=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= = F.U.C.K. - Fucked Up College Kids - Born Jan. 24th, 1993 - F.U.C.K. = =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Major51 ------- Several months ago, the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal ran articles detailing a Secret Service operation that resulted in the arrest of several "hackers". While the articles were well written, and generally factual, there are several points of contention, mostly attributable to direct quotes made by government officials. Also, while the information contained in the articles is mostly correct, many points are simply not covered. So, for those who may be vaguely familiar with this case, I would like to offer some clarifications. And for those who may not have heard about it at all, here it is. Following, I will quote excerpts from the aforementioned articles, along with my own comments (my comments will appear in [] ). The two articles have been "cut and pasted", and will appear as one article except where noted. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW YORK - It was a classic sting operation, the kind of undercover gambit that has nabbed bad guys for decades: federal agents disguised as big-time thieves set up shop and put the word out on the street that they were eager for business. Soon shifty characters were stopping by, officials said, peddling stolen goods that were worth millions of dollars. [This is highly misleading. What the federal agents did was establish a BBS, named "Celco 51" which, as they advertised, catered primarily to those with a technical interest in telephony, especially cellular telephony. I doubt that any of the users there could really be described as shifty, with the possible exception of the sysop, and one of the users who was, in fact, a Secret Service agent.] ``People all over the country responded,'' said Peter A. Cavicchia 2nd, the special agent in charge of the Newark office of the Secret Service, which ran the investigation. ``They felt they could do this with impunity.'' [I find this quote to be incredibly objectionable. Celco 51 purported to be a BBS where people could discuss the technology of the day, exchange thoughts and ideas, and even socialize with other like-minded individuals. Of course people felt they could do that with impunity. Why? Because they can. There is nothing wrong, legally or morally, with doing that.] It is relatively easy to put together a private computer bulletin board, requiring only a computer, a modem, phone lines and communications software. Special Agent Bauerschmidt was assisted by an informer with experience as a computer hacker, officials said. The equipment and phone line for the scheme were located in a Bergen County, N.J., apartment building. [In this case: at least one computer, four modems and phone lines, and an 800 number were paid for by the taxpayers.] The sting began operating in January, and numerous hackers posted messages, including some saying they wanted to fence cell-phone "cloning" equipment [I believe the word "fence" is inappropriate here, since they are referring to equipment that is quite legal to own. While debating the difference between "legal to own" - versus - "legal to use" may appear to be an argument of semantics, the fact is, there is a difference. Furthermore, there are legitimate uses for that equipment.] and stolen cell-phone numbers. An undercover agent, using the computer alias of "Carder One," then posed as an interested buyer and negotiated to purchase the illegal gear, having it send to a New Jersey address in return for sending cash to the suspects. [I offer no defense to those engaged in the buying or selling of ESN/NAM pairs (which is what the article refers to as "cell-phone numbers"), but again I stress that the "programming gear" is not illegal. Also, their chronology is a bit off..."Carder One" did not wait for others to offer anything for sale, she was actively soliciting the purchase of a variety of items long before anyone even had an opportunity to offer them to her.] the startling growth in computer-assisted crime. Cellular-phone fraud alone cost companies $482 million last year, the cellular-phone industry estimates. [from the New York Times article] [I've always looked at the losses reported by the telecommunications industry with a bit of skepticism, and this is no exception...] The industry loses as much as $1 billion annually to cell-phone fraud, estimates suggest. [from the Wall Street Journal article] [...especially in light of how rapidly the number seems to grow!] The ``computer service,'' which led to the arrests of at least six suspected hackers and the possibility of more, is the latest indication that law enforcement agencies are being forced to try novel strategies to keep up with the startling growth in computer-assisted crime. Last January, a Secret Service special agent, Stacey Bauerschmidt, using the computer nickname Carder One, established a computer bulletin board that she called Celco 51. ``We consider this to be one of the most significant of the wireless fraud busts that have come down so far,'' said Michael T. Houghton, a spokesman for the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association, a trade group. ``These guys took it another degree.'' [After being in operation for nearly a year, and having attracted some of the brightest minds in the hacker community (there were around two-hundred users on Celco 51), they found six people who (allegedly, I might add) stepped over the line of legality. Bear in mind, that this was on a "private" BBS which was considered to be "secure" and "hacker-friendly". In other words, an environment where those inclined to partake in illicit activities would be likely to do so. I too consider these figures to be "most significant".] The disclosure of the investigation came a few days before the release of the film ``Hackers,'' a coincidence that was noted by Ms. Krappa, the assistant U.S. attorney. ``The movie industry will tend to glamorize these individuals, but they really do cause a lot of loss,'' she said. ``People look at them as errant children, that this is a joke, but it actually costs a lot, and that filters down to consumers.'' [The movie industry has no need to glamorize "these individuals". The fact that the vast majority of "evil" hackers on Celco 51 were in fact not evil at all provides all the glamorization that is needed.] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Now, some words from "Carder One" herself. These are actual messages from Carder One posted on Celco 51. - Area: celcodez------------------------------------------------------------ Msg#: 3517 Date: 04-05-95 21:02 From: Carder-one Read: Yes Replied: No To: ** All ** Mark: Subj: funz ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Just a few from my friend who gave me a shitload 917-859-4655 C3586A8C 917-855-3421 9D071C2B God this is funz...CARDER [I understand that in undercover operations, law enforcement officials are sometimes forced to do things that mirror the behavior of the "criminals" that they are trying to apprehend, but the Secret Service posting cellular esn/nam pairs to a bunch of suspected cell-phone-service-thieves is the equivalent of the D.E.A. handing out cocaine to dealers on the street.] - Area: codez------------------------------------------------------------ Msg#: 104 Date: 02-03-95 16:22 From: Carder-one Read: Yes Replied: No To: Mark: Subj: cardz ------------------------------------------------------------------------- I am in the market for some new cards specific being Amex with some identifier info. If you can provide hit me up and we will workout a deal. Give me an e-mail and we will talk in teleconf. CARDER-ONE [Carder One...buying.] - Area: codez------------------------------------------------------------ Msg#: 784 Date: 02-13-95 21:22 From: Carder-one Read: Yes Replied: No To: Mark: Subj: cardz ------------------------------------------------------------------------- hey I got some new Atts up fur trade.Hit me up in an E-mail CARDER. [Carder One...selling.] - Area: codez------------------------------------------------------------ Msg#: 2057 Date: 03-07-95 22:33 From: Carder-one Read: Yes Replied: No To: ** All ** Mark: Subj: hey ------------------------------------------------------------------------- im in a bit of a pick....i need some at&t cards for a friend in Italy if ya got some around since he pesters the shit outa me if he cant call...if ya can deal hit me up and well we can deal..... [...and buying again.] - Area: INTER------------------------------------------------------------ Msg#: 2362 Date: 03-14-95 23:46 From: Carder-one Read: Yes Replied: No To: ** All ** Mark: Subj: AT&T ------------------------------------------------------------------------- If you need I can get...in exchange f course...leave me mail here if your not on IRC....later CARDER [...and selling again. Perhaps these types of messages are the sort of thing you might expect to see on an "underground" BBS. It is certainly the sort of thing that the Secret Service expected to see. They must have been quite disappointed, since Carder's were the only posts of this nature...] - Area: codez------------------------------------------------------------ Msg#: 467 Date: 02-10-95 21:27 From: Sysop Read: Yes Replied: No To: Mark: Subj: cardz ------------------------------------------------------------------------- All you guys going on about cards... we haven't seen any samples floating around here... lets ee sum so *I* can see if any of them are any good for me.. i need another computer... shame u can't card phone lines... 8) [...except when the sysop jumped in. It is fortunate that the Secret Service was wrong about the people who would frequent a BBS such as Celco 51. There was a lot of information, not just in the message areas, but in the file bases as well, that could have been very valuable to a person interested in committing the sort of crimes that the Secret Service predicted they would want to commit. I find it interesting that the Secret Service went to such great lengths to facilitate such criminal endeavors. In closing, I offer a couple of messages from users who are far more representative of the hacking community than the government or the media realizes:] - Area: celprog------------------------------------------------------------ Msg#: 2658 Date: 03-18-95 15:27 From: Read: Yes Replied: No To: Mark: Subj: --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Well, I don't hate you. I prefer more of the 'behind the scenes' info, ie. Switching. It's just that so many people are cloning these days, the sad thing is that it is so easy, to do, and in my opinion get caught. Why not explore something that is unexplored, instead of buying a cable and software and cloning a phone, what a challenge! (joke) That is what 80% of the so called cellular 'hackers' do, buy most of their shit, clone a phone, and boom, they label themselves hackers. I guess a name can be deceiving. - Area: celprog------------------------------------------------------------ Msg#: 688 Date: 02-12-95 15:45 From: Read: Yes Replied: No To: Mark: Subj: --------------------------------------------------------------------------- it seams to me that you even though i don't have a cellular, i have read a lot of cell docs etc, i find the technology itself really interesting... how it all works.. [There it is. I hope that any aspiring hackers will keep in mind that hacking is not about fraud, theft, or destruction. It is about a person learning about cellular phone technology, a person who doesn't even own a cellular phone. And I hope that those without any interest in hacking themselves will keep this in mind the next time they read "the evil hackers", and realize that it is quite likely that they are not reading the whole story. As for the people who were busted as a result of the Celco 51 sting, well, I wish them all the best, bearing in mind that they are innocent until proven guilty. Should it come to pass that they are found guilty, I hope that others will not recognize them as "hackers", but rather, as people who were willing to commit shady deals with somebody with a nick as lame as "Carder One". Finally, I hope that the government can, as soon as they are through patting themselves on the back, realize that they worked very hard, for a very long time, with some rather negligible results. ``If they are selling the stuff in cyberspace, law enforcement has to be willing to go there,'' said Donna Krappa, an assistant U.S. attorney in Newark, I wholeheartedly agree, and I submit that if Celco 51 is any example of the degree of lawlessness to be found in cyberspace, that law enforcement has to be equally willing to go elsewhere. 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