ircle Of D

eneb. C

lubX. C

oalitio

n of H

i-Tech Pirates. C

oast-T

o-C

oast. C

orrup

t Com

puting

.Cult O

f The D

ead Cow

. Custom

Retaliations.

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

G —

TH

E H

AC

KE

R C

RA

CK

DO

WN

N

OT

FO

R C

OM

ME

RC

IAL

US

E8 2

Dam

age Inc. D&

B C

omm

unications. The D

ange Gang. D

ec Hunters.

Dig

ital Gang

. DPA

K.

Eastern Alliance. T

he Elite Hackers G

uild. Elite Phreakers and

Hackers

Club

. The Elite S

ociety O

f Am

erica. EPG. Executives O

f Crim

e. ExtasyyElite.

Fargo 4

A. Farm

ers Of D

oom

. The Fed

eration. Fed

s R U

s. First Class.

Five O. Five S

tar. Force H

ackers. The 4

14

s.

Hack-A

-Trip

. Hackers O

f Am

erica. Hig

h Mountain H

ackers. Hig

hSociety. T

he Hitchhikers.

IBM

Syn

dicate

. The Ice

Pirate

s. Imperial W

arlord

s. Inner C

ircle.

Inner C

ircle II. Insan

ity Inc. In

ternatio

nal C

om

puter U

nderg

round

Band

its.

Justice League o

f Am

erica.

Kaos Inc. K

nights Of Shadow

. Knights O

f The Round T

able.

League Of A

depts. Legion Of D

oom. Legion O

f Hackers. Lords O

f Chaos.

Lunatic Labs, U

nlimited

.

Master H

ackers. MA

D! T

he Maraud

ers. MD

/PhD. M

etalC

om

municatio

ns, In

c. MetalliB

ashers, In

c. MBI. M

etroCom

municatio

ns. Mid

west Pirates G

uild.

NA

SA

Elite. The N

ATO

Asso

ciation. N

eon K

nights. N

ihilist Ord

er.O

rder Of T

he Rose. OSS.

Pacific Pirates Guild

. Phantom

Access A

ssociates. PH

ido PH

reaks. The

Phirm. Phlash. Pho

neLine Phantom

s. Phone Phreakers O

f Am

erica.Pho

rtune 50

0. Phreak H

ack Delinq

uents. Phreak Hack D

estroyers.

Phreakers, Hackers, A

nd Laund

rom

at Emplo

yees Gang

(PHA

LSE G

ang).

Phreaks Against G

eeks. Phreaks Against Phreaks A

gainst G

eeks.Phreaks and

Hackers o

f Am

erica. Phreaks Ano

nymous W

orld

Wid

e.

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

G —

TH

E H

AC

KE

R C

RA

CK

DO

WN

N

OT

FO

R C

OM

ME

RC

IAL

US

E8 3

Project G

enesis. The Punk M

afia.

The Racketeers. Red D

awn T

ext Files. Roscoe Gang.

SA

BRE. S

ecret Circle o

f Pirates. Secret S

ervice. 70

7 C

lub. S

hadow

Bro

therhood. S

harp Inc. 6

5C0

2 Elite. S

pectral Fo

rce. Star Leag

ue.Sto

waw

ays. Strata-C

rackers.

Team

Hackers '8

6. T

eam H

ackers '87. T

eleCom

putist New

sletter Staff.Trib

unal Of K

now

ledge. T

riple Entente. T

urn Over A

nd D

ie Synd

rom

e(T

OA

DS). 3

00

Club

. 12

00

Club

. 23

00

Club

. 26

00

Club

. 26

01

Club

.2

AF.

The U

nited S

oft W

areZ Force. U

nited T

echnical Und

ergro

und.

Ware B

rigad

e. The W

arelord

s. WA

SP.

Contem

plating

this list is an impressive, alm

ost hum

bling

business.

As a cultural artifact, the thing

appro

aches poetry.

Und

ergro

und g

roup

s — sub

cultures — can b

e disting

uished fro

m ind

e-pend

ent cultures by their hab

it of referring

constantly to

the parent

society. U

nderg

round

s by their nature co

nstantly must m

aintain am

embrane o

f differentiatio

n. Funny/distinctive clo

thes and hair, sp

e-cialized

jargon, sp

ecialized g

hettoized

areas in cities, different ho

urs of

rising, w

orking

, sleeping

.... The d

igital und

ergro

und, w

hich specializes

in inform

ation, relies very heavily o

n languag

e to d

istinguish itself. A

scan b

e seen from this list, they m

ake heavy use of parody and mockery.

It's revealing to see who they choose to m

ock.

First, large co

rporatio

ns. We have the Pho

rtune 50

0, T

he Chief

Executive Officers, B

ellcore, IB

M S

yndicate, S

ABRE (a co

mputerized

reservation service m

aintained b

y airlines). The co

mm

on use o

f "Inc."is telling

— no

ne of these g

roup

s are actual corp

oratio

ns, but take clear

delig

ht in mim

icking them

.

Second, governments and police. N

ASA

Elite, NA

TO

Association. "Feds R

Us" and

"Secret S

ervice" are fine bits o

f fleering b

old

ness. OSS —

the

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

G —

TH

E H

AC

KE

R C

RA

CK

DO

WN

N

OT

FO

R C

OM

ME

RC

IAL

US

E8 4

Office o

f Strateg

ic Services w

as the forerunner o

f the CIA

.

Third

, criminals. U

sing stig

matizing

pejo

ratives as a perverse b

adge o

fho

nor is a tim

e-hono

red tactic fo

r subcultures: p

unks, gang

s, delin-

quents, m

afias, pirates, b

andits, racketeers.

Specialized

ortho

grap

hy, especially the use o

f "ph" fo

r "f" and "z" fo

rthe p

lural "s," are instant recognitio

n symbols. S

o is the use o

f thenum

eral "0" fo

r the letter "O" —

com

puter-so

ftware o

rthograp

hy gen-

erally features a slash throug

h the zero, m

aking the d

istinction o

bvio

us.

Som

e terms are p

oetically d

escriptive o

f com

puter intrusio

n: theSto

waw

ays, the Hitchhikers, the Pho

neLine Phantom

s, Coast-to

-Coast.

Others are sim

ple b

ravado and

vainglo

rious p

uffery. (Note the insistent

use of the term

s "elite" and "m

aster.") Som

e terms are b

lasphem

ous,

som

e obscene, o

thers merely cryp

tic — anything

to p

uzzle, offend

, con-

fuse, and keep the straights at bay.

Many hacker g

roup

s further re-encrypt their nam

es by the use o

facro

nyms: U

nited T

echnical Und

ergro

und b

ecom

es UTU

, Farmers o

fD

oom becom

e FoD, the U

nited SoftWareZ Force becom

es, at its own

insistence, "TuSw

F," and woe to the ig

norant rodent who capitalizes the

wro

ng letters.

It should be further recog

nized that the mem

bers of these g

roups arethem

selves pseud

onym

ous. If yo

u did

, in fact, run across the

"PhoneLine Phanto

ms," yo

u would

find them

to co

nsist of "C

arrierC

ulp

rit," "The Execu

tioner," "B

lack Majik," "Eg

yptian

Lover," "S

olid

State

," and "M

r Icom

." "Carrie

r Culp

rit" will like

ly be re

ferre

d to

by

his friends as "C

C," as in, "I g

ot these d

ialups fro

m C

C o

f PLP."

It's quite p

ossib

le that this entire list refers to as few

as a thousand

people. It is not a complete list of underg

round groups —

there hasnever b

een such a list, and there never w

ill be. G

roup

s rise, flourish,

decline, share m

embership

, maintain a clo

ud o

f wannab

es and casual

hangers-o

n. People p

ass in and o

ut, are ostracized

, get b

ored

, are bust-

ed b

y police, o

r are cornered

by telco

security and p

resented w

ith huge

bills. M

any "underg

round

gro

ups" are so

ftware p

irates, "warez d

00

dz,"

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

G —

TH

E H

AC

KE

R C

RA

CK

DO

WN

N

OT

FO

R C

OM

ME

RC

IAL

US

E8 5

who

mig

ht break co

py p

rotectio

n and p

irate pro

gram

s, but likely

would

n't dare to

intrude o

n a com

puter-system

.

It is hard to

estimate the true p

opulatio

n of the d

igital und

ergro

und.

There is constant turnover. M

ost hackers start young, com

e and go, then

drop out at age 22 —

the age of college graduation. And a large m

ajorityof "hackers" access pirate boards, adopt a handle, sw

ipe software and

perhap

s abuse a p

hone-co

de o

r two, w

hile never actually joining

theelite.

Som

e pro

fessional info

rmants, w

ho m

ake it their business to

retailkno

wled

ge o

f the underg

round

to p

aymasters in p

rivate corp

orate secu-

rity, have estimated

the hacker populatio

n at as high as fifty tho

usand.

This is likely hig

hly inflated, unless o

ne counts every sing

le teenage

software pirate and petty phone-booth thief. M

y best guess is about5,0

00 people. O

f these, I would guess that as few

as a hundred aretruly "elite" —

active com

puter intrud

ers, skilled eno

ugh to

penetrate

sophisticated

systems and

truly to w

orry co

rporate security and

lawenfo

rcement.

Ano

ther interesting sp

eculation is w

hether this gro

up is g

row

ing o

r not.

Young teenage hackers are often convinced that hackers exist in vastsw

arms and

will so

on d

om

inate the cybernetic universe. O

lder and

wiser veterans, p

erhaps as w

izened as 2

4 o

r 25

years old

, are con-

vinced that the glory days are long gone, that the cops have the under-gro

und's num

ber no

w, and

that kids these d

ays are dirt-stup

id and

justw

ant to p

lay Nintend

o.

My o

wn assessm

ent is that com

puter intrusio

n, as a non-p

rofit act o

fintellectual exp

loratio

n and m

astery, is in slow

decline, at least in the

United

States; b

ut that electronic fraud

, especially teleco

mm

unication

crime, is g

row

ing b

y leaps and

bound

s.

One m

ight find

a useful parallel to

the dig

ital underg

round

in the drug

underg

round

. There w

as a time, no

w m

uch-obscured

by histo

ricalrevisio

nism, w

hen Bohem

ians freely shared jo

ints at concerts, and

hip,

small- scale m

arijuana dealers m

ight turn p

eople o

n just for the sake o

fenjoying a long stoned conversation about the D

oors and Allen G

insberg.

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

G —

TH

E H

AC

KE

R C

RA

CK

DO

WN

N

OT

FO

R C

OM

ME

RC

IAL

US

E8 6

Now

drug

s are increasingly verb

oten, excep

t in a high-stakes, hig

hly-crim

inal world

of hig

hly addictive d

rugs. O

ver years of d

isenchantment

and p

olice harassm

ent, a vaguely id

eolo

gical, free-w

heeling d

rugund

ergro

und has relinq

uished the b

usiness of d

rug- d

ealing to

a farm

ore savag

e criminal hard

-core. T

his is not a p

leasant pro

spect to

contem

plate, b

ut the analogy is fairly co

mpelling

.

What d

oes an und

ergro

und b

oard

look like? W

hat disting

uishes it from

a standard

board

? It isn't necessarily the conversatio

n — hackers o

ftentalk ab

out co

mm

on b

oard

topics, such as hard

ware, so

ftware, sex, sci-

ence fiction, current events, p

olitics, m

ovies, p

ersonal g

ossip

.U

nderg

round

board

s can best b

e disting

uished b

y their files, or

"philes," pre-composed texts w

hich teach the techniques and ethos ofthe und

ergro

und. T

hese are prized

reservoirs o

f forb

idden kno

wled

ge.

Some are anonym

ous, but most proudly bear the handle of the "hacker"

who

has created them

, and his g

roup

affiliation, if he has o

ne.

Here is a p

artial table-o

f-contents o

f philes fro

m an und

ergro

undboard

, som

ewhere in the heart o

f mid

dle A

merica, circa 1

99

1. T

hedescrip

tions are m

ostly self- exp

lanato

ry.

BANKAMER.ZIP 5406 06-11-91 Hacking Bank America

CHHACK.ZIP 4481 06-11-91 Chilton Hacking

CITIBANK.ZIP 4118 06-11-91 Hacking Citibank

CREDIMTC.ZIP 3241 06-11-91 Hacking Mtc Credit

Company

DIGEST.ZIP 5159 06-11-91 Hackers Digest

HACK.ZIP 14031 06-11-91 How To Hack

HACKBAS.ZIP 5073 06-11-91 Basics Of Hacking

HACKDICT.ZIP 42774 06-11-91 Hackers Dictionary

HACKER.ZIP 57938 06-11-91 Hacker Info

HACKERME.ZIP 3148 06-11-91 Hackers Manual

HACKHAND.ZIP 4814 06-11-91 Hackers Handbook

HACKTHES.ZIP 48290 06-11-91 Hackers Thesis

HACKVMS.ZIP 4696 06-11-91 Hacking Vms Systems

MCDON.ZIP 3830 06-11-91 Hacking Macdonalds

(Home Of The Archs)

P500UNIX.ZIP 15525 06-11-91 Phortune 500 Guide To

Unix

RADHACK.ZIP 8411 06-11-91 Radio Hacking

TAOTRASH.DOC 4096 12-25-89 Suggestions For

Trashing

TECHHACK.ZIP 5063 06-11-91 Technical Hacking

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

G —

TH

E

HA

CK

ER

CR

AC

KD

OW

N

NO

T F

OR

CO

MM

ER

CIA

L U

SE

8 7

The files ab

ove are d

o-it-yo

urself manuals ab

out co

mputer intrusio

n.The ab

ove is o

nly a small sectio

n of a m

uch larger lib

rary of hacking

andphreaking

techniques and history. We now

move into a different and

perh

aps su

rprisin

g are

a.

+------------+

| Anarchy |

+------------+

ANARC.ZIP 3641 06-11-91 Anarchy Files

ANARCHST.ZIP 63703 06-11-91 Anarchist Book

ANARCHY.ZIP 2076 06-11-91 Anarchy At Home

ANARCHY3.ZIP 6982 06-11-91 Anarchy No 3

ANARCTOY.ZIP 2361 06-11-91 Anarchy Toys

ANTIMODM.ZIP 2877 06-11-91 Anti-modem Weapons

ATOM.ZIP 4494 06-11-91 How To Make An Atom

Bomb

BARBITUA.ZIP 3982 06-11-91 Barbiturate Formula

BLCKPWDR.ZIP 2810 06-11-91 Black Powder Formulas

BOMB.ZIP 3765 06-11-91 How To Make Bombs

BOOM.ZIP 2036 06-11-91 Things That Go Boom

CHLORINE.ZIP 1926 06-11-91 Chlorine Bomb

COOKBOOK.ZIP 1500 06-11-91 Anarchy Cook Book

DESTROY.ZIP 3947 06-11-91 Destroy Stuff

DUSTBOMB.ZIP 2576 06-11-91 Dust Bomb

ELECTERR.ZIP 3230 06-11-91 Electronic Terror

EXPLOS1.ZIP 2598 06-11-91 Explosives 1

EXPLOSIV.ZIP 18051 06-11-91 More Explosives

EZSTEAL.ZIP 4521 06-11-91 Ez-stealing

FLAME.ZIP 2240 06-11-91 Flame Thrower

FLASHLT.ZIP 2533 06-11-91 Flashlight Bomb

FMBUG.ZIP 2906 06-11-91 How To Make An Fm Bug

OMEEXPL.ZIP 2139 06-11-91 Home Explosives

HOW2BRK.ZIP 3332 06-11-91 How To Break In

LETTER.ZIP 2990 06-11-91 Letter Bomb

LOCK.ZIP 2199 06-11-91 How To Pick Locks

MRSHIN.ZIP 3991 06-11-91 Briefcase Locks

NAPALM.ZIP 3563 06-11-91 Napalm At Home

NITRO.ZIP 3158 06-11-91 Fun With Nitro

PARAMIL.ZIP 2962 06-11-91 Paramilitary Info

PICKING.ZIP 3398 06-11-91 Picking Locks

PIPEBOMB.ZIP 2137 06-11-91 Pipe Bomb

POTASS.ZIP 3987 06-11-91 Formulas With Potassium

PRANK.TXT 11074 08-03-90 More Pranks To Pull On

Idiots!

REVENGE.ZIP 4447 06-11-91 Revenge Tactics

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

G —

TH

E H

AC

KE

R C

RA

CK

DO

WN

N

OT

FO

R C

OM

ME

RC

IAL

US

E8 8

ROCKET.ZIP 2590 06-11-91 Rockets For Fun

SMUGGLE.ZIP 3385 06-11-91 How To Smuggle

*Holy C

ow

!* The d

amned

thing is full o

f stuff about b

om

bs!

What are w

e to m

ake of this?

First, it should

be ackno

wled

ged

that spread

ing kno

wled

ge ab

out d

emoli-

tions to

teenagers is a hig

hly and d

eliberately antiso

cial act. It is not,

how

eve

r, illegal.

Second, it should be recognized that most of these philes w

ere in fact*w

ritten* by teenag

ers. Most ad

ult Am

erican males w

ho can rem

ember

their teenage years w

ill recognize that the no

tion o

f build

ing a

flameth

row

er in yo

ur g

arage is an

incred

ibly n

eat-o id

ea. *Actu

ally*build

ing a flam

ethro

wer in

your g

arage, h

ow

ever, is fraught w

ith d

is-co

uraging

difficulty. S

tuffing g

unpow

der into

a booby-trap

ped

flash-lig

ht, so as to

blo

w the arm

off yo

ur high-scho

ol vice-p

rincipal, can b

ea thing of dark beauty to contem

plate. Actually com

mitting assault by

explo

sives will earn yo

u the sustained attentio

n of the fed

eral Bureau o

fA

lcoho

l, Tobacco

and Firearm

s.

Som

e peo

ple, ho

wever, w

ill actually try these plans. A

determ

inedly

murd

erous A

merican teenag

er can pro

bab

ly buy o

r steal a handgun far

more easily than he can b

rew fake "nap

alm" in the kitchen sink.

Nevertheless, if tem

ptatio

n is spread

befo

re peo

ple a certain num

ber

will succum

b, and

a small m

inority w

ill actually attempt these stunts.

A larg

e m

inority

of th

at small m

inority

will e

ither fail o

r, quite

likely

,m

aim them

selves, since these "philes" have no

t been checked

for accu-

racy, are not the p

roduct o

f pro

fessional exp

erience, and are o

ften high-

ly fanciful. But the g

loating

menace o

f these philes is no

t to b

e entirelydism

issed.

Hackers m

ay not b

e "serious" ab

out b

om

bing

; if they were, w

e would

hear far more ab

out exploding flashlig

hts, homem

ade bazookas, and g

ymteachers p

oiso

ned b

y chlorine and

potassium

. How

ever, hackers are*very* serious ab

out forbidden know

ledge. T

hey are possessed notm

erely by curio

sity, but b

y a positive *lust to

know

.* The d

esire tokno

w w

hat others d

on't is scarcely new

. But the *intensity* o

f this

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desire, as manifested by these young technophilic denizens of the

Inform

ation A

ge, m

ay in fact *be* new

, and m

ay represent so

me b

asicshift in so

cial values — a harb

inger o

f what the w

orld

may co

me to

, asso

ciety lays more and

more value o

n the possessio

n, assimilatio

n andretailing

of *info

rmatio

n* as a basic co

mm

odity o

f daily life.

There have alw

ays been young

men w

ith obsessive interests in these

topics. Never b

efore, however, have they b

een able to netw

ork soextensively and

easily, and to

pro

pag

andize their interests w

ithim

punity to

random

passers-b

y. Hig

h-school teachers w

ill recognize

that there's always one in a crow

d, but when the one in a crow

d escapesco

ntrol b

y jumping

into the p

hone-lines, and

beco

mes a hund

red such

kids all to

gether o

n a board

, then troub

le is brew

ing visib

ly. The urg

eof autho

rity to *d

o so

mething

,* even som

ething d

rastic, is hard to

resist. And

in 19

90

, authority d

id so

mething

. In fact authority d

id a

great d

eal._

__

__

The process b

y which b

oards create hackers goes som

ething like this. A

youngster b

ecomes interested in com

puters — usually, com

puter gam

es.H

e hears from

friends that "b

ulletin board

s" exist where g

ames can b

eobtained

for free. (M

any com

puter g

ames are "freew

are," not co

py-

righted

— invented

simply fo

r the love o

f it and g

iven away to

the pub

-lic; som

e of these games are quite good.) H

e bugs his parents for am

odem, or quite often, uses his parents' m

odem.

The w

orld of boards suddenly opens up. Com

puter games can be quite

expensive, real b

udget-b

reakers for a kid

, but p

irated g

ames, strip

ped

of co

py p

rotectio

n, are cheap o

r free. They are also

illegal, b

ut it isvery rare, alm

ost unheard

of, fo

r a small-scale so

ftware p

irate to b

eprosecuted. O

nce "cracked" of its copy protection, the program, being

dig

ital data, b

ecom

es infinitely repro

ducib

le. Even the instructions to

the game, any m

anuals that accompany it, can be reproduced as text

files, or p

hoto

copied

from

legitim

ate sets. Other users o

n board

s cangive m

any useful hints in gam

e-playing

tactics. And

a young

ster with an

infinite supply o

f free com

puter g

ames can certainly cut q

uite a swath

among

his modem

- less friends.

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And boards are pseudonym

ous. No one need know

that you're fourteenyears o

ld —

with a little p

ractice at subterfug

e, you can talk to

adults

about adult things, and be accepted and taken seriously! You can evenpretend

to b

e a girl, o

r an old

man, o

r anybody yo

u can imag

ine. If you

find this kind

of d

eceptio

n gratifying

, there is ample o

pportunity to

hone

your ab

ility on b

oard

s.

But lo

cal board

s can gro

w stale. A

nd alm

ost every b

oard

maintains a list

of p

hone-num

bers to

other b

oard

s, som

e in distant, tem

pting

, exotic

locales. W

ho kno

ws w

hat they're up to

, in Oreg

on o

r Alaska o

r Florid

aor C

alifornia? It's very easy to

find o

ut — just o

rder the m

odem

to call

throug

h its softw

are — no

thing to

this, just typing

on a keyb

oard

, thesam

e thing you would do for m

ost any computer gam

e. The m

achinereacts sw

iftly and in a few

second

s you are talking

to a b

unch of inter-

esting people on another seaboard.

And

yet the *bills* fo

r this trivial action can b

e staggering

! Just by

going

tippety-tap

with yo

ur fingers, yo

u may have sad

dled

your p

arentsw

ith four hundred bucks in long

-distance charges, and g

otten chewed out

but g

ood. T

hat hardly seem

s fair.

How

horrifying to have m

ade friends in another state and to be deprived

of their company —

and their software —

just because telephone com

-panies dem

and absurd am

ounts of money! H

ow painful, to b

e restrictedto boards in one's ow

n *area code* — w

hat the heck is an "area code"anyw

ay, and w

hat makes it so

special? A

few g

rumbles, co

mplaints,

and inno

cent questio

ns of this so

rt will o

ften elicit a sympathetic rep

lyfrom

another board user — som

eone with som

e stolen codes to hand.You d

ither a while, kno

wing

this isn't quite rig

ht, then you m

ake upyo

ur mind

to try them

anyhow

— *and

they work!* S

uddenly yo

u'redoing som

ething even your parents can't do. Six months ago you w

erejust so

me kid

— no

w, yo

u're the Crim

son Flash o

f Area C

ode 5

12

!You're b

ad —

you're natio

nwid

e!

Maybe you'll stop at a few

abused codes. Maybe you'll decide that boards

aren't all that interesting after all, that it's w

rong

, not w

orth the risk

— b

ut mayb

e you won't. T

he next step is to pick up your own repeat-

dialling

pro

gram

— to

learn to g

enerate your o

wn sto

len codes. (T

his

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was dead easy five years ago, m

uch harder to get away w

ith nowadays,

but no

t yet impossib

le.) And

these dialling

pro

gram

s are not co

mplex

or intim

idating

— so

me are as sm

all as twenty lines o

f softw

are.

Now

, you too can share codes. You can trade codes to learn other tech-niques. If you're sm

art enough to catch on, and obsessive enough tow

ant to b

other, and

ruthless enoug

h to start serio

usly bend

ing rules,

then you'll get better, fast. You start to develop a rep. You move up to a

heavier class of board — a board w

ith a bad attitude, the kind of boardthat naive d

opes like yo

ur classmates and

your fo

rmer self have never

even heard o

f! You p

ick up the jarg

on o

f phreaking

and hacking

from

theboard. You read a few

of those anarchy philes — and m

an, you neverrealized

you co

uld b

e a real *outlaw

* witho

ut ever leaving yo

ur bed

-ro

om

.

You still play other com

puter gam

es, but now

you have a new and b

igger

gam

e. This o

ne will b

ring yo

u a different kind

of status than d

estroying

even eight zillio

n lousy sp

ace invaders.

Hacking

is perceived

by hackers as a "g

ame." T

his is not an entirely

unreasonab

le or so

ciopathic p

erceptio

n. You can w

in or lo

se at hacking,

succeed o

r fail, but it never feels "real." It's no

t simply that im

agina-

tive young

sters som

etimes have a hard

time telling

"make-b

elieve"fro

m "real life." C

ybersp

ace is *not real!* "R

eal" thin

gs are p

hysical

objects like trees and shoes and cars. Hacking takes place on a screen.

Word

s aren't physical, num

bers (even telep

hone num

bers and

credit

card num

bers) aren't p

hysical. Sticks and

stones m

ay break m

y bones,

but d

ata will n

ever hurt m

e. Com

puters *sim

ulate* reality, like co

m-

puter gam

es that simulate tank b

attles or dogfig

hts or spaceships.Sim

ulations are just m

ake- believe, and

the stuff in com

puters is *no

tre

al.*

Consid

er this: if "hacking" is sup

posed

to b

e so serio

us and real-life and

dang

erous, then ho

w co

me *nine-year-o

ld kid

s* have com

puters and

modem

s? You w

ould

n't give a nine year o

ld his o

wn car, o

r his ow

nrifle, o

r his ow

n chainsaw —

those thing

s are "real."

People underg

round are perfectly aw

are that the "gam

e" is frow

ned upon

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by the powers that be. W

ord gets around about busts in the under-gro

und. Pub

licizing b

usts is one o

f the prim

ary functions o

f pirate

boards, but they also promulgate an attitude about them

, and their own

idio

syncratic ideas o

f justice. The users o

f underg

round

board

s won't

com

plain if so

me g

uy is busted

for crashing

systems, sp

reading

viruses,or stealing

money b

y wire- fraud

. They m

ay shake their heads w

ith asneaky grin, but they w

on't openly defend these practices. But w

hen akid

is charged

with so

me theo

retical amount o

f theft: $2

33

,84

6.1

4, fo

rinstance, because he sneaked into a com

puter and copied something, and

kept it in his ho

use on a flo

ppy d

isk — this is reg

arded

as a sign o

f near-insanity fro

m p

rosecuto

rs, a sign that they've d

rastically mistaken the

imm

aterial gam

e of co

mputing

for their real and

boring

everyday w

orld

of fatcat corporate money.

It's as if big

com

panies and

their suck-up law

yers think that com

puting

belo

ngs to

them, and

they can retail it with p

rice stickers, as if it were

boxes o

f laundry so

ap! B

ut pricing

"inform

ation" is like trying

to p

riceair o

r price d

reams. W

ell, anybody o

n a pirate b

oard

know

s that com

-puting

can be, and

oug

ht to b

e, *free.* Pirate board

s are little indep

en-dent w

orlds in cyberspace, and they don't belong to anybody but theund

ergro

und. U

nderg

round

board

s aren't "bro

ught to

you b

y Procter &

Gam

ble."

To log on to an underground board can m

ean to experience liberation, toenter a w

orld

where, fo

r once, m

oney isn't everything

and ad

ults don't

have all the answers.

Let's sample ano

ther vivid hacker m

anifesto. H

ere are som

e excerpts

from

"The C

onscience o

f a Hacker," b

y "The M

entor," fro

m *Phrack*

Volum

e One, Issue 7

, Phile 3.

"I made a discovery today. I found a com

puter. Wait a second, this is

cool. It does what I w

ant it to. If it makes a m

istake, it's because I

screwed

it up. N

ot b

ecause it doesn't like m

e.(...) "And

then it hap-

pened... a door opened to a world... rushing

through the phone line like

heroin thro

ugh an ad

dict's veins, an electro

nic pulse is sent o

ut, arefug

e from

day-to

-day inco

mpetencies is so

ught... a b

oard

is found

.'T

his is it... this is where I b

elong

...' "I know

everyone here... even if

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I've never met them

, never talked to

them, m

ay never hear from

themag

ain... I know

you all...(...) "T

his is our w

orld

now

.... the world

of the

electron and the switch, the beauty of the baud. W

e make use of a ser-

vice already existing

witho

ut paying

for w

hat could

be d

irt-cheap if it

wasn't run b

y pro

fiteering g

luttons, and

you call us crim

inals. We

explo

re... and yo

u call us criminals. W

e seek after know

ledge... and

you

call us crim

inals. W

e exist with

out skin

colo

r, with

out n

ationality,

witho

ut religio

us bias... and

you call us crim

inals. You b

uild ato

mic

bom

bs, you w

age w

ars, you murder, cheat and lie to us and try to m

akeus b

elieve that it's for o

ur ow

n good, yet w

e're the criminals. "Y

es, I ama crim

inal. M

y crime is th

at of cu

riosity. M

y crime is th

at of ju

dgin

gpeo

ple b

y what they say and

think, not w

hat they look like. M

y crime is

that of o

utsmarting

you, so

mething

that you w

ill never forg

ive me fo

r."_

__

__

There have been underground boards alm

ost as long as there have beenboards. O

ne of the first was 8

BBS, w

hich became a stronghold of the

West C

oast p

hone- p

hreak elite. After g

oing

on-line in M

arch 19

80

,8

BBS sp

onso

red "S

usan Thund

er," and "T

uc," and, m

ost no

torio

usly,"the C

ondor." "The C

ondor" bore the sing

ular distinction of becom

ingthe m

ost vilified

Am

erican phreak and

hacker ever. Ang

ry underg

round

associates, fed

up w

ith Cond

or's p

eevish behavio

r, turned him

in topolice, alo

ng w

ith a heaping

doub

le-helping

of o

utrageo

us hacker leg-

endry. A

s a result, Cond

or w

as kept in so

litary confinem

ent for seven

months, fo

r fear that he mig

ht start World

War T

hree by trig

gering

missile silo

s from

the priso

n payp

hone. (H

aving served

his time,

Cond

or is no

w w

alking aro

und lo

ose; W

WIII has thus far co

nspicuo

uslyfailed

to o

ccur.)

The syso

p o

f 8BBS w

as an ardent free-sp

eech enthusiast who

simply felt

that *any* attempt to

restrict the expressio

n of his users w

as uncon-

stitutional and

imm

oral. S

warm

s of the technically curio

us entered8

BBS and

emerg

ed as p

hreaks and hackers, until, in 1

98

2, a friend

ly8BBS alum

nus passed the sysop a new m

odem w

hich had been purchasedby cred

it-card fraud

. Police to

ok this o

pportunity to

seize the entireboard and rem

ove what they considered an attractive nuisance.

Plovernet was a pow

erful East Coast pirate b

oard that operated in both

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New

York and Florida. Ow

ned and operated by teenage hacker "Quasi

Moto

," Plovernet attracted

five hundred

eager users in 1

98

3.

"Emm

anuel Gold

stein" was o

ne-time co

-sysop o

f Plovernet, alo

ng w

ith"Lex Luthor," founder of the "Leg

ion of Doom

" group. Plovernet b

orethe signal honor of being the original hom

e of the "Legion of Doom

,"ab

out w

hich the reader w

ill be hearing

a great d

eal, soon.

"Pirate-8

0," o

r "P-8

0," ru

n b

y a sysop kn

ow

n as "S

can- M

an," g

ot

into the g

ame very early in C

harleston, and

continued

steadily fo

r years.P-8

0 flo

urished so

flagrantly that even its m

ost hard

ened users b

ecame

nervous, and some slanderously speculated that "Scan M

an" must have

ties to co

rporate security, a charg

e he vigoro

usly denied

.

"41

4 Private" w

as the hom

e board

for the first *g

roup

* to attract co

n-sp

icuous tro

uble, the teenag

e "41

4 G

ang," w

hose intrusio

ns into S

loan-

Kettering

Cancer C

enter and Lo

s Alam

os m

ilitary com

puters w

ere to b

e anin

e-d

ays- w

onder in

19

82

.

At ab

out this time, the first softw

are piracy boards b

egan to open up,

trading cracked games for the A

tari 800 and the C

omm

odore C64.

Naturally these b

oard

s were heavily freq

uented b

y teenagers. A

nd w

iththe 1

98

3 release o

f the hacker-thriller movie *W

ar Gam

es,* the sceneexploded. It seem

ed that every kid in Am

erica had demanded and gotten

a modem

for Christm

as. Most of these dab

bler w

annabes put their

modem

s in the attic after a few w

eeks, and most of the rem

ainder minded

their P's and Q's and stayed w

ell out of hot water. B

ut some stubborn

and talented

diehard

s had this hacker kid

in *War G

ames* fig

ured fo

r ahappening dude. T

hey simply could not rest until they had contacted the

underg

round

— o

r, failing that, created

their ow

n.

In the mid

-80

s, underg

round

board

s sprang

up like d

igital fung

i.Shad

ow

Spaw

n Elite. Sherw

ood Fo

rest I, II, and III. D

igital Lo

gic D

ataService in Flo

rida, syso

ped

by no

less a man than "D

igital Lo

gic" him

-self; Lex Luthor of the Leg

ion of Doom

was prom

inent on this board,

since it was in his area co

de. Lex's o

wn b

oard

, "Legio

n of D

oom

," start-ed

in 19

84

. The N

eon K

nights ran a netw

ork o

f Apple- hacker b

oard

s:N

eon K

nights N

orth, S

outh, East and

West. Free W

orld

II was run b

y"M

ajor H

avoc." Lunatic Lab

s is still in operatio

n as of this w

riting.

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Dr. R

ipco

in Chicag

o, an anything

-goes anarchist b

oard

with an exten-

sive and rauco

us history, w

as seized b

y Secret S

ervice agents in 1

99

0on S

undevil d

ay, but up

again alm

ost im

med

iately, with new

machines

and scarcely d

iminished

vigor.

The S

t. Louis scene w

as not to

rank with m

ajor centers o

f Am

ericanhacking

such as New

York and

L.A. B

ut St. Lo

uis did

rejoice in p

osses-

sion of "Knig

ht Lightning

" and "Taran K

ing," tw

o of the foremost

*journ

alists* native to

the u

nderg

round. M

issouri b

oard

s like Metal

Sho

p, M

etal Sho

p Private, M

etal Sho

p B

rewery, m

ay not have b

een theheaviest b

oard

s around

in terms o

f illicit expertise. B

ut they becam

eboards w

here hackers could exchange social g

ossip and try to figure out

what the heck w

as going

on natio

nally — and

internationally. G

ossip

from

Metal S

hop w

as put into

the form

of new

s files, then assembled

into a g

eneral electronic p

ublicatio

n, *Phrack,* a portm

anteau titleco

ined fro

m "p

hreak" and "hack." T

he *Phrack* edito

rs were as o

bses-

sively curious ab

out o

ther hackers as hackers were ab

out m

achines.

*Phrack,* being

free of charg

e and lively read

ing, b

egan to

circulatethroug

hout the undergro

und. As T

aran King

and Knig

ht Lightning

lefthig

h school fo

r colleg

e, *Phrack* beg

an to ap

pear o

n mainfram

em

achines linked to

BIT

NET

, and, thro

ugh B

ITN

ET to

the "Internet," thatlo

ose b

ut extremely p

otent no

t-for-p

rofit netw

ork w

here academ

ic,governm

ental and corporate machines trade data through the U

NIX

TC

P/IP pro

toco

l. (The "Internet W

orm

" of N

ovem

ber 2

-3,1

98

8,

created b

y Cornell g

rad stud

ent Robert M

orris, w

as to b

e the largest

and b

est- pub

licized co

mputer-intrusio

n scandal to

date. M

orris

claimed

that his ingenio

us "worm

" pro

gram

was m

eant to harm

lesslyexp

lore the Internet, b

ut due to

bad

pro

gram

ming

, the Worm

replicated

out of control and crashed some six thousand Internet com

puters.Sm

aller- scale and less am

bitio

us Internet hacking w

as a standard

for

the underg

round

elite.)

Most any und

ergro

und b

oard

not ho

pelessly lam

e and o

ut-of-it w

ould

feature a com

plete run o

f *Phrack* — and

, possib

ly, the lesser-know

nstand

ards o

f the underg

round

: the *Legio

n of D

oom

Technical Jo

urnal,*the o

bscene and

raucous *C

ult of the D

ead C

ow

* files, *P/HU

N* m

aga-

zine, *Pirate,* the *Synd

icate Rep

orts,* and

perhap

s the highly

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

G —

TH

E H

AC

KE

R C

RA

CK

DO

WN

N

OT

FO

R C

OM

ME

RC

IAL

US

E9 6

anarch

o-p

olitical *A

ctivist Tim

es In

corp

orate

d.*

Possessio

n of *Phrack* o

n one's b

oard

was p

rima facie evid

ence of a

bad

attitude. *Phrack* w

as seeming

ly everywhere, aid

ing, ab

etting,

and spreading the underground ethos. And this did not escape the atten-

tion o

f corp

orate security o

r the police.

We now

come to the touchy subject of police and boards. Police, do, in

fact, ow

n board

s. In 19

89

, there were p

olice-sp

onso

red b

oard

s inC

aliforn

ia, Colo

rado, Flo

rida, G

eorg

ia, Idah

o, M

ichig

an, M

issouri,

Texas, and

Virg

inia: board

s such as "Crim

e Bytes," "C

rimesto

ppers,"

"All P

oin

ts" and "B

ullet-N

-Board

." Police o

fficers, as private co

m-

puter en

thusiasts, ran

their o

wn b

oard

s in A

rizona, C

aliforn

ia,C

olo

rado, C

onnecticu

t, Florid

a, Misso

uri, M

aryland, N

ew M

exico, N

orth

Carolina, O

hio, Tennessee and T

exas. Police boards have often proved

helpful in co

mm

unity relations. S

om

etimes crim

es are reported

on

police b

oard

s.

Som

etimes crim

es are *com

mitted

* on p

olice b

oard

s. This has so

me-

times happened b

y accident, as naive hackers blunder onto police b

oardsand

blithely b

egin o

ffering telep

hone co

des. Far m

ore o

ften, how

ever, itoccurs thro

ugh the no

w alm

ost-trad

itional use o

f "sting b

oard

s." The

first police sting

-board

s were estab

lished in 1

98

5: "U

nderg

round

Tunnel" in A

ustin, Texas, w

hose syso

p S

gt. R

obert A

nsley called him

self"Pluto

" — "T

he Phone C

om

pany" in Pho

enix, Arizo

na, run by K

enM

acLeod of the Maricopa C

ounty Sheriff's office — and Sgt. D

anPasq

uale's board

in Fremont, C

alifornia. S

ysops p

osed

as hackers, andsw

iftly garnered coteries of ardent users, who posted codes and loaded

pirate software w

ith abandon, and came to a sticky end.

Sting

board

s, like other b

oard

s, are cheap to

operate, very cheap

by the

standards of undercover police operations. Once accepted by the local

underg

round

, sysops w

ill likely be invited

into o

ther pirate b

oard

s,w

here they can compile m

ore dossiers. And w

hen the sting is announcedand

the worst o

ffenders arrested

, the pub

licity is generally g

ratifying.

The resultant p

aranoia in the und

ergro

und —

perhap

s more justly

described as a "deterrence effect" —

tends to quell local lawbreaking

forquite a w

hile.

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

G —

TH

E H

AC

KE

R C

RA

CK

DO

WN

N

OT

FO

R C

OM

ME

RC

IAL

US

E9 7

Obviously police do not have to beat the underbrush for hackers. O

n theco

ntrary, they can go tro

lling fo

r them. T

hose caug

ht can be g

rilled.

Some becom

e useful informants. T

hey can lead the way to pirate boards

all across the co

untry.

And

board

s all across the co

untry show

ed the sticky fing

erprints o

f*Phrack,* and

of that lo

udest and

most flag

rant of all und

ergro

undgroups, the "Legion of D

oom."

The term

"Legion of Doom

" came from

comic books. T

he Legion of Doom

,a co

nspiracy o

f costum

ed sup

er- villains headed

by the chro

me-d

om

edcrim

inal u

ltra- masterm

ind L

ex Luth

or, g

ave Superm

an a lo

t of fo

ur-

colo

r grap

hic troub

le for a num

ber o

f decad

es. Of co

urse, Sup

erman,

that exemplar o

f Truth, Justice, and

the Am

erican Way, alw

ays won in

the long run. This didn't m

atter to the hacker Doom

sters — "Legion of

Doom

" was not som

e thunderous and evil Satanic reference, it was not

meant to b

e taken seriously. "Legion of D

oom" cam

e from funny-b

ooksand w

as supposed to be funny.

"Legion of Doom

" did have a good mouthfilling ring

to it, though. Itso

unded

really cool. O

ther gro

ups, such as the "Farm

ers of D

oom

,"clo

sely allied to

LoD

, recognized

this grand

iloquent q

uality, and m

ade fun

of it. There w

as even a hacker group called "Justice Leag

ue of Am

erica,"nam

ed after S

uperm

an's club o

f true-blue crim

efighting

superhero

s.

But they d

idn't last; the Leg

ion d

id.

The orig

inal Legion of D

oom, hang

ing out on Q

uasi Moto's Plovernet

board

, were p

hone p

hreaks. They w

eren't much into

com

puters. "Lex

Luthor" him

self (who

was und

er eighteen w

hen he form

ed the Leg

ion)

was a C

OSM

OS exp

ert, CO

SM

OS b

eing the "C

entral System

for M

ainframe

Operatio

ns," a telco internal co

mputer netw

ork. Lex w

ould

eventuallybeco

me q

uite a dab

hand at b

reaking into

IBM

mainfram

es, but altho

ugh

everyone liked Lex and admired his attitude, he w

as not considered atruly acco

mplished

com

puter intrud

er. Nor w

as he the "masterm

ind" o

fthe Legion of D

oom —

LoD w

ere never big on formal leadership. A

s areg

ular on Plo

vernet and syso

p o

f his "Legio

n of D

oom

BBS," Lex w

as

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

G —

TH

E

HA

CK

ER

CR

AC

KD

OW

N

NO

T F

OR

CO

MM

ER

CIA

L U

SE

9 8

the Legio

n's cheerleader and

recruiting o

fficer.

Legio

n of D

oom

beg

an on the ruins o

f an earlier phreak g

roup

, The

Knights of Shadow

. Later, LoD w

as to subsume the personnel of the

hacker group "T

ribunal of K

nowledg

e." People came and w

ent constantlyin Lo

D; g

roup

s split up

or fo

rmed

offsho

ots.

Early on, the Lo

D p

hreaks befriend

ed a few

com

puter-intrusio

n enthu-siasts, w

ho became the associated "Legion of H

ackers." Then the tw

ogroups conflated into the "Legion of D

oom/H

ackers," or LoD/H

. When

the orig

inal "hacker" wing

, Messrs. "C

om

pu- Phreak" and

"PhuckedA

gent 0

4," found other m

atters to occupy their time, the extra "/H

"slo

wly atro

phied

out o

f the name; b

ut by this tim

e the phreak w

ing,

Messrs. Lex Lutho

r, "Blue A

rcher," "Gary S

even," "Kerrang

Khan,"

"Master o

f Impact," "S

ilver Spy," "T

he Maraud

er," and "T

heV

ideo

smith," had

picked

up a p

lethora o

f intrusion exp

ertise and had

become a force to be reckoned w

ith.

LoD m

embers seem

ed to have an instinctive understanding that the way

to real p

ow

er in the underg

round

lay throug

h covert p

ublicity. Lo

Dw

ere flagrant. N

ot o

nly was it o

ne of the earliest g

roup

s, but the m

em-

bers to

ok p

ains to w

idely d

istribute their illicit kno

wled

ge. S

om

e LoD

mem

bers, like "T

he Mento

r," were clo

se to evang

elical about it.

*Legion of D

oom T

echnical Journal* beg

an to show up on b

oardsthro

ugho

ut the underg

round

.

*LoD

Technical Jo

urnal* was nam

ed in cruel p

arody o

f the ancient andho

nored

*AT&

T T

echnical Journal.* T

he material in these tw

o p

ublica-

tions w

as quite sim

ilar — m

uch of it, ad

opted

from

pub

lic journals and

discussions in the telco comm

unity. And yet, the predatory attitude of

LoD m

ade even its most innocuous data seem

deeply sinister; an outrage;a clear and

present d

anger.

To see w

hy this should

be, let's co

nsider the fo

llow

ing (invented

) para-

grap

hs, as a kind o

f thoug

ht experim

ent.

(A) "W

. Fred B

row

n, AT&

T V

ice President fo

r Advanced

Technical

Developm

ent, testified May 8

at a Washing

ton hearing of the N

ational

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

G —

TH

E

HA

CK

ER

CR

AC

KD

OW

N

NO

T F

OR

CO

MM

ER

CIA

L U

SE

9 9

Teleco

mm

unications and

Inform

ation A

dm

inistration (N

TIA

), regard

ingBellco

re's GA

RD

EN p

roject. G

ARD

EN (G

eneralized A

utom

atic Rem

ote

Distrib

uted Electro

nic Netw

ork) is a telep

hone-sw

itch pro

gram

ming

tool that m

akes it possib

le to d

evelop new

telecom

services, including

hold

-on-ho

ld and

custom

ized m

essage transfers, fro

m any keyp

ad ter-

minal, w

ithin second

s. The G

ARD

EN p

roto

type co

mbines centrex lines

with a m

inicom

puter using

UN

IX o

perating

system so

ftware."

(B) "C

rimso

n Flash 51

2 o

f the Centrex M

obsters rep

orts: D

00

dz, yo

uw

ould

n't believe this G

ARD

EN b

ullshit Bellco

re's just com

e up w

ith!N

ow you don't even need a lousy C

omm

odore to reprogram a sw

itch —just log

on to GA

RDEN

as a technician, and you can reprogram

switches

right o

ff the keypad

in any pub

lic pho

ne booth! Y

ou can g

ive yourself

hold

-on-ho

ld and

custom

ized m

essage transfers, and

best o

f all, thething

is run off (no

torio

usly insecure) centrex lines using —

get this —

standard

UN

IX so

ftware! H

a ha ha ha!"

Messag

e (A), co

uched in typ

ical techno- b

ureaucratese, appears ted

ious

and alm

ost unread

able. (A

) scarcely seems threatening

or m

enacing.

Messag

e (B), o

n the other hand

, is a dread

ful thing, p

rima facie evi-

dence o

f a dire co

nspiracy, d

efinitely not the kind

of thing

you w

ant your

teenager read

ing.

The *in

form

ation,* h

ow

eve

r, is identical. It is *p

ublic* in

form

ation,

presented before the federal g

overnment in an open hearing

. It is not"secret." It is no

t "pro

prietary." It is no

t even "confid

ential." On the

contrary, the development of advanced softw

are systems is a m

atter ofgreat p

ublic p

ride to

Bellco

re.

How

ever, when B

ellcore p

ublicly anno

unces a pro

ject of this kind

, itexpects a certain attitude from

the public —

something

along the lines of

*gosh w

ow

, you g

uys are great, keep

that up, w

hatever it is* — cer-

tainly not cruel m

imickry, o

ne-upm

anship and

outrag

eous sp

eculations

about p

ossib

le security holes.

Now

put yourself in the place of a policeman confronted by an outraged

parent, o

r telco o

fficial, with a co

py o

f Versio

n (B). T

his well-m

eaningcitizen

, to h

is horro

r, has d

iscovered

a local b

ulletin

-board

carrying

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

G —

TH

E

HA

CK

ER

CR

AC

KD

OW

N

NO

T F

OR

CO

MM

ER

CIA

L U

SE

1 0 0

outrag

eous stuff like (B

), which his so

n is examining

with a d

eep and

unhealthy interest. If (B) w

ere printed

in a book o

r mag

azine, you, as

an Am

erican law enfo

rcement o

fficer, would

know

that it would

take ahell of a lot of troub

le to do anything ab

out it; but it doesn't take techni-

cal genius to

recognize that if there's a co

mputer in yo

ur area harboring

stuff like (B), there's g

oing

to b

e troub

le.

In fact, if you ask aro

und, any co

mputer-literate co

p w

ill tell you

straight o

ut that board

s with stuff like (B

) are the *source* o

f troub

le.A

nd the *w

orst* so

urce of tro

uble o

n board

s are the ringlead

ers invent-ing

and sp

reading

stuff like (B). If it w

eren't for these jo

kers, therew

ould

n't *be* any tro

uble.

And Legion of D

oom w

ere on boards like nobody else. Plovernet. The

Legion of Doom

Board. T

he Farmers of D

oom B

oard. Metal Shop. O

SUN

Y.Blo

ttoland

. Private Secto

r. Atlantis. D

igital Lo

gic. H

ell Phrozen O

ver.

LoD

mem

bers also

ran their ow

n board

s. "Silver S

py" started

his ow

nboard, "C

atch-22," considered one of the heaviest around. So did

"Mento

r," with his "Pho

enix Project." W

hen they did

n't run board

sthem

selves, they showed up on other people's boards, to brag, boast, and

strut. And

where they them

selves did

n't go, their p

hiles went, carrying

evil know

ledge and

an even more evil attitud

e.

As early as 1

98

6, the p

olice w

ere under the vag

ue impressio

n that*everyone* in the underg

round was Leg

ion of Doom

. LoD w

as neverthat larg

e — co

nsiderab

ly smaller than either "M

etal Com

municatio

ns"or "T

he Adm

inistration," for instance — b

ut LoD g

ot tremendous press.

Especially in *Phrack,* w

hich at times read

like an LoD

fan mag

azine;and

*Phrack* was everyw

here, especially in the o

ffices of telco

securi-ty. Y

ou couldn't *get* b

usted as a phone phreak, a hacker, or even alousy codes kid or w

arez dood, without the cops asking if you w

ere LoD.

This w

as a difficult charg

e to d

eny, as LoD

never distrib

uted m

ember-

ship b

adges o

r laminated

ID card

s. If they had, they w

ould

likely havedied

out q

uickly, for turno

ver in their mem

bership

was co

nsiderab

le.Lo

D w

as less a high-tech street-g

ang than an o

ngoing

state-of- m

ind.

LoD w

as the Gang

That Refused to D

ie. By 1

990, LoD

had *ruled* for

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

G —

TH

E H

AC

KE

R C

RA

CK

DO

WN

N

OT

FO

R C

OM

ME

RC

IAL

US

E1 0 1

ten years, and it seem

ed *w

eird* to

police that they w

ere continually

busting

people who w

ere only sixteen years old. All these teenag

esm

all-timers w

ere

ple

adin

g th

e tire

som

e h

acker litan

y of "ju

st curi-

ous, no

criminal intent." S

om

ewhere at the center o

f this consp

iracythere had

to b

e som

e serious ad

ult masterm

inds, no

t this seeming

ly end-

less supply o

f myo

pic sub

urban w

hite kids w

ith high S

ATs and

funnyhaircuts.

There w

as no question that most any A

merican hacker arrested w

ould"know

" LoD. T

hey knew the handles of contributors to *LoD

Tech

Journal,* and

were likely to

have learned their craft thro

ugh Lo

Dboards and LoD

activism. B

ut they'd never met anyone from

LoD. Even

som

e of the ro

tating cad

re who

were actually and

form

ally "in LoD

"knew

one ano

ther only b

y board

-mail and

pseud

onym

s. This w

as ahig

hly u

nco

nven

tional p

rofile fo

r a crimin

al consp

iracy. Com

puter

networking

, and the rap

id evo

lution o

f the dig

ital underg

round

, mad

ethe situatio

n very diffuse and

confusing

.

Furthermore, a b

ig rep

utation in the d

igital und

ergro

und d

id no

t coin-

cide w

ith one's w

illingness to

com

mit "crim

es." Instead, rep

utation

was b

ased on cleverness and technical mastery. A

s a result, it oftenseem

ed that the *heavier* the hackers w

ere, the *less* likely theyw

ere to have co

mm

itted any kind

of co

mm

on, easily p

rosecutab

le crime.

There w

ere som

e hackers who

could

really steal. And

there were hack-

ers who could really hack. B

ut the two g

roups didn't seem to overlap

much, if at all. Fo

r instance, most p

eople in the und

ergro

und lo

oked

upto

"Emm

anuel Gold

stein" of *2

60

0* as a hacker d

emig

od. B

utG

old

stein's pub

lishing activities w

ere entirely legal —

Gold

stein justprinted dodgy stuff and talked about politics, he didn't even hack. W

henyo

u came rig

ht dow

n to it, G

old

stein spent half his tim

e com

plaining

thatco

mputer security *w

asn't strong

enoug

h* and o

ught to

be d

rasticallyim

pro

ved acro

ss the board

!

Truly heavy-d

uty hackers, those w

ith serious technical skills w

ho had

earned the respect of the underground, never stole money or abused

credit cards. Sometim

es they might abuse phone-codes —

but often, theyseem

ed to get all the free phone-time they w

anted without leaving a

trace of any kind

.

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

G —

TH

E H

AC

KE

R C

RA

CK

DO

WN

N

OT

FO

R C

OM

ME

RC

IAL

US

E1 0 2

The b

est hackers, the most p

ow

erful and technically acco

mplished

, were

not p

rofessio

nal fraudsters. T

hey raided

com

puters hab

itually, but

wouldn't alter anything

, or damag

e anything. T

hey didn't even stealco

mputer eq

uipm

ent — m

ost had

day-jo

bs m

essing w

ith hardw

are, andcould get all the cheap secondhand equipm

ent they wanted. T

he hottesthackers, unlike the teenag

e wannab

es, weren't snob

s about fancy or

expensive hard

ware. T

heir machines tend

ed to

be raw

second

-hand d

ig-

ital hot-rods full of custom add-ons that they'd cobbled together out of

chickenwire, m

emory chip

s and sp

it. Som

e were ad

ults, com

puter so

ft-w

are writers and

consultants b

y trade, and

making

quite g

ood living

s atit. Som

e of them *actually w

orked for the phone company* —

and fortho

se, the "hackers" actually found

under the skirts o

f Ma B

ell, therew

ould

be little m

ercy in 1

99

0.

It has long b

een an article of faith in the underground that the "b

est"hackers never g

et caught. T

hey're far too smart, supposedly. T

heynever get caught because they never boast, brag, or strut. T

hesedem

igods m

ay read underground b

oards (with a condescending

smile),

but they never say anything

there. The "b

est" hackers, according to

legend

, are adult co

mputer p

rofessio

nals, such as mainfram

e systemad

ministrato

rs, who

already kno

w the ins and

outs o

f their particular

brand

of security. Even the "b

est" hacker can't break in to

just anycom

puter at random: the know

ledge of security holes is too specialized,

varying w

idely w

ith different so

ftware and

hardw

are. But if p

eople are

emplo

yed to

run, say, a UN

IX m

ainframe o

r a VA

X/V

MS m

achine, thenthey tend

to learn security fro

m the insid

e out. A

rmed

with this kno

wl-

edge, they can look into most anybody else's U

NIX or V

MS w

ithout much

troub

le or risk, if they w

ant to. A

nd, acco

rding

to hacker leg

end, o

fcourse they w

ant to, so of course they do. They just don't m

ake a bigdeal of w

hat they've done. So nobody ever finds out.

It is also an article o

f faith in the underg

round

that pro

fessional telco

peo

ple "p

hreak" like crazed w

easels. *Of co

urse* they spy o

n Mad

onna's

pho

ne calls — I m

ean, *would

n't you?* O

f course they g

ive themselves

free long

- distance —

why the hell sho

uld *they* p

ay, they're runningthe w

hole sheb

ang!

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

G —

TH

E H

AC

KE

R C

RA

CK

DO

WN

N

OT

FO

R C

OM

ME

RC

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E1 0 3

It has, as a third m

atter, long

been an article o

f faith that any hackercaug

ht can escape serious punishment if he confesses *how

he did it.*H

ackers seem to

believe that g

overnm

ental agencies and

large co

rpora-

tions are b

lundering

about in cyb

erspace like eyeless jellyfish o

r cavesalam

anders. T

hey feel that these large b

ut pathetically stup

id o

rgani-

zations w

ill pro

ffer up g

enuine gratitud

e, and p

erhaps even a security

post and

a big

salary, to the ho

t-shot intrud

er who

will d

eign to

revealto them

the supreme genius of his m

odus operandi.

In the case of lo

ngtim

e LoD

mem

ber "C

ontro

l-C," this actually hap

-pened

, more o

r less. Contro

l-C had

led M

ichigan B

ell a merry chase,

and when captured in 1

987, he turned out to b

e a brig

ht and apparentlyphysically harm

less young

fanatic, fascinated b

y pho

nes. There w

as nochance in hell that C

ontro

l-C w

ould

actually repay the eno

rmous and

largely theo

retical sums in lo

ng-d

istance service that he had accum

u-lated

from

Michig

an Bell. H

e could

always b

e indicted

for fraud

or

com

puter-intrusio

n, but there seem

ed little real p

oint in this —

hehadn't physically dam

aged any com

puter. He'd just plead g

uilty, and he'dlikely g

et the usual slap-o

n-the-wrist, and

in the meantim

e it would

be

a big

hassle for M

ichigan B

ell just to b

ring up

the case. But if kep

t on

the payro

ll, he mig

ht at least keep his fello

w hackers at b

ay.

There w

ere uses for him

. For instance, a co

ntrite Contro

l-C w

as fea-tured

on M

ichigan B

ell internal posters, sternly w

arning em

plo

yees toshred

their trash. He'd

always g

otten m

ost o

f his best insid

e info fro

m"trashing

" — raid

ing telco

dum

psters, fo

r useful data ind

iscreetlythrow

n away. H

e signed these posters, too. Control-C

had become

som

ething like a M

ichigan B

ell masco

t. And

in fact, Contro

l-C *d

id*

keep o

ther hackers at bay. Little hackers w

ere quite scared

of C

ontro

l-C and

his heavy-duty Leg

ion o

f Doom

friends. A

nd b

ig hackers *w

ere*his friend

s and d

idn't w

ant to screw

up his cushy situatio

n.

No m

atter what one m

ight say of LoD, they did stick together. W

hen"W

asp," an ap

parently g

enuinely malicio

us New

York hacker, b

egan

crashing B

ellcore m

achines, Contro

l-C received

swift vo

lunteer helpfrom

"the Mentor" and the G

eorgia LoD w

ing made up of "T

he Prophet,""U

rvile," and "Leftist." U

sing M

entor's Pho

enix Project b

oard

to co

or-

dinate, the D

oom

sters helped

telco security to

trap W

asp, b

y luring him

BR

UC

E S

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TH

E

HA

CK

ER

CR

AC

KD

OW

N

NO

T F

OR

CO

MM

ER

CIA

L U

SE

1 0 4

into a m

achine with a tap

and line-trace installed

. Wasp

lost. Lo

D w

on!

And

my, d

id they b

rag.

Urvile

, Pro

phet an

d L

eftist w

ere

well-q

ualifie

d fo

r this activity

, pro

b-

ably m

ore so even than the quite accomplished C

ontrol-C. T

he Georg

iaboys knew

all about p

hone sw

itching-statio

ns. Tho

ugh relative jo

hnny-com

e- latelies in the Legion of D

oom, they w

ere considered some of

LoD's heaviest guys, into the hairiest system

s around. They had the good

fortune to

live in or near A

tlanta, hom

e of the sleep

y and ap

parently

tolerant B

ellSouth R

BO

C.

As R

BO

C security w

ent, BellS

outh w

ere "cake." US W

est (of A

rizona,

the Rockies and

the Pacific Northw

est) were to

ugh and

aggressive,

pro

bab

ly the h

eaviest RBO

C aro

und. P

acific Bell, C

aliforn

ia's PacB

ell,w

ere sleek, high- tech, and

long

time veterans o

f the LA p

hone-p

hreakw

ars. NYN

EX had

the misfo

rtune to run the N

ew Y

ork C

ity area, andw

ere warily p

repared

for m

ost an

ythin

g. Even

Mich

igan

Bell, a d

ivi-sion of the A

meritech RB

OC, at least had the elem

entary sense to hiretheir o

wn hacker as a useful scarecro

w. B

ut BellS

outh, even tho

ugh

their corp

orate P.R

. pro

claimed

them to

have "Everything Y

ou Exp

ectFro

m a Lead

er," were p

athetic.

When rum

or ab

out Lo

D's m

astery of G

eorg

ia's switching

network g

ot

around

to B

ellSouth thro

ugh B

ellcore and

telco security scuttleb

utt,they at first refused

to b

elieve it. If you p

aid serio

us attention to

everyrum

or o

ut and ab

out these hacker kid

s, you w

ould

hear all kinds o

fw

acko saucer-nut no

nsense: that the Natio

nal Security A

gency m

oni-

tored

all Am

erican pho

ne calls, that the CIA

and D

EA tracked

traffic on

bulletin-b

oard

s with w

ord

- analysis pro

gram

s, that the Cond

or co

uldstart W

orld

War III fro

m a p

ayphone.

If there were hackers into

BellS

outh sw

itching- statio

ns, then how

com

enothing

had happened? Nothing

had been hurt. B

ellSouth's machines

weren't crashing

. BellS

outh w

asn't suffering esp

ecially bad

ly from

fraud. B

ellSouth's custo

mers w

eren't com

plaining

. BellS

outh w

as head-

quartered

in Atlanta, am

bitio

us metro

polis o

f the new hig

h-techSunb

elt; and B

ellSouth w

as upgrad

ing its netw

ork b

y leaps and

bound

s,dig

itizing the w

orks left rig

ht and center. T

hey could

hardly b

e consid

-

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ered slug

gish o

r naive. BellS

outh's technical exp

ertise was seco

nd to

none, thank yo

u kindly.

But then cam

e the Florid

a business.

On June 1

3, 1

98

9, callers to

the Palm B

each County Pro

batio

nD

epartm

ent, in Delray B

each, Florid

a, found

themselves invo

lved in a

remarkab

le discussio

n with a p

hone-sex w

orker nam

ed "T

ina" in New

York S

tate. Som

ehow

, *any* call to this p

robatio

n office near M

iami

was instantly and

mag

ically transported

across state lines, at no

extracharg

e to the user, to

a porno

grap

hic pho

ne- sex hotline hund

reds o

fm

iles away!

This p

ractical joke m

ay seem u

tterly hilario

us at first h

earing, an

dind

eed there w

as a good d

eal of chuckling

about it in p

hone p

hreak cir-cles, includ

ing the A

utumn 1

98

9 issue o

f *26

00

.* But fo

r Southern

Bell (the d

ivision o

f the BellS

outh R

BO

C sup

plying

local service fo

rFlo

rida, G

eorg

ia, North C

arolina and

South C

arolina), this w

as a smok-

ing g

un. For the first tim

e ever, a com

puter intrud

er had b

roken into

aBellS

outh central o

ffice switching

station and

re-pro

gram

med

it!

Or so

BellS

outh tho

ught in June 1

98

9. A

ctually, LoD

mem

bers had

been

frolickin

g h

armlessly in

BellS

outh

switch

es since S

eptem

ber 1

98

7.

The stunt o

f June 13

— call-fo

rward

ing a num

ber thro

ugh m

anipulatio

nof a sw

itching statio

n — w

as child's p

lay for hackers as acco

mplished

asthe G

eorg

ia wing

of Lo

D. S

witching

calls interstate sound

ed like a b

igdeal, b

ut it took only four lines of code to accomplish this. A

n easy, yetm

ore d

iscreet, stunt, would

be to

call-forw

ard ano

ther number to

your

own house. If you w

ere careful and considerate, and changed the soft-w

are back later, then not a soul w

ould know. Except you. A

nd whoever

you had bragged to about it.

As fo

r BellS

outh, w

hat they did

n't know

would

n't hurt them.

Except now som

ebody had blown the w

hole thing wide open, and

BellS

outh knew

.

A no

w alerted

and co

nsiderab

ly parano

id B

ellSouth b

egan searching

BR

UC

E S

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E H

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switches rig

ht and left fo

r signs o

f impro

priety, in that ho

t summ

er of

19

89

. No few

er than forty-tw

o B

ellSouth em

plo

yees were p

ut on 1

2-

hour shifts, tw

enty-four ho

urs a day, fo

r two so

lid m

onths, p

oring

over

records and monitoring

computers for any sig

n of phony access. These

forty-tw

o o

verworked

experts w

ere know

n as BellS

outh's "Intrusio

nTask Fo

rce."

What the investig

ators found astounded them. Pro

prietary telco databas-

es had been manipulated: phone num

bers had been created out of thinair, w

ith no users' nam

es and no

addresses. A

nd p

erhaps w

orst o

f all, nocharges and no records of use. T

he new digital ReM

OB (Rem

oteO

bservation) diag

nostic feature had been extensively tam

pered with —

hackers had learned

to rep

rogram

ReM

OB so

ftware, so

that they could

listen in on any sw

itch-routed

call at their leisure! They w

ere usingtelco

pro

perty to

*spy!*

The electrifying

news w

ent out thro

ugho

ut law enfo

rcement in 1

98

9. It

had never really o

ccurred to

anyone at B

ellSouth that their p

rized and

bran

d-n

ew d

igital sw

itchin

g-statio

ns co

uld

be *re-p

rogram

med

.*People seem

ed utterly amazed that anyone could have the nerve. O

fcourse these sw

itching stations w

ere "computers," and everyb

ody knewhackers liked

to "b

reak into co

mputers:" b

ut telepho

ne peo

ple's co

m-

puters w

ere *different* fro

m no

rmal p

eople's co

mputers.

The exact reaso

n *why* these co

mputers w

ere "different" w

as ratherill-d

efined. It certainly w

asn't the extent of their security. T

he secu-rity o

n these BellS

outh co

mputers w

as lousy; the A

IMSX co

mputers, fo

rinstance, didn't even have passw

ords. But there w

as no question thatBellS

outh stro

ngly *felt* that their co

mputers w

ere very different

indeed. And if there w

ere some crim

inals out there who had not gotten

that message, B

ellSouth was determ

ined to see that message taught.

After all, a 5

ESS sw

itching statio

n was no

mere b

ookkeep

ing system

for

som

e local chain o

f florists. Pub

lic service dep

ended

on these statio

ns.Pub

lic *safety* depended on these stations.

And h

ackers, lurkin

g in

there call-fo

rward

ing o

r ReM

obbin

g, co

uld

spy

on anyb

ody in the lo

cal area! They co

uld sp

y on telco

officials! T

hey

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could spy on police stations! They could spy on local offices of the Secret

Service....

In 1

98

9, electro

nic co

ps an

d h

acker-trackers beg

an u

sing scram

bler-

phones and secured lines. It only made sense. T

here was no telling

who

was into those system

s. Whoever they w

ere, they sounded scary. This

was so

me new

level of antiso

cial daring

. Could

be W

est Germ

an hackers,in the pay of the K

GB. T

hat too had seemed a w

eird and farfetchedno

tion, until C

lifford

Sto

ll had p

oked

and p

rodded

a sluggish W

ashingto

nlaw

-enforcem

ent bureaucracy into

investigating

a com

puter intrusio

nthat turned out to b

e exactly that — *hackers, in the pay of the K

GB!*

Sto

ll, the systems m

anager fo

r an Internet lab in B

erkeley Califo

rnia,had ended up on the front page of the *N

ew York T

imes,* proclaim

ed anatio

nal hero in the first true sto

ry of internatio

nal com

puter esp

i-onag

e. Sto

ll's countersp

y efforts, w

hich he related in a b

estselling b

ook,

*The C

uckoo's Eg

g,* in 1

98

9, had

established

the credib

ility of 'hack-

ing' as a possib

le threat to national security. The U

nited States SecretService d

oesn't m

ess around

when it susp

ects a possib

le action b

y a for-

eign intellig

ence apparat.

The S

ecret Service scram

bler-p

hones and

secured lines p

ut a tremen-

dous kink in law

enforcem

ent's ability to

operate freely; to

get the w

ord

out, co

operate, p

revent misund

erstanding

s. Nevertheless, 1

98

9scarcely seem

ed the tim

e for half-m

easures. If the police and

Secret

Service them

selves were no

t operatio

nally secure, then how

could

theyreaso

nably d

emand

measures o

f security from

private enterp

rise? At

least, the inconvenience made people aw

are of the seriousness of thethreat.

If there was a final spur needed to g

et the police off the dime, it cam

e inthe realizatio

n that the emerg

ency 91

1 system

was vulnerab

le. The

91

1 system

has its ow

n specialized

softw

are, but it is run o

n the same

dig

ital switching

systems as the rest o

f the telepho

ne network. 9

11

isnot p

hysically d

ifferent fro

m n

orm

al telephony. B

ut it is certain

ly cul-

turally different, b

ecause this is the area of telep

honic cyb

erspace

reserved fo

r the police and

emerg

ency services.

Your averag

e policem

an may no

t know

much ab

out hackers o

r pho

ne-

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phreaks. C

om

puter p

eople are w

eird; even co

mputer *co

ps* are rather

weird; the stuff they do is hard to fig

ure out. But a threat to the 9

11

system is anything

but an ab

stract threat. If the 911 system

goes, peo-

ple can d

ie.

Imag

ine being

in a car-wreck, stag

gering

to a p

hone- b

ooth, p

unching9

11

and hearing

"Tina" p

ick up the p

hone-sex line so

mew

here in New

York! T

he situation's no

long

er com

ical, som

ehow

.

And w

as it possible? No question. H

ackers had attacked 911 system

sbefo

re. Phreaks can max-o

ut 91

1 system

s just by siccing

a bunch o

fco

mputer-m

odem

s on them

in tandem

, dialling

them o

ver and o

ver untilthey clo

g. T

hat's very crude and

low

-tech, but it's still a serio

us busi-

ness.

The tim

e had come for action. It w

as time to take stern m

easures with

the underground. It w

as time to start picking

up the dropped threads,the loose edges, the bits of braggadocio here and there; it w

as time to get

on the stick and

start putting

serious casew

ork to

gether. H

ackersw

eren't "invisible." T

hey *thoug

ht* they were invisib

le; but the truth

was, they had just been tolerated too long.

Und

er sustained p

olice attentio

n in the summ

er of '8

9, the d

igital

underg

round

beg

an to unravel as never b

efore.

The first b

ig b

reak in the case came very early o

n: July 19

89

, the fol-

lowing

month. T

he perpetrator of the "Tina" sw

itch was caug

ht, andco

nfessed. H

is name w

as "Fry Guy," a 1

6-year-o

ld in Ind

iana. Fry Guy

had been a very wicked young m

an.

Fry Guy had

earned his hand

le from

a stunt involving

French fries. FryG

uy had filched the log-in of a local M

acDonald's m

anager and had

logged-on to the M

acDonald's m

ainframe on the Sprint T

elenet system.

Posing

as the manag

er, Fry Guy had

altered M

acDonald

's record

s, andgiven so

me teenag

e hamburg

er-flipping

friends o

f his, genero

us raises.He had not been caught.

Embold

ened b

y success, Fry Guy m

oved

on to

credit- card

abuse. Fry

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Guy w

as quite an acco

mplished

talker; with a g

ift for "so

cial engineer-

ing." If yo

u can do "so

cial engineering

" — fast-talk, fake-o

uts,im

personation, conning, scamm

ing — then card abuse com

es easy.(G

etting aw

ay with it in the lo

ng run is ano

ther questio

n).

Fry Guy had run across "U

rvile" of the Legion of Doom

on the ALT

OS C

hatboard in B

onn, Germ

any. ALT

OS C

hat was a sophisticated b

oard, accessi-ble thro

ugh g

lobe-sp

anning co

mputer netw

orks like B

ITnet, T

ymnet,

and Telenet. A

LTO

S was m

uch frequented by mem

bers of Germ

any'sChaos C

omputer C

lub. Tw

o Chaos hackers w

ho hung out on ALT

OS,

"Jaeger" and

"Pengo," had

been the central villains o

f Cliffo

rd S

toll's

CU

CKO

O'S

EGG

case: conso

rting in East B

erlin with a sp

ymaster fro

mthe K

GB, and

breaking

into A

merican co

mputers fo

r hire, throug

h theInternet.

When LoD

mem

bers learned the story of Jaeg

er's depredations fromSto

ll's book, they w

ere rather less than impressed

, technically speak-

ing. O

n LoD

's ow

n favorite b

oard

of the m

om

ent, "Black Ice," Lo

D m

em-

bers bragged that they themselves could have done all the C

haos break-ins in a w

eek flat! Nevertheless, Lo

D w

ere grud

ging

ly impressed

by the

Chao

s rep, the sheer hairy-eyed

daring

of hash-sm

oking

anarchisthackers w

ho had

rubbed

should

ers with the fearso

me b

ig-b

oys o

f inter-national C

omm

unist espionage. LoD m

embers som

etimes traded bits of

know

ledge w

ith friendly G

erman hackers o

n ALT

OS —

pho

ne numbers fo

rvulnerab

le VA

X/V

MS co

mputers in G

eorg

ia, for instance. D

utch andBritish p

hone p

hreaks, and the A

ustralian clique o

f "Phoenix," "N

om

,"and

"Electron," w

ere ALT

OS reg

ulars, too. In und

ergro

und circles, to

hang out on ALT

OS w

as considered the sign of an elite dude, a sophisti-cated

hacker of the internatio

nal dig

ital jet-set.

Fry Guy q

uickly learn

ed h

ow

to raid

info

rmatio

n fro

m cred

it-card co

n-

sumer-rep

orting

agencies. H

e had o

ver a hundred

stolen cred

it-cardnum

bers in his no

tebooks, and

upw

ards o

f a thousand

swip

ed lo

ng-d

is-tance access codes. H

e knew how

to get onto Altos, and how

to talk the talkof the underg

round convincingly. H

e now w

heedled knowledg

e of switch-

ing-statio

n tricks from

Urvile o

n the ALT

OS system

.

Com

bining these two form

s of knowledge enabled Fry G

uy to bootstrap

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his way up

to a new

form

of w

ire- fraud. First, he'd

snitched cred

itcard

numbers fro

m cred

it-com

pany co

mputers. T

he data he co

pied

included

names, ad

dresses and

pho

ne numbers o

f the random

card-ho

ld-

ers.

Then Fry G

uy, imperso

nating a card

-hold

er, called up

Western U

nion

and asked for a cash advance on "his" credit card. Western U

nion, as asecurity g

uarantee, would

call the custom

er back, at ho

me, to

verify thetransactio

n.

But, just as he had

switched

the Florid

a pro

batio

n office to

"Tina" in

New

York, Fry G

uy switched

the card- ho

lder's num

ber to

a local p

ay-pho

ne. There he w

ould

lurk in wait, m

uddying

his trail by ro

uting and

re-routing

the call, throug

h switches as far aw

ay as Canad

a. When the

call came thro

ugh, he w

ould

bold

ly "social-eng

ineer," or co

n, theW

estern Unio

n peo

ple, p

retending

to b

e the legitim

ate card-ho

lder.

Since he'd answered the proper phone num

ber, the deception was not

very hard. Western U

nion's money w

as then shipped to a confederate ofFry G

uy's in his hom

e tow

n in Indiana.

Fry Guy and

his coho

rt, using Lo

D techniq

ues, stole six tho

usand d

ollars

from

Western U

nion b

etween D

ecember 1

98

8 and

July 19

89

. They also

dab

bled

in ord

ering d

elivery of sto

len goods thro

ugh card

-fraud. Fry

Guy w

as intoxicated

with success. T

he sixteen-year-old

fantasizedw

ildly to

hacker rivals, boasting

that he'd used

rip-o

ff money to

hirehim

self a big

limousine, and

had d

riven out-o

f-state with a g

roup

iefro

m his favo

rite heavy- metal b

and, M

otley C

rue.

Arm

ed w

ith know

ledge, p

ow

er, and a g

ratifying stream

of free m

oney,

Fry Guy no

w to

ok it up

on him

self to call lo

cal representatives o

f Indiana

Bell security, to

brag

, boast, strut, and

utter torm

enting w

arnings that

his pow

erful friends in the no

torio

us Legio

n of D

oom

could

crash thenational telephone netw

ork. Fry Guy even nam

ed a date for the scheme:

the Fourth o

f July, a national ho

liday.

This eg

regio

us example o

f the beg

ging

-for-arrest synd

rom

e was sho

rtlyfo

llow

ed b

y Fry Guy's arrest. A

fter the Indiana telep

hone co

mpany fig

-ured out w

ho he was, the Secret Service had D

NRs —

Dialed N

umber

BR

UC

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E

HA

CK

ER

CR

AC

KD

OW

N

NO

T F

OR

CO

MM

ER

CIA

L U

SE

1 1 1

Recorders — installed on his hom

e phone lines. These devices are not

taps, and can't record the substance of phone calls, but they do recordthe p

hone num

bers o

f all calls going

in and o

ut. Tracing

these numbers

show

ed Fry G

uy's long

-distance co

de fraud

, his extensive ties to p

iratebulletin b

oard

s, and num

erous p

ersonal calls to

his LoD

friends in

Atlanta. B

y July 11

, 19

89

, Prophet, U

rvile and Leftist also

had S

ecretService D

NR "p

en registers" installed

on their o

wn lines.

The S

ecret Service sho

wed

up in fo

rce at Fry Guy's ho

use on July 2

2,

19

89

, to the ho

rror o

f his unsuspecting

parents. T

he raiders w

ere ledby a sp

ecial agent fro

m the S

ecret Service's Ind

ianapolis o

ffice.H

ow

ever, the raiders w

ere accom

panied

and ad

vised b

y Tim

othy M

. Foley

of the Secret Service's Chicag

o office (a gentlem

an about w

hom w

e will

soon b

e hearing a g

reat deal).

Follo

wing

federal co

mputer-crim

e techniques that had

been stand

ardsince the early 1

98

0s, the S

ecret Service searched

the house tho

roug

h-ly, and

seized all o

f Fry Guy's electro

nic equip

ment and

noteb

ooks. A

llFry G

uy's equipment w

ent out the door in the custody of the SecretService, w

hich put a sw

ift end to

his dep

redatio

ns.

The U

SSS interrogated Fry G

uy at length. H

is case was put in the charg

eof D

eborah D

aniels, the federal U

S A

ttorney fo

r the Southern D

istrict of

Indiana. Fry G

uy was charg

ed w

ith eleven counts o

f com

puter fraud

,unautho

rized co

mputer access, and

wire fraud

. The evid

ence was tho

r-oug

h and irrefutab

le. For his p

art, Fry Guy b

lamed

his corrup

tion o

nthe Legion of D

oom and offered to testify against them

.

Fry Guy insisted that the Legion intended to crash the phone system

on anatio

nal holid

ay. And

when A

T&

T crashed

on M

artin Luther King

Day,

19

90

, this lent a credence to

his claim that g

enuinely alarmed

telcosecurity and

the Secret S

ervice.

Fry Guy eventually p

led g

uilty on M

ay 31

, 19

90

. On S

eptem

ber 1

4, he

was sentenced

to fo

rty-four m

onths' p

robatio

n and fo

ur hundred

hours'

comm

unity service. He could have had it m

uch worse; b

ut it made sense

to p

rosecuto

rs to take it easy o

n this teenage m

inor, w

hile zeroing

in on

the notorious kingpins of the Legion of Doom

.

BR

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But the case against LoD

had nagging flaws. D

espite the best effort ofinvestig

ators, it was im

possible to prove that the Leg

ion had crashed thephone system

on January 15, because they, in fact, hadn't done so. T

heinvestig

ations of 1989 did show

that certain mem

bers of the Leg

ion ofD

oom had achieved unprecedented pow

er over the telco switching sta-

tions, and

that they were in active co

nspiracy to

obtain m

ore p

ow

er yet.Investig

ators were privately convinced that the Leg

ion of Doom

intendedto

do aw

ful things w

ith this know

ledge, b

ut mere evil intent w

as not

enoug

h to p

ut them in jail.

And

althoug

h the Atlanta T

hree — Pro

phet, Leftist, and

especially U

rvile—

had taug

ht Fry Guy p

lenty, they were no

t themselves cred

it-cardfraud

sters. The o

nly thing they'd

"stolen" w

as long

-distance service —

and since they'd

done m

uch of that thro

ugh p

hone-sw

itch manip

ulation,

there was no easy w

ay to judge how m

uch they'd "stolen," or whether

this practice w

as even "theft" of any easily reco

gnizab

le kind.

Fry Guy's theft of long-distance codes had cost the phone com

paniesplenty. T

he theft of lo

ng-d

istance service may b

e a fairly theoretical

"loss," but it costs genuine money and genuine tim

e to delete all thosestolen codes, and to re-issue new

codes to the innocent owners of those

corrupted codes. The ow

ners of the codes themselves are victim

ized, andlose tim

e and money and peace of m

ind in the hassle. And then there

were the cred

it-card victim

s to d

eal with, to

o, and

Western U

nion.

When it cam

e to rip

-off, Fry G

uy was far m

ore o

f a thief than LoD

. Itw

as only w

hen it came to

actual com

puter exp

ertise that Fry Guy w

assm

all potato

es.

The A

tlanta Legion thought most "rules" of cyberspace w

ere for rodentsand

losers, b

ut they *did

* have rules. *They never crashed

anything,

and they never to

ok m

oney.* T

hese were ro

ugh rules-o

f-thumb, and

rather dub

ious p

rinciples w

hen it com

es to the ethical sub

tleties of

cyberspace, b

ut they enabled the A

tlanta Three to

operate with a rela-

tively clear conscience (tho

ugh never w

ith peace o

f mind

).

If you d

idn't hack fo

r money, if yo

u weren't ro

bbing

peo

ple o

f actualfund

s — m

oney in the b

ank, that is — then no

body *really* g

ot hurt, in

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LoD

's opinio

n. "Theft o

f service" was a b

ogus issue, and

"intellectualpro

perty" w

as a bad

joke. B

ut LoD

had o

nly elitist contem

pt fo

r rip-o

ffartists, "leechers," thieves. T

hey consid

ered them

selves clean. Intheir o

pinio

n, if you d

idn't sm

ash-up o

r crash any systems —

(well,

not on purpose, anyhow —

accidents can happen, just ask RobertM

orris) then it w

as very unfair to call yo

u a "vandal" o

r a "cracker."W

hen you w

ere hanging

out o

n-line with yo

ur "pals" in telco

security,you could face them

down from

the higher plane of hacker m

orality. And

you co

uld m

ock the p

olice fro

m the sup

ercilious heig

hts of yo

ur hacker'squest fo

r pure kno

wled

ge.

But fro

m the p

oint o

f view o

f law enfo

rcement and

telco security, ho

w-

ever, Fry Guy w

as not really d

angero

us. The A

tlanta Three *w

ere* dan-

gero

us. It wasn't the crim

es they were co

mm

itting, b

ut the *dang

er,*the p

otential hazard

, the sheer *technical pow

er* LoD

had accum

ulated,

that had made the situation untenable.

Fry Guy w

as not Lo

D. H

e'd never laid

eyes on anyo

ne in LoD

; his only

contacts with them

had been electronic. Core m

embers of the Legion of

Doom

tended to meet physically for conventions every year or so, to get

drunk, g

ive each other the hacker hig

h-sign, send

out fo

r pizza and

rav-ag

e hotel suites. Fry Guy had never done any of this. D

eborah D

anielsassessed Fry G

uy accurately as "an LoD w

annabe."

Nevertheless Fry G

uy's crimes w

ould

be d

irectly attributed

to Lo

D in

much future police propag

anda. LoD w

ould be describ

ed as "a closelykn

it gro

up" in

volved

in "n

um

erous illeg

al activities" inclu

din

g "stealin

gand

modifying

individ

ual credit histo

ries," and "fraud

ulently obtaining

money and

pro

perty." Fry G

uy did

this, but the A

tlanta Three d

idn't;

they simply w

eren't into theft, b

ut rather intrusion. T

his caused a

strange kink in the p

rosecutio

n's strategy. Lo

D w

ere accused o

f "dis-

seminating

inform

ation ab

out attacking

com

puters to

other co

mputer

hackers in an effort to shift the focus of law enforcem

ent to those otherhackers and aw

ay from the Legion of D

oom."

This last accusatio

n (taken directly fro

m a p

ress release by the C

hicago

Com

puter Fraud

and A

buse T

ask Force) so

unds p

articularly far-fetched.

One m

ight conclude at this point that investigators would have been

BR

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well-advised to g

o ahead and "shift their focus" from the "Leg

ion ofD

oom." M

aybe they *should* concentrate on "those other hackers" —the ones w

ho were actually stealing

money and physical ob

jects.

But the H

acker Crackd

ow

n of 1

99

0 w

as not a sim

ple p

olicing

action. It

wasn't m

eant just to w

alk the beat in cyb

erspace —

it was a *crack-

down,* a deliberate attem

pt to nail the core of the operation, to send adire and potent m

essage that would settle the hash of the digital under-

ground for good.

By this reaso

ning, Fry G

uy wasn't m

uch more than the electro

nic equiv-

alent of a cheap streetcorner dope dealer. As long as the m

asterminds of

LoD

were still flag

rantly o

peratin

g, p

ush

ing th

eir mountain

s of illicit

know

ledge rig

ht and left, and

whip

ping

up enthusiasm

for b

latant law-

breaking

, then there would

be an *infinite sup

ply* o

f Fry Guys.

Because Lo

D w

ere flagrant, they had

left trails everywhere, to

be p

ickedup

by law

enforcem

ent in New

York, Ind

iana, Florid

a, Texas, A

rizona,

Misso

uri, even Australia. B

ut 19

90

's war o

n the Legio

n of D

oom

was

led o

ut of Illino

is, by the C

hicago C

om

puter Fraud

and A

buse T

ask Force.

__

__

_

The C

omputer Fraud and A

buse T

ask Force, led by federal prosecutor

William

J. Cook, had

started in 1

98

7 and

had sw

iftly beco

me o

ne of the

most ag

gressive lo

cal "ded

icated co

mputer-crim

e units." Chicag

o w

as anatural ho

me fo

r such a gro

up. T

he world

's first com

puter b

ulletin-board

system had

been invented

in Illinois. T

he state of Illino

is hadso

me o

f the nation's first and

sternest com

puter crim

e laws. Illino

isState P

olice w

ere marked

ly alert to th

e possib

ilities of w

hite-co

llarcrim

e and electro

nic fraud.

And W

illiam J. C

ook in

particu

lar was a risin

g star in

electronic

crime-b

usting. H

e and his fello

w fed

eral pro

secutors at the U

.S.

Atto

rney's office in C

hicago had

a tight relatio

n with the S

ecret Service,

especially g

o- g

etting C

hicago-b

ased ag

ent Tim

othy Fo

ley. While C

ook

and his Departm

ent of Justice colleagues plotted strateg

y, Foley was

their man o

n the street.

BR

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1 1 5

Throug

hout the 1980s, the federal g

overnment had g

iven prosecutors anarm

ory o

f new, untried

legal to

ols ag

ainst com

puter crim

e. Cook and

hisco

lleagues w

ere pio

neers in the use of these new

statutes in the real-lifecut-and

-thrust of the fed

eral courtro

om

.

On O

ctober 2, 1

986, the U

S Senate had passed the "Com

puter Fraud andA

buse A

ct" unanimously, b

ut there were p

itifully few co

nvictions und

erthis statute. C

ook's group took their nam

e from this statute, since they

were d

etermined

to transfo

rm this p

ow

erful but rather theo

retical Act

of C

ong

ress into a real-life eng

ine of leg

al destructio

n against co

mputer

fraudsters and

scofflaw

s.

It was no

t a questio

n of m

erely disco

vering crim

es, investigating

them,

and then trying

and p

unishing their p

erpetrato

rs. The C

hicago unit,

like most everyo

ne else in the business, alread

y *knew* w

ho the b

adguys w

ere: the Legio

n of D

oom

and the w

riters and ed

itors o

f *Phrack.*The task at hand w

as to find some legal m

eans of putting these charactersaw

ay.

This approach m

ight seem a bit dubious, to som

eone not acquainted with

the gritty realities o

f pro

secutorial w

ork. B

ut pro

secutors d

on't p

utpeo

ple in jail fo

r crimes they have co

mm

itted; they p

ut peo

ple in jail

for crim

es they have com

mitted

*that can be p

roved

in court.* C

hicago

federal p

olice p

ut Al C

apone in p

rison fo

r incom

e-tax fraud. C

hicago is

a big

tow

n, with a ro

ugh- and

-ready b

are-knuckle traditio

n on b

oth

sides o

f the law.

Fry Guy had broken the case w

ide open and alerted telco security to thescope of the prob

lem. B

ut Fry Guy's crim

es would not put the A

tlantaThree b

ehind b

ars — m

uch less the wacko

underg

round

journalists o

f*Phrack.* S

o o

n July 22

, 19

89

, the same d

ay that Fry Guy w

as raided

in Indiana, the Secret Service descended upon the Atlanta T

hree.

This w

as likely inevitable. B

y the summ

er of 1

98

9, law

enforcem

entw

ere closing

in on the A

tlanta Three fro

m at least six d

irections at o

nce.First, there w

ere the leads fro

m Fry G

uy, which had

led to

the DN

R reg

-isters b

eing installed

on the lines o

f the Atlanta T

hree. The D

NR evi-

dence alo

ne would

have finished them

off, so

oner o

r later.

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But seco

nd, the A

tlanta lads w

ere already w

ell-know

n to C

ontro

l-C and

his telco security sponsors. LoD's contacts w

ith telco security had made

them overconfident and even m

ore boastful than usual; they felt thatthey had

pow

erful friends in hig

h places, and

that they were b

eing o

pen-

ly tolerated

by telco

security. But B

ellSouth's Intrusio

n Task Fo

rcew

ere hot on the trail of LoD and sparing

no effort or expense.

The A

tlanta Three had also been identified by nam

e and listed on theextensive anti-hacker files m

aintained, and

retailed fo

r pay, b

y private

security operative Jo

hn Maxfield

of D

etroit. M

axfield, w

ho had

exten-sive ties to

telco security and

many info

rmants in the und

ergro

und, w

asa b

ete noire o

f the *Phrack* crow

d, and

the dislike w

as mutual.

The A

tlanta Three them

selves had w

ritten articles for *Phrack.* T

hisboastful act could not possibly escape telco and law

enforcement atten-

tion.

"Knig

htmare," a hig

h-school ag

e hacker from

Arizo

na, was a clo

sefriend and disciple o

f Atlanta Lo

D, b

ut he had been nab

bed b

y the form

i-dab

le Arizo

na Org

anized C

rime and

Racketeering

Unit. K

nightm

are was

on so

me o

f LoD

's favorite b

oard

s — "B

lack Ice" in particular —

and w

asprivy to

their secrets. And

to have G

ail Thackeray, the A

ssistantA

ttorney G

eneral of A

rizona, o

n one's trail w

as a dread

ful peril fo

r anyhacker.

And

perhap

s worst o

f all, Prophet had

com

mitted

a majo

r blund

er by

passin

g an

illicitly copied

BellS

outh

com

puter-file to

Knig

ht L

ightn

ing,

who

had p

ublished

it in *Phrack.* This, as w

e will see, w

as an act of

dire consequence for almost everyone concerned.

On July 2

2, 1

98

9, the S

ecret Service sho

wed

up at the Leftist's ho

use,w

here he lived w

ith his parents. A

massive sq

uad o

f som

e twenty o

ffi-cers surro

unded

the build

ing: S

ecret Service, fed

eral marshals, lo

calpolice, p

ossib

ly BellS

outh telco

security; it was hard

to tell in the

crush. Leftist's dad

, at work in his b

asement o

ffice, first noticed

a mus-

cular stranger in p

lain clothes crashing

throug

h the back yard

with a

drawn pistol. A

s more strang

ers poured into the house, Leftist's dad

BR

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naturally assumed

there was an arm

ed ro

bbery in p

rogress.

Like most hacker parents, Leftist's m

om and dad had only the vaguest

notions of what their son had b

een up to all this time. Leftist had a day-

job rep

airing co

mputer hard

ware. H

is obsessio

n with co

mputers

seemed

a bit o

dd, b

ut harmless eno

ugh, and

likely to p

roduce a w

ell-paying

career. The sud

den, o

verwhelm

ing raid

left Leftist's parents

traumatized

.

The Leftist him

self had b

een out after w

ork w

ith his co-w

orkers, sur-

round

ing a co

uple o

f pitchers o

f marg

aritas. As he cam

e trucking o

nteq

uila-numbed

feet up the p

avement, to

ting a b

ag full o

f floppy-d

isks,he no

ticed a larg

e number o

f unmarked

cars parked

in his drivew

ay. All

the cars sported

tiny micro

wave antennas.

The Secret Service had knocked the front door off its hing

es, almost

flattening his M

om

.

Inside, Leftist was greeted by Special A

gent James C

ool of the US Secret

Service, Atlanta office. Leftist w

as flabberg

asted. He'd never m

et aSecret Service agent before. H

e could not imagine that he'd ever done

anything w

orthy o

f federal attentio

n. He'd

always fig

ured that if his

activities becam

e intolerab

le, one o

f his contacts in telco

security would

give him

a private p

hone-call and

tell him to

knock it o

ff.

But no

w Leftist w

as pat-searched

for w

eapons b

y grim

pro

fessionals,

and his b

ag o

f floppies w

as quickly seized

. He and

his parents w

ere allshep

herded

into sep

arate room

s and g

rilled at leng

th as a score o

f offi-

cers scoured

their hom

e for anything

electronic.

Leftist was ho

rrified as his treasured

IBM

AT p

ersonal co

mputer w

ithits fo

rty-meg

hard

disk, an

d h

is recently p

urch

ased 8

03

86

IBM

-clone

with a w

hopping

hundred

-meg

hard d

isk, both w

ent swiftly o

ut the door

in Secret S

ervice custody. T

hey also seized

all his disks, all his no

te-books, and a trem

endous booty in dogeared telco documents that Leftist

had snitched out of trash dumpsters.

Leftist figured

the who

le thing fo

r a big

misund

erstanding

. He'd

never

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been into

*military* co

mputers. H

e wasn't a *sp

y* or a *C

om

munist.*

He w

as just a good ol' Georgia hacker, and now

he just wanted all these

people out of the house. But it seem

ed they wouldn't go until he m

adesom

e kind of statement.

And

so, he levelled

with them

.

And

that, Leftist said later fro

m his fed

eral priso

n camp in T

alladeg

a,A

labam

a, was a b

ig m

istake.

The A

tlanta area was unique, in that it had three m

embers of the Legion

of D

oom

who

actually occup

ied m

ore o

r less the same p

hysical locality.

Unlike the rest of LoD

, who tended to associate by phone and com

puter,A

tlanta LoD

actually *were* "tig

htly knit." It was no

real surprise that

the Secret S

ervice agents ap

prehend

ing U

rvile at the com

puter-lab

s atG

eorg

ia Tech, w

ould

disco

ver Prophet w

ith him as w

ell.

Urvile, a 2

1-year-o

ld G

eorg

ia Tech

studen

t in p

olym

er chem

istry,posed

quite a p

uzzling case fo

r law enfo

rcement. U

rvile — also

know

nas "N

ecron 99," as w

ell as other handles, for he tended to change hiscover-alias about once a m

onth — w

as both an accomplished hacker and a

fanatic sim

ulatio

n-g

amer.

Sim

ulation g

ames are an unusual ho

bby; b

ut then hackers are unusualpeople, and their favorite pastim

es tend to be som

ewhat out of the ordi-

nary. The b

est-know

n Am

erican simulatio

n gam

e is pro

bab

ly"D

ungeo

ns & D

ragons," a m

ulti-player p

arlor entertainm

ent played

with p

aper, m

aps, p

encils, statistical tables and

a variety of o

ddly-

shaped

dice. Players p

retend to

be hero

ic characters explo

ring a w

hol-

ly-invented fantasy w

orld

. The fantasy w

orld

s of sim

ulation g

aming

areco

mm

only p

seudo-m

edieval, invo

lving sw

ord

s and so

rcery — sp

ell-casting

wizard

s, knights in arm

or, unico

rns and d

ragons, d

emons and

goblins.

Urvile an

d h

is fellow

gam

ers preferred

their fan

tasies hig

hly tech

no-

logical. They m

ade use of a game know

n as "G.U

.R.P.S.," the "Generic

Universal R

ole Playing

System

," pub

lished b

y a com

pany called

Steve

Jackson G

ames (S

JG).

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

G —

TH

E

HA

CK

ER

CR

AC

KD

OW

N

NO

T F

OR

CO

MM

ER

CIA

L U

SE

1 1 9

"G.U

.R.P.S

." served as a fram

ework fo

r creating a w

ide variety o

f arti-ficial fantasy w

orld

s. Steve Jackso

n Gam

es pub

lished a sm

org

asboard

of

books, full o

f detailed

inform

ation and

gam

ing hints, w

hich were used

toflesh-o

ut many d

ifferent fantastic backg

round

s for the b

asic GU

RPS

framew

ork. U

rvile mad

e extensive use of tw

o S

JG b

ooks called

*GU

RPS

Hig

h-T

ech* an

d *G

URPS S

pecial O

ps.*

In th

e artificial fan

tasy-world

of *G

URPS S

pecial O

ps,* p

layers

entered a modern fantasy of intrig

ue and international espionage. O

nbeg

inning the g

ame, p

layers started sm

all and p

ow

erless, perhap

s asm

inor-leag

ue CIA

agents o

r penny-ante arm

s dealers. B

ut as players

persisted

throug

h a series of g

ame sessio

ns (gam

e sessions g

enerallylasted

for ho

urs, over lo

ng, elab

orate cam

paig

ns that mig

ht be p

ursuedfo

r months o

n end) then they w

ould

achieve new skills, new

know

ledge,

new p

ow

er. They w

ould

acquire and

hone new

abilities, such as m

arks-m

anship, karate, w

iretapping

, or W

atergate b

urglary. T

hey could

alsow

in vario

us kin

ds o

f imag

inary b

ooty, like

Bere

ttas, or m

artini sh

ak-ers, o

r fast cars with ejectio

n seats and m

achine-guns und

er the head-

lights.

As m

ight b

e imag

ined fro

m the co

mplexity o

f these gam

es, Urvile's g

am-

ing no

tes were very d

etailed and

extensive. Urvile w

as a "dung

eon-

master," inventing

scenarios fo

r his fellow

gam

ers, giant sim

ulatedad

venture-puzzles fo

r his friends to

unravel. Urvile's g

ame no

tes cov-

ered d

ozens o

f pag

es with all so

rts of exo

tic lunacy, all about ninja raid

son Lib

ya and b

reak-ins on encryp

ted R

ed C

hinese superco

mputers. H

isno

tes were w

ritten on scrap

-pap

er and kep

t in loose-leaf b

inders.

The hand

iest scrap p

aper aro

und U

rvile's colleg

e dig

s were the m

anypounds of B

ellSouth printouts and documents that he had snitched out of

telco d

umpsters. H

is notes w

ere written o

n the back o

f misap

pro

priated

telco p

roperty. W

orse yet, the g

aming

notes w

ere chaotically inter-

spersed

with

Urvile's h

and-scraw

led reco

rds in

volvin

g *actu

al com

-puter intrusio

ns* that he had co

mm

itted.

Not o

nly was it next to

impossib

le to tell U

rvile's fantasy gam

e-notes

from

cybersp

ace "reality," but U

rvile him

self barely m

ade th

is dis-

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

G —

TH

E H

AC

KE

R C

RA

CK

DO

WN

N

OT

FO

R C

OM

ME

RC

IAL

US

E1 2 0

tinction. It's no

exaggeratio

n to say that to

Urvile it w

as *all* a gam

e.U

rvile was very b

right, hig

hly imag

inative, and q

uite careless of o

therpeo

ple's no

tions o

f pro

priety. H

is connectio

n to "reality" w

as not so

me-

thing to which he paid a great deal of attention.

Hacking

was a g

ame fo

r Urvile. It w

as an amusem

ent he was carrying

out, it was som

ething he w

as doing for fun. A

nd Urvile w

as an obsessive

young man. H

e could no more stop hacking than he could stop in the

mid

dle o

f a jigsaw

puzzle, o

r stop in the m

iddle o

f reading

a Step

henD

onald

son fantasy trilo

gy. (T

he name "U

rvile" came fro

m a b

est-sell-ing

Donald

son no

vel.)

Urvile's airy, b

ulletp

roof attitu

de serio

usly an

noyed

his in

terrogato

rs.First o

f all, he did

n't consid

er that he'd d

one anything

wro

ng. T

here was

scarcely a shred o

f honest rem

orse in him

. On the co

ntrary, he seemed

privately co

nvinced that his p

olice interro

gato

rs were o

perating

in adem

ented fantasy-w

orld

all their ow

n. Urvile w

as too p

olite and

well-

behaved

to say this straig

ht- out, b

ut his reactions w

ere askew and

dis-

quieting

.

For instance, there w

as the business ab

out Lo

D's ab

ility to m

onito

rpho

ne-calls to the p

olice and

Secret S

ervice. Urvile ag

reed that this

was quite possib

le, and posed no big

problem

for LoD. In fact, he and his

friends had kicked the idea around on the "Black Ice" b

oard, much as

they had d

iscussed m

any other nifty no

tions, such as b

uilding

perso

nalflam

e-th

row

ers an

d ju

ry-riggin

g fistfu

lls of b

lasting-cap

s. They h

adhundreds of dial-up num

bers for g

overnment ag

encies that they'd gotten

through scanning

Atlanta phones, or had pulled from

raided VA

X/V

MS

mainfram

e com

puters.

Basically, they'd never g

otten around to listening in on the cops b

ecausethe idea w

asn't interesting enoug

h to bother w

ith. Besides, if they'd

been m

onito

ring S

ecret Service p

hone calls, o

bvio

usly they'd never have

been caug

ht in the first place. R

ight?

The S

ecret Service w

as less than

satisfied w

ith th

is rapier-like h

ackerlo

gic.

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

G —

TH

E H

AC

KE

R C

RA

CK

DO

WN

N

OT

FO

R C

OM

ME

RC

IAL

US

E1 2 1

Then there w

as the issue of crashing the phone system

. No prob

lem,

Urvile ad

mitted

sunnily. Atlanta Lo

D co

uld have shut d

ow

n pho

ne ser-vice all o

ver Atlanta any tim

e they liked. *Even the 9

11

service?*N

othing

special ab

out that, U

rvile explained

patiently. B

ring the

switch to

its knees, with say the U

NIX

"maked

ir" bug

, and 9

11

goes

down too as a m

atter of course. The 9

11 system

wasn't very interest-

ing, frankly. It m

ight b

e tremend

ously interesting

to co

ps (fo

r odd

reasons o

f their ow

n), but as technical challeng

es went, the 9

11

servicew

as yawnsville.

So of course the Atlanta T

hree could crash service. They prob

ably could

have crashed service all o

ver BellS

outh territo

ry, if they'd w

orked

at itfo

r a while. B

ut Atlanta Lo

D w

eren't crashers. Only lo

sers and ro

dents

were crash

ers. LoD

were *elite.*

Urvile w

as privately co

nvinced that sheer technical exp

ertise could

win

him free o

f any kind o

f pro

blem

. As far as he w

as concerned

, elite statusin the d

igital und

ergro

und had

placed

him p

ermanently b

eyond

the intel-lectual g

rasp o

f cops and

straights. U

rvile had a lo

t to learn.

Of the three Lo

D stalw

arts, Prophet w

as in the most d

irect troub

le.Pro

phet w

as a UN

IX p

rogram

ming

expert w

ho b

urrow

ed in and

out o

f theInternet as a m

atter of course. He'd started his hacking

career ataro

und ag

e 14

, med

dling

with a U

NIX

mainfram

e system at the

University o

f North

Caro

lina.

Prophet him

self had w

ritten the handy Leg

ion o

f Doom

file "UN

IX U

seand

Security Fro

m the G

round

Up." U

NIX

(pro

nounced

"you-nicks") is

a pow

erfu

l, flexib

le co

mpute

r operatin

g-syste

m, fo

r multi-u

ser,

multi-tasking

com

puters. In 1

96

9, w

hen UN

IX w

as created in B

ellLab

s, such com

puters w

ere exclusive to larg

e corp

oratio

ns and univer-

sities, but to

day U

NIX

is run on tho

usands o

f pow

erful hom

e machines.

UN

IX w

as particu

larly well- su

ited to

telecom

municatio

ns p

rogram

-m

ing, and

had b

ecom

e a standard

in the field. N

aturally, UN

IX also

became a standard for the elite hacker and phone phreak.

Lately, Prophet had

not b

een so active as Leftist and

Urvile, b

ut Prophet

was a recid

ivist. In 19

86

, when he w

as eighteen, Pro

phet had

been

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

G —

TH

E H

AC

KE

R C

RA

CK

DO

WN

N

OT

FO

R C

OM

ME

RC

IAL

US

E1 2 2

convicted of "unauthorized access to a computer netw

ork" in North

Caro

lina. He'd

been d

iscovered

breaking

into the S

outhern B

ell Data

Netw

ork, a U

NIX

-based

internal telco netw

ork sup

posed

ly closed

to the

public. He'd gotten a typical hacker sentence: six m

onths suspended,1

20

hours co

mm

unity service, and three years' p

robatio

n.

After that hum

iliating b

ust, Prophet had

gotten rid

of m

ost o

f his ton-

nage of illicit phreak and hacker data, and had tried to g

o straight. H

ew

as, after all, still on p

robatio

n. But b

y the autumn o

f 19

88

, thetem

ptations of cyberspace had proved too much for young Prophet, and

he was sho

ulder-to

-should

er with U

rvile and Leftist into

som

e of the

hairiest systems aro

und.

In early Sep

tember 1

98

8, he'd

bro

ken into B

ellSouth's centralized

automation system

, AIM

SX or "Advanced Inform

ation Managem

entSystem

." AIM

SX w

as an internal business netw

ork fo

r BellS

outh,

where telco em

ployees stored electronic mail, datab

ases, mem

os, andcalend

ars, and d

id text p

rocessing

. Since A

IMSX d

id no

t have pub

licdial-up

s, it was co

nsidered

utterly invisible to

the pub

lic, and w

as not

well-secured

— it d

idn't even req

uire passw

ord

s. Prophet ab

used an

account known as "w

aa1," the personal account of an unsuspecting telco

employee. D

isguised as the ow

ner of waa1

, Prophet made ab

out ten vis-its to

AIM

SX.

Prophet did not damage or delete anything in the system

. His presence

in AIM

SX w

as harmless and

almost invisib

le. But he co

uld no

t rest con-

tent with that.

One particular piece of processed text on A

IMSX w

as a telco document

know

n as "Bell S

outh S

tandard

Practice 66

0-2

25

-10

4SV

Contro

lO

ffice Adm

inistration o

f Enhanced 9

11

Services fo

r Special S

ervices andM

ajor A

ccount C

enters dated

March 1

98

8."

Prophet had not been looking

for this document. It w

as merely one

among

hundred

s of sim

ilar docum

ents with im

penetrab

le titles.H

ow

ever, havin

g b

lundered

over it in

the co

urse o

f his illicit w

ander-

ings thro

ugh A

IMSX, he d

ecided

to take it w

ith him as a tro

phy. It m

ight

pro

ve very useful in som

e future boasting

, brag

ging

, and strutting

ses-

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

G —

TH

E

HA

CK

ER

CR

AC

KD

OW

N

NO

T F

OR

CO

MM

ER

CIA

L U

SE

1 2 3

sion. S

o, so

me tim

e in Sep

tember 1

98

8, Pro

phet o

rdered

the AIM

SX

mainfram

e com

puter to

copy this d

ocum

ent (henceforth called

simply

called "the E911 D

ocument") and to transfer this copy to his hom

eco

mputer.

No one noticed that Prophet had done this. H

e had "stolen" the E911

Docum

ent in some sense, but notions of property in cyberspace can be

tricky. BellS

outh no

ticed no

thing w

rong

, because B

ellSouth still had

their original copy. T

hey had not been "rob

bed" of the docum

ent itself.M

any people were supposed to copy this docum

ent — specifically, people

who

worked

for the nineteen B

ellSouth "sp

ecial services and m

ajor

account centers," scattered throughout the Southeastern United States.

That w

as what it w

as for, w

hy it was p

resent on a co

mputer netw

ork in

the first place: so that it could be copied and read — by telco em

ployees.But now

the data had been copied by someone w

ho wasn't supposed to look

at it.

Prophet now had his trophy. B

ut he further decided to store yet anotherco

py o

f the E91

1 D

ocum

ent on ano

ther perso

n's com

puter. T

his unwit-

ting person w

as a computer enthusiast nam

ed Richard Andrew

s who

lived n

ear Joliet, Illin

ois. R

ichard

Andrew

s was a U

NIX

pro

gram

mer b

ytrad

e, and ran a p

ow

erful UN

IX b

oard

called "Jo

lnet," in the basem

ent of

his house.

Prophet, using the handle "Robert Johnson," had obtained an account onRichard A

ndrews' com

puter. And there he stashed the E9

11 D

ocument,

by sto

ring it in his o

wn p

rivate section o

f And

rews' co

mputer.

Why d

id Pro

phet d

o this? If Pro

phet had

eliminated

the E91

1 D

ocum

entfro

m his o

wn co

mputer, and

kept it hund

reds o

f miles aw

ay, on ano

therm

achine, under an alias, then he m

ight have b

een fairly safe from

dis-

covery and

pro

secution —

althoug

h his sneaky action had

certainly put

the unsuspecting

Richard

And

rews at risk.

But, like m

ost hackers, Pro

phet w

as a pack-rat fo

r illicit data. W

hen itcam

e to the crunch, he could not bear to part from

his trophy. When

Prophet's p

lace in Decatur, G

eorg

ia was raid

ed in July 1

98

9, there w

asthe E9

11 D

ocument, a sm

oking gun. And there w

as Prophet in the hands

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

G —

TH

E H

AC

KE

R C

RA

CK

DO

WN

N

OT

FO

R C

OM

ME

RC

IAL

US

E1 2 4

of the S

ecret Service, d

oing

his best to

"explain."

Our sto

ry now

takes us away fro

m the A

tlanta Three and

their raids o

fthe S

umm

er of 1

98

9. W

e must leave A

tlanta Three "co

operating

fully"w

ith their numero

us investigato

rs. And

all three of them

did

cooperate,

as their Sentencing

Mem

orand

um fro

m the U

S D

istrict Court o

f theN

orthern D

ivision o

f Geo

rgia exp

lained —

just befo

re all three of them

were sentenced

to vario

us federal p

risons in N

ovem

ber 1

99

0.

We m

ust now catch up on the other aspects of the w

ar on the Legion ofD

oom. T

he war on the Legion w

as a war on a netw

ork — in fact, a net-

work o

f three networks, w

hich intertwined

and interrelated

in a com

-plex fashio

n. The Leg

ion itself, w

ith Atlanta Lo

D, and

their hanger-o

nFry G

uy, were the first netw

ork. T

he second

network w

as *Phrack*m

agazine, w

ith its edito

rs and co

ntributo

rs.

The third

network invo

lved the electro

nic circle around

a hackerkno

wn as "T

erminus."

The w

ar against these hacker netw

orks w

as carried o

ut by a law

enforcement netw

ork. Atlanta LoD

and Fry Guy w

ere pursued by U

SSSag

ents and federal prosecutors in Atlanta, Indiana, and C

hicago.

"Term

inus" found

himself p

ursued b

y USSS and

federal p

rosecuto

rsfro

m B

altimore and

Chicag

o. A

nd the w

ar against Phrack w

as almost

entirely a Chicag

o o

peratio

n.

The investig

ation o

f Term

inus involved

a great d

eal of energ

y, mostly

from

the Chicag

o T

ask Force, b

ut it was to

be the least-kno

wn and

least-pub

licized o

f the Crackd

ow

n operatio

ns. Term

inus, who

lived in

Marylan

d, w

as a UN

IX p

rogram

mer an

d co

nsu

ltant, fairly w

ell- know

n(und

er his given nam

e) in the UN

IX co

mm

unity, as an acknow

ledged

expert o

n AT&

T m

inicom

puters. T

erminus id

olized

AT&

T, esp

eciallyBellco

re, and lo

nged

for p

ublic reco

gnitio

n as a UN

IX exp

ert; his highest

ambitio

n was to

work fo

r Bell Lab

s.

But T

erminus had odd friends and a spotted history. T

erminus had once

been

the su

bject o

f an ad

mirin

g in

terview in

*Phrack* (V

olu

me II,

Issue 1

4, P

hile 2

— d

ated M

ay 19

87

). In th

is article, *Phrack* co

-

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

G —

TH

E H

AC

KE

R C

RA

CK

DO

WN

N

OT

FO

R C

OM

ME

RC

IAL

US

E1 2 5

edito

r Taran K

ing d

escribed

"Term

inus" as an electronics eng

ineer,5

'9", b

row

n-haired, b

orn in 1

95

9 —

at 28

years old

, quite m

ature for

a hacker.

Term

inus had once been sysop of a phreak/hack underg

round board

called "M

etroN

et," which ran o

n an Apple II. Later he'd

replaced

"Metro

Net" w

ith an underg

round

board

called "M

egaN

et," specializing

inIB

Ms. In his yo

unger d

ays, Term

inus had w

ritten one o

f the very firstand

most eleg

ant code-scanning

pro

gram

s for the IB

M-PC

. This p

ro-

gram

had b

een wid

ely distrib

uted in the und

ergro

und. U

ncounted

legio

nsof PC

- ow

ning p

hreaks and hackers had

used T

erminus's scanner p

ro-

gram to rip-off telco codes. T

his feat had not escaped the attention oftelco

security; it h

ardly co

uld

, since T

ermin

us's earlier h

andle,

"Term

inal Technician," w

as pro

udly w

ritten right o

n the pro

gram

.

When he b

ecame a full-tim

e com

puter p

rofessio

nal (specializing

inteleco

mm

unications p

rogram

ming

), he adopted

the handle T

erminus,

meant to indicate that he had "reached the final point of b

eing a profi-

cient hacker." He'd m

oved up to the UN

IX-based "Netsys" board on an

AT&

T co

mputer, w

ith four p

hone lines and

an impressive 2

40

meg

s of

storag

e. "Netsys" carried

com

plete issues o

f *Phrack,* and T

erminus

was q

uite friendly w

ith its pub

lishers, Taran K

ing and

Knig

ht Lightning

.

In th

e early 19

80

s, Term

inus h

ad b

een a reg

ular o

n P

lovern

et, Pirate-

80

, Sherw

ood Fo

rest and S

hadow

land, all w

ell-know

n pirate b

oard

s, allheavily frequented by the Legion of D

oom. A

s it happened, Term

inusw

as never officially "in Lo

D," b

ecause he'd never b

een given the o

fficialLo

D hig

h-sign and

back-slap

by Leg

ion m

aven Lex Luthor. T

erminus

had never p

hysically met anyo

ne from

LoD

. But that scarcely m

atteredm

uch — the A

tlanta Three them

selves had never been officially vetted byLex, either.

As far as law

enforcem

ent was co

ncerned, the issues w

ere clear.Term

inus w

as a full-tim

e, adult co

mputer p

rofessio

nal w

ith p

articular

skills at AT&

T so

ftware and

hardw

are — b

ut Term

inus reeked o

f theLegion of D

oom and the underground.

On Feb

ruary 1, 1

99

0 —

half a month after the M

artin Luther King

Day

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

G —

TH

E H

AC

KE

R C

RA

CK

DO

WN

N

OT

FO

R C

OM

ME

RC

IAL

US

E1 2 6

Crash —

USSS ag

ents Tim

Foley from C

hicago, and Jack Lew

is from the

Baltim

ore o

ffice, accom

panied

by A

T&

T security o

fficer Jerry Dalto

n,travelled

to M

iddle T

ow

n, M

aryland. T

here th

ey grilled

Term

inus in

his

hom

e (to th

e stark terror o

f his w

ife and sm

all child

ren), an

d, in

their

custom

ary fashion, hauled

his com

puters o

ut the door.

The N

etsys machine proved to contain a plethora of arcane U

NIX

software

— p

roprietary so

urce code fo

rmally o

wned

by A

T&

T. S

oftw

are such as:U

NIX

System

Five Release 3

.2; U

NIX

SV

Release 3

.1; U

UCP co

mm

unica-tio

ns so

ftware

; KO

RN

SH

ELL; R

FS; IW

B; W

WB; D

WB; th

e C

++

pro

-gram

ming

languag

e; PMO

N; T

OO

L CH

EST; Q

UEST

; DA

CT, and S FIN

D.

In the long

-established

piratical trad

ition o

f the underg

round

,Term

inus h

ad b

een trad

ing th

is illicitly- copied

softw

are with

a small

circle of fello

w U

NIX

pro

gram

mers. V

ery unwisely, he had

stored

seven years of his electro

nic mail o

n his Netsys m

achine, which d

ocu-

mented

all the friendly arrang

ements he had

mad

e with his vario

us col-

leagues.

Term

inus had not crashed the AT&

T phone system

on January 15. H

ew

as, how

eve

r, blith

ely

runnin

g a n

ot- fo

r-pro

fit AT

&T

softw

are-p

ira-cy ring

. This w

as not an activity A

T&

T fo

und am

using. A

T&

T security

officer Jerry D

alton valued

this "stolen" p

roperty at o

ver three hundred

thousand

dollars.

AT&

T's entry into the tussle of free enterprise had b

een complicated b

ythe new

, vague g

round

rules of the info

rmatio

n econo

my. U

ntil thebreak-up

of M

a Bell, A

T&

T w

as forb

idden to

sell com

puter hard

ware o

rso

ftware. M

a Bell w

as the pho

ne com

pany; M

a Bell w

as not allo

wed

touse the eno

rmous revenue fro

m telep

hone utilities, in o

rder to

financeany entry into

the com

puter m

arket.

AT&

T nevertheless invented the U

NIX operating system

. And som

ehowA

T&

T m

anaged

to m

ake UN

IX a m

inor so

urce of inco

me. W

eirdly, U

NIX

was no

t sold

as com

puter so

ftware, b

ut actually retailed und

er anobscure reg

ulatory exem

ptio

n allow

ing sales o

f surplus eq

uipm

ent andscrap

. Any b

old

er attempt to

pro

mote o

r retail UN

IX w

ould

have aroused

angry leg

al oppositio

n from

com

puter co

mpanies. Instead

, UN

IX w

as

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

G —

TH

E H

AC

KE

R C

RA

CK

DO

WN

N

OT

FO

R C

OM

ME

RC

IAL

US

E1 2 7

licensed to universities, at modest rates, w

here the acids of academic

freedom

ate away stead

ily at AT&

T's p

roprietary rig

hts.

Com

e the breakup, A

T&

T recog

nized that UN

IX w

as a potential gold-

mine. B

y now, large chunks of U

NIX code had been created that w

ere notA

T&

T's, and

were b

eing so

ld b

y others. A

n entire rival UN

IX-b

asedoperating

system had

arisen in Berkeley, C

alifornia (o

ne of the w

orld

'sgreat fo

unts of id

eolo

gical hackerd

om

). Today, "hackers" co

mm

only co

n-sid

er "Berkeley U

NIX

" to b

e technically superio

r to A

T&

T's "S

ystem V

UN

IX," b

ut AT&

T has not allow

ed mere technical eleg

ance to intrude onthe real-w

orld

business o

f marketing

pro

prietary so

ftware. A

T&

T has

mad

e its ow

n code d

eliberately inco

mpatib

le with o

ther folks' U

NIX

, andhas w

ritten code that it can prove is copyrightab

le, even if that codehap

pens to

be so

mew

hat awkw

ard —

"kludgey." A

T&

T U

NIX

user licens-es are serio

us business ag

reements, rep

lete with very clear co

pyrig

htstatem

ents and no

n- disclo

sure clauses.

AT&

T has not exactly kept the U

NIX cat in the bag, but it kept a grip on

its scruff with so

me success. B

y the rampant, exp

losive stand

ards o

fso

ftware p

iracy, AT&

T U

NIX

source co

de is heavily co

pyrig

hted, w

ell-guard

ed, w

ell-licensed

. UN

IX w

as traditio

nally ru

n o

nly o

n m

ainfram

em

achines, ow

ned b

y large g

roup

s of suit-and

- tie pro

fessionals, rather

than on bedroom m

achines where people can get up to easy m

ischief.

And

AT&

T U

NIX

source co

de is serio

us high-level p

rogram

ming

. The

number o

f skilled U

NIX

pro

gram

mers w

ith any actual motive to

swip

eUN

IX source code is sm

all. It's tiny, compared to the tens of thousands

prep

ared to

rip-o

ff, say, entertain

ing P

C g

ames like "L

eisure S

uit

Larry

."

But b

y 19

89

, the warez-d

00

d und

ergro

und, in the p

ersons o

f Term

inusand

his friends, w

as gnaw

ing at A

T&

T U

NIX

. And

the pro

perty in q

ues-tion w

as not sold for twenty b

ucks over the counter at the local branch

of B

abbag

e's or Eg

ghead

's; this was m

assive, sophisticated

, multi-line,

multi-autho

r corp

orate co

de w

orth tens o

f thousand

s of d

ollars.

It must b

e recognized

at this point that T

erminus's p

urported

ring o

fU

NIX

softw

are pirates had

not actually m

ade any m

oney fro

m their sus-

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

G —

TH

E H

AC

KE

R C

RA

CK

DO

WN

N

OT

FO

R C

OM

ME

RC

IAL

US

E1 2 8

pected

crimes. T

he $3

00

,00

0 d

ollar fig

ure band

ied ab

out fo

r the con-

tents of T

erminus's co

mputer d

id no

t mean that T

erminus w

as in actualillicit p

ossessio

n of three hund

red tho

usand o

f AT&

T's d

ollars.

Term

inus was ship

ping

softw

are back and

forth, p

rivately, perso

n toperso

n, for free. H

e was no

t making

a com

mercial b

usiness of p

iracy.H

e hadn't asked for money; he didn't take m

oney. He lived quite m

odest-ly.

AT&

T em

plo

yees — as w

ell as freelance UN

IX co

nsultants, like Term

inus—

com

monly w

orked

with "p

roprietary" A

T&

T so

ftware, b

oth in the

office and

at hom

e on their p

rivate machines. A

T&

T rarely sent securi-

ty officers out to comb the hard disks of its consultants. C

heap free-lance U

NIX

contractors were quite useful to A

T&

T; they didn't have

health insurance or retirem

ent pro

gram

s, much less unio

n mem

bership

in the Com

municatio

n Workers o

f Am

erica. They w

ere humble d

igital

drudges, w

andering w

ith mop and b

ucket through the G

reat Technolog

icalTem

ple o

f AT&

T; b

ut when the S

ecret Service arrived

at their hom

es, itseem

ed they w

ere eating w

ith com

pany silverw

are and sleep

ing o

n com

-pany sheets! O

utrageously, they behaved as if the things they worked

with every day belonged to them

!

And

these were no

mere hacker teenag

ers with their hand

s full of trash-

paper and their noses pressed to the corporate window

pane. These guys

were U

NIX

wizard

s, not o

nly carrying A

T&

T d

ata in their machines and

their heads, b

ut eagerly netw

orking

about it, o

ver machines that w

erefar m

ore p

ow

erful than anything p

reviously im

agined

in private hand

s.H

ow do you keep people disposab

le, yet assure their awestruck respect

for yo

ur pro

perty? It w

as a dilem

ma.

Much

UN

IX co

de w

as public-d

om

ain, availab

le for free. M

uch

"pro

pri-

etary" UN

IX co

de had

been extensively re-w

ritten, perhap

s altered so

much that it b

ecame an entirely new

product — or perhaps not.

Intellectual pro

perty rig

hts for so

ftware d

evelopers w

ere, and are,

extraord

inarily com

plex and

confused

. And

softw

are "piracy," like the

private co

pying

of vid

eos, is o

ne of the m

ost w

idely p

racticed "crim

es"in the w

orld

today.

The U

SSS w

ere not exp

erts in UN

IX o

r familiar w

ith the custom

s of its

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

G —

TH

E H

AC

KE

R C

RA

CK

DO

WN

N

OT

FO

R C

OM

ME

RC

IAL

US

E1 2 9

use. The U

nited States Secret Service, considered as a body, did nothave o

ne single p

erson in it w

ho co

uld p

rogram

in a UN

IX enviro

nment

— no, not even one. T

he Secret Service *were* m

aking extensive use of

expert help, but the "experts" they had chosen w

ere AT&

T and B

ellcoresecurity o

fficials, the very victims o

f the purp

orted

crimes und

erinvestig

ation, the very p

eople w

hose interest in A

T&

T's "p

roprietary"

software w

as most pronounced.

On Feb

ruary 6, 1

99

0, T

erminus w

as arrested b

y Agent Lew

is.Eventually, T

erminus w

ould

be sent to

priso

n for his illicit use o

f apiece of A

T&

T softw

are.

The issue o

f pirated

AT&

T so

ftware w

ould

bub

ble alo

ng in the b

ack-ground during the w

ar on the Legion of Doom

. Some half-dozen of

Term

inus's o

n-lin

e acquain

tances, in

cludin

g p

eople in

Illinois, T

exasand

Califo

rnia, were g

rilled b

y the Secret S

ervice in connectio

n with the

illicit copying

of so

ftware. Excep

t for T

erminus, ho

wever, no

ne were

charged

with a crim

e. None o

f them shared

his peculiar p

rom

inence inthe hacker und

ergro

und.

But that did not m

eant that these people would, or could, stay out of

trouble. T

he tran

sferral of illicit d

ata in cyb

erspace is h

azy and ill-

defined

business, w

ith parad

oxical d

angers fo

r everyone co

ncerned:

hackers, sig

nal carriers, b

oard

ow

ners, co

ps, p

rosecu

tors, even

ran-

dom

passers-b

y. Som

etimes, w

ell-meant attem

pts to

avert troub

le or

punish w

rong

doing

bring

more tro

uble than w

ould

simple ig

norance,

indiffe

rence

or im

pro

prie

ty.

Term

inus's "Netsys" b

oard

was no

t a com

mon-o

r- gard

en bulletin b

oard

system, though it had m

ost of the usual functions of a board. Netsys w

asno

t a stand-alo

ne machine, b

ut part o

f the glo

be-sp

anning "U

UCP"

cooperative netw

ork. T

he UU

CP netw

ork uses a set o

f Unix so

ftware

pro

gram

s called "U

nix-to

-Unix C

opy," w

hich

allow

s Unix system

s tothrow

data to one another at high speed through the public telephonenetw

ork. U

UC

P is a rad

ically decen

tralized, n

ot-fo

r-pro

fit netw

ork o

fUN

IX computers. T

here are tens of thousands of these UN

IX machines.

Som

e are small, b

ut many are p

ow

erful and also

link to o

ther networks.

UU

CP has certain arcane links to

majo

r networks such as JA

NET

,

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

G —

TH

E

HA

CK

ER

CR

AC

KD

OW

N

NO

T F

OR

CO

MM

ER

CIA

L U

SE

1 3 0

EasyNet, B

ITN

ET, JU

NET

, VN

ET, D

ASnet, PeaceN

et and Fid

oN

et, as well

as the gig

antic Internet. (The so

-called "Internet" is no

t actually a net-w

ork itself, b

ut rather an "internetwork" co

nnections stand

ard that

allow

s several glo

be-sp

anning co

mputer netw

orks to

com

municate w

ithone another. Readers fascinated b

y the weird and intricate tang

les ofm

odern co

mputer netw

orks m

ay enjoy Jo

hn S. Q

uarterman's autho

rita-tive

71

9-p

age e

xplicatio

n, *T

he M

atrix,* Dig

ital Pre

ss, 19

90

.)

A skilled

user of T

erminus' U

NIX

machine co

uld send

and receive elec-

tronic m

ail from

almost any m

ajor co

mputer netw

ork in the w

orld

.N

etsys was not called a "board" per se, but rather a "node." "N

odes"w

ere larger, faster, and

more so

phisticated

than mere "b

oard

s," and fo

rhackers, to hang

out on internationally-connected "nodes" was quite the

step up

from

merely hang

ing o

ut on lo

cal "board

s."

Term

inus's Netsys no

de in M

aryland had

a number o

f direct links to

other, sim

ilar UU

CP no

des, run b

y peo

ple w

ho shared

his interests andat least som

ething of his free-wheeling attitude. O

ne of these nodes was

Jolnet, o

wned

by R

ichard A

ndrew

s, who

, like Term

inus, was an ind

e-pendent U

NIX consultant. Jolnet also ran U

NIX, and could be contacted at

high sp

eed b

y mainfram

e machines fro

m all o

ver the world

. Jolnet w

asquite a so

phisticated

piece o

f work, technically sp

eaking, b

ut it was still

run b

y an in

divid

ual, as a p

rivate, not-fo

r-pro

fit hobby. Jo

lnet w

asm

ostly used

by o

ther UN

IX p

rogram

mers —

for m

ail, storag

e, and access

to networks. Jolnet supplied access netw

ork access to about two hundred

peo

ple, as w

ell as a local junio

r colleg

e.

Am

ong

its various features and

services, Jolnet also

carried *Phrack*

mag

azine.

For reaso

ns of his o

wn, R

ichard A

ndrew

s had b

ecom

e suspicio

us of a new

user called "R

obert Jo

hnson." R

ichard A

ndrew

s took it up

on him

self tohave a look at w

hat "Robert Johnson" w

as storing in Jolnet. A

ndA

ndrews found the E9

11 D

ocument.

"Robert Johnson" was the Prophet from

the Legion of Doom

, and theE9

11

Docum

ent was illicitly co

pied

data fro

m Pro

phet's raid

on the

BellS

outh co

mputers.

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

G —

TH

E H

AC

KE

R C

RA

CK

DO

WN

N

OT

FO

R C

OM

ME

RC

IAL

US

E1 3 1

The E9

11

Docu

men

t, a particu

larly illicit piece o

f dig

ital pro

perty, w

asab

out to

resume its lo

ng, co

mplex, and

disastro

us career.

It struck Andrew

s as fishy that someone not a telephone em

ployee shouldhave a docum

ent referring to the "Enhanced 911 System

." Besides, the

docum

ent itself bore an o

bvio

us warning

.

"WA

RNIN

G: N

OT FO

R USE O

R DISC

LOSU

RE OUTSID

E BELLSO

UTH

OR A

NY

OF IT

S S

UBSID

IARIES

EXC

EPT U

ND

ER W

RIT

TEN

AG

REEM

ENT."

These standard nondisclosure tags are often appended to all sorts of cor-

porate m

aterial. Telco

s as a species are p

articularly noto

rious fo

rstam

ping

most everything

in sight as "no

t for use o

r disclo

sure." Still,

this particular piece of data was about the 9

11 System

. That sounded

bad

to R

ich And

rews.

Andrew

s was not prepared to ig

nore this sort of trouble. H

e thought it

would be w

ise to pass the document along to a friend and acquaintance on

the UN

IX netw

ork, fo

r consultatio

n. So, aro

und S

eptem

ber 1

98

8,

Andrew

s sent yet another copy of the E911 D

ocument electronically to

an AT&

T em

plo

yee, one C

harles Boykin, w

ho ran a U

NIX

-based

node

called "attctc" in D

allas, Texas.

"Attctc" w

as the property of AT&

T, and w

as run from A

T&

T's C

ustomer

Technology C

enter in Dallas, hence the nam

e "attctc." "Attctc" w

as bet-ter-kno

wn as "K

iller," the name o

f the machine that the system

was

running o

n. "Killer" w

as a hefty, pow

erful, AT&

T 3

B2

50

0 m

odel, a

multi-u

ser, multi-taskin

g U

NIX

platfo

rm w

ith 3

2 m

eg o

f mem

ory an

d a

mind

-boggling

3.2

Gig

abytes o

f storag

e. When K

iller had first arrived

in Texas, in 1

985, the 3

B2 had b

een one of AT&

T's g

reat white hopes for

going

head- to

-head w

ith IBM

for the co

rporate co

mputer-hard

ware

market. "K

iller" had b

een shipped

to the C

ustom

er Techno

logy C

enter inthe D

allas Infom

art, essentially a high-techno

logy m

all, and there it

sat, a dem

onstratio

n model.

Charles B

oykin, a veteran A

T&

T hard

ware and

dig

ital com

municatio

nsexpert, w

as a local technical backup m

an for the AT&

T 3

B2 system

. As

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

G —

TH

E H

AC

KE

R C

RA

CK

DO

WN

N

OT

FO

R C

OM

ME

RC

IAL

US

E1 3 2

a disp

lay model in the Info

mart m

all, "Killer" had

little to d

o, and

itseem

ed a shame to w

aste the system's capacity. So B

oykin ingeniouslyw

rote so

me U

NIX

bulletin-b

oard

softw

are for "K

iller," and p

lugged

them

achine in to the lo

cal pho

ne network. "K

iller's" deb

ut in late 19

85

mad

e it the first pub

licly available U

NIX

site in the state of T

exas.A

nyone who w

anted to play was w

elcome.

The m

achine imm

ediately attracted

an electronic co

mm

unity. It joined

the UU

CP netw

ork, and

offered

network links to

over eig

hty other co

m-

puter sites, all o

f which b

ecame d

epend

ent on K

iller for their links to

the greater w

orld

of cyb

erspace. A

nd it w

asn't just for the b

ig g

uys;perso

nal com

puter users also

stored

freeware p

rogram

s for the A

mig

a,the A

pple, the IB

M and

the Macinto

sh on K

iller's vast 3,2

00

meg

archives. A

t one tim

e, Killer h

ad th

e largest lib

rary of p

ublic-d

om

ainM

acintosh so

ftware in T

exas.

Eventu

ally, Killer attracted

about 1

,50

0 u

sers, all busily co

mm

unicat-

ing, up

load

ing and

dow

nload

ing, g

etting m

ail, gossip

ping

, and linking

toarcane and

distant netw

orks.

Boykin received

no p

ay for running

Killer. H

e consid

ered it g

ood p

ub-

licity for the A

T&

T 3

B2

system (w

hose sales w

ere som

ewhat less than

stellar), but h

e also sim

ply en

joyed

the vib

rant co

mm

unity h

is skillhad created. H

e gave aw

ay the bulletin-b

oard UN

IX softw

are he hadw

ritten, free of charg

e.

In the UN

IX p

rogram

ming

com

munity, C

harlie Boykin had

the reputatio

nof a w

arm, o

pen-hearted

, level- headed

kind o

f guy. In 1

98

9, a g

roup

of T

exan UN

IX p

rofessio

nals voted

Boykin "S

ystem A

dm

inistrator o

f theYear." H

e was considered a fellow

you could trust for good advice.

In Sep

tember 1

98

8, w

ithout w

arning, the E9

11

Docum

ent came p

lung-

ing in

to B

oykin

's life, forw

arded

by R

ichard

Andrew

s. Boykin

imm

edi-

ately recognized that the Docum

ent was hot property. H

e was not a

voice- comm

unications man, and knew

little about the ins and outs of the

Bab

y Bells, b

ut he certainly knew w

hat the 91

1 S

ystem w

as, and he w

asangry to see confidential data about it in the hands of a nogoodnik. T

hisw

as clearly a matter fo

r telco security. S

o, o

n Sep

tember 2

1, 1

98

8,

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

G —

TH

E H

AC

KE

R C

RA

CK

DO

WN

N

OT

FO

R C

OM

ME

RC

IAL

US

E1 3 3

Boykin m

ade yet *another* copy of the E911 D

ocument and passed this

one along to a professional acquaintance of his, one Jerom

e Dalton, from

AT&

T C

orp

orate Info

rmatio

n Security. Jerry D

alton w

as the very fel-lo

w w

ho w

ould

later raid T

erminus's ho

use.

From

AT&

T's security d

ivision, the E9

11

Docum

ent went to

Bellco

re.

Bellco

re (or B

ELL CO

mm

unications R

Esearch) had o

nce been the cen-

tral laborato

ry of the B

ell System

. Bell Lab

s emplo

yees had invented

the UN

IX o

perating

system. N

ow

Bellco

re was a q

uasi-indep

endent,

jointly owned com

pany that acted as the research arm for all seven of

the Bab

y Bell R

BO

Cs. B

ellcore w

as in a good p

ositio

n to co

-ord

inatesecurity technolog

y and consultation for the RBO

Cs, and the g

entleman in

charge o

f this effort w

as Henry M

. Kluep

fel, a veteran of the B

ellSystem

who

had w

orked

there for tw

enty-four years.

On O

ctober 13, 1

988, D

alton passed the E911 D

ocument to H

enryK

luepfel. K

luepfel, a veteran exp

ert witness in teleco

mm

unications

fraud and

com

puter-fraud

cases, had certainly seen w

orse tro

uble than

this. He recognized the docum

ent for what it w

as: a trophy from a

hacke

r bre

ak-in.

How

ever, whatever harm

had b

een done in the intrusio

n was p

resum-

ably old news. A

t this point there seemed little to be done. K

luepfelm

ade a careful note of the circumstances and shelved the problem

for thetim

e being

.

Who

le months p

assed.

Febru

ary 19

89

arrived. T

he A

tlanta T

hree w

ere living it u

p in

Bell

South's switches, and had not yet m

et their comeuppance. T

he Legionw

as thriving. So w

as *Phrack* mag

azine. A g

ood six months had passed

since P

rophet's A

IMSX b

reak-in. P

rophet, as h

ackers will, g

rew w

earyof sitting

on his laurels. "K

night Lig

htning" and

"Taran K

ing," the ed

i-to

rs of *Phrack,* w

ere always b

egging

Prophet fo

r material they co

uldpublish. Prophet decided that the heat m

ust be off by this time, and that

he could

safely brag

, boast, and

strut.

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

G —

TH

E

HA

CK

ER

CR

AC

KD

OW

N

NO

T F

OR

CO

MM

ER

CIA

L U

SE

1 3 4

So he sent a copy of the E911 D

ocument —

yet another one — from

RichA

ndrews' Jolnet m

achine to Knig

ht Lightning

's BIT

net account at theU

niv

ersity

of M

issouri.

Let's review the fate of the docum

ent so far.

0. T

he orig

inal E91

1 D

ocum

ent. This in the A

IMSX system

on a m

ain-fram

e com

puter in A

tlanta, available to

hundred

s of p

eople, b

ut all of

them, p

resumab

ly, BellS

outh em

plo

yees. An unkno

wn num

ber o

f themm

ay have their ow

n copies o

f this docum

ent, but they are all p

rofes-

sionals and

all trusted b

y the pho

ne com

pany.

1. Pro

phet's illicit co

py, at ho

me o

n his ow

n com

puter in D

ecatur,G

eorg

ia.

2. Pro

phet's b

ack-up co

py, sto

red o

n Rich A

ndrew

's Jolnet m

achine inthe b

asement o

f Rich A

ndrew

s' house near Jo

liet Illinois.

3. C

harles Boykin's co

py o

n "Killer" in D

allas, Texas, sent b

y Rich

And

rews fro

m Jo

liet.

4. Jerry D

alton's co

py at A

T&

T C

orp

orate Info

rmatio

n Security in N

ewJersey, sen

t from

Charles B

oykin

in D

allas.

5. H

enry Kluep

fel's copy at B

ellcore security head

quarters in N

ewJersey, sent b

y Dalto

n.

6. K

night Lig

htning's co

py, sent b

y Prophet fro

m R

ich And

rews'

mach

ine, an

d n

ow

in C

olu

mbia, M

issouri.

We can see that the "security" situatio

n of this p

roprietary d

ocum

ent,once dug

out of AIM

SX, sw

iftly becam

e bizarre. W

ithout any money

changing

hands, w

ithout any p

articular special effo

rt, this data had

been

repro

duced

at least six times and

had sp

read itself all o

ver the continent.

By far the w

orst, ho

wever, w

as yet to co

me.

In Feb

ruary 1

98

9, P

rophet an

d K

nig

ht L

ightn

ing b

argain

ed electro

ni-

cally over the fate of this trophy. Prophet wanted to boast, but, at the

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

G —

TH

E H

AC

KE

R C

RA

CK

DO

WN

N

OT

FO

R C

OM

ME

RC

IAL

US

E1 3 5

same tim

e, scarcely wanted to be caught.

For his p

art, Knig

ht Lightning

was eag

er to p

ublish as m

uch of the d

ocu-

ment as he co

uld m

anage. K

night Lig

htning w

as a fledgling

political-

science

majo

r with

a particu

lar inte

rest in

freedom

-of-in

form

ation

issues. He w

ould

glad

ly pub

lish most anything

that would

reflect glo

ryon the prow

ess of the underground and embarrass the telcos. H

owever,

Knig

ht Lightning

himself had

contacts in telco

security, and so

metim

esconsulted them

on material he'd received that m

ight be too dicey forpub

lication.

Prophet and Knight Lightning decided to edit the E9

11 D

ocument so as

to d

elete most o

f its identifying

traits. First of all, its larg

e "NO

T FO

RUSE O

R DISC

LOSU

RE" warning

had to go. T

hen there were other m

atters.Fo

r instance, it listed the o

ffice telepho

ne numbers o

f several BellS

outh

91

1 sp

ecialists in Florid

a. If these pho

ne numbers w

ere pub

lished in

*Phrack,* th

e BellS

outh

emplo

yees invo

lved w

ould

very likely be h

as-sled b

y phone phreaks, which w

ould anger B

ellSouth no end, and pose adefinite o

peratio

nal hazard fo

r both Pro

phet and

*Phrack.*

So K

night Lig

htning cut the D

ocum

ent almost in half, rem

oving

thepho

ne numbers and

som

e of the to

uchier and m

ore sp

ecific inform

ation.

He p

assed it b

ack electronically to

Prophet; Pro

phet w

as still nervous,

so K

night Lig

htning cut a b

it more. T

hey finally agreed

that it was read

yto

go, and

that it would

be p

ublished

in *Phrack* under the p

seudonym

,"T

he Eavesdro

pper."

And

this was d

one o

n February 2

5, 1

98

9.

The tw

enty-fourth issue o

f *Phrack* featured a chatty interview

with

co-ed

pho

ne-phreak "C

handa Leir," three articles o

n BIT

NET

and its

links to o

ther com

puter netw

orks, an article o

n 80

0 and

90

0 num

bers

by "U

nknow

n User," "V

axCat's" article o

n telco b

asics (slyly entitled"Lifting

Ma B

ell's Veil o

f Secrecy,)" and

the usual "Phrack World

New

s."

The N

ews section, w

ith painful irony, featured an extended account ofthe sentencing

of "S

hadow

hawk," an eig

hteen-year-old

Chicag

o hacker

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

G —

TH

E H

AC

KE

R C

RA

CK

DO

WN

N

OT

FO

R C

OM

ME

RC

IAL

US

E1 3 6

who

had just b

een put in fed

eral priso

n by W

illiam J. C

ook him

self.

And

then there were the tw

o articles b

y "The Eavesd

ropper." T

he firstw

as the edited E911 D

ocument, now

titled "Control O

fficeA

dm

inistration O

f Enhanced 9

11

Services fo

r Special S

ervices andM

ajor A

ccount C

enters." Eavesdro

pper's seco

nd article w

as a glo

ssaryof term

s explaining

the blizzard

of telco

acronym

s and b

uzzword

s in theE9

11

Docum

ent.

The hap

less docum

ent was no

w d

istributed

, in the usual *Phrack* rou-

tine, to a good one hundred and fifty sites. Not a hundred and fifty *peo-

ple,* m

ind yo

u — a hund

red and

fifty *sites,* som

e of these sites linked

to U

NIX

nodes o

r bulletin b

oard

systems, w

hich themselves had

reader-

ships of tens, dozens, even hundreds of people.

This w

as February 1

98

9. N

othing

happened

imm

ediately. S

umm

ercam

e, and the A

tlanta crew w

ere raided

by the S

ecret Service. Fry G

uyw

as apprehend

ed. S

till nothing

whatever hap

pened

to *Phrack.* S

ixm

ore issues o

f *Phrack* came o

ut, 30

in all, more o

r less on a m

onthly

schedule. K

night Lig

htning and

co-ed

itor T

aran King

went unto

uched.

*Phrack* tended to duck and cover whenever the heat cam

e down.

During

the summ

er busts o

f 19

87

— (hacker b

usts tended

to cluster in

summ

er, perhap

s because hackers w

ere easier to find

at hom

e than inco

llege) —

*Phrack* had ceased

pub

lication fo

r several months, and

laidlo

w. S

everal LoD

hangers-o

n had b

een arrested, b

ut nothing

had hap

-pened

to the *Phrack* crew

, the prem

iere gossip

s of the und

ergro

und.

In 19

88

, *Phrack* had b

een taken over b

y a new ed

itor, "C

rimso

nD

eath," a raucous yo

ungster w

ith a taste for anarchy files.

19

89

, how

ever, looked

like a bounty year fo

r the underg

round

. Knig

htLig

htning and

his co-ed

itor T

aran King

took up

the reins again, and

*Phrack* flourished

throug

hout 1

98

9. A

tlanta LoD

went d

ow

n hard in

the su

mm

er of 1

98

9, b

ut *P

hrack* ro

lled m

errily on. P

rophet's

E91

1 D

ocum

ent seemed

unlikely to cause *Phrack* any tro

uble. B

yJan

uary 1

99

0, it h

ad b

een availab

le in *P

hrack* fo

r almost a year.

Kluep

fel and D

alton, o

fficers of B

ellcore and

AT&

T security, had

pos-

sessed the document for sixteen m

onths — in fact, they'd had it even

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

G —

TH

E H

AC

KE

R C

RA

CK

DO

WN

N

OT

FO

R C

OM

ME

RC

IAL

US

E1 3 7

befo

re Knig

ht Lightning

himself, and

had d

one no

thing in p

articular tosto

p its d

istributio

n. They had

n't even told

Rich A

ndrew

s or C

harlesBoykin to

erase the copies fro

m their U

NIX

nodes, Jo

lnet and K

iller.

But then cam

e the monster M

artin Luther King

Day C

rash of January

15

, 19

90

.

A flat three d

ays later, on January 1

8, fo

ur agents sho

wed

up at K

night

Lightning

's fraternity house. One w

as Tim

othy Foley, the secondBarbara G

olden, both of them Secret Service agents from

the Chicago

office. A

lso alo

ng w

as a University o

f Misso

uri security officer, and

Reed

New

lin, a security man fro

m S

outhw

estern Bell, the R

BO

C having

jurisd

iction o

ver M

issouri.

Foley accused Knig

ht Lightning

of causing the nationw

ide crash of thepho

ne system.

Knight Lightning w

as aghast at this allegation. On the face of it, the

suspicio

n was no

t entirely implausib

le — tho

ugh K

night Lig

htning knew

that he himself hadn't done it. Plenty of hot-dog hackers had bragged

that they could crash the phone system, how

ever. "Shadowhaw

k," forinstance, the C

hicago hacker w

hom

William

Cook had

recently put in

jail, had several times boasted on boards that he could "shut dow

nA

T&

T's p

ublic sw

itched netw

ork."

And

now

this event, or so

mething

that looked

just like it, had actually

taken place. The C

rash had lit a fire under the Chicag

o Task Force. A

ndthe fo

rmer fence- sitters at B

ellcore and

AT&

T w

ere now

ready to

roll.

The co

nsensus among

telco security —

already ho

rrified b

y the skill of

the BellS

outh intrud

ers — w

as that the dig

ital underg

round

was o

ut of

hand. Lo

D and

*Phrack* must g

o.

And

in pub

lishing Pro

phet's E9

11

Docum

ent, *Phrack* had p

rovid

edlaw

enforcement w

ith what appeared to b

e a powerful leg

al weapon.

Foley confronted Knight Lightning about the E9

11 D

ocument.

Knig

ht Lightning

was co

wed

. He im

med

iately beg

an "cooperating

fully"

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

G —

TH

E

HA

CK

ER

CR

AC

KD

OW

N

NO

T F

OR

CO

MM

ER

CIA

L U

SE

1 3 8

in the usual traditio

n of the d

igital und

ergro

und.

He g

ave Foley a co

mplete run o

f *Phrack,*printed

out in a set o

f three-rin

g b

inders. H

e han

ded

over h

is electronic m

ailing list o

f *Phrack*

subscrib

ers. Knig

ht Lightning

was g

rilled fo

r four ho

urs by Fo

ley andhis cohorts. K

night Lig

htning adm

itted that Prophet had passed him the

E911 D

ocument, and he adm

itted that he had known it w

as stolen bootyfrom

a hacker raid on a telephone company. K

night Lig

htning sig

ned astatem

ent to this effect, and

agreed

, in writing

, to co

operate w

ith inves-tig

ators.

Next d

ay — January 1

9, 1

99

0, a Frid

ay — the S

ecret Service returned

with a search w

arrant, and tho

roug

hly searched K

night Lig

htning's

upstairs ro

om

in the fraternity house. T

hey took all his flo

ppy d

isks,tho

ugh, interesting

ly, they left Knig

ht Lightning

in possessio

n of b

oth

his computer and his m

odem. (T

he computer had no hard disk, and in

Foley's judgem

ent was not a store of evidence.) B

ut this was a very

min

or b

right sp

ot am

ong K

nig

ht L

ightn

ing's rap

idly m

ultip

lying tro

u-

bles. B

y this time, K

night Lig

htning w

as in plenty o

f hot w

ater, not o

nlyw

ith federal p

olice, p

rosecuto

rs, telco investig

ators, and

universitysecurity, b

ut with the eld

ers of his o

wn cam

pus fraternity, w

ho w

ereoutrag

ed to

think that they had b

een unwitting

ly harboring

a federal

com

pute

r-crimin

al.

On M

onday, Knight Lightning w

as summ

oned to Chicago, w

here he was

further grilled

by Fo

ley and U

SSS veteran ag

ent Barb

ara Gold

en, thistim

e with an atto

rney present. And o

n Tuesday, he w

as form

ally indictedby a fed

eral grand

jury.

The trial o

f Knig

ht L

ightn

ing, w

hich

occu

rred o

n Ju

ly 24

-27

, 19

90

,w

as the crucial show

-trial of the H

acker Crackd

ow

n. We w

ill examine

the trial at som

e length in Part Fo

ur of this b

ook.

In the meantim

e, we m

ust continue our dogged pursuit of the E9

11

Docum

ent.

It must have b

een clear by January 1

99

0 that the E9

11

Docum

ent, inthe fo

rm *Phrack* had

pub

lished it b

ack in February 1

98

9, had

gone

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

G —

TH

E H

AC

KE

R C

RA

CK

DO

WN

N

OT

FO

R C

OM

ME

RC

IAL

US

E1 3 9

off at the sp

eed o

f light in at least a hund

red and

fifty different d

irec-tions. T

o attempt to put this electronic genie back in the bottle w

asflatly

impossib

le.

And

yet, the E91

1 D

ocum

ent was *still* sto

len pro

perty, fo

rmally and

legally sp

eaking. A

ny electronic transference o

f this docum

ent, by any-

one unauthorized to have it, could be interpreted as an act of w

ire fraud.Interstate transfer o

f stolen p

roperty, includ

ing electro

nic pro

perty,

was a fed

eral crime.

The C

hicago Com

puter Fraud and Abuse T

ask Force had been assured thatthe E9

11 D

ocument w

as worth a hefty sum

of money. In fact, they had a

precise estim

ate of its w

orth fro

m B

ellSouth security p

ersonnel:

$7

9,4

49

. A sum

of this scale seem

ed to

warrant vig

oro

us pro

secution.

Even if the damage could not be undone, at least this large sum

offered agood leg

al pretext fo

r stern punishm

ent of the thieves. It seem

ed likely

to impress judg

es and juries. And it could b

e used in court to mop up the

Legion of Doom

.

The A

tlanta crowd w

as already in the bag, by the time the C

hicago Task

Force had gotten around to *Phrack.* B

ut the Legion w

as a hydra-headedthing

. In late 89

, a brand

-new Leg

ion o

f Doom

board

, "Phoenix

Project," had

gone up

in Austin, T

exas. Phoenix Pro

ject was syso

ped

by

no less a m

an than the Mento

r himself, ab

ly assisted b

y University o

fTexas student and hardened D

oomster "Erik B

loodaxe."

As w

e have seen from

his *Phrack* manifesto

, the Mento

r was a hacker

zealot who reg

arded computer intrusion as som

ething close to a m

oralduty. Pho

enix Project w

as an ambitio

us effort, intend

ed to

revive thedig

ital underg

round

to w

hat Mento

r consid

ered the full flo

wer o

f theearly 8

0s. T

he Phoenix b

oard

would

also b

old

ly bring

elite hackersface-to

-face with the telco

"oppositio

n." On "Pho

enix," Am

erica'scleverest hackers w

ould supposedly shame the telco squareheads out of

their stick-in-the-mud

attitudes, and

perhap

s convince them

that theLeg

ion o

f Doom

elite were really an all-rig

ht crew. T

he prem

iere of

"Phoen

ix Pro

ject" was h

eavily trum

peted

by *P

hrack,* an

d "P

hoen

ixPro

ject" carried a co

mplete ru

n o

f *Phrack* issu

es, inclu

din

g th

eE9

11

Docum

ent as *Phrack* had p

ublished

it.

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

G —

TH

E H

AC

KE

R C

RA

CK

DO

WN

N

OT

FO

R C

OM

ME

RC

IAL

US

E1 4 0

Phoenix Project was only one of m

any — possib

ly hundreds — of nodes

and b

oard

s all over A

merica that w

ere in guilty p

ossessio

n of the E9

11

Docum

ent. But Phoenix w

as an outright, unashamed Legion of D

oomboard

. Und

er Mento

r's guid

ance, it was flaunting

itself in the face of

telco security p

ersonnel. W

orse yet, it w

as actively trying to

*win them

over* as sym

pathizers fo

r the dig

ital underg

round

elite. "Phoenix" had

no card

s or co

des o

n it. Its hacker elite consid

ered Pho

enix at leasttechnically leg

al. But Pho

enix was a co

rrupting

influence, where

hacker anarchy was eating

away like d

igital acid

at the underb

elly of

corp

orate p

ropriety.

The C

hicago Com

puter Fraud and Abuse T

ask Force now prepared to

descend upon Austin, T

exas.

Oddly, no

t one b

ut *two* trails o

f the Task Fo

rce's investigatio

n ledto

ward

Austin. T

he city of A

ustin, like Atlanta, had

mad

e itself a bul-

wark o

f the Sunb

elt's Inform

ation A

ge, w

ith a strong

universityresearch p

resence, and a num

ber o

f cutting-ed

ge electro

nics com

panies,

including

Moto

rola, D

ell, Com

puA

dd, IB

M, S

ematech and

MCC.

Where co

mputing

machinery w

ent, hackers generally fo

llow

ed. A

ustinboasted

not o

nly "Phoenix Pro

ject," currently LoD

's most flag

rantund

ergro

und b

oard

, but a num

ber o

f UN

IX no

des.

One of these nodes w

as "Elephant," run by a UN

IX consultant named

Robert Izenb

erg. Izenb

erg, in search o

f a relaxed S

outhern lifestyle and

a low

ered co

st-of-living

, had recently m

igrated

to A

ustin from

New

Jersey. In New

Jersey, Izenberg

had w

orked

for an ind

epend

ent con-

tracting co

mpany, p

rogram

ming

UN

IX co

de fo

r AT&

T itself. "T

erminus"

had been a frequent user on Izenb

erg's privately ow

ned Elephant node.

Having

interviewed

Term

inus and exam

ined the reco

rds o

n Netsys, the

Chicago T

ask Force were now

convinced that they had discovered anund

ergro

und g

ang o

f UN

IX so

ftware p

irates, who

were d

emonstrab

lyguilty o

f interstate trafficking in illicitly co

pied

AT&

T so

urce code.

Izenberg

was sw

ept into

the drag

net around

Term

inus, the self-pro

-claim

ed ultim

ate UN

IX hacker.

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

G —

TH

E H

AC

KE

R C

RA

CK

DO

WN

N

OT

FO

R C

OM

ME

RC

IAL

US

E1 4 1

Izenberg

, in Austin, had

settled d

ow

n into a U

NIX

job w

ith a Texan

branch o

f IBM

. Izenberg

was no

long

er working

as a contracto

r for

AT&

T, b

ut he had friends in New

Jersey, and he still logged on to A

T&

TU

NIX

com

puters b

ack in New

Jersey, more o

r less whenever it p

leasedhim

. Izenberg

's activities appeared

highly susp

icious to

the Task Fo

rce.Izenb

erg m

ight w

ell be b

reaking into

AT&

T co

mputers, sw

iping

AT&

Tsoftw

are, and passing it to T

erminus and other possib

le confederates,throug

h the UN

IX node netw

ork. And this data w

as worth, not m

erely$

79

,49

9, b

ut hundred

s of tho

usands o

f dollars!

On Feb

ruary 21

, 19

90

, Robert Izenb

erg arrived

hom

e from

work at

IBM

to find

that all the com

puters had

mysterio

usly vanished fro

m his

Austin apartm

ent. Naturally he assum

ed that he had been rob

bed. H

is"Elep

hant" node, his o

ther machines, his no

tebooks, his d

isks, his tapes,

all gone! How

ever, nothing much else seem

ed disturbed — the place had

not b

een ransacked.

The p

uzzle becam

ing m

uch stranger so

me five m

inutes later. Austin U

.S. S

ecret Service A

gent A

l Soliz, acco

mpanied

by U

niversity of T

exascam

pus-security o

fficer Larry Couto

rie and the ub

iquito

us Tim

Foley,

mad

e their appearance at Izenb

erg's d

oor. T

hey were in p

lain clothes:

slacks, polo

shirts. They cam

e in, and T

im Fo

ley accused Izenb

erg o

fbelonging to the Legion of D

oom.

Izenberg told them that he had never heard of the "Legion of D

oom." A

ndw

hat about a certain stolen E911 D

ocument, that posed a direct threat to

the police em

ergency lines? Izenb

erg claim

ed that he'd

never heard o

fthat, either.

His interro

gato

rs found

this difficult to

believe. D

idn't he kno

wT

erm

inus?

Who

?

They g

ave him T

erminus's real nam

e. Oh yes, said

Izenberg

. He knew

*that* guy all rig

ht — he w

as leading

discussio

ns on the Internet ab

out

AT&

T co

mputers, esp

ecially the AT&

T 3

B2

.

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

G —

TH

E

HA

CK

ER

CR

AC

KD

OW

N

NO

T F

OR

CO

MM

ER

CIA

L U

SE

1 4 2

AT&

T had

thrust this machine into

the marketp

lace, but, like m

any of

AT&

T's am

bitio

us attempts to

enter the com

puting

arena, the 3B2

pro

-ject had

som

ething less than a g

littering success. Izenb

erg him

self hadbeen a contractor for the division of A

T&

T that supported the 3

B2. T

heentire d

ivision had

been shut d

ow

n.

Now

adays, the cheapest and quickest way to get help w

ith this fractiouspiece o

f machinery w

as to jo

in one o

f Term

inus's discussio

n gro

ups o

nthe Internet, w

here friendly and

know

ledgeab

le hackers would

help yo

ufo

r free. Natu

rally the rem

arks with

in th

is gro

up w

ere less than

flat-tering

about the D

eath Star.... w

as *that* the pro

blem

?

Foley to

ld Izenb

erg that T

erminus had

been acq

uiring ho

t softw

arethro

ugh his, Izenb

erg's, m

achine.

Izenberg shrugged this off. A good eight m

egabytes of data flowed

throug

h his UU

CP site every d

ay. UU

CP no

des sp

ewed

data like fire

hoses. Elep

hant had b

een directly linked

to N

etsys — no

t surprising

,since T

erminus w

as a 3B2

expert and

Izenberg

had b

een a 3B2

contrac-

tor. Izenb

erg w

as also linked to

"attctc" and the University o

f Texas.

Term

inus was a w

ell-know

n UN

IX exp

ert, and m

ight have b

een up to

allm

anner of hijinks o

n Elephant. N

othing

Izenberg

could

do ab

out that.

That w

as physically im

possib

le. Need

le in a haystack.

In a four-ho

ur grilling

, Foley urg

ed Izenb

erg to

com

e clean and ad

mit

that he was in co

nspiracy w

ith Term

inus, and a m

ember o

f the Legio

n of

Doom

.

Izenberg

denied

this. He w

as no w

eirdo teenag

e hacker — he w

as thirty-tw

o years old, and didn't even have a "handle." Izenberg was a form

er TV

technician and electro

nics specialist w

ho had

drifted

into U

NIX

consult-

ing as a full-g

row

n adult. Izenb

erg had

never met T

erminus, p

hysical-ly. H

e'd once bought a cheap high- speed modem

from him

, though.

Foley to

ld him

that this modem

(a Telenet T

25

00

which ran at 1

9.2

kilobaud

, and w

hich had just g

one o

ut Izenberg

's door in S

ecret Service

custody) w

as likely hot p

roperty. Izenb

erg w

as taken aback to

hear

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

G —

TH

E H

AC

KE

R C

RA

CK

DO

WN

N

OT

FO

R C

OM

ME

RC

IAL

US

E1 4 3

this; but then ag

ain, most of Izenb

erg's equipm

ent, like that of most

freelance pro

fessionals in the ind

ustry, was d

iscounted

, passed

hand-

to-hand

throug

h various kind

s of b

arter and g

ray-market. T

here was

no proof that the modem

was stolen, and even if it w

as, Izenberg

hardlysaw

how

that gave them

the right to

take every electronic item

in hisho

use.

Still, if the U

nited S

tates Secret S

ervice figured

they needed

his com

-puter fo

r national security reaso

ns — o

r whatever —

then Izenberg

would

not kick. H

e figured

he would

som

ehow

make the sacrifice o

f histw

enty thousand

dollars' w

orth o

f pro

fessional eq

uipm

ent, in the spirit

of full co

operatio

n and g

ood citizenship

.

Robert Izenb

erg w

as not arrested. Izenberg

was not charg

ed with any

crime. H

is UU

CP no

de —

full of so

me 1

40

meg

abytes o

f the files, mail,

and data of himself and his dozen or so entirely innocent users —

went

out the door as "evidence." Along w

ith the disks and tapes, Izenberg hadlost about 8

00 m

egabytes of data.

Six months w

ould pass before Izenberg decided to phone the SecretService and ask how

the case was going. T

hat was the first tim

e thatRobert Izenb

erg w

ould

ever hear the name o

f William

Cook. A

s of

January 19

92

, a full two years after the seizure, Izenb

erg, still no

tcharg

ed w

ith any crime, w

ould

be strug

gling

throug

h the morass o

f theco

urts, in hope o

f recovering

his thousand

s of d

ollars' w

orth o

f seizedeq

uipm

ent.

In the meantim

e, the Izenberg

case received ab

solutely no

press co

ver-age. T

he Secret Service had walked into an A

ustin home, rem

oved aU

NIX

bulletin- b

oard

system, and

met w

ith no o

peratio

nal difficulties

whatso

ever.

Except that word of a crackdow

n had percolated through the Legion ofD

oom

. "The M

entor" vo

luntarily shut dow

n "The Pho

enix Project." It

seemed

a pity, esp

ecially as telco security em

plo

yees had, in fact, sho

wn

up on Phoenix, just as he had hoped — along

with the usual m

otley crowd

of Lo

D heavies, hang

ers-on, p

hreaks, hackers and w

annabes. T

here was

"Sand

y" Sand

quist fro

m U

S S

PRIN

T security, and

som

e guy nam

ed H

enry

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

G —

TH

E H

AC

KE

R C

RA

CK

DO

WN

N

OT

FO

R C

OM

ME

RC

IAL

US

E1 4 4

Klu

epfel, fro

m B

ellcore itself! K

luep

fel had

been

tradin

g frien

dly b

an-

ter with hackers o

n Phoenix since January 3

0th (tw

o w

eeks after theM

artin Luther King

Day C

rash). The p

resence of such a stellar telco

official seem

ed q

uite the coup

for Pho

enix Project.

Still, M

ento

r could

judge th

e climate. A

tlanta in

ruin

s, *Phrack* in

deep

troub

le, som

ething w

eird g

oing

on w

ith UN

IX no

des —

discretio

nw

as advisab

le. Phoenix Pro

ject went o

ff-line.

Kluep

fel, of co

urse, had b

een monito

ring this Lo

D b

ulletin board

for his

own purposes —

and those of the Chicago unit. A

s far back as June1987, K

luepfel had logged on to a Texas underground board called

"Phreak Klass 2

60

0." T

here he'd d

iscovered

an Chicag

o yo

ungster

named

"Shad

ow

hawk," strutting

and b

oasting

about rifling

AT&

T co

m-

puter files, and

brag

ging

of his am

bitio

ns to rid

dle A

T&

T's B

ellcore

com

puters w

ith trojan ho

rse pro

gram

s. Kluep

fel had p

assed the new

s toCook in C

hicago, Shadowhaw

k's computers had gone out the door in

Secret S

ervice custody, and

Shad

ow

hawk him

self had g

one to

jail.

Now

it was Pho

enix Project's turn. Pho

enix Project p

ostured

about

"legality" and

"merely intellectual interest," b

ut it reeked o

f the under-

gro

und. It had

*Phrack* on it. It had

the E91

1 D

ocum

ent. It had a lo

t of

dicey talk ab

out b

reaking into

systems, includ

ing so

me b

old

and reckless

stuff about a supposed "decryption service" that M

entor and friendsw

ere planning

to run, to

help crack encryp

ted p

assword

s off o

f hackedsystem

s.

Mento

r was an ad

ult. There w

as a bulletin b

oard

at his place o

f work,

as well. K

leupfel logged onto this board, too, and discovered it to becalled

"Illuminati." It w

as run by so

me co

mpany called

Steve Jackso

nG

ames.

On M

arch 1, 1

99

0, the A

ustin crackdow

n went into

high g

ear.

On the m

orning

of M

arch 1 —

a Thursd

ay — 2

1-year- o

ld U

niversity of

Texas stud

ent "Erik Blo

odaxe," co

-sysop o

f Phoenix Pro

ject and an

avowed m

ember of the Legion of D

oom, w

as wakened by a police revolver

levelled at his head

.

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

G —

TH

E

HA

CK

ER

CR

AC

KD

OW

N

NO

T F

OR

CO

MM

ER

CIA

L U

SE

1 4 5

Blo

odaxe w

atched, jittery, as S

ecret Service ag

ents appro

priated

his3

00

bau

d term

inal an

d, riflin

g h

is files, disco

vered h

is treasured

source-co

de fo

r Robert M

orris's no

torio

us Internet Worm

. But

Bloodaxe, a w

ily operator, had suspected that something

of the likem

ight b

e coming

. All his b

est equipment had b

een hidden away else-

where. T

he raiders to

ok everything

electronic, ho

wever, includ

ing his

telepho

ne. They w

ere stymied

by his hefty arcad

e-style Pac-Man g

ame,

and left it in p

lace, as it was sim

ply to

o heavy to

move.

Bloodaxe w

as not arrested. He w

as not charged with any crim

e. A good

two years later, the p

olice still had

what they had

taken from

him, ho

w-

ever.

The M

entor w

as less wary. T

he daw

n raid ro

usted him

and his w

ife from

bed

in their underw

ear, and six S

ecret Service ag

ents, accom

panied

by

an Austin p

olicem

an and H

enry Kluep

fel himself, m

ade a rich haul. O

ffw

ent the works, into

the agents' w

hite Chevro

let minivan: an IB

M PC

-A

T clo

ne with 4

meg

of R

AM

and a 1

20

-meg

hard d

isk; a Hew

lett-Packard

LaserJet II p

rinter; a co

mpletely leg

itimate an

d h

ighly exp

en-

sive SCO

-Xenix 2

86

operating

system; Pag

emaker d

isks and d

ocum

enta-tio

n; and the M

icroso

ft Word

word

-pro

cessing p

rogram

. Mento

r's wife

had her inco

mplete acad

emic thesis sto

red o

n the hard-d

isk; that went,

too, and so did the couple's telephone. As of tw

o years later, all thispro

perty rem

ained in p

olice custo

dy.

Mento

r remained

under g

uard in his ap

artment as ag

ents prep

ared to

raid Steve Jackson Gam

es. The fact that this w

as a business headquar-

ters and not a private residence did not deter the agents. It w

as stillvery early; no one w

as at work yet. T

he agents prepared to b

reak down

the door, b

ut Mento

r, eavesdro

pping

on the S

ecret Service w

alkie-talkietraffic, begged them

not to do it, and offered his key to the building.

The exact details of the next events are unclear. T

he agents would not let

anyone else into

the build

ing. T

heir search warrant, w

hen pro

duced

,w

as unsigned

. Apparently they b

reakfasted fro

m the lo

cal"W

hataburg

er," as the litter from

hamburg

ers was later fo

und insid

e.They also

extensively sampled

a bag

of jellyb

eans kept b

y an SJG

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

G —

TH

E H

AC

KE

R C

RA

CK

DO

WN

N

OT

FO

R C

OM

ME

RC

IAL

US

E1 4 6

emplo

yee. Som

eone to

re a "Dukakis fo

r President" sticker fro

m the

wall.

SJG

emplo

yees, dilig

ently show

ing up

for the d

ay's work, w

ere met at

the door and briefly questioned by U.S. Secret Service agents. T

heem

ployees watched in astonishm

ent as agents wielding crow

bars andscrew

drivers emerg

ed with captive m

achines. They attacked outdoor

storag

e units with b

oltcutters. T

he agents w

ore b

lue nylon w

indbreak-

ers with "S

ECRET

SER

VIC

E" stencilled acro

ss the back, w

ith running-

shoes and

jeans.

Jackson's co

mpany lo

st three com

puters, several hard

-disks, hund

redof flo

ppy d

isks, two m

onito

rs, three modem

s, a laser printer, vario

uspow

ercord

s, cables, and

adap

ters (and, o

ddly, a sm

all bag

of screw

s,bolts and

nuts). The seizure o

f Illuminati B

BS d

eprived

SJG

of all the

pro

gram

s, text files, and p

rivate e-mail o

n the board

. The lo

ss of tw

oother S

JG co

mputers w

as a severe blo

w as w

ell, since it caused the lo

ssof electro

nically stored

contracts, financial p

rojectio

ns, address d

irec-to

ries, mailing

lists, perso

nnel files, business co

rrespond

ence, and, no

tleast, the drafts of forthcom

ing games and gam

ing books.

No one at Steve Jackson G

ames w

as arrested. No one w

as accused of anycrim

e. No charg

es were filed

. Everything ap

pro

priated

was o

fficiallykep

t as "evidence" o

f crimes never sp

ecified.

After the *Phrack* sho

w-trial, the S

teve Jackson G

ames scand

al was

the most b

izarre and aggravating

incident of the Hacker C

rackdown of

19

90

. This raid

by the C

hicago T

ask Force o

n a science-fiction g

aming

pub

lisher was to

rouse a sw

arming

host o

f civil liberties issues, and

gave rise to

an enduring

contro

versy that was still re-co

mplicating

itself, and g

row

ing in the sco

pe o

f its implicatio

ns, a full two years

later.

The pursuit of the E9

11 D

ocument stopped w

ith the Steve Jackson Gam

esraid. A

s we have seen, there w

ere hundreds, perhaps thousands of com-

puter users in A

merica w

ith the E91

1 D

ocum

ent in their possessio

n.Theo

retically, Chicag

o had

a perfect leg

al right to

raid any o

f these peo

-ple, and could have leg

ally seized the machines of anyb

ody who sub

-

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

G —

TH

E H

AC

KE

R C

RA

CK

DO

WN

N

OT

FO

R C

OM

ME

RC

IAL

US

E1 4 7

scribed

to *Phrack.* H

ow

ever, there was no

copy o

f the E91

1 D

ocum

enton Jackso

n's Illuminati b

oard

. And

there the Chicag

o raid

ers stopped

dead; they have not raided anyone since.

It mig

ht be assum

ed that R

ich And

rews and

Charlie B

oykin, w

ho had

brought the E911 D

ocument to the attention of telco security, m

ight besp

ared any o

fficial suspicio

n. But as w

e have seen, the willing

ness to"co

operate fully" o

ffers little, if any, assurance against fed

eral anti-hacker p

rosecutio

n.

Richard

And

rews fo

und him

self in deep

troub

le, thanks to the E9

11

Docum

ent. And

rews lived

in Illinois, the native sto

mping

gro

unds o

f theChicag

o Task Force. O

n February 3

and 6, b

oth his home and his place of

work w

ere raided by U

SSS. His m

achines went out the door, too, and he

was g

rilled at leng

th (thoug

h not arrested

). And

rews p

roved

to b

e inpurp

orted

ly guilty p

ossessio

n of: U

NIX

SV

R 3

.2; U

NIX

SV

R 3

.1; U

UCP;

PM

ON

; WW

B; IW

B; D

WB; N

RO

FF; KO

RN

SH

ELL '8

8; C

++

; and Q

UES

T,

among

other items. A

ndrews had received this proprietary code —

which A

T&

T o

fficially valued at w

ell over $

25

0,0

00

— thro

ugh the

UN

IX netw

ork, m

uch of it sup

plied

to him

as a perso

nal favor b

yTerm

inus. Perhaps w

orse yet, A

ndrew

s adm

itted to

returning the favo

r,by passing

Term

inus a copy of AT&

T proprietary ST

ARLA

N source code.

Even Charles B

oykin, him

self an AT&

T em

plo

yee, entered so

me very ho

tw

ater. By 1

990, he'd alm

ost forgotten ab

out the E911 prob

lem he'd

reported in September 8

8; in fact, since that date, he'd passed tw

o more

security alerts to Jerry D

alton, co

ncerning m

atters that Boykin co

nsid-

ered far w

orse than the E9

11

Docum

ent.

But b

y 19

90

, year of the crackd

ow

n, AT&

T C

orp

orate Info

rmatio

nSecurity w

as fed up

with "K

iller." This m

achine offered

no d

irectincom

e to AT&

T, and w

as providing aid and com

fort to a cloud of suspi-cio

us yokels fro

m o

utside the co

mpany, so

me o

f them actively m

alicious

tow

ard A

T&

T, its p

roperty, and

its corp

orate interests. W

hatevergoodw

ill and p

ublicity had

been w

on am

ong

Killer's 1

,50

0 d

evoted

usersw

as consid

ered no

long

er worth the security risk. O

n February 2

0,

19

90

, Jerry Dalto

n arrived in D

allas and sim

ply unp

lugged

the pho

nejacks, to

the puzzled

alarm o

f Killer's m

any Texan users. K

iller went

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

G —

TH

E H

AC

KE

R C

RA

CK

DO

WN

N

OT

FO

R C

OM

ME

RC

IAL

US

E1 4 8

perm

anently off-line, w

ith the loss o

f vast archives of p

rogram

s andhug

e quantities o

f electronic m

ail; it was never resto

red to

service.A

T&

T sho

wed

no p

articular regard

for the "p

roperty" o

f these 1,5

00

peo

ple. W

hatever "pro

perty" the users had

been sto

ring o

n AT&

T's co

m-

puter sim

ply vanished

com

pletely.

Boykin, w

ho had

himself rep

orted

the E91

1 p

roblem

, now

found

himself

under a clo

ud o

f suspicio

n. In a weird

private-security rep

lay of the

Secret S

ervice seizures, Boykin's o

wn ho

me w

as visited b

y AT&

TSecurity and

his ow

n machines w

ere carried o

ut the door.

How

ever, there were m

arked sp

ecial features in the Boykin case.

Boykin's d

isks and his p

ersonal co

mputers w

ere swiftly exam

ined b

y hisco

rporate em

plo

yers and returned

politely in just tw

o d

ays — (unlike

Secret S

ervice seizures, which co

mm

only take m

onths o

r years).Boykin w

as not charg

ed w

ith any crime o

r wro

ngdoing

, and he kep

t hisjo

b w

ith AT&

T (tho

ugh he d

id retire fro

m A

T&

T in S

eptem

ber 1

99

1, at

the age o

f 52

).

It's interesting to note that the US Secret Service som

ehow failed to

seize Boykin's "K

iller" node and

carry AT&

T's o

wn co

mputer o

ut thedoor. N

or d

id they raid

Boykin's ho

me. T

hey seemed

perfectly w

illingto take the w

ord of AT&

T Security that A

T&

T's em

ployee, and AT&

T's

"Killer" no

de, w

ere free of hacker co

ntraband

and o

n the up-and

-up.

It's dig

ital wate

r-under-th

e-b

ridge at th

is poin

t, as Kille

r's 3,2

00

meg

abytes o

f Texan electro

nic com

munity w

ere erased in 1

99

0, and

"Killer" itself w

as shipped

out o

f the state.

But the exp

eriences of A

ndrew

s and B

oykin, and

the users of their sys-

tems, rem

ained side issues. They did not begin to assum

e the social,political, and

legal im

portance that g

athered, slo

wly b

ut inexorab

ly,around the issue of the raid on Steve Jackson G

ames.

__

__

_

We m

ust now turn our attention to Steve Jackson G

ames itself, and

explain w

hat SJG

was, w

hat it really did

, and ho

w it had

manag

ed to

attract this particularly o

dd and

virulent kind o

f troub

le. The read

er

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

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TH

E

HA

CK

ER

CR

AC

KD

OW

N

NO

T F

OR

CO

MM

ER

CIA

L U

SE

1 4 9

may recall that this is not the first b

ut the second time that the com

panyhas ap

peared

in this narrative; a Steve Jackso

n gam

e called G

URPS

was a

favorite p

astime o

f Atlan

ta hacker U

rvile, and U

rvile's science-fictio

nal

gam

ing notes had b

een mixed up prom

iscuously with notes ab

out hisactual co

mputer intrusio

ns.

First, Steve Jackso

n Gam

es, Inc., was *no

t* a pub

lisher of "co

mputer

gam

es." SJG

pub

lished "sim

ulation g

ames," p

arlor g

ames that w

ereplayed

on p

aper, w

ith pencils, and

dice, and

printed

guid

ebooks full o

frules and

statistics tables. T

here were no

com

puters invo

lved in the

games them

selves. When you bought a Steve Jackson G

ame, you did not

receive any software disks. W

hat you got was a plastic bag w

ith some

cardboard game tokens, m

aybe a few m

aps or a deck of cards. Most of

their pro

ducts w

ere books.

How

ever, com

puters *w

ere* deep

ly involved

in the Steve Jackso

nG

ames b

usiness. Like almost all m

odern p

ublishers, S

teve Jackson and

his fifteen employees used com

puters to write text, to keep accounts,

and to run the business g

enerally. They also used a com

puter to runtheir o

fficial bulletin b

oard

system fo

r Steve Jackso

n Gam

es, a board

called Illum

inati. On Illum

inati, simulatio

n gam

ers who

happened

toow

n computers and m

odems could associate, trade m

ail, debate the theo-ry and practice of gam

ing, and keep up w

ith the company's new

s and itsproduct announcem

ents.

Illuminati w

as a modestly p

opular b

oard

, run on a sm

all com

puter w

ithlim

ited sto

rage, o

nly one p

hone-line, and

no ties to

large-scale co

m-

puter netw

orks. It d

id, ho

wever, have hund

reds o

f users, many o

f themded

icated g

amers w

illing to

call from

out-o

f-state.

Illuminati w

as *not* an "und

ergro

und" b

oard

. It did

not feature hints

on co

mputer in

trusio

n, o

r "anarch

y files," or illicitly p

osted

credit

card num

bers, o

r long

-distance access co

des. S

om

e of Illum

inati'susers, how

ever, were m

embers of the Legion of D

oom. A

nd so was one

of Steve Jackson's senior employees —

the Mentor. T

he Mentor w

rotefo

r *Phrack,* and also

ran an underg

round

board

, Phoenix Pro

ject —but the M

entor was not a com

puter professional. The M

entor was the

managing editor of Steve Jackson G

ames and a professional gam

e design-

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

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TH

E H

AC

KE

R C

RA

CK

DO

WN

N

OT

FO

R C

OM

ME

RC

IAL

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E1 5 0

er by trad

e. These Lo

D m

embers d

id no

t use Illuminati to

help their

*hackin

g* activities. T

hey u

sed it to

help

their *g

ame-p

laying* activ-

ities — and they w

ere even more dedicated to sim

ulation gaming than

they were to

hacking.

"Illuminati" g

ot its nam

e from

a card-g

ame that S

teve Jackson him

self,the co

mpany's fo

under and

sole o

wner, had

invented. T

his multi-p

layercard

-gam

e was o

ne of M

r Jackson's b

est-know

n, most successful, m

ost

technically innovative p

roducts. "Illum

inati" was a g

ame o

f parano

iacco

nsp

iracy in w

hich

various an

tisocial cu

lts warred

covertly to

dom

i-nate the w

orld

. "Illuminati" w

as hilarious, and

great fun to

play,

involving

flying saucers, the C

IA, the K

GB, the p

hone co

mpanies, the K

uKlux K

lan, the South A

merican N

azis, the cocaine cartels, the B

oy

Scouts, and dozens of other splinter groups from the tw

isted depths ofM

r. Jackson's p

rofessio

nally fervid

imag

inatio

n. Fo

r the u

nin

itiated,

any pub

lic discussio

n of the "Illum

inati" card-g

ame so

unded

, by turns,

utterly menacing

or co

mpletely insane.

And

then there was S

JG's "C

ar Wars," in w

hich soup

ed-up

armored

hot-

rods w

ith rocket-launchers and

heavy machine-g

uns did

battle o

n theA

merican hig

hways o

f the future. The lively C

ar Wars d

iscussion o

nthe Illum

inati board

featured m

any meticulo

us, painstaking

discussio

nsof the effects o

f grenad

es, land-m

ines, flamethro

wers and

napalm

. Itso

unded

like hacker anarchy files run amuck.

Mr Jackso

n an

d h

is co-w

orkers earn

ed th

eir daily b

read b

y supplyin

gpeo

ple w

ith make-b

elieve adventures and

weird

ideas. T

he more far-

out, the b

etter.

Sim

ulation g

aming

is an unusual pastim

e, but g

amers have no

t generally

had to beg the permission of the Secret Service to exist. W

argames and

role-p

laying ad

ventures are an old

and ho

nored

pastim

e, much favo

redby p

rofessio

nal military strateg

ists. Once little- kno

wn, these g

ames

are now played by hundreds of thousands of enthusiasts throughout

North A

merica, Euro

pe and

Japan. G

aming

-books, o

nce restricted to

hobby o

utlets, now

com

monly ap

pear in chain-sto

res like B. D

alton's

and W

aldenb

ooks, and

sell vigoro

usly.

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

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TH

E H

AC

KE

R C

RA

CK

DO

WN

N

OT

FO

R C

OM

ME

RC

IAL

US

E1 5 1

Steve Jackson Gam

es, Inc., of Austin, T

exas, was a gam

es company of the

mid

dle rank. In 1

98

9, S

JG g

rossed

about a m

illion d

ollars. Jackso

nhim

self had a g

ood rep

utation in his ind

ustry as a talented and

innovative

desig

ner of rather unco

nventional g

ames, b

ut his com

pany w

as som

e-thing

less than a titan of the field

— certainly no

t like the multim

illion-

dollar T

SR Inc., o

r Britain's g

igantic "G

ames W

orksho

p."

SJG

's Austin head

quarters w

as a modest tw

o-sto

ry brick o

ffice-suite,cluttered

with p

hones, p

hoto

copiers, fax m

achines and co

mputers. It

bustled

with sem

i-org

anized activity and

was littered

with g

lossy p

ro-

motional b

rochures and dog-eared science-fiction novels. A

ttached tothe o

ffices was a larg

e tin-roofed

wareho

use piled

twenty feet hig

h with

cardboard boxes of games and books. D

espite the weird im

aginings thatw

ent on w

ithin it, the SJG

headquarters w

as quite a q

uotid

ian, everyday

sort o

f place. It lo

oked

like what it w

as: a pub

lishers' dig

s.

Both

"Car W

ars" and "Illu

min

ati" were w

ell-know

n, p

opular g

ames.

But the m

ainstay of the Jackso

n org

anization w

as their Generic

Universal R

ole-Playing

System

, "G.U

.R.P.S

." The G

URPS

system w

asco

nsidered

solid

and w

ell-desig

ned, an asset fo

r players. B

ut perhap

sthe m

ost popular feature of the GURPS system

was that it allow

ed gam

-ing

-masters to

desig

n scenarios that clo

sely resembled

well-kno

wn

books, movies, and other w

orks of fantasy. Jackson had licensed andadapted w

orks from m

any science fiction and fantasy authors. There w

as*G

URPS C

onan

,* *GU

RPS R

iverw

orld

,* *GU

RPS H

orse

clans,* *G

URPS

Witch

World

,* nam

es emin

ently fam

iliar to scien

ce-fiction read

ers.A

nd there w

as *GU

RPS

Special O

ps,* fro

m the w

orld

of esp

ionag

e fan-tasy and

unconventio

nal warfare.

And

then there was *G

URPS

Cyb

erpunk.*

"Cyb

erpunk" w

as a term g

iven to certain science fictio

n writers w

hohad

entered the g

enre in the 19

80

s. "Cyb

erpunk," as the lab

el implies,

had tw

o g

eneral disting

uishing features. First, its w

riters had a co

m-

pelling

interest in inform

ation techno

logy, an interest clo

sely akin toscience fictio

n's earlier fascination w

ith space travel. A

nd seco

nd, these

writers w

ere "punks," w

ith all the disting

uishing features that that

implies: B

ohem

ian artin

ess, youth

run w

ild, an

air of d

eliberate reb

el-

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

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TH

E H

AC

KE

R C

RA

CK

DO

WN

N

OT

FO

R C

OM

ME

RC

IAL

US

E1 5 2

lion, funny clo

thes and hair, o

dd p

olitics, a fo

ndness fo

r abrasive ro

ckan

d ro

ll; in a w

ord

, trouble.

The "cyb

erpunk" S

F writers w

ere a small g

roup

of m

ostly co

llege-ed

u-cated

white m

iddle-class litterateurs, scattered

throug

h the US and

Canad

a. Only o

ne, Rud

y Rucker, a p

rofesso

r of co

mputer science in

Silico

n Valley, co

uld rank w

ith even the humblest co

mputer hacker.

But, excep

t for Pro

fessor R

ucker, the "cyberp

unk" authors w

ere not

pro

gram

mers o

r hardw

are experts; they co

nsidered

themselves artists

(as, indeed

, did

Professo

r Rucker). H

ow

ever, these writers all o

wned

com

puters, and

took an intense and

pub

lic interest in the social ram

ifi-catio

ns of the info

rmatio

n industry.

The cyberpunks had a strong follow

ing among the global generation that

had g

row

n up in a w

orld

of co

mputers, m

ultinational netw

orks, and

cable televisio

n. Their o

utlook w

as consid

ered so

mew

hat morb

id, cyni-

cal, and d

ark, but then ag

ain, so w

as the outlo

ok o

f their generatio

nalpeers. A

s that generatio

n matured

and increased

in strength and

influ-ence, so

did

the cyberp

unks. As science-fictio

n writers w

ent, theyw

ere doing

fairly well fo

r themselves. B

y the late 19

80

s, their work

had attracted attention from gam

ing companies, including Steve Jackson

Gam

es, which w

as planning

a cyberp

unk simulatio

n for the flo

urishingG

URPS

gam

ing- system

.

The tim

e seemed

ripe fo

r such a pro

duct, w

hich had alread

y been p

roven

in the marketplace. T

he first gam

es- company out of the g

ate, with a

pro

duct b

old

ly called "C

yberp

unk" in defiance o

f possib

le infringem

ent-of- co

pyrig

ht suits, had b

een an upstart g

roup

called R

. Talso

rian.Talso

rian's Cyb

erpunk w

as a fairly decent g

ame, b

ut the mechanics o

fthe sim

ulation system

left a lot to

be d

esired. C

om

mercially, ho

wever,

the gam

e did

very well.

The next cyberpunk gam

e had been the even more successful

*Shad

ow

run* by FA

SA

Corp

oratio

n. The m

echanics of this g

ame w

erefine, b

ut the scenario w

as rendered

moro

nic by sap

py fantasy elem

entslike elves, tro

lls, wizard

s, and d

ragons —

all hig

hly id

eolo

gically-

incorrect, acco

rding

to the hard

-edged

, high-tech stand

ards o

f cyber-

punk science fictio

n.

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

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TH

E

HA

CK

ER

CR

AC

KD

OW

N

NO

T F

OR

CO

MM

ER

CIA

L U

SE

1 5 3

Other g

ame desig

ners were cham

ping at the b

it. Prominent am

ong them

was the M

entor, a g

entleman w

ho, like m

ost o

f his friends in the Leg

ion

of Doom

, was quite the cyberpunk devotee. M

entor reasoned that thetim

e had co

me fo

r a *real* cyberp

unk gam

ing-b

ook —

one that the

princes o

f com

puter-m

ischief in the Legio

n of D

oom

could

play w

ithout

laughing

themselves sick. T

his book, *G

URPS

Cyb

erpunk,* w

ould

reekof cu

lturally o

n- lin

e au

thenticity.

Mento

r was p

articularly

well-q

ualifie

d fo

r this task. N

aturally

, he

knew far m

ore ab

out co

mputer-intrusio

n and d

igital skulld

uggery than

any previo

usly pub

lished cyb

erpunk autho

r. Not o

nly that, but he w

asgood at his w

ork. A

vivid im

aginatio

n, com

bined

with an instinctive

feeling fo

r the working

of system

s and, esp

ecially, the loopho

les within

them, are excellent q

ualities for a p

rofessio

nal gam

e desig

ner.

By M

arch 1st, *G

URPS

Cyb

erpunk* w

as almost co

mplete, read

y toprint and

ship. S

teve Jackson exp

ected vig

oro

us sales for this item

,w

hich, he hoped

, would

keep the co

mpany financially aflo

at for several

months. *G

URPS

Cyb

erpunk,* like the o

ther GU

RPS

"modules," w

as not

a "game" like a M

onopoly set, but a *book:* a bound paperback book thesize o

f a glo

ssy mag

azine, with a slick co

lor co

ver, and p

ages full o

f text,illustrations, tables and footnotes. It w

as advertised as a game, and w

asused

as an aid to

gam

e-playing

, but it w

as a book, w

ith an ISBN

num-

ber, p

ublished

in Texas, co

pyrig

hted, and

sold

in booksto

res.

And now

, that book, stored on a computer, had gone out the door in the

custody of the Secret Service.

The d

ay after the raid, S

teve Jackson visited

the local S

ecret Service

headquarters w

ith a lawyer in to

w. T

here he confro

nted T

im Fo

ley (stillin A

ustin at that time) and dem

anded his book back. But there w

astro

uble. *G

URPS

Cyb

erpunk,* alleg

ed a S

ecret Service ag

ent to asto

n-ished

businessm

an Steve Jackso

n, was "a m

anual for co

mputer crim

e."

"It's science fiction," Jackso

n said.

"No, this is real." T

his statement w

as repeated

several times, b

y sev-

BR

UC

E S

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RL

IN

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TH

E H

AC

KE

R C

RA

CK

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WN

N

OT

FO

R C

OM

ME

RC

IAL

US

E1 5 4

eral agents. Jackson's om

inously accurate gam

e had passed from pure,

obscu

re, small- scale fan

tasy into

the im

pure, h

ighly p

ublicized

,larg

e- scale fantasy of the H

acker Crackd

ow

n.

No m

ention was m

ade of the real reason for the search. According to

their search warrant, the raid

ers had exp

ected to

find the E9

11

Docum

ent stored

on Jackso

n's bulletin b

oard

system. B

ut that warrant

was sealed; a procedure that m

ost law enforcem

ent agencies w

ill useonly w

hen lives are dem

onstrab

ly in dang

er. The raid

ers' true motives

were no

t disco

vered until the Jackso

n search- warrant w

as unsealed b

yhis law

yers, many m

onths later. T

he Secret S

ervice, and the C

hicago

Com

puter Fraud and Abuse T

ask Force, said absolutely nothing to SteveJackson about any threat to the police 9

11 System

. They said nothing

about the A

tlanta Three, no

thing ab

out *Phrack* o

r Knig

ht Lightning

,no

thing ab

out T

erminus.

Jackson was left to believe that his com

puters had been seized becausehe intended to pub

lish a science fiction book that law

enforcement con-

sidered too dangerous to see print.

This m

isconception was repeated again and again, for m

onths, to anever-w

idening

pub

lic audience. It w

as not the truth o

f the case; but as

months p

assed, and

this misco

nceptio

n was p

ublicly p

rinted ag

ain andag

ain, it becam

e one of the few pub

licly known "facts" ab

out the myste-

rious Hacker C

rackdown. T

he Secret Service had seized a computer to

stop the p

ublicatio

n of a cyb

erpunk science fictio

n book.

The second section of this b

ook, "The D

igital U

nderground," is alm

ostfinished

now

. We have b

ecom

e acquainted

with all the m

ajor fig

ures of

this case who

actually belo

ng to

the underg

round

milieu o

f com

puter

intrusion. W

e have som

e idea o

f their history, their m

otives, their

general m

odus o

perand

i. We no

w kno

w, I ho

pe, w

ho they are, w

herethey cam

e from, and m

ore or less what they w

ant. In the next section ofthis b

ook, "Law

and O

rder," w

e will leave this m

ilieu and d

irectly enterthe w

orld

of A

merica's co

mputer-crim

e police.

At this p

oint, ho

wever, I have ano

ther figure to

introduce: m

yself.

BR

UC

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E1 5 5

My n

ame is B

ruce S

terling. I live in

Austin

, Texas, w

here I am

a sci-en

ce fiction w

riter by trad

e: specifically, a *cyb

erpunk* scien

ce fic-tio

n w

riter.

Like my "cyb

erpunk" co

lleagues in the U

.S. and

Canad

a, I've never been

entirely happy w

ith this literary label —

especially after it b

ecame a

synonym

for co

mputer crim

inal. But I d

id o

nce edit a b

ook o

f stories b

ym

y colleag

ues, called *M

IRRO

RSH

AD

ES: the C

yberp

unk Antho

logy,*

and I've lo

ng b

een a w

riter of literary- critical cyb

erpunk m

anifesto

s.I am

not a "hacker" o

f any description, tho

ugh I do

have readers in thedig

ital underg

round

.

When the S

teve Jackson G

ames seizure o

ccurred, I naturally to

ok an

intense interest. If "cyberp

unk" books w

ere being

banned

by fed

eralpolice in m

y ow

n hom

e tow

n, I reasonab

ly wond

ered w

hether I myself

might be next. W

ould my com

puter be seized by the Secret Service? At

the time, I w

as in possession of an aging

Apple IIe w

ithout so much as a

hard d

isk. If I were to

be raid

ed as an autho

r of co

mputer-crim

e manu-

als, the loss o

f my feeb

le word

-pro

cessor w

ould

likely pro

voke m

ore

snickers than sympathy.

I'd kno

wn S

teve Jackson fo

r many years. W

e knew o

ne another as co

l-leag

ues, for w

e frequented

the same lo

cal science-fiction co

nventions.

I'd p

layed Jackso

n gam

es, and reco

gnized

his cleverness; but he certain-

ly had never struck m

e as a potential m

astermind

of co

mputer crim

e.

I also knew

a little about co

mputer b

ulletin-board

systems. In the m

id-

19

80

s I had taken an active ro

le in an Austin b

oard

called "S

MO

F-BBS,"

one of the first boards dedicated to science fiction. I had a modem

, and onoccasio

n I'd lo

gged

on to

Illuminati, w

hich always lo

oked

entertainlyw

acky, but certainly harm

less enoug

h.

At the tim

e of the Jackson seizure, I had no experience whatsoever w

ithund

ergro

und b

oard

s. But I knew

that no o

ne on Illum

inati talked ab

out

breaking

into system

s illegally, o

r about ro

bbing

pho

ne com

panies.

Illuminati d

idn't even o

ffer pirated

com

puter g

ames. S

teve Jackson, like

many creative artists, w

as marked

ly touchy ab

out theft o

f intellectualpro

perty.

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

G —

TH

E H

AC

KE

R C

RA

CK

DO

WN

N

OT

FO

R C

OM

ME

RC

IAL

US

E1 5 6

It seemed to m

e that Jackson was either seriously suspected of som

ecrim

e — in w

hich case, he would b

e charged soon, and w

ould have his dayin co

urt — o

r else he was inno

cent, in which case the S

ecret Service

would

quickly return his eq

uipm

ent, and everyo

ne would

have a good

laugh. I rather expected the good laugh. The situation w

as not without

its com

ic side. T

he raid, kno

wn as the "C

yberp

unk Bust" in the science

fiction co

mm

unity, was w

inning a g

reat deal o

f free national p

ublicity

both fo

r Jackson him

self and the "cyb

erpunk" science fictio

n writers

generally.

Besid

es, science fiction p

eople are used

to b

eing m

isinterpreted

.Science fictio

n is a colo

rful, disrep

utable, slip

shod o

ccupatio

n, full of

unlikely oddballs, w

hich, of co

urse, is why w

e like it. Weird

ness canbe an o

ccupatio

nal hazard in o

ur field. Peo

ple w

ho w

ear Hallo

ween co

s-tum

es are som

etimes m

istaken for m

onsters.

Once up

on a tim

e — b

ack in 19

39

, in New

York C

ity — science fictio

nand

the U.S

. Secret S

ervice collid

ed in a co

mic case o

f mistaken id

entity.This w

eird incid

ent involved

a literary gro

up q

uite famous in science

fiction, kno

wn as "the Futurians," w

hose m

embership

included

suchfuture g

enre greats as Isaac A

simov, Fred

erik Pohl, and

Dam

on K

night.

The Futurians w

ere every bit as o

ffbeat and

wacky as any o

f their spiri-

tual descend

ants, including

the cyberp

unks, and w

ere given to

com

munal

living, sp

ontaneo

us gro

up rend

itions o

f light o

pera, and

mid

night fenc-

ing exhib

itions o

n the lawn. T

he Futurians did

n't have bulletin b

oard

systems, b

ut they did have the technological equivalent in 1

939 —

mim

eograp

hs and a p

rivate printing

press. T

hese were in stead

y use,pro

ducing

a stream o

f science-fiction fan m

agazines, literary m

ani-festo

s, and w

eird articles, w

hich

were p

icked u

p in

ink-sticky b

undles

by a succession of strange, gangly, spotty young men in fedoras and

overco

ats.

The neig

hbors g

rew alarm

ed at the antics o

f the Futurians and rep

orted

them to the Secret Service as suspected counterfeiters. In the w

inter of1

93

9, a sq

uad o

f USSS ag

ents with d

rawn g

uns burst into

"FuturianH

ouse," p

repared

to co

nfiscate the forg

ed currency and

illicit printing

presses. T

here they disco

vered a slum

bering

science fiction fan nam

ed

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

G —

TH

E

HA

CK

ER

CR

AC

KD

OW

N

NO

T F

OR

CO

MM

ER

CIA

L U

SE

1 5 7

Geo

rge H

ahn, a guest o

f the Futurian com

mune w

ho had

just arrived in

New

York. G

eorge H

ahn manag

ed to explain himself and his g

roup, andthe S

ecret Service ag

ents left the Futurians in peace hencefo

rth. (Alas,

Hahn d

ied in 1

99

1, just b

efore I had

disco

vered this asto

nishing histo

r-ical p

arallel, and ju

st befo

re I could

interview

him

for th

is book.)

But the Jackson case did not com

e to a swift and com

ic end. No quick

answers cam

e his way, o

r mine; no

swift reassurances that all w

asrig

ht in the dig

ital world

, that matters w

ere well in hand

after all.Q

uite the opposite. In my alternate role as a som

etime pop-science

journalist, I interview

ed Jackso

n and his staff fo

r an article in aBritish m

agazine. T

he strange d

etails of the raid

left me m

ore co

n-cerned

than ever. Witho

ut its com

puters, the co

mpany had

been finan-

cially and o

peratio

nally crippled

. Half the S

JG w

orkfo

rce, a gro

up o

fentirely inno

cent peo

ple, had

been so

rrow

fully fired, d

eprived

of their

livelihoods by the seizure. It began to dawn on m

e that authors —A

merican w

riters — m

ight w

ell have their com

puters seized

, under

sealed w

arrants, witho

ut any criminal charg

e; and that, as S

teveJackso

n had d

iscovered

, there was no

imm

ediate reco

urse for this. T

hisw

as no jo

ke; this wasn't science fictio

n; this was real.

I determined to put science fiction aside until I had discovered w

hat hadhappened and w

here this trouble had come from

. It was tim

e to enter thepurp

orted

ly real world

of electro

nic free expressio

n and co

mputer

crime. H

ence, this book. H

ence, the world of the telcos; and the w

orld ofthe d

igital und

ergro

und; and

next, the world

of the p

olice.

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

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TH

E H

AC

KE

R C

RA

CK

DO

WN

N

OT

FO

R C

OM

ME

RC

IAL

US

E1 5 8

PA

RT

T

HR

EE

LAW

AND O

RDER

Of the vario

us anti-hacker activities of 1

99

0, "O

peratio

n Sund

evil" hadby far the hig

hest pub

lic pro

file. The sw

eeping

, nationw

ide co

mputer

seizures of M

ay 8, 1

99

0 w

ere unpreced

ented in sco

pe and

highly, if

rather se

lective

ly, publicize

d.

Unlike the efforts of the C

hicago C

omputer Fraud and A

buse T

ask Force,"O

peration Sundevil" was not intended to com

bat "hacking" in the senseof co

mputer intrusio

n or so

phisticated

raids o

n telco sw

itching statio

ns.N

or d

id it have anything

to d

o w

ith hacker misd

eeds w

ith AT&

T's so

ft-w

are, or w

ith Southern B

ell's pro

prietary d

ocum

ents.

Instead, "O

peratio

n Sund

evil" was a crackd

ow

n on tho

se traditio

nalscourg

es of the digital underg

round: credit-card theft and telephonecode abuse. T

he ambitious activities out of C

hicago, and the somew

hatlesser-kno

wn b

ut vigoro

us anti- hacker actions o

f the New

York S

tatePo

lice in 19

90

, were never a p

art of "O

peratio

n Sund

evil" per se,

which w

as based

in Arizo

na.

Nevertheless, after the sp

ectacular May 8

raids, the p

ublic, m

isled b

ypolice secrecy, hacker p

anic, and a p

uzzled natio

nal press-co

rps, co

n-flated

all aspects o

f the nationw

ide crackd

ow

n in 19

90

under the b

lanketterm

"Operatio

n Sund

evil." "Sund

evil" is still the best-kno

wn syno

nymfo

r the crackdow

n of 1

99

0. B

ut the Arizo

na org

anizers of "S

undevil"

did

not really d

eserve this reputatio

n — any m

ore, fo

r instance, than allhackers d

eserve a reputatio

n as "hackers."

There w

as som

e justice in this confused

percep

tion, tho

ugh. Fo

r one

thing, the confusion was abetted by the W

ashington office of the SecretService, w

ho responded to Freedom of Inform

ation Act requests on

"Operatio

n Sund

evil" by referring

investigato

rs to the p

ublicly kno

wn

cases of Knight Lightning and the A

tlanta Three. A

nd "Sundevil" was

certainly the largest aspect of the C

rackdown, the m

ost deliberate and

the best-o

rganized

. As a crackd

ow

n on electro

nic fraud, "S

undevil"

lacked the frantic pace of the war on the Legion of D

oom; on the con-

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

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TH

E H

AC

KE

R C

RA

CK

DO

WN

N

OT

FO

R C

OM

ME

RC

IAL

US

E1 5 9

trary, Sund

evil's targets w

ere picked

out w

ith cool d

eliberatio

n over an

elaborate investig

ation lasting

two full years.

And once again the targets w

ere bulletin board systems.

Boards can b

e powerful aids to org

anized fraud. Underg

round boards

carry lively, extensive, detailed

, and o

ften quite flag

rant "discussio

ns"of law

breaking

techniques and

lawbreaking

activities. "Discussing

"crim

e in the abstract, o

r "discussing

" the particulars o

f criminal cases,

is not illeg

al — b

ut there are stern state and fed

eral laws ag

ainst cold

-blo

oded

ly consp

iring in g

roup

s in ord

er to co

mm

it crimes.

In the eyes of p

olice, p

eople w

ho actively co

nspire to

break the law

areno

t regard

ed as "club

s," "deb

ating salo

ns," "users' gro

ups," o

r "freespeech advocates." Rather, such people tend to find them

selves formal-

ly indicted

by p

rosecuto

rs as "gang

s," "racketeers," "corrup

t org

aniza-tio

ns" and "o

rganized

crime fig

ures."

What's m

ore, the illicit data contained on outlaw b

oards goes w

ell beyond

mere acts o

f speech and

/or p

ossib

le criminal co

nspiracy. A

s we have

seen, it was co

mm

on p

ractice in the dig

ital underg

round

to p

ost p

ur-loined telephone codes on boards, for any phreak or hacker w

ho cared toabuse them

. Is posting digital booty of this sort supposed to be protectedby the First A

mend

ment? H

ardly —

thoug

h the issue, like most issues

in cybersp

ace, is not entirely reso

lved. S

om

e theorists arg

ue that tom

ere

ly *re

cite* a n

um

ber p

ublicly

is not ille

gal —

only

its *use

* isilleg

al. But anti-hacker p

olice p

oint o

ut that mag

azines and new

spa-

pers (m

ore trad

itional fo

rms o

f free expressio

n) n

ever publish

stolen

telepho

ne codes (even tho

ugh this m

ight w

ell raise their circulation).

Sto

len credit card

numbers, b

eing riskier and

more valuab

le, were less

often publicly posted on boards — but there is no question that som

eund

ergro

und b

oard

s carried "card

ing" traffic, g

enerally exchanged

thro

ugh p

rivate mail.

Und

ergro

und b

oard

s also carried

handy p

rogram

s for "scanning

" tele-phone codes and raiding

credit card companies, as w

ell as the usualobno

xious g

alaxy of p

irated so

ftware, cracked

passw

ord

s, blue-b

ox

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

G —

TH

E H

AC

KE

R C

RA

CK

DO

WN

N

OT

FO

R C

OM

ME

RC

IAL

US

E1 6 0

schematics, intrusio

n manuals, anarchy files, p

orn files, and

so fo

rth.

But b

esides their nuisance p

otential fo

r the spread

of illicit kno

wled

ge,

bulletin b

oard

s have another vitally interesting

aspect fo

r the pro

fes-sio

nal in

vestigato

r. Bulletin

board

s are cram-fu

ll of *evid

ence.* A

llthat b

usy trading

of electro

nic mail, all tho

se hacker boasts, b

rags and

struts, even the stolen co

des and

cards, can b

e neat, electronic, real-

time reco

rdin

gs o

f crimin

al activity.

As an investig

ator, when you seize a pirate b

oard, you have scored aco

up as effective as tap

ping

pho

nes or intercep

ting m

ail. How

ever, you

have not actually tapped a phone or intercepted a letter. The rules of

evidence reg

arding

pho

ne-taps and

mail intercep

tions are o

ld, stern and

well- und

erstood b

y police, p

rosecuto

rs and d

efense attorneys alike.

The rules o

f evidence reg

arding

board

s are new, w

affling, and

under-

stood by nobody at all.

Sund

evil was the larg

est crackdow

n on b

oard

s in world

history. O

n May

7, 8

, and 9

, 19

90

, about fo

rty- two co

mputer system

s were seized

. Of

those fo

rty- two co

mputers, ab

out tw

enty-five actually were running

boards. (The vagueness of this estim

ate is attributable to the vaguenessof (a) w

hat a "com

puter system

" is, and (b

) what it actually m

eans to"run a b

oard

" with o

ne — o

r with tw

o co

mputers, o

r with three.)

About tw

enty-five board

s vanished into

police custo

dy in M

ay 19

90

. As

we have seen, there are an estim

ated 30,0

00 b

oards in Am

erica today.If w

e assume that one board in a hundred is up to no good w

ith codes andcard

s (which rather flatters the ho

nesty of the b

oard

-using co

mm

uni-ty), then that w

ould

leave 2,9

75

outlaw

board

s untouched

by S

undevil.

Sundevil seized about one tenth of one percent of all com

puter bulletin

board

s in Am

erica. Seen o

bjectively, this is so

mething

less than a com

-prehensive assault. In 1

99

0, S

undevil's o

rganizers —

the team at the

Phoenix S

ecret Service o

ffice, and the A

rizona A

ttorney G

eneral's office

— had a list of at least *three hundred* b

oards that they consideredfully d

eserving o

f search and seizure w

arrants. The tw

enty-fiveboards actually seized w

ere merely am

ong the m

ost obvious and eg

re-gious of this m

uch larger list of candidates. A

ll these boards had b

eenexam

ined b

eforehand

— either b

y inform

ants, who

had p

assed p

rintouts

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

G —

TH

E H

AC

KE

R C

RA

CK

DO

WN

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OT

FO

R C

OM

ME

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IAL

US

E1 6 1

to the Secret Service, or by Secret Service ag

ents themselves, w

ho notonly com

e equipped with m

odems but know

how to use them

.

There w

ere a number o

f motives fo

r Sund

evil. First, it offered

a chanceto

get ahead

of the curve o

n wire-fraud

crimes. T

racking b

ack credit-

card rip

offs to

their perp

etrators can b

e appalling

ly difficult. If these

miscreants have any kind

of electro

nic sophisticatio

n, they can snarltheir tracks thro

ugh the p

hone netw

ork into

a mind

-boggling

, untrace-ab

le mess, w

hile still manag

ing to

"reach out and

rob so

meo

ne." Board

s,how

ever, full of brag

s and boasts, codes and cards, offer evidence in the

handy congealed form.

Seizures them

selves — the m

ere physical rem

oval o

f machines —

tends

to take the p

ressure off. D

uring S

undevil, a larg

e number o

f code kid

s,w

arez d00dz, and credit card thieves w

ould be deprived of those boards—

their means of com

munity and conspiracy —

in one swift b

low. A

sfor the sysops them

selves (comm

only among the boldest offenders) they

would

be d

irectly stripped

of their co

mputer eq

uipm

ent, and rend

ereddig

itally mute and

blind

.

And this aspect of Sundevil w

as carried out with g

reat success.Sund

evil seems to

have been a co

mplete tactical surp

rise — unlike the

fragm

entary and continuing seizures of the w

ar on the Legion of D

oom,

Sund

evil was p

recisely timed

and utterly o

verwhelm

ing. A

t least forty

"com

puters" w

ere seized d

uring M

ay 7, 8

and 9

, 19

90

, in Cincinnati,

Detro

it, Los A

ngeles, M

iami, N

ewark, Pho

enix, Tucso

n, Richm

ond

, San

Dieg

o, S

an Jose, Pittsb

urgh and

San Francisco

. Som

e cities saw m

ulti-ple raid

s, such as the five separate raid

s in the New

York C

ity environs.

Plano, T

exas (essentially a suburb

of the D

allas/Fort W

orth m

etroplex,

and a hub

of the teleco

mm

unications ind

ustry) saw fo

ur com

puter

seizures. Chicag

o, ever in the fo

refront, saw

its ow

n local S

undevil

raid, b

riskly carried o

ut by S

ecret Service ag

ents Tim

othy Fo

ley andBarb

ara Gold

en.

Many o

f these raids o

ccurred, no

t in the cities pro

per, b

ut in associated

white-m

iddle class sub

urbs —

places like M

ount Leb

anon, Pennsylvania

and C

lark Lake, Michig

an. There w

ere a few raid

s on o

ffices; most to

ok

place in people's homes, the classic hacker basem

ents and bedrooms.

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

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E H

AC

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RA

CK

DO

WN

N

OT

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R C

OM

ME

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IAL

US

E1 6 2

The S

undevil raid

s were searches and

seizures, not a g

roup

of m

assarrests. T

here were o

nly four arrests d

uring S

undevil. "T

ony the

Trashm

an," a longtim

e teenage b

ete noire of the Arizona Racketeering

unit, was arrested

in Tucso

n on M

ay 9. "D

r. Rip

co," syso

p o

f an outlaw

board

with the m

isfortune to

exist in Chicag

o itself, w

as also arrested

— o

n illegal w

eapons charg

es. Local units also

arrested a 1

9-year-o

ldfem

ale pho

ne phreak nam

ed "Electra" in Pennsylvania, and

a male

juvenile in Califo

rnia. Federal ag

ents how

ever were no

t seekingarrests, b

ut com

puters.

Hackers are g

enerally not ind

icted (if at all) until the evid

ence in theirseized com

puters is evaluated — a process that can take w

eeks, months

— even years. W

hen hackers are arrested o

n the spot, it's g

enerally anarrest fo

r other reaso

ns. Drug

s and/o

r illegal w

eapons sho

w up

in agood third

of anti-hacker co

mputer seizures (tho

ugh no

t during

Sund

evil).

That sco

fflaw teenag

e hackers (or their p

arents) should

have marijuana

in th

eir hom

es is pro

bab

ly not a sh

ockin

g revelatio

n, b

ut th

e surp

ris-ing

ly com

mon p

resence of illeg

al firearms in hacker d

ens is a bit d

is-quieting

. A Perso

nal Com

puter can b

e a great eq

ualizer for the techno

-co

wboy —

much like that m

ore trad

itional A

merican "G

reat Equalizer,"

the Personal S

ixgun. M

aybe it's no

t all that surprising

that som

e guy

obsessed

with p

ow

er throug

h illicit technolo

gy w

ould

also have a few

illicit high-velo

city-impact d

evices around

. An elem

ent of the d

igital

underg

round

particularly d

otes o

n those "anarchy p

hiles," and this ele-

ment tend

s to shad

e into the crackp

ot m

ilieu of survivalists, g

un-nuts,an

archo-le

ftists and th

e u

ltra-libertarian

right-w

ing.

This is not to say that hacker raids to date have uncovered any m

ajorcrack-d

ens or illeg

al arsenals; but S

ecret Service ag

ents do no

t regard

"hackers" as "just kids." T

hey regard

hackers as unpred

ictable p

eople,

brig

ht and slip

pery. It d

oesn't help

matters that the hacker him

self hasbeen "hid

ing b

ehind his keyb

oard

" all this time. C

om

monly, p

olice have

no id

ea what he lo

oks like. T

his makes him

an unknow

n quantity, so

me-

one b

est treated w

ith pro

per cautio

n.

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

G —

TH

E H

AC

KE

R C

RA

CK

DO

WN

N

OT

FO

R C

OM

ME

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IAL

US

E1 6 3

To date, no hacker has com

e out shooting, though they do sometim

es bragon b

oard

s that they will d

o just that. T

hreats of this so

rt are takenserio

usly. Secret S

ervice hacker raids tend

to b

e swift, co

mprehen-

sive, well-m

anned (even o

ver- manned

); and ag

ents generally b

urstthroug

h every door in the home at once, som

etimes w

ith drawn g

uns.A

ny potential resistance is sw

iftly quelled

. Hacker raid

s are usuallyraids on people's hom

es. It can be a very dang

erous business to raid an

Am

erican hom

e; peo

ple can p

anic when strang

ers invade their sanctum

.Statistically speaking

, the most dang

erous thing a policem

an can do is toenter som

eone's home. (T

he second most dangerous thing is to stop a car

in traffic.) People have g

uns in their hom

es. More co

ps are hurt in

hom

es than are ever hurt in biker b

ars or m

assage p

arlors.

But in any case, no

one w

as hurt during

Sund

evil, or ind

eed d

uring any

part o

f the Hacker C

rackdow

n.

Nor w

ere there any allegatio

ns of any p

hysical mistreatm

ent of a sus-

pect. G

uns were p

ointed

, interrogatio

ns were sharp

and p

rolo

nged

; but

no o

ne in 19

90

claimed

any act of b

rutality by any crackd

ow

n raider.

In additio

n to the fo

rty or so

com

puters, S

undevil reap

ed flo

ppy d

isks inparticularly g

reat abund

ance — an estim

ated 2

3,0

00

of them

, which

naturally included

every manner o

f illegitim

ate data: p

irated g

ames,

stolen codes, hot credit card numbers, the com

plete text and software of

entire p

irate bulletin

-board

s. These flo

ppy d

isks, which

remain

inpolice custo

dy to

day, o

ffer a gig

antic, almost em

barrassing

ly richso

urce of p

ossib

le criminal ind

ictments. T

hese 23

,00

0 flo

ppy d

isksalso

include a thus-far unkno

wn q

uantity of leg

itimate co

mputer g

ames,

legitim

ate softw

are, purp

orted

ly "private" m

ail from

board

s, business

record

s, and p

ersonal co

rrespond

ence of all kind

s.

Stand

ard co

mputer-crim

e search warrants lay g

reat emphasis o

n seiz-ing

written d

ocum

ents as well as co

mputers —

specifically includ

ingpho

toco

pies, co

mputer p

rintouts, telep

hone b

ills, address b

ooks, lo

gs,

notes, mem

oranda and correspondence. In practice, this has meant that

diaries, gam

ing m

agazines, softw

are documentation, nonfiction b

ooks onhacking

and co

mputer security, so

metim

es even science fiction no

vels,have all vanished

out the d

oor in p

olice custo

dy. A

wid

e variety of elec-

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

G —

TH

E

HA

CK

ER

CR

AC

KD

OW

N

NO

T F

OR

CO

MM

ER

CIA

L U

SE

1 6 4

tronic item

s have been kno

wn to

vanish as well, includ

ing telep

hones,

televisions, answ

ering m

achines, Sony W

alkmans, d

esktop p

rinters,com

pact disks, and audiotapes.

No few

er than 150 m

embers of the Secret Service w

ere sent into thefield

during

Sund

evil. They w

ere com

monly acco

mpanied

by sq

uads o

flocal and/or state police. M

ost of these officers — especially the locals

— had never b

een on an anti- hacker raid before. (T

his was one g

oodreaso

n, in fact, why so

many o

f them w

ere invited alo

ng in the first

place.) A

lso, the p

resence of a unifo

rmed

police o

fficer assures theraid

ees that the peo

ple entering

their hom

es are, in fact, police. S

ecretService ag

ents wear plain clothes. So do the telco security experts w

hocom

monly accom

pany the Secret Service on raids (and who m

ake noparticular effo

rt to id

entify themselves as m

ere emplo

yees of telep

hone

com

panies).

A typ

ical hacker raid g

oes so

mething

like this. First, police sto

rm in

rapid

ly, throug

h every entrance, with o

verwhelm

ing fo

rce, in theassum

ptio

n that this tactic will keep

casualties to a m

inimum

. Seco

nd,

possib

le suspects are im

med

iately removed

from

the vicinity of any and

all com

puter system

s, so that they w

ill have no chance to

purg

e or

destroy computer evidence. Suspects are herded into a room

without

com

puters, co

mm

only the living

room

, and kep

t under g

uard —

not

*armed

* guard

, for the g

uns are swiftly ho

lstered, b

ut under g

uardnevertheless. T

hey are presented

with the search w

arrant and w

arnedthat anything they say m

ay be held against them. C

omm

only they have agreat d

eal to say, esp

ecially if they are unsuspecting

parents.

Somew

here in the house is the "hot spot" — a com

puter tied to a phoneline (p

ossib

ly several com

puters and

several pho

nes). Com

monly it's a

teenager's bedroom, but it can be anyw

here in the house; there may be

several such rooms. T

his "hot spot" is put in charge of a tw

o-agent

team, the "find

er" and the "reco

rder." T

he "finder" is co

mputer-

trained, comm

only the case agent who has actually obtained the search

warrant from

a judge. H

e or she understands what is b

eing soug

ht, andactually carries o

ut the seizures: unplug

s machines, o

pens d

rawers,

desks, files, flo

ppy-d

isk containers, etc. T

he "record

er" pho

tograp

hsall the eq

uipm

ent, just as it stands —

especially the tang

le of w

ired co

n-

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

G —

TH

E H

AC

KE

R C

RA

CK

DO

WN

N

OT

FO

R C

OM

ME

RC

IAL

US

E1 6 5

nections in the b

ack, which can o

therwise b

e a real nightm

are toresto

re. The reco

rder w

ill also co

mm

only p

hoto

grap

h every room

in theho

use, lest som

e wily crim

inal claim that the p

olice had

robbed

himduring

the search. Som

e record

ers carry video

cams o

r tape reco

rders;

how

ever, it's more co

mm

on fo

r the record

er to sim

ply take w

rittennotes. O

bjects are described and numbered as the finder seizes them

,generally o

n standard

prep

rinted p

olice invento

ry form

s.

Even Secret Service agents w

ere not, and are not, expert computer

users. They have not m

ade, and do not make, judgem

ents on the fly aboutpotential threats p

osed

by vario

us form

s of eq

uipm

ent. They m

ay exer-cise d

iscretion; they m

ay leave Dad

his com

puter, fo

r instance, but they

don't *have* to

. Stand

ard co

mputer-crim

e search warrants, w

hichdate back to the early 8

0s, use a sw

eeping language that targets comput-

ers, most anything attached to a com

puter, most anything used to oper-

ate a computer —

most anything that rem

otely resembles a com

puter —plus m

ost any and

all written d

ocum

ents surround

ing it. C

om

puter-

crime investig

ators have stro

ngly urg

ed ag

ents to seize the w

orks.

In this sense, Operatio

n Sund

evil appears to

have been a co

mplete suc-

cess. Boards w

ent down all over A

merica, and w

ere shipped en masse to

the com

puter investig

ation lab

of the S

ecret Service, in W

ashingto

n DC,

along

with the 2

3,0

00

floppy d

isks and unkno

wn q

uantities of p

rintedm

aterial.

But the seizure o

f twenty-five b

oard

s, and the m

ulti-meg

abyte m

oun-

tains of p

ossib

ly useful evidence co

ntained in these b

oard

s (and in their

ow

ners' other co

mputers, also

out the d

oor), w

ere far from

the only

motives for O

peration Sundevil. An unprecedented action of great

ambitio

n and size, S

undevil's m

otives can o

nly be d

escribed

as political.

It was a p

ublic-relatio

ns effort, m

eant to p

ass certain messag

es, meant

to m

ake certain situations clear: b

oth in the m

ind o

f the general p

ublic,

and in the m

inds o

f various co

nstituencies of the electro

nic com

munity.

First — and this m

otivation was vital —

a "messag

e" would b

e sent fromlaw

enforcement to the dig

ital underground. T

his very messag

e was

recited in so

many w

ord

s by G

arry M. Jenkins, the A

ssistant Directo

r of

the US S

ecret Service, at the S

undevil p

ress conference in Pho

enix on

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

G —

TH

E H

AC

KE

R C

RA

CK

DO

WN

N

OT

FO

R C

OM

ME

RC

IAL

US

E1 6 6

May 9

, 19

90

, imm

ediately after th

e raids. In

brief, h

ackers were

mistaken in their fo

olish b

elief that they could

hide b

ehind the "relative

anonym

ity of their co

mputer term

inals." On the co

ntrary, they should

fully understand

that state and fed

eral cops w

ere actively patro

lling the

beat in cyb

erspace — that they w

ere on the watch everyw

here, even inthose sleazy and secretive dens of cyb

ernetic vice, the underground

board

s.

This is no

t an unusual messag

e for p

olice to

pub

licly convey to

crooks.

The m

essage is a standard message; only the context is new

.

In this respect, the S

undevil raid

s were the d

igital eq

uivalent of the

standard

vice-squad

crackdow

n on m

assage p

arlors, p

orno

booksto

res,head

-shops, o

r floating

crap-g

ames. T

here may b

e few o

r no arrests in

a raid o

f this sort; no

convictio

ns, no trials, no

interrogatio

ns. In casesof this so

rt, police m

ay well w

alk out the d

oor w

ith many p

ound

s of

sleazy mag

azines, X-rated

video

tapes, sex to

ys, gam

bling

equip

ment,

bag

gies o

f marijuana....

Of co

urse, if som

ething truly ho

rrendous is d

iscovered

by the raid

ers,th

ere will b

e arrests and p

rosecu

tions. Far m

ore likely, h

ow

ever,there w

ill simply b

e a brief b

ut sharp d

isruptio

n of the clo

sed and

secretive world

of the no

goodniks. T

here will b

e "street hassle.""H

eat." "Deterrence." A

nd, of course, the imm

ediate loss of the seizedgoods. It is very unlikely that any o

f this seized m

aterial will ever b

ereturned

. Whether charg

ed o

r not, w

hether convicted

or no

t, the per-

petrato

rs will alm

ost surely lack the nerve ever to

ask for this stuff to

be g

iven back.

Arrests and

trials — p

utting p

eople in jail —

may invo

lve all kinds o

ffo

rmal leg

alities; but d

ealing w

ith the justice system is far fro

m the

only task o

f police. Po

lice do no

t simply arrest p

eople. T

hey don't sim

-ply p

ut peo

ple in jail. T

hat is not ho

w the p

olice p

erceive their jobs.

Police "p

rotect and

serve." Police "keep

the peace," they "keep

pub

licord

er." Like other fo

rms o

f pub

lic relations, keep

ing p

ublic o

rder is no

tan exact science. K

eeping

pub

lic ord

er is som

ething o

f an art-form

.

If a gro

up o

f toug

h-looking

teenage ho

odlum

s was lo

itering o

n a street-

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

G —

TH

E H

AC

KE

R C

RA

CK

DO

WN

N

OT

FO

R C

OM

ME

RC

IAL

US

E1 6 7

corner, no

one w

ould

be surp

rised to

see a street-cop arrive and

sternlyord

er them to

"break it up

." On the co

ntrary, the surprise w

ould

com

eif o

ne of these ne'er-d

o-w

ells stepped

briskly into

a pho

ne-booth,

called a civil rig

hts lawyer, and

instituted a civil suit in d

efense of his

Constitutio

nal rights o

f free speech and

free assembly. B

ut som

ethingm

uch along this line was one of the m

any anomolous outcom

es of theH

acker Crackd

ow

n.

Sund

evil also carried

useful "messag

es" for o

ther constituents o

f theelectronic com

munity. T

hese messages m

ay not have been read aloudfro

m the Pho

enix podium

in front o

f the press co

rps, b

ut there was lit-

tle mistaking

their meaning

. There w

as a messag

e of reassurance fo

rthe p

rimary victim

s of co

ding

and card

ing: the telco

s, and the cred

itco

mpanies. S

undevil w

as greeted

with jo

y by the security o

fficers of the

electronic b

usiness com

munity. A

fter years of hig

h-tech harassment

and sp

iralling revenue lo

sses, their com

plaints o

f rampant o

utlawry

were b

eing taken serio

usly by law

enforcem

ent. No m

ore head

-scratch-ing

or d

ismissive shrug

s; no m

ore feeb

le excuses about "lack o

f com

put-

er-train

ed o

fficers" o

r the lo

w p

riority

of "victim

less" w

hite

-collar

telecom

municatio

n crimes.

Com

puter-crim

e experts have lo

ng b

elieved that co

mputer-related

offenses are d

rastically under-rep

orted

. They reg

ard this as a m

ajor

open scand

al of their field

. Som

e victims are reluctant to

com

e forth,

because they b

elieve that police and

pro

secutors are no

t com

puter-lit-

erate, and can and

will d

o no

thing. O

thers are embarrassed

by their

vuln

erabilities, an

d w

ill take strong m

easures to

avoid

any p

ublicity;

this is especially true o

f banks, w

ho fear a lo

ss of investo

r confid

encesho

uld an em

bezzlem

ent-case or w

ire-fraud surface. A

nd so

me victim

sare so

helplessly co

nfused b

y their ow

n high techno

logy that they never

even realize that a crime has occurred —

even when they have been

fleeced to the bone.

The results o

f this situation can b

e dire. C

riminals escap

e apprehensio

nand

punishm

ent. The co

mputer-crim

e units that do exist, can't g

et work.

The true sco

pe o

f com

puter-crim

e: its size, its real nature, the scope o

fits threats, and

the legal rem

edies fo

r it — all rem

ain obscured

.

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

G —

TH

E

HA

CK

ER

CR

AC

KD

OW

N

NO

T F

OR

CO

MM

ER

CIA

L U

SE

1 6 8

Ano

ther pro

blem

is very little pub

licized, b

ut it is a cause of g

enuineco

ncern. Where there is p

ersistent crime, b

ut no effective p

olice p

ro-

tection, then vig

ilantism can result. T

elcos, b

anks, credit co

mpanies,

the majo

r corp

oratio

ns who

maintain extensive co

mputer netw

orks

vulnerable to

hacking —

these org

anizations are p

ow

erful, wealthy, and

politically influential. T

hey are disinclined

to b

e pushed

around

by

crooks (o

r by m

ost anyo

ne else, for that m

atter). They o

ften maintain

well-o

rganized

private security fo

rces, com

monly run b

y experienced

veterans of m

ilitary and p

olice units, w

ho have left p

ublic service fo

rthe g

reener pastures o

f the private secto

r. For p

olice, the co

rporate

security manag

er can be a p

ow

erful ally; but if this g

entleman find

s noallies in

the p

olice, an

d th

e pressu

re is on fro

m h

is board

-of-d

irectors,

he may q

uietly take certain matters into

his ow

n hands.

Nor is there any lack o

f disp

osab

le hired-help

in the corp

orate security

business. Private security ag

encies — the 'security b

usiness' generally

— g

rew explosively in the 1

980s. T

oday there are spooky gum

shoedarm

ies of "security co

nsultants," "rent-a- cops," "p

rivate eyes,""o

utside exp

erts" — every m

anner of shad

y operato

r who

retails in"results" and discretion. O

r course, many of these g

entlemen and ladies

may b

e paragons of professional and m

oral rectitude. But as anyone

who has read a hard-b

oiled detective novel knows, police tend to b

e lessthan fo

nd o

f this sort o

f private-secto

r com

petitio

n.

Com

panies in search o

f com

puter-security have even b

een know

n tohire hackers. Po

lice shudder at this p

rosp

ect.

Police treasure g

ood relatio

ns with the b

usiness com

munity. R

arelyw

ill you see a p

olicem

an so ind

iscreet as to alleg

e pub

licly that som

em

ajor em

plo

yer in his state or city has succum

bed

to p

aranoia and

gone

off the rails. N

evertheless, police —

and co

mputer p

olice in p

articular—

are aware o

f this possib

ility. Com

puter-crim

e police can and

do

spend

up to

half of their b

usiness hours just d

oing

pub

lic relations:

seminars, "d

og and

pony sho

ws," so

metim

es with p

arents' gro

ups o

rco

mputer u

sers, but g

enerally w

ith th

eir core au

dien

ce: the likely vic-

tims o

f hacking crim

es. These, o

f course, are telco

s, credit card

com

pa-

nies and larg

e com

puter- eq

uipped

corp

oratio

ns. The p

olice stro

ngly

urge these p

eople, as g

ood citizens, to

report o

ffenses and p

ress crimi-

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

G —

TH

E H

AC

KE

R C

RA

CK

DO

WN

N

OT

FO

R C

OM

ME

RC

IAL

US

E1 6 9

nal charges; they pass the message that there is som

eone in authorityw

ho cares, und

erstands, and

, best o

f all, will take useful actio

n should

aco

mpute

r-crime o

ccur.

But reassuring

talk is cheap. S

undevil o

ffered actio

n.

The final m

essage o

f Sund

evil was intend

ed fo

r internal consum

ptio

n by

law enforcem

ent. Sundevil was offered as proof that the com

munity of

Am

erican com

puter-crim

e police had

com

e of ag

e. Sund

evil was p

roof

that enorm

ous thing

s like Sund

evil itself could

now

be acco

mplished

.Sund

evil was p

roof that the S

ecret Service and

its local law

-enforce-

ment allies co

uld act like a w

ell- oiled

machine —

(desp

ite the hamper-

ing use of those scrambled phones). It w

as also proof that the Arizona

Org

anized C

rime and

Racketeering

Unit —

the sparkp

lug o

f Sund

evil —ranked

with the b

est in the world

in ambitio

n, org

anization, and

sheerco

nceptual d

aring.

And

, as a final fillip, S

undevil w

as a messag

e from

the Secret S

ervice totheir lo

ngtim

e rivals in the Federal B

ureau of Investig

ation. B

yC

ong

ressional fiat, b

oth U

SSS and

FBI fo

rmally share jurisd

iction o

verfed

eral com

puter-crim

ebusting

activities. Neither o

f these gro

ups has

ever been rem

otely hap

py w

ith this mud

dled

situation. It seem

s to sug

-gest that C

ongress cannot make up its m

ind as to which of these groups is

better q

ualified. A

nd there is scarcely a G

-man o

r a Special A

gent any-

where w

ithout a very firm

opinio

n on that to

pic.

__

__

_

For the neophyte, one of the most puzzling aspects of the crackdow

n onhackers is w

hy the United States Secret Service has anything

at all to dow

ith this matter.

The S

ecret Service is b

est know

n for its p

rimary p

ublic ro

le: its agents

protect the President of the United States. T

hey also guard thePresid

ent's fam

ily, the V

ice Presid

ent an

d h

is family, fo

rmer

Presidents, and

Presidential cand

idates. T

hey som

etimes g

uard fo

reign

dig

nitaries who

are visiting the U

nited S

tates, especially fo

reign head

sof state, and have b

een known to accom

pany Am

erican officials on diplo-m

atic missio

ns overseas.

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

G —

TH

E H

AC

KE

R C

RA

CK

DO

WN

N

OT

FO

R C

OM

ME

RC

IAL

US

E1 7 0

Special Agents of the Secret Service don't w

ear uniforms, b

ut the SecretService also

has two unifo

rmed

police ag

encies. There's the fo

rmer

White H

ouse Po

lice (now

know

n as the Secret S

ervice Unifo

rmed

Divisio

n, since they currently guard

foreig

n embassies in W

ashingto

n,as w

ell as the White H

ouse itself). A

nd there's the unifo

rmed

Treasury

Police Fo

rce.

The S

ecret Service has b

een charged

by C

ong

ress with a num

ber o

f lit-tle-kno

wn d

uties. They g

uard the p

recious m

etals in Treasury vaults.

They guard the m

ost valuable historical documents of the U

nited States:orig

inals of the C

onstitutio

n, the Declaratio

n of Ind

epend

ence, Lincoln's

Second Inaugural A

ddress, an Am

erican-owned copy of the M

agna C

arta,and so forth. O

nce they were assigned to guard the M

ona Lisa, on herA

merican to

ur in the 19

60

s.

The entire S

ecret Service is a d

ivision o

f the Treasury D

epartm

ent.Secret S

ervice Special A

gents (there are ab

out 1

,90

0 o

f them) are

bodyg

uards fo

r the President et al, b

ut they all work fo

r the Treasury.

And

the Treasury (thro

ugh its d

ivisions o

f the U.S

. Mint and

the Bureau

of Eng

raving and

Printing) p

rints the nation's m

oney.

As T

reasury police, the S

ecret Service g

uards the natio

n's currency; itis the o

nly federal law

enforcem

ent agency w

ith direct jurisd

iction o

verco

unterfeiting and

forg

ery. It analyzes docum

ents for authenticity, and

its fight ag

ainst fake cash is still quite lively (esp

ecially since theskilled

counterfeiters o

f Med

ellin, Colum

bia have g

otten into

the act).G

overnm

ent checks, bond

s, and o

ther oblig

ations, w

hich exist in untold

millio

ns and are w

orth unto

ld b

illions, are co

mm

on targ

ets for fo

rgery,

which the S

ecret Service also

battles. It even hand

les forg

ery of

postage stamps.

But cash is fading in im

portance today as money has becom

e electronic.A

s necessity beckoned, the Secret Service m

oved from fig

hting the coun-

terfeiting o

f pap

er currency and the fo

rging

of checks, to

the pro

tection

of fund

s transferred b

y wire.

From

wire

-fraud, it w

as a simple

skip-an

d-ju

mp to

what is fo

rmally

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known as "access device fraud." C

ongress granted the Secret Service theauthority to investig

ate "access device fraud" under Title 1

8 of the

United States C

ode (U.S.C

. Section 1029).

The term

"access device" seem

s intuitively simple. It's so

me kind

of

high-tech gizmo you use to get m

oney with. It m

akes good sense to putthis so

rt of thing

in the charge o

f counterfeiting

and w

ire- fraudexp

erts.

How

ever, in Sectio

n 10

29

, the term "access d

evice" is very genero

uslydefined. A

n access device is: "any card, plate, code, account number, or

other means of account access that can be used, alone or in conjunction

with another access device, to ob

tain money, g

oods, services, or anyother thing

of value, or that can be used to initiate a transfer of funds."

"Access device" can therefore b

e construed to include credit cards them-

selves (a popular fo

rgery item

now

adays). It also

includes cred

it cardaccount *num

bers,* those standards of the dig

ital underground. T

hesam

e goes fo

r telepho

ne charge card

s (an increasingly p

opular item

with telcos, w

ho are tired of being

robbed of pocket chang

e by phone-

booth thieves). A

nd also telephone access *codes,* those *other* stan-dards of the digital underground. (Stolen telephone codes m

ay not"o

btain m

oney," b

ut they certainly do o

btain valuab

le "services," which

is specifically fo

rbid

den b

y Sectio

n 10

29

.)

We can now

see that Section 1029 already pits the U

nited States SecretService d

irectly against the d

igital und

ergro

und, w

ithout any m

ention at

all of the w

ord

"com

puter."

Stand

ard p

hreaking d

evices, like "blue b

oxes," used

to steal p

hone ser-

vice from

old

-fashioned

mechanical sw

itches, are unquestio

nably

"counterfeit access d

evices." Thanks to

Sec.1

02

9, it is no

t only illeg

alto

*use* counterfeit access d

evices, but it is even illeg

al to *b

uild*

them. "Pro

ducing

," "desig

ning" "d

uplicating

" or "assem

bling

" blue

boxes are all fed

eral crimes to

day, and

if you d

o this, the S

ecret Service

has been charged by Congress to com

e after you.

Auto

matic T

eller Machines, w

hich replicated

all over A

merica d

uring

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the 1980s, are definitely "access devices," too, and an attem

pt to tam-

per w

ith their punch-in co

des and

plastic b

ank cards falls d

irectlyund

er Sec. 1

02

9.

Sectio

n 10

29

is remarkab

ly elastic. Sup

pose yo

u find a co

mputer p

ass-w

ord in somebody's trash. T

hat password m

ight be a "code" —

it's cer-tainly a "m

eans of account access." Now

suppose you log on to a comput-

er and co

py so

me so

ftware fo

r yourself. Y

ou've certainly o

btained

"ser-vice" (co

mputer service) and

a "thing o

f value" (the softw

are).Suppose you tell a dozen friends ab

out your swiped passw

ord, and letthem

use it, too. N

ow

you're "trafficking

in unauthorized

accessdevices." A

nd when the Prophet, a m

ember of the Legion of D

oom, passed

a stolen telephone company docum

ent to Knig

ht Lightning

at *Phrack*m

agazine, they w

ere both charg

ed under Sec. 1029!

There are tw

o lim

itations o

n Sectio

n 10

29

. First, the offense m

ust"affect interstate or foreign com

merce" in order to becom

e a matter of

federal jurisd

iction. T

he term "affecting

com

merce" is no

t well d

efined;

but yo

u may take it as a g

iven that the Secret S

ervice can take an inter-est if you've done m

ost anything that happens to cross a state line. Stateand

local p

olice can b

e touchy ab

out their jurisd

ictions, and

can som

e-tim

es be m

ulish when the feds show

up. But w

hen it comes to com

put-er- crim

e, the local p

olice are p

athetically grateful fo

r federal help

—in fact they com

plain that they can't get enough of it. If you're stealinglo

ng-d

istance service, you're alm

ost certainly cro

ssing state lines, and

you're definitely "affecting the interstate comm

erce" of the telcos. And

if you're ab

using cred

it cards b

y ord

ering stuff o

ut of g

lossy catalo

gs

from

, say, Verm

ont, yo

u're in for it.

The seco

nd lim

itation is m

oney. A

s a rule, the feds d

on't p

ursue penny-

ante offenders. Federal judges w

ill dismiss cases that appear to w

astetheir tim

e. Federal crim

es must b

e serious; S

ection 1

02

9 sp

ecifies am

inimum

loss o

f a thousand

dollars.

We now

come to the very next section of T

itle 18, w

hich is Section1

03

0, "Fraud

and related

activity in connectio

n with co

mputers." T

hisstatute g

ives the Secret S

ervice direct jurisd

iction o

ver acts of co

mput-

er intrusion. On the face of it, the Secret Service w

ould now seem

to

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com

mand

the field. S

ection 1

03

0, ho

wever, is no

where near so

ductile

as Sectio

n 10

29

.

The first anno

yance is Sectio

n 10

30

(d), w

hich reads:

"(d) T

he United

States S

ecret Service shall, *in ad

ditio

n to any o

therag

ency having such autho

rity,* have the authority to

investigate o

ffens-es under this section. Such authority of the U

nited States Secret Serviceshall b

e exercised in acco

rdance w

ith an agreem

ent which shall b

eentered into b

y the Secretary of the Treasury *and the A

ttorneyG

eneral.*" (A

uth

or's italics.)

The S

ecretary of the T

reasury is the titular head o

f the Secret S

ervice,w

hile the Atto

rney General is in charg

e of the FB

I. In Sectio

n (d),

Congress sh

rugged

off resp

onsib

ility for th

e com

puter-crim

e turf-b

at-tle b

etween the Service and the B

ureau, and made them

fight it out all b

ythem

selves. The result w

as a rather dire o

ne for the S

ecret Service, fo

rth

e FBI en

ded

up w

ith exclu

sive jurisd

iction o

ver com

puter b

reak-ins

having to

do w

ith national security, fo

reign esp

ionag

e, federally insured

ban

ks, and U

.S. m

ilitary base

s, while

retain

ing jo

int ju

risdictio

n o

ver

all the other co

mputer intrusio

ns. Essentially, when it co

mes to

Sectio

n1

03

0, the FB

I not o

nly gets the real g

lamor stuff fo

r itself, but can p

eerover the shoulder of the Secret Service and b

arge in to m

eddle whenever

it suits them.

The second prob

lem has to do w

ith the dicey term "Federal interest com

-puter." S

ection 1

03

0(a)(2

) makes it illeg

al to "access a co

mputer

witho

ut authorizatio

n" if that com

puter b

elong

s to a financial institutio

nor an issuer o

f credit card

s (fraud cases, in o

ther word

s). Cong

ressw

as quite w

illing to

give the S

ecret Service jurisd

iction o

ver money-

transferring co

mputers, b

ut Cong

ress balked

at letting them

investigate

any and all com

puter intrusions. Instead, the U

SSS had to

settle for the

money m

achines and the "Federal interest computers." A

"Federalinterest co

mputer" is a co

mputer w

hich the governm

ent itself ow

ns, or

is using. Larg

e networks o

f interstate com

puters, linked

over state

lines, are also co

nsidered

to b

e of "Fed

eral interest." (This no

tion o

f"Fed

eral interest" is legally rather fo

ggy and

has never been clearly

defined in the courts. The Secret Service has never yet had its hand

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slapped

for investig

ating co

mputer b

reak-ins that were *no

t* of

"Federal interest," b

ut conceivab

ly som

eday this m

ight hap

pen.)

So the S

ecret Service's autho

rity over "unautho

rized access" to

com

put-

ers covers a lo

t of territo

ry, but b

y no m

eans the who

le ball o

fcyb

erspatial w

ax. If you are, fo

r instan

ce, a *local* co

mputer retail-

er, or the o

wner o

f a *local* b

ulletin board

system, then a m

alicious

*local* in

truder can

break in

, crash yo

ur system

, trash yo

ur files an

dscatter viruses, and

the U.S

. Secret S

ervice cannot d

o a sing

le thingab

out it.

At least, it can't d

o anything

*directly.* B

ut the Secret S

ervice will d

oplenty to help the local people w

ho can.

The FB

I may have dealt itself an ace off the bottom

of the deck when it

comes to Section 1

030; but that's not the w

hole story; that's not thestreet. W

hat's Congress thinks is one thing, and C

ongress has beenkno

wn to

change its m

ind. T

he *real* turf- struggle is o

ut there in thestreets w

here it's happening

. If you're a lo

cal street-cop w

ith a com

-puter p

roblem

, the Secret S

ervice wants yo

u to kno

w w

here you can find

the real expertise. W

hile the Bureau cro

wd are o

ff having their

favorite sho

es polished

— (w

ing-tip

s) — and

making

derisive fun o

f theService's favo

rite shoes —

("pansy-ass tassels") —

the tassel-toting

Secret S

ervice has a crew

of read

y- and-ab

le hacker-trackers

installed in the cap

ital of every state in the U

nion. N

eed ad

vice?They'll g

ive you ad

vice, or at least p

oint yo

u in the right d

irection. N

eedtraining? T

hey can see to that, too.

If you're a lo

cal cop and

you call in the FB

I, the FBI (as is w

idely and

slandero

usly rumored

) will o

rder yo

u around

like a coolie, take all the

credit fo

r your b

usts, and m

op up

every possib

le scrap o

f reflectedglory. T

he Secret Service, on the other hand, doesn't brag

a lot. They're

the quiet typ

es. *Very* q

uiet. Very co

ol. Efficient. H

igh-tech.

Mirro

rshad

es, icy

stares, rad

io e

ar-plu

gs, an

Uzi m

achin

e-p

istol

tucked so

mew

here in that well-cut jacket. A

merican sam

urai, sworn to

give their lives to

pro

tect our Presid

ent. "The g

ranite agents." T

rainedin m

artial arts, abso

lutely fearless. Every single o

ne of 'em

has a top-

secret security clearance. Som

ething g

oes a little w

rong

, you're no

t

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gonna hear any w

hining and

moaning

and p

olitical b

uck- passing

out o

fthese g

uys.

The facade of the granite agent is not, of course, the reality. Secret

Service ag

ents are human b

eings. A

nd the real g

lory in S

ervice work is

not in b

attling co

mputer crim

e — no

t yet, anyway —

but in p

rotecting

the President. T

he real glam

our o

f Secret S

ervice work is in the W

hiteH

ouse Detail. If you're at the President's side, then the kids and the

wife see yo

u on televisio

n; you rub

should

ers with the m

ost p

ow

erfulpeo

ple in the w

orld

. That's the real heart o

f Service w

ork, the num

ber

one priority. More than one com

puter investigation has stopped dead in

the water w

hen Service agents vanished at the President's need.

There's ro

mance in the w

ork o

f the Service. T

he intimate access to

cir-cles o

f great p

ow

er; the esprit- d

e-corp

s of a hig

hly trained and

disci-

plined

elite; the high resp

onsib

ility of d

efending

the Chief Executive; the

fulfillment o

f a patrio

tic duty. A

nd as p

olice w

ork g

oes, the p

ay's not

bad. B

ut there's squalor in Service work, too. Y

ou may g

et spat upon by

protesters howling abuse —

and if they get violent, if they get too close,som

etimes you have to knock one of them

down —

discreetly.

The real sq

ualor in S

ervice work is d

rudgery such as "the q

uarterlies,"traip

sing o

ut fo

ur tim

es a year, year in, year o

ut, to

interview

the var-

ious p

athetic wretches, m

any of them

in priso

ns and asylum

s, who

haveseen fit to

threaten the President's life. And then there's the g

rindingstress o

f searching all tho

se faces in the endless b

ustling cro

wds, lo

ok-

ing fo

r hatred, lo

oking

for p

sychosis, lo

oking

for the tig

ht, nervous face

of an A

rthur Brem

er, a Squeaky Fro

mm

e, a Lee Harvey O

swald

. It'sw

atching all tho

se grasp

ing, w

aving hand

s for sud

den m

ovem

ents, while

your ears strain at yo

ur radio

headpho

ne for the lo

ng-rehearsed

cry of

"Gun!"

It's poring

, in grind

ing d

etail, over the b

iograp

hies of every ro

ttenlo

ser who

ever shot at a Presid

ent. It's the unsung w

ork o

f theProtective Research Section, w

ho study scrawled, anonym

ous deaththreats w

ith all the meticulo

us tools o

f anti- forg

ery techniques.

And

it's maintaining

the hefty com

puterized

files on anyo

ne who

ever

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threatened the Presid

ent's life. Civil lib

ertarians have beco

me increas-

ingly concerned at the G

overnment's use of com

puter files to trackA

merican citizens —

but the S

ecret Service file o

f potential Presid

entialassassins, w

hich has upw

ard o

f twenty tho

usand nam

es, rarely causes apeep

of p

rotest. If yo

u *ever* state that you intend

to kill the

President, the S

ecret Service w

ill want to

know

and reco

rd w

ho yo

u are,w

here you are, w

hat you are, and

what yo

u're up to

. If you're a serio

usthreat —

if you're o

fficially consid

ered "o

f pro

tective interest" — then

the Secret S

ervice may w

ell keep tab

s on yo

u for the rest o

f your natur-

al life.

Protecting

the President has first call o

n all the Service's reso

urces.But there's a lo

t more to

the Service's trad

itions and

history than stand

-ing guard outside the O

val Office.

The S

ecret Service is the natio

n's old

est general fed

eral law-enfo

rce-m

ent agency. C

om

pared

to the S

ecret Service, the FB

I are new-hires

and the CIA

are temps. T

he Secret Service was founded 'w

ay back in1

86

5, at the sug

gestio

n of H

ugh M

cCullo

ch, Abraham

Lincoln's

Secretary o

f the Treasury. M

cCullo

ch wanted

a specialized

Treasury

police to combat counterfeiting

. Abraham

Lincoln agreed that this

seemed

a good id

ea, and, w

ith a terrible iro

ny, Abraham

Lincoln w

assho

t that very night b

y John W

ilkes Booth.

The S

ecret Service o

riginally had

nothing

to d

o w

ith pro

tectingPresid

ents. They d

idn't take this o

n as a regular assig

nment until after

the Garfield assassination in 1

881. A

nd they didn't get any

Cong

ressional m

oney fo

r it until President M

cKinley w

as shot in 1

90

1.

The S

ervice was o

riginally d

esigned

for o

ne purp

ose: d

estroying

coun-

terfeiters._

__

__

There are interesting

parallels b

etween the S

ervice's nineteenth-cen-tury entry into

counterfeiting

, and A

merica's tw

entieth-century entryin

to co

mpute

r-crime.

In 1

86

5, A

merica's p

aper cu

rrency w

as a terrible m

uddle. S

ecurity

was d

rastically bad

. Currency w

as printed

on the sp

ot b

y local b

anks in

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literally hundred

s of d

ifferent desig

ns. No o

ne really knew w

hat theheck a d

ollar b

ill was sup

posed

to lo

ok like. B

ogus b

ills passed

easily. Ifso

me jo

ker told

you that a o

ne-dollar b

ill from

the Railro

ad B

ank of

Low

ell, Massachusetts had

a wom

an leaning o

n a shield, w

ith a loco

mo-

tive, a co

rnuco

pia, a co

mpass, vario

us ag

ricultu

ral imple

ments, a rail-

road bridge, and some factories, then you pretty m

uch had to take hisw

ord

for it. (A

nd in fact he w

as telling the truth!)

*Sixteen hund

red* lo

cal Am

erican banks d

esigned

and p

rinted their o

wn

pap

er currency, and there w

ere no g

eneral standard

s for security. Like

a bad

ly guard

ed no

de in a co

mputer netw

ork, b

adly d

esigned

bills w

ereeasy to

fake, and p

osed

a security hazard fo

r the entire monetary sys-

tem.

No one knew

the exact extent of the threat to the currency. There w

erepanicked

estimates that as m

uch as a third o

f the entire national cur-

rency was faked

. Counterfeiters —

know

n as "boodlers" in the und

er-gro

und slang

of the tim

e — w

ere mostly technically skilled

printers

who had g

one to the bad. M

any had once worked printing

legitim

ate cur-rency. B

oodlers o

perated

in rings and

gang

s. Technical exp

ertsengraved the bogus plates —

comm

only in basements in N

ew York C

ity.Sm

ooth co

nfidence m

en passed

large w

ads o

f high-q

uality, high- d

enom

-inatio

n fakes, including

the really sophisticated

stuff — g

overnm

entbond

s, stock certificates, and

railway shares. C

heaper, b

otched

fakesw

ere sold

or sharew

ared to

low

-level gang

s of b

oodler w

annabes. (T

hereally ch

eesy low

life boodlers m

erely upgrad

ed real b

ills by alterin

gface values, changing ones to fives, tens to hundreds, and so on.)

The techniq

ues of b

oodling

were little-kno

wn and

regard

ed w

ith a cer-tain aw

e by the m

id- nineteenth-century p

ublic. T

he ability to

manip

-ulate the system

for rip

-off seem

ed d

iabolically clever. A

s the skill anddaring

of the b

oodlers increased

, the situation b

ecame into

lerable. T

hefed

eral governm

ent stepped

in, and b

egan o

ffering its o

wn fed

eral cur-rency, w

hich was p

rinted in fancy g

reen ink, but o

nly on the b

ack — the

orig

inal "greenb

acks." And

at first, the impro

ved security o

f the well-

desig

ned, w

ell-printed

federal g

reenbacks seem

ed to

solve the p

roblem

;but then the co

unterfeiters caught o

n. Within a few

years things w

erew

orse than ever: a *centralized

* system w

here *all* security was b

ad!

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The lo

cal police w

ere helpless. T

he Governm

ent tried o

ffering b

lood

money to

potential info

rmants, b

ut this met w

ith little success. Banks,

plag

ued b

y boodling

, gave up

hope o

f police help

and hired

private secu-

rity men instead. M

erchants and bankers queued up by the thousands tobuy p

rivately-p

rinte

d m

anuals o

n cu

rrency se

curity, slim

little b

ooks

like Laban H

eath's *Infallible G

overnm

ent Counterfeit D

etector.* T

heback of the book offered Laban H

eath's patent microscope for five bucks.

Then the Secret Service entered the picture. T

he first agents w

ere aro

ugh and

ready crew

. Their chief w

as one W

illiam P. W

ood, a fo

rmer

guerilla in the M

exican War w

ho'd

won a rep

utation b

usting co

ntractor

fraudsters fo

r the War D

epartm

ent during

the Civil W

ar. Wood, w

how

as also K

eeper o

f the Cap

ital Prison, had

a sideline as a co

unterfeitingexpert, b

agging

boodlers for the federal b

ounty money.

Wood w

as named

Chief o

f the new S

ecret Service in July 1

86

5. T

herew

ere only ten S

ecret Service ag

ents in all: Wood him

self, a handful

who

'd w

orked

for him

in the War D

epartm

ent, and a few

form

er private

investigators — counterfeiting experts —

whom

Wood had w

on over topub

lic service. (The S

ecret Service o

f 18

65

was m

uch the size of the

Chicag

o C

om

puter Fraud

Task Fo

rce or the A

rizona R

acketeering U

nit of

1990.) T

hese ten "Operatives" had an additional tw

enty or so "Assistant

Operatives" and

"Inform

ants." Besid

es salary and p

er diem

, each Secret

Service em

plo

yee received a w

hopping

twenty-five d

ollars fo

r eachboodler he cap

tured.

Wood him

self pub

licly estimated

that at least *half* of A

merica's cur-

rency was co

unterfeit, a perhap

s pard

onab

le percep

tion. W

ithin a yearthe S

ecret Service had

arrested o

ver 20

0 co

unterfeiters. They b

ustedab

out tw

o hund

red b

oodlers a year fo

r four years straig

ht.

Wood attrib

uted his success to

travelling fast and

light, hitting

the bad

-guys hard, and avoiding

bureaucratic b

aggag

e. "Because m

y raids were

made w

ithout military escort and I did not ask the assistance of state

officers, I su

rprised

the p

rofessio

nal co

unterfeiter."

Wood's social m

essage to the once-im

pudent boodlers b

ore an eerie ring

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

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TH

E

HA

CK

ER

CR

AC

KD

OW

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NO

T F

OR

CO

MM

ER

CIA

L U

SE

1 7 9

of S

undevil: "It w

as also m

y purp

ose to

convince such characters that it

would

no lo

nger b

e healthy for them

to p

ly their vocatio

n witho

ut being

handled roughly, a fact they soon discovered."

William

P. Wood, the S

ecret Service's g

uerilla pio

neer, did

not end

well.

He succum

bed

to the lure o

f aiming

for the really b

ig sco

re. The no

tori-

ous B

rockw

ay Gang

of N

ew Y

ork C

ity, headed

by W

illiam E. B

rockw

ay,the "K

ing of the Counterfeiters," had forged a num

ber of government

bond

s. They'd

passed

these brilliant fakes o

n the prestig

ious W

all Street

investment firm

of Jay C

ooke and

Com

pany. T

he Cooke firm

were fran-

tic and o

ffered a hug

e reward

for the fo

rgers' p

lates.

Laboring

dilig

ently, Wood co

nfiscated the p

lates (thoug

h not M

r.Bro

ckway) and

claimed

the reward

. But the C

ooke co

mpany treacher-

ously reneg

ed. W

ood g

ot invo

lved in a d

ow

n-and-d

irty lawsuit w

ith theCooke cap

italists. Wood's b

oss, S

ecretary of the T

reasury McC

ulloch,

felt that Wood's dem

ands for money and glory w

ere unseemly, and even

when the rew

ard m

oney finally cam

e throug

h, McC

ulloch refused

to p

ayW

ood anything

. Wood fo

und him

self mired

in a seeming

ly endless ro

undof fed

eral suits and C

ong

ressional lo

bbying

.

Wood never got his m

oney. And he lost his job to boot. H

e resigned in1

86

9.

Wood's agents suffered, too. O

n May 1

2, 1

869, the second C

hief of theSecret Service took over, and alm

ost imm

ediately fired most of W

ood'spio

neer Secret S

ervice agents: O

peratives, A

ssistants and Info

rmants

alike. The p

ractice of receiving

$2

5 p

er crook w

as abolished

. And

theSecret S

ervice beg

an the long

, uncertain pro

cess of tho

roug

h pro

fes-sio

nalization.

Wood ended badly. H

e must have felt stabbed in the back. In fact his

entire org

anization w

as mang

led.

On the o

ther hand, W

illiam P. W

ood *w

as* the first head o

f the Secret

Service. W

illiam W

ood w

as the pio

neer. People still ho

nor his nam

e.W

ho remem

bers the name of the *second* head of the Secret Service?

BR

UC

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As fo

r William

Bro

ckway (also

know

n as "Colo

nel Spencer"), he w

asfinally arrested

by the S

ecret Service in 1

88

0. H

e did

five years inpriso

n, got o

ut, and w

as still boodling

at the age o

f seventy- four.

__

__

_

Anyo

ne with an interest in O

peratio

n Sund

evil — o

r in Am

erican com

-puter-crim

e generally —

could

scarcely miss the p

resence of G

ailThackeray, A

ssistant Attorney G

eneral of the State of Arizona.

Com

puter-crim

e training m

anuals often cited

Thackeray's g

roup

andher w

ork; she w

as the highest-ranking

state official to

specialize in

com

puter-related

offenses. H

er name had

been o

n the Sund

evil press

release (thoug

h modestly ranked

well after the lo

cal federal p

rosecuting

attorney and the head of the Phoenix Secret Service office).

As public com

mentary, and controversy, began to m

ount about theH

acker Crackd

ow

n, this Arizo

nan state official b

egan to

take a higher and

higher p

ublic p

rofile. T

houg

h uttering alm

ost no

thing sp

ecific about the

Sund

evil operatio

n itself, she coined

som

e of the m

ost striking

sound

-bites of the grow

ing propaganda war: "A

gents are operating in goodfaith, and

I don't think yo

u can say that for the hacker co

mm

unity," was

one. Another w

as the mem

orable "I am not a m

ad dog prosecutor"(*H

ousto

n Chro

nicle,* Sep

t 2, 1

99

0.) In the m

eantime, the S

ecretService m

aintained its usual extrem

e discretio

n; the Chicag

o U

nit,sm

arting from the backlash of the Steve Jackson scandal, had gone com

-pletely to

earth.

As I co

llated m

y gro

wing

pile o

f newsp

aper clip

ping

s, Gail T

hackerayranked as a com

parative fount of public know

ledge on police operations.

I decided that I had to get to know G

ail Thackeray. I w

rote to her at theA

rizona A

ttorney G

eneral's Office. N

ot o

nly did

she kindly rep

ly to m

e,but, to

my asto

nishment, she knew

very well w

hat "cyberp

unk" sciencefictio

n was.

Shortly after th

is, Gail T

hackeray lo

st her jo

b. A

nd I tem

porarily m

is-placed

my o

wn career as a science-fictio

n writer, to

beco

me a full-tim

eco

mpute

r-crime jo

urn

alist. In e

arly M

arch, 1

99

1, I fle

w to

Phoenix,

Arizo

na, to interview

Gail T

hackeray for m

y book o

n the hacker crack-

BR

UC

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TH

E H

AC

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CK

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R C

OM

ME

RC

IAL

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E1 8 1

dow

n._

__

__

"Credit cards didn't used to cost anything to get," says G

ail Thackeray.

"Now

they cost forty bucks — and that's all just to cover the costs from

*rip-o

ff artists.*"

Electronic nuisance crim

inals are parasites. O

ne by o

ne they're not

much harm

, no big deal. But they never com

e just one by one. They

com

e in swarm

s, heaps, leg

ions, so

metim

es who

le subcultures. A

ndthey b

ite. Every time w

e buy a cred

it card to

day, w

e lose a little finan-

cial vitality to a p

articular species o

f blo

odsucker.

What, in her exp

ert opinio

n, are the worst fo

rms o

f electronic crim

e, Iask, co

nsulting m

y notes. Is it —

credit card

fraud? B

reaking into

ATM

bank m

achines? Phone-p

hreaking? C

om

puter intrusio

ns? Softw

areviruses? A

ccess-code theft? R

ecord

s tampering

? Softw

are piracy?

Porno

grap

hic bulletin b

oard

s? Satellite T

V p

iracy? Theft o

f cable ser-

vice? It's a long

list. By the tim

e I reach the end o

f it I feel ratherdep

ressed.

"Oh no

," says Gail T

hackeray, leaning fo

rward

over the tab

le, her who

lebody g

one stiff with energ

etic indignation, "the b

iggest dam

age is tele-

pho

ne fraud. Fake sw

eepstakes, fake charities. B

oiler-ro

om

con o

pera-

tions. You could pay off the national debt with w

hat these guys steal....They target old people, they get hold of credit ratings and dem

ographics,they rip off the old and the w

eak." The w

ords come tum

bling out of her.

It's low

-tech

stuff, yo

ur e

veryd

ay boile

r-room

fraud. G

rifters, co

n-

ning people out of money over the phone, have been around for decades.

This is w

here the word

"pho

ny" came fro

m!

It's just th

at it's so m

uch

*easier* now

, horrib

ly facilitated b

yadvances in technology and the byzantine structure of the m

odern phonesystem

. The sam

e pro

fessional fraud

sters do it o

ver and o

ver, Thackeray

tells me, they hid

e behind

dense o

nion-shells o

f fake com

panies.... fake

hold

ing co

rporatio

ns nine or ten layers d

eep, reg

istered all o

ver them

ap. They g

et a phone installed under a false name in an em

pty safe-

BR

UC

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E1 8 2

house. And then they call-forw

ard everything out of that phone to yetanother phone, a phone that m

ay even be in another *state.* And they

don't even pay the charges on their phones; after a month or so, they

just split. S

et up so

mew

here else in another Po

dunkville w

ith the same

seedy crew

of veteran p

hone-cro

oks. T

hey buy o

r steal com

mercial

credit card

reports, slap

them o

n the PC, have a p

rogram

pick o

ut peo

-ple o

ver sixty-five who

pay a lo

t to charities. A

who

le subculture liv-

ing o

ff this, merciless fo

lks on the co

n.

"The 'lig

ht-bulb

s for the b

lind' p

eople," T

hackeray muses, w

ith a spe-

cial loathing

. "There's just no

end to

them."

We're sitting

in a dow

ntow

n diner in Pho

enix, Arizo

na. It's a toug

htow

n, Phoenix. A state capital seeing som

e hard times. Even to a T

exanlike m

yself, Arizo

na state politics seem

rather baro

que. T

here was, and

remains, end

less troub

le over the M

artin Luther King

holid

ay, the sort

of stiff-necked

, foot-sho

oting

incident fo

r which A

rizona p

olitics seem

famous. T

here was Evan M

echam, the eccentric R

epub

lican millio

nairegoverno

r who

was im

peached

, after reducing

state governm

ent to a lud

i-cro

us shambles. T

hen there was the natio

nal Keating

scandal, invo

lvingA

rizona saving

s and lo

ans, in which b

oth o

f Arizo

na's U.S

. senators,

DeC

oncini and

McC

ain, played

sadly p

rom

inent roles.

And

the very latest is the bizarre A

zScam

case, in which state leg

isla-to

rs were vid

eotap

ed, eag

erly taking cash fro

m an info

rmant o

f thePhoenix city police departm

ent, who w

as posing as a Vegas m

obster.

"Oh," says T

hackeray cheerfully. "These p

eople are am

ateurs here, theythoug

ht they were finally g

etting to play w

ith the big

boys. T

hey don'thave the least id

ea how

to take a b

ribe! It's no

t institutional co

rruptio

n.It's n

ot like

back in

Philly."

Gail T

hackeray was a fo

rmer p

rosecuto

r in Philadelp

hia. Now

she's aform

er assistant attorney general of the State of A

rizona. Since moving

to A

rizona in 1

98

6, she had

worked

under the aeg

is of S

teve Tw

ist, herboss in the A

ttorney G

eneral's office. S

teve Tw

ist wro

te Arizo

na's pio

-neering

com

puter crim

e laws and

naturally took an interest in seeing

them enforced. It w

as a snug niche, and T

hackeray's Org

anized Crim

e and

BR

UC

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IN

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TH

E

HA

CK

ER

CR

AC

KD

OW

N

NO

T F

OR

CO

MM

ER

CIA

L U

SE

1 8 3

Racketeering

Unit w

on a natio

nal reputatio

n for am

bitio

n and technical

know

ledgeab

ility.... Until the latest electio

n in Arizo

na. Thackeray's

boss ran fo

r the top jo

b, and

lost. T

he victor, the new

Atto

rney General,

apparently w

ent to so

me p

ains to elim

inate the bureaucratic traces o

fhis rival, includ

ing his p

et gro

up —

Thackeray's g

roup

. Tw

elve peo

ple

got their w

alking p

apers.

Now

Thackeray's p

ainstakingly assem

bled

com

puter lab

sits gathering

dust so

mew

here in the glass-and

-concrete A

ttorney G

eneral's HQ

on

12

75

Washing

ton S

treet. Her co

mputer-crim

e books, her p

ainstaking-

ly garnered

back issues o

f phreak and

hacker zines, all boug

ht at herow

n expense — are piled in boxes som

ewhere. T

he State of Arizona is

simply no

t particularly interested

in electronic racketeering

at them

om

ent.

At the m

om

ent of o

ur interview, G

ail Thackeray, o

fficially unemplo

yed,

is working

out o

f the county sheriff's o

ffice, living o

n her savings, and

pro

secuting several cases —

working

60

-hour w

eeks, just as always —

for no

pay at all. "I'm

trying to

train peo

ple," she m

utters.

Half her life seem

s to b

e spent training

peo

ple —

merely p

ointing

out, to

the naive and incred

ulous (such as m

yself) that this stuff is *actuallygoing

on o

ut there.* It's a small w

orld

, com

puter crim

e. A yo

ung w

orld

.G

ail Thackeray, a trim

blo

nde B

aby- B

oom

er who

favors G

rand C

anyon

white-w

ater rafting to

kill som

e slow

time, is o

ne of the w

orld

's most

senior, m

ost veteran "hacker-trackers." H

er mento

r was D

onn

Parker, the Califo

rnia think-tank theorist w

ho g

ot it all started

'way

back in the m

id- 7

0s, the "g

randfather o

f the field," "the g

reat bald

eagle o

f com

puter crim

e."

And

what she has learned

, Gail T

hackeray teaches. Endlessly. T

irelessly.To anybody. T

o Secret Service agents and state police, at the Glynco,

Geo

rgia fed

eral training center. T

o lo

cal police, o

n "road

show

s" with

her slide p

rojecto

r and no

tebook. T

o co

rporate security p

ersonnel. T

ojo

urnalists. To p

arents.

Even *crooks* lo

ok to

Gail T

hackeray for ad

vice. Phone-p

hreaks callher at the o

ffice. They kno

w very w

ell who

she is. They p

ump her fo

r

BR

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E1 8 4

information on w

hat the cops are up to, how m

uch they know. Som

etimes

who

le *crow

ds* o

f pho

ne phreaks, hang

ing o

ut on illeg

al conference

calls, will call G

ail Thackeray up

. They taunt her. A

nd, as alw

ays, theyboast. Pho

ne-phreaks, real sto

ne pho

ne-phreaks, sim

ply *canno

t shutup

.* They natter o

n for ho

urs.

Left to them

selves, they mostly talk ab

out the intricacies o

f ripping

-off

pho

nes; it's about as interesting

as listening to

hot-ro

dders talk ab

out

suspensio

n and d

istributo

r-caps. T

hey also g

ossip

cruelly about each

other. A

nd w

hen talking to

Gail T

hackeray, they incriminate them

-selves. "I have tap

es," Thackeray says co

olly.

Phone p

hreaks just talk like crazy. "Dial-T

one" o

ut in Alab

ama has

been kno

wn to

spend

half-an- hour sim

ply read

ing sto

len pho

ne-codes

aloud

into vo

ice-mail answ

ering m

achines. Hund

reds, tho

usands o

fnum

bers, recited

in a mono

tone, w

ithout a b

reak — an eerie p

henom

e-no

n. When arrested

, it's a rare pho

ne phreak w

ho d

oesn't info

rm at

endless length on everybody he knows.

Hackers are no

better. W

hat other g

roup

of crim

inals, she asks rhetor-

ically, pub

lishes newsletters and

hold

s conventio

ns? She seem

s deep

lynettled b

y the sheer brazenness of this b

ehavior, though to an outsider,

this activity mig

ht make o

ne wond

er whether hackers sho

uld b

e consid

-ered

"criminals" at all. S

kateboard

ers have mag

azines, and they tres-

pass a lot. Hot rod people have m

agazines and they break speed limits

and so

metim

es kill peo

ple....

I ask her whether it w

ould

be any lo

ss to so

ciety if pho

ne phreaking

andco

mputer hacking

, as hobbies, sim

ply d

ried up

and b

lew aw

ay, so that

nobody ever d

id it ag

ain.

She seem

s surprised

. "No," she says sw

iftly. "Mayb

e a little... in the old

days... the MIT

stuff... But there's a lo

t of w

onderful, leg

al stuff you can

do with com

puters now, you don't have to break into som

ebody else'sjust to

learn. You d

on't have that excuse. Y

ou can learn all yo

u like."

Did

you ever hack into

a system? I ask.

BR

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The trainees d

o it at G

lynco. Just to

dem

onstrate system

vulnerabilities.

She's co

ol to

the notio

n. Genuinely ind

ifferent.

"What kind of com

puter do you have?"

"A C

om

paq

28

6LE," she m

utters.

"What kind

do yo

u *wish* yo

u had?"

At this q

uestion, the unm

istakable lig

ht of true hackerd

om

flares in Gail

Thackeray's eyes. She becom

es tense, animated, the w

ords pour out:"A

n Am

iga 2

000 w

ith an IBM

card and Mac em

ulation! The m

ost comm

onhacker m

achines are Am

igas and Com

modores. A

nd Apples." If she had

the Am

iga, she enthuses, she could run a w

hole galaxy of seized com

put-er-evid

ence disks o

n one co

nvenient multifunctio

nal machine. A

cheapone, too. N

ot like the old Attorney G

eneral lab, where they had an

ancient CP/M

machine, asso

rted A

mig

a flavors and

Apple flavo

rs, a cou-

ple IB

MS, all the utility so

ftware... b

ut no C

om

modores. T

he worksta-

tions down at the A

ttorney General's are W

ang dedicated w

ord-proces-sors. Lam

e machines tied in to an office net —

though at least they geton- line to

the Lexis and W

estlaw leg

al data services.

I don't say anything

. I recognize the synd

rom

e, thoug

h. This co

mputer-

fever has been running

throug

h segm

ents of o

ur society fo

r years now

.It's a strang

e kind o

f lust: K-hung

er, Meg

-hunger; b

ut it's a shared d

is-ease; it can kill p

arties dead

, as conversatio

n spirals into

the deep

estand

most d

eviant recesses of so

ftware releases and

expensive p

eripher-

als.... The m

ark of the hacker beast. I have it too. T

he whole "electronic

com

munity," w

hatever the hell that is, has it. Gail T

hackeray has it.G

ail Thackeray is a hacker co

p. M

y imm

ediate reactio

n is a strong

rushof ind

ignant p

ity: *why d

oesn't so

meb

ody b

uy this wom

an her Am

iga?!*

It's not like she's asking

for a C

ray X-M

P superco

mputer m

ainframe; an

Am

iga's a sw

eet little cookie-b

ox thing

. We're lo

sing zillio

ns in org

a-nized fraud; prosecuting

and defending a sing

le hacker case in court cancost a hundred grand easy. H

ow com

e nobody can come up w

ith fourlousy g

rand so this wom

an can do her job? For a hundred g

rand we could

buy every com

puter cop in Am

erica an Am

iga. T

here aren't that many of

'em.

BR

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E1 8 6

Com

puters. T

he lust, the hunger, fo

r com

puters. T

he loyalty they

inspire, the intense sense o

f possessiveness. T

he culture they havebred

. I myself am

sitting in d

ow

ntow

n Phoenix, A

rizona b

ecause it sud-

denly occurred to me that the police m

ight —

just *mig

ht* — com

e andtake aw

ay my co

mputer. T

he pro

spect o

f this, the mere *im

plied

threat,* was unb

earable. It literally chang

ed m

y life. It was chang

ingthe lives o

f many o

thers. Eventually it would

change everyb

ody's life.

Gail T

hackeray was o

ne of the to

p co

mputer- crim

e peo

ple in A

merica.

And I w

as just some novelist, and yet I had a b

etter computer than hers.

*Practically everybody I knew

* had a b

etter com

puter than G

ailThackeray and

her feeble lap

top 2

86

. It was like send

ing the sheriff in

to clean up Dodg

e City and arm

ing her w

ith a slingshot cut from

an oldru

bber tire

.

But then again, you don't need a how

itzer to enforce the law. You can do a

lot just w

ith a bad

ge. W

ith a bad

ge alo

ne, you can b

asically wreak havo

c,take a terrib

le vengeance on w

rongdoers. N

inety percent of "computer

crime investig

ation" is just "crim

e investigatio

n:" names, p

laces,dossiers, m

odus o

perand

i, search warrants, victim

s, com

plainants,

inform

ants...

What w

ill com

puter crim

e look like in

ten years? W

ill it get b

etter?D

id "S

undevil" send

'em reeling

back in co

nfusion?

It'll be like it is no

w, o

nly worse, she tells m

e with p

erfect convictio

n.Still there in the b

ackgro

und, ticking

along

, changing

with the tim

es: thecrim

inal u

nderw

orld

. It'll be like

dru

gs are

. Like

our p

roble

ms w

ithalco

hol. A

ll the cops and

laws in the w

orld

never solved

our p

roblem

sw

ith alcoho

l. If there's som

ething peo

ple want, a certain percentag

e of

them are just g

oing

to take it. Fifteen p

ercent of the p

opulace w

ill neversteal. Fifteen p

ercent will steal m

ost anything

not nailed

dow

n. The

battle is fo

r the hearts and m

inds o

f the remaining

seventy percent.

And

criminals catch o

n fast. If there's not "to

o steep

a learning curve"

— if it d

oesn't req

uire a baffling

amount o

f expertise and

practice —

then criminals are often som

e of the first through the g

ate of a new

BR

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AC

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T F

OR

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MM

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CIA

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1 8 7

technology. Especially if it helps them

to hide. They have tons of cash,

criminals. T

he new co

mm

unications tech —

like pag

ers, cellularpho

nes, faxes, Federal Exp

ress — w

ere pio

neered b

y rich corp

orate

peo

ple, and

by crim

inals. In the early years of p

agers and

beep

ers, dope

dealers were so enthralled this technolog

y that owing

a beeper w

aspractically p

rima facie evid

ence of co

caine dealing

. CB rad

io exp

loded

when the sp

eed lim

it hit 55

and b

reaking the hig

hway law

becam

e anatio

nal pastim

e. Dope d

ealers send cash b

y Federal Exp

ress, desp

ite,or p

erhaps *b

ecause of,* the w

arnings in Fed

Ex offices that tell yo

unever to

try this. Fed Ex uses X

-rays and d

ogs o

n their mail, to

stop

drug

shipm

ents. That d

oesn't w

ork very w

ell.

Drug

dealers w

ent wild

over cellular p

hones. T

here are simple m

ethods

of faking

ID o

n cellular pho

nes, making

the locatio

n of the call m

obile,

free of charg

e, and effectively untraceab

le. Now

victimized

cellularco

mpanies ro

utinely bring

in vast toll-lists o

f calls to C

olo

mbia and

Pakistan.

Judge G

reene's fragm

entation of the phone company is driving

lawenforcem

ent nuts. Four thousand telecomm

unications companies. Fraud

skyrocketing

. Every temptatio

n in the world

available w

ith a pho

ne anda cred

it card num

ber. C

riminals untraceab

le. A g

alaxy of "new

neatrotten things to do."

If there were o

ne thing T

hackeray would

like to have, it w

ould

be an

effective legal end

-run throug

h this new frag

mentatio

n minefield

.

It would

be a new

form

of electro

nic search warrant, an "electro

nic let-ter of m

arque" to be issued by a judge. It would create a new

category of"electro

nic emerg

ency." Like a wiretap

, its use would

be rare, b

ut itw

ould

cut across state lines and

force sw

ift cooperatio

n from

all con-

cerned. C

ellular, pho

ne, laser, com

puter netw

ork, PB

Xes, A

T&

T, B

aby

Bells, lo

ng-d

istance entrepreneurs, p

acket radio

. Som

e docum

ent, som

em

ighty co

urt-ord

er, that could

slice throug

h four tho

usand sep

arateform

s of corporate red-tape, and get her at once to the source of calls,

the source o

f email threats and

viruses, the sources o

f bom

b threats,

kidnap

ping

threats. "From

now

on," she says, "the Lind

berg

bab

y will

always d

ie."

BR

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Som

ething that w

ould

make the N

et sit still, if only fo

r a mom

ent.Som

ething that would get her up to speed. Seven league boots. T

hat'sw

hat she really needs. "Those guys m

ove in nanoseconds and I'm on the

Pony Exp

ress."

And

then, too, there's the co

ming

international ang

le. Electronic crim

ehas never b

een easy to lo

calize, to tie to

a physical jurisd

iction. A

ndpho

ne- phreaks and

hackers loathe b

ound

aries, they jump them

when-

ever they can. The Eng

lish. The D

utch. And the G

ermans, especially the

ubiq

uitous C

haos C

om

puter C

lub. T

he Australians. T

hey've all learnedpho

ne-phreaking

from

Am

erica. It's a gro

wth m

ischief industry. T

hem

ultinational netw

orks are g

lobal, b

ut governm

ents and the p

olice sim

-ply aren't. N

either are the laws. O

r the legal fram

eworks fo

r citizenpro

tection.

One lang

uage is g

lobal, tho

ugh —

English. Pho

ne phreaks sp

eak English;

it's their native tong

ue even if they're Germ

ans. English m

ay havestarted in Eng

land but now

it's the Net lang

uage; it m

ight as w

ell be

called "C

NN

ese."

Asians just aren't m

uch into p

hone p

hreaking. T

hey're the world

mas-

ters at org

anized so

ftware p

iracy. The French aren't into

pho

ne-phreaking

either. The French are into

com

puterized

industrial esp

i-onag

e.

In the old

days o

f the MIT

righteo

us hackerdom

, crashing system

s did

n'thurt anyb

ody. Not all that m

uch, anyway. N

ot permanently. N

ow the

players are m

ore venal. N

ow

the conseq

uences are worse. H

acking w

illbeg

in killing p

eople so

on. A

lready there are m

ethods o

f stacking calls

onto 911 system

s, annoying the police, and possibly causing the death ofso

me p

oor so

ul calling in w

ith a genuine em

ergency. H

ackers in Am

trakco

mpute

rs, or air- traffic co

ntro

l com

pute

rs, will kill so

mebody so

me-

day. Mayb

e a lot of people. Gail T

hackeray expects it.

And

the viruses are getting

nastier. The "S

cud" virus is the latest o

neout. It w

ipes hard

-disks.

BR

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Acco

rding

to T

hackeray, the idea that p

hone- p

hreaks are Robin H

oods is

a fraud. T

hey don't d

eserve this repute. B

asically, they pick o

n thew

eak. AT&

T now

protects itself with the fearsom

e AN

I (Autom

aticN

umber Id

entification) trace cap

ability. W

hen AT&

T w

ised up

andtig

htened security g

enerally, the phreaks d

rifted into

the Bab

y Bells.

The B

aby B

ells lashed o

ut in 19

89

and 1

99

0, so

the phreaks sw

itched to

smaller lo

ng-d

istance entrepreneurs. T

oday, they are m

oving

intolo

cally ow

ned PB

Xes and

voice-m

ail systems, w

hich are full of security

holes, dreadfully easy to hack. These victim

s aren't the moneyb

ags

Sheriff o

f Notting

ham o

r Bad

King

John, b

ut small g

roup

s of inno

centpeo

ple w

ho find

it hard to

pro

tect themselves, and

who

really sufferfrom

these depredations. Phone phreaks pick on the weak. T

hey do itfo

r pow

er. If it were leg

al, they would

n't do it. T

hey don't w

ant service,or kno

wled

ge, they w

ant the thrill of p

ow

er- tripping

. There's p

lentyof kno

wled

ge o

r service around

, if you're w

illing to

pay. Pho

ne phreaks

don't p

ay, they steal. It's because it is illeg

al that it feels like pow

er,th

at it gratifies th

eir vanity.

I leave Gail T

hackeray with a hand

shake at the door o

f her office b

uilding

— a vast Internatio

nal- Style o

ffice build

ing d

ow

ntow

n. The S

heriff'soffice is renting

part o

f it. I get the vag

ue impressio

n that quite a lo

t of

the build

ing is em

pty —

real estate crash.

In a Phoenix sp

orts ap

parel sto

re, in a dow

ntow

n mall, I m

eet the "Sun

Devil" him

self. He is the carto

on m

ascot o

f Arizo

na State U

niversity,w

hose fo

otb

all stadium

, "Sund

evil," is near the local S

ecret Service H

Q—

hence the name O

peratio

n Sund

evil. The S

un Devil him

self is named

"Sparky." S

parky the S

un Devil is m

aroon and

brig

ht yellow

, the school

colo

rs. Sparky b

randishes a three-tined

yellow

pitchfo

rk. He has a

small m

ustache, pointed

ears, a barb

ed tail, and

is dashing

forw

ard jab

-bing

the air with the p

itchfork, w

ith an expressio

n of d

evilish glee.

Phoenix was the hom

e of Operation Sundevil. T

he Legion of Doom

ran ahacker b

ulletin board

called "T

he Phoenix Pro

ject." An A

ustralianhacker nam

ed "Phoenix" once burrow

ed through the Internet to attack

Cliff Stoll, then b

ragged and b

oasted about it to *T

he New

York T

imes.*

This net of coincidence is both odd and m

eaningless.

BR

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E1 9 0

The head

quarters o

f the Arizo

na Atto

rney General, G

ail Thackeray's fo

r-m

er workp

lace, is on 1

27

5 W

ashingto

n Avenue. M

any of the d

ow

ntow

nstreets in Pho

enix are named

after pro

minent A

merican p

residents:

Washing

ton, Jefferso

n, Mad

ison....

After d

ark, all the emplo

yees go ho

me to

their suburb

s. Washing

ton,

Jefferson and

Mad

ison —

what w

ould

be the Pho

enix inner city, if therew

ere an inner city in this spraw

ling auto

mobile-b

red to

wn —

beco

me

the haunts of transients and derelicts. The hom

eless. The sidew

alks alongW

ashingto

n are lined w

ith orang

e trees. Rip

e fallen fruit lies scatteredlike croquet balls on the sidew

alks and gutters. No one seem

s to be eat-ing

them. I try a fresh o

ne. It tastes unbearab

ly bitter.

The A

ttorney G

eneral's office, b

uilt in 19

81

during

the Bab

bitt ad

min-

istration, is a lo

ng lo

w tw

o- sto

ry build

ing o

f white cem

ent and w

all-sized

sheets of curtain-g

lass. Behind

each glass w

all is a lawyer's

office, q

uite open and

visible to

anyone stro

lling b

y. Acro

ss the street isa d

our g

overnm

ent build

ing lab

elled sim

ply EC

ON

OM

IC S

ECU

RIT

Y,

something that has not been in great supply in the A

merican Southw

estlately.

The offices are about tw

elve feet square. They feature tall w

ooden casesfull o

f red-sp

ined law

books; W

ang co

mputer m

onito

rs; telepho

nes;Post-it notes g

alore. Also fram

ed law diplom

as and a general excess of

bad

Western land

scape art. A

nsel Adam

s pho

tos are a b

ig favo

rite, per-

haps to co

mpensate fo

r the dismal specter o

f the parking- lo

t, two acres

of strip

ed b

lack asphalt, w

hich features gravel land

scaping

and so

me

sickly-lo

okin

g b

arrel cacti.

It has gro

wn d

ark. Gail T

hackeray has told

me that the p

eople w

ho w

ork

late here, are afraid o

f mug

ging

s in the parking

lot. It seem

s cruellyiro

nic that a wom

an tracing electro

nic racketeers across the interstate

labyrinth o

f Cyb

erspace sho

uld fear an assault b

y a hom

eless derelict in

the parking

lot o

f her ow

n workp

lace.

Perhaps this is less than co

incidence. Perhap

s these two seem

ingly d

is-parate w

orlds are somehow

generating

one another. The poor and disen-

franchised take to

the streets, while the rich and

com

puter-eq

uipped

,

BR

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T F

OR

CO

MM

ER

CIA

L U

SE

1 9 1

safe in their bedroom

s, chatter over their modem

s. Quite often the

derelicts kick the g

lass out and

break in to

the lawyers' o

ffices, if theysee som

ething they need or want badly enough.

I cross the parking lot to the street b

ehind the Attorney G

eneral's office.A

pair of young tramps are bedding dow

n on flattened sheets of card-board

, under an alco

ve stretching o

ver the sidew

alk. One tram

p w

ears aglitter-co

vered T

-shirt read

ing "C

ALIFO

RN

IA" in

Coca-C

ola cu

rsive.H

is nose and cheeks look chafed and swollen; they g

listen with w

hatseem

s to be V

aseline. The other tram

p has a ragged long

-sleeved shirtand

lank bro

wn hair p

arted in the m

iddle. T

hey both w

ear blue jeans

coated

in grim

e. They are b

oth d

runk.

"You g

uys crash here a lot?" I ask them

.

They lo

ok at m

e warily. I am

wearing

black jeans, a b

lack pinstrip

edsuit jacket and

a black silk tie. I have o

dd sho

es and a funny haircut.

"It's our first tim

e here," says the red-no

sed tram

p unco

nvincingly.

There is a lot of cardboard stacked here. M

ore than any two people could

use.

"We usually stay at the V

innie's dow

n the street," says the bro

wn-

haired

tramp, p

uffin

g a M

arlboro

with

a med

itative air, as he sp

rawls

with his head

on a b

lue nylon b

ackpack. "T

he Saint V

incent's."

"You kno

w w

ho w

orks in that b

uilding

over there?" I ask, p

ointing

.

The b

row

n-haired tram

p shrug

s. "Som

e kind o

f attorneys, it says."

` We urge one another to take it easy. I give them

five bucks.

A b

lock d

ow

n the street I meet a vig

oro

us workm

an who

is wheeling

along

som

e kind o

f industrial tro

lley; it has what ap

pears to

be a tank o

fpro

pane o

n it.

We m

ake eye contact. We nod politely. I w

alk past him. "H

ey! Excusem

e sir!" he says.

BR

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"Yes?" I say, sto

pping

and turning

.

"Have yo

u seen," the guy says rap

idly, "a b

lack guy, ab

out 6

'7", scars

on b

oth his cheeks like this —

" he gestures —

"wears a b

lack baseb

allcap

on b

ackward

s, wand

ering aro

und here anyp

lace?"

"Sound

s like I don't m

uch *want* to

meet him

," I say.

"He to

ok m

y wallet," says m

y new acq

uaintance. "Took it this m

orning

.Y'know

, some people w

ould be *scared* of a g

uy like that. But I'm

notscared

. I'm fro

m C

hicago. I'm

gonna hunt him

dow

n. We d

o thing

s likethat in C

hicago."

"Yeah?"

"I went to the cops and now

he's got an APB

out on his ass," he says with

satisfaction. "Y

ou run into

him, yo

u let me kno

w."

"Okay," I say. "W

hat is your nam

e, sir?"

"Stanley...."

"And

how

can I reach you?"

"Oh," Stanley says, in the sam

e rapid voice, "you don't have to reach,uh, m

e. You can just call the cops. Go straight to the cops." H

e reachesinto a pocket and pulls out a greasy piece of pasteboard. "See, here's m

yrep

ort o

n him."

I look. T

he "report," the size o

f an index card

, is labelled

PRO

-ACT:

Phoenix R

esidents O

pposing

Active C

rime T

hreat.... or is it O

rganized

Against C

rime T

hreat? In the darkening

street it's hard to

read. S

om

ekind

of vig

ilante gro

up? N

eighb

orho

od w

atch? I feel very puzzled

.

"Are yo

u a p

olice o

fficer, sir?"

He sm

iles, seems very p

leased b

y the questio

n.

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E1 9 3

"No," he says.

` "But yo

u are a 'Phoenix R

esident?'"

"Would

you b

elieve a hom

eless perso

n," Stanley says.

"Really? B

ut what's w

ith the..." For the first tim

e I take a close lo

ok at

Stanley's tro

lley. It's a rubber-w

heeled thing

of ind

ustrial metal, b

utthe d

evice I had m

istaken for a tank o

f pro

pane is in fact a w

ater-cooler.

Stanley also has an Arm

y duffel-bag

, stuffed tight as a sausag

e with

clothing

or p

erhaps a tent, and

, at the base o

f his trolley, a card

board

box and

a battered

leather briefcase.

"I see," I say, quite at a lo

ss. For the first tim

e I notice that S

tanley hasa w

allet. He has no

t lost his w

allet at all. It is in his back p

ocket and

chained to his belt. It's not a new w

allet. It seems to have seen a lot of

wear.

"Well, yo

u know

how

it is, bro

ther," says Stanley. N

ow

that I know

thathe is ho

meless —

*a possib

le threat* — m

y entire percep

tion o

f himhas chang

ed in an instant. His speech, w

hich once seemed just b

right

and enthusiastic, now seem

s to have a dangerous tang of mania. "I have

to do this!" he assures me. "T

rack this guy dow

n... It's a thing I do... you

know

... to keep

myself to

gether!" H

e smiles, no

ds, lifts his tro

lley by

its decaying

rubber hand

grip

s.

"Gotta w

ork to

gether, y'kno

w, " S

tanley boom

s, his face alight w

ithcheerfulness, "the p

olice can't d

o everything

!"

The g

entlemen I m

et in my stro

ll in dow

ntow

n Phoenix are the o

nlyco

mputer illiterates in this b

ook. T

o reg

ard them

as irrelevant, how

ev-er, w

ould

be a g

rave mistake.

As co

mputerizatio

n spread

s across so

ciety, the populace at larg

e is sub-

jected to wave after w

ave of future shock. But, as a necessary converse,

the "computer com

munity" itself is sub

jected to wave after w

ave ofin

com

ing co

mputer illiterates. H

ow

will th

ose cu

rrently en

joyin

g

BR

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Am

erica's dig

ital bounty reg

ard, and

treat, all this teeming

refuseyearning

to b

reathe free? Will the electro

nic frontier b

e another Land

of O

pportunity —

or an arm

ed and

monito

red enclave, w

here the disen-

franchised snuggle on their cardboard at the locked doors of our housesof justice?

Some people just don't get along w

ith computers. T

hey can't read. They

can't type. They just don't have it in their heads to m

aster arcaneinstructio

ns in wireb

ound

manuals. S

om

ewhere, the p

rocess o

f com

-puterizatio

n of the p

opulace w

ill reach a limit. S

om

e peo

ple —

quite

decent people mayb

e, who m

ight have thrived in any other situation —

will b

e left irretrievably o

utside the b

ound

s. What's to

be d

one w

iththese p

eople, in the b

right new

shiny electrow

orld

? How

will they b

ereg

arded

, by the m

ouse-w

hizzing m

asters of cyb

erspace? W

ith con-

tempt? Ind

ifference? Fear?

In retrosp

ect, it astonishes m

e to realize ho

w q

uickly poor S

tanleybecam

e a perceived

threat. Surp

rise and fear are clo

sely allied feeling

s.A

nd the w

orld

of co

mputing

is full of surp

rises.

I met o

ne character in the streets of Pho

enix who

se role in tho

se book is

suprem

ely and d

irectly relevant. That p

ersonag

e was S

tanley's giant

thieving scarred

phanto

m. T

his phantasm

is everywhere in this b

ook.

He is the sp

ecter haunting cyb

erspace.

Sometim

es he's a maniac vandal ready to sm

ash the phone system for no

sane reason at all. S

om

etimes he's a fascist fed

, cold

ly pro

gram

ming

hism

ighty m

ainframes to

destro

y our B

ill of R

ights. S

om

etimes he's a telco

bureaucrat, co

vertly consp

iring to

register all m

odem

s in the service of

an Orw

ellian surveillance regim

e. Mostly, tho

ugh, this fearso

me

phantom is a "hacker." H

e's strange, he doesn't belong, he's not autho-rized

, he doesn't sm

ell right, he's no

t keeping

his pro

per p

lace, he's not

one of us. The focus of fear is the hacker, for m

uch the same reasons

that Stanley's fancied

assailant is black.

Stanley's demon can't go aw

ay, because he doesn't exist. Despite single-

mind

ed and

tremend

ous effo

rt, he can't be arrested

, sued, jailed

, or

fired. T

he only co

nstructive way to

do *anything

* about him

is to learn

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

G —

TH

E H

AC

KE

R C

RA

CK

DO

WN

N

OT

FO

R C

OM

ME

RC

IAL

US

E1 9 5

more ab

out S

tanley himself. T

his learning p

rocess m

ay be rep

ellent, itm

ay be ug

ly, it may invo

lve grave elem

ents of p

aranoiac co

nfusion, b

utit's necessary. K

now

ing S

tanley requires so

mething

more than class-

crossing

cond

escension. It req

uires more than steely leg

al objectivity.

It requires hum

an com

passio

n and sym

pathy.

To know

Stanley is to know his dem

on. If you know the other guy's

demon, then m

aybe you'll come to know

some of your ow

n. You'll beab

le to sep

arate reality from

illusion. A

nd then yo

u won't d

o yo

urcause, and yourself, m

ore harm than g

ood. Like poor damned Stanley

from

Chicag

o d

id.

__

__

_

The Fed

eral Com

puter Investig

ations C

om

mittee (FC

IC) is the m

ost

important and

influential org

anization in the realm

of A

merican co

m-

puter-crim

e. Since the p

olice o

f other co

untries have largely taken

their com

puter-crim

e cues from

Am

erican metho

ds, the FC

IC m

ight

well b

e called the m

ost im

portant co

mputer crim

e gro

up in the w

orld

.

It is also, b

y federal stand

ards, an o

rganizatio

n of g

reat unortho

doxy.

State and

local investig

ators m

ix with fed

eral agents. Law

yers, finan-cial aud

itors and

com

puter-security p

rogram

mers trad

e notes w

ithstreet cops. Industry vendors and telco security people show

up toexp

lain their gad

getry and

plead

for p

rotectio

n and justice. Private

investig

ators, th

ink-tan

k experts an

d in

dustry p

undits th

row

in th

eirtw

o cents' w

orth. T

he FCIC

is the antithesis of a fo

rmal b

ureaucracy.

Mem

bers o

f the FCIC

are obscurely p

roud

of this fact; they reco

gnize

their gro

up as ab

errant, but are entirely co

nvinced that this, fo

r them,

outrig

ht *w

eird* b

ehavio

r is neverth

eless *abso

lutely n

ecessary* toget their jo

bs d

one.

FCIC

regulars —

from

the Secret S

ervice, the FBI, the IR

S, the

Departm

ent of Labor, the offices of federal attorneys, state police, the

Air Fo

rce, from

military intellig

ence — o

ften attend m

eetings, held

hither and thither acro

ss the country, at their o

wn exp

ense. The FC

ICdoesn't get grants. It doesn't charge m

embership fees. It doesn't have a

boss. It has no headquarters —

just a mail drop in W

ashington D

C, at the

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

G —

TH

E H

AC

KE

R C

RA

CK

DO

WN

N

OT

FO

R C

OM

ME

RC

IAL

US

E1 9 6

Fraud Division of the Secret Service. It doesn't have a budget. It doesn't

have schedules. It meets three tim

es a year — sort of. Som

etimes it

issues p

ublicatio

ns, b

ut th

e FCIC

has n

o reg

ular p

ublish

er, no treasu

r-er, no

t even a secretary. There are no

minutes o

f FCIC

meeting

s. Non-

federal p

eople are co

nsidered

"non-vo

ting m

embers," b

ut there's not

much in the w

ay of electio

ns. There are no

bad

ges, lap

el pins o

r certifi-cates o

f mem

bership

. Everyone is o

n a first- name b

asis. There are

about forty of them. N

obody knows how

many, exactly. People com

e,peo

ple g

o —

som

etimes p

eople "g

o" fo

rmally b

ut still hang aro

und any-

way. N

obody has ever exactly fig

ured o

ut what "m

embership

" of this

"Com

mittee" actually entails.

Strang

e as this may seem

to so

me, to

anyone fam

iliar with the so

cialw

orld

of co

mputing

, the "org

anization" o

f the FCIC

is very recognizab

le.

For years now, econom

ists and managem

ent theorists have speculatedthat the tid

al wave o

f the inform

ation revo

lution w

ould

destro

y rigid

,pyram

idal b

ureaucracies, where everything

is top- d

ow

n and centrally

contro

lled. H

ighly trained

"emplo

yees" would

take on m

uch greater

autono

my, b

eing self-starting

, and self-m

otivating

, moving

from

place

to place, task to

task, with g

reat speed and fluidity. "Ad-ho

cracy" would

rule, with g

roup

s of p

eople sp

ontaneo

usly knitting to

gether acro

ssorg

anizational lines, tackling

the pro

blem

at hand, ap

plying

intenseco

mputer-aid

ed exp

ertise to it, and

then vanishing w

hence they came.

This is m

ore o

r less what has actually hap

pened

in the world

of fed

eralcom

puter investigation. With the conspicuous exception of the phone

com

panies, w

hich are after all over a hund

red years o

ld, p

ractically*every* o

rganizatio

n that plays any im

portant ro

le in this book func-

tions just like the FC

IC. T

he Chicag

o T

ask Force, the A

rizona

Racketeering

Unit, the Leg

ion o

f Doom

, the Phrack crow

d, the Electro

nicFro

ntier Found

ation —

they *all* look and

act like "tiger team

s" or

"user's gro

ups." T

hey are all electronic ad

-hocracies leap

ing up

spon-

taneously to attempt to m

eet a need.

Som

e are police. S

om

e are, by strict d

efinition, crim

inals. Som

e arepolitical interest-g

roup

s. But every sing

le gro

up has that sam

e quality

of apparent spontaneity — "H

ey, gang! My uncle's got a barn —

let's put

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

G —

TH

E H

AC

KE

R C

RA

CK

DO

WN

N

OT

FO

R C

OM

ME

RC

IAL

US

E1 9 7

on a sho

w!"

Every one o

f these gro

ups is em

barrassed

by this "am

ateurism," and

,fo

r the sake of their p

ublic im

age in a w

orld

of no

n-com

puter p

eople,

they all attempt to

look as stern and

form

al and im

pressive as p

ossib

le.These electro

nic fro

ntier-d

wellers resem

ble g

roups o

f nin

eteenth

-cen-

tury pio

neers hankering after the resp

ectability o

f statehood. T

here areho

wever, tw

o crucial d

ifferences in the historical exp

erience of these

"pio

neers" of the nineteeth and

twenty-first centuries.

First, pow

erful inform

ation techno

logy *d

oes* p

lay into the hand

s of

small, fluid

, loosely o

rganized

gro

ups. T

here have always b

een "pio

-neers," "ho

bbyists," "am

ateurs," "dilettantes," "vo

lunteers," "move-

ments," "users' g

roup

s" and "b

lue-ribbon p

anels of exp

erts" around

.But a g

roup of this kind — w

hen technically equipped to ship huge

amounts o

f specialized

inform

ation, at lig

htning sp

eed, to

its mem

bers,

to g

overnm

ent, and to

the press —

is simply a d

ifferent kind o

f animal.

It's like the difference b

etween an eel and

an electric eel.

The seco

nd crucial chang

e is that Am

erican society is currently in a

state appro

aching p

ermanent techno

logical revo

lution. In the w

orld

of

com

pute

rs particu

larly, it is practically im

possib

le to

*eve

r* stop

being

a "pio

neer," unless you either d

rop d

ead o

r delib

erately jump o

ffthe b

us. The scene has never slow

ed down enoug

h to becom

e well-insti-

tutionalized

. And

after twenty, thirty, fo

rty years the "com

puter revo

-lution" continues to spread, to perm

eate new corners of society.

Anything

that really works is alread

y obso

lete.

If you sp

end yo

ur entire working

life as a "pio

neer," the word

"pio

neer"beg

ins to lo

se its meaning

. Your w

ay of life lo

oks less and

less like anintroduction to "som

ething else" more stable and organized, and m

oreand

more like *just the w

ay things are.* A

"perm

anent revolutio

n" isreally a co

ntrad

iction in

terms. If "tu

rmoil" lasts lo

ng en

ough, it sim

-ply b

ecom

es *a new kind

of so

ciety* — still the sam

e gam

e of histo

ry,but new

players, new

rules.

Apply this to

the world

of late tw

entieth-century law enfo

rcement, and

the implicatio

ns are novel and

puzzling

indeed

. Any b

ureaucratic rule-

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

G —

TH

E

HA

CK

ER

CR

AC

KD

OW

N

NO

T F

OR

CO

MM

ER

CIA

L U

SE

1 9 8

book yo

u write ab

out co

mputer-crim

e will b

e flawed

when yo

u write it,

and almost an antique b

y the time it sees print. T

he fluidity and fastreactio

ns of the FC

IC g

ive them a g

reat advantage in this reg

ard, which

explains their success. Even w

ith the best w

ill in the world

(which it

does no

t, in fact, possess) it is im

possib

le for an o

rganizatio

n the size of

the U.S. Federal B

ureau of Investigation to get up to speed on the theoryand

practice o

f com

puter crim

e. If they tried to

train all their agents to

do this, it w

ould

be *suicid

al,* as they would

*never be ab

le to d

o any-

thing else.*

The FB

I does try to

train its agents in the b

asics of electro

nic crime, at

their base in Q

uantico, V

irginia. A

nd the S

ecret Service, alo

ng w

ithm

any other law

enforcem

ent gro

ups, runs q

uite successful and w

ell-attend

ed training

courses o

n wire fraud

, business crim

e, and co

mputer

intrusion at the Fed

eral Law Enfo

rcement T

raining C

enter (FLETC,

pronounced "fletsy") in Glynco, G

eorgia. B

ut the best efforts of these

bureaucracies does not remove the absolute need for a "cutting-edge

mess" like the FC

IC.

For yo

u see — the m

embers o

f FCIC

*are* the trainers of the rest o

f lawenfo

rcement. Practically and

literally speaking

, they are the Glynco

com

puter-crim

e faculty by ano

ther name. If the FC

IC w

ent over a cliff

on a bus, the U.S. law

enforcement com

munity w

ould be rendered deafdum

b and

blind

in the world

of co

mputer crim

e, and w

ould

swiftly feel a

desperate need to reinvent them. A

nd this is no time to go starting from

scratch.

On June 1

1, 1

99

1, I o

nce again arrived

in Phoenix, A

rizona, fo

r thelatest m

eeting of the Federal C

omputer Investig

ations Com

mittee. T

hisw

as more or less the tw

entieth meeting

of this stellar group. T

he countw

as uncertain, since nobody co

uld fig

ure out w

hether to includ

e them

eetings o

f "the Colluq

uy," which is w

hat the FCIC

was called

in them

id-1980s b

efore it had even manag

ed to obtain the dig

nity of its own

acronym

.

Since m

y last visit to A

rizona, in M

ay, the local A

zScam

brib

ery scandal

had reso

lved itself in a g

eneral mud

dle o

f humiliatio

n. The Pho

enixchief of police, w

hose agents had videotaped nine state legislators up to

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

G —

TH

E H

AC

KE

R C

RA

CK

DO

WN

N

OT

FO

R C

OM

ME

RC

IAL

US

E1 9 9

no g

ood, had

resigned

his office in a tussle w

ith the Phoenix city co

uncilover the p

ropriety o

f his underco

ver operatio

ns.

The Pho

enix Chief co

uld no

w jo

in Gail T

hackeray and eleven o

f her clos-

est associates in the shared

experience o

f politically m

otivated

unem-

plo

yment. A

s of June, resig

nations w

ere still continuing

at the Arizo

naA

ttorney G

eneral's office, w

hich could

be interp

reted as either a N

ewBro

om

Sw

eeping

Clean o

r a Nig

ht of the Lo

ng K

nives Part II, dep

ending

on yo

ur point o

f view.

The m

eeting of FCIC

was held at the Scottsdale H

ilton Resort. Scottsdaleis a w

ealthy suburb

of Pho

enix, know

n as "Sco

ttsdull" to

scoffing

local

trendies, b

ut well-eq

uipped

with p

osh sho

pping

- malls and

manicured

lawns, w

hile consp

icuously und

ersupplied

with ho

meless d

erelicts. The

Sco

ttsdale H

ilton R

esort w

as a spraw

ling ho

tel in postm

odern cryp

to-

Southw

estern style. It featured a "m

ission b

ell tow

er" plated

inturq

uoise tile and

vaguely resem

bling

a Saud

i minaret.

Inside it w

as all barb

arically striped

Santa Fe S

tyle deco

r. There w

as ahealth spa dow

nstairs and a large oddly-shaped pool in the patio. A

poolsid

e um

brella-stan

d o

ffered B

en an

d Jerry's p

olitically co

rrectPeace Po

ps.

I registered

as a mem

ber o

f FCIC

, attaining a hand

y disco

unt rate, thenw

ent in search of the Feds. Sure enough, at the back of the hotel groundscam

e the unmistakab

le sound

of G

ail Thackeray ho

lding

forth.

Since I had also attended the Com

puters Freedom and Privacy conference

(about w

hich more later), this w

as the second

time I had

seen Thackeray

in a gro

up o

f her law enfo

rcement co

lleagues. O

nce again I w

as struckby how

simply pleased they seem

ed to see her. It was natural that she'd

get *some* attention, as G

ail was one of tw

o wom

en in a group of some

thirty men; b

ut there was a lo

t more to

it than that.

Gail T

hackeray perso

nifies the social g

lue of the FC

IC. T

hey could

give a

dam

n about her lo

sing her jo

b w

ith the Atto

rney General. T

hey were

sorry ab

out it, o

f course, b

ut hell, they'd all lo

st jobs. If they w

ere thekind of g

uys who liked steady b

oring job

s, they would never have g

otten

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

G —

TH

E H

AC

KE

R C

RA

CK

DO

WN

N

OT

FO

R C

OM

ME

RC

IAL

US

E2 0 0

into co

mputer w

ork in the first p

lace.

I wand

ered into

her circle and w

as imm

ediately intro

duced

to five

strangers. T

he cond

itions o

f my visit at FC

IC w

ere reviewed

. I would

not quote anyone directly. I would not tie opinions expressed to the

agencies of the attendees. I w

ould not (a purely hypothetical example)

report the co

nversation o

f a guy fro

m the S

ecret Service talking

quite

civilly to a g

uy from

the FBI, as these tw

o ag

encies *never* talk toeach o

ther, and the IR

S (also

present, also

hypothetical) *never talks to

anybody.*

Worse yet, I w

as forbidden to attend the first conference. A

nd I didn't. Ihave no idea w

hat the FCIC

was up to behind closed doors that afternoon. I

rather suspect that they w

ere engag

ing in a frank and

thoro

ugh co

nfes-sio

n of their erro

rs, goof-up

s and b

lunders, as this has b

een a feature of

every FCIC

meeting

since their legend

ary Mem

phis b

eer- bust o

f 19

86

.Perhap

s the single g

reatest attraction o

f FCIC

is that it is a place w

hereyo

u can go, let yo

ur hair dow

n, and co

mpletely level w

ith peo

ple w

hoactually co

mprehend

what yo

u are talking ab

out. N

ot o

nly do they und

er-stand

you, b

ut they *really pay attentio

n,* they are *grateful fo

r your

insights,* and

they *forg

ive you,* w

hich in nine cases out o

f ten issom

ething even your boss can't do, because as soon as you start talking"R

OM

," "BBS," o

r "T-1

trunk," h

is eyes glaze o

ver.

I had nothing much to do that afternoon. T

he FCIC

were beavering aw

ayin their co

nference room

. Doors w

ere firmly clo

sed, w

indow

s too d

arkto

peer thro

ugh. I w

ond

ered w

hat a real hacker, a com

puter intrud

er,w

ould

do at a m

eeting like this.

The answ

er came at once. H

e would "trash" the place. N

ot reduce theplace to trash in som

e orgy of vandalism; that's not the use of the term

in the hacker milieu. N

o, he w

ould

quietly *em

pty the trash b

askets*and

silently raid any valuab

le data ind

iscreetly throw

n away.

Journalists have b

een know

n to d

o this. (Jo

urnalists hunting info

rma-

tion have been know

n to do almost every sing

le unethical thing that

hackers have ever done. T

hey also thro

w in a few

awful techniq

ues alltheir o

wn.) T

he legality o

f 'trashing' is so

mew

hat dub

ious b

ut it is not

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

G —

TH

E H

AC

KE

R C

RA

CK

DO

WN

N

OT

FO

R C

OM

ME

RC

IAL

US

E2 0 1

in fact flagrantly illeg

al. It was, ho

wever, ab

surd to

contem

plate

trashing the FC

IC. T

hese peo

ple knew

all about trashing

. I would

n't lastfifteen seco

nds.

The idea sounded interesting, though. I'd been hearing a lot about the

practice lately. O

n the spur o

f the mom

ent, I decid

ed I w

ould

try trash-ing

the office *acro

ss the hall* from

the FCIC

, an area which had

noth-

ing to

do w

ith the investigato

rs.

The o

ffice was tiny; six chairs, a tab

le.... Nevertheless, it w

as open, so

Idug

around

in its plastic trash can.

To m

y utter astonishm

ent, I came up

with the to

rn scraps o

f a SPR

INT

long-distance phone b

ill. More dig

ging

produced a bank statem

ent andthe scrap

s of a hand

-written letter, alo

ng w

ith gum

, cigarette ashes,

candy w

rappers and

a day-o

ld-issue o

f USA

TO

DA

Y.

The trash w

ent back in its recep

tacle while the scrap

s of d

ata went into

my travel b

ag. I detoured throug

h the hotel souvenir shop for some

Scotch tape and went up to m

y room.

Coincid

ence or no

t, it was q

uite true. Som

e poor so

ul had, in fact,

throw

n a SPR

INT b

ill into the ho

tel's trash. Date M

ay 19

91

, total

amount d

ue: $2

52

.36

. Not a b

usiness pho

ne, either, but a resid

entialbill, in the nam

e of so

meo

ne called Evelyn (no

t her real name).

Evelyn's record

s show

ed a #

# PA

ST D

UE B

ILL ##

! Here w

as hernine-d

igit acco

unt ID. H

ere was a stern co

mputer-p

rinted w

arning:

"TREA

T YO

UR FO

NCA

RD A

S YOU W

OULD

AN

Y CRED

IT C

ARD

. TO

SECURE

AG

AIN

ST FRA

UD

, NEV

ER GIV

E YO

UR FO

NCA

RD N

UM

BER O

VER T

HE PH

ON

EU

NLES

S Y

OU

INIT

IATED

TH

E CA

LL. IF YO

U R

ECEIV

E SU

SPIC

IOU

S C

ALLS

PLEASE N

OTIFY

CU

STO

MER

SER

VIC

E IMM

EDIA

TELY

!"

I examined

my w

atch. Still p

lenty of tim

e left for the FC

IC to

carry on.

I sorted

out the scrap

s of Evelyn's S

PRIN

T b

ill and re-assem

bled

themw

ith fresh Sco

tch tape. H

ere was her ten-d

igit FO

NCA

RD

number.

Did

n't seem to

have the ID num

ber necessary to

cause real fraud tro

uble.

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

G —

TH

E

HA

CK

ER

CR

AC

KD

OW

N

NO

T F

OR

CO

MM

ER

CIA

L U

SE

2 0 2

I did

, how

ever, have Evelyn's hom

e pho

ne number. A

nd the p

hone num

-bers fo

r a who

le crow

d o

f Evelyn's long

-distance friend

s and acq

uain-tances. In San D

iego, Folsom, Redondo, Las V

egas, La Jolla, Topeka, and

Northam

pto

n Massachusetts. Even so

meb

ody in A

ustralia!

I examined other docum

ents. Here w

as a bank statement. It w

asEvelyn's IR

A acco

unt dow

n at a bank in S

an Mateo

Califo

rnia (total b

al-ance $

18

77

.20

). Here w

as a charge-card

bill fo

r $3

82

.64

. She w

aspaying

it off b

it by b

it.

Driven b

y motives that w

ere com

pletely unethical and

prurient, I no

wexam

ined the hand

written no

tes. They had

been to

rn fairly thoro

ughly,

so much so that it took m

e almost an entire five m

inutes to reassemble

them.

They w

ere drafts of a love letter. They had b

een written on the lined

stationery o

f Evelyn's emplo

yer, a bio

med

ical com

pany. Pro

bab

lyw

ritten at work w

hen she should have been doing

something

else.

"Dear B

ob," (no

t his real name) "I g

uess in everyone's life there co

mes

a time w

hen hard decisions have to be m

ade, and this is a difficult onefor m

e — very upsetting. Since you haven't called m

e, and I don'tunderstand w

hy, I can only surmise it's b

ecause you don't want to. I

thoug

ht I would

have heard fro

m yo

u Friday. I d

id have a few

unusualpro

blem

s with m

y pho

ne and p

ossib

ly you tried

, I hope so

. "Robert, yo

uasked m

e to 'let go'..."

The first no

te ended

. *Unusual p

roblem

s with her p

hone?* I lo

oked

swiftly at the next no

te.

"Bob, no

t hearing fro

m yo

u for the w

hole w

eekend has left m

e very per-

plexed

..."

Next d

raft.

"Dear B

ob, there is so

much I d

on't und

erstand rig

ht now

, and I w

ish Idid

. I wish I co

uld talk to

you, b

ut for so

me unkno

wn reaso

n you have

elected not to call — this is so difficult for m

e to understand..."

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She tried

again.

"Bob, S

ince I have always held

you in such hig

h esteem, I had

every hope

that we co

uld rem

ain good friend

s, but no

w o

ne essential ingred

ient ism

issing —

respect. Y

our ab

ility to d

iscard p

eople w

hen their purp

ose is

served is appalling to m

e. The kindest thing

you could do for me now

isto leave m

e alone. You are no long

er welcom

e in my heart or hom

e..."

Try ag

ain.

"Bob, I w

rote a very factual note to you to say how m

uch respect I hadlo

st for yo

u, by the w

ay you treat p

eople, m

e in particular, so

uncaringand cold. T

he kindest thing you can do for m

e is to leave me alone entire-

ly, as you are no

long

er welco

me in m

y heart or ho

me. I w

ould

appreci-

ate it if you could retire your debt to m

e as soon as possible —

I wish no

link to

you in

any w

ay. Sin

cerely, Evelyn."

Good heavens, I thoug

ht, the bastard actually ow

es her money! I turned

to the next page.

"Bob: very sim

ple. G

OO

DBYE! N

o m

ore m

ind g

ames —

no m

ore fascina-

tion — no m

ore coldness — no m

ore respect for you! It's over — Finis.

Evie"

There w

ere two versio

ns of the final b

rushoff letter, b

ut they read ab

out

the same. M

aybe she had

n't sent it. The final item

in my illicit and

shameful booty w

as an envelope addressed to "Bob" at his hom

e address,but it had no stam

p on it and it hadn't been mailed.

Mayb

e she'd just b

een blo

wing

off steam

because her rascal b

oyfriend

had neglected to call her one weekend. B

ig deal. Maybe they'd kissed and

made up, m

aybe she and Bob w

ere down at Pop's C

hocolate Shop now,

sharing a m

alted. S

ure.

Easy to find

out. A

ll I had to

do w

as call Evelyn up. W

ith a half-cleversto

ry and eno

ugh b

rass- plated

gall I co

uld p

robab

ly trick the truth out

of her. Pho

ne-phreaks and

hackers deceive p

eople o

ver the pho

ne all the

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time. It's called

"social eng

ineering." S

ocial eng

ineering is a very co

m-

mon p

ractice in the underg

round

, and alm

ost m

agically effective. H

uman

being

s are almost alw

ays the weakest link in co

mputer security. T

hesim

plest w

ay to learn T

hings Y

ou A

re Not M

eant To K

now

is simply to

call up and

explo

it the know

ledgeab

le peo

ple. W

ith social eng

ineering,

you use the bits of specialized knowledge you already have as a key, to

manip

ulate peo

ple into

believing

that you are leg

itimate. Y

ou can then

coax, flatter, o

r frighten them

into revealing

almost anything

you w

antto

know

. Deceiving

peo

ple (esp

ecially over the p

hone) is easy and

fun.Exp

loitin

g th

eir g

ullib

ility is ve

ry g

ratifyin

g; it m

akes y

ou fe

el ve

rysup

erior to

them.

If I'd b

een a malicio

us hacker on a trashing

raid, I w

ould

now

haveEvelyn very m

uch in my p

ow

er. Given all this insid

e data, it w

ould

n'ttake m

uch effort at all to

invent a convincing

lie. If I were ruthless

enoug

h, and jad

ed eno

ugh, and

clever enoug

h, this mom

entary indiscre-

tion of hers — m

aybe comm

itted in tears, who know

s — could cause her a

who

le world

of co

nfusion and

grief.

I did

n't even have to have a *m

alicious* m

otive. M

aybe I'd

be "o

n herside," and call up B

ob instead, and anonym

ously threaten to break b

othhis kneecap

s if he did

n't take Evelyn out fo

r a steak dinner p

ronto

. Itw

as still pro

found

ly *none o

f my b

usiness.* To have g

otten this

knowledge at all w

as a sordid act and to use it would be to inflict a sordid

inju

ry.

To d

o all these aw

ful things w

ould

require exactly zero

high-tech

expertise. A

ll it would

take was the w

illingness to

do it and

a certainam

ount o

f bent im

aginatio

n.

I went b

ack dow

nstairs. The hard

-working

FCIC

, who

had lab

ored

forty-

five minutes o

ver their schedule, w

ere throug

h for the d

ay, andad

journed

to the ho

tel bar. W

e all had a b

eer.

I had a chat w

ith a guy ab

out "Isis," o

r rather IACIS

, the International

Asso

ciation o

f Com

puter Investig

ation S

pecialists. T

hey're into "co

m-

puter fo

rensics," the techniques o

f picking

com

puter- system

s apart

witho

ut destro

ying vital evid

ence. IACIS

, currently run out o

f Oreg

on, is

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com

prised

of investig

ators in the U

.S., C

anada, T

aiwan and

Ireland.

"Taiw

an an

d Ire

land?" I said

. Are

*Taiw

an* an

d *Ire

land* re

ally inthe fo

refront o

f this stuff? Well no

t exactly, my info

rmant ad

mitted

.They just happen to have been the first ones to have caught on by w

ord ofm

outh. S

till, the international ang

le counts, b

ecause this is obvio

uslyan internatio

nal pro

blem

. Phone-lines g

o everyw

here.

There w

as a Mountie here fro

m the R

oyal C

anadian M

ounted

Police. H

eseem

ed to be having quite a good time. N

obody had flung this Canadian

out b

ecause he mig

ht pose a fo

reign security risk. T

hese are cyberspace

cops. T

hey still worry a lo

t about "jurisd

ictions," b

ut mere g

eograp

hyis the least o

f their troub

les.

NA

SA had failed to show

. NA

SA suffers a lot from

computer intrusions,

in p

articular fro

m A

ustralian

raiders an

d a w

ell-trum

peted

Chao

sCom

puter C

lub case, and

in 19

90

there was a b

rief press flurry w

henit w

as revealed that one of NA

SA's H

ouston branch-exchanges had beensystem

atically ripped off by a g

ang of phone-phreaks. B

ut the NA

SAguys had

had their fund

ing cut. T

hey were strip

ping

everything.

Air Fo

rce OSI, its O

ffice of S

pecial Investig

ations, is the *o

nly* federal

entity dedicated full-time to com

puter security. They'd been expected to

show up in force, but som

e of them had cancelled —

a Pentagon budgetpinch.

As the em

pties p

iled up

, the guys b

egan jo

shing aro

und and

telling w

ar-sto

ries. "These are co

ps," T

hackeray said to

lerantly. "If they're not

talking shop they talk about wom

en and beer."

I heard the story about the guy who, asked for "a copy" of a com

puterdisk, *photocopied the lab

el on it.* He put the floppy disk onto the g

lassplate of a photocopier. T

he blast of static w

hen the copier worked com

-pletely erased

all the real inform

ation o

n the disk.

Some other poor souls threw

a whole bag of confiscated diskettes into the

squad

-car trunk next to the p

olice rad

io. T

he pow

erful radio

signal

blasted them, too.

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We heard a b

it about D

ave Geneson, the first com

puter prosecutor, am

ainframe-runner in D

ade C

ounty, turned

lawyer. D

ave Geneso

n was

one g

uy who

had hit the g

round

running, a sig

nal virtue in making

thetransitio

n to co

mputer-crim

e. It was g

enerally agreed

that it was easi-

er to learn the w

orld

of co

mputers first, then p

olice o

r pro

secutorial

work. Y

ou could take certain computer people and train 'em

to successfulpolice w

ork — b

ut of course they had to have the *cop mentality.* T

heyhad to have street sm

arts. Patience. Persistence. And discretion.

You've got to make sure they're not hot- shots, show

-offs, "cowboys."

Most o

f the folks in the b

ar had b

ackgro

unds in m

ilitary intelligence, o

rdrug

s, or ho

micid

e. It was rud

ely opined

that "military intellig

ence"w

as a contrad

iction in term

s, while even the g

risly world

of ho

micid

ew

as considered cleaner than drug enforcement. O

ne guy had been 'way

underco

ver doing

dope-w

ork in Euro

pe fo

r four years straig

ht. "I'malm

ost recovered now," he said deadpan, w

ith the acid black hum

or thatis p

ure cop. "H

ey, now

I can say *fucker* witho

ut putting

*mother*

in front o

f it."

"In the cop w

orld

," another g

uy said earnestly, "everything

is good and

bad

, black and

white. In the co

mputer w

orld

everything is g

ray."

One guy —

a founder of the FCIC

, who'd been w

ith the group since it was

just the Colluq

uy — d

escribed

his ow

n introductio

n to the field

. He'd

been a W

ashington D

C hom

icide guy called in on a "hacker" case. From

the word

"hacker," he naturally assumed

he was o

n the trail of a knife-

wielding m

arauder, and went to the com

puter center expecting blood anda b

ody. W

hen he finally figured

out w

hat was hap

pening

there (afterlo

udly d

emand

ing, in vain, that the p

rogram

mers "sp

eak English"), he

called headquarters and told them he w

as clueless about computers.

They told him

nobody else knew diddly either, and to get the hell back to

work.

So, he said, he had proceeded by comparisons. B

y analogy. By m

etaphor."S

om

ebody b

roke in to

your co

mputer, huh?" B

reaking and

entering; I

can understand that. How

'd he get in? "O

ver the phone- lines."H

arassing p

hone-calls, I can und

erstand that! W

hat we need

here is atap

and a trace!

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It worked. It w

as better than nothing

. And it w

orked a lot faster when

he got hold of another cop who'd done som

ething similar. A

nd then thetw

o of them got another, and another, and pretty soon the C

olluquy was a

happening thing. It helped a lot that everybody seemed to know

Carlton

Fitzpatrick, th

e data-p

rocessin

g train

er in G

lynco

.

The ice b

roke b

ig-tim

e in Mem

phis in '8

6. T

he Colluq

uy had attracted

abunch o

f new g

uys — S

ecret Service, FB

I, military, o

ther feds, heavy

guys. Nobody w

anted to tell anybody anything. They suspected that if

word got back to the hom

e office they'd all be fired. They passed an

uncom

fortab

ly guard

ed afterno

on.

The fo

rmalities g

ot them

now

here. But after the fo

rmal sessio

n was

over, the o

rganizers b

roug

ht in a case of b

eer. As so

on as the p

artici-pants kno

cked it o

ff with the b

ureaucratic ranks and turf-fig

hting,

everything chang

ed. "I b

ared m

y soul," o

ne veteran reminisced

pro

udly.

By nig

htfall they were b

uilding

pyram

ids o

f empty b

eer-cans and d

oing

everything but composing a team

fight song.

FCIC

were no

t the only co

mputer-crim

e peo

ple aro

und. T

here was

DA

TTA

(District A

ttorneys' Technology T

heft Association), though they

mostly sp

ecialized in

chip

theft, in

tellectual p

roperty, an

d b

lack-mar-

ket cases. There w

as HTCIA

(Hig

h Tech C

omputer Investig

atorsA

ssociatio

n), also o

ut in Silico

n Valley, a year o

lder than FC

IC and

fea-turing

brilliant p

eople like D

onald

Ingraham

. There w

as LEETA

C (Law

Enforcem

ent Electronic T

echnolo

gy A

ssistance Com

mittee) in Flo

rida,

and co

mputer- crim

e units in Illinois and

Maryland

and T

exas and O

hioand

Colo

rado and

Pennsylvania. But these w

ere local g

roup

s. FCIC

were

the first to really netw

ork natio

nally and o

n a federal level.

FCIC

peo

ple live o

n the pho

ne lines. Not o

n bulletin b

oard

systems —

they know

very well w

hat board

s are, and they kno

w that b

oard

s aren'tsecure. Everyo

ne in the FCIC

has a voice-p

hone b

ill like you w

ould

n'tbelieve. FC

IC people have b

een tight w

ith the telco people for a longtim

e. Telep

hone cyb

erspace is their native hab

itat.

FCIC

has three basic sub

-tribes: the trainers, the security p

eople, and

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the investigato

rs. That's w

hy it's called an "Investig

ations C

om

mittee"

with no

mentio

n of the term

"com

puter-crim

e" — the d

readed

"C-w

ord

."FC

IC, o

fficially, is "an associatio

n of ag

encies rather than individ

uals;"uno

fficially, this field is sm

all enoug

h that the influence of ind

ividuals

and ind

ividual exp

ertise is param

ount. A

ttendance is b

y invitation o

nly,and

most everyo

ne in FCIC

consid

ers himself a p

rophet w

ithout ho

nor in

his ow

n house.

Again and

again I heard

this, with d

ifferent terms b

ut identical senti-

ments. "I'd

been sitting

in the wild

erness talking to

myself." "I w

asto

tally isolated

." "I was d

esperate." "FC

IC is the b

est thing there is

about co

mputer crim

e in Am

erica." "FCIC

is what really w

orks." "T

hisis w

here you hear real p

eople telling

you w

hat's really happening

out

there, not just law

yers picking

nits." "We taug

ht each other everything

we knew

."

The sincerity o

f these statements co

nvinces me that this is true. FC

IC is

the real thing and

it is invaluable. It's also

very sharply at o

dds w

iththe rest o

f the traditio

ns and p

ow

er structure in Am

erican law enfo

rce-m

ent. There prob

ably hasn't b

een anything around as loose and g

o-get-

ting as the FC

IC since the start o

f the U.S

. Secret S

ervice in the 18

60

s.FC

IC p

eople

are livin

g like

twenty-first- ce

ntu

ry people

in a tw

enti-

eth-century environm

ent, and w

hile there's a great d

eal to b

e said fo

rthat, there's also a great deal to be said against it, and those against ithappen to control the budgets.

I listened to

two FC

IC g

uys from

Jersey com

pare life histo

ries. One o

fthem

had b

een a biker in a fairly heavy-d

uty gang

in the 19

60

s. "Oh,

did

you kno

w so

-and-so

?" said the o

ther guy fro

m Jersey. "B

ig g

uy,heavyset?"

"Yeah, I knew

him."

"Yeah, he was one of ours. H

e was our plant in the gang."

"Really? W

ow

! Yeah, I knew

him. H

elluva guy."

Thackeray rem

inisced at leng

th about b

eing tear-g

assed b

lind in the

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Novem

ber 1

96

9 antiw

ar pro

tests in Washing

ton C

ircle, covering

themfor her colleg

e paper. "Oh yeah, I w

as there," said another cop. "Glad to

hear that tear gas hit somethin'. H

aw haw

haw." H

e'd been so blindhim

self, he confessed

, that later that day he'd

arrested a sm

all tree.

FCIC

are an odd group, sifted out by coincidence and necessity, andturned into a new

kind of cop. There are a lot of specialized cops in the

world

— yo

ur bunco

guys, yo

ur drug

guys, yo

ur tax guys, b

ut the only

gro

up that m

atches FCIC

for sheer iso

lation are p

robab

ly the child-

porno

grap

hy peo

ple. B

ecause they both d

eal with co

nspirato

rs who

aredesperate to exchange forbidden data and also desperate to hide; andbecause nobody else in law

enforcement even w

ants to hear about it.

FCIC

people tend to change jobs a lot. They tend not to get the equipm

entand training they w

ant and need. And they tend to get sued quite often.

As the nig

ht wore on and a b

and set up in the bar, the talk g

rew darker.

Nothing ever gets done in governm

ent, someone opined, until there's a

*disaster.* C

om

puting

disasters are aw

ful, but there's no

denying

thatthey g

reatly help the cred

ibility o

f FCIC

peo

ple. T

he Internet Worm

,for instance. "For years w

e'd been w

arning ab

out that — b

ut it's nothingcom

pared to what's com

ing." They expect horrors, these people. T

heykno

w that no

thing w

ill really get d

one until there is a ho

rror.

__

__

_

Next day w

e heard an extensive briefing

from a g

uy who'd b

een a com-

puter cop, gotten into hot w

ater with an A

rizona city council, and nowinstalled

com

puter netw

orks fo

r a living (at a co

nsiderab

le rise in pay).

He talked

about p

ulling fib

er-optic netw

orks ap

art.

Even a single co

mputer, w

ith enoug

h perip

herals, is a literal "network"

— a b

unch of m

achines all cabled

together, g

enerally with a co

mplexity

that puts stereo units to shame. FC

IC people invent and pub

licizem

ethods o

f seizing co

mputers and

maintaining

their evidence. S

imple

things, so

metim

es, but vital rules o

f thumb fo

r street cops, w

ho no

wa-

days o

ften stumble acro

ss a busy co

mputer in the m

idst o

f a drug

inves-tig

ation o

r a white-co

llar bust. Fo

r instance: Photo

grap

h the systembefore you touch it. Label the ends of all the cables before you detach

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anything. "Park" the heads on the disk drives b

efore you move them

.Get the diskettes. D

on't put the diskettes in magnetic fields. D

on't write

on diskettes with b

allpoint pens. Get the m

anuals. Get the printouts.

Get the handw

ritten notes. Copy data before you look at it, and then

examine the co

py instead

of the o

riginal.

Now

our lecturer d

istributed

copied

diag

rams o

f a typical LA

N o

r "Local

Area N

etwork", w

hich happened to be out of Connecticut. *O

ne hundredand

fifty-nine* deskto

p co

mputers, each w

ith its ow

n perip

herals.Three "file servers." Five "star co

uplers" each

with

thirty-tw

o p

orts.

One sixteen- p

ort co

upler o

ff in the corner o

ffice. All these m

achinestalkin

g to

each o

ther, d

istributin

g electro

nic m

ail, distrib

utin

g so

ft-w

are, distrib

utin

g, q

uite p

ossib

ly, crimin

al eviden

ce. All lin

ked b

yhig

h- capacity fiber-optic cab

le. A b

ad guy —

cops talk a lot about "b

adguys" —

mig

ht b

e lurkin

g o

n P

C #

47

or #

12

3 an

d d

istributin

g h

is illdoings onto som

e dupe's "personal" machine in another office —

orano

ther floor —

or, q

uite possib

ly, two o

r three miles aw

ay! Or, co

n-ceivab

ly, the evidence m

ight b

e "data-strip

ed" —

split up

into m

eaning-

less slivers stored

, one b

y one, o

n a who

le crow

d o

f different d

isk dri-

ves.

The lecturer challeng

ed us fo

r solutio

ns. I for o

ne was utterly clueless.

As far as I co

uld fig

ure, the Cossacks w

ere at the gate; there w

ere pro

b-

ably m

ore d

isks in this single b

uilding

than were seized

during

theentirety o

f Operatio

n Sund

evil.

"Inside info

rmant," so

meb

ody said

. Rig

ht. There's alw

ays the human

angle, something easy to forget w

hen contemplating the arcane recesses

of high technolog

y. Cops are skilled at g

etting people to talk, and com

-puter p

eople, g

iven a chair and so

me sustained

attention, w

ill talk about

their com

puters till their thro

ats go raw

. There's a case o

n record

of a

single q

uestion —

"How

'd yo

u do it?" —

eliciting a fo

rty-five-minute

video

taped

confessio

n from

a com

puter crim

inal who

not o

nly com

plete-

ly incrim

inated

him

self but d

rew h

elpfu

l diag

rams.

Com

puter p

eople talk. H

ackers *brag

.* Phone- p

hreaks talk *patho

-lo

gically* —

why else are they stealing

pho

ne-codes, if no

t to natter fo

rten ho

urs straight to

their friends o

n an opposite seab

oard

? Com

puter-

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literate people do in fact possess an arsenal of nifty gadgets and tech-niq

ues that would

allow

them to

conceal all kind

s of exo

tic skulldug

gery,

and if they co

uld o

nly *shut up* ab

out it, they co

uld p

robab

ly get aw

ayw

ith all manner o

f amazing

inform

ation-crim

es. But that's just no

tho

w it w

orks —

or at least, that's no

t how

it's worked

*so far.*

Most every p

hone-p

hreak ever busted

has swiftly im

plicated

his men-

tors, h

is discip

les, and h

is friends. M

ost every w

hite-co

llar com

puter-

criminal, sm

ugly co

nvinced that his clever schem

e is bulletp

roof,

swiftly learn

s oth

erwise w

hen

, for th

e first time in

his life, an

actual

no-kid

ding

policem

an leans over, g

rabs the fro

nt of his shirt, lo

oks him

right in the eye and

says: "All rig

ht, *asshole* —

you and

me are g

oing

dow

ntow

n!" All the hard

ware in the w

orld

will no

t insulate your

nerves from

these actual real-life sensations o

f terror and

guilt.

Cops know

ways to get from

point A to point Z w

ithout thumbing through

every letter in som

e smart-ass b

ad-g

uy's alphab

et. Cops kno

w ho

w to

cut to the chase. Cops know

a lot of things other people don't know.

Hackers know

a lot of things other people don't know, too. H

ackerskno

w, fo

r instance, how

to sneak into

your co

mputer thro

ugh the p

hone-

lines. But co

ps can sho

w up

*right o

n your d

oorstep

* and carry o

ff*yo

u* and yo

ur com

puter in sep

arate steel boxes. A

cop interested

inhackers can g

rab them

and g

rill them. A

hacker interested in co

ps has to

depend on hearsay, underground leg

ends, and what cops are w

illing to

pub

licly reveal. And

the Secret S

ervice did

n't get nam

ed "the *S

ecret*Service" b

ecause they blab

a lot.

Som

e peo

ple, o

ur lecturer inform

ed us, w

ere under the m

istakenim

pressio

n that it was "im

possib

le" to tap

a fiber-o

ptic line. W

ell, heanno

unced, he and

his son had

just whip

ped

up a fib

er-optic tap

in hisw

orksho

p at ho

me. H

e passed

it around

the audience, alo

ng w

ith a cir-cuit-co

vered LA

N p

lug-in card

so w

e'd all reco

gnize o

ne if we saw

it on a

case. We all had

a look.

The tap w

as a classic "Goofy Prototype" —

a thumb-length rounded m

etalcylind

er with a p

air of p

lastic brackets o

n it. From

one end

dang

ledthree thin b

lack cables, each o

f which end

ed in a tiny b

lack plastic cap

.

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When you plucked the safety-cap off the end of a cable, you could see the

glass fib

er — no

thicker than a pinho

le.

Our lecturer info

rmed

us that the metal cylind

er was a "w

avelength

divisio

n multip

lexer." Apparently, w

hat one d

id w

as to cut the fib

er-optic cable, insert tw

o of the legs into the cut to complete the netw

orkag

ain, and then read any passing data on the line b

y hooking up the third

leg to some kind of m

onitor. Sounded simple enough. I w

ondered why

nobody had thought of it before. I also wondered w

hether this guy's sonback at the w

orkshop had any teenage friends.

We had a break. T

he guy sitting next to me w

as wearing a giveaw

aybaseb

all cap ad

vertising the U

zi subm

achine gun. W

e had a d

esultory

chat about the m

erits of Uzis. Long

a favorite of the Secret Service, itseem

s Uzis w

ent out o

f fashion w

ith the advent o

f the Persian Gulf W

ar,our A

rab allies taking

som

e offense at A

mericans to

ting Israeli w

eapons.

Besid

es, I was info

rmed

by ano

ther expert, U

zis jam. T

he equivalent

weapon of choice today is the H

eckler & K

och, manufactured in G

ermany.

The g

uy with the U

zi cap was a forensic photog

rapher. He also did a lot

of p

hoto

grap

hic surveillance work in co

mputer crim

e cases. He used

to, th

at is, until th

e firings in

Phoen

ix. He w

as now

a private in

vesti-gato

r and, w

ith his wife, ran a p

hoto

grap

hy salon sp

ecializing in w

ed-

dings and portrait photos. A

t — one m

ust repeat — a considerab

le rise ininco

me.

He w

as still FCIC

. If you were FC

IC, and you needed to talk to an expert

about fo

rensic pho

tograp

hy, well, there he w

as, willing

and ab

le. If hehad

n't show

n up, p

eople w

ould

have missed

him.

Our lecturer had

raised the p

oint that p

reliminary investig

ation o

f aco

mputer system

is vital befo

re any seizure is undertaken. It's vital to

understand

how

many m

achines are in there, what kind

s there are, what

kind of operating system

they use, how m

any people use them, w

herethe actual data itself is stored. T

o simply b

arge into an office dem

anding"all the co

mputers" is a recip

e for sw

ift disaster.

This entails so

me d

iscreet inquiries b

eforehand

. In fact, what it entails

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is basically u

nderco

ver work. A

n in

telligen

ce operatio

n. *S

pyin

g,*

not to put too fine a point on it.

In a chat after the lecture, I asked an attendee whether "trashing

" mig

htw

ork.

I received a sw

ift briefing

on the theo

ry and p

ractice of "trash co

vers."Police

"trash co

vers," like

"mail co

vers" o

r like w

iretap

s, require

the

agreem

ent of a judge. T

his obtained, the "trashing

" work of cops is just

like that of hackers, only more so and m

uch better org

anized. So much

so, I w

as inform

ed, that m

obsters in Pho

enix make extensive use o

flo

cked g

arbag

e cans picked

up b

y a specialty hig

h-security trash com

-pany.

In one case, a tiger team of A

rizona cops had trashed a local residence forfour m

onths. Every week they show

ed up on the municipal g

arbag

etruck, disguised as garbagem

en, and carried the contents of the suspectcans off to a shade tree, w

here they combed through the garbage —

am

essy task, especially co

nsidering

that one o

f the occup

ants was und

er-going

kidney d

ialysis. All useful d

ocum

ents were cleaned

, dried

andexam

ined. A

discard

ed typ

ewriter-rib

bon w

as an especially valuab

leso

urce of d

ata, as its long

one- strike rib

bon o

f film co

ntained the co

n-tents of every letter m

ailed out of the house. The letters w

ere neatlyretyp

ed b

y a police secretary eq

uipped

with a larg

e desk-m

ounted

mag

-nifying

glass.

There is so

mething

weird

ly disq

uieting ab

out the w

hole sub

ject of

"trashing" — an unsuspected and indeed rather disgusting m

ode of deepperso

nal vulnerability. T

hings that w

e pass b

y every day, that w

e takeutterly fo

r granted

, can be exp

loited

with so

little work. O

nce disco

v-ered

, the know

ledge o

f these vulnerabilities tend

to sp

read.

Take the lo

wly sub

ject of *m

anhole co

vers.* The hum

ble m

anhole co

verrep

roduces m

any of the d

ilemm

as of co

mputer-security in m

iniature.M

anhole co

vers are, of co

urse, technolo

gical artifacts, access-p

oints to

our b

uried urb

an infrastructure. To the vast m

ajority o

f us, manho

leco

vers are invisible. T

hey are also vulnerab

le. For m

any years now

,the S

ecret Service has m

ade a p

oint o

f caulking m

anhole co

vers along

all

BR

UC

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routes o

f the Presidential m

oto

rcade. T

his is, of co

urse, to d

eter ter-ro

rists from

leapin

g o

ut o

f underg

round am

bush

or, m

ore likely, p

lant-

ing rem

ote-co

ntrol car- sm

ashing b

om

bs b

eneath the street.

Lately, manho

le covers have seen m

ore and

more crim

inal explo

itation,

especially in N

ew Y

ork C

ity. Recently, a telco

in New

York C

ity disco

v-ered

that a cable televisio

n service had b

een sneaking into

telco m

an-ho

les and installing

cable service alo

ngsid

e the pho

ne-lines — *w

ithout

paying

royalties.* N

ew Y

ork co

mpanies have also

suffered a g

eneralplag

ue of (a) und

ergro

und co

pper cab

le theft; (b) d

umping

of g

arbag

e,includ

ing to

xic waste, and

(c) hasty dum

ping

of m

urder victim

s.

Industry co

mplaints reached

the ears of an inno

vative New

England

industrial-security co

mpany, and

the result was a new

pro

duct kno

wn

as "the Intimid

ator," a thick titanium

-steel bolt w

ith a precisely

machined head that requires a special device to unscrew

. All these

"keys" have registered

serial numbers kep

t on file w

ith the manufac-

turer. There are no

w so

me tho

usands o

f these "Intimid

ator" b

olts b

eingsunk into

Am

erican pavem

ents wherever o

ur President p

asses, likesom

e macabre parody of strew

n roses. They are also spreading as fast

as steel dand

elions aro

und U

S m

ilitary bases and

many centers o

f pri-

vate industry.

Quite likely it has never o

ccurred to

you to

peer und

er a manho

le cover,

perhap

s climb d

ow

n and w

alk around

dow

n there with a flashlig

ht, justto

see what it's like. Fo

rmally sp

eaking, this m

ight b

e trespassing

, but

if you d

idn't hurt anything

, and d

idn't m

ake an abso

lute habit o

f it,nob

ody would really care. T

he freedom to sneak under m

anholes was

likely a freedom

you never intend

ed to

exercise.

You no

w are rather less likely to

have that freedom

at all. You m

aynever even have m

issed it until yo

u read ab

out it here, b

ut if you're in

New

York C

ity it's gone, and

elsewhere it's likely g

oing

. This is o

ne of

the things that crime, and the reaction to crim

e, does to us.

The tenor of the m

eeting now changed as the Electronic Frontier

Found

ation arrived

. The EFF, w

hose p

ersonnel and

history w

ill be

examined

in detail in the next chap

ter, are a pio

neering civil lib

erties

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gro

up w

ho aro

se in direct resp

onse to

the Hacker C

rackdow

n of 1

99

0.

Now

Mitchell K

apor, the Fo

undatio

n's presid

ent, and M

ichael Godw

in, itschief atto

rney, were co

nfronting

federal law

enforcem

ent *mano

am

ano* fo

r the first time ever. Ever alert to

the manifo

ld uses o

f pub

-licity, M

itch K

apor an

d M

ike Godw

in h

ad b

rought th

eir ow

n jo

urn

alistin to

w: R

obert D

raper, fro

m A

ustin, who

se recent well- received

book

about ROLLIN

G ST

ON

E magazine w

as still on the stands. Draper w

as onassig

nment fo

r TEX

AS M

ON

TH

LY.

The S

teve Jackson/EFF civil law

suit against the C

hicago C

om

puter Fraud

and A

buse T

ask Force w

as a matter o

f consid

erable reg

ional interest in

Texas. T

here were no

w tw

o A

ustinite journalists here o

n the case. Infact, co

unting G

odw

in (a form

er Austinite and

form

er journalist) there

were three o

f us. Lunch was like O

ld H

om

e Week.

Later, I took D

raper up

to m

y hotel ro

om

. We had

a long

frank talkab

out the case, netw

orking

earnestly like a miniature freelance-jo

urnoversio

n of the FC

IC: p

rivately confessing

the numero

us blund

ers of

journalists co

vering the sto

ry, and trying

hard to

figure o

ut who

was

who

and w

hat the hell was really g

oing

on o

ut there. I show

ed D

raper

everything I had dug out of the Hilton trashcan. W

e pondered the ethicsof "trashing

" for a w

hile, and ag

reed that they w

ere dism

al. We also

agreed

that finding

a SPR

INT b

ill on yo

ur first time o

ut was a heck o

f aco

incidence.

First I'd "trashed" — and now

, mere hours later, I'd b

ragged to som

eoneelse. H

aving entered

the lifestyle of hackerd

om

, I was no

w, unsurp

ris-ing

ly, follo

wing

its logic. H

aving d

iscovered

som

ething rem

arkable

throug

h a surreptitio

us action, I o

f course *had

* to "b

rag," and

to d

ragthe p

assing D

raper into

my iniq

uities. I felt I needed

a witness.

Otherw

ise nobody would have believed w

hat I'd discovered....

Back at th

e meetin

g, T

hackeray co

rdially, if rath

er tentatively, in

tro-

duced Kapor and G

odwin to her colleag

ues. Papers were distrib

uted.K

apor to

ok center stag

e. The b

rilliant Bosto

nian high-tech entrep

re-neur, no

rmally the haw

k in his ow

n adm

inistration and

quite an effec-

tive pub

lic speaker, seem

ed visib

ly nervous, and

frankly adm

itted as

BR

UC

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much. H

e beg

an by saying

he consided computer-intrusion to b

em

orally wrong

, and that the EFF was not a "hacker defense fund," despite

what had appeared in print. K

apor chatted a bit ab

out the basic m

oti-vatio

ns of his g

roup

, emphasizing

their good faith and

willing

ness tolisten and

seek com

mon g

round

with law

enforcem

ent — w

hen, er, pos-

sible.

Then, at G

odw

in's urging

, Kap

or sud

denly rem

arked that EFF's o

wn

Internet machine had b

een "hacked" recently, and that EFF did not con-sid

er this incident am

using.

After this surp

rising co

nfession, thing

s beg

an to lo

osen up

quite rap

idly.

Soon K

apor w

as fielding

questio

ns, parrying

objectio

ns, challenging

definitio

ns, and jug

gling

parad

igm

s with so

mething

akin to his usual

gusto

.

Kapor seem

ed to score quite an effect with his shrew

d and skepticalanalysis o

f the merits o

f telco "C

aller-ID" services. (O

n this topic,

FCIC

and EFF have never b

een at loggerhead

s, and have no

particular

established

earthworks to

defend

.) Caller-ID

has generally b

een pro

-m

oted

as a privacy service fo

r consum

ers, a presentatio

n Kap

or

describ

ed as a "sm

okescreen," the real p

oint o

f Caller-ID

being

to*allo

w co

rporate custo

mers to

build

extensive com

mercial d

atabases o

neveryb

ody w

ho p

hones o

r faxes them.* C

learly, few p

eople in the ro

om

had co

nsidered

this possib

ility, except p

erhaps fo

r two late-arrivals

from

US W

EST R

BO

C security, w

ho chuckled

nervously.

Mike G

odw

in then mad

e an extensive presentatio

n on "C

ivil Liberties

Implicatio

ns of C

om

puter S

earches and S

eizures." Now

, at last, we w

eregettin

g to

the real n

itty-gritty h

ere, real political h

orse-trad

ing. T

he

audience listened

with clo

se attention, ang

ry mutters rising

occasio

nal-ly: "H

e's trying to

teach us our jo

bs!" "W

e've been thinking

about this

for years! W

e think about these issues every d

ay!" "If I did

n't seize thew

orks, I'd

be sued

by the g

uy's victims!" "I'm

violating

the law if I

leave ten thousand

disks full o

f illegal *p

irated so

ftware* and

*stolen

codes!*" "It's our job to m

ake sure people don't trash the Constitution

— w

e're the *defenders* of the Constitution!" "W

e seize stuff when w

ekno

w it w

ill be fo

rfeited anyw

ay as restitution fo

r the victim!"

BR

UC

E S

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CR

AC

KD

OW

N

NO

T F

OR

CO

MM

ER

CIA

L U

SE

2 1 7

"If it's forfeitab

le, then don't g

et a search warrant, g

et a forfeiture

warrant," G

odw

in suggested

coolly. H

e further remarked

that most

suspects in co

mputer crim

e don't *w

ant* to see their co

mputers vanish

out the door, headed God knew

where, for w

ho knows how

long. They

mig

ht not m

ind a search, even an extensive search, b

ut they want their

machines searched

on-site.

"Are they gonna feed us?" som

ebody asked sourly.

"How

about if you take copies of the data?" Godw

in parried.

"That'll never stand

up in co

urt."

"Okay, yo

u make co

pies, g

ive *them* the co

pies, and

take the orig

i-nals."

Hm

mm

.

Godw

in champio

ned b

ulletin-board

systems as rep

osito

ries of First

Am

endment protected free speech. H

e complained that federal com

put-er- crim

e training m

anuals gave b

oard

s a bad

press, sug

gesting

thatthey are hotbeds of crim

e haunted by pedophiles and crooks, whereas the

vast majo

rity of the natio

n's thousand

s of b

oard

s are com

pletely inno

cu-ous, and

now

here near so ro

mantically susp

icious.

People w

ho run b

oard

s violently resent it w

hen their systems are

seized, and

their dozens (o

r hundred

s) of users lo

ok o

n in abject ho

rror.

Their rig

hts of free exp

ression are cut sho

rt. Their rig

ht to asso

ciatew

ith other p

eople is infring

ed. A

nd their p

rivacy is violated

as theirprivate electro

nic mail b

ecom

es police p

roperty.

Not a soul spoke up to defend the practice of seizing boards. T

he issuepassed

in chastened silence. Leg

al princip

les aside —

(and tho

se prin-

ciples cannot be settled without law

s passed or court precedents) —seizing

bulletin b

oard

s has beco

me p

ublic-relatio

ns poiso

n for

Am

erican com

puter p

olice.

BR

UC

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N

OT

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R C

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And anyw

ay, it's not entirely necessary. If you're a cop, you can get

'most everything

you need

from

a pirate b

oard

, just by using

an inside

info

rman

t. Plen

ty of vig

ilantes —

well, *co

ncern

ed citizen

s* — w

illinfo

rm p

olice the m

om

ent they see a pirate b

oard

hit their area (andw

ill tell the police all ab

out it, in such technical d

etail, actually, thatyo

u kinda w

ish they'd shut up

). They w

ill happily sup

ply p

olice w

ithextensive d

ow

nload

s or p

rintouts. It's *im

possib

le* to keep

this fluidelectro

nic inform

ation o

ut of the hand

s of p

olice.

Some people in the electronic com

munity becom

e enraged at the prospectof cops "m

onitoring" b

ulletin boards. T

his does have touchy aspects, asSecret S

ervice peo

ple in p

articular examine b

ulletin board

s with so

me

regularity. B

ut to exp

ect electronic p

olice to

be d

eaf dum

b and

blind

inreg

ard to

this particular m

edium

rather flies in the face of co

mm

on

sense. Police w

atch television, listen to

radio

, read new

spap

ers andm

agazines; why should the new

medium

of boards be different? Cops

can exercise the same access to electronic inform

ation as everybody

else. As w

e have seen, quite a few

com

puter p

olice m

aintain *theirow

n* b

ulletin

board

s, inclu

din

g an

ti-hacker "stin

g" b

oard

s, which

have generally p

roven q

uite effective.

As a final clincher, their M

ountie friend

s in Canad

a (and co

lleagues in

Ireland and

Taiw

an) don't have First A

mend

ment o

r Am

erican constitu-

tional restrictio

ns, but they d

o have p

hone lines, and

can call any bul-

letin board

in Am

erica whenever they p

lease. The sam

e technolo

gical

determinants that play into the hands of hackers, phone phreaks and

softw

are pirates can p

lay into the hand

s of p

olice. "T

echnolo

gical d

eter-m

inants" don't have *any* hum

an allegiances. T

hey're not b

lack or

white, o

r Establish

men

t or U

nderg

round, o

r pro

-or-an

ti anyth

ing.

Godw

in complained at length about w

hat he called "the Clever H

obbyisthypothesis" —

the assumption that the "hacker" you're b

usting is

clearly a technical genius, and

must therefo

re by searched

with extrem

etho

roug

hness. So: fro

m the law

's point o

f view, w

hy risk missing

any-thing? T

ake the works. T

ake the guy's computer. T

ake his books. Take

his noteb

ooks. T

ake the electronic d

rafts of his lo

ve letters. Take his

Walkm

an. Take his w

ife's com

puter. T

ake his dad

's com

puter. T

ake hiskid

sister's com

puter. T

ake his emplo

yer's com

puter. T

ake his com

pact

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

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TH

E H

AC

KE

R C

RA

CK

DO

WN

N

OT

FO

R C

OM

ME

RC

IAL

US

E2 1 9

disks —

they *mig

ht* be C

D-R

OM

disks, cunning

ly disg

uised as p

op

music. T

ake his laser printer —

he mig

ht have hidden so

mething

vitalin the p

rinter's 5m

eg o

f mem

ory. T

ake his softw

are manuals and

hard-

ware d

ocum

entation. T

ake his science-fiction no

vels and his sim

ulation-

gam

ing b

ooks. T

ake his Nintend

o G

ame-B

oy and

his Pac-Man arcad

egam

e. Take his answ

ering m

achine, take his telephone out of the wall.

Take anything

remotely susp

icious.

Godw

in pointed out that most "hackers" are not, in fact, clever g

eniushob

byists. Q

uite a few are crooks and g

rifters who don't have m

uch inth

e way o

f technical so

phisticatio

n; ju

st som

e rule-o

f-thum

b rip

-off

techniques. T

he same g

oes fo

r most fifteen- year-o

lds w

ho've d

ow

n-lo

aded

a code-scanning

pro

gram

from

a pirate b

oard

. There's no

realneed

to seize everything

in sight. It d

oesn't req

uire an entire com

puter

system and ten thousand disks to prove a case in court.

What if the co

mputer is the instrum

entality of a crim

e? som

eone

demanded.

Godw

in adm

itted q

uietly that the doctrine o

f seizing the instrum

entalityof a crim

e was p

retty well estab

lished in the A

merican leg

al system.

The m

eeting b

roke up. Godw

in and Kapor had to leave. K

apor was testi-

fying next m

orning

befo

re the Massachusetts D

epartm

ent Of Pub

licU

tility, about IS

DN

narro

wban

d w

ide-area n

etworkin

g.

As soon as they w

ere gone, Thackeray seem

ed elated. She had taken agreat risk w

ith this. Her co

lleagues had

not, in fact, to

rn Kap

or and

Godw

in's heads off. She was very proud of them

, and told them so.

"Did

you hear w

hat Godw

in said ab

out *instrum

entality of a crim

e?*"she exulted

, to no

body in p

articular. "Wow

, that means *M

itch isn'tgoing

to sue m

e.*"_

__

__

Am

erica's com

puter p

olice are an interesting

gro

up. A

s a social p

he-no

meno

n they are far more interesting

, and far m

ore im

portant, than

teenage p

hone p

hreaks and co

mputer hackers. First, they're o

lder and

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

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TH

E H

AC

KE

R C

RA

CK

DO

WN

N

OT

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R C

OM

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IAL

US

E2 2 0

wiser; no

t dizzy ho

bbyists w

ith leaky morals, b

ut seasoned

adult p

ro-

fessionals w

ith all th

e responsib

ilities of p

ublic service. A

nd, u

nlike

hackers, they possess no

t merely *technical* p

ow

er alone, b

ut heavy-duty leg

al and so

cial authority.

And

, very interestingly, they are just as m

uch at sea in cybersp

ace aseveryo

ne else. They are no

t happy ab

out this. Po

lice are authoritarian

by nature, and prefer to

obey rules and precedents. (Even tho

se police

who secretly en

joy a fast rid

e in ro

ugh territo

ry will so

berly d

isclaimany "co

wboy" attitud

e.) But in cyb

erspace there *are* no

rules andpreced

ents. They are g

round

breaking

pio

neers, Cyb

erspace R

angers,

whether they like it o

r not.

In my o

pinio

n, any teenager enthralled

by co

mputers, fascinated

by the

ins and o

uts of co

mputer security, and

attracted b

y the lure of sp

ecial-ized form

s of knowledge and pow

er, would do w

ell to forget all about"hacking

" and set his (or her) sights on b

ecoming

a fed. Feds can trump

hackers at almost every sing

le thing hackers d

o, includ

ing g

atheringin

telligen

ce, underco

ver disg

uise, trash

ing, p

hone-tap

pin

g, b

uild

ing

dossiers, n

etworkin

g, an

d in

filtrating co

mputer system

s — *crim

inal*

computer system

s. Secret Service agents know

more ab

out phreaking,

coding and carding

than most phreaks can find out in years, and w

hen itco

mes to

viruses, break-ins, so

ftware b

om

bs and

trojan ho

rses, Feds

have direct access to

red-ho

t confid

ential inform

ation that is o

nly vague

rumor in the und

ergro

und.

And

if it's an impressive p

ublic rep

you're after, there are few

peo

ple

in th

e world

who can

be so

chillin

gly im

pressive as a w

ell-trained

,w

ell-armed

United

States S

ecret Service ag

ent.

Of co

urse, a few p

ersonal sacrifices are necessary in o

rder to

obtain

that pow

er and kno

wled

ge. First, yo

u'll have the galling

discip

line of

belo

nging

to a larg

e org

anization; b

ut the world

of co

mputer crim

e isstill so

small, an

d so

amazin

gly fast-m

ovin

g, th

at it will rem

ain sp

ec-tacularly fluid

for years to

com

e. The seco

nd sacrifice is that yo

u'llhave to

give up

ripping

peo

ple o

ff. This is no

t a great lo

ss. Abstaining

from

the use of illeg

al drug

s, also necessary, w

ill be a b

oon to

your

health.

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

G —

TH

E

HA

CK

ER

CR

AC

KD

OW

N

NO

T F

OR

CO

MM

ER

CIA

L U

SE

2 2 1

A career in co

mputer security is no

t a bad

choice fo

r a young

man o

rw

om

an today. T

he field w

ill almost certainly exp

and d

rastically inyears to com

e. If you are a teenager today, by the time you becom

e apro

fessional, the p

ioneers yo

u have read ab

out in this b

ook w

ill be the

grand old m

en and wom

en of the field, swam

ped by their m

any disciplesand

successors. O

f course, so

me o

f them, like W

illiam P. W

ood o

f the1

86

5 S

ecret Service, m

ay well b

e man

gled

in th

e whirrin

g m

achin

eryof leg

al contro

versy; but b

y the time yo

u enter the com

puter-crim

efield

, it may have stab

ilized so

mew

hat, while rem

aining entertaining

lychalleng

ing.

But you can't just have a b

adge. Y

ou have to win it. First, there's the

federal law

enforcem

ent training. A

nd it's hard

— it's a challeng

e. Areal challeng

e — no

t for w

imps and

rodents.

Every Secret S

ervice agent m

ust com

plete g

ruelling co

urses at theFed

eral Law Enfo

rcement T

raining C

enter. (In fact, Secret S

erviceag

ents are

perio

dically re

-trained d

urin

g th

eir e

ntire

careers.)

In ord

er to g

et a glim

pse o

f what this m

ight b

e like, I myself travelled

toFLET

C.

__

__

_

The Fed

eral Law Enfo

rcement T

raining C

enter is a 15

00

-acre facilityon G

eorg

ia's Atlantic co

ast. It's a milieu o

f marshg

rass, seabird

s,dam

p, cling

ing sea-b

reezes, palm

ettos, m

osq

uitos, and

bats. U

ntil1

97

4, it w

as a Navy A

ir Base, and

still features a working

runway, and

som

e WW

II vintage b

lockho

uses and o

fficers' quarters. T

he Center has

since

benefitte

d b

y a fo

rty-m

illion-d

ollar re

trofit, b

ut th

ere

's stilleno

ugh fo

rest and sw

amp o

n the facility for the B

ord

er Patrol to

put in

tracking p

ractice.

As a to

wn, "G

lynco" scarcely exists. T

he nearest real tow

n isBrunsw

ick, a few m

iles dow

n Hig

hway 1

7, w

here I stayed at the ap

tlynam

ed M

arshview H

olid

ay Inn. I had S

unday d

inner at a seafood restau-

rant called "Jinrig

ht's," where I feasted

on d

eep-fried

alligato

r tail.This lo

cal favorite w

as a heaped

basket o

f bite-sized

chunks of w

hite,

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

G —

TH

E H

AC

KE

R C

RA

CK

DO

WN

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OT

FO

R C

OM

ME

RC

IAL

US

E2 2 2

tender, alm

ost fluffy rep

tile meat, steam

ing in a p

eppered

batter crust.

Allig

ator m

akes a culinary experience that's hard

to fo

rget, esp

eciallyw

hen liberally b

asted w

ith hom

emad

e cocktail sauce fro

m a Jinrig

htsq

ueeze-bottle.

The cro

wded

clientele were to

urists, fishermen, lo

cal black fo

lks intheir Sunday b

est, and white G

eorgian locals w

ho all seemed to b

ear anuncanny resem

blance to

Geo

rgia hum

orist Lew

is Grizzard

.

The 2

,400 students from

75 federal ag

encies who m

ake up the FLETC

population scarcely seem to m

ake a dent in the low-key local scene. T

hestudents look like tourists, and the teachers seem

to have taken on much

of the relaxed

air of the D

eep S

outh. M

y host w

as Mr. C

arlton

Fitzpatrick, the Pro

gram

Coord

inator o

f the Financial Fraud Institute.

Carlto

n Fitzpatrick is a m

ustached, sinew

y, well-tanned

Alab

ama native

som

ewhere near his late fo

rties, with a fo

ndness fo

r chewing

tobacco

,pow

erful com

puters, and

salty, dow

n-hom

e hom

ilies. We'd

met b

efore,

at FCIC

in Arizo

na.

The Financial Fraud

Institute is one o

f the nine divisio

ns at FLETC.

Besid

es Fin

ancial Frau

d, th

ere

's Drive

r & M

arine, Fire

arms, an

dPhysical T

raining. T

hese are specialized

pursuits. T

here are also five

general training

divisio

ns: Basic T

raining, O

peratio

ns, Enforcem

entTechniq

ues, Legal D

ivision, and

Behavio

ral Science.

Som

ewhere in this curriculum

is everything necessary to

turn green

colleg

e grad

uates into fed

eral agents. First they're g

iven ID card

s. Then

they get the rather m

iserable-lo

oking

blue co

veralls know

n as "smurf

suits." The trainees are assig

ned a b

arracks and a cafeteria, and

imm

e-diately set o

n FLETC's b

one-g

rinding

physical training

routine. B

esides

the oblig

atory d

aily jogging

— (the trainers run up

dang

er flags b

eside

the track when the hum

idity rises hig

h enoug

h to threaten heat stro

ke)—

there's th

e Nau

tilus m

achin

es, the m

artial arts, the su

rvival skills....

The eig

hteen federal agencies w

ho maintain on- site academ

ies at FLETC

emplo

y a wid

e variety of sp

ecialized law

enforcem

ent units, som

e of

them

rather arcan

e. There's B

ord

er Patro

l, IRS C

rimin

al Investig

ation

Divisio

n, P

ark Service

, Fish an

d W

ildlife

, Custo

ms, Im

mig

ration,

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

G —

TH

E H

AC

KE

R C

RA

CK

DO

WN

N

OT

FO

R C

OM

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IAL

US

E2 2 3

Secret S

ervice and the T

reasury's uniform

ed sub

divisio

ns.... If you're a

federal co

p and

you d

on't w

ork fo

r the FBI, yo

u train at FLETC. T

hisincludes people as apparently ob

scure as the agents of the Railroad

Retirem

ent Board

Inspecto

r General. O

r the Tennessee V

alley Autho

rityPo

lice, who

are in fact federal p

olice o

fficers, and can and

do arrest

criminals o

n the federal p

roperty o

f the Tennessee V

alley Autho

rity.

And

then there are the com

puter-crim

e peo

ple. A

ll sorts, all b

ack-gro

unds. M

r. Fitzpatrick is no

t jealous o

f his specialized

know

ledge.

Cops all o

ver, in every branch o

f service, may feel a need

to learn w

hathe can teach. B

ackgrounds don't m

atter much. Fitzpatrick him

self was

orig

inally a Bord

er Patrol veteran, then b

ecame a B

ord

er Patrol

instructor at FLET

C. H

is Spanish is still fluent —

but he fo

und him

selfstrang

ely fascinated w

hen the first com

puters sho

wed

up at the T

rainingCenter. Fitzp

atrick did

have a backg

round

in electrical engineering

, andthoug

h he never considered himself a com

puter hacker, he somehow

found h

imself w

riting u

seful little p

rogram

s for th

is new

and p

rom

ising

gizm

o.

He b

egan lo

oking

into the g

eneral subject o

f com

puters and

crime, read

-ing

Donn Parker's b

ooks and

articles, keeping

an ear cocked

for w

arsto

ries, useful insights fro

m the field

, the up-and

-com

ing p

eople o

f thelo

cal com

puter-crim

e and hig

h- technolo

gy units.... S

oon he g

ot a rep

u-tatio

n around

FLETC as the resid

ent "com

puter exp

ert," and that rep

uta-tio

n alone b

roug

ht him m

ore exp

osure, m

ore exp

erience — until o

ne day

he looked

around

, and sure eno

ugh he *w

as* a federal co

mputer-crim

eexp

ert.

In fact, this unassuming

, genial m

an may b

e *the* federal co

mputer-

crime exp

ert. There are p

lenty of very g

ood co

mputer p

eople, and

plenty of very good federal investig

ators, but the area w

here thesew

orld

s of exp

ertise overlap

is very slim. A

nd C

arlton Fitzp

atrick hasbeen rig

ht at the center of that since 1

98

5, the first year o

f theColluq

uy, a gro

up w

hich ow

es much to

his influence.

He seem

s quite at ho

me in his m

odest, aco

ustic-tiled o

ffice, with its

Ansel A

dam

s-style Western p

hoto

grap

hic art, a gold

-framed

Senio

rInstructo

r Certificate, and

a tow

ering b

ookcase cram

med

with three-

BR

UC

E S

TE

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IN

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E H

AC

KE

R C

RA

CK

DO

WN

N

OT

FO

R C

OM

ME

RC

IAL

US

E2 2 4

ring b

inders w

ith om

inous titles such as *D

atapro

Rep

orts o

nInfo

rmatio

n Security* and

*CFC

A T

elecom

Security '9

0.*

The phone rings every ten m

inutes; colleagues show up at the door to

chat about new

developments in locksm

ithing or to shake their heads

over the latest d

ismal d

evelopm

ents in the BCCI g

lobal b

anking scand

al.

Carlto

n Fitzp

atrick is a fount o

f com

puter-crim

e war-sto

ries, relatedin an acerb

ic draw

l. He tells m

e the colo

rful tale of a hacker caug

ht inCalifo

rnia som

e years back. H

e'd b

een raiding

systems, typ

ing co

de

witho

ut a detectab

le break, fo

r twenty, tw

enty-four, thirty-six ho

ursstraig

ht. Not just lo

gged

on —

*typing

.* Investigato

rs were b

affled.

Nobody could do that. D

idn't he have to go to the bathroom? W

as it some

kind o

f autom

atic keyboard

-whacking

device that co

uld actually typ

eco

de?

A raid on the suspect's hom

e revealed a situation of astonishing squalor.

The hacker turned out to b

e a Pakistani computer-science student w

hohad

flunked o

ut of a C

alifornia university. H

e'd g

one co

mpletely und

er-gro

und as an illeg

al electronic im

mig

rant, and w

as selling sto

lenpho

ne- service to stay alive. T

he place w

as not m

erely messy and

dirty,

but in a state o

f psycho

tic diso

rder. Po

wered

by so

me w

eird m

ix of cul-

ture shock, computer addiction, and am

phetamines, the suspect had in

fact been sitting

in front o

f his com

puter fo

r a day and

a half straight,

with snacks and drugs at hand on the edge of his desk and a cham

ber-potunder h

is chair.

Word

about stuff like this g

ets around

in the hacker-tracker com

muni-

ty.

Carlto

n Fitzpatrick takes m

e for a g

uided

tour b

y car around

the FLETC

gro

unds. O

ne of o

ur first sights is the b

iggest ind

oor firing

range in the

world

. There are fed

eral trainees in there, Fitzpatrick assures m

epolitely, b

lasting aw

ay with a w

ide variety o

f autom

atic weap

ons: U

zis,G

locks, A

K-4

7s.... H

e's willing

to take m

e inside. I tell him

I'm sure

that's really interesting, b

ut I'd rather see his co

mputers. C

arlton

Fitzpatrick seem

s quite surp

rised and

pleased

. I'm ap

parently the first

journalist he's ever seen w

ho has turned

dow

n the shooting

gallery in

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

G —

TH

E

HA

CK

ER

CR

AC

KD

OW

N

NO

T F

OR

CO

MM

ER

CIA

L U

SE

2 2 5

favor o

f micro

chips.

Our next sto

p is a favo

rite with to

uring C

ong

ressmen: the three-m

ilelo

ng FLET

C d

riving rang

e. Here trainees o

f the Driver &

Marine

Divisio

n are taught hig

h-speed

pursuit skills, setting

and b

reakingro

ad-b

locks, d

iplo

matic secu

rity drivin

g fo

r VIP

limousin

es.... Afavo

rite FLETC pastim

e is to strap a passing

Senato

r into the passeng

erseat b

eside a D

river & M

arine train

er, hit a h

undred

miles an

hour,

then take it right into

"the skid-p

an," a section o

f greased

track where

two to

ns of D

etroit iro

n can whip

and sp

in like a hockey p

uck.

Cars d

on't fare w

ell at FLETC. First they're rifled

again and

again fo

rsearch p

ractice. Then they d

o 2

5,0

00

miles o

f high-sp

eed p

ursuittraining

; they get ab

out seventy m

iles per set o

f steel-belted

radials.

Then it's o

ff to the skid

pan, w

here som

etimes they ro

ll and tum

ble

headlo

ng in the g

rease. When they're sufficiently g

rease-stained, d

ent-ed

, and creaky, they're sent to

the road

blo

ck unit, where they're b

at-tered

witho

ut pity. A

nd finally then they're sacrificed

to the B

ureau of

Alco

hol, T

obacco

and Firearm

s, who

se trainees learn the ins and o

uts of

car-bom

b w

ork b

y blo

wing

them into

smoking

wreckag

e.

There's a railro

ad b

ox-car o

n the FLETC g

round

s, and a larg

e gro

unded

boat, and

a pro

pless p

lane; all training-g

round

s for searches. T

heplane sits fo

rlornly o

n a patch o

f weed

y tarmac next to

an eerie blo

ck-ho

use know

n as the "ninja com

pound

," where anti-terro

rism sp

ecialistspractice hostage rescues. A

s I gaze on this creepy paragon of modern

low

-intensity warfare, m

y nerves are jangled

by a sud

den staccato

out-

burst of autom

atic weapons fire, som

ewhere in the w

oods to my rig

ht."N

ine- m

illimete

r," Fitzpatrick ju

dges calm

ly.

Even the eldritch ninja co

mpound

pales so

mew

hat com

pared

to the truly

surreal area know

n as "the raid-ho

uses." This is a street lined

on b

oth

sides w

ith nond

escript co

ncrete-blo

ck houses w

ith flat peb

bled

roofs.

They w

ere once o

fficers' quarters. N

ow

they are training g

round

s. The

first one to

our left, Fitzp

atrick tells me, has b

een specially ad

apted

for

com

puter search-and

-seizure practice. Insid

e it has been w

ired fo

rvid

eo fro

m to

p to

botto

m, w

ith eighteen p

an-and-tilt rem

otely co

n-tro

lled vid

eocam

s mounted

on w

alls and in co

rners. Every movem

ent of

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

G —

TH

E H

AC

KE

R C

RA

CK

DO

WN

N

OT

FO

R C

OM

ME

RC

IAL

US

E2 2 6

the trainee agent is reco

rded

live by teachers, fo

r later taped

analysis.W

asted m

ovem

ents, hesitations, p

ossib

ly lethal tactical mistakes —

allare g

one o

ver in detail.

Perhaps the w

eirdest sing

le aspect o

f this build

ing is its fro

nt door,

scarred and scuffed all along the bottom, from

the repeated impact, day

after day, o

f federal sho

e-leather.

Dow

n at the far end of the row of raid-houses som

e people are practicinga m

urder. W

e drive b

y slow

ly as som

e very young

and rather nervo

us-lo

oking

federal trainees interview

a heavyset bald

man o

n the raid-

house law

n. Dealing

with m

urder takes a lo

t of p

ractice; first you have

to learn to

contro

l your o

wn instinctive d

isgust and

panic, then yo

uhave to learn to control the reactions of a nerve- shredded crow

d ofcivilians, som

e of whom

may have just lost a loved one, som

e of whom

may b

e murd

erers — q

uite possib

ly both at o

nce.

A dum

my plays the corpse. T

he roles of the bereaved, the m

orbidly

curious, and

the hom

icidal are p

layed, fo

r pay, b

y local G

eorg

ians:w

aitresses, musicians, m

ost anybody who needs to m

oonlight and canlearn a scrip

t. These p

eople, so

me o

f who

m are FLET

C reg

ulars yearafter year, m

ust surely have one o

f the strangest jo

bs in the w

orld

.

Som

ething ab

out the scene: "no

rmal" p

eople in a w

eird situatio

n, stand-

ing aro

und talking

in brig

ht Geo

rgia sunshine, unsuccessfully p

retend-

ing that so

mething

dread

ful has gone o

n, while a d

umm

y lies inside o

nfaked

blo

odstains.... W

hile behind

this weird

masq

uerade, like a nested

set of R

ussian

dolls, are g

rim fu

ture realities o

f real death

, real vio-

lence, real murd

ers of real p

eople, that these yo

ung ag

ents will really

investigate, m

any times d

uring their careers.... O

ver and o

ver.... Will

those anticip

ated m

urders lo

ok like this, feel like this —

not as "real" as

these amateur actors are trying

to make it seem

, but b

oth as "real," andas num

bing

ly unreal, as watching

fake peo

ple stand

ing aro

und o

n a fakelaw

n? Som

ething ab

out this scene unhing

es me. It seem

s nightm

arish tom

e, Kafkaesque. I sim

ply don't know how

to take it; my head is turned

around

; I don't kno

w w

hether to laug

h, cry, or just shud

der.

When the to

ur is over, C

arlton Fitzp

atrick and I talk ab

out co

mputers.

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

G —

TH

E H

AC

KE

R C

RA

CK

DO

WN

N

OT

FO

R C

OM

ME

RC

IAL

US

E2 2 7

For the first tim

e cybersp

ace seems like q

uite a com

fortab

le place. It

seems very real to

me sud

denly, a p

lace where I kno

w w

hat I'm talking

about, a p

lace I'm used

to. It's real. "R

eal." Whatever.

Carlto

n Fitzpatrick is the o

nly perso

n I've met in cyb

erspace circles

who

is happy w

ith his present eq

uipm

ent. He's g

ot a 5

Meg

RA

M PC

with

a 112 m

eg hard disk; a 660 m

eg's on the way. H

e's got a Com

paq 386

desktop, and a Zenith 386 laptop w

ith 120 m

eg. D

own the hall is a N

ECM

ulti-Sync 2

A w

ith a CD

-RO

M d

rive and a 9

60

0 b

aud m

odem

with fo

urco

m-lin

es. There's a train

ing m

inico

mputer, an

d a 1

0-m

eg lo

cal min

ijust fo

r the Center, and

a lab-full o

f student PC

clones and

half-a-dozen

Macs or so. T

here's a Data G

eneral MV

2500 w

ith 8 m

eg on board and a3

70

meg

disk.

Fitzpatrick p

lans to run a U

NIX

board

on the D

ata General w

hen he's fin-ished

beta-testing

the softw

are for it, w

hich he wro

te himself. It'll

have E- m

ail features, m

assive files on all m

anner o

f com

puter-crim

eand

investigatio

n pro

cedures, and

will fo

llow

the com

puter-security

specifics o

f the Dep

artment o

f Defense "O

range B

ook." H

e thinks it will

be the biggest BBS in the federal governm

ent.

Will it h

ave *P

hrack* o

n it?

I ask wry

ly.

Sure, h

e tells me. *P

hrack,* *T

AP,* *C

om

puter U

nderg

round

Dig

est,* all that stuff. With p

roper d

isclaimers, o

f course.

I ask him if he p

lans to b

e the sysop. R

unning a system

that size is verytim

e-consum

ing, and

Fitzpatrick teaches tw

o three-ho

ur courses every

day.

No, he says seriously, FLET

C has to get its m

oney worth out of the

instructors. H

e thinks he can get a lo

cal volunteer to

do it, a hig

h-scho

ol stud

ent.

He says a b

it more, so

mething

I think about an Eag

le Sco

ut law-enfo

rce-m

ent liaison p

rogram

, but m

y mind

has rocketed

off in d

isbelief.

"You're g

oing

to p

ut a *teenager* in charg

e of a fed

eral security BBS?"

BR

UC

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TE

RL

IN

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TH

E H

AC

KE

R C

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CK

DO

WN

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OT

FO

R C

OM

ME

RC

IAL

US

E2 2 8

I'm speechless. It hasn't escaped m

y notice that the FLETC Financial

Fraud In

stitute is th

e *ultim

ate* hacker-trash

ing targ

et; there is stu

ffin here, stuff of such utter and consum

mate cool by every standard of

the dig

ital underg

round

.... I imag

ine the hackers of m

y acquaintance,

fainting d

ead-aw

ay from

forb

idden- kno

wled

ge g

reed-fits, at the m

erepro

spect o

f cracking the sup

erultra top-secret co

mputers used

to train

the Secret S

ervice in com

puter-crim

e....

"Uhm

, Carlto

n," I b

abble, "I'm

sure h

e's a really nice kid

and all, b

ut

that's a terrible tem

ptation to set in front of someb

ody who's, you know

,into

com

puters and

just starting o

ut..."

"Yeah," he says, "that did occur to m

e." For the first time I b

egin to

suspect that he's p

ulling m

y leg.

He seem

s proudest when he show

s me an ongoing project called JIC

C,

Joint Intellig

ence Contro

l Council. It's b

ased o

n the services pro

vided

by EPIC

, the El Paso Intellig

ence Center, w

hich supplies d

ata and intel-

ligence to

the Drug

Enforcem

ent Adm

inistration, the C

ustom

s Service,

the Coast G

uard, and the state police of the four southern border states.Certain EPIC

files can now

be accessed

by d

rug-enfo

rcement p

olice o

fCentral A

merica, S

outh A

merica and

the Carib

bean, w

ho can also

trade

inform

ation am

ong

themselves. U

sing a teleco

m p

rogram

called "W

hiteH

at," written b

y two b

rothers nam

ed Lo

pez fro

m the D

om

inicanRep

ublic, p

olice can no

w netw

ork internatio

nally on inexp

ensive PCs.

Carlto

n Fitzpatrick is teaching

a class of d

rug-w

ar agents fro

m the

Third

World

, and he's very p

roud

of their p

rogress. Perhap

s soon the

sophisticated

smug

gling

networks o

f the Med

ellin Cartel w

ill be m

atchedby a so

phisticated

com

puter netw

ork o

f the Med

ellin Cartel's sw

orn

enemies. T

hey'll track boats, track co

ntraband

, track the international

drug

-lord

s who

now

leap o

ver bord

ers with g

reat ease, defeating

thepolice thro

ugh the clever use o

f fragm

ented natio

nal jurisdictio

ns.

JICC and EPIC

must rem

ain beyond the scope of this book. They seem

tom

e to b

e very large to

pics fraug

ht with co

mplicatio

ns that I am no

t fit tojud

ge. I d

o kno

w, ho

wever, that the internatio

nal, com

puter-assisted

networking

of p

olice, acro

ss national b

ound

aries, is som

ething that

Carlto

n Fitzp

atrick consid

ers very importan

t, a harb

inger o

f a desir-

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

G —

TH

E

HA

CK

ER

CR

AC

KD

OW

N

NO

T F

OR

CO

MM

ER

CIA

L U

SE

2 2 9

able future. I also

know

that networks b

y their nature igno

re physical

boundaries. A

nd I also know that w

here you put comm

unications you puta com

munity, and that w

hen those comm

unities becom

e self-aware they

will fig

ht to p

reserve themselves and

to exp

and their influence. I m

akeno

judgem

ents whether this is g

ood o

r bad

. It's just cybersp

ace; it'sjust the w

ay things are.

I asked C

arlton Fitzp

atrick what ad

vice he would

have for a tw

enty-year-o

ld w

ho w

anted to

shine som

eday in the w

orld

of electro

nic lawenfo

rcement.

He told m

e that the number one rule w

as simply not to b

e scared of com-

puters. You don't need to be an obsessive "computer w

eenie," but youm

ustn't be buffaloed just because some m

achine looks fancy. The advan-

tages computers give sm

art crooks are matched by the advantages they

give sm

art cops. C

ops in the future w

ill have to enfo

rce the law "w

iththeir heads, not their holsters." T

oday you can make good cases w

ithoutever leaving

your o

ffice. In the future, cops w

ho resist the co

mputer

revolutio

n will never g

et far beyo

nd w

alking a b

eat.

I asked C

arlton Fitzp

atrick if he had so

me sing

le messag

e for the p

ublic;

som

e single thing

that he would

most like the A

merican p

ublic to

know

about his w

ork.

He tho

ught ab

out it w

hile. "Yes," he said

finally. "*Tell* m

e the rules,and

I'll *teach* those rules!" H

e looked

me straig

ht in the eye. "I do the

best that I can."

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

G —

TH

E H

AC

KE

R C

RA

CK

DO

WN

N

OT

FO

R C

OM

ME

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IAL

US

E2 3 0

PA

RT

F

OU

R

THE C

IVIL

LIB

ERTA

RIA

NS

The sto

ry of the H

acker Crackd

ow

n, as we have fo

llow

ed it thus far, has

been techno

logical, sub

cultural, criminal and

legal. T

he story o

f theC

ivil Libertarians, tho

ugh it p

artakes of all tho

se other asp

ects, is pro

-fo

undly an

d th

oro

ughly *p

olitical.*

In 19

90

, the obscure, lo

ng-sim

mering

struggle o

ver the ow

nership and

nature of cyb

erspace b

ecame lo

udly and

irretrievably p

ublic. Peo

ple

from som

e of the oddest corners of Am

erican society suddenly foundthem

selves public fig

ures. Some of these people found this situation

much m

ore than they had ever barg

ained for. They b

ackpedalled, andtried

to retreat b

ack to the m

andarin o

bscurity o

f their cozy sub

culturalniches. T

his was g

enerally to p

rove a m

istake.

But the civil lib

ertarians seized the d

ay in 19

90

. They fo

und them

selvesorg

anizing, p

ropag

andizing

, podium

- pound

ing, p

ersuading

, touring

,neg

otiating

, posing

for p

ublicity p

hoto

s, subm

itting to

interviews,

squinting

in the limelig

ht as they tried a tentative, b

ut gro

wing

lyso

phisticated

, buck-and

-wing

upon the p

ublic stag

e.

It's not hard

to see w

hy the civil libertarians sho

uld have this co

mpeti-

tive advantag

e.

The hackers o

f the dig

ital underg

round

are an hermetic elite. T

hey findit hard

to m

ake any remotely co

nvincing case fo

r their actions in fro

ntof the g

eneral pub

lic. Actually, hackers ro

undly d

espise the "ig

norant"

public, and have never trusted the judg

ement of "the system

." Hackers

do propagandize, b

ut only among

themselves, m

ostly in giddy, b

adlysp

elled m

anifestos o

f class warfare, yo

uth rebellio

n or naive techie

utopianism

. Hackers m

ust strut and b

oast in o

rder to

establish and

pre-

serve their underg

round

reputatio

ns. But if they sp

eak out to

o lo

udly

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

G —

TH

E H

AC

KE

R C

RA

CK

DO

WN

N

OT

FO

R C

OM

ME

RC

IAL

US

E2 3 1

and p

ublicly, th

ey will b

reak the frag

ile surface-ten

sion o

f the u

nder-

gro

und, and

they will b

e harrassed o

r arrested. O

ver the long

er term,

most hackers stum

ble, g

et busted, g

et betrayed, or sim

ply give up. A

s apolitical fo

rce, the dig

ital underg

round

is hamstrung

.

The telco

s, for their p

art, are an ivory to

wer und

er pro

tracted seig

e.They have p

lenty of m

oney w

ith which to

push their calculated

pub

licim

age, but they waste m

uch energy and goodwill attacking one another

with slanderous and dem

eaning ad campaigns. T

he telcos have sufferedat the hand

s of p

oliticians, and

, like hackers, they don't trust the p

ub-

lic's judgem

ent. And

this distrust m

ay be w

ell-found

ed. S

hould

thegeneral p

ublic o

f the high-tech 1

99

0s co

me to

understand

its ow

n best

interests in telecom

municatio

ns, that mig

ht well p

ose a g

rave threat tothe sp

ecialized technical p

ow

er and autho

rity that the telcos have rel-

ished for over a century. The telcos do have strong advantages: loyal

emplo

yees, specialized

expertise, influence in the halls o

f pow

er, tac-tical allies in law

enforcem

ent, and unb

elievably vast am

ounts o

f money.

But p

olitically sp

eaking, they lack g

enuine grassro

ots sup

port; they

simply d

on't seem

to have m

any friends.

Cops kno

w a lo

t of thing

s other p

eople d

on't kno

w. B

ut cops w

illingly

reveal only tho

se aspects o

f their know

ledge that they feel w

ill meet

their institutional p

urposes and

further pub

lic ord

er. Cops have

respect, they have resp

onsib

ilities, they have pow

er in the streets andeven p

ow

er in the hom

e, but co

ps d

on't d

o p

articularly well in lim

elight.

When p

ressed, they w

ill step o

ut in the pub

lic gaze to

threaten bad

-guys, o

r to cajo

le pro

minent citizens, o

r perhap

s to sternly lecture the

naive and m

isguid

ed. B

ut then they go b

ack within their tim

e-hono

redfo

rtress of the statio

n-house, the co

urtroom

and the rule-b

ook.

The electro

nic civil libertarians, ho

wever, have p

roven to

be b

orn

political anim

als. They seem

ed to

grasp

very early on the p

ostm

odern

truism that co

mm

unication is p

ow

er. Publicity is p

ow

er. Sound

bites

are power. T

he ability to shove one's issue onto the public agenda — and

*keep it there* —

is pow

er. Fame is p

ow

er. Sim

ple p

ersonal fluency

and eloquence can be power, if you can som

ehow catch the public's eye

and ear.

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

G —

TH

E

HA

CK

ER

CR

AC

KD

OW

N

NO

T F

OR

CO

MM

ER

CIA

L U

SE

2 3 2

The civil lib

ertarians had no

mono

poly o

n "technical pow

er" — tho

ugh

they all ow

ned co

mputers, m

ost w

ere not p

articularly advanced

com

put-

er experts. They had a good deal of m

oney, but nowhere near the earth-

shaking wealth and the galaxy of resources possessed by telcos or federal

agencies. T

hey had no ability to arrest people. T

hey carried out nophreak an

d h

acker covert d

irty-tricks.

But they really knew

how

to netw

ork.

Unlike th

e oth

er gro

ups in

this b

ook, th

e civil libertarian

s have o

perat-

ed very m

uch

in th

e open

, more o

r less right in

the p

ublic h

urly-b

urly.

They have lectured

audiences g

alore and

talked to

countless jo

urnalists,and

have learned to

refine their spiels. T

hey've kept the cam

erasclicking

, kept tho

se faxes humm

ing, sw

apped

that email, run tho

se pho

-to

copiers o

n overtim

e, licked envelo

pes and

spent sm

all fortunes o

nairfare and

long

- distance. In an info

rmatio

n society, this o

pen, o

vert,obvious activity has proven to be a profound advantage.

In 19

90

, the civil libertarians o

f cybersp

ace assembled

out o

f now

herein p

articular, at warp

speed

. This "g

roup

" (actually, a networking

gag

-gle o

f interested p

arties which scarcely d

eserves even that loose term

)has alm

ost no

thing in the w

ay of fo

rmal o

rganizatio

n. Tho

se form

alcivil lib

ertarian org

anizations w

hich did

take an interest in cybersp

aceissues, m

ainly the Com

puter Pro

fessionals fo

r Social R

esponsib

ility andthe A

merican C

ivil Liberties U

nion, w

ere carried alo

ng b

y events in1

99

0, and

acted m

ostly as ad

juncts, underw

riters or launching

- pad

s.

The civil lib

ertarians nevertheless enjoyed

the greatest success o

f anyof the g

roup

s in the Crackd

ow

n of 1

99

0. A

t this writing

, their futurelo

oks ro

sy and th

e political in

itiative is firmly in

their h

ands. T

his

should

be kep

t in mind

as we stud

y the highly unlikely lives and

lifestyles of the p

eople w

ho actually m

ade this hap

pen.

__

__

_

In June 19

89

, Apple C

om

puter, Inc., o

f Cup

ertino, C

alifornia, had

apro

blem

. Som

eone had

illicitly copied

a small p

iece of A

pple's p

ropri-

etary softw

are, softw

are which co

ntrolled

an internal chip d

riving the

Macinto

sh screen disp

lay. This C

olo

r QuickD

raw so

urce code w

as a

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

G —

TH

E H

AC

KE

R C

RA

CK

DO

WN

N

OT

FO

R C

OM

ME

RC

IAL

US

E2 3 3

closely g

uarded

piece o

f Apple's intellectual p

roperty. O

nly trustedA

pple insid

ers were sup

posed

to p

ossess it.

But the "N

uPrometheus Leag

ue" wanted thing

s otherwise. T

his person(o

r perso

ns) mad

e several illicit copies o

f this source co

de, p

erhaps as

many as tw

o d

ozen. H

e (or she, o

r they) then put tho

se illicit floppy

disks into envelo

pes and mailed them

to peo

ple all over A

merica: peo

plein the co

mputer ind

ustry who

were asso

ciated w

ith, but no

t directly

emplo

yed b

y, Apple C

om

puter.

The N

uProm

etheus caper w

as a com

plex, hig

hly ideo

logical, and

veryhacker-like crim

e. Pro

meth

eus, it w

ill be recalled

, stole th

e fire of th

eGods and gave this potent gift to the general ranks of dow

ntroddenm

ankin

d. A

similar g

od-in

-the-m

anger attitu

de w

as implied

for th

eco

rporate elite o

f Apple C

om

puter, w

hile the "Nu" Pro

metheus had

him-

self cast in the role o

f rebel d

emig

od. T

he illicitly copied

data w

as given

away fo

r free.

The new

Prometheus, w

hoever he was, escaped the fate of the ancient

Greek Pro

metheus, w

ho w

as chained to

a rock fo

r centuries by the

vengeful g

ods while an eag

le tore and ate his liver. On the other hand,

NuPro

metheus chickened

out so

mew

hat by co

mpariso

n with his ro

lem

odel. The sm

all chunk of Color Q

uickDraw

code he had filched andrep

licated w

as more o

r less useless to

Apple's in

dustrial rivals (o

r, infact, to

anyone else). Instead

of g

iving fire to

mankind

, it was m

ore as

if NuProm

etheus had photocopied the schematics for part of a B

iclig

hter. The act w

as not a g

enuine work o

f industrial esp

ionag

e. It was

best interp

reted as a sym

bolic, d

eliberate slap

in the face for the A

pple

corp

orate h

eirarchy.

Apple's internal strug

gles w

ere well-kno

wn in the ind

ustry. Apple's

found

ers, Jobs and

Wozniak, had

both taken their leave lo

ng since.

Their rauco

us core o

f senior em

plo

yees had b

een a barnsto

rming

crew o

f1

96

0s C

alifornians, m

any of them

marked

ly less than happy w

ith thenew

butto

n-dow

n multim

illion d

ollar reg

ime at A

pple. M

any of the p

ro-

gramm

ers and developers who had invented the M

acintosh model in the

early 1980s had also taken their leave of the com

pany. It was they, not

the current masters of A

pple's corporate fate, who had invented the

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stolen C

olo

r QuickD

raw co

de. T

he NuPro

metheus stunt w

as well-calcu-

lated to wound com

pany morale.

Apple called

the FBI. T

he Bureau takes an interest in hig

h-pro

fileintellectual-p

roperty theft cases, ind

ustrial espio

nage and

theft of trad

esecrets. T

hese were likely the rig

ht peo

ple to

call, and rum

or has it

that the entities responsib

le were in fact d

iscovered

by the FB

I, and then

quietly sq

uelched b

y Apple m

anagem

ent. NuPro

metheus w

as never pub

-licly charg

ed w

ith a crime, o

r pro

secuted, o

r jailed. B

ut there were no

furth

er illicit releases of M

acinto

sh in

ternal so

ftware. Even

tually th

epainful issue o

f NuPro

metheus w

as allow

ed to

fade.

In the meantim

e, how

ever, a large num

ber o

f puzzled

bystand

ers found

themselves entertaining

surprise g

uests from

the FBI.

One o

f these peo

ple w

as John Perry B

arlow

. Barlo

w is a m

ost unusual

man, d

ifficult to d

escribe in co

nventional term

s. He is p

erhaps b

estkno

wn as a so

ngw

riter for the G

rateful Dead

, for he co

mposed

lyrics for

"Hell in a B

ucket," "Picasso M

oon," "M

exicali Blues," "I N

eed a

Miracle," and

many m

ore; he has b

een writing

for the b

and since 1

97

0.

Befo

re we tackle the vexing

questio

n as to w

hy a rock lyricist sho

uld b

einterview

ed b

y the FBI in a co

mputer- crim

e case, it mig

ht be w

ell tosay a w

ord or two ab

out the Grateful D

ead. The G

rateful Dead are per-

haps the m

ost successful and

long

-lasting o

f the numero

us culturalem

anations fro

m the H

aight-A

shbury d

istrict of S

an Francisco, in the

glo

ry days o

f Movem

ent politics and

lysergic transcend

ance. The

Grateful D

ead are a nexus, a veritab

le whirlw

ind, o

f appliq

ue decals,

psych

edelic van

s, tie-dyed

T-sh

irts, earth-co

lor d

enim

, frenzied

dan

c-ing and open and unasham

ed drug use. The sym

bols, and the realities, ofCalifo

rnian freak pow

er surround

the Grateful D

ead like kno

ttedm

acrame.

The G

rateful Dead and their thousands of D

eadhead devotees are radicalBohem

ians. This m

uch is wid

ely understo

od. Exactly w

hat this implies

in the 19

90

s is rather more p

roblem

atic.

The G

rateful Dead are am

ong the w

orld's most popular and w

ealthy

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entertainers: number 2

0, acco

rding

to *Fo

rbes* m

agazine, rig

htbetw

een M.C

. Ham

mer and

Sean C

onnery. In 1

99

0, this jeans-clad

gro

up o

f purp

orted

raffish outcasts earned

seventeen millio

n dollars.

They have b

een earning sum

s much alo

ng this line fo

r quite so

me tim

eno

w.

And

while the D

ead are no

t investment b

ankers or three-p

iece-suit taxsp

ecialists — they are, in p

oint o

f fact, hippie m

usicians — this m

oney

has not been squandered in senseless Bohem

ian excess. The D

ead havebeen q

uietly active for m

any years, funding

various w

orthy activities in

their extensive and w

idesp

read cultural co

mm

unity.

The G

rateful Dead

are not co

nventional p

layers in the Am

erican pow

erestab

lishment. T

hey nevertheless are som

ething o

f a force to

be reck-

oned with. T

hey have a lot of money and a lot of friends in m

any places,both

likely an

d u

nlike

ly.

The D

ead m

ay be kno

wn fo

r back-to

-the-earth environm

entalistrheto

ric, but this hard

ly makes them

anti-technolo

gical Lud

dites. O

nthe co

ntrary, like most ro

ck musicians, the G

rateful Dead

have spent

their entire adult lives in the co

mpany o

f com

plex electro

nic equip

ment.

They have funds to burn on any sophisticated tool and toy that m

ighthappen to catch their fancy. A

nd their fancy is quite extensive.

The D

eadhead comm

unity boasts any num

ber of recording

engineers,

lighting

experts, ro

ck video

mavens, electro

nic technicians of all

descriptions. And the drift g

oes both w

ays. Steve Wozniak, A

pple's co-fo

under, used

to thro

w ro

ck festivals. Silico

n Valley ro

cks out.

These are the 1

99

0s, no

t the 19

60

s. Today, fo

r a surprising

number o

fpeo

ple all o

ver Am

erica, the supposed

divid

ing line b

etween B

ohem

ianand

technician simply no

long

er exists. People o

f this sort m

ay have aset of w

indchimes and a dog w

ith a knotted kerchief 'round its neck, butthey're also

quite likely to

ow

n a multim

egab

yte Macinto

sh runningM

IDI synthesizer so

ftware and

trippy fractal sim

ulations. T

hese days,

even T

imoth

y Leary h

imself, p

rophet o

f LSD

, does virtu

al-reality com

-puter- g

raphics d

emos in his lecture to

urs.

BR

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NO

T F

OR

CO

MM

ER

CIA

L U

SE

2 3 6

John Perry B

arlow

is not a m

ember o

f the Grateful D

ead. H

e is, how

ev-er, a ranking

Dead

head.

Barlo

w d

escribes him

self as a "techno-crank." A

vague term

like"so

cial activist" mig

ht not b

e far from

the mark, either. B

ut Barlo

wm

ight b

e better describ

ed as a "poet" — if one keeps in m

ind PercyShelley's archaic d

efinition o

f poets as "unackno

wled

ged

legislato

rs of

the world

."

Barlow

once made a stab

at acknowledg

ed legislator status. In 1

987, he

narrow

ly missed

the Rep

ublican no

minatio

n for a seat in the W

yom

ingState S

enate. Barlo

w is a W

yom

ing native, the third

-generatio

n scion o

fa w

ell-to

-do cattle

-ranch

ing fam

ily. H

e is in

his e

arly fo

rties, m

ar-ried

and the father o

f three daug

hters.

Barlo

w is no

t much tro

ubled

by o

ther peo

ple's narro

w no

tions o

f con-

sistency. In

the late 1

98

0s, th

is Rep

ublican

rock lyricist cattle ran

ch-

er sold his ranch and became a com

puter telecomm

unications devotee.

The free-sp

irited B

arlow

mad

e this transition w

ith ease. He g

enuinelyenjo

yed co

mputers. W

ith a beep

of his m

odem

, he leapt fro

m sm

all-to

wn Pined

ale, Wyo

ming

, into electro

nic contact w

ith a large and

livelycro

wd o

f brig

ht, inventive, technolo

gical so

phisticates fro

m all o

ver thew

orld

. Barlo

w fo

und the so

cial milieu o

f com

puting

attractive: its fast-lane p

ace, its blue-sky rheto

ric, its open- end

edness. B

arlow

beg

andab

bling

in com

puter jo

urnalism, w

ith marked

success, as he was a

quick study, and both shrew

d and eloquent. He frequently travelled to

San Francisco

to netw

ork w

ith Dead

head friend

s. There B

arlow

mad

eextensive co

ntacts throug

hout the C

alifornian co

mputer co

mm

unity,includ

ing friend

ships am

ong

the wild

er spirits at A

pple.

In May 1

99

0, B

arlow

received a visit fro

m a lo

cal Wyo

ming

agent o

f theFB

I. The N

uProm

etheus case had reached

Wyo

ming

.

Barlo

w w

as troub

led to

find him

self under investig

ation in an area o

f hisinterests once quite free of federal attention. H

e had to struggle toexp

lain the very nature of co

mputer-crim

e to a head

scratching lo

calFB

I man

who sp

ecialized in

cattle-rustlin

g. B

arlow

, chattin

g h

elpfu

lly

BR

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E2 3 7

and demonstrating the w

onders of his modem

to the puzzled fed, was

alarmed

to find

all "hackers" generally und

er FBI susp

icion as an evil

influence in the electronic co

mm

unity. The FB

I, in pursuit o

f a hackercalled "N

uPrometheus," w

ere tracing attendees of a suspect g

roup calledthe H

ackers Conference.

The H

ackers Conference, w

hich had b

een started in 1

98

4, w

as a yearlyCalifo

rnian meeting

of d

igital p

ioneers and

enthusiasts. The hackers o

fthe H

ackers Conference had little if anything

to do with the hackers of

the dig

ital underg

round

. On the co

ntrary, the hackers of this co

nfer-ence w

ere mostly w

ell-to-d

o C

alifornian hig

h-tech CEO

s, consultants,

journalists and

entrepreneurs. (T

his gro

up o

f hackers were the exact

sort o

f "hackers" most likely to

react with m

ilitant fury at any criminal

deg

radatio

n of the term

"hacker.")

Barlow

, though he w

as not arrested or accused of a crime, and thoug

h hiscom

puter had certainly not gone out the door, w

as very troubled b

y thisano

maly. H

e carried the w

ord

to the W

ell.

Like the Hackers C

onference, "the W

ell" was an em

anation o

f the Point

Found

ation. Po

int Found

ation, the insp

iration o

f a wealthy C

alifornian

60

s radical nam

ed S

tewart B

rand, w

as to b

e a majo

r launch-pad

of the

civil lib

ertarian

effo

rt.

Point Fo

undatio

n's cultural efforts, like tho

se of their fello

w B

ay Area

Califo

rnians the Grateful D

ead, w

ere multifaceted

and m

ultitudino

us.Rig

id id

eolo

gical co

nsistency had never b

een a strong

suit of the *W

hole

Earth Catalo

g.* T

his Point p

ublicatio

n had enjo

yed a stro

ng vo

gue d

ur-ing

the late 60

s and early 7

0s, w

hen it offered

hundred

s of p

ractical(an

d n

ot so

practical) tip

s on co

mm

unitarian

living, en

vironm

entalism

,and

getting

back-to

-the-land. T

he *Who

le Earth Catalo

g,* and

itsseq

uels, sold

two and

half millio

n copies and

won a N

ational B

ook A

ward

.

With the slo

w co

llapse o

f Am

erican radical d

issent, the *Who

le EarthCatalo

g* had

slipped

to a m

ore m

odest co

rner of the cultural rad

ar; but

in its m

agazin

e incarn

ation, *C

oEvo

lutio

n Q

uarterly,* th

e Poin

tFoundation continued to offer a m

agpie potpourri of "access to tools andid

eas."

BR

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*CoEvo

lutio

n Q

uarterly,* w

hich

started in

19

74

, was n

ever a wid

elypopular m

agazine. D

espite p

eriodic o

utbreaks o

f millenarian fervo

r,*C

oEvo

lutio

n Q

uarterly* failed

to revo

lutio

nize W

estern civilizatio

nand

replace lead

en centuries of histo

ry with b

right new

Califo

rnianparadig

ms. Instead, this pro

paganda arm

of Po

int Foundatio

n cakewalked

a fine line betw

een impressive b

rilliance and N

ew A

ge flakiness.

*CoEvo

lution Q

uarterly* carried no

advertising

, cost a lo

t, and cam

eout o

n cheap new

sprint w

ith modest b

lack-and-w

hite grap

hics. It was

poorly d

istributed

, and sp

read m

ostly b

y subscrip

tion and

word

of

mouth.

It could not seem to grow

beyond 30,0

00 subscribers. A

nd yet — it

never seemed

to shrink m

uch, either. Year in, year o

ut, decad

e in,decade out, som

e strange demographic m

inority accreted to support them

agazine. The enthusiastic readership did not seem

to have much in the

way o

f coherent po

litics or ideals. It w

as som

etimes hard to

understandw

hat held them

together (if the o

ften bitter d

ebate in the letter-co

lumns

could be described as "togetherness").

But if the m

agazine d

id no

t flourish, it w

as resilient; it got b

y. Then, in

19

84

, the birth-year o

f the Macinto

sh com

puter, *C

oEvo

lution

Quarterly* sud

denly hit the rap

ids. Po

int Found

ation had

disco

vered the

com

puter revo

lution. O

ut came the *W

hole Earth S

oftw

are Catalo

g* o

f1

98

4, aro

using head

scratching d

oub

ts among

the tie- dyed

faithful, andrab

id enthusiasm

among

the nascent "cyberp

unk" milieu, p

resent com

-pany includ

ed. Po

int Found

ation started

its yearly Hackers C

onference,

and b

egan to

take an extensive interest in the strange new

possib

ilitiesof d

igital co

unterculture. *CoEvo

lution Q

uarterly* fold

ed its teep

ee,rep

laced b

y *Who

le Earth Softw

are Review

* and eventually b

y *Who

leEarth R

eview* (the m

agazine's p

resent incarnation, currently und

erth

e edito

rship

of virtu

al-reality maven

How

ard R

hein

gold

).

19

85

saw the b

irth of the "W

ELL" — the "W

hole Earth 'Lectro

nic Link."The W

ell was Po

int Found

ation's b

ulletin board

system.

As b

oard

s went, the W

ell was an ano

maly fro

m the b

eginning

, andrem

ained o

ne. It was lo

cal to S

an Francisco. It w

as huge, w

ith multip

le

BR

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E2 3 9

pho

nelines and eno

rmous files o

f com

mentary. Its co

mplex U

NIX

-based

softw

are mig

ht be m

ost charitab

ly describ

ed as "user- o

paq

ue." It was

run on a m

ainframe o

ut of the ram

bling

offices o

f a non-p

rofit cultural

foundation in Sausalito. And it w

as cramm

ed with fans of the G

ratefulD

ead.

Thoug

h the Well w

as peopled by chattering

hipsters of the Bay A

reaco

unterculture, it was b

y no m

eans a "dig

ital underg

round

" board

.Teenag

ers were fairly scarce; m

ost W

ell users (know

n as"W

ellbeing

s") were thirty- and

forty-so

mething

Bab

y Boom

ers. They

tended

to w

ork in the info

rmatio

n industry: hard

ware, so

ftware,

telecom

municatio

ns, med

ia, entertainment. Lib

rarians, academ

ics, andjo

urnalists were esp

ecially com

mon o

n the Well, attracted

by Po

intFoundation's open-handed distrib

ution of "tools and ideas."

There w

ere no anarchy files o

n the Well, scarcely a d

ropped

hint about

access codes or credit-card theft. No one used handles. V

icious "flame-

wars" w

ere held to

a com

paratively civilized

rumble. D

ebates w

ereso

metim

es sharp, b

ut no W

ellbeing

ever claimed

that a rival had d

is-co

nnected his p

hone, trashed

his house, o

r posted

his credit card

num-

bers.

The W

ell grew slow

ly as the 1980s advanced. It charged a m

odest sumfor access and storage, and lost m

oney for years — but not enough to

hamper the Po

int Found

ation, w

hich was no

npro

fit anyway. B

y 19

90

,the W

ell had about five thousand users. These users w

andered about agigantic cyberspace sm

orgasbord of "Conferences", each conference

itself consisting of a w

elter of "topics," each topic containing dozens,

som

etimes hund

reds o

f com

ments, in a tum

bling

, multip

erson d

ebate

that could last for months or years on end.

In 19

91

, the Well's list o

f conferences lo

oked

like this:

CONFERENCES ON THE WELL

WELL "Screenzine" Digest (g zine)

Best of the WELL - vintage material - (g best)

Index listing of new topics in all conferences - (g new-

tops)

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Business - Education

----------------------

Apple Library Users Group(g alug)

Agriculture (g agri)

Brainstorming (g brain)

Classifieds (g cla)

Computer Journalism (g cj)

Consultants (g consult)

Consumers (g cons)

Design (g design)

Desktop Publishing (g desk)

Disability (g disability)

Education (g ed)

Energy (g energy91)

Entrepreneurs (g entre)

Homeowners (g home)

Indexing (g indexing)

Investments (g invest)

Kids91 (g kids)

Legal (g legal)

One Person Business (g one)

Periodical/newsletter(g per)

Telecomm Law (g tcl)

The Future (g fut)

Translators (g trans)

Travel (g tra)

Work (g work)

Electronic Frontier Foundation (g eff)

Computers, Freedom & Privacy (g cfp)

Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility (g cpsr)

Social - Political - Humanities

---------------------------------

Aging (g gray)

AIDS (g aids)

Amnesty International (g amnesty)

Archives (g arc)

Berkeley (g berk)

Buddhist (g wonderland)

Christian (g cross)

Couples (g couples)

Current Events (g curr)

Dreams (g dream)

Drugs (g dru)

East Coast (g east)

Emotional Health**** (g private)

BR

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R C

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US

E2 4 1

Erotica (g eros)

Environment (g env)

Firearms (g firearms)

First Amendment (g first)

Fringes of Reason (g fringes)

Gay (g gay)

Gay (Private) # (g gaypriv)

Geography (g geo)

German (g german)

Gulf War (g gulf)

Hawaii (g aloha)

Health (g heal)

History (g hist)

Holistic (g holi)

Interview (g inter)

Italian (g ital)

Jewish (g jew)

Liberty (g liberty)

Mind (g mind)

Miscellaneous (g misc)

Men on the WELL** (g mow)

Network Integration (g origin)

Nonprofits (g non)

North Bay (g north)

Northwest (g nw)

Pacific Rim (g pacrim)

Parenting (g par)

Peace (g pea)

Peninsula (g pen)

Poetry (g poetry)

Philosophy (g phi)

Politics (g pol)

Psychology (g psy)

Psychotherapy (g therapy)

Recovery## (g recovery)

San Francisco (g sanfran)

Scams (g scam)

Sexuality (g sex)

Singles (g singles)

Southern (g south)

Spanish (g spanish)

Spirituality (g spirit)

Tibet (g tibet)

Transportation (g transport)

True Confessions (g tru)

Unclear (g unclear)

WELL Writer's Workshop***(g www)

Whole Earth (g we)

BR

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E2 4 2

Women on the WELL*(g wow)

Words (g words)

Writers (g wri)

**** Private Conference - mail wooly for entry

***Private conference - mail sonia for entry

** Private conference - mail flash for entry

* Private conference - mail reva for entry

# Private Conference - mail hudu for entry

## Private Conference - mail dhawk for entry

Arts - Recreation - Entertainment

-----------------------------------

ArtCom Electronic Net (g acen)

Audio-Videophilia (g aud)

Bicycles (g bike)

Bay Area Tonight**(g bat)

Boating (g wet)

Books (g books)

CD's (g cd)

Comics (g comics)

Cooking (g cook)

Flying (g flying)

Fun (g fun)

Games (g games)

Gardening (g gard)

Kids (g kids)

Nightowls* (g owl)

Jokes (g jokes)

MIDI (g midi)

Movies (g movies)

Motorcycling (g ride)

Motoring (g car)

Music (g mus)

On Stage (g onstage)

Pets (g pets)

Radio (g rad)

Restaurant (g rest)

Science Fiction (g sf)

Sports (g spo)

Star Trek (g trek)

Television (g tv)

Theater (g theater)

Weird (g weird)

Zines/Factsheet Five(g f5)

* Open from midnight to 6am

BR

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DO

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IAL

US

E2 4 3

** Updated daily

Grateful Dead

-------------

Grateful Dead (g gd)

Deadplan* (g dp)

Deadlit (g deadlit)

Feedback (g feedback)

GD Hour (g gdh)

Tapes (g tapes)

Tickets (g tix)

Tours (g tours)

* Private conference - mail tnf for entry

Computers

-----------

AI/Forth/Realtime (g realtime)

Amiga (g amiga)

Apple (g app)

Computer Books (g cbook)

Art & Graphics (g gra)

Hacking (g hack)

HyperCard (g hype)

IBM PC (g ibm)

LANs (g lan)

Laptop (g lap)

Macintosh (g mac)

Mactech (g mactech)

Microtimes (g microx)

Muchomedia (g mucho)

NeXt (g next)

OS/2 (g os2)

Printers (g print)

Programmer's Net (g net)

Siggraph (g siggraph)

Software Design (g sdc)

Software/Programming (software)

Software Support (g ssc)

Unix (g unix)

Windows (g windows)

Word Processing (g word)

Technical - Communications

----------------------------

Bioinfo (g bioinfo)

Info (g boing)

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Media (g media)

NAPLPS (g naplps)

Netweaver (g netweaver)

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Packet Radio (g packet)

Photography (g pho)

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Video (g vid)

Virtual Reality (g vr)

The WELL Itself

---------------

Deeper (g deeper)

Entry (g ent)

General (g gentech)

Help (g help)

Hosts (g hosts)

Policy (g policy)

System News (g news)

Test (g test)

The list itself is d

azzling, b

ringing

to the untuto

red eye a d

izzyingim

pre

ssion o

f a bizarre

milie

u o

f mountain

- climbin

g H

awaiian

holistic

photo

grap

hers trad

ing tru

e-life confessio

ns w

ith b

isexual w

ord

-pro

-cessing

Tib

etans.

But this co

nfusion is m

ore apparent than real. Each o

f these conferences

was a little cyb

erspace w

orld

in itself, com

prising

dozens and

perhap

shundreds of sub-topics. Each conference w

as comm

only frequented by afairly sm

all, fairly like-min

ded

com

munity o

f perh

aps a few

dozen

peo

-ple. It w

as humanly im

possib

le to enco

mpass the entire W

ell (espe-

cially since access to the W

ell's mainfram

e com

puter w

as billed

by the

hour). M

ost lo

ng- tim

e users contented

themselves w

ith a few favo

ritetopical neig

hborhoods, w

ith the occasional foray elsewhere for a taste of

exotica. B

ut especially im

portant new

s items, and

hot to

pical d

ebates,

could catch the attention of the entire Well com

munity.

Like any com

munity, the W

ell had its celeb

rities, and Jo

hn Perry

BR

UC

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E2 4 5

Barlo

w, th

e silver-tongued

and silver- m

odem

ed lyricist o

f the G

rateful

Dead

, ranked p

rom

inently among

them. It w

as here on the W

ell thatBarlo

w p

osted

his true-life tale of co

mputer-crim

e encounter w

ith theFB

I.

The story, as m

ight b

e expected, created a great stir. T

he Well w

asalread

y prim

ed fo

r hacker contro

versy. In Decem

ber 1

98

9,

*Harper's* m

agazine had hosted a debate on the Well about the ethics of

illicit com

pute

r intru

sion. W

hile

ove

r forty

various co

mpute

r-m

avens took part, Barlow

proved a star in the debate. So did "Acid

Phreak" and "Phib

er Optik," a p

air of yo

ung N

ew Y

ork hacker-p

hreaksw

hose skills at telco

switching

-station intrusio

n were m

atched o

nly by

their apparently lim

itless hunger fo

r fame. T

he advent o

f these two

bold

ly swag

gering

outlaw

s in the precincts o

f the Well created

a sensa-tio

n akin to that o

f Black Panthers at a co

cktail party fo

r the radically

chic.

Phiber O

ptik in p

articular was to

seize the day in 1

99

0. A

devo

tee of the

*26

00

* circle and stalw

art of the N

ew Y

ork hackers' g

roup

"Masters o

fD

eceptio

n," Phiber O

ptik w

as a splend

id exem

plar o

f the com

puter

intruder as co

mm

itted d

issident. T

he eighteen-year-o

ld O

ptik, a hig

h-scho

ol d

ropout and

part-tim

e com

puter rep

airman, w

as young

, smart,

and ru

thlessly o

bsessive, a sh

arp- d

ressing, sh

arp-talkin

g d

igital d

ude

who

was utterly and

airily contem

ptuo

us of anyo

ne's rules but his o

wn.

By late

19

91

, Phib

er O

ptik h

ad ap

peare

d in

*Harp

er's,* *E

squire

,**T

he New

York T

imes,* in co

untless pub

lic deb

ates and co

nventions,

even on a televisio

n show

hosted

by G

eraldo R

ivera.

Treated

with g

ingerly resp

ect by B

arlow

and o

ther Well m

avens,Phib

er Optik sw

iftly becam

e a Well celeb

rity. Strang

ely, desp

ite histho

rny attitude and

utter single-m

inded

ness, Phiber O

ptik seem

ed to

arouse strong protective instincts in m

ost of the people who m

et him. H

ew

as great co

py fo

r journalists, alw

ays fearlessly ready to

swag

ger, and

,better yet, to

actually *dem

onstrate* so

me o

ff-the-wall d

igital stunt.

He w

as a born m

edia d

arling.

Even cops seemed to recognize that there w

as something peculiarly

unw

orld

ly and u

ncrim

inal ab

out th

is particu

lar troublem

aker. He w

as

BR

UC

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E2 4 6

so bold, so flagrant, so young, and so obviously doomed, that even those

who

strong

ly disap

pro

ved o

f his actions g

rew anxio

us for his w

elfare,and began to flutter about him

as if he were an endangered seal pup.

In Jan

uary 2

4, 1

99

0 (n

ine d

ays after the M

artin L

uth

er Kin

g D

ayCrash), Phib

er Optik, A

cid Phreak, and

a third N

YC sco

fflaw nam

edSco

rpio

n were raid

ed b

y the Secret S

ervice. Their co

mputers w

ent out

the door, along w

ith the usual blizzard of papers, noteb

ooks, compact

disks, answ

ering m

achines, Sony W

alkmans, etc. B

oth A

cid Phreak and

Phiber O

ptik w

ere accused o

f having caused

the Crash.

The m

ills of justice g

round

slow

ly. The case eventually fell into

thehand

s of the N

ew Y

ork S

tate Police. Phib

er had lo

st his machinery in the

raid, b

ut there were no

charges filed

against him

for o

ver a year. His

pred

icament w

as extensively pub

licized o

n the Well, w

here it causedm

uch resentment fo

r police tactics. It's o

ne thing to

merely hear ab

out

a hacker raided or busted; it's another to see the police attacking

some-

one you've come to know

personally, and who has explained his m

otivesat leng

th. Throug

h the *Harper's* deb

ate on the Well, it had b

ecome

clear to the W

ellbeing

s that Phiber O

ptik w

as not in fact g

oing

to "hurt

anything." In their o

wn salad

days, m

any Wellb

eings had

tasted tear-

gas in p

itched street-b

attles with p

olice. T

hey were inclined

to ind

ul-gence fo

r acts of civil d

isobed

ience.

Wellb

eings w

ere also startled

to learn o

f the draco

nian thoro

ughness o

f atyp

ical hacker search-and- seizure. It to

ok no

great stretch o

f imag

i-natio

n for them

to envisio

n themselves suffering

much the sam

e treat-m

ent.

As early as January 1

99

0, sentim

ent on the W

ell had alread

y beg

un tosour, and people had b

egun to g

rumble that "hackers" w

ere getting

a rawdeal fro

m the ham

- handed

pow

ers-that-be. T

he resultant issue of

*Harp

er's* mag

azine posed

the questio

n as to w

hether com

puter-

intrusion w

as a "crime" at all. A

s Barlo

w p

ut it later: "I've beg

un tow

ond

er if we w

ould

n't also reg

ard sp

elunkers as desp

erate criminals if

AT&

T ow

ned all the caves."

In February 1

99

1, m

ore than a year after the raid

on his ho

me, Phib

er

BR

UC

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E2 4 7

Optik w

as finally arrested, and

was charg

ed w

ith first-deg

ree Com

puter

Tam

pering and Com

puter Trespass, N

ew York state offenses. H

e was

also charg

ed w

ith a theft-of-service m

isdem

eanor, invo

lving a co

mplex

free-call scam to

a 90

0 num

ber. Phib

er Optik p

led g

uilty to the m

isde-

meanor charge, and w

as sentenced to 35 hours of com

munity service.

This p

assing harassm

ent from

the unfathom

able w

orld

of straig

ht peo

ple

seemed

to b

other O

ptik him

self little if at all. Dep

rived o

f his com

puter

by the January search-and

-seizure, he simply b

oug

ht himself a

portable computer so the cops could no longer m

onitor the phone where

he lived w

ith his Mom

, and he w

ent right o

n with his d

epred

ations,

som

etimes o

n live radio

or in fro

nt of televisio

n cameras.

The crackd

ow

n raid m

ay have done little to

dissuad

e Phiber O

ptik, b

utits g

alling affect o

n the Wellb

eings w

as pro

found

. As 1

99

0 ro

lled o

n,the sling

s and arro

ws m

ounted

: the Knig

ht Lightning

raid, the S

teveJackso

n raid, the natio

n-spanning

Operatio

n Sund

evil. The rheto

ric of

law enforcem

ent made it clear that there w

as, in fact, a concertedcrackd

ow

n on hackers in p

rogress.

The hackers o

f the Hackers C

onference, the W

ellbeing

s, and their ilk,

did

not really m

ind the o

ccasional p

ublic m

isapprehensio

n of "hacking

";if anything

, this mem

brane o

f differentiatio

n from

straight so

ciety mad

ethe "co

mputer co

mm

unity" feel different, sm

arter, better. T

hey hadnever b

efore b

een confro

nted, ho

wever, b

y a concerted

vilification cam

-paig

n.

Barlo

w's central ro

le in the counter-strug

gle w

as one o

f the majo

rano

malies o

f 19

90

. Journalists investig

ating the co

ntroversy o

ftenstum

bled

over the truth ab

out B

arlow

, but they co

mm

only d

usted them

-selves o

ff and hurried

on as if no

thing had

happened

. It was as if it w

ere*too m

uch to believe* that a 1

960s freak from

the Grateful D

ead hadtaken o

n a federal law

enforcem

ent operatio

n head-to

-head and

*actual-ly seem

ed to

be w

inning!*

Barlo

w had

no easily d

etectable p

ow

er-base fo

r a political strug

gle o

fthis kind

. He had

no fo

rmal leg

al or technical cred

entials. Barlo

w w

as,ho

wever, a co

mputer netw

orker o

f truly stellar brilliance. H

e had a

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

G —

TH

E

HA

CK

ER

CR

AC

KD

OW

N

NO

T F

OR

CO

MM

ER

CIA

L U

SE

2 4 8

poet's g

ift of co

ncise, colo

rful phrasing

. He also

had a jo

urnalist'sshrew

dness, an o

ff-the-wall, self-d

eprecating

wit, and

a pheno

menal

wealth o

f simple p

ersonal charm

.

The kind

of influence B

arlow

possessed

is fairly com

mon currency in

literary, artistic, or m

usical circles. A

gifted

critic can w

ield g

reatartistic influence sim

ply thro

ugh d

efining the tem

per o

f the times, b

ycoining the catch-phrases and the term

s of debate that become the com

-m

on currency o

f the perio

d. (A

nd as it hap

pened

, Barlo

w *w

as* apart-tim

e art critic, with a sp

ecial fond

ness for the W

estern art of

Frederic R

emin

gto

n.)

Barlo

w w

as the first com

mentato

r to ad

opt W

illiam G

ibso

n's strikingscience-fictio

nal term "cyb

erspace" as a syno

nym fo

r the present-d

aynexus o

f com

puter and

telecom

municatio

ns networks. B

arlow

was

insistent that cybersp

ace should

be reg

arded

as a qualitatively new

world

, a "frontier." A

ccord

ing to

Barlo

w, the w

orld

of electro

nic com

-m

unications, no

w m

ade visib

le throug

h the com

puter screen, co

uld no

long

er be usefully reg

arded

as just a tangle o

f high-tech w

iring.

Instead, it had become a *place,* cyberspace, w

hich demanded a new

set of m

etapho

rs, a new set o

f rules and b

ehaviors. T

he term, as B

arlow

employed it, struck a useful chord, and this concept of cyb

erspace was

picked

up b

y *Tim

e,* *Scien

tific Am

erican,* co

mputer p

olice, h

ack-ers, and

even Constitutio

nal scholars. "C

ybersp

ace" now

seems likely

to become a perm

anent fixture of the language.

Barlo

w w

as very striking in p

erson: a tall, crag

gy- faced

, beard

ed,

deep

-voiced

Wyo

ming

an in a dashing

Western ensem

ble o

f jeans, jacket,co

wboy b

oots, a kno

tted thro

at-kerchief and an ever-p

resent Grateful

Dead

cloiso

nne lapel p

in.

Arm

ed w

ith a modem

, how

ever, Barlo

w w

as truly in his element.

Form

al hierarch

ies were n

ot B

arlow

's strong su

it; he rarely m

issed a

chance to b

elittle the "large o

rganizatio

ns and their d

rones," w

ith theirup

tight, institutio

nal mind

set. Barlo

w w

as very much o

f the free-sp

irit persu

asion, d

eeply

unim

pre

ssed b

y b

rass-hats an

d jacks-in

-office. B

ut when it cam

e to the d

igital g

rapevine, B

arlow

was a cyb

er-sp

ace ad-ho

crat par excellence.

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

G —

TH

E H

AC

KE

R C

RA

CK

DO

WN

N

OT

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R C

OM

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IAL

US

E2 4 9

There w

as not a m

ighty arm

y of B

arlow

s. There w

as only o

ne Barlo

w,

and he w

as a fairly anom

olo

us individ

ual. How

ever, the situation o

nlyseem

ed to

*require* a sing

le Barlo

w. In fact, after 1

99

0, m

any peo

-ple m

ust have concluded that a single B

arlow w

as far more than they'd

ever barg

ained fo

r.

Barlo

w's q

uerulous m

ini-essay about his enco

unter with the FB

I strucka stro

ng cho

rd o

n the Well. A

number o

f other free sp

irits on the

fringes o

f Apple C

om

puting

had co

me und

er suspicio

n, and they liked

itnot one w

hit better than he did.

One o

f these was M

itchell Kap

or, the co

-inventor o

f the spread

sheetpro

gram

"Lotus 1

-2-3

" and the fo

under o

f Lotus D

evelopm

entCorp

oratio

n. Kap

or had

written-o

ff the passing

indig

nity of b

eing fin-

gerp

rinted d

ow

n at his ow

n local B

osto

n FBI head

quarters, b

ut Barlo

w's

post made the full national scope of the FB

I's dragnet clear to K

apor.The issue now

had Kapor's full attention. A

s the Secret Service swung

into anti-hacker o

peratio

n nationw

ide in 1

99

0, K

apor w

atched every

move w

ith deep

skepticism

and g

row

ing alarm

.

As it hap

pened

, Kap

or had

already m

et Barlo

w, w

ho had

interviewed

Kap

or fo

r a Califo

rnia com

puter jo

urnal. Like most p

eople w

ho m

etBarlo

w, K

apor had

been very taken w

ith him. N

ow

Kap

or to

ok it up

on

himself to

dro

p in o

n Barlo

w fo

r a heart-to-heart talk ab

out the situa-

tion.

Kapor w

as a regular on the Well. K

apor had been a devotee of the*W

hole Earth C

atalog* since the b

eginning

, and treasured

a com

plete

run of the magazine. A

nd Kapor not only had a m

odem, but a private jet.

In pursuit o

f the scattered hig

h-tech investments o

f Kap

or Enterp

risesIn

c., his p

erso

nal, m

ulti-m

illion d

ollar h

old

ing co

mpan

y, K

apor co

m-

monly crossed state lines w

ith about as much thought as one m

ight giveto

faxing a letter.

The K

apor-B

arlow

council o

f June 1

99

0, in

Pin

edale, W

yom

ing, w

asthe start o

f the Electronic Fro

ntier Found

ation. B

arlow

swiftly w

rote a

manifesto

, "Crim

e and Puzzlem

ent," which anno

unced his, and

Kap

or's,

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

G —

TH

E H

AC

KE

R C

RA

CK

DO

WN

N

OT

FO

R C

OM

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IAL

US

E2 5 0

intention to

form

a political o

rganizatio

n to "raise and

disb

urse funds

for ed

ucation, lo

bbying

, and litig

ation in the areas relating

to d

igital

speech and the extension of the Constitution into C

yberspace."

Furthermore, p

roclaim

ed the m

anifesto, the fo

undatio

n would

"fund,

conduct, and support legal efforts to demonstrate that the Secret Service

has exercised

prio

r restraint o

n p

ublicatio

ns, lim

ited free sp

eech, co

n-

ducted improper seizure of equipm

ent and data, used undue force, andgenerally co

nducted

itself in a fashion w

hich is arbitrary, o

ppressive,

and unco

nstitutional."

"Crim

e and Puzzlem

ent" was d

istributed

far and w

ide thro

ugh co

mputer

networking

channels, and also

printed

in the *Who

le Earth Review

.*The sud

den d

eclaration o

f a coherent, p

oliticized

counter-strike fro

mthe ranks o

f hackerdom

electrified the co

mm

unity. Steve W

ozniak

(perhap

s a bit stung

by the N

uProm

etheus scandal) sw

iftly offered

tom

atch any funds Kapor offered the Foundation.

John G

ilmore, o

ne of the p

ioneers o

f Sun M

icrosystem

s, imm

ediately

offered

his ow

n extensive financial and p

ersonal sup

port. G

ilmore, an

ardent lib

ertarian, was to

pro

ve an eloquent ad

vocate o

f electronic p

ri-vacy issues, esp

ecially freedom

from

governm

ental and co

rporate co

m-

puter-assisted

surveillan

ce of p

rivate citizens.

A seco

nd m

eeting in S

an Francisco ro

unded

up further allies: S

tewart

Bran

d o

f the P

oin

t Foundatio

n, virtu

al-reality pio

neers Jaro

n L

anier

and C

huck Blanchard

, network entrep

reneur and venture cap

italist Nat

Gold

haber. A

t this dinner m

eeting, the activists settled

on a fo

rmal title:

the Electronic Fro

ntier Found

ation, Inco

rporated

. Kap

or b

ecame its

president. A new

EFF Conference w

as opened on the Point Foundation'sW

ell, and the W

ell was d

eclared "the ho

me o

f the Electronic Fro

ntierFo

undatio

n."

Press coverag

e was im

med

iate and intense. Like their nineteenth-cen-

tury spiritual ancesto

rs, Alexand

er Graham

Bell and

Tho

mas W

atson,

the high-tech co

mputer entrep

reneurs of the 1

97

0s and

19

80

s — p

eo-

ple such as W

ozniak, Jo

bs, K

apor, G

ates, and H

. Ross Pero

t, who

hadraised

themselves b

y their bootstrap

s to d

om

inate a glittering

new

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

G —

TH

E H

AC

KE

R C

RA

CK

DO

WN

N

OT

FO

R C

OM

ME

RC

IAL

US

E2 5 1

industry — had alw

ays made very good copy.

But w

hile the Wellb

eings rejo

iced, the p

ress in general seem

ed no

n-plu

ssed b

y the self-d

eclared "civilizers o

f cybersp

ace." EFF's insis-

tence that the war ag

ainst "hackers" involved

grave C

onstitutio

nal civillib

erties issues seemed

som

ewhat farfetched

, especially since no

ne of

EFF's org

anizers were law

yers or estab

lished p

oliticians. T

he busi-

ness press in p

articular found

it easier to seize o

n the apparent co

re of

the story —

that high-tech entrep

reneur Mitchell K

apor had

established

a "defense fund

for hackers." W

as EFF a genuinely im

portant p

olitical

develo

pm

ent — o

r merely a cliq

ue of w

ealthy eccentrics, dab

bling

inm

atters better left to

the pro

per autho

rities? The jury w

as still out.

But the stage w

as now set for open confrontation. A

nd the first and them

ost critical b

attle was the hacker sho

w-trial o

f "Knig

ht Lightning

."_

__

__

It has been m

y practice thro

ugho

ut this book to

refer to hackers o

nly by

their "handles." T

here is little to g

ain by g

iving the real nam

es of these

peo

ple, m

any of w

hom

are juveniles, many o

f who

m have never b

eenconvicted of any crim

e, and many of w

hom had unsuspecting parents w

hohave alread

y suffered eno

ugh.

But th

e trial of K

nig

ht L

ightn

ing o

n Ju

ly 24

-27

, 19

90

, mad

e this p

ar-ticular "hacker" a natio

nally know

n pub

lic figure. It can d

o no

particu-

lar harm to

himself o

r his family if I rep

eat the long

-established

factthat his nam

e is Craig

Neid

orf (p

rono

unced N

YE-d

orf).

Neid

orf's jury trial to

ok p

lace in the United

States D

istrict Court,

North

ern

District o

f Illinois, E

astern

Divisio

n, w

ith th

e H

onorab

leN

icholas J. B

ua presid

ing. T

he United

States o

f Am

erica was the p

lain-tiff, the defendant M

r. Neidorf. T

he defendant's attorney was Sheldon T

.Zenner o

f the Chicag

o firm

of K

atten, Muchin and

Zavis.

The prosecution w

as led by the stalwarts of the C

hicago Com

puter Fraudand

Abuse T

ask Force: W

illiam J. C

ook, C

olleen D

. Coug

hlin, and D

avid A

.G

lockner, all A

ssistant United

States A

ttorneys. T

he Secret S

erviceCase A

gent was T

imothy M

. Foley.

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

G —

TH

E

HA

CK

ER

CR

AC

KD

OW

N

NO

T F

OR

CO

MM

ER

CIA

L U

SE

2 5 2

It will b

e recalled that N

eidorf w

as the co-ed

itor o

f an underg

round

hacke

r "mag

azine" calle

d *P

hrack*. *P

hrack* w

as an e

ntire

ly ele

c-tro

nic pub

lication, d

istributed

throug

h bulletin b

oard

s and o

ver elec-tro

nic networks. It w

as amateur p

ublicatio

n given aw

ay for free.

Neid

orf had

never mad

e any money fo

r his work in *Phrack.* N

eitherhad

his unindicted

co-ed

itor "T

aran King

" or any o

f the numero

us*P

hrack* co

ntrib

uto

rs.

The C

hicago Com

puter Fraud and Abuse T

ask Force, however, had decided

to p

rosecute N

eidorf as a fraud

ster. To fo

rmally ad

mit that *Phrack*

was a "m

agazine" and

Neid

orf a "p

ublisher" w

as to o

pen a p

rosecuto

rialPandora's B

ox of First Am

endment issues. T

o do this was to play into

the hands o

f Zenner and his EFF ad

visers, which no

w includ

ed a p

halanxof p

rom

inent New

York civil rig

hts lawyers as w

ell as the form

idab

leleg

al staff of K

atten, Muchin and

Zavis. Instead, the p

rosecutio

n reliedheavily o

n the issue of access d

evice fraud: S

ection 1

02

9 o

f Title 1

8,

the section fro

m w

hich the Secret S

ervice drew

its most d

irect juris-dictio

n over co

mputer crim

e.

Neidorf's alleg

ed crimes centered around the E9

11 D

ocument. H

e was

accused of having entered into a fraudulent schem

e with the Prophet,

who

, it will b

e recalled, w

as the Atlanta Lo

D m

ember w

ho had

illicitlycopied the E9

11 D

ocument from

the BellSouth A

IMSX

system.

The Pro

phet him

self was also

a co-d

efendant in the N

eidorf case, p

art-and

-parcel o

f the alleged

"fraud schem

e" to "steal" B

ellSouth's E9

11

Docum

ent (and to pass the Docum

ent across state lines, which helped

establish the N

eidorf trial as a fed

eral case). The Pro

phet, in the sp

iritof full co

-operatio

n, had ag

reed to

testify against N

eidorf.

In fact, all three of the Atlanta crew

stood ready to testify againstN

eidorf. T

heir ow

n federal p

rosecuto

rs in Atlanta had

charged

theA

tlanta T

hree w

ith: (a) co

nsp

iracy, (b) co

mputer frau

d, (c) w

irefraud

, (d) access d

evice fraud, and

(e) interstate transportatio

n of

stolen p

roperty (T

itle 18

, Sectio

ns 37

1, 1

03

0, 1

34

3, 1

02

9, and

23

14

).

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

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TH

E H

AC

KE

R C

RA

CK

DO

WN

N

OT

FO

R C

OM

ME

RC

IAL

US

E2 5 3

Faced w

ith this blizzard

of tro

uble, Pro

phet and

Leftist had d

ucked any

pub

lic trial and had

pled

guilty to

reduced

charges —

one co

nspiracy

count apiece. Urvile had pled g

uilty to that odd bit of Section 1

029

which m

akes it illegal to

possess "fifteen o

r more" illeg

al access devices

(in his case, com

puter p

assword

s). And

their sentences were sched

uledfo

r Sep

tember 1

4, 1

99

0 —

well after the N

eidorf trial. A

s witnesses,

they could

presum

ably b

e relied up

on to

behave.

Neidorf, how

ever, was pleading

innocent. Most everyone else caug

ht upin the crackdow

n had "cooperated fully" and pled guilty in hope of

reduced sentences. (Steve Jackson was a notable exception, of course,

and had

strong

ly pro

tested his inno

cence from

the very beg

inning. B

utSteve Jackson could not get a day in court —

Steve Jackson had neverbeen charg

ed w

ith any crime in the first p

lace.)

Neid

orf had

been urg

ed to

plead

guilty. B

ut Neid

orf w

as a political sci-

ence majo

r and w

as disinclined

to g

o to

jail for "fraud

" when he had

not

made any m

oney, had not broken into any computer, and had been pub-

lishing a m

agazine that he co

nsidered

pro

tected und

er the FirstA

mend

ment.

Neid

orf's trial w

as the *only* leg

al action o

f the entire Crackd

ow

n thatactually invo

lved b

ringing

the issues at hand o

ut for a p

ublic test in

front o

f a jury of A

merican citizens.

Neid

orf, to

o, had

cooperated

with investig

ators. H

e had vo

luntarilyhanded over m

uch of the evidence that had led to his own indictm

ent. He

had already admitted in w

riting that he knew

that the E911 D

ocument

had b

een stolen b

efore he had

"pub

lished" it in *Phrack* —

or, fro

m the

pro

secution's p

oint o

f view, illeg

ally transported

stolen p

roperty b

yw

ire in som

ething p

urporting

to b

e a "pub

lication."

But even if the "publication" of the E9

11 D

ocument w

as not held to be acrim

e, that would

n't let Neid

orf o

ff the hook. N

eidorf had

still receivedthe E9

11

Docum

ent when Pro

phet had

transferred it to

him fro

m R

ichA

ndrews' Jolnet node. O

n that occasion, it certainly hadn't been "pub

-lished

" — it w

as hacker booty, p

ure and sim

ple, transp

orted

across state

lines.

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

G —

TH

E H

AC

KE

R C

RA

CK

DO

WN

N

OT

FO

R C

OM

ME

RC

IAL

US

E2 5 4

The C

hicago T

ask Force led a Chicag

o grand jury to indict N

eidorf on aset o

f charges that co

uld have p

ut him in jail fo

r thirty years. When

som

e of these charg

es were successfully challeng

ed b

efore N

eidorf actu-

ally went to

trial, the Chicag

o T

ask Force rearrang

ed his ind

ictment so

that he faced a p

ossib

le jail term o

f over sixty years! A

s a first offend

-er, it w

as very unlikely that Neid

orf w

ould

in fact receive a sentence sodrastic; b

ut the Chicag

o Task Force clearly intended to see N

eidorf putin p

rison, and

his consp

iratorial "m

agazine" p

ut perm

anently out o

fcom

mission. T

his was a federal case, and N

eidorf was charg

ed with the

fraudulent theft o

f pro

perty w

orth alm

ost eig

hty thousand

dollars.

William

Cook w

as a strong b

eliever in h

igh-p

rofile p

rosecu

tions w

ithsym

bolic o

vertones. H

e often p

ublished

articles on his w

ork in the

security trade press, arguing that "a clear message had to be sent to the

pub

lic at large and

the com

puter co

mm

unity in particular that unautho

-rized attacks on com

puters and the theft of computerized inform

ationw

ould not be tolerated by the courts."

The issues w

ere com

plex, the p

rosecutio

n's tactics som

ewhat uno

rtho-

dox, but the Chicago T

ask Force had proved sure-footed to date."Shadow

hawk" had been bagged on the w

ing in 1989 by the T

ask Force,and

sentenced to

nine months in p

rison, and

a $1

0,0

00

fine. The

Shad

ow

hawk case invo

lved charg

es under S

ection 1

03

0, the "fed

eralinterest co

mputer" sectio

n.

Shadowhaw

k had not in fact been a devotee of "federal-interest" comput-

ers per se. On the contrary, Shadow

hawk, w

ho owned an A

T&

T hom

ecom

puter, seemed to cherish a special aggression tow

ard AT&

T. H

e hadbrag

ged

on the und

ergro

und b

oard

s "Phreak Klass 2

60

0" and

"Dr.

Rip

co" o

f his skills at raiding

AT&

T, and

of his intentio

n to crash

AT&

T's national phone system

. Shadowhaw

k's brags were noticed by

Henry K

luepfel o

f Bellco

re Security, sco

urge o

f the outlaw

board

s,w

hose relatio

ns with the C

hicago T

ask Force w

ere long

and intim

ate.

The T

ask Force successfully established that Section 1

030 applied to the

teenage Shadowhaw

k, despite the objections of his defense attorney.Shadow

hawk had entered a com

puter "owned" by U

.S. Missile C

omm

and

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

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TH

E H

AC

KE

R C

RA

CK

DO

WN

N

OT

FO

R C

OM

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RC

IAL

US

E2 5 5

and merely "m

anaged" by AT&

T. H

e had also entered an AT&

T com

puterlocated at Robbins A

ir Force Base in G

eorgia. Attacking A

T&

T w

as of"fed

eral interest" whether S

hadow

hawk had

intended

it or no

t.

The T

ask Force also convinced the court that a piece of AT&

T softw

arethat S

hadow

hawk had

illicitly copied

from

Bell Lab

s, the "Artificial

Intelligence C

5 Exp

ert System

," was w

orth a co

ol o

ne millio

n dollars.

Shadowhaw

k's attorney had argued that Shadowhaw

k had not sold thepro

gram

and had

mad

e no p

rofit fro

m the illicit co

pying

. And

in point o

ffact, the C

5 Expert System

was experim

ental software, and had no

established m

arket value because it had never b

een on the market in the

first place. A

T&

T's o

wn assessm

ent of a "o

ne millio

n dollar" fig

ure for

its ow

n intangib

le pro

perty w

as accepted

witho

ut challenge b

y theco

urt, how

ever. And

the court co

ncurred w

ith the governm

ent pro

secu-tors that Shadow

hawk show

ed clear "intent to defraud" whether he'd got-

ten any money or not. Shadow

hawk w

ent to jail.

The T

ask Force's o

ther best-kno

wn trium

ph had

been the co

nviction and

jailing o

f "Kyrie

." Kyrie

, a true d

enize

n o

f the d

igital crim

inal u

nder-

gro

und, w

as a 36

-year-old

Canad

ian wom

an, convicted

and jailed

for

telecom

municatio

ns fraud in C

anada. A

fter her release from

priso

n,she had fled the w

rath of Canada B

ell and the Royal Canadian M

ountedPo

lice, and eventually settled

, very unwisely, in C

hicago.

"Kyrie," w

ho also

called herself "Lo

ng D

istance Inform

ation," sp

ecial-ized

in voice-m

ail abuse. S

he assembled

large num

bers o

f hot lo

ng-

distance codes, then read them aloud into a series of corporate voice-

mail system

s. Kyrie and

her friends w

ere electronic sq

uatters in cor-

porate vo

ice-mail system

s, using them

much as if they w

ere pirate

bulletin b

oard

s, then moving

on w

hen their vocal chatter clo

gged

thesystem

and the o

wners necessarily w

ised up

. Kyrie's cam

p fo

llow

ersw

ere a loose trib

e of so

me hund

red and

fifty pho

ne-phreaks, w

ho fo

l-lo

wed

her trail of p

iracy from

machine to

machine, ard

ently beg

ging

for

her services and exp

ertise.

Kyrie's d

isciples p

assed her sto

len credit-card

numbers, in exchang

efo

r her stolen "lo

ng d

istance inform

ation." S

om

e of K

yrie's clients paid

her off in cash, b

y scamm

ing cred

it-card cash ad

vances from

Western

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

G —

TH

E

HA

CK

ER

CR

AC

KD

OW

N

NO

T F

OR

CO

MM

ER

CIA

L U

SE

2 5 6

Unio

n.

Kyrie travelled

incessantly, mostly thro

ugh airline tickets and

hotel

room

s that she scamm

ed thro

ugh sto

len credit card

s. Tiring

of this, she

found

refuge w

ith a fellow

female p

hone p

hreak in Chicag

o. K

yrie'sho

stess, like a surprising

number o

f pho

ne phreaks, w

as blind

. She w

asalso

physically d

isabled

. Kyrie alleg

edly m

ade the b

est of her new

situ-atio

n by ap

plying

for, and

receiving, state w

elfare funds und

er a falseid

entity as a qualified

caretaker for the hand

icapped

.

Sad

ly, Kyrie's tw

o child

ren by a fo

rmer m

arriage had

also vanished

underg

round

with her; these p

re-teen dig

ital refugees had

no leg

alA

merican id

entity, and had

never spent a d

ay in school.

Kyrie w

as addicted

to technical m

astery and enthralled

by her o

wn clev-

erness and the ard

ent worship

of her teenag

e follo

wers. T

his foolishly

led her to

pho

ne up G

ail Thackeray in A

rizona, to

boast, b

rag, strut, and

offer to

play info

rmant. T

hackeray, how

ever, had alread

y learned far

more than enoug

h about K

yrie, whom

she roundly despised as an adultcrim

inal corrup

ting m

inors, a "fem

ale Fagin." T

hackeray passed

hertapes of K

yrie's boasts to the Secret Service.

Kyrie w

as raided

and arrested

in Chicag

o in M

ay 19

89

. She co

nfessed at

great leng

th and p

led g

uilty.

In Aug

ust 1990, C

ook and his Task Force colleag

ue Colleen C

oughlin sent

Kyrie to

jail for 2

7 m

onths, fo

r com

puter and

telecom

municatio

nsfraud

. This w

as a marked

ly severe sentence by the usual w

rist-slap-

ping standards of "hacker" busts. Seven of Kyrie's forem

ost teenagediscip

les were also

indicted

and co

nvicted. T

he Kyrie "hig

h-tech streetgang," as C

ook described it, had been crushed. Cook and his colleagues

had b

een the first ever to p

ut som

eone in p

rison fo

r voice-m

ail abuse.

Their pioneering

efforts had won them

attention and kudos.

In his article on Kyrie, C

ook drove the messag

e home to the readers of

*Security M

anagem

ent* mag

azine, a trade jo

urnal for co

rporate secu-

rity pro

fessionals. T

he case, Cook said

, and K

yrie's stiff sentence,"reflect a new

reality for hackers and

com

puter crim

e victims in the

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

G —

TH

E H

AC

KE

R C

RA

CK

DO

WN

N

OT

FO

R C

OM

ME

RC

IAL

US

E2 5 7

'90

s.... Individ

uals and co

rporatio

ns who

report co

mputer and

telecom

-m

unications crim

es can now

expect that their co

operatio

n with fed

erallaw

enforcem

ent will result in m

eaningful p

unishment. C

om

panies and

the pub

lic at large m

ust report co

mputer-enhanced

crimes if they w

antprosecutors and the course to protect their rig

hts to the tangib

le andintang

ible property developed and stored on com

puters."

Cook had

mad

e it his business to

construct this "new

reality for hack-

ers." He'd

also m

ade it his b

usiness to p

olice co

rporate p

roperty rig

htsto

the intangib

le.

Had the Electronic Frontier Foundation b

een a "hacker defense fund" asthat term

was g

enerally understood, they presumab

ly would have stood

up for Kyrie. H

er 1990 sentence did indeed send a "m

essage" that fed-eral heat w

as coming

down on "hackers." B

ut Kyrie found no defenders

at EFF, or anyw

here else, for that m

atter. EFF was no

t a bail-o

ut fundfo

r electronic cro

oks.

The N

eidorf case paralleled the Shadowhaw

k case in certain ways. T

hevictim

once again was allow

ed to set the value of the "stolen" property.O

nce again K

luepfel was b

oth investigator and technical advisor. O

nceagain no m

oney had changed hands, but the "intent to defraud" was cen-

tral.

The prosecution's case show

ed signs of weakness early on. T

he Task

Force had

orig

inally hoped

to p

rove N

eidorf the center o

f a nationw

ide

Legio

n of D

oom

criminal co

nspiracy. T

he *Phrack* edito

rs threwphysical g

et-togethers every sum

mer, w

hich attracted hackers fro

macross the country; generally tw

o dozen or so of the magazine's favorite

contrib

utors and

readers. (S

uch conventio

ns were co

mm

on in the hack-

er com

munity; 2

60

0 M

agazine, fo

r instance, held p

ublic m

eetings o

fhackers in N

ew Y

ork, every m

onth.) Lo

D heavy-d

udes w

ere always a

strong

presence at these *Phrack*-sp

onso

red "S

umm

ercons."

In July 19

88

, an Arizo

na hacker named

"Dictato

r" attended

Sum

merco

nin N

eidorf's home tow

n of St. Louis. D

ictator was one of G

ail Thackeray's

underg

round

inform

ants; Dictato

r's underg

round

board

in Phoenix w

as asting

operatio

n for the S

ecret Service. D

ictator b

roug

ht an underco

ver

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

G —

TH

E H

AC

KE

R C

RA

CK

DO

WN

N

OT

FO

R C

OM

ME

RC

IAL

US

E2 5 8

crew of Secret Service agents to Sum

mercon. T

he agents bored spyholesthroug

h the wall of D

ictator's hotel room in St Louis, and videotaped the

frolicking

hackers throug

h a one-w

ay mirro

r. As it hap

pened

, how

ev-er, no

thing illeg

al had o

ccurred o

n video

tape, o

ther than the guzzling

of

beer b

y a coup

le of m

inors. S

umm

ercons w

ere social events, no

t sinis-ter cab

als. The tap

es show

ed fifteen ho

urs of rauco

us laughter, p

izza-gobblin

g, in

-joke

s and b

ack-slappin

g.

Neid

orf's law

yer, Sheld

on Zenner, saw

the Secret S

ervice tapes b

efore

the trial. Zenner was sho

cked b

y the com

plete harm

lessness of this

meeting

, which C

ook had

earlier characterized as a sinister interstate

conspiracy to comm

it fraud. Zenner wanted to show

the Summ

ercontapes to the jury. It took protracted m

aneuverings b

y the Task Force to

keep the tap

es from

the jury as "irrelevant."

The E9

11

Docum

ent was also

pro

ving a w

eak reed. It had

orig

inallybeen valued

at $7

9,4

49

. Unlike S

hadow

hawk's arcane A

rtificialIntellig

ence booty, the E9

11

Docum

ent was no

t softw

are — it w

as writ-

ten in English. C

om

puter-kno

wled

geab

le peo

ple fo

und this value —

for a

twelve-p

age b

ureaucratic docum

ent — frankly incred

ible. In his

"Crim

e and Puzzlem

ent" manifesto

for EFF, B

arlow

com

mented

: "We

will p

robab

ly never know

how

this figure w

as reached o

r by w

hom

,tho

ugh I like to

imag

ine an appraisal team

consisting

of Franz K

afka,Jo

seph H

eller, and T

hom

as Pynchon."

As it hap

pened

, Barlo

w w

as unduly p

essimistic. T

he EFF did

, in fact,eventually d

iscover exactly ho

w this fig

ure was reached

, and b

y who

m—

but o

nly in 19

91

, long

after the Neid

orf trial w

as over.

Kim

Meg

ahee, a Southern B

ell security manag

er, had arrived

at the doc-

ument's value b

y simply ad

ding

up the "co

sts associated

with the p

ro-

duction" of the E911 D

ocument. T

hose "costs" were as follow

s:

1. A

technical writer had

been hired

to research and

write the E9

11

Docum

ent. 20

0 ho

urs of w

ork, at $

35

an hour, co

st : $7

,00

0. A

Project M

anager had

overseen the technical w

riter. 20

0 ho

urs, at $3

1an ho

ur, mad

e: $6

,20

0.

BR

UC

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TE

RL

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TH

E H

AC

KE

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CK

DO

WN

N

OT

FO

R C

OM

ME

RC

IAL

US

E2 5 9

2. A

week of typing had cost $

721 dollars. A

week of form

atting hadcost $

721. A

week of graphics form

atting had cost $742.

3. T

wo days of editing cost $

367.

4. A

box o

f ord

er labels co

st five dollars.

5. Prep

aring a p

urchase ord

er for the D

ocum

ent, including

typing

andthe o

btaining

of an autho

rizing sig

nature from

within the B

ellSouth

bureaucracy, co

st $1

29

.

6. Printing

cost $

31

3. M

ailing the D

ocum

ent to fifty p

eople to

ok fifty

hours b

y a clerk, and co

st $8

58

.

7. Placing

the Docum

ent in an index to

ok tw

o clerks an ho

ur each,to

talling $

43

.

Bureaucratic overhead alone, therefore, w

as alleged to have cost a

who

pping

$1

7,0

99

. Acco

rding

to M

r. Meg

ahee, the typing

of a tw

elve-pag

e document had taken a full w

eek. Writing

it had taken five weeks,

including

an overseer w

ho ap

parently d

id no

thing else b

ut watch the

author for five weeks. Editing tw

elve pages had taken two days.

Prin

ting an

d m

ailing an

electronic d

ocu

men

t (which

was alread

y avail-able on the Southern B

ell Data N

etwork to any telco em

ployee who needed

it), had co

st over a tho

usand d

ollars.

But this w

as just the beg

inning. T

here were also

the *hardw

areexp

enses.* Eight hund

red fifty d

ollars fo

r a VT2

20

com

puter m

onito

r.*T

hirty-one tho

usand d

ollars* fo

r a sophisticated

VA

Xstatio

n II com

-puter. S

ix thousand

dollars fo

r a com

puter p

rinter. *Tw

enty-two

thousand

dollars* fo

r a copy o

f "Interleaf" softw

are. Tw

o tho

usand five

hundred

dollars fo

r VM

S so

ftware. A

ll this to create the tw

elve-pag

eD

ocum

ent.

Plus ten percent o

f the cost o

f the softw

are and the hard

ware, fo

r main-

tenance. (Actually, the ten percent m

aintenance costs, though m

en-tio

ned, had

been left o

ff the final $7

9,4

49

total, ap

parently thro

ugh a

mercifu

l ove

rsight).

BR

UC

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TH

E

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CK

ER

CR

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T F

OR

CO

MM

ER

CIA

L U

SE

2 6 0

Mr. M

egahee's letter had

been m

ailed d

irectly to W

illiam C

ook him

self,at the office of the C

hicago federal attorneys. The U

nited StatesGovernm

ent accepted these telco figures without question.

As incred

ulity mounted

, the value of the E9

11

Docum

ent was o

fficiallyrevised

dow

nw

ard. T

his tim

e, Robert K

ibler o

f BellS

outh

Secu

rity esti-m

ated the value of the twelve pages as a m

ere $24,6

39.0

5 —

based,purp

orted

ly, on "R

&D

costs." B

ut this specific estim

ate, right d

ow

n tothe nickel, d

id no

t move the skep

tics at all; in fact it pro

voked

open

scorn and

a torrent o

f sarcasm.

The financial issues co

ncerning theft o

f pro

prietary info

rmatio

n havealw

ays been p

eculiar. It could

be arg

ued that B

ellSouth had

not "lo

st" itsE9

11

Docum

ent at all in the first place, and

therefore had

not suffered

any monetary dam

age from this "theft." A

nd Sheldon Zenner did in factarg

ue this at Neid

orf's trial —

that Prophet's raid

had no

t been "theft,"

but w

as better und

erstood as illicit co

pying

.

The m

oney, ho

wever, w

as not central to

anyone's true p

urposes in this

trial. It was no

t Cook's strateg

y to co

nvince the jury that the E91

1D

ocument w

as a major act of theft and should be punished for that reason

alone. His strateg

y was to arg

ue that the E911 D

ocument w

as *danger-

ous.* It was his intention to estab

lish that the E911 D

ocument w

as "aroad-m

ap" to the Enhanced 911 System

. Neidorf had delib

erately andrecklessly d

istributed

a dang

erous w

eapon. N

eidorf and

the Prophet d

idno

t care (or p

erhaps even g

loated

at the sinister idea) that the E9

11

Docum

ent could

be used

by hackers to

disrup

t 91

1 service, "a life line

for every p

erson certainly in the S

outhern B

ell regio

n of the U

nitedStates, and indeed, in m

any comm

unities throughout the United States,"

in Cook's o

wn w

ord

s. Neid

orf had

put p

eople's lives in d

anger.

In pre-trial m

aneuverings, C

ook had

established

that the E91

1D

ocument w

as too hot to appear in the public proceedings of the Neidorf

trial. The *jury itself* w

ould

not b

e allow

ed to

ever see thisD

ocum

ent, lest it slip into

the official co

urt record

s, and thus into

thehand

s of the g

eneral pub

lic, and, thus, so

meho

w, to

malicio

us hackersw

ho m

ight lethally ab

use it.

BR

UC

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RC

IAL

US

E2 6 1

Hid

ing the E9

11

Docum

ent from

the jury may have b

een a clever legal

maneuver, b

ut it had a severe flaw

. There w

ere, in point o

f fact, hun-dreds, perhaps thousands, of people, already in possession of the E9

11

Docum

ent, just as *Phrack* had p

ublished

it. Its true nature was

already o

bvio

us to a w

ide sectio

n of the interested

pub

lic (all of w

hom

,by the w

ay, were, at least theo

retically, party to

a gig

antic wire-fraud

consp

iracy). Most everyo

ne in the electronic co

mm

unity who

had a

modem

and any interest in the Neidorf case already had a copy of the

Docum

ent. It had alread

y been availab

le in *Phrack* for o

ver a year.

People, even q

uite norm

al peo

ple w

ithout any p

articular prurient

interest in forb

idden kno

wled

ge, d

id no

t shut their eyes in terror at the

thought of beholding a "dangerous" document from

a telephone company.

On the contrary, they tended to trust their ow

n judgem

ent and simply

read the Docum

ent for themselves. A

nd they were not im

pressed.

One such p

erson w

as John N

agle. N

agle w

as a forty- o

ne-year-old

pro

-fessio

nal pro

gram

mer w

ith a masters' d

egree in co

mputer science fro

mStanford. H

e had worked for Ford A

erospace, where he had invented a

com

puter-netw

orking

technique kno

wn as the "N

agle A

lgorithm

," andfo

r the pro

minent C

alifornian co

mputer- g

raphics firm

"Auto

desk,"

where he w

as a majo

r stockho

lder.

Nag

le was also

a pro

minent fig

ure on the W

ell, much resp

ected fo

r histechnical kno

wled

geab

ility.

Nag

le had fo

llow

ed the civil-lib

erties deb

ate closely, fo

r he was an

ardent teleco

mm

unicator. H

e was no

particular friend

of co

mputer

intruders, b

ut he believed

electronic p

ublishing

had a g

reat deal to

offer

society at larg

e, and attem

pts to

restrain its gro

wth, o

r to censo

r freeelectro

nic exp

ression, stro

ngly ro

used

his ire.

The N

eidorf case, and the E911 D

ocument, w

ere both being discussed indetail o

n the Internet, in an electronic p

ublicatio

n called *T

elecom

Dig

est.* Nag

le, a long

time Internet m

aven, was a reg

ular reader o

f*T

elecom

Dig

est.* Nag

le had never seen a co

py o

f *Phrack,* but the

implicatio

ns of the case d

isturbed

him.

BR

UC

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TH

E H

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DO

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N

OT

FO

R C

OM

ME

RC

IAL

US

E2 6 2

While in a Stanford b

ookstore hunting b

ooks on robotics, N

agle happened

across a b

ook called

*The Intellig

ent Netw

ork.* T

humbing

throug

h it atrand

om

, Nag

le came acro

ss an entire chapter m

eticulously d

etailing the

working

s of E9

11

police em

ergency system

s. This extensive text w

asbeing

sold

openly, and

yet in Illinois a yo

ung m

an was in d

anger o

f going

to p

rison fo

r pub

lishing a thin six-p

age d

ocum

ent about 9

11

service.

Nag

le mad

e an ironic co

mm

ent to this effect in *T

elecom

Dig

est.* From

there, Nag

le was p

ut in touch w

ith Mitch K

apor, and

then with N

eidorf's

lawyers.

Sheldon Zenner was delig

hted to find a computer telecom

munications

expert willing

to speak up for Neidorf, one w

ho was not a w

acky teenage

"hacker." Nag

le was fluent, m

ature, and respectable; he'd once had a

federal security clearance.

Nag

le was asked to fly to Illinois to join the defense team

.

Having

joined the defense as an expert witness, N

agle read the entire

E911 D

ocument for him

self. He m

ade his own judg

ement ab

out itspotential fo

r menace.

The tim

e has now com

e for you yourself, the reader, to have a look at theE9

11

Docum

ent. This six-p

age p

iece of w

ork w

as the pretext fo

r a fed-

eral pro

secution that co

uld have sent an electro

nic pub

lisher to p

rison

for thirty, o

r even sixty, years. It was the p

retext for the search and

seizure of S

teve Jackson G

ames, a leg

itimate p

ublisher o

f printed

books.

It was also

the form

al pretext fo

r the search and seizure o

f the Mento

r'sbulletin b

oard

, "Phoenix Pro

ject," and fo

r the raid o

n the hom

e of Erik

Bloodaxe. It also had m

uch to do with the seizure of Richard A

ndrews'

Jolnet node and the shutdown of C

harles Boykin's A

T&

T node. T

he E911

Docum

ent was the single m

ost important piece of evidence in the H

ackerCrackdow

n. There can b

e no real and legitim

ate substitute for the

Docum

ent itself.

==

Phrack Inc.==

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

G —

TH

E

HA

CK

ER

CR

AC

KD

OW

N

NO

T F

OR

CO

MM

ER

CIA

L U

SE

2 6 3

Volu

me T

wo, Issu

e 24

, File 5 o

f 13

Contro

l Office A

dm

inistratio

n O

f Enhan

ced 9

11

Services

For S

pecial S

ervices and A

ccount C

enters

by the Eavesd

ropper

March, 1

98

8

Descrip

tion o

f Service

~~

~~

~~

~~

~~

~~

~~

~~

~~

~~

~~

The co

ntro

l office fo

r Emerg

ency 9

11

service is assigned

in acco

rdan

ce with

the existing stand

ard g

uidelines to

one o

f the follo

wing

centers:

o S

pecial S

ervice

s Cente

r (SSC

)o M

ajor A

ccounts C

enter (M

AC

)o S

erving T

est Cen

ter (STC

)o T

oll C

ontro

l Center (T

CC

)

The S

SC/M

AC d

esignatio

n is used in this d

ocum

ent interchangeab

ly for any o

fth

ese four cen

ters. T

he S

pecial S

ervices Cen

ters (SSC

s) or M

ajor A

ccount

Centers (M

ACs) have b

een desig

nated as the tro

uble rep

orting

contact fo

r allE9

11

custo

mer (P

SA

P) rep

orted

troubles. S

ubscrib

ers who h

ave trouble o

n an

E9

11

call will co

ntin

ue to

contact lo

cal repair se

rvice (C

RSA

B) w

ho w

ill refe

rth

e trouble to

the S

SC

/MA

C, w

hen

appro

priate.

Due to

the critical n

ature o

f E91

1 service, th

e contro

l and tim

ely repair o

ftro

ubles is d

eman

ded

. As th

e prim

ary E91

1 cu

stom

er contact, th

e SSC

/MA

Cis in the uniq

ue positio

n to m

onito

r the status of the tro

uble and

insure itsreso

lution.

Syste

m O

verv

iew

~~

~~

~~

~~

~~

~~

~~

~The num

ber 9

11

is intended

as a nationw

ide universal telep

hone num

ber w

hichpro

vides th

e public w

ith d

irect access to a P

ublic S

afety Answ

ering P

oin

t(P

SA

P). A

PSA

P is also

refe

rred to

as an E

merg

ency S

ervice

Bure

au (E

SB).

A P

SA

P is an

agency o

r facility which

is auth

orize

d b

y a municip

ality toreceive an

d resp

ond to

police, fire an

d/o

r ambulan

ce services. One o

r more

attendants are lo

cated at the PS

AP facilities to

receive and hand

le calls of an

emerg

ency n

ature in

accord

ance w

ith th

e local m

unicip

al requirem

ents.

An im

portant ad

vantage o

f E91

1 em

ergency service is im

pro

ved (red

uced)

response tim

es for em

ergency services. A

lso clo

se coord

ination am

ong

agen-

cies p

rovid

ing vario

us e

merg

ency se

rvices is a valu

able

capab

ility pro

vided

by E9

11

service.

1A

ESS is used

as the tandem

office fo

r the E91

1 netw

ork to

route all 9

11

calls to th

e correct (p

rimary) P

SA

P d

esignated

to serve th

e calling statio

n.

The E9

11

feature w

as develo

ped

prim

arily to p

rovid

e routin

g to

the co

rrectPSA

P fo

r all 91

1 calls. S

ele

ctive ro

utin

g allo

ws a 9

11

call orig

inate

d fro

m a

particu

lar station lo

cated in

a particu

lar district, zo

ne, o

r tow

n, to

be ro

uted

to th

e prim

ary PSA

P d

esignated

to serve th

at custo

mer statio

n reg

ardless o

f

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

G —

TH

E H

AC

KE

R C

RA

CK

DO

WN

N

OT

FO

R C

OM

ME

RC

IAL

US

E2 6 4

wire cen

ter boundaries. T

hus, selective ro

utin

g elim

inates th

e pro

blem

of

wire cen

ter boundaries n

ot co

incid

ing w

ith d

istrict or o

ther p

olitical b

ound-

aries.

The services availab

le with

the E9

11

feature in

clude:

Forced

Disco

nnect Default R

outing

Altern

ative Routin

g N

ight S

erviceSelective R

outing

Auto

matic N

umber Id

entification (A

NI)

Selective T

ransfer A

uto

matic L

ocatio

n Id

entificatio

n (A

LI)

Pre

serv

ice/In

stallation G

uid

elin

es

~~

~~

~~

~~

~~

~~

~~

~~

~~

~~

~~

~~

~~

~~

~~

~~

~~

When a co

ntract for an E9

11

system has b

een signed

, it is the responsib

ilityof N

etwork M

arketing to

establish an im

plem

entation/cuto

ver com

mittee

which sho

uld includ

e a representative fro

m the S

SC

/MA

C. D

uties of the E9

11

Implem

entation T

eam includ

e coord

ination o

f all phases o

f the E91

1 system

dep

loym

ent and the fo

rmatio

n of an o

n-going

E91

1 m

aintenance subco

mm

ittee.

Marke

ting is re

sponsib

le fo

r pro

vidin

g th

e fo

llow

ing cu

stom

er sp

ecific in

for-

matio

n to

the S

SC

/MA

C p

rior to

the start o

f call thro

ugh testin

g:

o A

ll PSA

P's (n

ame, ad

dress, lo

cal contact)

o A

ll PSA

P circu

it ID's

o 1

00

4 9

11

service request includ

ing PS

AP d

etails on each PS

AP (1

00

4Sectio

n K, L, M

)o N

etwork co

nfiguratio

no A

ny vendor info

rmatio

n (name, telep

hone num

ber, eq

uipm

ent)

The S

SC/M

AC need

s to kno

w if the eq

uipm

ent and sets at the PS

AP are m

ain-tained

by the B

OCs, an ind

epend

ent com

pany, o

r an outsid

e vendor, o

r anyco

mbinatio

n. This info

rmatio

n is then entered o

n the PSA

P pro

file sheets andreview

ed q

uarterly fo

r chan

ges, ad

ditio

ns an

d d

eletions.

Marketin

g w

ill secure th

e Majo

r Acco

unt N

um

ber (M

AN

) and p

rovid

e this

number to

Corp

orate C

om

municatio

ns so that the initial issue o

f the serviceord

ers carry the M

AN

and can

be tracked

by th

e SSC

/MA

C via C

ORD

NET

.PSA

P circu

its are o

fficial serv

ices b

y d

efin

ition.

All service o

rders req

uired

for th

e installatio

n o

f the E9

11

system sh

ould

include the M

AN

assigned

to the city/co

unty which has p

urchased the system

.

In acco

rdan

ce w

ith th

e b

asic SSC

/MA

C strate

gy fo

r pro

visionin

g, th

eSSC

/MA

C w

ill be O

verall C

ontro

l Office

(OC

O) fo

r all Node to

PSA

P circu

its(o

fficial service

s) and an

y oth

er se

rvices fo

r this cu

stom

er. T

rainin

g m

ust

be sch

edule

d fo

r all SSC

/MA

C in

volve

d p

erso

nnel d

urin

g th

e p

re-se

rvicestag

e of the p

roject.

The E9

11

Implem

entation T

eam w

ill form

the on-g

oing

maintenance sub

com

-m

ittee prio

r to the initial im

plem

entation o

f the E91

1 system

. This sub

-com

-m

ittee will estab

lish post im

plem

entation q

uality assurance pro

cedures to

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

G —

TH

E H

AC

KE

R C

RA

CK

DO

WN

N

OT

FO

R C

OM

ME

RC

IAL

US

E2 6 5

ensure that the E91

1 system

continues to

pro

vide q

uality service to the cus-

tom

er. Custo

mer/C

om

pan

y trainin

g, tro

uble rep

ortin

g in

terfaces for th

e cus-

tom

er, telepho

ne com

pany and

any involved

indep

endent telep

hone co

mpanies

needs to

be ad

dressed

and im

plem

ented p

rior to

E91

1 cuto

ver. These func-

tions can b

e best ad

dressed

by the fo

rmatio

n of a sub

- com

mittee o

f the E91

1Im

plem

entation T

eam to

set up g

uidelines fo

r and to

secure service com

mit-

ments o

f inte

rfacing o

rgan

izations. A

SSC

/MA

C su

perviso

r should

chair th

issub

com

mittee and

include the fo

llow

ing o

rganizatio

ns:

1) S

witch

ing C

ontro

l Cen

ter- E

91

1 tran

slations

- Trunking

- End o

ffice and T

andem

office h

ardw

are/softw

are2

) Recent C

hange M

emory A

dm

inistration C

enter- D

aily R

C u

pdate

activity fo

r TN

/ESN

translatio

ns

- Pro

cesse

s valid

ity e

rrors an

d re

jects

3) Line and

Num

ber A

dm

inistration

- Verificatio

n o

f TN

/ESN

translatio

ns

4) S

pecial S

ervice

Cente

r/Majo

r Acco

unt C

ente

r- S

ingle p

oint o

f contact fo

r all PSA

P and N

ode to

host tro

ubles

- Logs, tracks &

statusin

g o

f all trouble

reports

- Tro

uble

refe

rral, follo

w u

p, an

d e

scalation

- Custo

mer n

otificatio

n o

f status an

d resto

ration

- Analyzatio

n o

f "chro

nic" tro

uble

s- T

esting, in

stallation an

d m

ainten

ance o

f E91

1 circu

its5

) Installatio

n an

d M

ainte

nan

ce (S

SIM

/I&M

)- R

epair and

maintenance o

f PSA

P equip

ment and

Telco

ow

ned sets

6) M

inicom

puter M

aintenance Operatio

ns Center

- E91

1 circu

it main

tenan

ce (where ap

plicab

le)7

) Area M

aintenance Engineer

- Tech

nical assistan

ce on vo

ice (CO

-PSA

P) n

etwork related

E91

1 tro

u-

bles

Maintenance G

uidelines

~~

~~

~~

~~

~~

~~

~~

~~

~~

~~

~~

The C

CN

C w

ill test the Node circuit fro

m the 2

02

T at the H

ost site to

the2

02

T at the N

ode site. S

ince Host to

Node (C

CN

C to

MM

OC) circuits are o

ffi-cial co

mpan

y service

s, the C

CN

C w

ill refe

r all Node circu

it trouble

s to th

eSSC

/MA

C. T

he S

SC

/MA

C is resp

onsib

le for th

e testing an

d fo

llow

up to

restoratio

n o

f these circu

it troubles.

Alth

ough N

ode to

PSA

P circu

it are o

fficial service

s, the M

MO

C w

ill refe

rPSA

P circu

it trouble

s to th

e ap

pro

priate

SSC

/MA

C. T

he S

SC

/MA

C is re

spon-

sible fo

r testing an

d fo

llow

up to

restoratio

n o

f PSA

P circu

it troubles.

The S

SC

/MA

C w

ill also re

ceiv

e re

ports fro

m C

RSA

B/IM

C(s) o

n su

bscrib

er

91

1 tro

ubles w

hen

they are n

ot lin

e troubles. T

he S

SC

/MA

C is resp

onsib

lefo

r testing and

restoratio

n of these tro

ubles.

Main

tenan

ce re

sponsib

ilities are

as follo

ws:

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

G —

TH

E H

AC

KE

R C

RA

CK

DO

WN

N

OT

FO

R C

OM

ME

RC

IAL

US

E2 6 6

SC

C* V

oice N

etwork (A

NI to

PSA

P)

*SC

C re

sponsib

le fo

r tandem

switch

SSIM

/I&M

PSA

P E

quip

ment (M

odem

s, CIU

's, sets)

Vend

or PS

AP Eq

uipm

ent (when C

PE)SSC

/MA

C P

SA

P to

Node circu

its, and tan

dem

to P

SA

P vo

ice circuits

(EMN

T)

MM

OC N

ode site (M

odem

s, cables, etc)

Note: A

ll above w

ork g

roups are req

uired

to reso

lve troubles b

y interfacin

gw

ith ap

pro

priate

work g

roups fo

r reso

lutio

n.

The S

witch

ing C

ontro

l Cente

r (SC

C) is re

sponsib

le fo

r E9

11

/1A

ESS tran

sla-tio

ns in

tandem

central o

ffices. These tran

slations ro

ute E9

11

calls, selec-tive

transfe

r, defau

lt routin

g, sp

eed callin

g, e

tc., for e

ach P

SA

P. T

he S

CC

isalso

responsib

le for tro

ublesho

oting

on the vo

ice network (call o

riginating

toend

office tand

em eq

uipm

ent).

For e

xample

, AN

I failure

s in th

e o

rigin

ating o

ffices w

ould

be a re

sponsib

ilityof the S

CC.

Recen

t Chan

ge M

emory A

dm

inistratio

n C

enter (R

CM

AC

) perfo

rms th

e daily

tandem

translation up

dates (recent chang

e) for ro

uting o

f individ

ual telepho

nenum

bers.

Rece

nt ch

anges are

generate

d fro

m se

rvice o

rder activity (n

ew

service

,ad

dress chang

es, etc.) and co

mpiled

into a d

aily file by the E9

11

Center

(ALI/D

MS E9

11

Com

puter).

SSIM

/I&M

is resp

onsib

le fo

r the in

stallation an

d re

pair o

f PSA

P e

quip

ment.

PSA

P e

quip

ment in

cludes A

NI C

ontro

ller, A

LI C

ontro

ller, d

ata sets, cab

les,

sets, and o

ther p

eripheral eq

uip

men

t that is n

ot ven

dor o

wned

. SSIM

/I&M

isresp

onsib

le for estab

lishin

g m

ainten

ance test kits, co

mplete w

ith sp

are parts

for P

SA

P m

ainten

ance. T

his in

cludes test g

ear, data sets, an

d A

NI/A

LI

Contro

ller p

arts.

Special S

ervice

s Cente

r (SSC

) or M

ajor A

ccount C

ente

r (MA

C) se

rves as th

etro

uble rep

ortin

g co

ntact fo

r all (PSA

P) tro

ubles rep

orted

by cu

stom

er. The

SSC

/MA

C refe

rs troubles to

pro

per o

rgan

izations fo

r han

dlin

g an

d tracks

status o

f troubles, escalatin

g w

hen

necessary. T

he S

SC

/MA

C w

ill close o

ut

trouble

s with

custo

mer. T

he S

SC

/MA

C w

ill analyze

all trouble

s and tracks

"chro

nic" P

SA

P tro

uble

s.

Corp

orate C

om

municatio

ns N

etwork C

enter (C

CN

C) w

ill test and refer tro

u-

ble

s on all n

ode to

host circu

its. All E

91

1 circu

its are classifie

d as o

fficialco

mpany p

roperty.

The M

inicom

puter M

aintenance Operatio

ns Center (M

MO

C) m

aintains the E91

1(A

LI/D

MS) co

mputer h

ardw

are at the H

ost site. T

his M

MO

C is also

responsi-

ble fo

r monito

ring th

e system an

d rep

ortin

g certain

PSA

P an

d system

pro

b-

lem

s to th

e lo

cal MM

OC

's, SC

C's o

r SSC

/MA

C's. T

he M

MO

C p

erso

nnel also

operate so

ftware p

rogram

s that maintain the T

N d

ata base und

er the directio

nof the E9

11

Center. T

he maintenance o

f the NO

DE co

mputer (the interface

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

G —

TH

E

HA

CK

ER

CR

AC

KD

OW

N

NO

T F

OR

CO

MM

ER

CIA

L U

SE

2 6 7

betw

een the PSA

P and the A

LI/DM

S co

mputer) is a functio

n of the M

MO

C at

the NO

DE site. T

he MM

OC's at the N

OD

E sites may also

be invo

lved in the

testing o

f NO

DE to

Host circuits. T

he MM

OC

will also

assist on H

ost to

PSA

Pand

data netw

ork related

troub

les not reso

lved thro

ugh stand

ard tro

uble

clearin

g p

roce

dure

s.

Installatio

n A

nd M

ainte

nan

ce C

ente

r (IMC

) is resp

onsib

le fo

r refe

rral of E

91

1su

bscrib

er troubles th

at are not su

bscrib

er line p

roblem

s.

E91

1 C

enter - P

erform

s the ro

le of S

ystem A

dm

inistratio

n an

d is resp

onsib

lefo

r overall o

peratio

n of the E9

11

com

puter so

ftware. T

he E91

1 C

enter does

A-Z tro

uble an

alysis and p

rovid

es statistical info

rmatio

n o

n th

e perfo

rman

ceof the system

.

This an

alysis in

cludes p

roce

ssing P

SA

P in

quirie

s (trouble

reports) an

d re

fer-

ral of n

etwork tro

ubles. T

he E9

11

Cen

ter also p

erform

s daily p

rocessin

g o

ftand

em recent chang

e and p

rovid

es inform

ation to

the RCM

AC fo

r tandem

input. T

he E9

11

Cen

ter is responsib

le for d

aily pro

cessing o

f the A

LI/D

MS

com

puter d

ata base an

d p

rovid

es error files, etc. to

the C

usto

mer S

ervicesdep

artment fo

r investigatio

n and co

rrection. T

he E91

1 C

enter particip

ates inall system

implem

entations and

on-g

oing

maintenance effo

rt and assists in the

develo

pm

ent of p

roced

ures, training and

educatio

n of info

rmatio

n to all

gro

ups.

Any g

roup

receiving a 9

11

troub

le from

the SSC

/MA

C sho

uld clo

se out the

trouble w

ith th

e SSC

/MA

C o

r pro

vide a statu

s if the tro

uble h

as been

refe

rred to

anoth

er g

roup. T

his w

ill allow

the S

SC

/MA

C to

pro

vide a statu

sback to

the custom

er or escalate as ap

pro

priate.

Any g

roup

receiving a tro

uble fro

m the H

ost site (M

MO

C o

r CC

NC

) should

close the tro

uble b

ack to that g

roup

.

The M

MO

C sho

uld no

tify the appro

priate S

SC

/MA

C w

hen the Host, N

ode, o

rall N

ode circu

its are dow

n so

that th

e SSC

/MA

C can

reply to

custo

mer

reports th

at may b

e called in

by th

e PSA

Ps. T

his w

ill elimin

ate duplicate

reporting

of tro

ubles. O

n com

plete o

utages the M

MO

C w

ill follo

w escalatio

npro

cedures fo

r a Node after tw

o (2

) hours an

d fo

r a PSA

P after fo

ur (4

)hours. A

dditio

nally th

e MM

OC

will n

otify th

e appro

priate S

SC

/MA

C w

hen

the

Host, N

ode, o

r all Node circu

its are dow

n.

The P

SA

P w

ill call the S

SC

/MA

C to

report E

91

1 tro

uble

s. The p

erso

n re

port-

ing th

e E91

1 tro

uble m

ay not h

ave a circuit I.D

. and w

ill therefo

re report th

ePSA

P n

ame an

d ad

dress. M

any P

SA

P tro

ubles are n

ot circu

it specific. In

those in

stances w

here th

e caller cannot p

rovid

e a circuit I.D

., the S

SC

/MA

Cw

ill be req

uired

to d

etermin

e the circu

it I.D. u

sing th

e PSA

P p

rofile. U

nder n

ocircu

mstan

ces will th

e SSC

/MA

C C

enter refu

se to take th

e trouble. T

he E9

11

trouble sh

ould

be h

andled

as quickly as p

ossib

le, with

the S

SC

/MA

C p

rovid

ing

as much assistance as p

ossib

le while taking

the troub

le report fro

m the

caller.

The S

SC

/MA

C w

ill screen/test th

e trouble to

determ

ine th

e appro

priate

handoff o

rganizatio

n based

on the fo

llow

ing criteria:

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

G —

TH

E H

AC

KE

R C

RA

CK

DO

WN

N

OT

FO

R C

OM

ME

RC

IAL

US

E2 6 8

PSA

P e

quip

ment p

roble

m: S

SIM

/I&M

Circu

it pro

ble

m: S

SC

/MA

CV

oice netw

ork p

roblem

: SC

C (rep

ort trunk g

roup

number)

Pro

ble

m affe

cting m

ultip

le P

SA

Ps (N

o A

LI re

port fro

mall PS

APs): C

ontact the M

MO

C to

check for N

OD

E or

Host co

mputer p

roblem

s befo

re further testing.

The S

SC

/MA

C w

ill track the statu

s of rep

orted

troubles an

d escalate as

appro

priate

. The S

SC

/MA

C w

ill close

out cu

stom

er/co

mpan

y reports w

ithth

e initiatin

g co

ntact. G

roups w

ith sp

ecific main

tenan

ce responsib

ilities,defin

ed ab

ove, w

ill investig

ate "chro

nic" tro

ubles u

pon req

uest fro

m th

eSSC/M

AC and

the ong

oing

maintenance sub

com

mittee.

All "o

ut o

f service" E91

1 tro

ubles are p

riority o

ne typ

e reports. O

ne lin

kdow

n to a PS

AP is co

nsidered

a prio

rity one tro

uble and

should

be hand

led as

if the P

SA

P w

as isolate

d.

The P

SA

P w

ill report tro

uble

s with

the A

NI co

ntro

ller, A

LI co

ntro

ller o

r set

equip

ment to

the SSC/M

AC.

NO

AN

I: Where th

e PSA

P rep

orts N

O A

NI (d

igital d

isplay screen

is blan

k) askif th

is conditio

n exists o

n all screen

s and o

n all calls. It is im

portan

t to d

if-feren

tiate betw

een b

lank screen

s and screen

s disp

laying 9

11

-00

XX, o

r allzero

es.

When th

e P

SA

P re

ports all scre

ens o

n all calls, ask if th

ere

is any vo

ice co

n-

tact with

callers. If there is n

o vo

ice contact th

e trouble sh

ould

be referred

to the S

CC im

med

iately since 91

1 calls are no

t getting

throug

h which m

ayreq

uire altern

ate routin

g o

f calls to an

oth

er PSA

P.

When the PS

AP rep

orts this co

nditio

n on all screens b

ut not all calls and

hasvo

ice co

ntact w

ith calle

rs, the re

port sh

ould

be re

ferre

d to

SSIM

/I&M

for

disp

atch. T

he S

SC

/MA

C sh

ould

verify with

the S

CC

that A

NI is p

ulsin

g b

efore

disp

atching S

SIM

.

When

the P

SA

P rep

orts th

is conditio

n o

n o

ne screen

for all calls (o

thers w

ork

fine) th

e trouble sh

ould

be referred

to S

SIM

/I&M

for d

ispatch

, becau

se the

troub

le is isolated

to o

ne piece o

f equip

ment at the custo

mer p

remise.

An A

NI failure (i.e. all zero

es) indicates that the A

NI has no

t been received

by

the P

SA

P fro

m th

e tandem

office o

r was lo

st by th

e PSA

P A

NI co

ntro

ller.The P

SA

P m

ay receive "02

" alarms w

hich

can b

e caused

by th

e AN

I con-

troller lo

ggin

g m

ore th

an th

ree all zero failu

res on th

e same tru

nk. T

he P

SA

Phas b

een instructed to

report this co

nditio

n to the S

SC/M

AC since it co

uldind

icate an equip

ment tro

uble at the PS

AP w

hich mig

ht be affecting

all sub-

scribers callin

g in

to th

e P

SA

P. W

hen

all zeroes are b

eing received

on all calls

or "0

2" alarm

s continue, a tester sho

uld analyze the co

nditio

n to d

etermine

the appro

priate actio

n to b

e taken. The tester m

ust perfo

rm co

operative

testing w

ith the SCC w

hen there appears to

be a p

roblem

on the T

andem

-PSA

Ptrunks b

efore req

uesting d

ispatch.

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

G —

TH

E H

AC

KE

R C

RA

CK

DO

WN

N

OT

FO

R C

OM

ME

RC

IAL

US

E2 6 9

When

an o

ccasional all zero

conditio

n is rep

orted

, the S

SC

/MA

C sh

ould

dis-

patch

SSIM

/I&M

to ro

utin

e equip

men

t on a "ch

ronic" tro

ublesw

eep.

The P

SA

Ps are in

structed

to rep

ort in

ciden

tal AN

I failures to

the B

OC

on a

PSA

P in

quiry tro

uble ticket (p

aper) th

at is sent to

the C

usto

mer S

ervicesE9

11

gro

up and

forw

arded

to E9

11

center when req

uired. T

his usuallyinvo

lves only a p

articular telepho

ne number and

is not a co

nditio

n that would

require

a report to

the S

SC

/MA

C. M

ultip

le A

NI failu

res w

hich

our fro

m th

esam

e end o

ffice (XX d

enotes end

office), ind

icate a hard tro

uble co

nditio

n may

exist in th

e end o

ffice or en

d o

ffice tandem

trunks. T

he P

SA

P w

ill report th

istyp

e of co

nditio

n to the S

SC

/MA

C and

the SSC

/MA

C sho

uld refer the rep

ort

to the S

CC resp

onsib

le for the tand

em o

ffice. NO

TE: X

X is the ES

CO

(Emerg

ency Service N

umber) asso

ciated w

ith the incom

ing 9

11

trunks intothe tand

em. It is im

portant that the C

/MA

C tell the S

CC w

hat is disp

layed at

the P

SA

P (i.e. 9

11

-00

11

) which

indicates to

the S

CC

which

end o

ffice is intro

uble.

Note

: It is esse

ntial th

at the P

SA

P fill o

ut in

quiry fo

rm o

n e

very A

NI failu

re.

The P

SA

P w

ill report a tro

uble an

y time an

address is n

ot received

on an

address d

isplay (screen b

lank) E91

1 call. (If a reco

rd is no

t in the 91

1 d

atabase

or an

AN

I failure

is enco

unte

red, th

e scre

en w

ill pro

vide a d

isplay n

otic-

ing su

ch co

nditio

n). T

he S

SC

/MA

C sh

ould

verify with

the P

SA

P w

heth

er the

NO

ALI co

nditio

n is on o

ne screen or all screens.

When the co

nditio

n is on o

ne screen (other screens receive A

LI inform

ation)

the S

SC

/MA

C w

ill request S

SIM

/I&M

to d

ispatch

.

If no scre

ens are

rece

iving A

LI in

form

ation, th

ere

is usu

ally a circu

it trouble

betw

een the PSA

P and the H

ost co

mputer. T

he SSC/M

AC sho

uld test the

trouble

and re

fer fo

r resto

ral.

Note

: If the S

SC

/MA

C re

ceive

s calls from

multip

le P

SA

P's, all o

f which

arereceiving

NO

ALI, there is a p

roblem

with the N

ode o

r Node to

Host circuits o

rth

e Host co

mputer itself. B

efore referrin

g th

e trouble th

e SSC

/MA

C sh

ould

call the MM

OC

to inq

uire if the Node o

r Host is in tro

uble.

Alarm

conditio

ns o

n th

e AN

I contro

ller dig

ital disp

lay at the P

SA

P are to

be

reported

by th

e PSA

P's. T

hese alarm

s can in

dicate vario

us tro

uble co

nditio

ns

so the S

SC

/MA

C sho

uld ask the PS

AP if any p

ortio

n of the E9

11

system is no

tfunctio

ning p

roperly.

The S

SC

/MA

C sho

uld verify w

ith the PSA

P attendant that the eq

uipm

ent'sprim

ary fu

nctio

n is an

swerin

g E

91

1 calls. If it is, th

e S

SC

/MA

C sh

ould

request a d

ispatch

SSIM

/I&M

. If the e

quip

ment is n

ot p

rimarily u

sed fo

rE9

11

, then

the S

SC

/MA

C sh

ould

advise P

SA

P to

contact th

eir CPE ven

dor.

Note: T

hese troub

les can be q

uite confusing

when the PS

AP has vend

or eq

uip-

ment m

ixed in w

ith equip

ment that the B

OC m

aintains. The M

arketing rep

re-sen

tative should

pro

vide th

e SSC

/MA

C in

form

ation co

ncern

ing an

y unusu

al or

exceptio

n item

s where th

e PSA

P sh

ould

contact th

eir vendor. T

his in

form

a-tio

n should

be includ

ed in the PS

AP p

rofile sheets.

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

G —

TH

E H

AC

KE

R C

RA

CK

DO

WN

N

OT

FO

R C

OM

ME

RC

IAL

US

E2 7 0

AN

I or A

LI contro

ller dow

n: When the ho

st com

puter sees the PS

AP eq

uip-

ment d

ow

n and it d

oes no

t com

e back up

, the MM

OC w

ill report the tro

uble to

the S

SC

/MA

C; th

e equip

men

t is dow

n at th

e PSA

P, a d

ispatch

will b

ereq

uired.

PSA

P lin

k (circuit) d

ow

n: T

he M

MO

C w

ill pro

vide th

e S

SC

/MA

C w

ith th

e cir-

cuit ID that the H

ost co

mputer ind

icates in troub

le. Altho

ugh each PS

AP has

two circu

its, when

either circu

it is dow

n th

e conditio

n m

ust b

e treated as an

emerg

ency sin

ce failure o

f the seco

nd circu

it will cau

se the P

SA

P to

be iso

-lated

.

Any p

roblem

s that the MM

OC id

entifies from

the Node lo

cation to

the Host

com

puter w

ill be h

andled

directly w

ith th

e appro

priate M

MO

C(s)/C

CN

C.

Note: T

he cu

stom

er will call o

nly w

hen

a pro

blem

is apparen

t to th

e PSA

P.

When o

nly one circuit is d

ow

n to the PS

AP, the custo

mer m

ay not b

e aware

there is a troub

le, even thoug

h there is one link d

ow

n, notificatio

n should

appear o

n th

e PSA

P screen

. Tro

ubles called

into

the S

SC

/MA

C fro

m th

eM

MO

C o

r other co

mpany em

plo

yee should

not b

e closed

out b

y calling the

PSA

P since it may result in the custo

mer resp

ond

ing that they d

o no

t have atro

uble. T

hese reports can o

nly be clo

sed o

ut by receiving

inform

ation that

the troub

le was fixed

and b

y checking w

ith the com

pany em

plo

yee thatrep

orted

the troub

le. The M

MO

C p

ersonnel w

ill be ab

le to verify that the

trouble h

as cleared b

y reviewin

g a p

rinto

ut fro

m th

e host.

When the C

RSA

B receives a sub

scriber co

mplaint (i.e., canno

t dial 9

11

) theRSA

should

obtain as m

uch inform

ation as p

ossib

le while the custo

mer is o

nthe line.

For exam

ple, w

hat happened

when the sub

scriber d

ialed 9

11

? The rep

ort is

autom

atically directed

to the IM

C fo

r subscrib

er line testing. W

hen no line

trouble is fo

und, th

e IMC

will refer th

e trouble co

nditio

n to

the S

SC

/MA

C.

The S

SC

/MA

C w

ill contact C

usto

mer S

ervices E91

1 G

roup an

d verify th

at the

subscrib

er should

be ab

le to call 9

11

and o

btain the ES

N. T

he SSC

/MA

C w

illve

rify the E

SN

via 2SC

CS. W

hen b

oth

verificatio

ns m

atch, th

e S

SC

/MA

C w

illrefer th

e report to

the S

CC

responsib

le for th

e 91

1 tan

dem

office fo

r investi-

gatio

n and reso

lution. T

he MA

C is resp

onsib

le for tracking

the troub

le andin

form

ing th

e IM

C w

hen it is re

solve

d.

For m

ore

info

rmatio

n, p

lease

refe

r to E

91

1 G

lossary o

f Term

s.

End o

f Phrack File

__

__

__

__

__

__

__

__

__

__

__

__

__

__

__

__

__

__

_

The read

er is forg

iven if he or she w

as entirely unable to

read this d

oc-

ument. Jo

hn Perry Barlo

w had

a great d

eal of fun at its exp

ense, in"C

rime and

Puzzlement:" "B

ureaucrat-ese of surp

assing o

pacity.... T

o

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

G —

TH

E

HA

CK

ER

CR

AC

KD

OW

N

NO

T F

OR

CO

MM

ER

CIA

L U

SE

2 7 1

read the w

hole thing

straight thro

ugh w

ithout entering

com

a requires

either a machine o

r a human w

ho has to

o m

uch practice thinking

likeone. A

nyone w

ho can und

erstand it fully and

fluidly had

altered his co

n-scio

usness beyo

ne the ability to

ever again read

Blake, W

hitman, o

rTolstoy.... the docum

ent contains little of interest to anyone who is not a

student of advanced organizational sclerosis."

With the D

ocum

ent itself to hand

, how

ever, exactly as it was p

ublished

(in its six-pag

e edited

form

) in *Phrack,* the reader m

ay be ab

le toverify a few

statements o

f fact about its nature. First, there is no

soft-

ware, no

com

puter co

de, in the D

ocum

ent. It is not co

mputer-p

rogram

-m

ing lang

uage like FO

RTRA

N o

r C+

+, it is Eng

lish; all the sentenceshave nouns and verbs and punctuation. It does not explain how

to breakinto the E9

11 system

. It does not suggest ways to destroy or dam

age theE9

11

system.

There are no access codes in the D

ocument. T

here are no computer

passwords. It does not explain how

to steal long distance service. It doesno

t explain ho

w to

break in to

telco sw

itching statio

ns. There is no

thingin it ab

out using

a perso

nal com

puter o

r a modem

for any p

urpose at all,

good or bad.

Clo

se study w

ill reveal that this docum

ent is not ab

out m

achinery. The

E91

1 D

ocum

ent is about *ad

ministratio

n.* It describ

es how

one creates

and ad

ministers certain units o

f telco b

ureaucracy: Special S

erviceCenters and

Majo

r Acco

unt Centers (S

SC/M

AC). It d

escribes ho

w these

centers should

distrib

ute responsib

ility for the E9

11

service, to o

therunits o

f telco b

ureaucracy, in a chain of co

mm

and, a fo

rmal hierarchy.

It describ

es who

answers custo

mer co

mplaints, w

ho screens calls, w

horep

orts eq

uipm

ent failures, who

answers tho

se reports, w

ho hand

lesm

aintenance, who

chairs subco

mm

ittees, who

gives o

rders, w

ho fo

llow

sord

ers, *who

* tells *who

m* w

hat to d

o. T

he Docum

ent is not a

"roadmap" to com

puters. The D

ocument is a roadm

ap to *people.*

As an aid

to b

reaking into

com

puter system

s, the Docum

ent is *useless.*A

s an aid to harassing and deceiving telco people, however, the D

ocument

mig

ht pro

ve handy (esp

ecially with its G

lossary, w

hich I have not

included). An intense and protracted study of this D

ocument and its

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

G —

TH

E H

AC

KE

R C

RA

CK

DO

WN

N

OT

FO

R C

OM

ME

RC

IAL

US

E2 7 2

Glossary, com

bined with m

any other such documents, m

ight teach one tospeak like a telco em

ployee. And telco people live b

y *speech* — they

live by p

hone co

mm

unication. If yo

u can mim

ic their languag

e over the

phone, you can "social-engineer" them

. If you can con telco people, youcan w

reak havoc among them

. You can force them to no longer trust one

another; yo

u can break the telep

honic ties that b

ind their co

mm

unity;you can m

ake them paranoid. A

nd people will fight harder to defend

their com

munity than they w

ill fight to

defend

their individ

ual selves.

This w

as the genuine, g

ut-level threat posed

by *Phrack* m

agazine.

The real strug

gle w

as over the control of telco languag

e, the control oftelco know

ledge. It was a struggle to defend the social "m

embrane of dif-

ferentiation" that fo

rms the w

alls of the telco

com

munity's ivo

ry tow

er—

the special jargon that allow

s telco professionals to recognize one

another, and

to exclud

e charlatans, thieves, and up

starts. And

the pro

s-ecution brought out this fact. T

hey repeatedly made reference to the

threat posed

to telco

pro

fessionals b

y hackers using "so

cial engineer-

ing."

How

ever, Craig

Neid

orf w

as not o

n trial for learning

to sp

eak like apro

fessional teleco

mm

unications exp

ert. Craig

Neid

orf w

as on trial fo

raccess device fraud and transportation of stolen property. H

e was on

trial for stealing

a docum

ent that was p

urported

ly highly sensitive and

purp

orted

ly worth tens o

f thousand

s of d

ollars.

__

__

_

John Nagle read the E9

11 D

ocument. H

e drew his ow

n conclusions. And

he presented Zenner and his defense team w

ith an overflowing box of

similar m

aterial, d

rawn m

ostly fro

m S

tanfo

rd U

nive

rsity's engin

eerin

glib

raries. During

the trial, the defense team

— Zenner, half-a-d

ozen

other atto

rneys, Nag

le, Neid

orf, and

com

puter-security exp

ert Doro

thyD

ennin

g, all p

ored

over th

e E91

1 D

ocu

men

t line-b

y-line.

On the afterno

on o

f July 25

, 19

90

, Zenner beg

an to cro

ss-examine a

wom

an n

amed

Billie W

illiams, a service m

anag

er for S

outh

ern B

ell inA

tlanta. Ms. W

illiams had

been resp

onsib

le for the E9

11

Docum

ent.(S

he was no

t its author —

its orig

inal "author" w

as a Southern B

ell staffm

anager nam

ed R

ichard H

elms. H

ow

ever, Mr. H

elms sho

uld no

t bear the

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

G —

TH

E H

AC

KE

R C

RA

CK

DO

WN

N

OT

FO

R C

OM

ME

RC

IAL

US

E2 7 3

entire blam

e; many telco staff people and m

aintenance personnel hadam

ended the Docum

ent. It had not been so much "w

ritten" by a singleautho

r, as built b

y com

mittee o

ut of co

ncrete-blo

cks of jarg

on.)

Ms. W

illiams had

been called

as a witness fo

r the pro

secution, and

hadgam

ely tried to

explain the b

asic technical structure of the E9

11

sys-tem

, aided

by charts.

Now

it was Zenner's turn. H

e first established

that the "pro

prietary

stamp" that B

ellSouth had used on the E911 D

ocument w

as stamped on

*every single d

ocum

ent* that BellS

outh w

rote —

*thousand

s* of d

ocu-

ments. "W

e do not publish anything

other than for our own com

pany,"M

s. William

s explained

. "Any co

mpany d

ocum

ent of this nature is co

n-sid

ered p

roprietary." N

obody w

as in charge o

f singling

out sp

ecialhig

h-secu

rity publicatio

ns fo

r special h

igh-secu

rity pro

tection. T

hey

were *all* sp

ecial, no m

atter how

trivial, no m

atter what th

eir sub-

ject matter —

the stamp w

as put on as soon as any document w

as writ-

ten, and the stamp w

as never removed.

Zenner now asked w

hether the charts she had been using to explain them

echanics of E9

11

system w

ere "pro

prietary," to

o. W

ere they *pub

licinfo

rmatio

n,* these charts, all about PS

APs, A

LIs, nodes, lo

cal endsw

itches? Could he take the charts out in the street and show

them to

anybody, "w

ithout vio

lating so

me p

roprietary no

tion that B

ellSouth

has?"

Ms W

illiams sho

wed

som

e confusio

n, but finally ag

reed that the charts

were, in

fact, public.

"But isn't this w

hat you said

was b

asically what ap

peared

in*P

hra

ck?*"

Ms. W

illiams d

enie

d th

is.

Zenner now

pointed

out that the E9

11

Docum

ent as pub

lished in Phrack

was o

nly half the size of the o

riginal E9

11

Docum

ent (as Prophet had

purloined it). Half of it had b

een deleted — edited b

y Neidorf.

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

G —

TH

E H

AC

KE

R C

RA

CK

DO

WN

N

OT

FO

R C

OM

ME

RC

IAL

US

E2 7 4

Ms. W

illiams co

untered that "M

ost o

f the inform

ation that is in the text

file is redund

ant."

Zenner continued to probe. Exactly w

hat bits of know

ledge in the

Docum

ent were, in fact, unkno

wn to

the pub

lic? Locatio

ns of E9

11

com

puters? Pho

ne numbers fo

r telco p

ersonnel? O

ngoing

maintenance

subco

mm

ittees? Had

n't Neid

orf rem

oved

much o

f this?

Then he p

ounced

. "Are yo

u familiar w

ith Bellco

re Technical R

eferenceD

ocu

ment T

R-T

SY-0

00

35

0?" It w

as, Zenner e

xplain

ed, o

fficiallytitled

"E91

1 Pub

lic Safety A

nswering

Point Interface B

etween 1

-1A

ESS

Sw

itch and C

ustom

er Premises Eq

uipm

ent." It contained

highly d

etailedand

specific technical info

rmatio

n about the E9

11

System

. It was p

ub-

lished b

y Bellco

re and p

ublicly availab

le for ab

out $

20

.

He show

ed the witness a B

ellcore catalog which listed thousands of docu-

ments fro

m B

ellcore and

from

all the Bab

y Bells, B

ellSouth includ

ed.

The catalog, Zenner pointed out, w

as free. Anyone w

ith a credit cardco

uld call the B

ellcore to

ll-free 80

0 num

ber and

simply o

rder any o

fthese docum

ents, which w

ould be shipped to any customer w

ithout ques-tio

n. Including

, for instance, "B

ellSouth E9

11

Service Interfaces to

Custo

mer Prem

ises Equip

ment at a Pub

lic Safety A

nswering

Point."

Zenner gave the w

itness a copy o

f "BellS

outh E9

11

Service Interfaces,"

which cost, as he pointed out, $

13, straig

ht from the catalog

. "Look at itcarefully," he urg

ed M

s. William

s, "and tell m

e if it doesn't co

ntainabout tw

ice as much detailed inform

ation about the E911 system

ofBellS

outh than ap

peared

anywhere in *Phrack.*"

"You w

ant me to

...." Ms. W

illiams trailed

off. "I d

on't und

erstand."

"Take a careful look," Zenner persisted. "T

ake a look at that document,

and tell me w

hen you're done looking at it if, indeed, it doesn't contain

much m

ore detailed information ab

out the E911 system

than appeared in*P

hra

ck.*"

"*Phrack* w

asn't take

n fro

m th

is," Ms. W

illiams said

.

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

G —

TH

E

HA

CK

ER

CR

AC

KD

OW

N

NO

T F

OR

CO

MM

ER

CIA

L U

SE

2 7 5

"Excuse me?" said

Zenner.

"*Phrack* w

asn't taken

from

this."

"I can't hear you," Zenner said

.

"*Phrack* was no

t taken from

this docum

ent. I don't und

erstand yo

urquestion to m

e."

"I guess yo

u don't," Zenner said

.

At this point, the prosecution's case had b

een gutshot. M

s. William

s was

distressed

. Her co

nfusion w

as quite g

enuine. *Phrack* had no

t been

taken fro

m an

y publicly availab

le Bellco

re docu

men

t. *Phrack*'s

E911 D

ocument had been stolen from

her own com

pany's computers,

from

her ow

n com

pany's text files, that her o

wn co

lleagues had

written,

and revised

, with m

uch labor.

But the "value" of the D

ocument had b

een blow

n to smithereens. It w

as-n't w

orth eig

hty grand

. Acco

rding

to B

ellcore it w

as worth thirteen

bucks. And the loom

ing menace that it supposedly posed had been

reduced

in instants to a scarecro

w. B

ellcore itself w

as selling m

aterialfar m

ore detailed and "dangerous," to anybody with a credit card and a

pho

ne.

Actually, B

ellcore w

as not g

iving this info

rmatio

n to just anyb

ody. T

heygave it to *anybody w

ho asked,* but not many did ask. N

ot many people

knew that B

ellcore had a free catalog and an 8

00 num

ber. John N

agle

knew, b

ut certainly the average teenag

e phreak didn't know. "T

uc," afriend

of N

eidorf's and

som

etime *Phrack* co

ntributo

r, knew, and

Tuc

had been very helpful to the defense, behind the scenes. But the Legion

of Doom

didn't know —

otherwise, they w

ould never have wasted so m

uchtim

e raiding

dum

psters. C

ook d

idn't kno

w. Fo

ley did

n't know

. Kluep

feldidn't know

. The right hand of B

ellcore knew not w

hat the left hand was

doing

. The rig

ht hand w

as battering

hackers witho

ut mercy, w

hile theleft hand

was d

istributing

Bellco

re's intellectual pro

perty to

anybody

who

was interested

in telepho

ne technical trivia — ap

parently, a

pathetic few

.

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

G —

TH

E H

AC

KE

R C

RA

CK

DO

WN

N

OT

FO

R C

OM

ME

RC

IAL

US

E2 7 6

The d

igital und

ergro

und w

as so am

ateurish and p

oorly o

rganized

thatthey had

never disco

vered this heap

of ung

uarded

riches. The ivo

rytow

er of the telcos was so w

rapped-up in the fog of its ow

n technicalobscurity that it had left all the w

indows open and flung open the doors.

No one had even noticed.

Zenner sank another nail in the co

ffin. He p

roduced

a printed

issue of

*Telep

hone Eng

ineer & M

anagem

ent,* a pro

minent ind

ustry journal

that comes out tw

ice a month and costs $

27 a year. T

his particularissue o

f *TE&

M,* called

"Update o

n 91

1," featured

a galaxy o

f technicaldetails o

n 91

1 service and

a glo

ssary far more extensive than

*Phra

ck*'s.

The trial rum

bled

on, so

meho

w, thro

ugh its o

wn m

om

entum. T

im Fo

leytestified

about his interro

gatio

ns of N

eidorf. N

eidorf's w

ritten adm

is-sio

n that he had kno

wn the E9

11

Docum

ent was p

ilfered w

as officially

read into

the court reco

rd.

An interesting

side issue came up: "T

erminus" had once passed N

eidorf apiece o

f UN

IX A

T&

T so

ftware, a lo

g-in seq

uence, that had b

een cunningly

altered so

that it could

trap p

assword

s. The U

NIX

softw

are itself was

illegally co

pied

AT&

T p

roperty, and

the alterations "T

erminus" had

mad

e to it, had

transform

ed it into

a device fo

r facilitating co

mputer

break-ins. T

erminus him

self would

eventually plead

guilty to

theft of

this piece of software, and the C

hicago group would send T

erminus to

priso

n for it. B

ut it was o

f dub

ious relevance in the N

eidorf case.

Neidorf hadn't w

ritten the program

. He w

asn't accused of ever havingused it. A

nd Neidorf w

asn't being charged with softw

are theft or owning

a passw

ord

trapper.

On the next d

ay, Zenner took the o

ffensive. The civil lib

ertarians now

had their o

wn arcane, untried

legal w

eaponry to

launch into actio

n —the Electro

nic Com

municatio

ns Privacy Act o

f 19

86

, 18

US C

ode,

Sectio

n 27

01

et seq. S

ection 2

70

1 m

akes it a crime to

intentionally

access witho

ut authorizatio

n a facility in which an electro

nic com

muni-

cation service is p

rovid

ed —

it is, at heart, an anti-bug

ging

and anti-

tapping

law, intend

ed to

carry the traditio

nal pro

tections o

f telepho

nes

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

G —

TH

E H

AC

KE

R C

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CK

DO

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N

OT

FO

R C

OM

ME

RC

IAL

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E2 7 7

into o

ther electronic channels o

f com

municatio

n. While p

rovid

ingpenalties fo

r amateur sno

ops, ho

wever, S

ection 2

70

3 o

f the ECPA

alsolays so

me fo

rmal d

ifficulties on the b

ugging

and tap

ping

activities of

police.

The S

ecret Service, in the p

erson o

f Tim

Foley, had

served R

ichardA

ndrew

s with a fed

eral grand

jury subpoena, in their p

ursuit of

Prophet, the E9

11

Docum

ent, and the T

erminus so

ftware ring

. But

accord

ing to

the Electronic C

om

municatio

ns Privacy Act, a "p

rovid

er of

remote co

mputing

service" was leg

ally entitled to

"prio

r notice" fro

mthe g

overnment if a sub

poena was used. Richard A

ndrews and his b

ase-m

ent UN

IX no

de, Jo

lnet, had no

t received any "p

rior no

tice." Tim

Foley

had p

urported

ly violated

the ECPA

and co

mm

itted an electro

nic crime!

Zenner now

soug

ht the judge's p

ermissio

n to cro

ss-examine Fo

ley on the

topic o

f Foley's o

wn electro

nic misd

eeds.

Cook arg

ued that R

ichard A

ndrew

s' Jolnet w

as a privately o

wned

bulletin

board, and not w

ithin the purview of EC

PA. Judg

e Bua g

ranted them

otio

n of the g

overnm

ent to p

revent cross-exam

ination o

n that point,

and Zenner's o

ffensive fizzled. T

his, how

ever, was the first d

irectassault on the legality of the actions of the C

omputer Fraud and A

buseTask Force itself —

the first suggestion that they them

selves had broken

the law, and m

ight, perhaps, b

e called to account.

Zenner, in any case, did

not really need

the ECPA

. Instead, he g

rilledFo

ley on the g

laring co

ntradictio

ns in the supposed

value of the E9

11

Docum

ent. He also brought up the em

barrassing fact that the supposedlyred

- hot E9

11

Docum

ent had b

een sitting aro

und fo

r months, in Jo

lnet,w

ith Kluep

fel's know

ledge, w

hile Kluep

fel had d

one no

thing ab

out it.

In the afternoon, the Pro

phet w

as bro

ught in to

testify for the p

rosecu-

tion. (T

he Prophet, it w

ill be recalled

, had also

been ind

icted in the case

as partner in a fraud

scheme w

ith Neid

orf.) In A

tlanta, the Prophet had

already p

led g

uilty to o

ne charge o

f consp

iracy, one charg

e of w

ire fraudand one charg

e of interstate transportation of stolen property. The

wire fraud

charge, and

the stolen p

roperty charg

e, were b

oth d

irectlybased on the E9

11 D

ocument.

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The tw

enty-year-old

Prophet p

roved

a sorry custo

mer, answ

eringquestio

ns politely b

ut in a barely aud

ible m

umble, his vo

ice trailing o

ffat the ends of sentences. H

e was constantly urged to speak up.

Cook, exam

ining Prophet, forced him to adm

it that he had once had a"d

rug p

roblem

," abusing

amphetam

ines, marijuana, co

caine, and LS

D.

This m

ay have established

to the jury that "hackers" are, o

r can be,

seedy lo

wlife characters, b

ut it may have d

amag

ed Pro

phet's cred

ibility

somew

hat. Zenner later suggested that drugs might have dam

agedPro

phet's m

emory. T

he interesting fact also

surfaced that Pro

phet had

never physically m

et Craig

Neid

orf. H

e did

n't even know

Neid

orf's last

name —

at least, not until the trial.

Prophet co

nfirmed

the basic facts o

f his hacker career. He w

as a mem

-ber of the Legion of D

oom. H

e had abused codes, he had broken intosw

itching statio

ns and re-ro

uted calls, he had

hung o

ut on p

irate bul-

letin board

s. He had

raided

the BellS

outh A

IMSX co

mputer, co

pied

theE9

11

Docum

ent, stored

it on Jo

lnet, mailed

it to N

eidorf. H

e and N

eidorf

had edited it, and Neidorf had know

n where it cam

e from.

Zenner, how

ever, had Pro

phet co

nfirm that N

eidorf w

as not a m

ember o

fthe Legion of D

oom, and had not urged Prophet to break into B

ellSouthcom

puters. Neidorf had never urg

ed Prophet to defraud anyone, or tosteal anything

. Prophet also admitted that he had never know

n Neidorf

to break in to any computer. Prophet said that no one in the Legion of

Doom

consid

ered C

raig N

eidorf a "hacker" at all. N

eidorf w

as not a U

NIX

maven, and

simply lacked

the necessary skill and ab

ility to b

reak intoco

mputers. N

eidorf just p

ublished

a mag

azine.

On Frid

ay, July 27

, 19

90

, the case against N

eidorf co

llapsed

. Cook

moved

to d

ismiss the ind

ictment, citing

"inform

ation currently avail-

able to us that w

as not available to us at the inception of the trial."

Judge B

ua praised

the pro

secution fo

r this action, w

hich he describ

ed as

"very responsib

le," then dism

issed a juro

r and d

eclared a m

istrial.

Neid

orf w

as a free man. H

is defense, ho

wever, had

cost him

self and his

family d

early. Months o

f his life had b

een consum

ed in ang

uish; he hadseen his clo

sest friends shun him

as a federal crim

inal. He o

wed

his

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E2 7 9

lawyers over a hundred thousand dollars, despite a g

enerous payment to

the defense b

y Mitch K

apor.

Neid

orf w

as not fo

und inno

cent. The trial w

as simply d

ropped

.N

evertheless, on S

eptem

ber 9

, 19

91

, Judge B

ua granted

Neid

orf's

motion for the "expung

ement and sealing

" of his indictment record. T

heU

nited S

tates Secret S

ervice was o

rdered

to d

elete and d

estroy all fin-

gerp

rints, pho

tograp

hs, and o

ther record

s of arrest o

r pro

cessingrelating

to N

eidorf's ind

ictment, includ

ing their p

aper d

ocum

ents andtheir co

mputer reco

rds.

Neidorf w

ent back to school, b

lazingly determ

ined to becom

e a lawyer.

Having

seen the justice system at w

ork, N

eidorf lo

st much o

f his enthu-siasm

for m

erely technical p

ow

er. At th

is writin

g, C

raig N

eidorf is

working

in Washing

ton as a salaried

researcher for the A

merican C

ivilLib

ertie

s Unio

n.

__

__

_

The o

utcom

e of the N

eidorf trial chang

ed the EFF fro

m vo

ices-in-the-w

ilderness to

the med

ia darling

s of the new

frontier.

Legally sp

eaking, the N

eidorf case w

as not a sw

eeping

triumph fo

r any-one concerned. N

o constitutional principles had been estab

lished. The

issues of "freed

om

of the p

ress" for electro

nic pub

lishers remained

inleg

al limbo. T

here were p

ublic m

isconcep

tions ab

out the case. M

anypeople thoug

ht Neidorf had b

een found innocent and relieved of all hisleg

al debts b

y Kapor. T

he truth was that the g

overnment had sim

plydropped the case, and N

eidorf's family had gone deeply into hock to sup-

port him

.

But the N

eidorf case d

id p

rovid

e a single, d

evastating, p

ublic so

und-b

ite:*T

he feds said

it was w

orth eig

hty grand

, and it w

as only w

orth thirteen

bucks.*

This is the N

eidorf case's sing

le most m

emorab

le element. N

o serio

usrep

ort o

f the case missed

this particular elem

ent. Even cops co

uld no

tread this w

ithout a wince and a shake of the head. It left the pub

liccred

ibility o

f the crackdow

n agents in tatters.

BR

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The crackdow

n, in fact, continued, however. T

hose two charges against

Prophet, which had b

een based on the E9

11 D

ocument, w

ere quietlyforgotten at his sentencing —

even though Prophet had already pledguilty to

them. G

eorg

ia federal p

rosecuto

rs strong

ly argued

for jail tim

efor the A

tlanta Three, insisting on "the need to send a m

essage to thecom

munity," "the m

essage that hackers around the country need tohear."

There w

as a great deal in their sentencing

mem

orandum ab

out the awful

things that various other hackers had done (though the Atlanta T

hreethem

selves had no

t, in fact, actually com

mitted

these crimes). T

herew

as also much speculation about the aw

ful things that the Atlanta T

hree*m

ight* have done and *were capable* of doing (even though they had

not, in fact, actually d

one them

). The p

rosecutio

n's argum

ent carriedthe day. T

he Atlanta T

hree were sent to prison: U

rvile and Leftist both

got 14 m

onths each, while Prophet (a second offender) got 2

1 m

onths.

The A

tlanta Three w

ere also assessed staggering

fines as "restitution":$233,0

00 each. B

ellSouth claimed that the defendants had "stolen"

"appro

ximately $

23

3,8

80

worth" o

f "pro

prietary co

mputer access

inform

ation" —

specifically, $

23

3,8

80

worth o

f com

puter p

assword

sand connect addresses. B

ellSouth's astonishing claim

of the extreme

value of its own com

puter passwords and addresses w

as accepted at facevalue b

y the Geo

rgia co

urt. Furthermore (as if to

emphasize its theo

-retical nature) this eno

rmous sum

was no

t divvied

up am

ong

the Atlanta

Three, but each of them

had to pay all of it.

A striking

aspect of the sentence was that the A

tlanta Three w

ere specif-ically fo

rbid

den to

use com

puters, excep

t for w

ork o

r under sup

ervi-sion. D

epriving hackers of home com

puters and modem

s makes som

esense if o

ne consid

ers hackers as "com

puter ad

dicts," b

ut EFF, filing an

amicus b

rief in the case, pro

tested that this p

unishment w

as unconsti-

tutional —

it dep

rived the A

tlanta Three o

f their rights o

f free associa-

tion and

free expressio

n throug

h electronic m

edia.

Term

inus, the "ultimate hacker," w

as finally sent to p

rison fo

r a yearthrough the dogged efforts of the C

hicago Task Force. H

is crime, to

BR

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E2 8 1

which he p

led g

uilty, was the transfer o

f the UN

IX p

assword

trapper,

which w

as officially valued

by A

T&

T at $

77

,00

0, a fig

ure which

aroused

intense skepticism

among

those fam

iliar with U

NIX

"login.c"

pro

gram

s.

The jailing

of T

erminus and

the Atlanta Leg

ionnaires o

f Doom

, how

ever,did not cause the EFF any sense of em

barrassment or defeat. O

n theco

ntrary, th

e civil lib

ertarian

s were

rapid

ly gath

erin

g stre

ngth

.

An early and

potent sup

porter w

as Senato

r Patrick Leahy, Dem

ocrat

from V

ermont, w

ho had been a Senate sponsor of the ElectronicCom

municatio

ns Privacy Act. Even b

efore the N

eidorf trial, Leahy had

spoken out in defense of hacker-power and freedom

of the keyboard: "We

cannot u

nduly in

hib

it the in

quisitive

13

-year-o

ld w

ho, if le

ft to e

xper-

iment to

day, m

ay tom

orro

w d

evelop the teleco

mm

unications o

r com

put-

er technology to lead the U

nited States into the 21st century. H

e repre-sents o

ur future and o

ur best ho

pe to

remain a techno

logically co

mpeti-

tive nation."

It was a handsom

e statement, rendered perhaps rather m

ore effective by

the fact that the crackdow

n raiders *d

id no

t have* any Senato

rs speak-

ing o

ut for *them

.* On the co

ntrary, their highly secretive actio

ns andtactics, all "sealed

search warrants" here and

"confid

ential ong

oing

investigatio

ns" there, mig

ht have won them

a burst o

f glam

oro

us pub

-licity at first, b

ut were crip

pling

them in the o

n-going

pro

pag

anda w

ar.Gail T

hackeray was reduced to unsupported b

luster: "Some of these peo-

ple w

ho are lo

udest o

n the band

wag

on m

ay just slink into the b

ack-ground," she predicted in *N

ewsw

eek* — w

hen all the facts came out,

and the cops were vindicated.

But all the facts did not com

e out. Those facts that did, w

ere not veryflattering

. And the cops w

ere not vindicated. And G

ail Thackeray lost

her job. B

y the end o

f 19

91

, William

Cook had

also left p

ublic em

plo

y-m

ent.

1990 had belonged to the crackdow

n, but by '91 its agents w

ere insevere d

isarray, and the lib

ertarians were o

n a roll. Peo

ple w

ereflo

cking to

the cause.

BR

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OW

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T F

OR

CO

MM

ER

CIA

L U

SE

2 8 2

A p

articularly interesting ally had

been M

ike Godw

in of A

ustin, Texas.

Godw

in was an ind

ividual alm

ost as d

ifficult to d

escribe as B

arlow

; hehad been editor of the student new

spaper of the University of T

exas, anda co

mputer salesm

an, and a p

rogram

mer, and

in 19

90

was b

ack in lawscho

ol, lo

oking

for a law

deg

ree.

Godw

in was also

a bulletin b

oard

maven. H

e was very w

ell-know

n inthe A

ustin board

com

munity und

er his handle "Jo

hnny Mnem

onic,"

which he ad

opted

from

a cyberp

unk science fiction sto

ry by W

illiamG

ibso

n. Godw

in was an ardent cyb

erpunk science fiction fan. A

s a fellow

Austinite o

f similar ag

e and sim

ilar interests, I myself had

know

nG

odw

in socially fo

r many years. W

hen William

Gib

son and

myself had

been w

riting o

ur collab

orative S

F novel, *T

he Difference Eng

ine,*G

odw

in had b

een our technical ad

visor in o

ur effort to

link our A

pple

word

-pro

cessors fro

m A

ustin to V

ancouver. G

ibso

n and I w

ere sopleased b

y his generous expert help that w

e named a character in the

novel "M

ichael Godw

in" in his hono

r.

The hand

le "Mnem

onic" suited

Godw

in very well. H

is eruditio

n and his

mastery o

f trivia were im

pressive to

the point o

f stupor; his ard

entcuriosity seem

ed insatiable, and his desire to debate and argue seemed

the central drive o

f his life. Godw

in had even started

his ow

n Austin

deb

ating so

ciety, wryly kno

wn as the "D

ull Men's C

lub." In p

erson,

Godw

in could

be o

verwhelm

ing; a flyp

aper- b

rained p

olym

ath who

could not seem to let any idea go. O

n bulletin boards, however, G

odwin's

closely reaso

ned, hig

hly gram

matical, erud

ite posts suited

the med

iumw

ell, and he b

ecame a lo

cal board

celebrity.

Mike G

odw

in was the m

an most resp

onsib

le for the p

ublic natio

nalexposure of the Steve Jackson case. T

he Izenberg seizure in Austin had

received no

press co

verage at all. T

he March 1

raids o

n Mento

r,Bloodaxe, and Steve Jackson G

ames had received a b

rief front-page

splash in the fro

nt pag

e of the *A

ustin Am

erican-Statesm

an,* but it

was co

nfused and

ill-inform

ed: the w

arrants were sealed

, and the

Secret Service wasn't talking

. Steve Jackson seemed doom

ed to obscuri-

ty. Jackson had not been arrested; he w

as not charged w

ith any crime;

he was no

t on trial. H

e had lo

st som

e com

puters in an o

ngoing

investi-

BR

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E2 8 3

gation — so w

hat? Jackson tried hard to attract attention to the trueextent o

f his plig

ht, but he w

as draw

ing a b

lank; no o

ne in a positio

n tohelp him

seemed able to get a m

ental grip on the issues.

Godw

in, how

ever, was uniq

uely, almost m

agically, q

ualified to

carryJackson's case to the outside w

orld. Godw

in was a board enthusiast, a

science fiction fan, a fo

rmer jo

urnalist, a com

puter salesm

an, alaw

yer-to-b

e, and an A

ustinite. Thro

ugh a co

incidence yet m

ore am

az-ing

, in his last year of law

school G

odw

in had sp

ecialized in fed

eralpro

secutions and

criminal p

roced

ure. Acting

entirely on his o

wn,

Godw

in mad

e up a p

ress packet w

hich summ

arized the issues and

pro

-vid

ed useful co

ntacts for rep

orters. G

odw

in's behind

-the-scenes effort

(which he carried

out m

ostly to

pro

ve a point in a lo

cal board

deb

ate)bro

ke the story ag

ain in the *Austin A

merican-S

tatesman* and

then in*N

ewsw

eek.*

Life was never the sam

e for Mike G

odwin after that. A

s he joined thegro

wing

civil liberties d

ebate o

n the Internet, it was o

bvio

us to all p

ar-ties involved that here w

as one guy w

ho, in the midst of com

plete murk

and co

nfusion, *g

enuinely understo

od everything

he was talking

about.*

The d

isparate elem

ents of G

odw

in's dilettantish existence sud

denly fell

together as neatly as the facets of a Rubik's cube.

When the tim

e came to

hire a full-time EFF staff atto

rney, Godw

in was

the obvious choice. He took the T

exas bar exam, left A

ustin, moved to

Cam

brid

ge, b

ecam

e a fu

ll-time, p

rofe

ssional, co

mpute

r civil libertari-

an, and w

as soon to

uring the natio

n on b

ehalf of EFF, d

elivering w

ell-received addresses on the issues to crow

ds as disparate as academics,

industrialists, science fictio

n fans, and fed

eral cops.

Michael G

odw

in is currently the chief legal co

unsel of the Electro

nicFro

ntier Found

ation in C

ambrid

ge, M

assachusetts._

__

__

Ano

ther early and influential p

articipant in the co

ntroversy w

asD

orothy Denning

. Dr. D

enning w

as unique among

investigators of the

computer underground in that she did not enter the debate w

ith any setof p

oliticized

motives. S

he was a p

rofessio

nal crypto

grap

her and co

m-

BR

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E2 8 4

puter secu

rity expert w

hose p

rimary in

terest in h

ackers was *sch

ol-

arly.* She had

a B.A

. and M

.A. in m

athematics, and

a Ph.D. in co

mput-

er science from

Purdue. S

he had w

orked

for S

RI Internatio

nal, theCalifo

rnia think-tank that was also

the hom

e of co

mputer- security

maven D

onn Parker, and

had autho

red an influential text called

*Cryp

tograp

hy and D

ata Security.* In 1

99

0, D

r. Denning

was w

orking

for D

igital Eq

uipm

ent Corp

oratio

n in their System

s Reseach C

enter.H

er husband

, Peter Denning

, was also

a com

puter security exp

ert,w

orking for N

ASA

's Research Institute for Advanced C

omputer Science.

He had

edited

the well- received

*Com

puters U

nder A

ttack: Intruders,

Worm

s and V

iruses.*

Dr. D

enning to

ok it up

on herself to

contact the d

igital und

ergro

und,

more o

r less with an anthro

polo

gical interest. T

here she disco

vered that

these com

puter- intrud

ing hackers, w

ho had

been characterized

asunethical, irresp

onsib

le, and a serio

us dang

er to so

ciety, did

in facthave their o

wn sub

culture and their o

wn rules. T

hey were no

t particu-

larly w

ell-co

nsid

ere

d ru

les, b

ut th

ey w

ere

, in fact, ru

les. B

asically,

they didn't take money and they didn't break anything.

Her d

ispassio

nate reports o

n her researches did

a great d

eal to influence

serious-m

inded

com

puter p

rofessio

nals — the so

rt of p

eople w

ho m

ere-ly ro

lled their eyes at the cyb

erspace rhap

sodies o

f a John Perry

Barlo

w.

For yo

ung hackers o

f the dig

ital underg

round

, meeting

Doro

thy Denning

was a g

enuinely mind

-boggling

experience. H

ere was this neatly

coiffed

, conservatively d

ressed, d

ainty little perso

nage, w

ho rem

inded

most hackers o

f their mom

s or their aunts. A

nd yet she w

as an IBM

systems p

rogram

mer w

ith pro

found

expertise in co

mputer architec-

tures and hig

h-security inform

ation flo

w, w

ho had

perso

nal friends in

the FBI and

the Natio

nal Security A

gency.

Doro

thy Denning

was a shining

example o

f the Am

erican mathem

aticalin

telligen

tsia, a gen

uin

ely brillian

t perso

n fro

m th

e central ran

ks of

the com

puter- science elite. A

nd here she w

as, gently q

uestioning

twen

ty-year-old

hairy-eyed

phone-p

hreaks o

ver the d

eeper eth

icalim

plicatio

ns o

f their b

ehavio

r.

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

G —

TH

E H

AC

KE

R C

RA

CK

DO

WN

N

OT

FO

R C

OM

ME

RC

IAL

US

E2 8 5

Confro

nted b

y this genuinely nice lad

y, most hackers sat up

verystraig

ht and d

id their b

est to keep

the anarchy- file stuff dow

n to a faint

whiff o

f brim

stone. N

evertheless, the hackers *were* in fact p

repared

to serio

usly discuss serio

us issues with D

oro

thy Denning

. They w

erew

illing to

speak the unsp

eakable and

defend

the indefensib

le, to b

lurtout their convictions that inform

ation cannot be ow

ned, that the data-bases of g

overnments and larg

e corporations were a threat to the rig

htsan

d p

rivacy of in

divid

uals.

Denning

's articles mad

e it clear to m

any that "hacking" w

as not sim

ple

vandalism

by so

me evil cliq

ue of p

sychotics. "H

acking" w

as not an

aberrant m

enace that could

be charm

ed aw

ay by ig

noring

it, or sw

ept

out o

f existence by jailing

a few ring

leaders. Instead

, "hacking" w

assym

pto

matic o

f a gro

wing

, prim

al struggle o

ver know

ledge and

pow

er inthe ag

e of info

rmatio

n.

Denning

pointed out that the attitude of hackers were at least partially

shared b

y forw

ard-lo

oking

manag

ement theo

rists in the business co

m-

munity: p

eople like P

eter Dru

cker and T

om

Peters. P

eter Dru

cker, inhis b

ook *T

he New

Realities,* had

stated that "co

ntrol o

f inform

ation

by the g

overnm

ent is no lo

nger p

ossib

le. Indeed

, inform

ation is no

wtransnatio

nal. Like money, it has no

'fatherland.'"

And m

anagement m

aven Tom

Peters had chided large corporations foruptig

ht, p

roprietary attitu

des in

his b

estseller, *Thrivin

g o

n C

hao

s:*"In

form

ation h

oard

ing, esp

ecially by p

olitically m

otivated

, pow

er-seeking

staffs, had been com

monplace throug

hout Am

erican industry,service an

d m

anufactu

ring alike. It w

ill be an

impossib

le millsto

ne

aroung

the neck of to

morro

w's o

rganizatio

ns."

Dorothy D

enning had shattered the social m

embrane of the dig

italunderg

round. She attended the Neidorf trial, w

here she was prepared to

testify for the d

efense as an expert w

itness. She w

as a behind

-the-scenes organizer of tw

o of the most im

portant national meetings of the

com

puter civil lib

ertarians. Tho

ugh no

t a zealot o

f any descrip

tion, she

bro

ught d

isparate elem

ents of the electro

nic com

munity into

a surpris-

ing an

d fru

itful co

llusio

n.

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

G —

TH

E

HA

CK

ER

CR

AC

KD

OW

N

NO

T F

OR

CO

MM

ER

CIA

L U

SE

2 8 6

Doro

thy Denning

is currently the Chair o

f the Com

puter S

cienceD

epartm

ent at Geo

rgeto

wn U

niversity in Washing

ton, D

C.

__

__

_

There

were

man

y stellar fig

ure

s in th

e civil lib

ertarian

com

munity.

There's no

questio

n, how

ever, that its single m

ost influential fig

ure was

Mitchell D

. Kap

or. O

ther peo

ple m

ight have fo

rmal titles, o

r govern-

mental p

ositio

ns, have more exp

erience with crim

e, or w

ith the law, o

rw

ith the arcanities of co

mputer security o

r constitutio

nal theory. B

utby 1

99

1 K

apor had

transcended

any such narrow

role. K

apor had

beco

me "M

itch."

Mitch had

beco

me the central civil-lib

ertarian ad- ho

crat. Mitch had

stood up

first, he had sp

oken o

ut loud

ly, directly, vig

oro

usly and ang

ri-ly, he had

put his o

wn rep

utation, and

his very consid

erable p

ersonal

fortune, o

n the line. By m

id-'9

1 K

apor w

as the best-kno

wn ad

vocate o

fhis cause and

was kno

wn *p

ersonally* b

y almost every sing

le human

being

in Am

erica with any d

irect influence on the q

uestion o

f civil lib-

erties in cybersp

ace. Mitch had

built b

ridges, cro

ssed vo

ids, chang

edparad

igm

s, forg

ed m

etapho

rs, mad

e pho

ne-calls and sw

apped

business

cards to such spectacular effect that it had become im

possible for anyoneto take any action in the "hacker question" w

ithout wondering

what

Mitch m

ight think —

and say —

and tell his friend

s.

The EFF had

simply *netw

orked

* the situation into

an entirely newstatus quo. A

nd in fact this had been EFF's deliberate strategy from the

beg

inning. B

oth B

arlow

and K

apor lo

athed b

ureaucracies and had

delib

-erately cho

sen to w

ork alm

ost entirely thro

ugh the electro

nic spid

erweb

of "valuab

le perso

nal contacts."

After a year o

f EFF, both B

arlow

and K

apor had

every reason to

look

back w

ith satisfaction. EFF had

established

its ow

n Internet node,

"eff.org

," with a w

ell-stocked

electronic archive o

f docum

ents on elec-

tronic civil rig

hts, privacy issues, and

academ

ic freedom

. EFF was also

publish

ing *E

FFecto

r,* a quarte

rly p

rinte

d jo

urn

al, as well as

*EFFector O

nlin

e,* an electro

nic n

ewsletter w

ith o

ver 1,2

00

sub-

scribers. A

nd EFF w

as thriving o

n the Well.

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

G —

TH

E H

AC

KE

R C

RA

CK

DO

WN

N

OT

FO

R C

OM

ME

RC

IAL

US

E2 8 7

EFF had a natio

nal headquarters in C

ambrid

ge and

a full-time staff. It

had b

ecom

e a mem

bership

org

anization and

was attracting

grass-ro

ots

support. It had

also attracted

the support o

f som

e thirty civil-rights

lawyers, ready and eager to do pro bono w

ork in defense of theConstitutio

n in Cyb

erspace.

EFF had lo

bbied

successfully in Washing

ton and

in Massachusetts to

change state and

federal leg

islation o

n com

puter netw

orking

. Kap

or in

particular had

beco

me a veteran exp

ert witness, and

had jo

ined the

Com

puter Science and Telecom

munications B

oard of the National

Academ

y of Science and Engineering.

EFF had sponsored meeting

s such as "Com

puters, Freedom and Privacy"

and the C

PSR R

ound

table. It had

carried o

ut a press o

ffensive that, inthe w

ords of *EFFector,* "has affected the climate of opinion ab

outco

mputer netw

orking

and b

egun to

reverse the slide into

'hacker hyste-ria' that w

as beg

inning to

grip

the nation."

It had help

ed C

raig N

eidorf avo

id p

rison.

And

, last but certainly no

t least, the Electronic Fro

ntier Found

ation had

filed a fed

eral lawsuit in the nam

e of S

teve Jackson, S

teve Jackson

Gam

es Inc., and three users o

f the Illuminati b

ulletin board

system. T

hedefend

ants were, and

are, the United

States S

ecret Service, W

illiamCook, T

im Fo

ley, Barb

ara Gold

en and H

enry Kleup

fel.

The case, w

hich is in pre-trial p

roced

ures in an Austin fed

eral court as

of this w

riting, is a civil actio

n for d

amag

es to red

ress alleged

violatio

nsof the First and Fourth A

mendm

ents to the United States C

onstitution, asw

ell as the Privacy Protectio

n Act o

f 19

80

(42

USC 2

00

0aa et seq

.),and

the Electronic C

om

municatio

ns Privacy Act (1

8 U

SC 2

51

0 et seq

and 2

70

1 et seq

).

EFF had estab

lished that it had

credib

ility. It had also

established

that ithad

teeth.

In the fall of 1

99

1 I travelled

to M

assachusetts to sp

eak perso

nally with

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

G —

TH

E H

AC

KE

R C

RA

CK

DO

WN

N

OT

FO

R C

OM

ME

RC

IAL

US

E2 8 8

Mitch K

apor. It w

as my final interview

for this b

ook.

__

__

_

The city of B

oston has always b

een one of the major intellectual centers

of the A

merican rep

ublic. It is a very o

ld city b

y Am

erican standard

s, aplace o

f skyscrapers o

vershadow

ing seventeenth-century g

raveyards,

where the hig

h-tech start-up co

mpanies o

f Route 1

28

co-exist w

ith thehand

-wro

ught p

re-industrial g

race of "O

ld Iro

nsides," the U

SS

*Constitutio

n.*

The B

attle of B

unker Hill, o

ne of the first and

bitterest arm

ed clashes o

fthe A

merican R

evolutio

n, was fo

ught in B

osto

n's environs. T

oday there

is a monum

ental spire o

n Bunker H

ill, visible thro

ugho

ut much o

f thecity. T

he willing

ness of the rep

ublican revo

lutionaries to

take uparm

s and fire o

n their oppresso

rs has left a cultural legacy that tw

ofull centuries have no

t effaced. B

unker Hill is still a p

otent center o

fA

merican p

olitical sym

bolism

, and the S

pirit o

f '76

is still a potent

imag

e for tho

se who

seek to m

old

pub

lic opinio

n.

Of co

urse, not everyo

ne who

wrap

s himself in the flag

is necessarily apatrio

t. When I visited

the spire in S

eptem

ber 1

99

1, it b

ore a hug

e,bad

ly-erased, sp

ray-can grafitto

around

its botto

m read

ing "B

RIT

S O

UT

— IR

A PR

OV

OS." Insid

e this hallow

ed ed

ifice was a g

lass-cased d

ioram

aof thousands of tiny toy soldiers, reb

els and redcoats, fighting

and dyingover th

e green

hill, th

e riverside m

arshes, th

e rebel tren

chw

orks.

Plaques indicated the movem

ent of troops, the shiftings of strategy. The

Bunker H

ill Monum

ent is occup

ied at its very center b

y the toy so

ldiers

of a m

ilitary war-g

ame sim

ulatio

n.

The B

osto

n metro

plex is a p

lace of g

reat universities, pro

minent am

ong

the Massachusetts Institute of T

echnology, w

here the term "com

puterhacker" w

as first coined

. The H

acker Crackd

ow

n of 1

99

0 m

ight b

einterp

reted as a p

olitical strug

gle am

ong

Am

erican cities: traditio

nalstro

ngho

lds o

f long

hair intellectual liberalism

, such as Bosto

n, San

Francisco

, and A

ustin

, versus th

e bare-kn

uckle in

dustrial p

ragm

atismof C

hicago and

Phoenix (w

ith Atlanta and

New

York w

rapped

in internalstrug

gle).

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

G —

TH

E H

AC

KE

R C

RA

CK

DO

WN

N

OT

FO

R C

OM

ME

RC

IAL

US

E2 8 9

The head

quarters o

f the Electronic Fro

ntier Found

ation is o

n 15

5 S

econd

Street in C

ambrid

ge, a B

osto

nian suburb

north o

f the River C

harles.Second Street has w

eedy sidewalks of dented, sagging brick and elderly

cracked asp

halt; large street-sig

ns warn "N

O PA

RK

ING

DU

RIN

GD

ECLA

RED

SN

OW

EMER

GEN

CY." T

his is an old

area of m

odest m

anufac-turing

industries; the EFF is cateco

rner from

the Greene R

ubber

Com

pany. EFF's b

uilding

is two sto

ries of red

brick; its larg

e wooden

wind

ow

s feature gracefully arched

tops and

stone sills.

The glass w

indow beside the Second Street entrance bears three sheets of

neatly laser-printed

pap

er, taped

against the g

lass. They read

: ON

Techno

logy. EFF. K

EI.

"ON

Techno

logy" is K

apor's so

ftware co

mpany, w

hich currently special-

izes in "gro

upw

are" for the A

pple M

acintosh co

mputer. "G

roup

ware" is

intended

to p

rom

ote efficient so

cial interaction am

ong

office-w

orkers

linked b

y com

puters. O

N T

echnolo

gy's m

ost successful so

ftware p

rod-

ucts to date are "Meeting M

aker" and "Instant Update."

"KEI" is K

apor Enterp

rises Inc., Kap

or's p

ersonal ho

lding

com

pany, the

com

mercial entity that fo

rmally co

ntrols his extensive investm

ents inother hard

ware and

softw

are corp

oratio

ns.

"EFF" is a political actio

n gro

up —

of a sp

ecial sort.

Inside, someone's bike has been chained to the handrails of a m

odestflig

ht of stairs. A

wall o

f modish g

lass brick sep

arates this anteroom

from the offices. B

eyond the brick, there's an alarm

system m

ounted onthe w

all, a sleek, com

plex little num

ber that resem

bles a cro

ss betw

eena therm

ostat and

a CD

player. Piled

against the w

all are box after b

ox o

fa recent sp

ecial issue of *S

cientific Am

erican,* "How

to W

ork, Play,

and T

hrive in Cyb

erspace," w

ith extensive coverag

e of electro

nic net-w

orking

techniques and

political issues, includ

ing an article b

y Kap

or

himself. T

hese boxes are addressed to Gerard V

an der Leun, EFF'sD

irector o

f Com

municatio

ns, who

will sho

rtly mail tho

se mag

azines toevery m

ember o

f the EFF.

The jo

int headquarters o

f EFF, KEI, and

ON

Techno

logy, w

hich Kap

or

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

G —

TH

E

HA

CK

ER

CR

AC

KD

OW

N

NO

T F

OR

CO

MM

ER

CIA

L U

SE

2 9 0

currently rents, is a modestly b

ustling p

lace. It's very much the sam

ephysical size as S

teve Jackson's g

aming

com

pany. It's certainly a far

cry from

the gig

antic gray steel-sid

ed railw

ay shipping

barn, o

n theM

onsig

nor O

'Brien H

ighw

ay, that is ow

ned b

y Lotus D

evelopm

entCorp

oratio

n.

Lotus is, o

f course, the so

ftware g

iant that Mitchell K

apor fo

unded

in thelate 7

0s. T

he softw

are pro

gram

Kap

or co

-authored

, "Lotus 1

-2-3

," isstill that co

mpany's m

ost p

rofitab

le pro

duct. "Lo

tus 1-2

-3" also

bears

a singular d

istinction in the d

igital und

ergro

und: it's p

robab

ly the most

pirated

piece o

f applicatio

n softw

are in world

history.

Kap

or g

reets me co

rdially in his o

wn o

ffice, dow

n a hall. Kap

or, w

hose

name is p

rono

unced K

AY-p

or, is in his early fo

rties, married

and the

father of two. H

e has a round face, high forehead, straight nose, aslig

htly tousled

mop o

f black hair p

eppered

with g

ray. His larg

e bro

wn

eyes are wid

eset, reflective, one m

ight alm

ost say so

ulful. He d

isdains

ties, and co

mm

only w

ears Haw

aiian shirts and tro

pical p

rints, not so

much g

arish as simply cheerful and

just that little bit ano

malo

us.

There is just the w

hiff of hacker b

rimsto

ne about M

itch Kap

or. H

e may

not h

ave th

e h

ard-rid

ing, h

ell-fo

r- leath

er, g

uitar-stru

mm

ing ch

aris-m

a of his W

yom

ing co

lleague Jo

hn Perry Barlo

w, b

ut there's som

ethingabout the guy that still stops one short. H

e has the air of the Easterncity d

ude in the b

ow

ler hat, the dream

y, Long

fellow

-quo

ting p

oker

shark who only *happens* to know

the exact mathem

atical odds against

draw

ing to

an inside straig

ht. Even among

his com

puter-co

mm

unityco

lleagues, w

ho are hard

ly know

n for m

ental sluggishness, K

apor

strikes one fo

rcefully as a very intelligent m

an. He sp

eaks rapid

ly,w

ith vigoro

us gestures, his B

osto

n accent som

etimes slip

ping

to the

sharp nasal tang

of his yo

uth in Long

Island.

Kap

or, w

hose K

apor Fam

ily Found

ation d

oes m

uch of his p

hilanthropic

work, is a stro

ng sup

porter o

f Bosto

n's Com

puter M

useum. K

apor's

interest in the history o

f his industry has b

roug

ht him so

me rem

ark-ab

le curios, such as the "b

yte" just outsid

e his office d

oor. T

his "byte"

— eig

ht digital b

its — has b

een salvaged from

the wreck of an electronic

com

puter o

f the pre-transisto

r age. It's a stand

ing g

unmetal rack ab

out

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

G —

TH

E H

AC

KE

R C

RA

CK

DO

WN

N

OT

FO

R C

OM

ME

RC

IAL

US

E2 9 1

the size of a sm

all toaster- o

ven: with eig

ht slots o

f hand-so

ldered

bread

board

ing featuring

thumb-sized

vacuum tub

es. If it fell off a tab

leit co

uld easily b

reak your fo

ot, b

ut it was state-o

f-the-art com

putatio

nin the 1

94

0s. (It w

ould

take exactly 15

7,1

84

of these p

rimord

ialto

asters to ho

ld the first p

art of this b

ook.)

There's also

a coiling

, multico

lored

, scaly drag

on that so

me insp

iredtechno

-punk artist has co

bbled

up entirely o

ut of transisto

rs, capaci-

tors, an

d b

rightly p

lastic-coated

wirin

g.

Inside the o

ffice, Kap

or excuses him

self briefly to

do a little m

ouse-

whizzing

housekeep

ing o

n his perso

nal Macinto

sh IIfx. If its giant

screen were an o

pen w

indow

, an agile p

erson co

uld clim

b thro

ugh it

witho

ut much tro

uble at all. T

here's a coffee-cup

at Kap

or's elb

ow

, am

emento

of his recent trip

to Eastern Euro

pe, w

hich has a black-and

-w

hite stencilled photo and the legend CA

PITA

LIST FO

OLS T

OUR. It's

Kap

or, B

arlow

, and tw

o C

aliforn

ia ventu

re-cap

italist lum

inarie

s of

their acquaintance, fo

ur wind

blo

wn, g

rinning B

aby B

oom

er dud

es inleather jackets, b

oots, d

enim, travel b

ags, stand

ing o

n airport tarm

acso

mew

here behind

the form

erly Iron C

urtain. They lo

ok as if they're

having the ab

solute tim

e of their lives.

Kap

or is in a rem

iniscent mood. W

e talk a bit ab

out his yo

uth — hig

hschool days as a "m

ath nerd," Saturdays attending Colum

biaU

niversity's high-scho

ol science ho

nors p

rogram

, where he had

hisfirst exp

erience p

rogram

min

g co

mputers. IB

M 1

62

0s, in

19

65

and

'66

. "I was very interested

," says Kap

or, "and

then I went o

ff to co

llege

and g

ot d

istracted b

y drug

s sex and ro

ck and ro

ll, like anybody w

ith halfa b

rain would

have then!" After co

llege he w

as a pro

gressive-ro

ck DJ

in Hartfo

rd, C

onnecticut, fo

r a coup

le of years.

I ask him if he ever m

isses his rock and

roll d

ays — if he ever w

ished he

could

go b

ack to rad

io w

ork.

He shakes his head flatly. "I stopped thinking about going back to be a D

Jthe day after A

ltamont."

Kapor m

oved to Boston in 1

974 and g

ot a job prog

ramm

ing m

ainframes

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

G —

TH

E H

AC

KE

R C

RA

CK

DO

WN

N

OT

FO

R C

OM

ME

RC

IAL

US

E2 9 2

in CO

BO

L. He hated it. H

e quit and became a teacher of transcendental

med

itation. (It w

as Kap

or's lo

ng flirtatio

n with Eastern m

ysticism that

gave the w

orld

"Lotus.")

In 19

76

Kap

or w

ent to S

witzerland

, where the T

ranscendental

Med

itation m

ovem

ent had rented

a gig

antic Victo

rian hotel in S

t-Moritz.

It was an all-m

ale group —

a hundred and twenty of them

— determ

inedupon Enlig

htenment or B

ust. Kapor had g

iven the transcendant his best

shot. He w

as becoming disenchanted by "the nuttiness in the organiza-

tion." "They w

ere teaching people to levitate," he says, staring

at theflo

or. H

is voice dro

ps an octave, b

ecom

es flat. "*They do

n't levitate.*"

Kapor chose B

ust. He w

ent back to the States and acquired a degree inco

unselling p

sycholo

gy. H

e worked

a while in a ho

spital, co

uldn't stand

that either. "My rep

was," he says "a very b

right kid

with a lo

t of

potential w

ho hasn't fo

und him

self. Alm

ost thirty. S

ort o

f lost."

Kap

or w

as unemplo

yed w

hen he boug

ht his first perso

nal com

puter —

anA

pple II. He sold his stereo to raise cash and drove to N

ew H

ampshire to

avoid

the sales tax.

"The d

ay after I purchased

it," Kap

or tells m

e, "I was hang

ing o

ut in aco

mputer sto

re and I saw

another g

uy, a man in his fo

rties, well-

dressed guy, and eavesdropped on his conversation with the salesm

an.H

e didn't know anything

about com

puters. I'd had a year program

ming

.A

nd I co

uld p

rogram

in BA

SIC

. I'd taug

ht myself. S

o I w

ent up to

him,

and I actually sold myself to him

as a consultant." He pauses. "I don't

know

where I g

ot the nerve to

do this. It w

as uncharacteristic. I justsaid

, 'I think I can help yo

u, I've been listening

, this is what yo

u need to

do and I think I can do it for you.' And he took m

e on! He w

as my first

client! I becam

e a computer consultant the first day after I b

ought the

Apple II."

Kap

or had

found

his true vocatio

n. He attracted

more clients fo

r hisco

nsultant service, and started

an Apple users' g

roup

.

A friend

of K

apor's, Eric R

osenfeld

, a grad

uate student at M

IT, had

apro

blem

. He w

as doing

a thesis on an arcane fo

rm o

f financial statistics,

BR

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but could not wedge him

self into the crowded queue for tim

e on MIT

'sm

ainframes. (O

ne mig

ht note at this p

oint that if M

r. Rosenfeld

had d

is-ho

nestly bro

ken into the M

IT m

ainframes, K

apor him

self mig

ht havenever invented

Lotus 1

-2-3

and the PC

business m

ight have b

een setback fo

r years!) Eric Rosenfeld

did

have an Apple II, ho

wever, and

hethoug

ht it mig

ht be possib

le to scale the problem

down. K

apor, as favor,w

rote a p

rogram

for him

in BA

SIC

that did

the job.

It then occurred to the two of them

, out of the blue, that it might be pos-

sible to

*sell* this pro

gram

. They m

arketed it them

selves, in plastic

bag

gies, for ab

out a hundred bucks a pop, m

ail order. "This w

as a totalco

ttage ind

ustry by a m

arginal co

nsultant," Kap

or says p

roud

ly. "That's

how I got started, honest to G

od."

Rosenfeld

, who

later becam

e a very pro

minent fig

ure on W

all Street,

urged Kapor to go to M

IT's business school for an M

BA

. Kapor did seven

months there, but never got his M

BA

. He picked up som

e useful tools —m

ainly a firm g

rasp o

f the princip

les of acco

unting —

and, in his o

wn

words, "learned to talk M

BA

." Then he dropped out and w

ent to SiliconV

alley.

The invento

rs of V

isiCalc, the A

pple co

mputer's p

remier b

usiness pro

-gram

, had sho

wn an interest in M

itch Kap

or. K

apor w

orked

dilig

entlyfo

r them fo

r six months, g

ot tired

of C

alifornia, and

went b

ack to B

osto

nw

here they had better bookstores. The V

isiCalc group had m

ade thecritical erro

r of b

ringing

in "pro

fessional m

anagem

ent." "That d

rove

them into

the gro

und," K

apor says.

"Yeah, you don't hear a lot about VisiC

alc these days," I muse.

Kap

or lo

oks surp

rised. "W

ell, Lotus.... w

e *boug

ht* it."

"Oh. Y

ou *b

oug

ht* it?"

"Yeah."

"Sort o

f like the Bell S

ystem b

uying W

estern Unio

n?"

BR

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ER

CR

AC

KD

OW

N

NO

T F

OR

CO

MM

ER

CIA

L U

SE

2 9 4

Kap

or g

rins. "Yep

! Yep

! Yeah, exactly!"

Mitch K

apor w

as not in full co

mm

and o

f the destiny o

f himself o

r hisind

ustry. The ho

ttest softw

are com

modities o

f the early 19

80

s were

*computer gam

es* — the A

tari seemed destined to enter every teenage

hom

e in Am

erica. Kap

or g

ot into

business so

ftware sim

ply b

ecause hedid

n't have any particular feeling

for co

mputer g

ames. B

ut he was

suprem

ely fast on his feet, o

pen to

new id

eas and inclined

to trust his

instincts. And his instincts w

ere good. He chose good people to deal w

ith—

gifted

pro

gram

mer Jo

nathan Sachs (the co

-author o

f Lotus 1

-2-3

).Financial w

izard Eric R

osenfeld

, canny Wall S

treet analyst and venture

capitalist Ben Rosen. K

apor was the founder and C

EO of Lotus, one of the

most sp

ectacularly successful business ventures o

f the later twentieth

century.

He is no

w an extrem

ely wealthy m

an. I ask him if he actually kno

ws

how m

uch money he has.

"Yeah," he says. "W

ithin a percent o

r two."

How

much d

oes he actually have, then?

He shakes his head. "A

lot. A lot. N

ot something I talk about. Issues of

money and class are things that cut pretty close to the bone."

I don't p

ry. It's besid

e the point. O

ne mig

ht presum

e, impolitely, that

Kapor has at least forty m

illion — that's w

hat he got the year he left

Lotus. People who ought to know

claim K

apor has about a hundred andfifty m

illion, g

ive or take a m

arket swing

in his stock ho

lding

s. If Kap

or

had stuck w

ith Lotus, as his co

lleague friend

and rival B

ill Gates has

stuck with his o

wn so

ftware start-up

, Micro

soft, then K

apor w

ould

likely have much the sam

e fortune G

ates has — so

mew

here in the neigh-

borho

od o

f three billio

n, give o

r take a few hund

red m

illion. M

itchKap

or has all the m

oney he w

ants. Money has lo

st whatever charm

itever held

for him

— p

robab

ly not m

uch in the first place. W

hen Lotus

became too uptight, too bureaucratic, too far from

the true sources ofhis o

wn satisfactio

n, Kap

or w

alked. H

e simply severed

all connectio

nsw

ith the company and w

ent out the door. It stunned everyone — except

BR

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those w

ho knew

him b

est.

Kap

or has no

t had to

strain his resources to

wreak a tho

roug

h transfor-

matio

n in cybersp

ace politics. In its first year, EFF's b

udget w

as about

a quarter o

f a millio

n dollars. K

apor is running

EFF out o

f his pocket

change.

Kap

or takes p

ains to tell m

e that he does no

t consid

er himself a civil

libertarian p

er se. He has sp

ent quite so

me tim

e with true-b

lue civillib

ertarians lately, and there's a p

olitical-co

rrectness to them

thatbug

s him. T

hey seem to him

to spend entirely too much tim

e in legal

nitpicking

and no

t enoug

h vigoro

usly exercising civil rig

hts in theeveryd

ay real world

.

Kap

or is an

entre

pre

neur. L

ike all h

ackers, h

e p

refe

rs his in

volve

-m

ents direct, personal, and hands-on. "The fact that EFF has a node on

the Internet is a great thing

. We're a p

ublisher. W

e're a distrib

utor o

finfo

rmatio

n." Am

ong

the items the eff.o

rg Internet no

de carries is b

ackissues o

f *Phrack.* They had

an internal deb

ate about that in EFF, and

finally decid

ed to

take the plung

e. They m

ight carry o

ther dig

italund

ergro

und p

ublicatio

ns — b

ut if they do, he says, "w

e'll certainlycarry D

onn Parker, and

anything G

ail Thackeray w

ants to p

ut up. W

e'llturn it into

a pub

lic library, that has the w

hole sp

ectrum o

f use. Evolve

in the directio

n of p

eople m

aking up

their ow

n mind

s." He g

rins. "We'll

try to lab

el all the ed

itorials."

Kap

or is d

etermined

to tackle the technicalities o

f the Internet in theservice o

f the pub

lic interest. "The p

roblem

with b

eing a no

de o

n theN

et today is that you've got to have a captive technical specialist. We

have Chris D

avis around

, for the care and

feeding

of the b

alky beast! W

eco

uldn't d

o it o

urselves!"

He pauses. "So one direction in w

hich technology has to evolve is much

more stand

ardized

units, that a non- technical p

erson can feel co

mfo

rt-ab

le with. It's the sam

e shift as from

minico

mputers to

PCs. I can see a

future in which any person can have a N

ode on the Net. A

ny person canbe a p

ublisher. It's b

etter than the med

ia we no

w have. It's p

ossib

le.W

e're workin

g actively."

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Kap

or is in his elem

ent now

, fluent, thoro

ughly in co

mm

and in his

material. "Y

ou g

o tell a hard

ware Internet hacker that everyo

ne should

have a node on the Net," he says, "and the first thing they're going to say

is, 'IP doesn't scale!'" ("IP" is the interface p

roto

col fo

r the Internet.A

s it currently exists, the IP softw

are is simply no

t capab

le of ind

efi-nite exp

ansion; it w

ill run out o

f usable ad

dresses, it w

ill saturate.)"T

he answer," K

apor says, "is: evo

lve the pro

toco

l! Get the sm

art peo

-ple together and figure out w

hat to do. Do w

e add ID? D

o we add new

pro

toco

l? Don't just say, *w

e can't do it.*"

Getting

smart people tog

ether to figure out w

hat to do is a skill at which

Kap

or clearly excels. I co

unter that peo

ple o

n the Internet rather enjoy

their elite technical status, and d

on't seem

particularly anxio

us todem

ocratize the Net.

Kap

or ag

rees, with a sho

w o

f scorn. "I tell them

that this is the snob-

bery o

f the peo

ple o

n the *Mayflo

wer* lo

oking

dow

n their noses at the

people who cam

e over *on the second boat!* Just because they got herea year, o

r five years, or ten years b

efore everyb

ody else, that d

oesn't

give them

ow

nership o

f cybersp

ace! By w

hat right?"

I remark that the telcos are an electronic netw

ork, too, and they seem to

guard

their specialized

know

ledge p

retty closely.

Kap

or rip

ostes that the telco

s and the Internet are entirely d

ifferentanim

als. "The Internet is an o

pen system

, everything is p

ublished

,everything

gets arg

ued about, b

asically by anyb

ody who can g

et in.M

ostly, it's exclusive and

elitist just because it's so

difficult. Let's

make it easier to

use."

On the other hand, he allow

s with a sw

ift change o

f emphasis, the so-

called elitists d

o have a p

oint as w

ell. "Befo

re peo

ple start co

ming

in,w

ho are new, w

ho want to m

ake suggestions, and criticize the N

et as 'allscrew

ed up'.... They should at least take the tim

e to understand the cul-ture o

n its ow

n terms. It has its o

wn histo

ry — sho

w so

me resp

ect for

it. I'm a co

nservative, to that extent."

BR

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The Internet is K

apor's p

aradig

m fo

r the future of teleco

mm

unications.

The In

ternet is d

ecentralized

, non- h

eirarchical, alm

ost an

archic.

There are no bosses, no chain of com

mand, no secret data. If each node

obeys the g

eneral interface standard

s, there's simply no

need fo

r anycentral netw

ork autho

rity.

Wouldn't that spell the doom

of AT&

T as an institution? I ask.

That prospect doesn't faze K

apor for a mom

ent. "Their big advantage,

that they have now

, is that they have all of the w

iring. B

ut two thing

sare hap

pening

. Anyo

ne with rig

ht-of-w

ay is putting

dow

n fiber —

Southern Pacific R

ailroad

, peo

ple like that —

there's enorm

ous 'd

arkfib

er' laid

in." ("D

ark Fiber" is fib

er-o

ptic cab

le, w

hose

enorm

ous

capacity so exceeds the demands of current usage that m

uch of the fiberstill h

as no lig

ht-sig

nals o

n it —

it's still 'dark,' aw

aiting fu

ture u

se.)

"The other thing

that's happening is the local-loop stuff is g

oing to g

ow

ireless. Everyone fro

m B

ellcore to

the cable T

V co

mpanies to

AT&

Tw

ants to put in these things called 'personal com

munication system

s.'So yo

u could

have local co

mpetitio

n — yo

u could

have multip

licity of

people, a bunch of neighborhoods, sticking stuff up on poles. And a

bunch o

f other p

eople laying

in dark fib

er. So w

hat happens to

the tele-phone com

panies? There's enorm

ous pressure on them from

both sides.

"The m

ore I lo

ok at this, the m

ore I b

elieve that in a post-ind

ustrial,dig

ital world

, the idea o

f regulated

mono

polies is b

ad. Peo

ple w

ill look

back on it and say that in the 1

9th and 2

0th centuries the idea of pub

licutilities w

as an okay comprom

ise. You needed one set of w

ires in theground. It w

as too economically inefficient, otherw

ise. And that m

eantone entity running

it. But no

w, w

ith pieces b

eing w

ireless — the co

n-nectio

ns are going

to b

e via high- level interfaces, no

t via wires. I

mean, *ultim

ately* there are going

to b

e wires —

but the w

ires are justa co

mm

odity. Fib

er, wireless. Y

ou no

long

er *need* a utility."

Wate

r utilitie

s? G

as utilitie

s?

Of course w

e still need those, he agrees. "But w

hen what you're m

ovingis info

rmatio

n, instead o

f physical sub

stances, then you can p

lay by a

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different set o

f rules. We're evo

lving tho

se rules now

! Hopefully yo

ucan have a m

uch more decentralized system

, and one in which there's

more co

mpetitio

n in the marketp

lace.

"The role of governm

ent will be to m

ake sure that nobody cheats. The

pro

verbial 'level p

laying field

.' A p

olicy that p

revents mono

polizatio

n.It sho

uld result in b

etter service, low

er prices, m

ore cho

ices, and lo

calem

pow

erment." H

e smiles. "I'm

very big

on lo

cal empow

erment."

Kap

or is a m

an with a visio

n. It's a very novel visio

n which he and

hisallies are w

orking

out in co

nsiderab

le detail and

with g

reat energy.

Dark, cynical, m

orb

id cyb

erpunk that I am

, I cannot avo

id co

nsidering

som

e of the d

arker implicatio

ns of "d

ecentralized, no

nhierarchical,lo

cally empow

ered" netw

orking

.

I remark that som

e pundits have suggested that electronic netw

orking —

faxes, pho

nes, small-scale p

hoto

copiers —

played

a strong

role in d

is-solving

the power of centralized com

munism

and causing the collapse of

the Warsaw

Pact.

Socialism

is totally d

iscredited

, says Kap

or, fresh b

ack from

theEastern B

loc. T

he idea that faxes d

id it, all b

y themselves, is rather

wish

ful th

inkin

g.

Has it o

ccurred to

him that electro

nic networking

mig

ht corro

de

Am

erica's industrial and

political infrastructure to

the point w

here thew

hole thing

beco

mes untenab

le, unworkab

le — and

the old

ord

er justco

llapses head

long

, like in Eastern Europe?

"No," K

apor says flatly. "I th

ink th

at's extraord

inarily u

nlikely. In

part, b

ecause ten or fifteen years ag

o, I had

similar ho

pes ab

out p

erson-

al com

puters —

which utterly failed

to m

aterialize." He g

rins wryly,

then his eyes narrow

. "I'm *very* o

pposed

to techno

-utopias. Every

time I see o

ne, I eith

er run aw

ay, or try to

kill it."

It daw

ns on m

e then that Mitch K

apor is no

t trying to

make the w

orld

safe for d

emocracy. H

e certainly is not trying

to m

ake it safe for anar-

chists or uto

pians —

least of all fo

r com

puter intrud

ers or electro

nic

BR

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rip-o

ff artists. What he really ho

pes to

do is m

ake the world

safe for

future Mitch K

apors. T

his world

of d

ecentralized, sm

all- scale nodes,

with instant g

lobal access for the b

est and brig

htest, would b

e a perfectm

ilieu for the sho

estring attic cap

italism that m

ade M

itch Kap

or w

hathe is to

day.

Kap

or is a very b

right m

an. He has a rare co

mbinatio

n of visio

naryintensity w

ith a strong

practical streak. T

he Board

of the EFF: Jo

hnBarlo

w, Jerry B

erman o

f the ACLU

, Stew

art Brand

, John G

ilmore, S

teveW

ozniak, and

Esther Dyso

n, the doyenne o

f East-West co

mputer entre-

pren

eurism

— sh

are his g

ift, his visio

n, an

d h

is form

idab

le netw

orkin

gtalents. T

hey are peo

ple o

f the 19

60

s, winno

wed

-out b

y its turbu-

lence and rewarded w

ith wealth and influence. T

hey are some of the

best and the brightest that the electronic comm

unity has to offer. But

can they do it, in the real w

orld

? Or are they o

nly dream

ing? T

hey areso few

. And there is so m

uch against them.

I leave Kap

or and

his networking

emplo

yees struggling

cheerfully with

the pro

mising

intricacies of their new

ly installed M

acintosh S

ystem 7

software. T

he next day is Saturday. EFF is closed. I pay a few visits to

points o

f interest dow

ntow

n.

One of them

is the birthplace of the telephone.

It's marked

by a b

ronze p

laque in a p

linth of b

lack- and-w

hite speckled

granite. It sits in the p

laza of the Jo

hn F. Kenned

y Federal B

uilding

, thevery p

lace where K

apor w

as once fing

erprinted

by the FB

I.

The p

laque has a b

as-relief picture o

f Bell's o

riginal telep

hone.

"BIR

TH

PLACE O

F TH

E TELEPH

ON

E," it reads. "H

ere, on June 2

, 18

75

,A

lexander G

raham B

ell and T

hom

as A. W

atson first transm

itted so

undover w

ires.

"This successful exp

eriment w

as com

pleted

in a fifth floor g

arret atw

hat was then 1

09

Court S

treet and m

arked the b

eginning

of w

orld

-w

ide telep

hone service."

10

9 C

ourt S

treet is long

gone. W

ithin sight o

f Bell's p

laque, acro

ss a

BR

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street, is one o

f the central offices o

f NYN

EX, the lo

cal Bell R

BO

C, o

n 6Bow

doin S

quare.

I cross the street and

circle the telco b

uilding

, slow

ly, hands in m

yjacket p

ockets. It's a b

right, w

indy, N

ew Eng

land autum

n day. T

he cen-tral o

ffice is a handso

me 1

94

0s-era m

egalith in late A

rt Deco

, eight

stories hig

h.

Parked o

utside the b

ack is a pow

er-generatio

n truck. The g

enerator

strikes me as rather ano

malo

us. Don't they alread

y have their ow

n gen-

erators in this eig

ht-story m

onster? T

hen the suspicio

n strikes me

that NYN

EX must have heard of the Septem

ber 17 A

T&

T pow

er-outagew

hich crashed N

ew Y

ork C

ity. Belt-and

-suspend

ers, this generato

r.V

ery telco.

Over the glass doors of the front entrance is a handsom

e bronze bas-relief o

f Art D

eco vines, sunflo

wers, and

bird

s, entwining

the Bell lo

go

and the legend NEW

ENGLA

ND

TELEPH

ON

E AN

D T

ELEGRA

PH C

OM

PAN

Y —an entity w

hich no lo

nger o

fficially exists.

The doors are locked securely. I peer throug

h the shadowed g

lass. Insideis an o

fficial poster read

ing:

"New

England Telephone a N

YNEX C

ompany

ATTEN

TIO

N

"All p

ersons w

hile on N

ew Eng

land T

elepho

ne Com

pany p

remises are

required

to visib

ly wear their id

entification card

s (C.C

.P. Sectio

n 2,

Page 1

).

"Visito

rs, vendors, co

ntractors, and

all others are req

uired to

visibly

wear a d

aily pass. "T

hank you. K

evin C. S

tanton. B

uilding

Security

Coord

inator."

Outsid

e, around

the corner, is a p

ull-dow

n ribbed

metal security d

oor, a

locked

delivery entrance. S

om

e passing

stranger has g

rafitti-tagged

this d

oor, w

ith a sin

gle w

ord

in red

spray-p

ainted

cursive:

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

G —

TH

E

HA

CK

ER

CR

AC

KD

OW

N

NO

T F

OR

CO

MM

ER

CIA

L U

SE

3 0 1

*F

ury

*_

__

__

My b

ook o

n the Hacker C

rackdow

n is almost o

ver now

. I have delib

er-ately saved the best for last.

In February 1

99

1, I attend

ed the C

PSR Pub

lic Policy R

ound

table, in

Washing

ton, D

C. C

PSR, C

om

puter Pro

fessionals fo

r Social

Resp

onsib

ility, was a sister o

rganizatio

n of EFF, o

r perhap

s its aunt,being

old

er and p

erhaps so

mew

hat wiser in the w

ays of the w

orld

of p

ol-

itics.

Com

puter Pro

fessionals fo

r Social R

esponsib

ility beg

an in 19

81

inPalo

Alto

, as an inform

al discussio

n gro

up o

f Califo

rnian com

puter sci-

entists and technicians, united

by no

thing m

ore than an electro

nic mail-

ing list. T

his typical hig

h-tech ad-ho

cracy received the d

ignity o

f itsow

n acronym

in 19

82

, and w

as form

ally incorp

orated

in 19

83

.

CPS

R lo

bbied

governm

ent and p

ublic alike w

ith an educatio

nal outreach

effort, sternly w

arning ag

ainst any foolish and

unthinking trust in co

m-

plex co

mputer system

s. CPS

R insisted

that mere co

mputers sho

uldnever b

e consid

ered a m

agic p

anacea for hum

anity's social, ethical o

rpolitical p

roblem

s. CPS

R m

embers w

ere especially tro

ubled

about the

stability, safety, and

dep

endab

ility of m

ilitary com

puter system

s, andvery esp

ecially troub

led b

y those system

s contro

lling nuclear arsenals.

CPS

R w

as best-kno

wn fo

r its persistent and

well- p

ublicized

attacks on

the scientific credib

ility of the S

trategic D

efense Initiative ("Star

Wars").

In 1

99

0, C

PSR w

as the n

ation's veteran

cyber-p

olitical activist g

roup,

with o

ver two tho

usand m

embers in tw

enty- one lo

cal chapters acro

ssthe U

S. It w

as especially active in B

osto

n, Silico

n Valley, and

Washing

ton D

C, w

here its Washing

ton o

ffice sponso

red the Pub

lic Policy

Round

table.

The Roundtable, how

ever, had been funded by EFF, which had passed

CPS

R an extensive g

rant for o

peratio

ns. This w

as the first large-scale,

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

G —

TH

E H

AC

KE

R C

RA

CK

DO

WN

N

OT

FO

R C

OM

ME

RC

IAL

US

E3 0 2

official m

eeting o

f what w

as to b

ecom

e the electronic civil lib

ertarianco

mm

unity.

Sixty people attended, myself included —

in this instance, not so much as

a journalist as a cyb

erpunk autho

r. Many o

f the luminaries o

f the fieldto

ok p

art: Kap

or and

Godw

in as a matter o

f course. R

ichard C

iville andM

arc Rotenb

erg o

f CPS

R. Jerry B

erman o

f the ACLU

. John Q

uarterman,

author o

f *The M

atrix.* Steven Levy, autho

r of *H

ackers.* Geo

rge

Perry and S

andy W

eiss of Pro

dig

y Services, there to

network ab

out the

civil-libertie

s trouble

s their y

oung co

mm

ercial n

etw

ork w

as exp

eri-

encing. D

r. Doro

thy Denning

. Cliff Fig

allo, m

anager o

f the Well. S

teveJackso

n was there, having

finally found

his ideal targ

et audience, and

sow

as Craig

Neid

orf, "K

night Lig

htning" him

self, with his atto

rney,Sheld

on Zenner. K

atie Hafner, science jo

urnalist, and co

- author o

f*C

yberp

unk: Outlaw

s and H

ackers on the C

om

puter Fro

ntier.* Dave

Farber, A

RPA

net pio

neer and fab

led Internet g

uru. Janlori G

old

man o

fthe A

CLU

's Project on Privacy and Technology. John N

agle of Autodesk

and the Well. D

on Goldberg of the H

ouse Judiciary Com

mittee. T

omGuidoboni, the defense attorney in the Internet W

orm case. Lance

Hoffm

an, com

puter-science p

rofesso

r at The G

eorg

e Washing

ton

University. Eli N

oam

of C

olum

bia. A

nd a ho

st of o

thers no less d

istin-guished

.

Senato

r Patrick Leahy delivered

the keynote ad

dress, exp

ressing his

determination to keep ahead of the curve on the issue of electronic free

speech. The address w

as well-received, and the sense of excitem

ent was

palp

able. Every p

anel discussio

n was interesting

— so

me w

ere entirelyco

mpelling

. People netw

orked

with an alm

ost frantic interest.

I myself had

a most interesting

and co

rdial lunch d

iscussion w

ith Noel

and Jeanne G

ayler, Adm

iral Gayler b

eing a fo

rmer d

irector o

f theN

ational Security Agency. A

s this was the first know

n encounter betw

eenan actual no

-kidding

cyberp

unk and a chief executive o

f Am

erica'slarg

est and b

est-financed electro

nic espio

nage ap

parat, there w

as natu-rally a b

it of eyeb

row

-raising o

n both sid

es.

Unfo

rtunately, our d

iscussion w

as off-the-reco

rd. In fact all the d

is-cussio

ns at the CPS

R w

ere officially o

ff- the- record

, the idea b

eing to

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

G —

TH

E H

AC

KE

R C

RA

CK

DO

WN

N

OT

FO

R C

OM

ME

RC

IAL

US

E3 0 3

do so

me serio

us networking

in an atmosp

here of co

mplete frankness,

rather than to stag

e a med

ia circus.

In any case, CPS

R R

ound

table, tho

ugh interesting

and intensely valu-

able, w

as as nothing

com

pared

to the truly m

ind-b

oggling

event thattransp

ired a m

ere month later.

__

__

_

"Com

puters, Freed

om

and Privacy." Fo

ur hundred

peo

ple fro

m every

conceivab

le corner o

f Am

erica's electronic co

mm

unity. As a science

fiction w

riter, I have been to

som

e weird

gig

s in my d

ay, but this thing

is truly *beyo

nd the p

ale.* Even "Cyb

erthon," Po

int Found

ation's

"Woodstock of C

yberspace" where B

ay Area psychedelia collided headlong

with the em

ergent w

orld

of co

mputerized

virtual reality, was like a

Kiw

anis Club

gig

com

pared

to this asto

nishing d

o.

The "electro

nic com

munity" had

reached an ap

ogee. A

lmost every p

rin-cip

al in this book is in attend

ance. Civil Lib

ertarians. Com

puter C

ops.

The D

igital Underground. Even a few

discreet telco people. Colorcoded

dots fo

r lapel tag

s are distrib

uted. Free Exp

ression issues. Law

Enforcem

ent. Com

puter S

ecurity. Privacy. Journalists. Law

yers.Ed

ucato

rs. Lib

rarians. P

rogram

mers. S

tylish p

unk-b

lack dots fo

r the

hackers and phone phreaks. Alm

ost everyone here seems to w

ear eightor nine d

ots, to

have six or seven p

rofessio

nal hats.

It is a com

munity. S

om

ething like Leb

anon p

erhaps, b

ut a dig

ital nation.

People w

ho had

feuded

all year in the national p

ress, peo

ple w

ho enter-

tained the deepest suspicions of one another's motives and ethics, are

now

in each others' lap

s. "Com

puters, Freed

om

and Privacy" had

everyreaso

n in the world

to turn ug

ly, and yet excep

t for sm

all irruptio

ns of

puzzling

nonsense fro

m the co

nvention's to

ken lunatic, a surprising

bonho

mie reig

ned. C

FP was like a w

edding

-party in w

hich two lo

vers,unstab

le brid

e and charlatan g

room

, tie the knot in a clearly d

isastrous

matrim

ony.

It is clear to both families —

even to neighbors and random guests —

thatthis is no

t a workab

le relationship

, and yet the yo

ung co

uple's d

esperate

attraction can b

rook no

further delay. T

hey simply canno

t help them

-

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

G —

TH

E H

AC

KE

R C

RA

CK

DO

WN

N

OT

FO

R C

OM

ME

RC

IAL

US

E3 0 4

selve

s. Cro

ckery w

ill fly, shrie

ks from

their n

ew

lywed h

om

e w

ill wake

the city blo

ck, divo

rce waits in the w

ings like a vulture o

ver theKalahari, and

yet this is a wed

ding

, and there is g

oing

to b

e a child fro

mit. T

raged

ies end in d

eath; com

edies in m

arriage. T

he Hacker C

rackdow

nis end

ing in m

arriage. A

nd there w

ill be a child

.

From

the beg

inning, ano

malies reig

n. John Perry B

arlow

, cybersp

acerang

er, is here. His co

lor p

hoto

in *The N

ew Y

ork T

imes M

agazine,*

Barlo

w sco

wling

in a grim

Wyo

ming

snow

scape, w

ith long

black co

at,dark hat, a M

acintosh SE30 propped on a fencepost and an aw

esome

frontier rifle tu

cked u

nder o

ne arm

, will b

e the sin

gle m

ost strikin

gvisual im

age of the Hacker C

rackdown. A

nd he is CFP's guest of honor —

along w

ith Gail T

hackeray of the FCIC

! What on earth do they expect

these dual guests to do with each other? W

altz?

Barlo

w d

elivers the first address. U

ncharacteristically, he is hoarse —

the sheer volum

e of ro

adw

ork has w

orn him

dow

n. He sp

eaks briefly,

cong

enially, in a plea fo

r conciliatio

n, and takes his leave to

a storm

of

applause.

Then G

ail Thackeray takes the stag

e. She's visibly nervous. She's b

eenon the W

ell a lot lately. R

eading

those B

arlow

posts. Fo

llow

ing B

arlow

is a challenge to

anyone. In ho

nor o

f the famous lyricist fo

r the Grateful

Dead, she announces reedily, she is going to read —

*a poem.* A

poemshe has com

posed herself.

It's an awful p

oem

, doggerel in the ro

llicking m

eter of R

obert W

.Service's *T

he Crem

ation o

f Sam

McG

ee,* but it is in fact, a p

oem

. It'sthe *B

allad o

f the Electronic Fro

ntier!* A p

oem

about the H

ackerCrackd

ow

n and the sheer unlikeliho

od o

f CFP. It's full o

f in-jokes. T

hescore or so cops in the audience, w

ho are sitting tog

ether in a nervousclaq

ue, are abso

lutely cracking-up

. Gail's p

oem

is the funniest goddam

nthing

they've ever heard. T

he hackers and civil-lib

s, who

had this

wom

an figured

for Ilsa S

he-Wolf o

f the SS, are staring

with their jaw

shang

ing lo

osely. N

ever in the wild

est reaches of their im

aginatio

n hadthey fig

ured G

ail Thackeray w

as capab

le of such a to

tally off-the-w

allm

ove. Y

ou can see them

punching

their mental C

ON

TRO

L-RES

ET b

ut-to

ns. Jesus! This w

om

an's a hacker weird

o! S

he's *just like us!*

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

G —

TH

E

HA

CK

ER

CR

AC

KD

OW

N

NO

T F

OR

CO

MM

ER

CIA

L U

SE

3 0 5

God, this chang

es everything!

Al B

ayse, computer technician for the FB

I, had been the only cop at the

CPS

R R

ound

table, d

ragged

there with his arm

bent b

y Doro

thy Denning

.H

e was g

uarded and tightlipped at C

PSR Roundtable; a "lion throw

n to theC

hristian

s."

At C

FP, backed by a claque of cops, Bayse suddenly w

axes eloquent andeven d

roll, d

escribing

the FBI's "N

CIC

20

00

", a gig

antic dig

ital catalog

of crim

inal record

s, as if he has suddenly b

ecom

e som

e weird

hybrid

of

Georg

e Orw

ell and Georg

e Gob

el. Tentatively, he m

akes an arcane jokeab

out statistical analysis. At least a third of the crow

d laughs aloud.

"They didn't laugh at that at m

y last speech," Bayse observes. H

e hadbeen addressing cops —

*straight* cops, not computer people. It had

been a w

orthy m

eeting, useful o

ne supposes, b

ut nothing

like *this.*There has never b

een *anything* like this. W

ithout any p

rodding

,w

ithout any p

reparatio

n, peo

ple in the aud

ience simply b

egin to

askquestio

ns. Long

hairs, freaky peo

ple, m

athematicians. B

ayse is answer-

ing, p

olite

ly, fran

kly, fu

lly, like

a man

walkin

g o

n air. T

he b

allroom

'satm

osp

here crackles with surreality. A

female law

yer behind

me

breaks into

a sweat and

a hot w

aft of surp

risingly p

otent and

musky

perfum

e flow

s off her p

ulse-points.

People are g

iddy w

ith laughter. Peo

ple are interested

, fascinated, their

eyes so w

ide and

dark that they seem

eroticized

. Unlikely d

aisy-chainsfo

rm in the halls, aro

und the b

ar, on the escalato

rs: cops w

ith hackers,civil rig

hts w

ith FB

I, Secret S

ervice with

phone p

hreaks.

Gail T

hackeray is at her crispest in a w

hite wool sw

eater with a tiny

Secret S

ervice logo. "I fo

und Phib

er Optik at the p

aypho

nes, and w

henhe saw

my sw

eater, he turned into

a *pillar o

f salt!*" she chortles.

Phiber d

iscusses his case at much leng

th with his arresting

officer, D

on

Delaney of the N

ew York State Police. A

fter an hour's chat, the two of

them lo

ok read

y to b

egin sing

ing "A

uld Lang

Syne." Phib

er finally finds

the courage to get his worst com

plaint off his chest. It isn't so much the

arrest. It was the *charg

e.* Pirating service o

ff 90

0 num

bers. I'm

a

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

G —

TH

E H

AC

KE

R C

RA

CK

DO

WN

N

OT

FO

R C

OM

ME

RC

IAL

US

E3 0 6

*pro

gram

mer,* P

hib

er insists. T

his lam

e charg

e is goin

g to

hurt m

yreputation. It w

ould have been cool to be busted for something happen-

ing, like S

ection 1

03

0 co

mputer intrusio

n. Mayb

e som

e kind o

f crime

that's scarcely been invented yet. Not lousy phone fraud. Phooey.

Delaney seem

s regretful. H

e had a m

ountain o

f possib

le criminal

charges ag

ainst Phiber O

ptik. T

he kid's g

onna p

lead g

uilty anyway. H

e'sa first tim

er, they always p

lead. C

ould

a charged

the kid w

ith most any-

thing, and gotten the same result in the end. D

elaney seems genuinely

sorry no

t to have g

ratified Phib

er in this harmless fashio

n. Too late

now

. Phiber's p

led alread

y. All w

ater under the b

ridge. W

haddya g

onna

do?

Delaney's got a good grasp on the hacker m

entality. He held a press con-

ference after he busted a bunch of Masters of D

eception kids. Some

journo

had asked

him: "W

ould

you d

escribe these p

eople as *g

enius-es?*" D

elaney's dead

pan answ

er, perfect: "N

o, I w

ould

describ

e thesepeople as *defendants.*" D

elaney busts a kid for hacking

codes with

repeated

random

dialling

. Tells the p

ress that NYN

EX can track this

stuff in no time flat now

adays, and a kid has to be *stupid* to do som

e-thing so easy to catch. D

ead on again: hackers don't mind being thought

of as G

enghis K

han by the straig

hts, but if there's anything

that reallygets 'em

where they live, it's b

eing called

*dum

b.*

Won't be as m

uch fun for Phiber next time around. A

s a second offenderhe's g

onna see prison. Hackers b

reak the law. T

hey're not geniuses,

either. They're gonna be defendants. A

nd yet, Delaney m

uses over adrink in the ho

tel bar, he has fo

und it im

possib

le to treat them

as com

-m

on crim

inals. Delaney kno

ws crim

inals. These kid

s, by co

mpariso

n,are clueless —

there is just no cro

ok vib

e off o

f them, they d

on't sm

ellrig

ht, th

ey're just n

ot *b

ad.*

Delaney has seen a lot of action. H

e did Vietnam

. He's been shot at, he has

shot people. He's a hom

icide cop from N

ew York. H

e has the appearanceof a m

an who has not only seen the shit hit the fan but has seen it splat-

tered acro

ss who

le city blo

cks and left to

ferment fo

r years. This g

uyhas b

een around

.

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

G —

TH

E H

AC

KE

R C

RA

CK

DO

WN

N

OT

FO

R C

OM

ME

RC

IAL

US

E3 0 7

He listens to Steve Jackson tell his story. T

he dreamy g

ame strateg

isthas b

een dealt a bad hand. H

e has played it for all he is w

orth. U

nder hisnerd

ish SF-fan exterio

r is a core o

f iron. Friend

s of his say S

teveJackso

n b

elieves in th

e rules, b

elieves in fair p

lay. He w

ill never co

m-

pro

mise his p

rinciples, never g

ive up. "S

teve," Delaney says to

Steve

Jackson, "they had

som

e balls, w

hoever b

usted yo

u. You're all rig

ht!"Jackso

n, stunned, falls silent and

actually blushes w

ith pleasure.

Neid

orf has g

row

n up a lo

t in the past year. T

he kid is a q

uick study, yo

ugotta give him

that. Dressed by his m

om, the fashion m

anager for anatio

nal clo

thin

g ch

ain, M

issouri co

llege tech

ie-frat Craig

Neid

orf o

ut-

dappers everyone at this gig

but the toniest East C

oast lawyers. T

he ironjaw

s of p

rison clang

ed shut w

ithout him

and no

w law

school b

eckons fo

rN

eidorf. H

e looks like a larval C

ong

ressman.

Not a "hacker," o

ur Mr. N

eidorf. H

e's not interested

in com

puter sci-

ence. Why should he b

e? He's not interested in w

riting C

code the restof his life, and

besid

es, he's seen where the chip

s fall. To the w

orld

of

com

puter science he and

*Phrack* were just a curio

sity. But to

thew

orld

of law

.... The kid

has learned w

here the bodies are b

uried. H

ecarries his no

tebook o

f press clip

ping

s wherever he g

oes.

Phiber O

ptik m

akes fun of N

eidorf fo

r a Mid

western g

eek, for b

elievingthat "A

cid Phreak" does acid and listens to acid rock. Hell no. A

cid'snever d

one *acid

!* Acid

's into *acid

house m

usic.* Jesus. The very

idea o

f doing

LSD

. Our *p

arents* did

LSD

, ya clow

n.

Thackeray sud

denly turns up

on C

raig N

eidorf the full lig

hthouse g

lare of

her attention and

beg

ins a determ

ined half-ho

ur attempt to

*win the b

oy

over.* T

he Joan o

f Arc o

f Com

puter C

rime is *g

iving career ad

vice toK

night Lig

htning!* "Y

our exp

erience would

be very valuab

le — a real

asset," she tells h

im w

ith u

nm

istakeable sixty-th

ousan

d-w

att sinceri-

ty. Neid

orf is fascinated

. He listens w

ith unfeigned

attention. H

e's nod-

ding and saying yes ma'am

. Yes, Craig, you too can forget all about

money and

enter the glam

oro

us and ho

rribly und

erpaid

world

of PR

OSE-

CU

TIN

G C

OM

PU

TER

CRIM

E! You can

put yo

ur fo

rmer frien

ds in

priso

n—

ooops....

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

G —

TH

E H

AC

KE

R C

RA

CK

DO

WN

N

OT

FO

R C

OM

ME

RC

IAL

US

E3 0 8

You cannot go on dueling at modem

's length indefinitely. You cannot beatone an

oth

er senseless w

ith ro

lled-u

p p

ress-clippin

gs. S

ooner o

r lateryou have to com

e directly to grips. And yet the very act of assem

blinghere has chang

ed the entire situatio

n drastically. Jo

hn Quarterm

an,autho

r of *T

he Matrix,* exp

lains the Internet at his symposium

. It isthe larg

est news netw

ork in the w

orld

, it is gro

wing

by leap

s andbounds, and yet you cannot m

easure Internet because you cannot stop itin place. It cannot stop, b

ecause there is no one anywhere in the w

orldw

ith the authority to

stop Internet. It chang

es, yes, it gro

ws, it em

bed

sitself acro

ss the post-ind

ustrial, postm

odern w

orld

and it g

eneratesco

mm

unity wherever it to

uches, and it is d

oing

this all by itself.

Phib

er is differen

t. A very fin

de siecle kid

, Phib

er Optik. B

arlow

sayshe looks like an Edw

ardian dandy. He does rather. Shaven neck, the

sides o

f his skull cropped

hip-ho

p clo

se, unruly tangle o

f black hair o

nto

p that lo

oks p

om

aded

, he stays up till fo

ur a.m. and

misses all the ses-

sions, then hangs out in payphone b

ooths with his acoustic coupler

gutsily C

RA

CKIN

G S

YSTEM

S R

IGH

T IN

TH

E MID

ST O

F TH

E HEA

VIES

T LA

WEN

FORCEM

ENT D

UD

ES IN

TH

E U.S

., or at least *p

retending

* to....

Unlike "Frank D

rake." Drake, w

ho w

rote D

oro

thy Denning

out o

fno

where, and

asked fo

r an interview fo

r his cheapo cyb

erpunk fanzine,

and then started

grilling

her on her ethics. S

he was sq

uirmin', to

o....

Drake, scarecro

w-tall w

ith h

is floppy b

lond m

ohaw

k, rottin

g ten

nis

shoes and

black leather jacket lettered

ILLUM

INA

TI in red

, gives o

ff anunm

istakeable air o

f the bohem

ian literatus. Drake is the kind

of g

uyw

ho read

s British ind

ustrial desig

n mag

azines and ap

preciates W

illiamGibson because the quality of the prose is so tasty. D

rake could nevertouch a phone or a keyb

oard again, and he'd still have the nose- ring

andthe b

lurry pho

toco

pied

fanzines and the sam

pled

industrial m

usic. He's

a radical p

unk with a d

esktop- p

ublishing

rig and

an Internet address.

Stand

ing next to

Drake, the d

iminutive Phib

er looks like he's b

eenphysically co

agulated

out o

f pho

ne-lines. Born to

phreak.

Doro

thy Denning

appro

aches Phiber sud

denly. T

he two o

f them are

about the sam

e height and b

ody-build. D

enning's b

lue eyes flash behind

the round

wind

ow

- frames o

f her glasses. "W

hy did

you say I w

as'q

uaint?'" she asks Phiber, q

uaintly.

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

G —

TH

E

HA

CK

ER

CR

AC

KD

OW

N

NO

T F

OR

CO

MM

ER

CIA

L U

SE

3 0 9

It's a perfect d

escriptio

n but Phib

er is nonp

lussed... "W

ell, I uh, you

know

...."

"I also think yo

u're quaint, D

oro

thy," I say, novelist to

the rescue, thejourno gift of gab... She is neat and dapper and yet there's an arcanequality to

her, som

ething like a Pilg

rim M

aiden b

ehind lead

ed g

lass; ifshe w

ere six inches high D

oro

thy Denning

would

look g

reat inside a

china cabinet... T

he Cryp

tograp

heress.... The C

rypto

grap

hrix... what-

ever... Weird

ly, Peter D

ennin

g lo

oks ju

st like his w

ife, you co

uld

pick

this gentleman out of a thousand guys as the soulm

ate of Dorothy

Denning

. Wearing

tailored

slacks, a spotless fuzzy varsity sw

eater, anda neatly kno

tted acad

emician's tie.... T

his fineboned

, exquisitely p

olite,

utterly civilized and

hyperintellig

ent coup

le seem to

have emerg

ed fro

mso

me cleaner and

finer parallel universe, w

here humanity exists to

do

the Brain T

easers colum

n in Scientific A

merican. W

hy does this N

iceLad

y hang o

ut with these unsavo

ry characters?

Because the tim

e has come for it, that's w

hy. Because she's the best

there is at what she does.

Donn Parker is here, the G

reat Bald

Eagle o

f Com

puter C

rime.... W

ithhis b

ald d

om

e, great heig

ht, and eno

rmous Linco

ln-like hands, the g

reatvisio

nary pio

neer of the field

plo

ws thro

ugh the lesser m

ortals like an

icebreaker.... H

is eyes are fixed o

n the future with the rig

idity o

f abro

nze statue.... Eventually, he tells his audience, all b

usiness crime

will b

e com

puter crim

e, because b

usinesses will d

o everything

throug

hco

mputers. "C

om

puter crim

e" as a category w

ill vanish.

In the meantim

e, passing

fads w

ill flourish and

fail and evap

orate....

Parker's co

mm

andin

g, reso

nan

t voice is sp

hin

xlike, everythin

g is

viewed

from

som

e eldritch valley o

f deep

historical ab

straction... Y

es,they've com

e and they've gone, these passing flaps in the world of digital

com

putatio

n.... The rad

io-freq

uency emanatio

n scandal... K

GB and

MI5

and CIA

do it every day, it's easy, but nob

ody else ever has.... The sala-

mi-slice frau

d, m

ostly m

ythical... "C

rimoid

s," he calls th

em....

Com

puter viruses are the current crim

oid

champ, a lo

t less dang

erous

than most people let on, b

ut the novelty is fading and there's a crim

oidvacuum

at the mom

ent, the press is visib

ly hungering

for so

mething

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

G —

TH

E H

AC

KE

R C

RA

CK

DO

WN

N

OT

FO

R C

OM

ME

RC

IAL

US

E3 1 0

more outrag

eous.... The G

reat Man shares w

ith us a few speculations on

the com

ing crim

oid

s.... Deskto

p Fo

rgery! W

ow

.... Com

puters sto

lenjust fo

r the sake of the info

rmatio

n within them

— d

ata- napping

!H

appened

in Britain a w

hile ago, co

uld b

e the com

ing thing

.... Phantom

nodes in the Internet!

Parker handles his o

verhead p

rojecto

r sheets with an ecclesiastical

air... He w

ears a grey d

oub

le-breasted

suit, a light b

lue shirt, and a

very quiet tie o

f understated

maro

on and

blue p

aisley... Apho

risms

emerg

e from

him w

ith slow

, leaden em

phasis... T

here is no such thing

as an adequately secure computer w

hen one faces a sufficiently powerful

adversary.... D

eterrence is the most so

cially useful aspect o

f security...Peo

ple are the p

rimary w

eakness in all inform

ation system

s... The

entire baseline o

f com

puter security m

ust be shifted

upw

ard.... D

on't

ever violate yo

ur secu

rity by p

ublicly d

escribin

g yo

ur secu

rity mea-

sures...

People in the aud

ience are beg

inning to

squirm

, and yet there is so

me-

thing ab

out the elem

ental purity o

f this guy's p

hiloso

phy that co

mpels

uneasy respect.... Parker so

unds like the o

nly sane guy left in the

lifeboat, so

metim

es. The g

uy who

can pro

ve rigoro

usly, from

deep

moral p

rinciples, that H

arvey there, the one w

ith the bro

ken leg and

thecheckered

past, is the o

ne who

has to b

e, err.... that is, Mr. H

arvey isbest placed to m

ake the necessary sacrifice for the security and indeedthe very survival o

f the rest of this lifeb

oat's crew

.... Com

puter secu-

rity, Parker in

form

s us m

ourn

fully, is a n

asty topic, an

d w

e wish

we

didn't have to have it... The security expert, arm

ed with m

ethod andlo

gic, m

ust think — im

agine —

everything that the ad

versary mig

ht do

befo

re the adversary m

ight actually d

o it. It is as if the crim

inal's dark

brain w

ere an extensive subpro

gram

within the shining

cranium o

fD

onn Parker. H

e is a Holm

es who

se Moriarty d

oes no

t quite yet exist

and so

must b

e perfectly sim

ulated.

CFP is a stellar g

athering, w

ith the gid

diness o

f a wed

ding

. It is a happy

time, a hap

py end

ing, they kno

w their w

orld

is changing

forever

tonight, and they're proud to have been there to see it happen, to talk, tothink, to

help.

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

G —

TH

E H

AC

KE

R C

RA

CK

DO

WN

N

OT

FO

R C

OM

ME

RC

IAL

US

E3 1 1

And

yet as night falls, a certain eleg

iac quality m

anifests itself, as thecro

wd g

athers beneath the chand

eliers with their w

ineglasses and

dessert plates. Something

is ending here, g

one forever, and it takes aw

hile to p

inpoint it.

It is the End o

f the Am

ateurs.

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

G —

TH

E H

AC

KE

R C

RA

CK

DO

WN

N

OT

FO

R C

OM

ME

RC

IAL

US

E3 1 2

AF

TE

RW

OR

D

The H

acker C

rackdow

n

Thre

e Y

ears

Late

r

Three years in cyb

erspace is like thirty years anyp

lace real. It feels asif a g

eneration has p

assed since I w

rote this b

ook. In term

s of the g

en-eratio

ns of co

mputing

machinery invo

lved, that's p

retty much the case.

The b

asic shape of cyberspace has chang

ed drastically since 1990. A

new U

.S. A

dm

inistration is in p

ow

er who

se perso

nnel are, if anything,

only too aware of the nature and potential of electronic netw

orks. It'snow

clear to all players concerned that the status quo is dead-and-gone

in Am

erican med

ia and teleco

mm

unications, and

almost any territo

ry on

the electro

nic fro

ntier is u

p fo

r grab

s. Interactive m

ultim

edia, cab

le-phone allian

ces, th

e In

form

ation S

uperh

ighw

ay, fiber- to

-the-cu

rb,

lapto

ps and

palm

tops, the exp

losive g

row

th of cellular and

the Internet—

the earth trembles visib

ly.

The year 1

99

0 w

as not a p

leasant one fo

r AT&

T. B

y 19

93

, how

ever,A

T&

T had successfully devoured the com

puter company N

CR in an

unfrien

dly takeo

ver, finally g

iving th

e pole-clim

bers a m

ajor p

iece of

the dig

ital action. A

T&

T m

anaged

to rid

itself of o

wnership

of the tro

u-bleso

me U

NIX

operating

system, selling

it to N

ovell, a netw

are com

pany,

which w

as itself prep

aring fo

r a savage m

arket dust-up

with o

perating

-system

titan Micro

soft. Furtherm

ore, A

T&

T acq

uired M

cCaw

Cellular in

a gig

antic merg

er, giving

AT&

T a p

otential w

ireless whip

-hand o

ver itsform

er progeny, the RB

OCs. T

he RBO

Cs them

selves were now

AT&

T's

clearest potential rivals, as the C

hinese firewalls b

etween reg

ulatedm

ono

poly and

frenzied d

igital entrep

reneurism b

egan to

melt and

col-

lapse head

long

.

AT&

T, m

ocked

by ind

ustry analysts in 19

90

, was reap

ing aw

estruck

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

G —

TH

E H

AC

KE

R C

RA

CK

DO

WN

N

OT

FO

R C

OM

ME

RC

IAL

US

E3 1 3

praise by comm

entators in 1993. A

T&

T had m

anaged to avoid any more

majo

r softw

are crashes in its switching

stations. A

T&

T's new

found

reputatio

n as "the nimble g

iant" was all the sw

eeter, since AT&

T's tra-

ditio

nal rival g

iant in

the w

orld

of m

ultin

ational co

mputin

g, IB

M, w

asalm

ost p

rostrate b

y 19

93

. IBM

's vision o

f the com

mercial co

mputer-

network o

f the future, "Prodig

y," had m

anaged

to sp

end $

90

0 m

illion

witho

ut a who

le heck of a lo

t to sho

w fo

r it, while A

T&

T, b

y contrast,

was b

old

ly speculating

on the p

ossib

ilities of p

ersonal co

mm

unicators

and hed

ging

its bets w

ith investments in hand

written interfaces. In

1990 A

T&

T had looked b

ad; but in 1

993 A

T&

T looked like the future.

At least, A

T&

T's *ad

vertising* lo

oked

like the fu

ture. S

imilar p

ublic

attention w

as riveted o

n the massive $

22

billio

n meg

amerg

er betw

eenRBO

C B

ell Atlantic and

cable-T

V g

iant Tele-C

om

municatio

ns Inc. Nynex

was b

uying into

cable co

mpany V

iacom

International. B

ellSouth w

asbuying

stock in Prim

e Manag

ement, S

outhw

estern Bell acq

uiring a cab

leco

mpany in W

ashingto

n DC, and

so fo

rth. By stark co

ntrast, theInternet, a no

ncom

mercial entity w

hich officially d

id no

t even exist, hadno

advertising b

udget at all. A

nd yet, almost b

elow

the level of g

overn-

mental and

corp

orate aw

areness, the Internet was stealthily d

evouring

everything in its p

ath, gro

wing

at a rate that defied

com

prehensio

n.Kid

s who

mig

ht have been eag

er com

puter-intrud

ers a mere five years

earlier were n

ow

surfin

g th

e Intern

et, where th

eir natu

ral urg

e toexp

lore led

them into

cybersp

ace landscap

es of such m

indboggling

vast-ness that the very idea of hacking passw

ords seemed rather a w

aste oftim

e.

By 1

99

3, there had

not b

een a solid

, knock 'em

dow

n, panic-striking

,teenag

e-hacker com

puter-intrusio

n scandal in m

any long

months.

There had

, of co

urse, been so

me striking

and w

ell-pub

licized acts o

fillicit co

mputer access, b

ut they had b

een com

mitted

by ad

ult white-

collar in

dustry in

siders in

clear p

ursu

it of p

erso

nal o

r com

mercial

advantage. T

he kids, by contrast, all seem

ed to be on IRC

, Internet RelayChat.

Or, p

erhaps, fro

licking o

ut in the endless g

lass-roots netw

ork o

f per-

sonal b

ulletin board

systems. In 1

99

3, there w

ere an estimated

60

,00

0 b

oard

s in Am

erica; the populatio

n of b

oard

s had fully d

oub

led

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

G —

TH

E H

AC

KE

R C

RA

CK

DO

WN

N

OT

FO

R C

OM

ME

RC

IAL

US

E3 1 4

since Operatio

n Sund

evil in 19

90

. The ho

bby w

as transmuting

fitfullyinto

a genuine ind

ustry. The b

oard

com

munity w

ere no lo

nger o

bscure

hobbyists; m

any were still ho

bbyists and

pro

ud o

f it, but b

oard

sysops

and advanced board users had become a far m

ore cohesive and politicallyaw

are com

munity, no

long

er allow

ing them

selves to b

e obscure.

The specter of cyb

erspace in the late 1980s, of outw

itted authoritiestrem

bling

in fear befo

re teenage hacker w

hiz- kids, seem

ed d

ow

nright

antiquated by 1993. Law

enforcement em

phasis had changed, and thefavo

rite electronic villain o

f 19

93

was no

t the vandal child

, but the

victimizer o

f children, the d

igital child

porno

grap

her. "Operatio

nLo

ngarm

," a child- p

orno

grap

hy com

puter raid

carried o

ut by the p

re-vio

usly little- know

n cybersp

ace rangers o

f the U.S

. Custo

ms S

ervice,w

as almost the size o

f Operatio

n Sund

evil, but received

very littleno

tice by co

mpariso

n.

The hug

e and w

ell-org

anized "O

peratio

n Disco

nnect," an FBI strike

against telep

hone rip

-off co

n-artists, was actually larg

er thanSund

evil. "Operatio

n Disco

nnect" had its b

rief mom

ent in the sun of

pub

licity, and then vanished

utterly. It was unfo

rtunate that a law-

enforcem

ent affair as apparently w

ell-cond

ucted as O

peratio

nD

isconnect, w

hich pursued

telecom

adult career crim

inals a hundred

times m

ore m

orally rep

ugnant than teenag

e hackers, should

havereceived

so little attentio

n and fanfare, esp

ecially com

pared

to the

abortive S

undevil and

the basically d

isastrous effo

rts of the C

hicago

Com

puter Fraud and Abuse T

ask Force. But the life of an electronic

policem

an is seldom

easy.

If any law enfo

rcement event truly d

eserved full-scale p

ress coverag

e(w

hile somehow

managing to escape it), it w

as the amazing saga of N

ewYork S

tate Police S

enior Investig

ator D

on D

elaney Versus the O

rchardStreet Fing

er- Hackers. T

his story p

robab

ly represents the real

future of p

rofessio

nal telecom

municatio

ns crime in A

merica. T

he fin-ger- hackers so

ld, and

still sell, stolen lo

ng-d

istance pho

ne service to a

captive clien

tele of illeg

al aliens in

New

York C

ity. This clien

tele is des-

perate to

call hom

e, yet as a gro

up, illeg

al aliens have few leg

al means o

fobtaining

standard

pho

ne service, since their very presence in the

United

States is ag

ainst the law. T

he finger-hackers o

f Orchard

Street

BR

UC

E S

TE

RL

IN

G —

TH

E H

AC

KE

R C

RA

CK

DO

WN

N

OT

FO

R C

OM

ME

RC

IAL

US

E3 1 5

were very unusual "hackers," w

ith an astonishing

lack of any kind

of

genuine techno

logical kno

wled

ge. A

nd yet these N

ew Y

ork call-sell

thieves show

ed a street-level ing

enuity appalling

in its single- m

inded

sense of larceny.

There w

as no d

issident-hacker rheto

ric about freed

om

- of-info

rmatio

nam

ong the fing

er-hackers. Most of them

came out of the cocaine-dealing

fraternity, and they retailed

stolen calls w

ith the same street-crim

etechniques of lookouts and bagholders that a crack gang w

ould employ.

This w

as dow

n- an

d-d

irty, urb

an, eth

nic, o

rgan

ized crim

e, carried o

ut

by crim

e families every d

ay, for cash o

n the barrelhead

, in the harshw

orld

of the streets. T

he finger-hackers d

om

inated certain p

aypho

nesin certain striking

ly unsavory neig

hborho

ods. T

hey pro

vided

a serviceno

one else w

ould

give to

a clientele with little to

lose.

With such a vast sup

ply o

f electronic crim

e at hand, D

on D

elaney rock-

eted from a background in hom

icide to teaching telecom crim

e at FLETC

in less than three years. Few can rival D

elaney's hands-o

n, street-level exp

erience in pho

ne fraud. A

nyone in 1

99

3 w

ho still b

elievestelecom

munications crim

e to be som

ething rare and arcane should have a

few w

ord

s with M

r Delaney. D

on D

elaney has also w

ritten two fine

essays, on teleco

m fraud

and co

mputer crim

e, in Josep

h Grau's

*Crim

inal an

d C

ivil Inve

stigatio

ns H

andbook* (M

cGraw

Hill 1

99

3).

*Phrack* w

as still publish

ing in

19

93

, now

under th

e ab

le e

dito

rship

of Erik Bloodaxe. B

loodaxe made a determ

ined attempt to get law

enforcem

ent and co

rporate security to

pay real m

oney fo

r their elec-tro

nic copies o

f *Phrack,* but, as usual, these stalw

art defend

ers of

intellectual pro

perty p

referred to

pirate the m

agazine. B

loodaxe has

still not g

otten b

ack any of his p

roperty fro

m the seizure raid

s of M

arch1

, 19

90

. Neither has the M

entor, w

ho is still the m

anaging

edito

r of

Steve Jackson Gam

es.

Nor has Rob

ert Izenberg

, who has suspended his court strug

gle to g

et hism

achinery back. M

r Izenberg

has calculated that his $

20

,00

0 o

feq

uipm

ent seized in 1

99

0 is, in 1

99

3, w

orth $

4,0

00

at most. T

hem

issing software, also gone out his door, w

as long ago replaced. He

mig

ht, he says, sue for the sake o

f princip

le, but he feels that the p

eople

BR

UC

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CK

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AC

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T F

OR

CO

MM

ER

CIA

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3 1 6

who seized his m

achinery have already been discredited, and w

on't be

doing

any more seizures. A

nd even if his m

achinery were returned

—and

in good rep

air, which is d

oub

tful — it w

ill be essentially w

orthless

by 1

99

5. R

obert Izenb

erg no

long

er works fo

r IBM

, but has a jo

b p

ro-

gram

ming

for a m

ajor teleco

mm

unications co

mpany in A

ustin.

Steve Jackso

n won his case ag

ainst the Secret S

ervice on M

arch 12

,1

99

3, just o

ver three years after the federal raid

on his enterp

rise.Thanks to the delaying

tactics available throug

h the legal doctrine of

"qualified

imm

unity," Jackson w

as tactically forced

to d

rop his suit

against the ind

ividuals W

illiam C

ook, T

im Fo

ley, Barb

ara Gold

en andH

enry Kluep

fel. (Cook, Fo

ley, Gold

en and K

luepfel d

id, ho

wever, testify

durin

g th

e trial.)

The S

ecret Service fo

ught vig

oro

usly in the case, battling

Jackson's

lawyers rig

ht dow

n the line, on the (m

ostly p

reviously untried

) legal

turf of the Electro

nic Com

municatio

ns Privacy Act and

the PrivacyPro

tection A

ct of 1

98

0. T

he Secret S

ervice denied

they were leg

ally or

morally resp

onsib

le for seizing

the work o

f a pub

lisher. They claim

edthat (1

) Jackson's g

aming

"books" w

eren't real books anyho

w, and

(2)

the Secret S

ervice did

n't realize SJG

Inc was a "p

ublisher" w

hen theyraided his offices, and (3

) the books only vanished b

y accident because

they merely happened to b

e inside the computers the ag

ents were appro-

priating

.

The S

ecret Service also

denied

any wro

ngdoing

in reading

and erasing

allthe sup

posed

ly "private" e-m

ail inside Jackso

n's seized b

oard

,Illum

inati. The U

SSS atto

rneys claimed

the seizure did

not vio

late theElectro

nic Com

municatio

ns Privacy Act, b

ecause they weren't actually

"intercepting

" electronic m

ail that was m

oving

on a w

ire, but o

nly elec-tro

nic mail that w

as quietly sitting

on a d

isk inside Jackso

n's com

puter.

They also claim

ed that USSS agents hadn't read any of the private m

ail onIllum

inati; and anyw

ay, even supposing

that they had, they w

ere allow

edto do that by the subpoena.

The Jackson case b

ecame even m

ore peculiar when the Secret Service

attorneys went so far as to allege that the federal raid against the gam

ingco

mpany had

actually *impro

ved Jackso

n's business* thanks to

the

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ensuing natio

nwid

e pub

licity.

It was a lo

ng and

rather involved

trial. The jud

ge seem

ed m

ost p

er-turb

ed, not by the arcane m

atters of electronic law, b

ut by the fact that

the Secret Service could have avoided almost all the consequent trouble

simply b

y giving

Jackson his co

mputers b

ack in short o

rder. T

heSecret S

ervice easily could

have looked

at everything in Jackso

n's com

-puters, reco

rded

everything, and

given the m

achinery back, and

therew

ould

have been no

majo

r scandal o

r federal co

urt suit. On the co

n-trary, everyb

ody sim

ply w

ould

have had a g

ood laug

h. Unfo

rtunately, itappeared that this idea had never entered the heads of the C

hicago-basedinvestig

ators. T

hey seemed

to have co

ncluded

unilaterally, and w

ithout

due course of law, that the w

orld would be better off if Steve Jackson

didn't have computers. G

olden and Foley claimed that they had both

never even heard of the Privacy Protection Act. C

ook had heard of theA

ct, but he'd decided on his own that the Privacy Protection A

ct hadnothing to do w

ith Steve Jackson.

The Jackso

n case was also

a very politicized

trial, both sid

es delib

erate-ly ang

ling fo

r a long

-term leg

al preced

ent that would

stake-out b

igclaim

s for their interests in cyb

erspace. Jackso

n and his EFF ad

visors

tried hard

to estab

lish that the least e-mail rem

ark of the lo

nely elec-tro

nic pam

phleteer d

eserves the same so

mber civil-rig

hts pro

tection as

that afford

ed *T

he New

York T

imes.* B

y stark contrast, the S

ecretService's atto

rneys argued

bold

ly that the contents o

f an electronic b

ul-letin board have no m

ore expectation of privacy than a heap of postcards.In

the fin

al analysis, ve

ry little w

as firmly n

ailed d

ow

n. Fo

rmally, th

eleg

al rulings in the Jackso

n case apply o

nly in the federal W

esternD

istrict of T

exas. It was, ho

wever, estab

lished that these w

ere realcivil- lib

erties issues that pow

erful peo

ple w

ere prep

ared to

go to

theco

urthouse o

ver; the seizure of b

ulletin board

systems, tho

ugh it still

goes on, can b

e a perilous act for the seizer. The Secret Service ow

esSteve Jackson $

50,0

00 in dam

ages, and a thousand dollars each to threeof Jackson's angry and offended board users. A

nd Steve Jackson, ratherth

an o

wnin

g th

e single-lin

e bulletin

board

system "Illu

min

ati" seized in

19

90

, now

rejoices in p

ossessio

n of a hug

e privately-o

wned

Internetno

de, "io

.com

," with d

ozens o

f pho

ne-lines on its o

wn T

-1 trunk.

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E3 1 8

Jackson has m

ade the entire b

low

-by-b

low

narrative of his case avail-

able electro

nically, for interested

parties. A

nd yet, the Jackso

n casem

ay still not b

e over; a S

ecret Service ap

peal seem

s likely and the EFF

is also g

ravely dissatisfied

with the ruling

on electro

nic interceptio

n.

The W

ELL, hom

e of the A

merican electro

nic civil libertarian m

ovem

ent,added tw

o thousand more users and dropped its aging Sequent com

puterin favo

r of a snap

py new

Sun S

parcstatio

n. Search-and

-seizure discus-

sions on the WELL are now

taking a decided back-seat to the current hotto

pic in

dig

ital civil libertie

s, unbre

akable

public-ke

y e

ncry

ptio

n fo

rprivate citizens.

The Electro

nic Frontier Fo

undatio

n left its modest ho

me in B

osto

n tom

ove insid

e the Washing

ton B

eltway o

f the Clinto

n Adm

inistration. Its

new executive d

irector, EC

PA p

ioneer and

long

time A

CLU

activist JerryBerm

an, gained a reputation of a m

an adept as dining w

ith tigers, as the

EFF devoted its attention to networking at the highest levels of the com

-puter and

telecom

municatio

ns industry. EFF's p

ro- encryp

tion lo

bby

and an

ti-wire

tappin

g in

itiative w

ere

esp

ecially im

pre

ssive, su

ccess-

fully assembling

a herd o

f highly varieg

ated ind

ustry camels und

er thesam

e EFF tent, in open and

pow

erful oppositio

n to the electro

nic ambi-

tions of the FBI and the N

SA.

EFF had transm

uted at lig

ht-speed

from

an insurrection to

an institu-tio

n. EFF Co-Fo

under M

itch Kap

or o

nce again sid

estepped

the bureau-

cratic consequences of his own success, b

y remaining

in Boston and

adap

ting the ro

le of EFF g

uru and g

ray eminence. Jo

hn Perry Barlo

w,

for his p

art, left Wyo

ming

, quit the R

epub

lican Party, and m

oved

to N

ewYork C

ity, accom

panied

by his sw

arm o

f cellular pho

nes. Mike G

odw

inleft B

osto

n for W

ashingto

n as EFF's official leg

al adviser to

the elec-tro

nically afflicted

.

After th

e Neid

orf trial, D

oro

thy D

ennin

g fu

rther p

roved

her firm

scholastic ind

epend

ence-of-m

ind b

y speaking

up b

old

ly on the useful-

ness an

d so

cial value o

f federal w

iretappin

g. M

any civil lib

ertarians,

who

regard

ed the p

ractice of w

iretapping

with d

eep o

ccult horro

r, were

crestfallen to the p

oint o

f com

edy w

hen nationally kno

wn "hacker sym

-pathizer" D

oro

thy Denning

sternly defend

ed p

olice and

pub

lic interests

BR

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E3 1 9

in official eavesd

ropping

. How

ever, no am

ount o

f pub

lic upro

ar seemed

to swerve the "quaint" D

r. Denning

in the slightest. She not only m

adeup

her ow

n mind

, she mad

e it up in p

ublic and

then stuck to her g

uns.

In 19

93

, the stalwarts o

f the Masters o

f Decep

tion, Phib

er Optik, A

cidPhreak an

d S

corp

ion, fin

ally fell afoul o

f the m

achin

eries of leg

al pro

s-ecutio

n. Acid

Phreak and S

corp

ion w

ere sent to p

rison fo

r six months,

six months o

f hom

e detentio

n, 75

0 ho

urs of co

mm

unity service, and,

oddly, a $

50

fine for co

nspiracy to

com

mit co

mputer crim

e. Phiber

Optik, the co

mputer intrud

er with p

erhaps the hig

hest pub

lic pro

file inthe entire w

orld

, took the lo

ngest to

plead

guilty, b

ut, facing the p

ossi-

bility o

f ten years in jail, he finally did

so. H

e was sentenced

to a year

and a d

ay in priso

n.

As for the A

tlanta wing of the Legion of D

oom, Prophet, Leftist and

Urvile... U

rvile now

works fo

r a softw

are com

pany in A

tlanta. He is

still on p

robatio

n and still rep

aying his eno

rmous fine. In fifteen

months, he w

ill once again b

e allowed to ow

n a personal computer. H

e isstill a co

nvicted fed

eral felon, b

ut has not had

any legal d

ifficulties sinceleaving

priso

n. He has lo

st contact w

ith Prophet and

Leftist.Unfortunately, so have I, thoug

h not through lack of honest effort.

Knig

ht Lightning

, now

24

, is a technical writer fo

r the federal g

overn-

ment in W

ashington D

C. H

e has still not been accepted into law

school,but having

spent m

ore than his share o

f time in the co

mpany o

f attor-

neys, he's come to think that m

aybe an MBA

would be m

ore to the point.H

e still ow

es his attorneys $

30

,00

0, b

ut the sum is d

wind

ling stead

ilysince he is m

anfully working

two jo

bs. K

night Lig

htning custo

marily

wears a suit and

tie and carries a valise. H

e has a federal security

clearance.

Unin

dicted

*Phrack* co

-edito

r Taran

Kin

g is also

a technical w

riter inW

ashingto

n DC, and

recently got m

arried.

Term

inus d

id h

is time, g

ot o

ut o

f priso

n, an

d cu

rrently lives in

Silico

nV

alley where he is running

a full-scale Internet node, "netsys.co

m." H

epro

gram

s pro

fessionally fo

r a com

pan

y specializin

g in

satellite links

for the Internet.

BR

UC

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AC

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OW

N

NO

T F

OR

CO

MM

ER

CIA

L U

SE

3 2 0

Carlto

n Fitzpatrick still teaches at the Fed

eral Law Enfo

rcement

Training

Center, b

ut FLETC fo

und that the issues invo

lved in sp

onso

ringand

running a b

ulletin board

system are rather m

ore co

mplex than they

at first appear to

be.

Gail T

hackeray briefly co

nsidered

going

into p

rivate security, but then

changed tack, and joined the M

aricopa County D

istrict Attorney's O

ffice(w

ith a salary). S

he is still vig

oro

usly p

rose

cutin

g e

lectro

nic racke

-teerin

g in

Phoen

ix, Arizo

na.

The fo

urth consecutive C

om

puters, Freed

om

and Privacy C

onference

will take p

lace in M

arch 1

99

4 in

Chicag

o.

As fo

r Bru

ce Sterlin

g... w

ell *8-). I th

ankfu

lly aban

doned

my b

riefcareer as a true-crim

e journalist and

wro

te a new science fictio

nno

vel, *Heavy W

eather,* and assem

bled

a new co

llection o

f short sto

-rie

s, *Glo

balh

ead

.* I also w

rite n

onfictio

n re

gularly, fo

r the p

opular-

science colum

n in *The M

agazine o

f Fantasy and S

cience Fiction.*

I like life better on the far side of the b

oundary betw

een fantasy andreality; b

ut I've com

e to reco

gnize that reality has an unfo

rtunate way

of annexing

fantasy for its o

wn p

urposes. T

hat's why I'm

on the Po

liceLiaiso

n C

om

mittee fo

r EFF- Austin

, a local electro

nic civil lib

ertiesgro

up (eff- austin@

tic.com

). I don't think I w

ill ever get o

ver my

experience o

f the Hacker C

rackdow

n, and I exp

ect to b

e involved

in elec-tro

nic civil lib

ertie

s activism fo

r the re

st of m

y life.

It would

n't be hard

to find

material fo

r another b

ook o

n com

puter crim

ean

d civil lib

erties issues. I tru

ly believe th

at I could

write an

oth

erbook m

uch like this one, every year. C

ybersp

ace is very big

. There's a

lot going on out there, far more than can be adequately covered by the

tiny, thoug

h gro

wing

, cadre o

f network-literate rep

orters. I d

o w

ish Ico

uld d

o m

ore w

ork o

n this topic, b

ecause the various p

eople o

f cyber-

space are an elem

ent of o

ur society that d

efinitely requires sustained

study and attention.

But there's only one of m

e, and I have a lot on my m

ind, and, like most

BR

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science fiction w

riters, I have a lot m

ore im

aginatio

n than discip

line.H

aving d

one m

y stint as an electronic-fro

ntier reporter, m

y hat is off

to those stalwart few

who do it every day. I m

ay return to this topicsom

e day, but I have no real plans to do so. How

ever, I didn't have anyreal p

lans to w

rite "Hacker C

rackdow

n," either. Thing

s happen, no

wa-

days. T

here are landslid

es in cybersp

ace. I'll just have to try and

stayalert and

on m

y feet.

The electronic landscape chang

es with astounding

speed. We are living

throug

h the fastest technolo

gical transfo

rmatio

n in human histo

ry. Iw

as glad to have a chance to document cyberspace during one m

oment in

its long

mutatio

n; a kind o

f strobe-flash o

f the maelstro

m. T

his book is

already o

ut-of- d

ate, thoug

h, and it w

ill be q

uite obso

lete in another

five years. It seems a p

ity.

How

ever, in about fifty years, I think this b

ook m

ight seem

quite inter-

esting. A

nd in a hund

red years, this b

ook sho

uld seem

mind

-boggling

lyarchaic and

bizarre, and

will p

robab

ly seem far w

eirder to

an audience

in 20

92

than it ever seemed

to the co

ntemporary read

ership.

Keeping

up in cyberspace requires a g

reat deal of sustained attention.Perso

nally, I keep

tabs w

ith th

e milieu

by read

ing th

e invalu

able elec-

tronic m

agazine C

om

puter und

ergro

und D

igest

(tk0jut2

@m

vs.cso.niu.ed

u with the sub

ject header: S

UB C

uD and

a mes-

sage that says: S

UB C

uD yo

ur name yo

ur.full.internet@ad

dress). I

also read

Jack Rickard

's bracing

ly icono

clastic *Board

watch M

agazine*

for p

rint news o

f the BBS and

online co

mm

unity. And

, needless to

say, Iread

*Wired

,* the first mag

azine of the 1

99

0s that actually lo

oks and

acts like it really belo

ngs in this d

ecade. T

here are other w

ays to learn,

of co

urse, but these three o

utlets will g

uide yo

ur efforts very w

ell.

When I m

yself want to

pub

lish som

ething electro

nically, which I'm

doing

with increasing

frequency, I g

enerally put it o

n the gopher at

Texas Internet C

onsulting

, who

are my, w

ell, Texan Internet co

nsultants(tic.co

m). T

his book can b

e found

there. I think it is a worthw

hile actto

let this work g

o free.

From thence, one's bread floats out onto the dark w

aters of cyberspace,

BR

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only to return someday, tenfold. A

nd of course, thoroughly soggy, andrid

dled

with an entire am

azing eco

system o

f bizarre and

gnaw

ingly hun-

gry cyb

ermarine life- fo

rms. Fo

r this author at least, that's all that

really counts.

Than

ks for yo

ur atten

tion *8

-)

Bru

ce S

terlin

g

<bruces@

well.sf.ca.us>

New

Years' D

ay 19

94

, Austin T

exas

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E3 2 3