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