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- Date: Mon, 17 Jun 91 01:52 CDT
- From: TK0JUT1@mvs.cso.niu.edu
- Subject: Len Rose File (indictments, posts, press releases, etc)
- To: TELECOM@eecs.nwu.edu
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- Status: RO
-
- The following information was compiled by Brendan Kehoe, CuD archivist, on the
- LEN ROSE events for those who seek more background information.
- The Following is the original press release from Len Rose's
- indictment in May.of the Len Rose sage.
-
-
- +++++++++++++++++++++
-
-
- U.S. Department of Justice
-
- United States Attorney
- District of Maryland
- --------------------------------------------------------------
- United States Courthouse, Eighth Floor
- 101 West Lombard Street
- Baltimore, Maryland 20201
- 301/339-2940
- 301/922-4822
-
- May 15, 1990
-
-
- PRESS RELEASE FROM THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY
- FOR THE DISTRICT OF MARYLAND
-
- FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
-
- Breckinridge L. Willcox, United States Attorney for the District
- of Maryland, and Joseph Coppola, Special Agent in Charge of the
- United States Secret Service in Baltimore, today announced the
- indictment of a Middletown, Maryland man on computer fraud and
- related charges. Indicted by a federal grand jury was Leonard
- Rose, 31, a computer consultant, of Willow Tree Drive, on charges
- that between May, 1988 and January, 1990, he entered into a
- scheme to steal and publish highly proprietary computer source
- codes for AT&T UNIX computer systems to other computer hackers,
- and that he distributed to other computer hackers various
- programs designed to gain them unauthorized access to computer
- systems. The five count Indictment charges Rose with Interstate
- Transportation of Stolen Property, and violations of the Computer
- Fraud and Abuse Act of 1986.
-
- Specifically, the Indictment charges that Rose, also
- known as "Terminus", received a copy of AT&T highly proprietary
-
- - 1 -
-
- and closely held UNIX 3.2 source code. The Indictment alleges
- that on or about January 8, 1990, Rose, knowing the source code
- to have been stolen converted, and taken by fraud, transfered the
- source code to another computer hacker. The source code was
- thereafter transmitted to other hackers. The Indictment charges
- that Rose was associated with a closely knit group of computer
- hackers known as the "Legion of Doom" whose members are involved
- in numerous activities including gaining unauthorized access to
- computer systems for a variety of illegal purposes. The
- Indictment charges Rose with distributing two "trojan horse"
- programs that allowed computer hackers to gain unauthorized
- access to computer systems, and with the interstate
- transportation of AT&S's stolen proprietary source code.
-
- If convicted on all counts of the Indictment, Rose
- faces a maximum possible prison sentence of (unreadable).
-
- In announcing the return of the Indictment, Mr. Willcox
- noted that the allegations of the Indictment have far reaching
- implications for the security of computer systems throughout the
- United States. Mr. Willcox stated, "People who invade the
- computer systems of others for profit or personal amusement
- create immediate and serious consequences for the public at
- large. Unless checked by aggressive law enforcement, computer
- hackers will interfere with the security and privacy of financial
- records and data, telecommunications systems, and countless other
- aspects of our daily life. The Indictment indicates that those
- who choose to use their intelligence and talent to disrupt these
- networks will be vigorously prosecuted."
-
- Coppola added: "The Secret Service has been charged
- with enforcement of the computer fraud statutes. The Baltimore
- Office will aggressively pursue computer fraud in Maryland and
- wherever else hackers may operate."
-
- Willcox stated that the Indictment is the result of a
- lengthy investigation by agents of the United States Secret
- Service in Baltimore, Chicago, and elsewhere. This investigation
- of the Legion of Doom members started in Chicago, let to
- Missouri, and then to Maryland. Related federal indictments are
- currently pending in Chicago and Atlanta. Willcox further noted
- that technical and expert assistance was provided to the United
- States Secret Service by the telecommunication companies including
- AT&T. Willcox particularly praised the actions of AT&T for
- bringing its intrusion problems to the attention of law
- enforcement officials and for its assistance to the Secret
- Service.
-
- Willcox added "This investigation has revealed that
- these hackers accessed a number of computer systems belonging to
- federal research centers, educational institutions, and private
- businesses. Our investigation is continuing in an effort to
- identify all the participants and to establish the extent and
- consequences of the unauthorized access."
-
- Assistant United States Attorney David P. King
- presented the case to the federal grand jury.
-
- - 3 -
-
- ** END PRESS RELEASE **
-
- ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
-
-
- >From CuD 1.12:
- Date: Thu, 7 Jun 90 0:21:34 CDT
- From: TELECOM Moderator <telecom@eecs.nwu.edu>
- Subject: Crackers, Kapor and Len Rose
-
- [...]
-
- Late Tuesday night, David Tamkin and I had a chance to speak at length with
- someone close to the scene involving Len Rose. Some things were off the
- record, at the request of Mr. Rose's attorney, and I agreed to honor that
- request.
-
- Apparently the Secret Service seized *every single electronic item* in his
- household -- not just his computers. I am told they even took away a box
- containing his Army medals, some family pictures, and similar. It is my
- understanding his attorney has filed a motion in court to force the Secret
- Service to return at least *some* of his computer equipment, since without
- any of it, he is unable to work for any of his clients at all without at
- least one modem and computer.
-
- I am told the Secret Service broke down some doors to a storage area in the
- basement rather than simply have him unlock the area with a key. I am told
- further that he was advised he could pick up his fax machine (which had
- been seized, along with boxes and boxes of technical books, etc), but that
- when he did so, he was instead arrested and held for several hours in the
- County Jail there.
-
- Mr. Rose believes he will be found innocent of charges (rephrased) that he
- was the 'leader of the Legion of Doom', and that he had broken into
- 'numerous computers over the years'.
-
- I invited Mr. Rose and/or his attorney to issue a detailed statement to the
- Digest, and promised that upon receipt it would be run promptly. I don't
- think such a statement will be coming any time soon since his attorney has
- pretty much ordered him to be silent on the matter until the trial.
-
- If the things he says about the Secret Service raid on his home are
- determined to be factual, then combined with complaints of the same nature
- where Steve Jackson Games is concerned I would have to say it seems to me
- the Secret Service might have been a bit less zealous.
-
- The revelations in the weeks and months ahead should be very interesting.
- One of the items I will include in the special issues on Thursday night is
- the report which appeared in the {Baltimore Sun} last weekend. This case
- seems to get more complicated every day.
-
-
- PT
- --
- >From CuD 1.13:
-
- Computer Consultant Could get 32 Years If Convicted of Source-Code Theft
-
- Baltimore - A Middletown, Md., man faces as many as 32 years in prison and
- nearly $1 million in fines if convicted of being involved in the "Legion of
- Doom" nationwide group of Unix computer buffs now facing the wrath of
- federal investigators.
-
- The U.S. Attorney's Office here on May 15 announced the indictment of
- Leonard Rose, 31, a computer consultant also known as "Terminus," on
- charges that he stole Unix source code from AT&T and distributed two
- "Trojan Horse" programs designed to allow for unauthorized access to
- computer systems. Incidents occurred between May, 1988 and January, 1990,
- according to the indictment.
-
- The five-count indictment, handed down by a federal grand jury, charges
- Rose with violations of interstate transportation laws and the federal
- Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. Rose faces as many as 32 years in prison,
- plus a maximum fine of $950,000.
-
- He is the third person to be indicted who was accused of being connected
- with the so-called Legion of Doom. Robert J. Riggs, a 21-year-old DeVry
- Institute student from Decatur, Ga., and Craig M. Neidorf, 19, a
- University of Missouri student from Columbia, Mo., also have been indicted.
-
- Rose's indictment stemmed from a federal investigation that began in
- Chicago and led investigators to Missouri and Maryland, assistant U.S.
- Attorney David King said. While executing a search warrant in Missouri,
- investigators uncovered evidence Rose was transporting stolen Unix 3.2
- source code, King said. Investigators then obtained a warrant to search
- Rose's computer system and found the stolen source code, King added.
-
- He said the Trojan Horse programs were substitutes for a legitimate sign-in
- or log-in program, with a separate shell for collecting user log-ins or
- passwords.
-
- "Whoever substituted [the Trojan Horse program] could get passwords to use
- the system any way he or she wanted to," King said.
-
- The indictment was a result of a long-term investigation by the U.S. Secret
- Service, and was issued one week after federal authorities raided computer
- systems at 27 sites across the United States. Investigators seized 23,000
- computer disks from suspects accused of being responsible for more than $50
- million in thefts and damages. The Secret Service at that time announced
- that five people have been arrested in February in connection with the
- investigation.
-
- King said he was unaware if Rose indictment was related to the raids made
- earlier this month.
-
- "We don't just go out and investigate people because we want to throw them
- in jail. We investigate them because they commit an offense. The grand
- jury was satisfied," King said.
-
- The U.S. Attorney's Office said the investigation revealed individuals had
- accessed computers belonging to federal research centers, schools and
- private businesses. King would not name any of the victims involved.
-
- Rose was associated with the Legion of Doom and operated his own computer
- system known as Netsys, according to the indictment. His electronic mailing
- address was Netsys!len, the document said.
-
- The Legion, according to the indictment, gained fraudulent, unauthorized
- access to computer systems for the purpose of stealing software; stole
- proprietary source code and other information; disseminated information
- about gaining illegal access, and made telephone calls at the expense of
- other people.
-
- Well that is the latest in the Summer '90 busts. I just hope that everyone
- arrested by the government receives as fair a deal that Robert Morris
- received for his little prank. Because I doubt Mr. Morris was given
- special treatment because his dad works for the NSA...
-
- --
-
- >From CuD 1.14:
-
- -------------
- Forwarded from Telecom Digest
- -------------
-
- In article <8820@accuvax.nwu.edu> henry@garp.mit.edu writes:
- >
- >In reply to Frank Earl's note ... I would reckon one of the problems
- >is that most people don't know where the FBI's jurisdiction begins or
- >where the Secret Service's jurisdiction ends. I had a visit on Friday
- >afternoon from an FBI agent and it seemed to be mostly reasonable,
- >except he identified himself as being from a unit that I wouldn't
- >associate with this sort of investigation.
-
- Secret Service jurisdiction over computer crimes is set out in
- 18 USC 1030(d):
-
- The United States Secret Service shall, in addition to any other agency
- having such authority, have the authority to investigate offenses under
- this section. [18 USC 1030 is titled "Fraud and related activity in
- connection with computers.] Such authority of the United States Secret
- Service shall be exercised in accordance with an agreement which shall
- be entered into by the Secretary of the Treasury and the Attorney
- General.
-
- There is a similar provision in 18 USC 1029, which concerns
- "Fraud and related activity in connection with access devices."
-
-
- Mike Godwin, UT Law School
- --
-
- >From CuD 1.26:
- Date: 28 July, 1990
- From: Moderators
- Subject: Moderators' Corner
-
- +++++++++++++++++++
- LEN ROSE UPDATE
- +++++++++++++++++++
-
- As of Friday, Aug. 3, Len Rose's case awaits trial in federal court in
- Baltimore. According to one source, Len was offered an arrangement in which
- he could plead guilty to one count of computer fraud and receive at least
- some prison time, but would have his computer equipment returned, or take
- the case to trial and take his chances.
-
- Len is currently represented by a public defender because of lack of
- resources to retain a specialist in computer crime cases. He remains
- unemployed, and has moved into a motel with his family. He told us that,
- because his equipment and crucial files were seized, his business was
- essentially shut down and he was deprived of his livelihood. This means that
- he not only cannot support his family, but cannot retain legal counsel of
- his choice. He said he was feeling isolated and "abandoned" and wasn't
- sure what his legal options were.
-
- We will present a detailed update of Len's situation in CuD 1.27. Len's
- public defender can be contacted at (301)-381-4646.
-
-
- --
-
- >From CuD 1.27:
- Date: 9 August, 1990
- From: Moderators
- Subject: Moderators' Corner
-
- +++++++++++++++++
- Len Rose Update
- +++++++++++++++++
-
- We talked with Len Rose last night, and he indicates that his trial,
- scheduled for this month, will most likely be delayed until February, 1991.
- The counts against him resemble those of Craig Neidorf and the "Atlanta 3."
- We will provide a detailed summary of our conversation as well as a copy of
- the indictment in CuD 1.28 on Monday.
-
- --
-
- >From CuD 1.28:
- Date: 11 August, 1990
- From: Jim Thomas
- Subject: Len Rose Interview
-
- ********************************************************************
- *** CuD #1.28: File 2 of 4: Len Rose Interview ***
- ********************************************************************
-
- The Len Rose case seems to present problems for many people. Some, who
- ordinarily support Constitutional rights, seem to have backed away from
- this case, perhaps because of the seriousness of the charges, or perhaps
- because his case does not seem as "pure" as those of some other defendants.
- Some people are also concerned that Len's brush with the law "taints" him.
-
- We feel that Len's case deserves attention comparable to other recent
- cases. The charges in the indictment, as explained to us, are no more
- serious than those in the indictment's of others, and the charges do not
- seem to be as serious as the media depicts them. More importantly, the duel
- model process of justice that ostensibly guides criminal proceedings must
- be applied to all equally, whether the defendant is squeaky clean or a
- homicidal maniac. We are troubled by those who think that, because Len has
- had a previous legal problem, he is less deserving of legal help. Often, it
- is precisely those whose image is the most tarnished who are most at risk
- in the judicial process. If the issues are worthy and potentially affect
- others, then it is in everybody's interests to assure that justice is
- served.
-
- CuD recently talked at length with Len about his current situation. We
- have not talked with Len's attorney nor have we seen copies of motions or
- of the evidence. Len's current attorney is a public defender who has been
- busy in the multiple calls we made daily for three days. He has not
- returned our calls. Those who have the time to try to obtain information
- from him may contact him at:
-
- Jim Kraft (the attorney)
- Kraft, Balcerzak and Bartlett
- 7050 Oakland Mills Road
- Columbia, MD 21046 (phone: 301-381-4646).
-
- Len informs us that the case number is CR-90-0202, Federal Court, Baltimore.
-
- *******************************************************************
-
- WHO IS LEN ROSE?
-
- Len Rose is a 31 year old computer programmer who lives in Pennsylvania.
- He has been married for 10 years and has a son, five years old, and a two
- year old daughter. He served six years in the army and, he informed us,
- received the highest peacetime medal and "held a top secret clearance until
- this happened." Len broke his leg in three places in early August during a
- fishing outing with his son when he fell off a 35 foot cliff, "but at least
- I kept my son from falling," he said. Prior to his arrest, Len operated
- his own computer system and was a computer consultant. One specialty area
- was Unix systems.
-
- WHAT IS LEN CHARGED WITH?
-
- Len told us that there are five counts against him under Title 18. Two are
- for computer fraud and three are for transporting allegedly stolen goods in
- excess of $5,000 across state lines. (See File 3, this issue, for a copy
- of the indictment).
-
- According to Len, the two fraud counts were for allegedly altering
- "login.c," which is source code for unix login programs, which was modified
- to perform a trojan horse function to record login names and passwords and
- store them in a file system. Len said he wrote the program because
- somebody was attacking his own system, and he installed the program on his
- system to see what accounts were being attacked. He indicated that login.c
- is being valued in the indictment at $75,000, a value reminiscent of the
- inflated E911 file charges that federal prosecutors in Chicago charged was
- worth over $79,000. Under cross-examination, it was determined that the
- information in the E911 files could be obtained in a $13 manual. The other
- fraud count was for sending out a password scanner that he wrote himself
- that scans passwords and tries to decrypt them. "You can find more powerful
- programs n the net," he said, "such as Crypt Breakers Workbench and COPS,
- which are archived on uunet to name just two {sources}."
-
- According to Len, "The things I wrote were so trivial, a first year
- computer science student could have written them. What it did was take a
- word out of a dictionary file and encrypt it, and it compared the encrypted
- form to the encrypted password in the password file. It was a very mindless
- program. I had written it a long time ago, and used it many times myself
- and when I was doing it for security {consulting}. That's all I used it
- for, on any system concerned with security. In fact, it was obsolete,
- because when ATT released system V 3.2 backin 1988, they stopped using the
- file /etc/password and went to the /etc/shadow which was only readable by
- the root account or super user accounts. This program {in question} can't
- be installed without being able to control the system. I couldn't be used
- by a normal user."
-
- The three transportation counts apparently stemmed from multiple sendings
- of this file. He sent the program to an e-mail publication, but the
- program did not arrive intact, so he re-sent it, which, he said, was the
- basis of the second count. The final count, for the same program,
- occured because he deleted his own program and received a copy of the
- program he had previously sent.
-
- Len related a story that sounded similar to SS Agent Timothy Foley's
- account of the initial questioning of Craig Neidorf. Len said he was
- originally asked about the E911 files, and that the agents told him that he
- was not in any trouble. Len said, "I told them everything I knew. I
- cooperated with them to the fullest extent possible, because I trusted
- them. I didn't try to hide anything. I told them everything, and they were
- after this 911 stuff. They said I wouldn't be prosecuted if I told them
- everything, but they did. They told me to tell them now and it won't
- matter, but if it came out later.....I told him about the source code."
-
- Len emphasized that he did not steal the source code and that he used it
- only to learn Unix.
-
- Contrary to some reports both in the media and circulating on the nets, Len
- adamantly denies ever being a member of the Legion of Doom, a denial
- confirmed by LoD members and a recent LoD listing of participants. "I never
- said I was a member of LoD, that was nothing out of my mouth. I never had
- any association with them, and only knew some of the people. I considered
- it a kids group, immature, and I never had any involvement with any group
- anywhere. I was not a joiner," he said.
-
- WHAT WAS LEN'S PREVIOUS OFFENSE?
-
- Because of the rumors circulating about an earlier offense, we asked Len to
- tell us what he could. The case has not yet been resolved, although it will
- be concluded within the next few days. It occured in 1989, and was
- unrelated to the current situation. It was a state offense for felony
- theft, which resulted from an attempt to recover computer equipment that he
- believed at the time to be rightfully his, and was the consequence of a
- dispute between himself and a company he felt had "ripped him off." On the
- streets, we called this "midnight repossession." "It was very stupid. I had
- never been n trouble before that and I am very ashamed," he said. The
- details of the case can be more fully elaborated after it is fully
- resolved.
-
- WHAT'S LEN'S STATUS NOW?
-
- The trial was originally scheduled for August 20, but it appears now that
- it may be postponed until February. Until then, Len has no computer
- equipment, and he said that the judge would not consider a motion to return
- it because the judge perceived that he could use it to commit further
- crime. As a consequence, Len has no source of income, and said that he has
- lost his home, his credit rating and credit cards, his business, and some
- of his friends. "I've lost everything." He is currently immobilized because
- of his leg fracture, and will be in casts of various types for at least
- eight weeks and may require surgery. His situation has put severe strains
- on his finances, psyche, and domestic life. He indicated that he could no
- longer afford to retain his original attorney, Carlos Recio of Deso and
- Greenberg in Washington, D.C., and was currently represented by a public
- defender. His income was slashed by one-twentieth, and he estimated he has
- barely made $5,000 this year. He lost his office and currently works from a
- single room in a friend's company. He feels that his reputation has been
- unjustifiably destroyed, largely by distorted media representations and
- rumors and added, "The press has been as damaging as the Secret Service."
-
- If Len's account is accurate, then it would seem to raise many of the same
- questions addressed by the EFF, CuD, 2600 Magazine, and others interested
- in protecting the Constitutional rights of computerists. Len is not being
- charged with theft, but with violations that raise the definition of
- property, the legal rights of programmers, the status of source could that
- seems to be fairly accessible, and other evolving issues in the
- still-tenuous relationship between technology and law. It also raises the
- issue of "cruel and unusual punishment." If the summary of the indictment
- is correct, it would appear that the consequences resulting from Len's
- situation far exceed the crime, and any additional sanctions, especially if
- they involve incarceration, will be neither in the interests of Len, or,
- ultimately, of society. To deprive an individual who has been a
- contributing member to society of a means of livelihood would seem to serve
- little purpose in this or any other case. Some argue that the courts are
- the best forum to decide both the guilt/innocence and the fate of
- defendants. But, justice is not always served in the legal process,
- especially in the grey area of ambiguous laws enforced by technologically
- untrained investigators and prosecutors. Regardless of what one might
- think of Len's judgment in some of his behaviors, we must nonetheless ask:
- If Len's account is accurate, at what point does the punishment become too
- great? For Len Rose, the immediate goal is modest: "I just want to get my
- home back again."
-
- ********************************************************************
- >> END OF THIS FILE <<
- ***************************************************************************
-
- ------------------------------
-
- Date: 12 August, 1990
- From: Moderators
- Subject: Len Rose Indictment
-
- ********************************************************************
- *** CuD #1.28: File 3 of 4: Len Rose Indictment ***
- ********************************************************************
-
- Len Rose provided the following copy of his indictment, which we have
- edited only with a spell-checker. The five counts against Len seem quite
- general, and in many ways are similar both in style and substance to those
- filed against Craig Neidorf. The perhaps obligatory reference to the
- Legion of Doom is made in count one without establishing the defendant's
- connection to it, the value of the alleged "property" established as
- over $5,000 (Len informs us that the value is established at about $75,000)
- seems absurdly over-stated given the apparent nature of the "property" in
- question, he is being charged with sending a program that he wrote that is
- much less powerful than similar programs readily accessible to the public,
- and the charges themselves seem sufficiently vague and ambiguous that they
- could apply to many forms of knowledge or information.
-
- We do not publish the indictment as a "Len Rose Issue." Instead, we suggest
- that the document below reflects the continued misuse of law as a means to
- control information. What is the precise nature of the information in
- question? Was it used by the defendant to defraud? Is there any evidence
- that he, or anybody else, intended to use it to defraud? The following
- indictment, like the indictment in the Neidorf case, seems vague, and from
- the trickles of information coming in, it seems that none of the evidence
- strongly supports any of the counts. If true, it seems like deja vous all
- over again.
- ********************************************************************
-
- Subject: Len Rose Indictment
- Date: Sun, 12 Aug 90 15:29:14 -0400
- From: lsicom2!len@CDSCOM.CDS.COM
-
-
-
-
- IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
- FOR THE DISTRICT OF MARYLAND
-
- UNITED STATES OF AMERICA *
- * Criminal No.
- v. * - -
- *
- LEONARD ROSE, a/k/a/ "Terminus" * (Computer Fraud, 18 U.S.C.
- * S 1030(a) (6); Interstate
- * Transportation of Stolen
- * Property, 18 U.S.C. S 2314;
- * Aiding and Abetting, 18
- * U.S.C. S 2)
- Defendant. *
- * * * * * * * * *
-
-
- INDICTMENT
-
- COUNT ONE
-
- The Grand Jury for the District of Maryland charges:
-
- FACTUAL BACKGROUND
-
- 1. At all times relevant to this Indictment, American Telephone & Telegraph
- Company ("AT&T"), through it's subsidiary, Bell Laboratories ("Bell Labs"),
- manufactured and sold UNIX (a trademark of AT&T Bell Laboratories)
- computer systems to customers throughout the United States of America.
- 2. At all times relevant to this Indictment, AT&T sold computer programs
- ("software") designed to run on the UNIX system to those customers. This
- software is designed and manufactured by AT&T;some software was available
- to the public for purchase, other software was internal AT&T software
- (such as accounting and password control programs) designed to operate
- with the AT&T UNIX system.
- 3. At all times relevant to this indictment, computer hackers were individuals
- involved with gaining unauthorized access to computer systems by various
- means . These means included password scanning (use of a program that
- employed a large dictionary of words, which the program used in an attempt
- to decode the passwords of authorized computer system users), masquerading
- as authorized users, and use of trojan horse programs.
- 4. At all times relevant to this Indictment, the Legion of Doom ("LOD") was
- a loosely-associated group of computer hackers. Among other activities,
- LOD members were involved in:
-
- a. Gaining unauthorized access to computer systems for purposes of
- stealing computer software programs from the companies that owned the
- programs;
- b. Gaining unauthorized access to computer systems for purpose of using
- computer time at no charge to themselves, thereby fraudulently obtaining
- money and property from the companies that owned the computer systems;
- c. Gaining unauthorized access to computer systems for the purpose of
- stealing proprietary source code and information from the companies
- that owned the source code and information;
- d. Disseminating information about their methods of gaining unauthorized
- access to computer systems to other hackers;
- e. Gaining unauthorized access to computer systems for the purpose of
- making telephone calls at no charge to themselves, obtaining and using
- credit history and data for individuals other than themselves, .and
- the like.
-
- 5. At all times relevant to this Indictment, LEONARD ROSE JR. a/k/a
- "Terminus", was associated with the LOD and operated his own computer
- system, identified as Netsys. His electronic mailing address was
- netsys!len
-
- COMPUTER TERMINOLOGY
-
- 6. For the purpose of this Indictment, an "assembler" is a computer program
- that translates computer program instructions written in assembly language
- (source code) into machine language executable by a computer.
-
- 7. For the purpose of this Indictment, a "compiler" is a computer program
- used to translate as computer program expressed in a problem oriented
- language (source code) into machine language executable by a computer.
- 8. For the purpose of this Indictment, a "computer" is an internally
- programmed, automatic device that performs data processing.
-
- 9. For the purpose of this Indictment, a "computer network" is a set of
- related, remotely connected terminals and communications facilities,
- including more than one computer system, with the capability of
- transmitting data among them through communications facilities, such as
- telephones.
-
- 10.For the purposes of this Indictment, a "computer program" is a set of
- data representing coded instructions that, when executed by a computer
- causes the computer to process data.
-
- 11.For the purposes of this Indictment, a "computer system" is a set of
- related, connected, or unconnected computer equipment, devices, or software.
-
- 12.For the purposes of this Indictment, electronic mail ("e-mail") is a
- computerized method for sending communications and files between
- computers on computer networks. Persons who send and receive e-mail are
- identified by a unique "mailing" address, similar to a postal address.
-
- 13.For the purposes of this Indictment a "file" is a collection of related
- data records treated as a unit by a computer.
-
- 14.For the purposes of this Indictment, "hardware" is the computer and all
- related or attached machinery, including terminals, keyboard, disk drives,
- tape drives, cartridges, and other mechanical, magnetic, electrical, and
- electronic devices used in data processing.
-
- 15.For the purposes of this Indictment, a "modem" is a device that modulates
- and demodulates signals transmitted over data telecommunications
- facilities.
-
- 16.For the purposes of this Indictment, "software" is a set of computer
- programs, procedures, and associated documentation.
-
- 17.For the purposes of this Indictment, "source code" is instructions
- written by a computer programmer in a computer language that are used as
- input for a compiler, interpreter, or assembler. Access to source code
- permits a computer user to change the way in which a given computer
- system executes a program, without the knowledge of the computer system
- administrator.
-
- 18.For the purposes of this Indictment, "superuser privileges" (sometimes
- referred to as "root") are privileges on a computer system that grant
- the "superuser" unlimited access to the system, including the ability
- to change the system's programs, insert new programs, and the like.
-
- 19.For the purposes of this Indictment, a "trojan horse" is a set of
- computer instructions secretly inserted into a computer program so that
- when the program is executed, acts occur that were not intended to be
- performed by the program before modification.
-
- 20.For the purposes of this Indictment, "UNIX" (a trademark of AT&T Bell
- Laboratories) is a computer operating system designed by AT&T Bell
- Laboratories for use with minicomputers and small business computers,
- which has been widely adopted by businesses and government agencies
- throughout the United States.
-
- COMPUTER OPERATIONS
-
- 21.For the purposes of this Indictment, typical computer operations are as
- described in the following paragraphs. A computer user initiates
- communications with a computer system through his terminal and modem.The
- modem dials the access number for the computer system the user wishes to
- access and, after the user is connected to the system, the modem
- transmits and receives data to and from the computer.
-
- 22.Once the connection is established, the computer requests the user's login
- identification and password. If the user fails to provide valid login and
- password information, he cannot access the computer.
-
- 23.Once the user has gained access to the computer, he is capable of
- instructing the computer to execute existing programs. These programs are
- composed of a collection of computer files stored in the computer's
- memory. The commands that make up each file and, in turn, each program, are
- source code. Users who have source code are able to see all of the
- commands that make up a particular program. They can change these commands,
- causing the computer to perform tasks that the author of the program did
- not intend.
-
- 24.The user may also copy certain files or programs from the computer he has
- accessed; if the user is unauthorized, this procedure allows the user to
- obtain information that is not otherwise available to him.
-
- 25.In addition, once a user has accessed a computer, he may use it's network
- connections to gain access to other computers. Gaining access from one
- computer to another permits a user to conceal his location because login
- information on the second computer will reflect only that the first
- computer accessed the second computer.
-
- 26.If a user has superuser privileges, he may add, replace, or modify existing
- programs in the computer system. The user performs these tasks by
- "going root"; that is, by entering a superuser password and instructing
- the computer to make systemic changes.
-
- 27. On or about January 13, 1989, in the State and District of Maryland, and
- elsewhere,
-
- LEONARD ROSE JR. a/k/a Terminus
-
- did knowingly, willfully, intentionally, and with intent to defraud,
- traffic in (that is, transfer, and otherwise dispose of to another, and
- obtain control of with intent to transfer and dispose of) information
- through which a computer may be accessed without authorization, to wit:
- a trojan horse program designed to collect superuser passwords, and by
- such conduct affected interstate commerce.
-
-
- 18 U.S.C. S 1030(a) (6)
- 18 U.S.C. S 2
-
-
- COUNT TWO
-
- And the Grand Jury for the District of Maryland further charges:
-
- 1. Paragraphs 1 through 26 of Count One are incorporated by reference,
- as if fully set forth.
- 2. On or about January 9, 1990, in the State and District of Maryland,
- and elsewhere,
-
- LEONARD ROSE JR. a/k/a/ Terminus
-
- did knowingly, willfully, intentionally, and with intent to defraud,
- traffic in (that is, transfer, and otherwise dispose of to another, and
- obtain control of with intent to transfer and dispose of) information
- through which a computer may be accessed without authorization, to wit:
- a trojan horse login program, and by such conduct affected interstate
- commerce.
-
-
- 18 U.S.C. S 1030(a) (6)
- 18 U.S.C. S 2
-
-
- COUNT THREE
-
-
- And the Grand Jury for the District of Maryland further charges:
-
- 1. Paragraphs 1 through 26 of Count One are incorporated by reference,
- as if fully set forth.
- 2. That on or about May 13, 1988 in the State and District of Maryland,
- and elsewhere,
-
- LEONARD ROSE JR. a/k/a/ Terminus
-
- did cause to be transported, transmitted, and transformed in interstate
- commerce goods, wares, and merchandise of the value of $5000 or more, to
- wit: computer source code that was confidential, proprietary information
- of AT&T, knowing the same to have been stolen, converted, and taken by
- fraud.
-
- 18 U.S.C. S 2314
- 18 U.S.C. S 2
-
-
-
-
- COUNT FOUR
-
-
- And the Grand Jury for the District of Maryland further charges:
-
- 1. Paragraphs 1 through 26 of Count One are incorporated by reference,
- as if fully set forth.
- 2. That on or about January 15, 1989 in the State and District of Maryland
- ,
- and elsewhere,
-
- LEONARD ROSE JR. a/k/a/ Terminus
-
- did cause to be transported, transmitted, and transformed in interstate
- commerce goods, wares, and merchandise of the value of $5000 or more, to
- wit: computer source code that was confidential, proprietary information
- of AT&T, knowing the same to have been stolen, converted, and taken by
- fraud.
-
-
- 18 U.S.C. S 2314
- 18 U.S.C. S 2
-
- COUNT FIVE
-
-
- And the Grand Jury for the District of Maryland further charges:
-
- 1. Paragraphs 1 through 26 of Count One are incorporated by reference,
- as if fully set forth.
- 2. That on or about January 8, 1990 in the State and District of Maryland,
- and elsewhere,
-
- LEONARD ROSE JR. a/k/a/ Terminus
-
- did cause to be transported, transmitted, and transformed in interstate
- commerce goods, wares, and merchandise of the value of $5000 or more, to
- wit: computer source code that was confidential, proprietary information
- of AT&T, knowing the same to have been stolen, converted, and taken by
- fraud.
-
- 18 U.S.C. S 2314
- 18 U.S.C. S 2
-
- ____________________
-
- Breckinridge L. Wilcox
-
- --
-
- >From CuD 2.00:
- Date: Undated
- From: Anonymous
- Subject: Len Rose's Search Warrant
-
- ********************************************************************
- *** CuD #2.00: File 3 of 5: Len Rose's Search Warrant ***
- ********************************************************************
-
-
-
- UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
-
-
- District of Maryland
- APPLICATION AND AFFIDAVIT
- FOR SEARCH WARRANT
- In the matter of the Search of:
-
- Residence of
- 7018 Willow Tree Drive CASE NUMBER: 90-0002G
- Middletown, Maryland
-
-
- I Timothy Foley being duly sworn depose and say:
-
- I am a Special Agent and have reason to believe that on the property or
- premises known as: the residence at 7018 Willow Tree Drive, Middletown,
- Maryland (see attachment B) in the District of Maryland there is now
- concealed a certain person or property ,namely (see attachment A) which is
- concerning a violation of Title 18 United States code,Sections 2314 and 1030.
- The facts to support a finding of Probable Cause are as follows: (see
- attachment C)
-
-
-
- Sworn to before me and subscribed in my presence
-
- February 1,1990 at Baltimore Maryland
-
- Clarence F. Goetz,U.S. Magistrate
-
-
-
-
-
- ATTACHMENT A
-
- computer hardware (including central processing unit(s),monitors,memory
- devices, modem(s), programming equipment,communications equipment,disks,
- prints,and computer software (including but not limited to memory disks,
- floppy disks, storage media) and written material and documents relating
- to the use of the computer system (including networking access files,
- documentation relating to the attacking of computer and advertising the
- results of the computer attack (including telephone numbers and location
- information), which constitute evidence,instrumentalities and fruits of
- federal crimes, including interstate transportation of stolen property
- (18 USC 2314) and interstate transportation of computer access information
- (18 USC 1030(a)(6)). This warrant is for the seizure of the above described
- computer and computer data and for the authorization to read information
- stored and contained on the above described computer and computer data.
-
-
-
-
- ATTACHMENT B
-
-
- Two level split-foyer style house with a upper story overhang on either
- side of a central indentation for the front door. House is white upper
- with red brick lower portion under the overhanging upper story. Front
- door is white. There is a driveway on the lefthand side of the house as
- you face the front. Mail box is situated on a post adjacent to the
- driveway and mailbox displays the number 7018.
-
-
-
-
- ATTACHMENT C
-
-
- State of Maryland )
- ) SS
- County of Frederick )
-
- AFFIDAVIT
-
- 1. I, Timothy Foley, am a Special Agent of the United States Secret Service
- and have been so employed for the past two years. I am presently assigned
- to the Computer Fraud Section of the United States Secret Service in
- Chicago. Prior to that I was employed as an attorney of law practicing
- in the City of Chicago and admitted to practice in the State of Illinois.
- I am submitting this affidavit in support of the search warrant for the
- premises known as the residence of Leonard Rose at 7018 Willow Tree Drive
- in Middletown, Maryland.
-
- 2. This affidavit is based upon my investigation and information provided
- to me by Special Agent Barbara Golden of the Computer Fraud Section of
- the United States Secret Service in Chicago. S.A. Golden has been
- employed by the Secret Service for 13 years, and has been a Special Agent
- with the Secret Service for 3 years and by other agents of the United
- States Secret Service.
-
- 3. I have also received technical information and investigative assistance
- from the experts in the fields of telecommunications, computer technology,
- software development and computer security technology, including:
-
- a. Reed Newlin, a Security Officer of Southwestern Bell, who has numerous
- years of experience in operations,maintenance and administration of
- telecommunication systems as an employee of the Southwestern Bell
- Telephone Company.
-
- b. Henry M. Kluepfel, who has been employed by the Bell System or its
- divested companies for the last twenty-four years. Kleupfel is
- presently employed by Bell Communications Research, (Bellcore) as
- a district manager responsible for coordinating security technology
- and consultation at Bellcore in support of its owners, the seven (7)
- regional telephone companies, including BellSouth Telephone Company
- and Southwestern Bell Telephone Company. Mr. Kleupfel has participated
- in the execution of numerous Federal and State search warrants relative
- to telecommunications and computer fraud investigations. In addition,
- Mr. Kleupfel has testified on at least twelve (12) occasions as an
- expert witness in telecommunications and computer fraud related
- crimes.
-
- c. David S. Bauer, who has been employed by Bell Communications Research,
- (Bellcore) since April 1987. Bauer is a member of the technical staff
- responsible for research and development in computer security
- technology and for consultation in support for its owners, the seven
- (7) regional telephone companies, including BellSouth. Mr. Bauer is
- an expert in software development,communications operating systems,
- telephone and related security technologies. Mr. Bauer has conducted
- the review and analysis of approximately eleven (11) computer hacking
- investigations for Bellcore. He has over nine (9) years of professional
- experience in the computer related field.
-
- d. At all times relevant to this affidavit, "computer hackers" were
- individuals involved with the unauthorized access of computer systems
- by various means. The assumed names used by the hackers when contacting
- each other were referred to as "hacker handles."
-
- Violations Involved
- -------------------
-
- 5. 18 USC 2314 provides federal criminal sanctions against individuals
- who knowingly and intentionally transport stolen property or property
- obtained by fraud, valued at $5,000.00 or more, in interstate commerce.
- My investigation has revealed that on or about January 8, 1990
- Leonard Rose, using the hacker handle Terminus, transported a stolen
- or fraudulently obtained computer program worth $77,000.00 from
- Middletown, Maryland to Columbia, Missouri.
-
- 6. 18 USC 1030(a) (6) provides federal criminal sanctions against
- individuals who knowingly and with intent to defraud traffic in
- interstate commerce any information through which a computer may be
- accessed without authorization in interstate commerce. My investigation
- has revealed that on or about January 8,1990 Leonard Rose trafficked
- a specially modified copy of AT&T Unix source code SVR 3.2 in interstate
- commerce from Middletown, Maryland to Columbia,Missouri. (Source code
- is a high level computer language which frequently uses English letters
- and symbols for constructing computer programs. Programs written in
- source code can be converted or translated by a "compiler" program into
- object code for use by the computer.) This Unix source code SVR 3.2 had
- been specially modified so that it could be inserted by a computer hacker
- into any computer using a Unix operating system and thereafter enable the
- hacker to illegally capture logins and passwords used by legitimate
- users of the computer.
-
- Discovery of the Altered Unix Source Code
- -----------------------------------------
-
- 7. For the past seven (7) months I have been one of the United States
- Secret Service agents involved in a national investigation into attacks
- on telephone computer switches by various computer "hackers" including
- an organization referred to as the Legion of Doom (LOD).
-
- 8. My investigation to date has disclosed that hackers have stolen sensitive
- proprietary information from various telecommunications organizations
- and published this information in "hacker" publications such as "Phrack"
- newsletter. On Janurary 18,1990 Craig Neidorf (hacker handle Knight
- Lightning) the editor and co-publisher of "PHRACK" was caught in
- possession of various stolen computer files including the source code
- for UNIX SVR3.2 and the text file for the Bell South's enhanced 911 (E911)
- system.
-
- 9. On January 18,1990 Reed Newlin, Southwestern Bell, and I conducted an
- examination of the computer files of Craig Neidorf, a hacker known to us
- as Knight Lightning,at the University of Missouri at Columbia in Columbia,
- Missouri (referred to hereafter simply as Neidorf computer files).
- Newlin's examination of the Neidorf computer files extended from the night
- of January 18 into the early morning hours of January 19. Later on
- January 19 Newlin advised me that his examination of the Neidorf computer
- files had disclosed the existence of what he believed to be proprietary
- AT&T UNIX SVR3.2 source code in among Neidorf's computer files. He further
- advised me that the AT&T source code appeared to have been modified into
- a hacker tutorial which would enable a computer hacker to illegally
- obtain password and login information from computers running on a UNIX
- operating system.
-
- 10. On January 29, 1990 I interviewed Craig Neidorf and he advised me that
- Leonard Rose (hacker handle "Terminus") had provided him with the AT&T
- UNIX SVR3.2 source code which had been taken by me from his computer
- files on the computers at the University of Missouri. (Neidorf is soon to
- be indicted in Chicago for violations of 18 USC 1030,1343, and 2314.
- Neidorf's interview took place while he was aware of the potential
- charges which might be brought against him.)
-
- 11. Neidorf's identification of Leonard Rose (Terminus) as his source for
- the stolen UNIX source code is corroborated by the physical evidence.
- That evidence also shows that Terminus knew the code was stolen. On
- January 20, 21, and 31, 1990 I personally examined the 19 pages of AT&T
- UNIX SVR3.2 found in the Neidorf computer files by Newlin. On pages one
- and two of the AT&T document the author of the file identifies himself
- by the hacker handle "Terminus". On the first page of the document
- Terminus advised Neidorf that the source code came originally from AT&T
- "so it's definitely not something you wish to get caught with".
- Terminus also inserts the following warning into the text of the program
- on the first page: "Warning: this is AT&T proprietary source code. Do
- NOT get caught with it.." On page 26 of the program Terminus also states:
-
- "Hacked by Terminus to enable stealing passwords.. This is obviously
- not a tool for initial system penetration, but instead will allow you
- to collect passwords and accounts once it's been installed. Ideal for
- situations where you have a one-shot opportunity for super user
- privileges.. This source code is not public domain..(so don't get
- caught with it).
-
- In addition to these warnings from Terminus the AT&T source code also
- carries what appears to be the original warnings installed in the
- program by AT&T on pages 2,5,6,7,26 and 28:
-
- Copyright (c) 1984 AT&T
- All rights reserved
- THIS IS UNPUBLISHED PROPRIETARY SOURCE CODE OF AT&T
- The copyright notice above does not evidence and actual or intended
- publication of the source code.
-
- 12. On January 26 and 30, 1990 copies of the UNIX SVR 3.2 source code
- found in the Neidorf computer files and discussed above were sent to
- UNIX experts with AT&T (Mr. Al Thompson) and Bellcore (Mr. David Bauer
- and Mr. Hank Kleupfel) for their evaluation.
-
- 13. On January 30, 1990 Al Thompson of AT&T advised me that his initial
- review of the document and the initial review of the document by AT&T's
- software licensing group had disclosed the following:
-
- a. The document was in fact a copy of the AT&T UNIX SVR3.2 source
- code login program.
-
- b. The program's value was approximately $75,000.00
-
- c. Neither Leonard Rose nor Craig Neidorf were licensed to own or
- possess the source code in question.
-
- d. The source code provided to him had been made into a tutorial
- for hackers which could be used to install "trap doors" into
- a computer and it's operating system. These trap doors would
- enable a hacker to illegally obtain the passwords and logins
- of the legitimate users of a computer running on a UNIX
- operating system.
-
- Identification of Leonard Rose as Terminus
- ------------------------------------------
-
- 14. The AT&T Unix SVR3.2 source code described in paragraphs 9 through
- 13 above reflected that a hacker named Terminus was the author of
- the modifications.
-
- 15. On January 15 and 30, 1990 David Bauer of Bellcore advised me that
- Terminus is the hacker handle for an individual named Leonard Rose
- who resides in Maryland. Bauer advised me that in e-mail between
- Terminus and a hacker known as the Prophet (Robert Riggs), on October
- 9, 1988 Terminus had identified himself as:
-
- Len Rose
- Len@Netsys.COM,postmaster@Netsys.COM
- 301-371-4497
- Netsys,Inc. 7018 Willowtree Drive Middletown MD 21769
-
- 16. In addition, Bauer's examination disclosed that Terminus received
- e-mail at the following addresses: "len@ames.arc.nasa.gov" or
- "len@netsys.com". The address "len@ames.arc.nasa.gov" indicates
- that the author has the account "len" on the system named "Ames"
- in the domain "arc" that is owned and operated by the National
- Air and Space Agency of the United States government.
-
- 17. My continuing review on January 25,1990 of the Neidorf computer files
- disclosed that Rose was continuing to send e-mail to Neidorf and to
- receive e-mail from Neidorf. On December 28,1989,Leonard Rose
- (Terminus) sent an e-mail message to Neidorf in which Rose gives his
- address as 7018 Willowtree Drive in Middletown, Maryland 21769 and
- gives his e-mail address as follows:
-
- "len@netsys.netsys.com"
-
- 18. On January 30, 1990 I was advised by individuals with the Computer
- Emergency Reaction team (CERT) that the e-mail address
- "len@netsys.netsys.com" is located at 7018 Willowtree Drive,Middletown,
- Maryland 21769. CERT is an organization located at the Carnegie-Mellon
- Institute and funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.
- It records contain information about the location of many computers
- in the United States.
-
- 19. There is additional evidence identifying Terminus as Leonard Rose.
- On January 30, 1990 I received a May 24,1987 copy of "Phrack"
- magazine from Hank Kluepfel of Bellcore wherein hacker Taran King
- (Randy Tischler) interviewed and "profiled" Terminus (a/k/a Leonard
- Rose). The personal background information in the article included
- the following:
-
- Handle: Terminus
- Call him: Len
- Past Handles: Terminal Technician
- Handle Origin: Terminal Technician originated because of
- Len's view of himself as a hacker. Terminus
- was an offshoot of that and, although it
- is an egotistical view, it means he has
- reached the final point of being a
- proficient hacker.
- Date of birth: 1/10/59
- Age at current date: 29
- Height: 5'9"
- Weight: About 190 lbs.
- Eye Color: Hazel
- Hair Color: Brown
- Computers: 6800 home brew system, Apple II,Altair
- S100, 2 Apple II+s,IBM PC,IBM XT,IBM 3270,
- IBM AT, and 2 Altos 986's
- Sysop/Co-Sysop: MetroNet,MegaNet, and NetSys Unix
-
- Terminus is further described as an electronic engineer and he designs
- boards for different minicomputers like PDP-11s,Data Generals,Vaxes,
- and Perkin-Elmer who also writes software and writes computer code in
- machine language.
-
- 20. My January 25 review of the Neidorf computer files also disclosed a
- January 9,1990 e-mail message from Rose to Neidorf at 12:20 am which
- corroborated the fact that Rose had sent Neidorf the UNIX SVR3.2
- source code on or around January 7,1990. In this message Rose tells
- Neidorf that he (Rose) lost his copy of what he sent to Neidorf the
- other night because his (Rose's) hard drive had crashed.
-
- 21. My January 25 review also disclosed a second e-mail message from Rose
- to Neidorf on January 9,1990, at 3:05 pm . This message indicates that
- Neidorf had sent a copy of the requested source code back to Rose as
- requested (see paragraph 20 above). Rose's message began:
- "RE: UNIX file" and stated that the copy of the stolen source code
- received back from Neidorf had some type of "glitch".
-
- 22. These messages reflect that Rose still has at least one copy of the
- UNIX SVR3.2 source code in his possession.
-
- 23. On January 29,1990 Craig Neidorf advised me that on or around January
- 9, 1990 he received a copy of the Unix SVR3.2 source code which was
- telecommunicated to him via Bitnet from Leonard Rose in Maryland.
-
- 24. On January 30,1990, Hank Kluepfel of Bellcore advised me that based
- upon his background experience and investigation in this case and
- investigating approximately 50 other incidents this year involving
- the unauthorized use of other computer systems,hackers that run
- computer bulletin boards typically keep and use the following types
- of hardware,software and documents to execute their fraud schemes and
- operate their bulletin boards:
-
- a. Hardware - a central processing unit,a monitor, a modem,a keyboard,
- a printer, and storage devices (either floppy disks or auxiliary
- disk units),telephone equipment (including automatic dialing
- equipment,cables and connectors), tape drives and recording equipment.
-
- b. Software - hard disks, and floppy disks containing computer programs,
- including, but not limited to software data files, e-mail files,
- UNIX software and other AT&T proprietary software.
-
- c. Documents - computer related manuals, computer related textbooks,
- looseleaf binders, telephone books,computer printouts,videotapes
- and other documents used to access computers and record information
- taken from the computers during the above referred to breakins.
-
- 25. Based upon the above information and my own observation, I believe
- that at the residence known as 7018 Willow Tree Drive, Middletown,
- Maryland there is computer hardware (including central processing
- unit(s),monitors,memory devices,modem(s),programming equipment,
- communication equipment,disks,prints and computer software (including
- but not limited to memory disks,floppy disks,storage media) and
- written material and documents relating to the use of the computer
- system (including networking access files,documentation relating to the
- attacking of computer and advertising the results of the computer
- attack (including telephone numbers and location information.) This
- affidavit is for the seizure of the above described computer and
- computer data and for the authorization to read information stored
- and contained on the above described computer and computer data
- which are evidence of violations of 18 USC 2314 and 1030, as well as
- evidence,instrumentalities or fruits of the fraud scheme being
- conducted by the operator of the computer at that location.
-
- Location to be Searched
-
- 26. On January 31, 1990 I was advised by S.A. John Lewis, USSS in
- Baltimore that 7018 Willow Tree Drive in Middletown, Maryland
- is a two-level split-foyer style house with an upper story
- overhang on either side of a central indentation for the front door.
- The front door is white. There is a driveway on the left side of the
- house as you face the front. A mail box is situated on a post next
- to the driveway and displays the number 7018.
-
- 27. Request is made herein to search and seize the above described
- computer and computer data and to read the information contained
- in and on the computer and computer data.
-
-
-
- Special Agent TIMOTHY FOLEY
- United States Secret Service
-
-
-
-
- Sworn and Subscribed to before
- me this 1st day of February, 1990
-
-
- Clarence E. Goetz
- United States Magistrate
-
-
- --
- >From CuD 2.03:
- Date: Tue, 11 Sep 90 01:34:49 -0400
- From: len@NETSYS.NETSYS.COM
- Subject: Len Rose's experience with the Secret Service
-
- ********************************************************************
- *** CuD #2.03: File 2 of 4: Len Rose's Experience with the S.S. ***
- ********************************************************************
-
- [Jim Thomas suggested I write something for the digest and I have been
- casting around for ideas.. All I really can think about nowadays is my
- own situation. I have become quite a bore to my friends I am sure.]
-
- Please excuse any vestiges of self-pity you may detect.
-
- The Day It Happened:
-
- I left my home around eleven am to drive down to Washington DC to meet
- with a potential client. After several hours with them , I started the
- drive back through the rush hour traffic. It was just a few minutes
- after five pm that I pulled into my driveway in Middletown Md. I remember
- getting out of the car and noticing that someone was in the back yard.
-
- He was wearing a blue wind breaker and was neatly dressed. We had been
- trying to sell a Jeep , and I assumed he was interested in buying the
- car. "What can I do for you" I asked.. I remember being slightly pissed
- that this person had just been hanging around the back of my home. He
- flipped his jacket aside and I saw a badge on his belt and a gun
- in a shoulder holster. "Please go into the house" he replied. I was
- pretty shaken and asked "What have I done wrong?" .. without answering
- the question, he took my arm and sort of marched me into the front door
- of my home. Upon entering, two agents pulled me up from the foyer, and
- put me against the wall while searching me. Then I remember being shown
- the front of a search warrant and then taken into my master bedroom.
- The door was shut and I didn't leave the room for more than five hours.
-
- They introduced themselves, and I asked them what this was about. Foley
- replied "We will ask the questions" .. "Do you know any of these hackers?"
- I was asked about 10 or 15 names, and out of them I said I recognized
- one or two from seeing articles here and there but hadn't had any contact
- with them. I remember Foley getting angry. "You had better cooperate,
- let's try again". I reiterated that I knew none of them. He said "You
- are not telling us the truth" ... I told him I had little contact with
- hackers and had been away from that scene for quite some time. He then
- scoffed and said "You have a hacker handle don't you... What is It?"
- I paused, and then replied "Terminus, but I haven't used it or gone by
- that in a very long time" He said "Right, like last month..." I thought
- about that and then I started to feel sick inside.. I knew that I had
- sent Craig Neidorf a copy of login.c which had been modified to perform
- certain functions that basically made it a trojan horse. I used that
- handle since I didn't want the world to know that Len Rose was sending
- someone proprietary source code through mail.. He shoved a photocopy of a
- printout under my nose and asked me if I recognized it.. I looked at it
- and said, "Yes.. " .. He asked me If I had made the modifications and
- placed certain comments within the source. "Yes" again. "But I never used
- it" I blurted out.
-
- "We are only interested in the 911 software and Rich Andrews" they said.
- [I never had anything to do with 911 software and after an extensive search
- of my systems that night by a certain AT&T employee they seemed to agree.]
-
- "Did Rich Andrews send you a copy of the 911 software?" Foley asked me.
- I told them no, no one had sent me anything of the sort. I told them
- that Rich had found some portion of 911 software on his system and
- sent it to Charley Boykin at killer to see if it was serious. Rich had
- told me before, and I sort of approved of the idea. I remember Rich
- saying that he'd had no response whatsoever..
-
- [I wish he had told me the truth, but that is for him to explain why]
-
- "We want dirt on Rich Andrews.." Special Agent Timothy Foley said.
- "We feel he has been less then cooperative.." and "Do you know he is
- a convicted felon" I replied "Yes" but he is a good friend and I
- know he hasn't done anything wrong. He is not involved with hackers.
- Foley asked me about any dealings I had with Rich. I realized then
- that lying wouldn't do me any good, so I told them everything I could
- remember. What I had to say must not have been good enough, as Foley
- kept saying I wasn't going to get anywhere unless I told them all the
- truth. It took me a long time to convince them that was all I knew.
-
- During the interrogation, my legal problems in Virginia were brought up,
- and I mentioned that I might be acquitted. Jack Lewis said "If you get
- off in Virginia, I'll make sure we burn you for this" .. I felt then
- that I was completely shut off from reality.
-
- Foley then asked me to tell them anything illegal I had done.
- Jack Lewis said "It would be better if you tell us now, because if we
- discover anything else later it will be very serious". By this time, I
- was scared and I remember telling them that I had copies of AT&T System V
- v3.1, System V v3.2 and various other pieces of software which had been
- given to me by certain employees of AT&T (without the benefit of a license
- agreement). "Where is it" they asked.. I told them that I had a couple
- 9 track tapes with prominent labels on a tape rack.
-
- I remember asking several times to see my wife, and to go to the bathroom.
- Each time I was told I couldn't. If I hadn't been so scared I would have
- asked for an attorney, but my mind had shutdown completely. About 6 hours
- later I was finally led out of my bedroom and told to sit at the kitchen
- table and not to move. Foley and Lewis sat with me and put a sheet of
- paper in front of me and told me to write a statement. "What do you want
- me to write about" I asked. Foley said "Everything you told us about
- Rich Andrews and also everything about the Trojan horse login program."
- "Make sure you mention the System V source code"..
-
- So, as they were finishing loading up the moving truck, I sat there and
- wrote about two pages of information.
-
- It was about midnight, when they left, but not before handing me a
- subpoena to appear before the Grand Jury.
-
- They told me to tell Rich Andrews my main Unix system had crashed, and
- not to let him know that the SS had been there. I felt pretty bad about
- this because I kept thinking they were going to get him. He must have
- called siz or seven times the day after the "raid". I couldn't tell him
- anything, since I assumed my line was tapped.
-
- I remember going outside as they were starting to leave and looking into
- the back of the moving truck. The way some of the equipment was packed, I
- knew it wouldn't survive the trip into Baltimore. I asked for permission
- to re-pack several items (CPUs,Hard Disks, and a 9 track drive) and received
- it. As I watched my belongings pull away , I remember feeling so helpless,
- and confused. It was only then did it sink in that every material possession
- that really mattered to me (other than my home), was gone. All I had to
- show for it was a sketchy 20 page inventory..
-
- Later, my wife told me what had gone on until I came home. The SS
- arrived around 3 pm, and had knocked on the door. She opened the door,
- and 5 or 6 agents pushed her back into the foyer. They took her by the
- arms and moved her over to a sofa in the living room. They had a female
- agent with them, and this person was detailed to stay with her. She was
- not allowed to make phone calls, or answer them (until much later in the
- evening.) My children were also placed there. My son, who was 4 at the
- time refused to submit to their authority (guns didn't scare him) would
- get up often and follow agents around. From what my wife recalls, they
- were amused at first , then later became less enthusiastic about that.
-
- She wasn't allowed to feed the kids until after I had been released
- from the interrogation session. She remembers getting up several times,
- to go to the bathroom or to retrieve diapers,etc. and being told to get
- back onto the sofa. The female agent even followed her into the bathroom.
- The massive search of every nook and cranny of our home encompassed much
- more than computer equipment. To this day, I feel there is a direct
- link between my previous legal problem in Virginia, and the extent of the
- search that day. In fact, the SS had obtained items seized from me by
- Virginia and had them in their posession before the raid ever took place.
-
-
- I remember going down to the SS office a couple days later to
- voluntarily answer the subpoena. I set up my equipment for them. Although
- they had labled most cables and connectors, there was some confusion.
- I remember showing them how to use my systems, and in particular how to
- do a recursive directory listing of every file contained within. After a
- while, once they made sure they had backups , I was allowed to type a few
- commands at a terminal in order to retrieve an ascii text file (a resume).
-
- Later, while being escorted back out to the front of their offices,
- I saw a large room filled with stacks of boxes and equipment cases which
- had constituted the entire sum of my office and all equipment,software,and
- documentation. I was feeling pretty numb, and remember asking the agents
- there to please take care of everything, since I hoped to get it back.
- In reflection, it seems pretty pitiful.
-
- It was this day that they told me I would be prosecuted, and I remember
- driving back from Baltimore feeling betrayed. Even though I had completely
- cooperated with them, and had been told I would not be prosecuted. When I
- got home, I was crying .. I couldn't handle this anymore. My sister was
- there and I remember she gave me three vallium.. I calmed down and in
- fact got pretty high from it.
-
- [The following is something the SS allege I did]
-
- Allegedly from a phone booth that night I called Rich Andrews and warned
- him to get rid of any source code or software he shouldn't have.. At this
- time I was also alleged to have told Rich that I was leaving the country,
- and would go to Korea with my wife and kids. [If I did do this, I never
- said anything about leaving] .. They apparently had either tapped his line,
- or he told them about my call. [I would have been stupid to say this, since
- Korea has extradition treaties with the US]
-
- My Arrest:
-
- Several days later, I received a sudden call from Special Agent John Lewis
- and he told me to come down and pick up my fax machine. (I had been
- pestering them about it so I could fax my resume out to headhunters so I
- could find a job)..
-
- [ Ironically, I had been hired a week before by Global Computer Systems,
- in New Jersey to work as a contractor at AT&T's 3B2 Hotline in South
- Plainfield New Jersey .. I knew that after this AT&T wouldn't have anything
- to do with me and in fact was informed so the night of the raid ]
-
- Upon entering the SS office (Feb. 6) around 5 pm, I waited outside in
- the waiting room.. I had been doing some house painting and wasn't dressed
- very well. Jack Lewis came out and brought me back to one of their offices
- He held out his hand (as if to shake it) and instead put hand cuffs on my
- hand. He then locked the other to an eyebolt on the desk. He sat down
- across from me and told me to empty my pockets.. I complied, and then he
- started writing an inventory of my posessions.
-
- Jack Lewis looked up from his writing and said "You fucked us,Len!"
-
- "What do you mean?" I said. "You called Rich Andrews, and warned him to
- get rid of anything he shouldn't have,you fucked us!" .. I didn't reply.
- He then told me to pull my shoestrings out of my sneakers, and I did..
- He called another agent in to witness the contents of his inventory,sealed
- the envelope and then told me I was going to jail.. About 15 minutes later
- he released the handcuffs from the desk, and put my arms behind my back and
- handcuffed them.
-
- I was led into the hallway, while he finished some last minute details..
- He was nice enough to let me make a phone call, when I asked him..I promptly
- called a friend in Philadelphia. I knew he would know what to do.. Because
- my wife didn't speak English well, and would also have been hysterical
- I couldn't count on her to be much help.
-
- They drove me over to the Baltimore City Jail,told the bored looking turnkey
- at the desk to hold me for the night.
-
- I was pretty hungry but I had missed the evening meal , and despite
- repeated pleas to make my "phone call" the jailers ignored me.
- The people in the cells next to mine were an interesting lot.
- One was in for killing someone, and the other was in for a crack bust..
- Someone in the cell block was drugged out, and kept screaming most of
- the night.. I didn't sleep much that night, and the with the cold steel
- slab they call a bed it wouldn't have been possible anyway. Sometime
- around 9 am a jailer appeared and let me out.
-
- I was then turned back over to the SS and they drove me back to the
- Federal Building... They put me in another holding cell and I was there
- for about 2 hours. A Federal Marshal came and took me to a court room,
- where I was charged with a criminal complaint of transporting stolen
- property over interstate lines with a value of $5000 or more.
-
- The conditions for my release were fairly simple..
-
- Sign a signature bond placing my home as collateral, and surrender
- my passport. Fortunately my wife had come down earlier and Agent Lewis
- had told her to get my passport or I wouldn't be released .. She drove
- the 120 mile round trip and found it.. She returned, I was brought down
- to the courtroom and the magistrate released me.
-
- We retained an attorney that day, and several weeks later they agreed to
- drop all charges. I am told this was to give both sides some time to work
- out a deal. Against the better judgement of my (then) attorney I offered to
- meet with the Assistant U.S. attorney if they would bring someone down from
- Bell Labs. My thinking was that surely a Unix hacker would understand the
- ramifications of my changes to the login.c source and corroborate my
- explanations for the public domain password scanner. They also wanted me
- to explain other "sinister" activities , such as why I had an alias for
- the Phrack editors, and I knew a Unix person from the labs would know what
- I meant when I said it made it easier for people to get to .BITNET sites.
-
-
- I was a complete fool,and the person from Bell Labs got me in even worse
- trouble when he told them I had other "trojan" software on the systems.
- He was referring to a public domain implementation of su.c which David Ihnat
- (chinet) had written to allow people to share su access without actually
- knowing the root password. "But it is public domain software," I cried.
- The Bell Labs person turned and told David King (Asst. US Attorney) that
- I was lying. He went on to say that there was a considerable amount of
- R&D source code on my machines. Things that no one should possess outside of
- AT&T, like Korn shell and AwkCC.
-
- My attorney (Mr. Carlos Recio of Deso, and Greenberg - Washington DC) was
- furious with me. All he could say was that "I told you so.." and I realized
- I had been stupid. I had hoped if I could explain the situation to the govt.
- and have someone from AT&T verify what I said was true, then they would
- realize I was just a typical Unix freak, who hadn't been involved in anything
- more sinister than possibly having things I shouldn't have.
-
- After a few months the best deal Mr. King offered was for me to plead
- guilty to 2 felony counts (Computer Fraud) and I would receive a sentence
- of 17 months in prison. I refused to take the deal, [ Perhaps I may live
- to regret that decision when my trial begins in 91.. ]
-
- In May I was formally charged with 5 felony counts.. The rest is history..
-
- Present Day:
-
- In better times I never lacked for work, and lived in a world where I
- spent more on phone bills per month (uucp traffic), than I have earned
- in the last four months.
-
- I am sitting here (rather lying, since I cannot get up) by the laptop
- computer (on loan to me from a friend) . Lately, I have grown to feel
- that without this little laptop and it's modem linking me to the network
- I would have been driven mad a long time ago.Reading Usenet news has been
- my only solace lately. During the day I spend hours calling around to all
- the head hunters asking for work.Since I still have a fax machine,
- I am able to fax my resume around. So far, I haven't had much luck in
- finding anything at all. Since all this happened , it seems that I have
- been blacklisted. A few companies expressed interest, but later called
- back and asked me if I was the "LoD hacker" and I told them yes.. They
- weren't interested anymore (I cannot blame them).
-
- I guess the Unix Today articles have cost me more than any of the others..
- I lost a great contract ($500 a day) with a major bank in Manhattan when
- they saw the first article.. In various articles from various newspapers,
- I have been called the "Mastermind of the Legion of Doom" and other bizarre
- things.
-
- The lies told by the US Attorney in Baltimore in their press release
- were printed verbatim by many papers.. The usual propaganda about the
- Legion's activities in credit card fraud, breakins and the threat to the
- 911 system were all discussed in that press release and cast a bad light
- on me.
-
- I have had the good fortune to have a friend in Philadelphia who has
- loaned me office space in his firm's building. Such an arrangement lends
- an air of credibility to Netsys Inc. Too bad I have no clients or contracts.
-
- Since I broke my leg pretty badly (The doctor says I will be in a cast for
- six months and maybe some surgery) ,I haven't been able to visit the
- "office" but I have an answering machine there and I check my calls daily.
-
- We (my wife and two children) moved to the Philadelphia suburbs in order
- to put as much distance as possible from the SS Agent John "Jack" Lewis
- who is based in Baltimore.
-
- I realize that the SS have offices in every city, and agents to spare
- but it made me feel better knowing that he is in Baltimore and I am here.
-
- Anyway, at this point I am trying to find a few system admin jobs, and
- would take any salary they offered me. I am scared about the next few
- months since I cannot even get a job as a laborer or a 7-11 clerk since
- my leg is screwed.. My wife (who has a liberal arts degree) is looking
- for a job in this area.. We hope she can get a job working minimum wage
- in some department store or as a waitress.
-
- We have enough money to last another month I guess. Then I am not sure
- what we will do, since we haven't any relatives who will take us in.
- I have never been un-employed since leaving high school, and It's a
- pretty bad feeling. One day , If I survive this, I will never forget
- what has happened. I can't help feeling that there is a thin veneer
- of freedom and democracy in this country, and agencies like the Secret
- Service are really far more powerful than anyone had realized.
-
- I know that my friends within AT&T (E. Krell for one) feel I have
- "stolen" from their company. I can only laugh at this attitude since
- I have probably done more for AT&T than he has. Those of you who knew
- me before can attest to this. While it was "wrong" to possess source code
- without a license,I never tried to make money from it. I wrote a Trojan
- Horse program, which in all honesty was done to help defend my own systems
- from attack (it is currently installed as /bin/login on my equipment).
- Any allegations that I installed it on other systems are completely false.
-
- [ in fact, most of the source code was given to me by AT&T employees ]
-
- As far as the public domain password scanner program, well.. I realize
- that most of you know this, but items far more powerful can be obtained
- from any site that archives comp.sources.unix,and comp.sources.misc ..
- I used it as a legitimate security tool when doing security audits on
- my own systems and clients. It wasn't very good really, and considering it
- was obsolete (System V 3.2 /etc/shadow) anyway, it's usefulness was limited.
-
- Since the SS will be reading this article with interest, I want to
- point out that I will fight you to the end. Someday I hope you will
- realize you made an honest mistake and will rectify it. Perhaps there
- was some justification I am not aware of, but I doubt it. If I have to
- go to prison for this, perhaps it will benefit society. Who knows what
- what Len Rose would have done if left to continue his criminal pursuits.
-
- I hope to get my equipment, and software back and then re-start my life.
- There have been repeated motions to get my equipment back , but the judge
- has summarily denied them saying I will commit crimes If I get it back.
- I have offered to assist the SS in saving evidence,and to sign any agreement
- they choose regarding validity of that evidence.
-
- I may take up begging soon , and ask for help from someone who is rich.
- It's going to be winter soon and I don't look forward to being on the
- street.
-
- Len
-
- --
- >From CuD 2.09:
- From: Moderators
- Subject: Len Rose Arrest
- Date: October 26, 1990
-
- ********************************************************************
- *** CuD #2.09: File 2 of 8: Len Rose Arrest ***
- ********************************************************************
-
- Len Rose was arrested on state charges of "computer tampering" in
- Naperville, Ill., Naperville police confirmed Monday night. Len obtained
- a job at Interactive Systems Corporation, a software consulting firm, in
- Naperville and began Monday, October 15. Friday, he was fired. Bail was
- initially set at $50,000, and as of late Friday afternoon, he remained
- in jail.
-
- Len's wife speaks little English and is stuck in Naperville, lacking both
- friends and resources. Len currently has no money to post bond, and this
- leaves he and his family in a dreadful situation.
-
- We caution readers to remember that, under our Constitution, Len is
- *innocent* unless proven otherwise, but there is something quite
- troublesome about this affair. Hopefully, we'll soon learn what specific
- charges and what evidence led to those charges. Even if a "worst case"
- scenario evolves, there are surely better ways to handle such cases in less
- intrusive and devastating ways. Devastated lives and full invocation of
- the CJ process are simply not cost effective for handling these types of
- situations.
-
- --
- >From CuD 2.14:
- From: Moderators
- Subject: Len Rose Indicted
- Date: 29 November, 1990
-
- ********************************************************************
- *** CuD #2.14: File 2 of 8: Len Rose Indicted ***
- ********************************************************************
-
- "Man is Charged in Computer Crime"
- By Joseph Sjostrom
- From: Chicago Tribune, 28 November, 1990: Section 2, p. 2
-
- Du Page County prosecutors have indicted a Naperville resident in
- connection with an investigation into computer tampering.
-
- Leonard Rose, 31, of 799 Royal St. George St., Naperville, was charged by
- the Du Page County grand jury last week with violating the 1988 "computer
- tampering" law that prohibits unauthorized entry into a computer to copy,
- delete or damage programs or data contained in it.
-
- Rose, who lived in Baltimore until last September or October, is under
- federal indictment there for allegedly copying and disseminating a valuable
- computer program owned by AT&T. The Du Page indictment charges him with
- copying the same program from the computer of a Naperville software firm
- that employed him for a week in October.
-
- His alleged tampering with computers there was noticed by other employees,
- according to Naperville police. A search warrant was obtained for Rose's
- apartment last month, and two computers and a quantity of computer data
- storage discs were confiscated, police said.
-
- The Du Page County and federal indictments charge that Rose made
- unauthorized copies of the AT&T Unix Source Code, a so-called operating
- system that gives a computer its basic instructions on how to function.
-
- The federal indictment says Rose's illegal actions there were commited
- between May 1988 and January 1990. The Du Page County indictment alleges
- he tampered with the Naperville firm's computers on Oct. 17.
- (end article)
-
- *************************************
- Although we have not yet seen the indictment, we have been told that charges
- were made under the following provisions of the Illinois Criminal Code:
- *************************************
-
- From: SMITH-HURD ILLINOIS ANNOTATED STATUTES
- COPR. (c) WEST 1990 No Claim to Orig. Govt. Works
- CHAPTER 38. CRIMINAL LAW AND PROCEDURE
- DIVISION I. CRIMINAL CODE OF 1961
- TITLE III. SPECIFIC OFFENSES
- PART C. OFFENSES DIRECTED AGAINST PROPERTY
- ARTICLE 16D. COMPUTER CRIME
-
- 1990 Pocket Part Library References
-
- 16D-3. COMPUTER tampering
-
- s 16D-3. COMPUTER Tampering. (a) A person commits the offense of COMPUTER
- tampering when he knowingly and without the authorization of a COMPUTER'S
- owner, as defined in Section 15-2 of this Code, or in excess of the authority
- granted to him:
- (1) Accesses or causes to be accessed a COMPUTER or any part thereof, or a
- program or data;
- (2) Accesses or causes to be accessed a COMPUTER or any part thereof, or a
- program or data, and obtains data or services;
- (3) Accesses or causes to be accessed a COMPUTER or any part thereof, or a
- program or data, and damages or destroys the COMPUTER or alters, deletes or
- removes a COMPUTER program or data;
- (4) Inserts or attempts to insert a "program" into a COMPUTER or COMPUTER
- program knowing or having reason to believe that such "program" contains
- information or commands that will or may damage or destroy that COMPUTER, or
- any other COMPUTER subsequently accessing or being accessed by that COMPUTER,
- or that will or may alter, delete or remove a COMPUTER program or data from
- that COMPUTER, or any other COMPUTER program or data in a COMPUTER
- subsequently accessing or being accessed by that COMPUTER, or that will or may
- cause loss to the users of that COMPUTER or the users of a COMPUTER which
- accesses or which is accessed by such "program".
- (b) Sentence.
- (1) A person who commits the offense of COMPUTER tampering as set forth in
- subsection (a)(1) of this Section shall be guilty of a Class B misdemeanor.
- (2) A person who commits the offense of COMPUTER tampering as set forth in
- subsection (a)(2) of this Section shall be guilty of a Class A misdemeanor and
- a Class 4 felony for the second or subsequent offense.
- (3) A person who commits the offense of COMPUTER tampering as set forth in
- subsection (a)(3) or subsection (a)(4) of this Section shall be guilty of a
- Class 4 felony and a Class 3 felony for the second or subsequent offense.
- (c) Whoever suffers loss by reason of a violation of subsection (a)(4) of this
- Section may, in a civil action against the violator, obtain appropriate
- relief. In a civil action under this Section, the court may award to the
- prevailing party reasonable attorney's fees and other litigation expenses.
- (end Ill. Law)
- +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
-
- Illinois employs determinate sentencing, which means that the judge is
- bound by sentencing guidelines established by law for particular kinds of
- offenses (See Illinois' Univied Code of Corrections, Chapter 38, Sections
- 1005-8-1, 1006-8-2, 1005-5-3.1, and 1005-3.2).
-
- Computer tampering carries either a Class 4 felony sentence, which can
- include prison time of from one to three years, or a Class A misdemeanor
- sentence. With determinate sentencing, the judge selects a number between
- this range (for example, two years), and this is the time to be served.
- With mandatory good time, a sentence can be reduced by half, and an
- additional 90 days may be taken off for "meritorious good time." Typical
- Class 4 felonies include reckless homicide, possession of a controlled
- substance, or unlawful carrying of a weapon.
-
- A Class A misdemeanor, the most serious, carries imprisonment of up to one
- year. Misdemeanants typically serve their time in jail, rather than prison.
- Ironically, under Illinois law, it is conceivable that if an offender were
- sentenced to prison for a year or two as a felon, he could be released
- sooner than if he were sentenced as a misdemeanant because of differences
- in calculation of good time.
-
-
- From: bill <bill@GAUSS.GATECH.EDU>
- Subject: Len Rose Outcome (from AP wire)
- Date: Sat, 23 Mar 91 14:29:14 EST
-
- ********************************************************************
- *** CuD #3.10--File 3 of 5: AP Story on Len Rose ***
- ********************************************************************
-
- BALTIMORE (AP) -- A computer hacker pleaded guilty Friday to stealing
- information from American Telephone & Telegraph and its subsidiary
- Bell Laboratories.
-
- Under an agreement with prosecutors, Leonard Rose pleaded guilty in
- U.S. District Court to one count of sending AT&T source codes via
- computer to Richard Andrews, an Illinois hacker, and a similar wire
- fraud charge involving a Chicago hacker.
-
- Prosecutors said they will ask that Rose be sentenced to two
- concurrent one-year terms. Rose is expected to be sentenced in May.
-
- Neither Rose nor his attorney could be immediately reached for comment
- late Friday.
-
- "Other computer hackers who choose to use their talents to interfere
- with the security and privacy of computer systems can expect to be
- prosecuted and to face similar penalties," said U.S. Attorney
- Breckinridge L. Willcox.
-
- "The sentence contemplated in the plea agreement reflects the serious
- nature of this new form of theft," Willcox said.
-
- Rose, 32, was charged in May 1990 in a five-count indictment following
- an investigation by the Secret Service and the U.S. Attorney's offices
- in Baltimore and Chicago.
-
- He also had been charged with distributing "trojan horse" programs,
- designed to gain unauthorized access to computer systems, to other
- hackers.
-
- Prosecutors said Rose and other hackers entered into a scheme to steal
- computer source codes from AT&T's UNIX computer system.
-
- The plea agreement stipulates that after he serves his sentence, Rose
- must disclose his past conduct to potential employers that have
- computers with similar source codes.
-
- +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
-
- From: Anonymous
- Subject: Len Rose Pleads Guilty (Washington Post)
- Date: Mon, 25 Mar 91 11:22:13 PST
-
- ********************************************************************
- *** CuD #3.10--File 4 of 5: Washington Post Story on Len Rose ***
- ********************************************************************
-
- Source: Washington Post, March 23, 1991, pp A1, A10
-
- "'Hacker' Pleads Guilty in AT&T CASE: Sentence Urged for
- Md. Man Among Stiffest Yet for Computer Crime"
- By Mark Potts/Washington Post Staff Writer
-
- BALTIMORE, March 22--A computer "hacker" who was trying to help others
- steal electronic passwords guarding large corporate computer systems
- around the country today pleaded guilty to wire fraud in a continuing
- government crackdown on computer crime.
-
- Federal prosecutors recommended that Leonard Rose Jr., 32, of
- Middletown, Md., be sent to prison for one year and one day, which
- would be one of the stiffest sentences imposed to date for computer
- crime. Sentencing is scheduled for May before U.S. District Judge J.
- Frederick Motz.
-
- Cases such as those of Rose and a Cornell University graduate student
- who was convicted last year of crippling a nationwide computer network
- have shown that the formerly innocent pastime of hacking has
- potentially extreme economic ramifications. Prosecutors, industry
- officials and even some veteran hackers now question the once popular
- and widely accepted practice of breaking into computer systems and
- networks in search of information that can be shared with others.
-
- "It's just like any other form of theft, except that it's more subtle
- and it's more sophisticated," said Geoffrey R. Garinther, the
- assistant U.S. attorney who prosecuted the Rose case.
-
- Rose--once part of a group of maverick hackers who called themselves
- the Legion of Doom--and his attorneys were not available for comment
- after the guilty plea today. The single fraud count replaced a
- five-count indictment of the computer programmer that was issued last
- May after a raid on his home by Secret Service agents.
-
- According to prosecutors, Rose illegally obtained information that
- would permit him to secretly modify a widely used American Telephone &
-
- (See HACKER, A10, Col 1)
-
- Telegraph Co. Unix software program--the complex instructions that
- tell computers what to do. The two former AT&T software employees who
- provided these information "codes" have not yet been prosecuted.
-
- Rose altered the AT&T software by inserting a "Trojan horse" program
- that would allow a hacker to secretly gain access to the computer
- systems using the AT&T Unix software and gather passwords used on the
- system. The passwords could then be distributed to other hackers,
- permitting them to use the system without the knowledge of its
- rightful operators, prosecutors said.
-
- Rose's modifications made corporate purchasers of the $77,000 AT&T
- Unix program vulnerable to electronic break-ins and the theft of such
- services as toll-free 800 numbers and other computer-based
- telecommunications services.
-
- After changing the software, Rose sent it to three other computer
- hackers, including one in Chicago, where authorities learned of the
- scheme through a Secret Service computer crime investigation called
- Operation Sun Devil. Officials say they do not believe the hackers
- ever broke into computer systems.
-
- At the same time he pleaded guilty here, Rose pleaded guilty to a
- similar charge in Chicago; the sentences are to be served
- concurrently, and he will be eligible for parole after 10 months.
-
- Rose and his associates in the Legion of Doom, whose nickname was
- taken from a gang of comic-book villains, used names like Acid Phreak
- Terminus--Rose's nickname--as their computer IDs. They connected their
- computers by telephone to corporate and government computer networks,
- outwitted security screens and passwords to sign onto the systems and
- rummaged through the information files they found, prosecutors said.
-
- Members of the group were constantly testing the boundaries of the
- "hacker ethic," a code of conduct dating back to the early 1960s that
- operates on the belief that computers and the information on them
- should be free for everyone to share, and that such freedom would
- accelerate the spread of computer technology, to society's benefit.
-
- Corporate and government computer information managers and many law
- enforcement officials have a different view of the hackers. To them,
- the hackers are committing theft and computer fraud.
-
- After the first federal law aimed at computer fraud was enacted in
- 1986, the Secret Service began the Operation Sun Devil investigation,
- which has since swept up many members of the Legion of Doom, including
- Rose. The investigation has resulted in the arrest and prosecution of
- several hackers and led to the confiscation of dozens of computers,
- thousands of computer disks and related items.
-
- "We're authorized to enforce the computer fraud act, and we're doing
- it to the best of our ability," Garry Jenkins, assistant director of
- investigations for the Secret Service, said last summer. "We're not
- interested in cases that are at the lowest threshold of violating the
- law...They have to be major criminal violations before we get
- involved."
-
- The Secret Service crackdown closely followed the prosecution of the
- most celebrated hacker case to date, that of Robert Tappan Morris
- Cornell University computer science graduate student and son of a
- computer sicentist at the National Security Agency. Morris was
- convicted early last year of infecting a vast nationwide computer
- network in 1988 with a hugely disruptive computer "virus," or rogue
- instructions. Although he could have gone to jail for five years, Mo
- $10,000, given three years probation and ordered to do 400 hours of
- community service work.
-
- Through Operation Sun Devil and the Morris case, law enforcement
- authorities have begun to define the boundaries of computer law.
- Officials are grappling with how best to punish hackers and how to
- differentiate between mere computer pranks and serious computer
- espionage.
-
- "We're all trying to get a handle for what is appropriate behavior in
- this new age, where we have computers and computer networks linked
- together," said Lance Hoffman, a computer science professor at George
- Washington University.
-
- "There clearly are a bunch of people feeling their way in various
- respects," said David R. Johnson, an attorney at Wilmer, Cutler &
- Pickering and an expert on computer law. However, he said, "Things
- are getting a lot clearer. It used to be a reasonably respectable
- argument that people gaining unauthorized access to computer systems
- and causing problems were just rambunctious youth." Now, however, the
- feeling is that "operating in unauthorized computing spaces can be an
- antisocial act," he said.
-
- Although this view is increasingly shared by industry leaders, some
- see the risk of the crackdown on hackers going to far. Among those
- concerned is Mitch Kapor, the inventor of Lotus 1-2-3, the
- best-selling computer "spreadsheet" program for carrying out
- mathematical and accounting analysis. Kapor and several other
- computer pioneers last year contributed several hundred thousands
- dollars to set up the Electron Freedom Foundation, a defense fund for
- computer hackers.
-
- EFF has funded much of Rose's defense and filed a friend-of-the-court
- brief protesting Rose's indictment.
-
- --end of article--
-
- ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
-
- From: brendan@CS.WIDENER.EDU(Brendan Kehoe)
- Subject: Washington Post Retraction to Original Story
- Date: Wed, 27 Mar 91 08:49:00 EST
-
- From: The Washington Post, Tuesday March 26, 1991, Page A3.
-
- CORRECTION [to Saturday March 23, 1991 article]
-
- "Leonard Rose, Jr., the Maryland computer hacker who pleaded guilty
- last week to two counts of wire fraud involving his illegal possession
- of an American Telephone & Telegraph Co. computer program, was not a
- member of the "Legion of Doom" computer hacker group, as was reported
- Saturday, and did not participate in the group's alleged activities of
- breaking into and rummaging through corporate and government computer
- systems."
-
- ********************************************************************
- >> END OF THIS FILE <<
- ***************************************************************************
-
- ------------------------------
-
- From: Moderators
- Subject: Len Rose's "Guilt" and the Washington Post
- Date: March 28, 1991
-
- ********************************************************************
- *** CuD #3.10--File 5 of 5: Len Rose and the Washington Post ***
- ********************************************************************
-
- Although Len Rose accepted a Federal plea bargain which resolved
- Federal charges against him in Illinois and Maryland, and state
- charges in Illinois, he will not be sentenced until May. Therefore,
- many of the details of the plea or of his situation cannot yet be made
- public. Len pleaded guilty to two counts of violating Title 18 s.
- 1343:
-
- 18 USC 1343:
-
- Sec. 1343. Fraud by wire, radio, or television
-
- Whoever, having devised or intending to devise any scheme or
- artifice to defraud, or for obtaining money or property by
- means of false or fraudulent pretenses, representations, or
- promises, transmits or causes to be transmitted by means of
- wire, radio, or television communication in interstate or
- foreign commerce, any writings, signs, signals, pictures,
- or sounds for the purpose of executing such scheme or
- artifice, shall be fined not more than $1000 or imprisoned
- not more than five years, or both.
-
- In our view, Len's case was, is, and continues to be, a political
- case, one in which prosecutors have done their best to create an
- irresponsible, inaccurate, and self-serving imagery to justify their
- actions in last year's abuses in their various investigations.
-
- Len's guilty plea was the result of pressures of family, future, and
- the burden of trying to get from under what seemed to be the
- unbearable pressure of prosecutors' use of law to back him into
- corners in which his options seemed limited. The emotional strain and
- disruption of family life became too much to bear. Len's plea was his
- attempt to make the best of a situation that seemed to have no
- satisfactory end. He saw it as a way to obtain the return of much of
- his equipment and to close this phase of his life and move on. Many of
- us feel that Len's prosecution and the attempt to make him out to be a
- dangerous hacker who posed a threat to the country's computer security
- was (and remains) reprehensible.
-
- The government wanted Len's case to be about something it wasn't. To
- the end, they kept fomenting the notion that the case involved
- computer security--despite the fact that the indictment, the statute
- under which he was charged, or the evidence DID NOT RELATE TO
- security. The case was about possession of proprietary software, pure
- and simple.
-
- The 23 March article in the Washington Post typifies how creative
- manipulation of meanings by law enforcement agents becomes translated
- into media accounts that perpetuate the the type of witch hunting for
- which some prosecutors have become known. The front page story
- published on March 23 is so outrageously distorted that it cannot pass
- without comment. It illustrates how prosecutors' images are
- translated into media narratives that portray an image of hackers in
- general and Len in particular as a public threat. The story is so
- ludicrously inaccurate that it cannot pass without comment.
-
- Mark Potts, the author of the story, seems to convict Len of charges
- of which even the prosecutors did not accuse him in the new
- indictment. According to the opening paragraph of the story, Len
- pleaded guilty to conspiring to steal computer account passwords. This
- is false. Len's case was about possessing and possessing transporting
- unlicensed software, *NOT* hacking! Yet, Potts claims that Rose
- inserted a Trojan horse in AT&S software that would allow other
- "hackers" to break into systems. Potts defers to prosecutors for the
- source of his information, but it is curious that he did not bother
- either to read the indictments or to verify the nature of the plea.
- For a major story on the front page, this seems a callous disregard of
- journalistic responsibility.
-
- In the original indictment, Len was accused of possessing login.c, a
- program that allows capturing passwords of persons who log onto a
- computer. The program is described as exceptionally primitive by
- computer experts, and it requires the user to possess root access, and
- if one has root privileges, there is little point in hacking into the
- system to begin with. Login.c, according to some computer
- programmers, can be used by systems administrators as a security
- device to help identify passwords used in attempts to hack into a
- system, and at least one programmer indicated he used it to test
- security on various systems. But, there was no claim Len used this
- improperly, it was not an issue in the plea, and we wonder where Mark
- Potts obtained his prosecutorial power that allows him to find Len
- guilty of an offense for which he was not charged nor was at issue.
-
- Mark Potts also links Len directly to the Legion of Doom and a variety
- of hacking activity. Although a disclaimer appeared in a subsequent
- issue of WP (a few lines on page A3), the damage was done. As have
- prosecutors, Potts emphasizes the LoD connection without facts, and
- the story borders on fiction.
-
- Potts also claims that Len was "swept up" in Operation Sun Devil,
- which he describes as resulting "in the arrest and prosecution of
- several hackers and led to the confiscation of dozens of computers,
- thousands of computer disks and related items." This is simply false.
- At least one prosecutor involved with Sun Devil has maintained that
- pre-Sun Devil busts were not related. Whether that claim is accurate
- or not, Len was not a part of Sun Devil. Agents raided his house when
- investigating the infamous E911 files connected to the Phrack/Craig
- Neidorf case last January (1990). Although Len had no connection with
- those files, the possession of unlicensed AT&T source code did not
- please investigators, so they pursued this new line of attack.
- Further, whatever happens in the future, to our knowledge *no*
- indictments have occured as the result of Sun Devil, and in at least
- one raid (Ripco BBS), files and equipment were seized as the result of
- an informant's involvement that we have questioned in a previous issue
- of CuD ( #3.02). Yet, Potts credits Sun Devil as a major success.
-
- Potts also equates Rose's activities with those of Robert Morris, and
- in so-doing, grossly distorts the nature of the accusations against
- Len. Equating the actions to which Len pleaded guilty to Morris
- grossly distorts both the nature and magnitude of the offense. By
- first claiming that Len modified a program, and then linking it to
- Morris's infectious worm, it appears that Len was a threat to computer
- security. This kind of hyperbole, based on inaccurate and
- irresponsible reporting, inflames the public, contributes to the
- continued inability to distinguish between serious computer crime and
- far less serious acts, and would appear to erroneously justify AT&T's
- position as the protector of the nets when, in fact, their actions are
- far more abusive to the public trust.
-
- After focusing for the entire article on computer security, Potts
- seems to appear "responsible" by citing the views of computer experts
- on computer security and law. But, because these seem irrelevant to
- the reality of Len's case, it is a classic example of the pointed non
- sequitor.
-
- Finally, despite continuous press releases, media announcements, and
- other notices by EFF, Potts concludes by claiming that EFF was
- established as "a defense fund for computer hackers." Where has Potts
- been? EFF, as even a rookie reporter covering computer issues should
- know, was established to address the challenges to existing law by
- rapidly changing computer technology. Although EFF provided some
- indirect support to Len's attorneys in the form of legal research, the
- EFF DID NOT FUND ANY OF LEN'S defense. Len's defense was funded
- privately by a concerned citizen intensely interested in the issues
- involved. The EFF does not support computer intrusion, and has made
- this clear from its inception. And a final point, trivial in context,
- Potts credits Mitch Kapor as the sole author of Lotus 1-2-3, failing
- to mention that Jon Sachs was the co-author.
-
- The Washington Post issued a retraction of the LoD connection a few
- days later. But, it failed to retract the false claims of Len's plea.
- In our view, even the partial LoD retraction destroys the basis, and
- the credibility, of the story. In our judgement, the Post should
- publicly apologize and retract the story. It should also send Potts
- back to school for remedial courses in journalism and ethics.
-
- Some observers feel that Len should have continued to fight the
- charges. To other observers, Len's plea is "proof" of his guilt. We
- caution both sides: Len did what he felt he had to do for his family
- and himself. In our view, the plea reflects a sad ending to a sad
- situation. Neither Len nor the prosecution "won." Len's potential
- punishment of a year and a day (which should conclude with ten months
- of actual time served) in prison and a subsequent two or three year
- period of supervised release (to be determined by the judge) do not
- reflect the the toll the case took on him in the past year. He lost
- everything he had previously worked for, and he is now, thanks to
- publications like the Washington Post, labelled as a dangerous
- computer security threat, which may hamper is ability to reconstruct
- his life on release from prison. We respect Len's decision to accept
- a plea bargain and urge all those who might disagree with that
- decision to ask themselves what they would do that would best serve
- the interests both of justice and of a wife and two small children.
- Sadly, the prosecutors and AT&T should have also asked this question
- from the beginning. Sometimes, it seems, the wrong people are on
- trial.
-
- ********************************************************************
- *** CuD #3.11: File 4 of 5: Chicago Press Release on Len Rose ***
- ********************************************************************
-
- From: Gene Spafford <spaf@CS.PURDUE.EDU>
- Subject: Northern District (Ill.) Press Release on Len Rose
- Date: Fri, 29 Mar 91 19:10:13 EST
-
- Information Release
- US Department of Justice
- United States Attorney
- Northern District of Illinois
-
- March 22, 1991
-
- FRED FOREMAN, United States Attorney for the Northern District of
- Illinois, together with TIMOTHY J. McCARTHY, Special Agent In Charge
- of the United States Secret Service in Chicago, today announced the
- guilty plea of LEONARD ROSE, 32, 7018 Willowtree Drive, Middletown,
- Maryland to felony charges brought against him in Chicago and in
- Baltimore involving Rose trafficing with others in misappropriated
- AT&T computer programs and computer access programs between May 1988
- and February 1, 1990. Under the terms of plea agreements submitted to
- the United States District Court in Maryland, Rose will serve an
- agreed, concurrent one year prison term for his role in each of the
- fraud schemes charged.
-
- In pleading guilty to the Baltimore charges, Rose admitted that on
- October 5, 1989, he knowingly received misappropriated source code(1)
- for the AT&T UNIX computer operating system from a former AT&T technical
- contractor. The UNIX operating system is a series of computer programs
- used on a computer which act as an interface or intermediary between a
- user and the computer system itself. The UNIX operating system, which is
- licensed by AT&T at $77,000 per license, provides certain services to
- the computer user, such as the login program which is designed to
- restrict access to a computer system to authorized users. The login
- program is licensed by AT&T at $27,000 per license.
-
- In pleading guilty to the Chicago charges, Rose admitted that, after
- receiving the AT&T source code, he modified the source code governing
- the computer's login program by inserting a secret set of instructions
- commonly known as a "trojan horse." This inserted program would cause
- the computer on which the source code was installed to perform
- functions the program's author did not intend, while still executing
- the original program so that the new instructions would not be detected.
- The "trojan horse" program that Rose inserted into the computer
- program enabled a person with "system administrator" privileges to
- secretly capture the passwords and login information of authorized
- computer users on AT&T computers and store them in a hidden file. These
- captured logins and passwords could later be recovered from this
- hidden file and used to access and use authorized users' accounts
- without their knowledge. The program did not record unsuccessful login
- attempts.
-
- In connection with the Chicago charge, Rose admitted that on January
- 7, 1990, he transmitted his modified AT&T UNIX login program containing
- the trojan horse from Middletown, Maryland to a computer operator in
- Lockport, Illinois, and a student account at the University of
- Missouri, Columbia Campus.
-
- In pleading guilty to the Chicago charges, Rose acknowledged that when
- he distributed his trojan horse program to others he inserted several
- warnings so that the potential users would be alerted to the fact that
- they were in posession of proprietary AT&T information. In the text of
- the program Rose advised that the source code originally came from
- AT&T "so it's definitely not something you wish to get caught with."
- and "Warning: This is AT&T proprietary source code. DO NOT get caught
- with it." The text of the trojan horse program also stated:
- Hacked by Terminus to enable stealing passwords.
- This is obviously not a tool to be used for initial
- system penetration, but instead will allow you to
- collect passwords and accounts once it's been
- installed. (I)deal for situations where you have a
- one-shot opportunity for super user privileges..
- This source code is not public domain..(so don't get
- caught with it).
- Rose admitted that "Terminus" was a name used by him in
- communications with other computer users.
-
- In addition to these warnings, the text of Rose's trojan horse program
- also retained the original warnings installed in the program by AT&T:
- Copyright (c) 1984 AT&T
- All rights reserved
- THIS IS UNPUBLISHED PROPRIETARY
- SOURCE CODE OF AT&T
-
- This copyright notice above does
- not evidence any actual or intended
- publication of the source code.
-
- Inspection of this modified AT&T UNlX login source code by AT&T's UNIX
- licensing group revealed that the modified source code was in fact a
- "derivative work" based upon the standard UNIX login source code, which
- was regarded by AT&T as proprietary information and a trade secret of
- AT&T, which was not available in public domain software.
-
- In pleading guilty to the federal charges in Chicago and Baltimore, Rose
- also acknowledged that, after being charged with computer fraud and
- theft in federal court in Baltimore, he became employed at Interactive
- Systems Inc. in Lisle, Illinois. He acknowledged that his former
- employers at Interactive would testify that he was not authorized by
- them to obtain copies of their AT&T source code which was licensed to
- them by AT&T. Rose further admitted that John Hickey, a Member of
- Technical Staff with AT&T Bell Laboratories in Lisle, Illinois,
- correctly determined that Rose had downloaded copies of AT&T source code
- programs from the computer of Interactive to Rose's home computers in
- Naperville. The computers were examined after they were seized by the
- Naperville Police Department, executing a State search warrant,
-
- As part of the plea agreement charges filed by the DuPage County State's
- Attorney's Office will be dismissed without prejudice to refiling. The
- forfeited UNIX computer seized will be retained by the Naperville Police
- Department.
-
- Commenting on the importance of the Chicago and Baltimore cases, Mr.
- Foreman noted that the UNIX computer operating system, which is involved
- in this investigation, is used to support international, national, and
- local telephone systems. Mr. Foreman stated, "The traffic which flows
- through these systems is vital to the national health and welfare.
- People who invade our telecommunications and related computer systems
- for profit or personal amusement create immediate and serious
- consequences for the public at large. The law enforcement community and
- telecommunications industry are attentive to these crimes, and those who
- choose to use their intelligence and talent in an attempt to disrupt
- these vital networks will find themselves vigorously prosecuted."
-
- Mr. Foreman also stated that the criminal information filed in Chicago
- and a companion information in Baltimore are the initial results of a
- year long investigation by agents of the United States Secret Service in
- Chicago, Maryland, and Texas. Mr. Foreman praised the cooperation of the
- DuPage County State's Attorney's Office and the Naperville Police
- Department in the investigation. He also acknowledged AT&T's technical
- assistance to the United States Secret Service in analyzing the computer
- data seized pursuant to search warrants in Chicago, Baltimore and
- Austin, Texas.
-
- TIMOTHY J. McCARTHY, Special Agent ln Charge of the United States Secret
- Service in Chicago, noted that Rose's conviction is the latest result of
- the continuing investigation of the computer hacker organization, the
- "Legion of Doom." This investigation being conducted by the United
- States Secret Service in Chicago, Atlanta, New York and Texas, and has
- resulted in convictions of six other defendants for computer related
- crimes.
-
- Assistant United States Attorney William J. Cook, who heads the Computer
- Fraud and Abuse Task Force, and Assistant United States Attorneys
- Colleen D. Coughlin and David Glockner supervised the Secret Service
- investigation in Chicago.
-
- ----------
- (1) The UNIX operating system utility programs are written initially
- in a format referred to as "source code," a high-level computer
- language which frequently uses English letters and symbols for
- constructing computer programs. The source code was translated, using
- another program known as a compiler, into another form of program
- which a computer can rapidly read and execute, referred to as the
- "object code."
-
- ********************************************************************
- *** CuD #3.13: File 2 of 4: Response to Len Rose Article (1) ***
- ********************************************************************
-
- From: mnemonic (Mike Godwin)
- Subject: Response to RISKS DIGEST (#11.43-- Len Rose Case)
- Date: Wed, 10 Apr 91 22:18:43 EDT
-
- {Moderators' Note: The following article was written by Mike Godwin in
- response to a post by Jerry Leichter in RISKS #11.43.}
-
- ++++
-
- Jerry Leichter <leichter@lrw.com> writes the following:
-
- >With all the verbiage about whether Len Rose was a "hacker" and why he did
- >what he in fact did, everyone has had to work on ASSUMPTIONS.
-
- This is false. I have worked closely on Len's case, and have access to
- all the facts about it.
-
- >Well, it turns
- >out there's now some data: A press release from the US Attorney in Chicago,
- >posted to the Computer Underground Digest by Gene Spafford.
-
- In general, a press release is not data. A press release is a document
- designed to ensure favorable press coverage for the entity releasing it.
- There are a few facts in the press release, however, and I'll deal with
- them below.
-
- [Jerry quotes from the press release:]
- > In pleading guilty to the Chicago charges, Rose acknowledged that when
- > he distributed his trojan horse program to others he inserted several
- > warnings so that the potential users would be alerted to the fact that
- > they were in posession of proprietary AT&T information. In the text of
- > the program Rose advised that the source code originally came from
- > AT&T "so it's definitely not something you wish to get caught with."
- > and "Warning: This is AT&T proprietary source code. DO NOT get caught
- > with it."
-
- Although I am a lawyer, it does not take a law degree to see that this
- paragraph does not support Jerry's thesis--that Len Rose is interested
- in unauthorized entry into other people's computers. What it does
- show is that Len knew that he had no license for the source code in
- his possession. And, in fact, as a careful reader of the press release
- would have noted, Len pled guilty only to possession and transmission
- of unlicensed source, not to *any* unauthorized entry or any scheme
- for unauthorized entry, in spite of what is implied in the press
- release.
-
- [Jerry quotes "Terminus's" comments in the modified code:]
-
- >Hacked by Terminus to enable stealing passwords.
- >This is obviously not a tool to be used for initial
- >system penetration, but instead will allow you to
- >collect passwords and accounts once it's been
- >installed. (I)deal for situations where you have a
- >one-shot opportunity for super user privileges..
- >This source code is not public domain..(so don't get
- >caught with it).
- >
- >I can't imagine a clearer statement of an active interest in breaking into
- >systems, along with a reasonable explanation of how and when such code could
- >be effective.
-
- Indeed, it *can* be interpreted as a clear statement of an active
- interest in breaking into systems. What undercuts that interpretation,
- however, is that there is no evidence that Len Rose ever broke into
- any systems. Based on all the information available, it seems clear
- that Rose had authorized access in every system for which he sought
- it.
-
- What's more, there is no evidence that anyone ever took Rose's code
- and used it for hacking. There is no evidence that anyone ever took
- any *other* code of Rose's and used it for hacking.
-
- What Rose did is demonstrate that he could write a password-hacking
- program. Jerry apparently is unaware that some computer programmers
- like to brag about the things they *could* do--he seems to interpret
- such bragging as evidence of intent to do illegal acts. But in the
- absence of *any* evidence that Rose ever took part in unauthorized
- entry into anyone's computers, Jerry's interpretation is unfounded,
- and his posted speculations here are both irresponsible and cruel, in
- my opinion.
-
- Rose may have done some foolish things, but he didn't break into
- people's systems.
-
- >The only thing that will convince me, after reading this, that Rose was NOT an
- >active system breaker is a believable claim that either (a) this text was not
- >quoted correctly from the modified login.c source; or (b) Rose didn't write
- >the text, but was essentially forced by the admitted duress of his situation
- >to acknowledge it as his own.
-
- In other words, Jerry says, the fact that Rose never actually tried
- to break into people's systems doesn't count as evidence "that Rose was
- NOT an active system breaker." This is a shame. One would hope that
- even Jerry might regard this as a relevant fact.
-
- Let me close here by warning Jerry and other readers not to accept
- press releases--even from the government--uncritically. The government
- has a political stake in this case: it feels compelled to show that
- Len Rose was an active threat to other people's systems, so it has
- selectively presented material in its press release to support that
- interpretation.
-
- But press releases are rhetorical devices. They are designed to shape
- opinion. Even when technically accurate, as in this case, they can
- present the facts in a way that implies that a defendant was far more
- of a threat than he actually was. This is what happened in Len Rose's
- case.
-
- It bears repeating: there was no evidence, and the government did not
- claim, that Len Rose had ever tried to break into other people's
- systems, or that he took part in anyone else's efforts to do so.
-
- ********************************************************************
- >> END OF THIS FILE <<
- ***************************************************************************
-
- ------------------------------
-
- From: louisg <louisg@VPNET.CHI.IL.US>
- Subject: Response to recent comments concerning Len Rose
- Date: Wed, 17 Apr 91 23:53:44 CDT
-
- ********************************************************************
- *** CuD #3.13: File 3 of 4: Response to Len Rose Article (2) ***
- ********************************************************************
-
- In CuD 312 Mr. James Davies wrote a letter expressing his feelings on
- the Len Rose case. I feel that he and many others are missing the
- larger point of the issue, as I will try to describe.
-
- >Subject: Len Rose
- >From: jrbd@CRAYCOS.COM(James Davies)
-
- >Keith Hansen and Arel Lucas in CuD #3.11 shared with us their letter
- >to AT&T expressing their anger at the arrest and conviction of Len
- >Rose (among other things). Well, I have to disagree with their
- >conclusions in this case -- Len Rose is not an innocent martyr,
- >crucified by an evil corporation for benevolently giving unpaid
- >support to AT&T software users, as Hansen and Lucas attempted to
- >portray him.
-
- Mr. Davies is quite correct when he states that Len was not innocent
- of certain criminal acts as defined by current law. The trial has
- come and gone, and Len pleaded guilty. Mr. Davies even provides
- evidence of Mr. Rose's intent. Whether it is 'court-quality' evidence
- or not, it should convince the reader that Len was guilty of something
- or other. By checking the references that Mr. Davies provides, his
- case of Rose's guilt is made even stronger. I am stating this since I
- want to make it *clear* that I am NOT questioning the guilt of Mr. Rose.
-
- What I must question, however, is what happened to Mr. Rose.
-
- Mr. Rose commited white-collar crimes. He did not physically injure
- or maim or kill anyone. His crime was money-related. He did not
- steal from a 75 year-old on social security, giving her a kick in the
- ribs for good luck on his way out. The way he was treated, however,
- suggests that he committed a crime of the most heinous nature.
-
- For a felony violent crime, I could understand and even in some cases
- promote strict treatment of the accused before the trial. For a white
- collar crime that does not threaten the solvency of a company or
- persons I cannot.
-
- Len Rose posed a risk to no person or company after his warrant was
- served. Before he was even put on trial, he had almost all of his
- belongings taken away, was harassed (in my opinion) by the
- authorities, and left without a means for supporting himself and his
- family. Why? Because he had Unix source code. Does this seem just to
- you? It would be very different if he had 55 warrants for rape and
- murder in 48 states listing him as the accused, but he didn't. He
- lost everything *before* the trial, and, as a result, was almost
- forced into pleading guilty. All this for copyright violations, as I
- see it, or felony theft as others may see it.
-
- The problem here is the *same* as in the Steve Jackson case. The
- person who was served the warrant (he wasn't even charged yet!!!!)
- lost everything. They were punished not only before a conviction,
- before a trial, but before they were even charged with a crime!!!
-
- This, for a non-violent, white-collar crime that did not directly
- threaten a person or company with bankruptcy. In Jackson's case, he
- was even innocent!
-
- >Personally, I think that Rose is guilty of the exact same sort of
- >behaviour that gives hackers a bad name in the press, and I think that
- >you're crazy to be supporting him in this. Save your indignation for
- >true misjustices, ok?
-
- If this isn't an injustice, then I don't know what is. If this sort
- of treatment of the accused seems just to you, Mr. Davies, then may I
- suggest a position in the secret police of some Fascist country as a
- fitting career move on your part. The fact that Len was guilty does
- not nullify the maltreatment of him, his family, and his equipment
- before his trial. It in no wise makes it right. This sort of action
- gives law enforcement a bad name. I'm sure that I would share your
- views if the accused was a habitual criminal and he
- presented a threat to the public. He wasn't, and presented little or
- no threat at the time of the warrant. Law enforcement is there to
- protect the public, and not to convict the guilty. That is a job for
- the courts and a jury of one's peers as stipulated in the U.S.
- Constitution. I suggest you glance at it before you restate that
- there was no "misjustice" (sic) here.
-
- ********************************************************************
- *** CuD #3.14: File 2 of 6: Comments on Len Rose Articles ***
- ********************************************************************
-
- From: Gene Spafford <spaf@CS.PURDUE.EDU>
- Subject: Comments on your comments on Len Rose
- Date: Sat, 30 Mar 91 14:41:02 EST
-
- {Moderators' comment: Spaf just sent his latest book, PRACTICAL UNIX
- SECURITY, co-authored with Simson Garfinkel to the publishers
- (O'Reilly and Associates ((the Nutshell Handbook people). It's
- approximately 475 pages and will available in mid-May. From our
- reading of the table of contents, and from preview comments
- ("definitive," destined to be the "standard reference"), it looks like
- something well-worth the $29.95 investment.}
-
- There is little doubt that law enforcement has sometimes been
- overzealous or based on ignorance. That is especially true as
- concerns computer-related crimes, although it is not unique to that
- arena. Reporting of some of these incidents has also been incorrect.
- Obviously, we all wish to act to prevent future such abuses,
- especially as they apply to computers.
-
- However, that being the case does not mean that everyone accused under
- the law is really innocent and the target of "political" persecution.
- That is certainly not reality; in some cases the individuals charged
- are clearly at fault. By representing all of them as innocents and
- victims, you further alienate the moderates who would otherwise be
- sympathetic to the underlying problems. By trying to represent every
- individual charged with computer abuse as an innocent victim, you are
- guilty of the same thing you condemn law enforcement of when they
- paint all "hackers" as criminals.
-
- In particular, you portray Len Rose as an innocent whose life has been
- ruined through no fault of his own, and who did nothing to warrant
- Federal prosecution. That is clearly not the case. Len has
- acknowledged that he was in possession of, and trafficing in, source
- code he knew was proprietary. He even put multiple comments in the
- code he modified stating that, and warning others not to get caught
- with it. The patch he made would surreptitiously collect passwords
- and store them in a hidden file in a public directory for later use.
- The argument that this patch could be used for system security is
- obviously bogus; a system admin would log these passwords to a
- protected, private file, not a hidden file in a public directory.
- Further, your comments about having root access are not appropriate,
- either, for a number of reasons -- sometimes, root access can be
- gained temporarily without the password, so a quick backdoor is all
- that can be planted. Usually, crackers like to find other ways on
- that aren't as likely to be monitored as "root", so getting many user
- passwords is a good idea. Finally, if passwords got changed, this
- change would still allow them to find new ways in, as long as the
- trojan wasn't found.
-
- The login changes were the source of the fraud charge. It is
- certainly security-related, and the application of the law appears to
- be appropriate. By the comments Len made in the code, he certainly
- knew what he was doing, and he knew how the code was likely to be
- used: certainly not as a security aid. As somebody with claimed
- expertise in Unix as a consultant, he surely knew the consequences of
- distributing this patched code.
-
- An obvious claim when trying to portray accused individuals as victims
- is that their guilty pleas are made under duress to avoid further
- difficulties for their family or some other third party. You made
- that claim about Len in your posting. However, a different
- explanation is just as valid -- Len and his lawyers realized that he
- was guilty and the evidence was too substantial, and it would be more
- beneficial to Len to plead guilty to one charge than take a chance
- against five in court. I am inclined to believe that both views are
- true in this case.
-
- Your comments about Len's family and career are true enough, but they
- don't mean anything about his guilt or innocence, do they? Are bank
- robbers or arsonists innocent because they are the sole means of
- support for their family? Should we conclude they are "political"
- victims because of their targets? Just because the arena of the
- offenses involves computers does not automatically mean the accused is
- innocent of the charges. Just because the accused has a family which
- is inconvenienced by the accused serving a possible jail term does
- not mean the sentence should be suspended.
-
- Consider that Len was under Federal indictment for the login.c stuff,
- then got the job in Illinois and knowingly downloaded more source code
- he was not authorized to access (so he has confessed). Does this
- sound like someone who is using good judgement to look out for his
- family and himself? It is a pity that Len's family is likely to
- suffer because of Len's actions. However, I think it inappropriate to
- try and paint Len as a victim of the system. He is a victim of his
- own poor judgement. Unfortunately, his family has been victimized by
- Len, too.
-
- I share a concern of many computer professionals about the application
- of law to computing, and the possible erosion of our freedoms.
- However, I also have a concern about the people who are attempting to
- abuse the electronic frontier and who are contributing to the decline
- in our freedoms. Trying to defend the abusers is likely to result in
- a loss of sympathy for the calls to protect the innocent, too. I
- believe that one reason the EFF is still viewed by some people as a
- "hacker defense fund" is because little publicity has been given to
- the statements about appropriate laws punishing computer abusers;
- instead, all the publicity has been given to their statements about
- defending the accused "hackers."
-
- In the long term, the only way we will get the overall support we need
- to protect innocent pursuits is to also be sure that we don't condone
- or encourage clearly illegal activities. Groups and causes are judged
- by their icons, and attempts to lionize everyone accused of computer
- abuse is not a good way to build credibility -- especially if those
- people are clearly guilty of those abuses. The Neidorf case is
- probably going to be a rallying point in the future. The Steve
- Jackson Games case might be, once the case is completed (if it ever
- is). However, I certainly do not want to ask people to rally around
- the cases of Robert Morris or Len Rose as examples of government
- excess, because I don't think they were, and neither would a
- significant number of reasonable people who examine the cases.
-
- I agree that free speech should not be criminalized. However, I also
- think we should not hide criminal and unethical behavior behind the
- cry of "free speech." Promoting freedoms without equal promotion of
- the responsibility behind those freedoms does not lead to a greater
- good. If you cry "wolf" too often, people ignore you when the wolf is
- really there.
-
- ********************************************************************
- >> END OF THIS FILE <<
- ***************************************************************************
-
- ------------------------------
-
- From: Moderators (Jim Thomas)
- Subject: Moving toward Common Ground? Reply to Gene Spafford
- Date: April 26, 1991
-
- ********************************************************************
- *** CuD #3.14: File 3 of 6: Moving toward Common Ground? ***
- ********************************************************************
-
- Gene Spafford's comments raise a number of issues, and my guess is
- that he and other "moderates" are not that far apart from those of us
- considered "extremists." His post was sent in March, but we received
- it on April 24, so some of his comments about Len Rose have already
- received sufficient response (see Mike Godwin in CuD 3.13). We are
- more concerned with the potential points of converenge on which
- "moderates" and "radicals" might agree.
-
- Gene raises several issues: 1) The tone of some critics of recent
- "hacker" cases tends to be divisive and inhibits coming together on
- common ground; 2) There exists a danger in "crying wolf" in that cases
- in which legitimate abuses may have occured or that directly raise
- important issues about civil liberties will be ignored because of
- excessive concern with cases that are perceived as less meritorious or
- in which the defendants may not seem sympathetic; c) An aggressive
- social response is required to reverse the apparent trend in computer
- abuse. We disagree with none of these issues. There is, however, room
- for legitimate disagreement on how these issues should be addressed,
- and there is room for conciliation and compromise.
-
- Although many cases of law enforcement response to alleged computer
- abuse have been reported, only a few have generated any significant
- attention. These cases have not generally centered around issues of
- guilt or innocence, but on broader concerns. Other than general
- reporting of cases, CuDs own attention has been limited to:
-
- STEVE JACKSON GAMES: Few, if any, think the search of Steve Jackson's
- company and seizure of his equipment was acceptable. The seizure
- affidavit indicated that the justification for the raid was grossly
- exaggerated and its implementation extreme. There have been no
- arrests resulting from that raid, but the questions it raised have not
- yet been resolved.
-
- LEN ROSE: Whatever one thinks of Len Rose's behavior, the actions of
- AT&T and law enforcement raise too many issues to be ignored whatever
- Len's own culpability (or lack of it). The initial indictments, press
- releases, and prosecutor media comments connected Len to E911, the
- Legion of Doom, and computer security when the case was actually about
- possesion of unlicensed proprietary software. We have never denied the
- importance of either issue. Our concern continues to be the
- misconceptions about the nature of the case, what we see as an extreme
- response to a relatively minor incident, and the way the laws were used
- to inflate charges. These are all debatable issues, but the nets were
- buzzing with claims of Len's guilt, the need to "send a message to
- hackers," and other claims that reinforced the legitimacy of charges
- and sanctions that still seem inappropriate. The fact that some still
- see it as a security case, others as a piracy case, others as
- justice-run-amok, and still others as a signal to examine the limits
- of criminalization illustrates the significance of the events: If we
- can't agree on the issues involved without yelling at each other, then
- how can we even begin to address the issues?
-
- 3. CRAIG NEIDORF/PHRACK: When the prosecution dropped the case against
- Craig Neidorf for publishing alleged proprietary information valued at
- nearly $80,000 when it was found that the information was available to
- the public for under $14, most people thought it was a victory.
- However, the logic that impelled prosecution did not stop with Craig,
- and our concern continues to be over the apparent unwillingness of
- some law enforcement agents to recognize that this was not just a
- prosecutorial "mistake," but part of a pattern in which excessive
- claims are made to justify raids, indictments, or prosecution.
-
- THE HOLLYWOOD HACKER: Again, this is not a case of guilt or innocence,
- but one in which existing laws are sufficiently vague to
- over-criminalize relatively minor alleged acts. The apparent
- philosophy of prosecutors to "send a message" to "hackers" in a case
- that is not a hacker case but the sting of an investigative journalist
- seems another use of over-prosecution. There is also the possibility
- of a vindictive set-up by Fox of a freelance reporter who is alleged
- to have done what may be a common practice at Fox (see the post, this
- issue, citing Murray Povich).
-
- RIPCO: Dr. Ripco's equipment was seized and his BBS shut down, but no
- charges have been filed against him. He remains in limbo, his
- equipment has not been returned, and he still does not know why.
- Here, the issue of sysop liability, the reliability of informants, and
- the legal status of private e-mail are raised.
-
- THE "ATLANTA THREE:" The Riggs, Darden, and Grant case became an issue
- after the guilty verdict. We can think of no instance of anybody ever
- defending their actions for which they were indicted or in proclaiming
- them innocent after (or even before) their plea. At state in the
- debates was not that of guilt or a defense of intrusions, but of
- sentencing and the manner in which it was done.
-
- OPERATION SUN DEVIL: Operation Sun Devil, according to those
- participating in it, began in response to complaints of fraudulent
- credit card use and other forms of theft. The "hacking community"
- especially has been adamant in its opposition to "carding" and
- rip-off. Here, the issue was the intrusive nature of searches and
- seizures and the initial hyperbole of law enforcement in highly
- visible press releases in their initial euphoria following the raids.
- In an investigation that began "nearly two years" prior to the May 8,
- 1990 raids, and in the subsequent 12 months of "analysis of evidence,"
- only two indictments have been issued. Both of those were relegated to
- state court, and the charges are, in the scheme of white collar crime,
- are relatively minor. There have also been questions raised about
- whether the evidence for prosecution might not have either already
- existed prior to Sun Devil or that it could have readily been obtained
- without Sun Devil. The key to the indictment seems to be a ubiquitous
- informant who was paid to dig out dirt on folks. For some, Sun Devil
- raises the issue of use of informants, over-zealousness of
- prosecutors, and lack of accountability in seizures. We fully agree
- that if there is evidence of felonious activity, there should be a
- response. The question, however, is how such evidence is obtained and
- at what social and other costs.
-
- Many may disagree with our perspective on these cases, but several
- points remain: 1) Each of them raises significant issues about the
- methods of the criminal justice system in a new area of law; 2) Each
- of them serves as an icon for specific problems (privacy, evidence,
- ethics, language of law, media images, sysop liability to name just a
- few); and 3) In each of them, whatever the culpable status of the
- suspects, there exists an avenue to debate the broader issue of the
- distinction between criminal and simply unethical behavior.
-
- Among the issues that, if discussed and debated, would move the level
- of discussion from personalities to common concerns are:
-
- 1. Overzealous law enforcement action: Prosecutors are faced with the
- difficult task of enforcing laws that are outstripped by technological
- change. Barriers to this enforcement include lack of resources and
- technical expertise, ambiguity of definitions, and vague laws that
- allow some groups (such as AT&T) who seem to have a history of
- themselves attempting to use their formidable economic and corporate
- power to jockey for legal privilege. Legal definitions of and
- responses to perceived inappropriate behavior today will shape how
- cyberspace is controlled in the coming decades. Questionable actions
- set bad precedents. That is why we refer to specific cases as ICONS
- that symbolize the dangers of over-control and the problems
- accompanying it.
-
- 2. Media distortions: This will be addressed in more detail in a
- future CuD, because it is a critically important factor in the
- perpetuation of public and law enforcements' misconceptions about the
- CU. However, concern for distortion should be expanded to include how
- we all (CuD included) portray images of events, groups, and
- individuals. Some law enforcers have complained about irresponsible
- media accuracy when the alleged inaccuracies have in fact come from
- law enforcement sources. But, media (and other) distortions of CU news
- is not simply a matter of "getting the facts straight." It also
- requires that we all reflect on how we ourselves create images that
- reinforce erroneous stereotypes and myths that in turn perpetuate the
- "facts" by recursive rounds of citing the errors rather than the
- reality.
-
- CuD AS PRO HACKER: The CuD moderators are seen by some as defending
- cybercrime of all kinds, and as opposing *any* prosecution of
- "computer criminals. Why must we constantly repeat that a) we have
- *never* said that computer intrusion is acceptable, and b) we fully
- believe that laws protecting the public against computer abuse are
- necessary. This, so I am told, "turns many people off." We have been
- clear about our position. There are occasions when discussion can
- reflect a variety of rhetorical strategies, ranging from reason to
- hyperbole. As long as the issues remain forefront, there seems nothing
- wrong with expressing outrage as a legitimate response to outrageous
- acts.
-
- 4. Crime and ethics in the cyber-frontier: These issues, although
- separate, raise the same question. Which behaviors should be
- sanctioned by criminal or civil penalties, and which sanctioned by
- collective norms and peer pressure? Unwise acts are not necessarily
- criminal acts, and adducing one's lack of wisdom as "proof" of
- criminality, and therefore sanctionable, is equally unwise. There are
- degrees of abuse, some of which require criminal penalties, others of
- which do not. The CU has changed largely because the number of
- computer users has dramatically increased make the "bozo factor" (the
- point at which critical mass of abusing bozos has been reached making
- them a group unto themselves) has a significant impact on others.
- There are also more opportunities not only to abuse, but to identify
- and apprehend abusers, which increases the visibility of the bozos. We
- can, as we did with the problems of crime, poverty, drugs, and other
- ills, declare a "war" on it (which most certainly means that we've
- lost before we've begun). Or, we can peruse a more proactive course
- and push for equitable laws and just responses to computer abuse while
- simultaneously emphasizing ethics. We fully agree that netethics
- should occur in schools, on the nets, in articles, and every other
- place where cybernauts obtain models and images of their new world.
- But, just as we should identify and work toward ethical behavior
- within the CU, we must also demand that others, such as AT&T, some law
- enforcement agents, BellSouth, et. al., do the same. It is hardly
- ethical to claim that a commodity valued at under $14 is worth over
- $79,000, and it is hardly ethical to compare possession of proprietary
- software with index crimes such as theft, arson, or embezzlement.
- Whether our own perspective is correct or not, the point is that what
- does or does not count as ethical behavior can no longer be assumed,
- but requires a level of debate the extends beyond netlynchings of
- individual suspects.
-
- Gene Spafford, like many others who share his view, is a productive
- and competent computer specialist who sees the dark side of computer
- abuse because he defends against it. I, like many others who share my
- view, see the dark side of law enforcement because, as a
- criminologist, I have been immersed in the abuses and fight against
- them. Our different experiences give us different demons to fight, an
- occasional windmill or two with which to joust, and a dissimilar
- arsenal that we use in our battles. Nonetheless, even though there is
- not total agreement on precisely which is a windmill and which a
- monster, Gene suggests that there is shared agreement on a minimal
- common reality and some common goals for making it more manageable. I
- fully, absolutely, and unequivocally agree with Gene:
-
- I agree that free speech should not be criminalized.
- However, I also think we should not hide criminal and
- unethical behavior behind the cry of "free speech.
- Promoting freedoms without equal promotion of the
- responsibility behind those freedoms does not lead to a
- greater good. If you cry "wolf" too often, people ignore
- you when the wolf is really there.
-
- I would only respond that his observation be taken to heart by all
- sides.
-
- ********************************************************************
- *** CuD #3.21: File 7 of 7: Len Rose Sentenced ***
- ********************************************************************
-
- From: Barbara E. McMullen and John F. McMullen
- Subject: Len Rose Sentenced (Reprint from Newsbytes)
- Date: 12 June, 1991
-
- LEN ROSE SENTENCED TO 1 YEAR 06/12/91
- BALTIMORE, MARYLAND, U.S.A., 1991 JUNE 12 (NB) -- Leonard Rose, Jr., a
- computer consultant also known as "Terminus", was sentenced to a year
- and a day in prison for charges relating to unauthorized sending of
- AT&T UNIX source code via telephone to another party. Rose is
- scheduled to begin serving his sentence on July 10th.
-
- The original indictment against Rose was for interstate transportation
- of stolen property and violations of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act
- but those charges were dropped and replaced by a single charge of wire
- fraud under a plea agreement entered into in March. The charges
- involving the violation of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act had been
- challenged in a friend of the court brief filed in January by the
- Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) who challenged the statute as
- "unconstitutionally vague and overbroad and in violation of the First
- Amendment guarantees of freedom of speech and association." The issues
- raised by EFF were not resolved as the charges to which they objected
- were dropped as part of the plea agreement.
-
- In his plea, Rose admitted to receiving misappropriated UNIX source
- code and modifying it to introduce a trojan horse into the login
- procedures; the trojan horse would allow its developer to collect
- passwords from unsuspecting persons logging on to a system containing
- this code. Rose admitted that he transmitted the modified code via
- telephone lines to a computer operator in Lockport, IL and a student
- account at the University of Missouri. He also admitted putting
- warnings in the transmitted code saying "Warning: This is AT&T
- proprietary source code. DO NOT get caught with it."
-
- U.S. District Judge J. Frederick Motz, in sentencing Rose, ordered him
- to sell his computer equipment and to inform potential employers of
- his conviction. Assistant United States Attorney Geoffrey Garinther,
- who prosecuted Rose, explained these portions of the sentence to
- Newsbytes, saying "The equipment was seized as evidence during the
- investigation and was only returned to him as part of the agreement
- when it became evident that he had no means of supporting his wife and
- two children. It was returned to him for the sole purpose of selling
- the equipment for this purpose and, although he has not yet sold it,
- he has shown evidence of efforts to do so. The judge just formalized
- the earlier agreement in his sentence. The duty to inform potential
- employers puts the burden of proof on him to insure that he is not
- granted "Root" privileges on a system without the employer's
- knowledge."
-
- Garinther added "I don't have knowledge of the outcome of all the
- cases of this type in the country but I'm told that this is one of the
- stiffest sentences a computer hacker has received. I'm satisfied
- about the outcome."
-
- Jane Macht, attorney for Rose, commenting to Newsbytes on the
- sentence, said "The notification of potential employers was a
- negotiated settlement to allow Len to work during the three years of
- his supervised release while satisfying the government's concern that
- employers be protected." Macht also pointed out that many reports of
- the case had glossed over an important point,"This is not a computer
- intrusion or security case; it was rather a case involving corporate
- computer software property rights. There were no allegations that Len
- broke into anyone's system. Further, there are no reported cases of
- anyone installing his modified code on any system. It should be
- understood that it would require a system manager or someone else with
- 'superuser' status to install this routine into the UNIX login
- procedure. The publishing of the routine did not, as has been
- reported, open the door to a marked increase in unauthorized computer
- access."
-
- Macht said that she believed that Rose had reached an agreement to
- sell the computer equipment. He had been offering it through the
- Internet for $6,000, the amount required to prepay his rent for the
- length of his prison sentence. Because of his financial circumstances,
- which Macht referred to as a "negative net worth", the judge did not
- order any restitution payments from Rose to AT&T.
-
- (Barbara E. McMullen & John F. McMullen/19910612)
-
- Date: Fri, 14 Jun 91 20:41:43 CDT
- From: TELECOM Moderator <telecom@eecs.nwu.edu>
- Subject: Well Len, Was it Worth a Prison Term?
-
- The Len Rose saga came to an end this past week when a federal judge
- considered the circumstances involved and chose to impose punishment
- by placing Len in the custody of the Attorney General of the United
- States, or his authorized representative for a period of one year.
- As in all such cases where the court finds the defendant poses no
- immediate danger to the community, Len was given a one month period
- from the imposition of punishment to get his personal affairs in order
- before beginning his sentence.
-
- At some point in time between now and July 10 mutually convenient to
- Len, his attorney and the government, Len will surrender to the United
- States Marshall, and be escorted to the penitentiary. As the first
- order of business at the penitentiary receiving room, he'll be
- required to submit to a complete strip-search accompanied by a rather
- indelicate probing to insure that he does not have in his possession
- any drugs; weapons with which he might harm himself, the staff or
- other inmates; or other contraband.
-
- He'll surrender his identity completely: driver's license, credit
- cards, social security card -- anything which identifies Len Rose as
- Len Rose will be taken from him and returned when he is released. For
- the time he is incarcerated, he will be a number stamped on the
- uniform he is given to wear. Or, he may be in a minimum security
- institution and be permitted to wear his 'street clothes', but without
- a shred of ID in his wallet. His ID will be his prison serial number.
- But there will still be the initial and occassional thereafter strip
- search and urine test on demand.
-
- Len's wife, who barely speaks English will be left alone to fend for
- herself for several months. She'll raise the two children the best she
- can, on whatever money she has available to her. It won't be easy, but
- then, it wasn't easy when Len was locked up before for a week in the
- Dupage Jail in Wheaton, IL while the state charges were pending here.
-
- Speaking of the kids, I wonder if Len has explained all this to them
- yet. I wonder if they know, or are old enough to understand their dad
- is going to prison, and why ...
-
- When Len is released, he'll be 'allowed to' carry the tag "ex-con"
- with him when he applies for work and tries to make new friends. One
- part of his punishment is that in the future he must reveal his status
- to prospective employers. Needless to say, the Internal Revenue
- Service and the Justice Department trade files all the time ... so Len
- will want to be super-honest on his federal taxes in the future, since
- he can probably expect to be audited once or twice in the first five
- years or so following his release.
-
- I wonder if it was all worth it ... if Len had it to do over again if
- he would do the same things he did before, or if he might consider the
- consequences more carefully.
-
- Despite the intensive crackdown we have seen by the federal government
- in the past few years against 'white collar' and computer crime, there
- are still those folks around who either (a) don't think it applies to
- them, or (b) don't think they will get caught, or (c) don't understand
- what the big fuss is all about in the first place.
-
- If you don't think (c) is still possible, consider the recent thread
- in comp.org.eff.talk -- yes, I know, *where else* !! -- on the student
- who got suspended from school for two quarters after downloading and
- distributing the system password file on the machine he had been
- entrusted to use. The fact that the debate could go on endlessly for
- message after message actually questioning what, if anything the chap
- did wrong tells us plenty about the mentality and 'social respsonsi-
- bility' of EFF devotees, but that is a whole new topic in itself.
-
- The point is, some of us are simply getting very tired of the
- break-ins, the fraudulent messages, the fact that in order to telnet
- to a different site we can no longer do so direct from dialup servers
- without a lot of rig-a-ma-role because computer (ab)users have stolen
- all the trust which used to exist between sites, and the increasing
- scarcity of 'guest' accounts on various sites because the sysadmins
- are tired of being eaten alive with fraudulent and destructive usage.
-
- Users had better wise up to one fact: the federal government is going
- to continue to crack down on abusers of the net and this media. And
- please, none of your hysterical freedom of speech arguments in my
- mail, thank you. No one gives an iota what you write about, but when
- you get your hands in the password file, rip off root or wheel
- accounts, run programs deceptive to other users designed to rip off
- their accounts also and generally behave like a two-bit burglar or
- con-artist, expect to get treated like one when you get caught.
-
- And you *will* get caught. Then you can go sit and commiserate with
- Len Rose. If Len Rose has half the brain I think he has, he will come
- out of the penitentiary a better person than when he went in. The
- penitentiary can be, and frequently is a therapeutic experience, at
- least for the people who think about what it was that caused them to
- get there in the first place.
-
- I feel very sorry about what has happened to Len Rose. I feel worse
- about the circumstances his wife and children are in. But the
- socially irresponsible behavior (which some people who call themselves
- 'socially responsible' seem to condone or wink at) has to stop. Now.
-
- A US Attorney involved in prosecuting computer crime once said, "users
- need an example when they log in of what to expect when they screw up
- while on line ..." Indeed we do ... and Len Rose will serve as such.
-
- And a knowledgeable sysadmin who is quietly cooperating with the
- government tells me a federal grand jury is <thisclose> to returning
- another cycle of indictments. Need I say more?
-
- So Len, *was* it all worth it?
-
- Patrick Townson
-
- Date: Sat, 15 Jun 91 20:29:56 CDT
- From: TELECOM Moderator <telecom@EECS.NWU.EDU>
- Subject: TELECOM Digest V11 #459
-
- TELECOM Digest Sat, 15 Jun 91 20:29:33 CDT Volume 11 : Issue 459
-
- Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson
-
- Re: Well Len, Was it Worth a Prison Term? [Mike Godwin]
- Re: Well Len, Was it Worth a Prison Term? [Jim Thomas]
- Re: Well Len, Was it Worth a Prison Term? [Mark Brown]
- Re: Well Len, Was it Worth a Prison Term? [Jim Youll]
- Re: Well Len, Was it Worth a Prison Term? [Clint Fleckenstein]
- ----------------------------------------------------------------------
-
- Date: Sat, 15 Jun 91 11:54:24 -0400
- From: Mike Godwin <mnemonic@eff.org>
- Subject: Re: Well Len, Was it Worth a Prison Term?
- Organization: The Electronic Frontier Foundation
-
-
- I have to say that in all the postings I have ever seen Pat Townson
- write, his posting about Len Rose is the most shameful and morally
- indefensible.
-
- I find it incredibly ironic that Townson, after all this time, seems
- to have so little sense of what Len Rose actually *did* and of what he
- didn't do.
-
- Let's detail some of Pat's many, many factual and moral errors:
-
- In article <telecom11.453.1@eecs.nwu.edu> telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
- (TELECOM Moderator) writes:
-
- > The Len Rose saga came to an end this past week when a federal judge
- > considered the circumstances involved and chose to impose punishment
- > by placing Len in the custody of the Attorney General of the United
- > States, or his authorized representative for a period of one year.
-
- The judge didn't decide to give Rose a year in prison. That was a
- product of the plea agreement between the government and Rose's
- attorney.
-
- > Speaking of the kids, I wonder if Len has explained all this to them
- > yet. I wonder if they know, or are old enough to understand their dad
- > is going to prison, and why ...
-
- "Dear children,
-
- "Your father is going to prison because he possessed and transmitted
- unlicensed source code. Hundreds of other Unix consultants have done
- the same thing, but I was targeted because I wrote an article for
- {Phrack Magazine} about how to modify login.c for hacking purposes,
- and that article, while never published, was found in a search of
- Craig Neidorf's room. The prosecutor and the phone company tried to
- put Neidorf into prison, but when their distortions came to light they
- dropped the case. They searched my system for the same E911 document,
- but when they didn't find it, they decided to find something else to
- prosecute me for -- namely, the unlicensed Unix source code.
-
- "Children, lots of people, including Patrick Townson, will call me a
- hacker and say I got convicted because of breakins into other people's
- computers. Patrick Townson lies if he says this. I never broke in to
- anyone's computer. I was always given access to systems by sysadmins
- who were authorized to give me that access.
-
- "My children, as I spend that time in prison, be aware that some
- people will, without shame, distort the facts of my case in order to
- use me as a cheap moral lesson. If you must hate them, don't hate them
- because of what they say, but because they have chosen to be
- hypocritical. Hate them because they have friends who possess
- unlicensed source code, but they've never reported those friends to
- the U.S. Attorney. Hate them because they make blanket condemnations
- without bothering to learn the facts."
-
- > I wonder if it was all worth it ... if Len had it to do over again if
- > he would do the same things he did before, or if he might consider the
- > consequences more carefully.
-
- Have you asked this question of all Unix consultants who possess
- unlicensed source code, Pat? No, I didn't think so.
-
- > If you don't think (c) is still possible, consider the recent thread
- > in comp.org.eff.talk -- yes, I know, *where else* !! -- on the student
- > who got suspended from school for two quarters after downloading and
- > distributing the system password file on the machine he had been
- > entrusted to use. The fact that the debate could go on endlessly for
- > message after message actually questioning what, if anything the chap
- > did wrong tells us plenty about the mentality and 'social respsonsi-
- > bility' of EFF devotees, but that is a whole new topic in itself.
-
- This is a particularly contemptible slam at EFF, which is as concerned
- with your rights as it is of those who are self-proclaimed hackers.
- EFF has never approved of unauthorized computer intrusion, and we have
- never doubted that the Georgia student who distributed the password
- file was wrong to do so.
-
- Pat, up until this point, I regarded you as something of a friend.
- I've spoken to you on the phone, asked for your help, and been willing
- to offer mine.
-
- But this whole paragraph about "EFF devotees" convinces me that you
- really have no moral center, and no ability to distinguish between
- what some people write and what other people believe. I would never
- dream of attributing every opinion posted in your newsgroup to
- "comp.dcom.telecom devotees."
-
- Of course, that's because I actually consider the moral consequences
- of labelling people.
-
- > The point is, some of us are simply getting very tired of the
- > break-ins, the fraudulent messages, the fact that in order to telnet
- > to a different site we can no longer do so direct from dialup servers
- > without a lot of rig-a-ma-role because computer (ab)users have stolen
- > all the trust which used to exist between sites, and the increasing
- > scarcity of 'guest' accounts on various sites because the sysadmins
- > are tired of being eaten alive with fraudulent and destructive usage.
-
- Len Rose never did a breakin, and never took any action that limited
- the use of telnet or guest accounts. Neither has EFF.
-
- > Users had better wise up to one fact: the federal government is going
- > to continue to crack down on abusers of the net and this media. And
- > please, none of your hysterical freedom of speech arguments in my
- > mail, thank you. No one gives an iota what you write about, but when
- > you get your hands in the password file, rip off root or wheel
- > accounts, run programs deceptive to other users designed to rip off
- > their accounts also and generally behave like a two-bit burglar or
- > con-artist, expect to get treated like one when you get caught.
-
- Who is the "you" in this paragraph, Pat? EFF? You were just talking
- about EFF. Has anyone at EFF *ever* said that "freedom of speech"
- encompasses breakins?
-
- No. It is your contemptible distortion to attribute that view to us.
-
- > And you *will* get caught. Then you can go sit and commiserate with
- > Len Rose. If Len Rose has half the brain I think he has, he will
- > come out of the penitentiary a better person than when he went in.
- > The penitentiary can be, and frequently is a therapeutic experience,
- > at least for the people who think about what it was that caused them
- > to get there in the first place.
-
- What do you think caused Len Rose to get there, Pat?
-
- > I feel very sorry about what has happened to Len Rose.
-
- This seems two-faced after you've spent a whole posting gloating about
- it.
-
- > I feel worse about the circumstances his wife and children are in.
- > But the socially irresponsible behavior (which some people who call
- > themselves 'socially responsible' seem to condone or wink at) has to
- > stop. Now.
-
- First of all, there is no statute outlawing "social irresponsibility."
- If there were, you would have committed a felony with your distortions
- in this posting.
-
- > A US Attorney involved in prosecuting computer crime once said, "users
- > need an example when they log in of what to expect when they screw up
- > while on line ..." Indeed we do ... and Len Rose will serve as such.
-
- Is the U.S. Attorney Bill Cook, Pat? The AUSA who cost Craig Neidorf
- $100,000 because he didn't know that the E911 document was not a
- program, and that the information in it was publicly available and not
- a trade secret? Bill Cook has never been held accountable for what he
- did to Craig Neidorf.
-
- > And a knowledgeable sysadmin who is quietly cooperating with the
- > government tells me a federal grand jury is <thisclose> to returning
- > another cycle of indictments. Need I say more?
-
- Yes, you need to say more. This time around there are forces in the
- community that, unlike you, will act to keep both the government and
- the phone companies honest.
-
- > So Len, *was* it all worth it?
-
- Len no doubt thanks you for the charity you have shown him in kicking
- him when he is down.
-
- Was it worth it, Pat, to take still another slam at Len, and to
- alienate people who are working to preserve *your* rights in the
- process?
-
-
- Mike Godwin, mnemonic@eff.org
- (617) 864-1550 EFF, Cambridge, MA
-
- ------------------------------
-
- Date: Sat, 15 Jun 91 01:15 CDT
- From: TK0JUT1@mvs.cso.niu.edu
- Subject: Well Len, Was it Worth a Prison Term?
-
-
- The Moderator's comments in TELECOM Digest #453 giving his view of the
- Len Rose sentencing are disingenuous. After some moralizing about Len,
- the Moderator leaps to examples of hackers and other intruders, then
- adduces these examples as justification for Len's sentencing. Len
- *WAS NOT* busted for hacking, but for possession of AT&T source code
- and for sending it across state lines. Check the evidence and charges.
- He did not send this stuff to a "hacker" in Illinois. Rich Andrews,
- the Illinois recipient, was not accused of hacking. Two programs,
- including login.c were sent to {Phrack}, but the {Phrack} editor was
- never accused of being, nor is there any evidence that he ever was, a
- hacker. And, contrary to another post in the same issue of TCD, there
- is no evidence that the programs Len possessed or sent were ever used
- in criminal activity.
-
- Both public and non-public court records and documents indicate that
- the issue was explicitly one of unauthorized possession of proprietary
- software. Counter-assertions by Len's critics will not change this.
- There is little disagreement that Len may have acted unwisely. The
- question is whether his actions justify a prison sentence, and to my
- mind the answer is an emphatic *NO!*.
-
- It is absurd to imply that somehow Len failed to learn from a
- "crackdown." The case was the beginning of the so-called "crackdowns,"
- and his actions are no more a message to "hackers" and "phreaks" than
- double-parking tickets are to auto thieves.
-
- There are six levels of prisons in the federal system, with level-1
- being the most minimum of the bunch. Len will most likely be sentenced
- to one of these as a first-time, minor, non-violent offender. But,
- despite the term "country club prison," there is no such thing as an
- easy-time prison. Contrary to the Moderator's comment, prisons are
- rarely "therapeutic" places. I've been in and around them since 1980,
- and the number of offenders coming out the better because of their
- prison experience are few.
-
- Len's ten month stay and subsequent probation period will cost the
- tax-payers upwards of $30,000. There are alternatives to incarceration
- that are less costly while simultaneously serving the ends of the need
- for sanctions. Even if we assume that Len is guilty of all the charges
- invented by his critics, his incarceration is simply not worth it for
- society.
-
- To answer the Moderator's question about whether "it was worth it:"
- No, an unjust sentence never is. Nor is anything served by
- exaggeration and hyperbole that, in this case, attempts to claim
- otherwise.
-
-
- Jim Thomas Sociology / Criminal Justice Northern Illinois University
-
-
- [Moderator's Note: Jim Thomas is one of the Moderators of Computer
- Underground Digest, a mailing list on the internet with roots going
- back to 'hacker' discussions in TELECOM Digest in the past. PAT]
-
- ------------------------------
-
- From: Mark Brown <mbrown@testsys.austin.ibm.com>
- Subject: Well Len, Was it Worth a Prison Term?
- Date: Sat, 15 Jun 91 11:27:06 CST
-
-
- Patrick:
-
- Yes, Len Rose deserves jail, based upon what I know.
-
- > The fact that the debate could go on endlessly for
- > message after message actually questioning what, if anything the chap
- > did wrong tells us plenty about the mentality and 'social respsonsi-
- > bility' of EFF devotees, but that is a whole new topic in itself.
-
- There is no cause so right that one cannot find a fool who believes
- in it.
-
- I respectfully submit that you are way off base here.
-
- Cheers,
-
- DISCLAIMER: My views may be, and often are, independent of IBM official policy.
- Mark Brown IBM PSP Austin, TX. (512) 823-3741 VNET: MBROWN@AUSVMQ
- MAIL: mbrown@testsys.austin.ibm.com
-
- ------------------------------
-
- From: Jim Youll <bgsuvax!jyoull@cis.ohio-state.edu>
- Subject: Re: Well Len, Was it Worth a Prison Term?
- Date: 15 Jun 91 16:32:21 GMT
- Reply-To: Jim Youll <bgsuvax!jyoull@cis.ohio-state.edu>
- Organization: Bowling Green State University B.G., Oh.
-
-
- In article <telecom11.453.1@eecs.nwu.edu> telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
- (TELECOM Moderator) writes:
-
- > The Len Rose saga came to an end this past week when a federal judge
-
- [etc...]>
-
- [... discussion of impoverished wife, kids]
- > Users had better wise up to one fact: the federal government is going
-
- Oh, thank God. I feel much better knowing that the feds are going
- to continue their wholly uninformed pursuit of people committing
- crimes the feds don't even understand. Maybe you have forgotten Steve
- Jackson Games. I haven't.
-
- > to continue to crack down on abusers of the net and this media. And
- > please, none of your hysterical freedom of speech arguments in my
- > mail, thank you.
-
- None here.
-
- > And you *will* get caught. Then you can go sit and commiserate with
- > Len Rose. If Len Rose has half the brain I think he has, he will come
- > out of the penitentiary a better person than when he went in. The
- > penitentiary can be, and frequently is a therapeutic experience, at
- ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
- Bull!!!!!!!!!!
-
- Male-male gang rape can *LEAD* to therapy, is maybe what you
- mean here...
-
- > least for the people who think about what it was that caused them to
- > get there in the first place.
-
- > I feel very sorry about what has happened to Len Rose. I feel worse
- > about the circumstances his wife and children are in. But the
- > socially irresponsible behavior (which some people who call themselves
- > 'socially responsible' seem to condone or wink at) has to stop. Now.
-
- > And a knowledgeable sysadmin who is quietly cooperating with the
- > government tells me a federal grand jury is <thisclose> to returning
- > another cycle of indictments. Need I say more?
-
- Yeah, you might mention that the grand juries generally haven't the
- slightest idea what a computer is, let alone a computer-oriented
- crime. I'm not invoking any of the free-speech or other arguments and
- don't intend to, but when law enforcement makes a mockery of justice
- as it has in many, many computer-crime cases, and when we see
- corporations inflate their alleged losses by factors of a hundred or a
- thousand, then something is terribly wrong, and simply focusing on the
- vicious pursuit of real or alleged criminals just serves to draw
- attention away from the very real problems caused by runaway egos of
- prosecutors.
-
- If I had to analyze the nerds who come up with the loss figures, I'd
- say they're trying for a big number to please their superiors and to
- gain fame . A two million dollar crime that you stopped looks a
- hell of a lot better than a $200 crime. People who are not computer-
- literate will generally believe what they're told by "experts". (Well,
- true of any field).
-
- > So Len, *was* it all worth it?
-
- Your compassion for your fellow man overwhelms me.
-
- Sure, Higdon goes after an outfit that makes its *entire profit*
- entrapping and prosecuting people who may not have committed a crime
- at all (anyone who has access to a telephone and incorrect information
- can dial a 950- number, for cryin' out loud). Shows that they are
- rude, incompetent.
-
- I see a direct parallel in the prosecution and entrapment of people in
- the current "crackdown" on computer crime. It's a government fad and
- in its wake are going to be a lot of innocent victims, and I'm not
- just talking about wives and children.
-
-
- Disclaimer: Messages originating from this address are mechanically
- generated. Management assumes no responsibility for the contents thereof.
-
- Jim Youll, aka jyoull@andy.bgsu.edu, 419/354-2110
-
- ------------------------------
-
- Date: Sat, 15 Jun 91 18:30:03 -0500
- From: Clint Fleckenstein <fleckens@plains.nodak.edu>
- Subject: Re: Well Len, Was it Worth a Prison Term?
- Organization: North Dakota Higher Ed Computing Network
-
-
- Sorry to ask a stupid question, but what did he do? :)
-
- It's been a while. I got in a lot of trouble on the net myself back
- in 1987, and got bounced out of school.
-
-
- Clint Fleckenstein DoD #5150 fleckens@plains.nodak.edu
-
-
- [Moderator's Note: What Len Rose was *convicted* of doing was being in
- possession of AT&T computer source code illegally, and transporting
- the code across state lines. And Al Capone was sent to prison for
- failure to pay his income tax. Would you care to discuss your case
- with us here?
-
- Thanks to all who wrote me on this issue; I've got more articles in
- the queue to continue this thread tomorrow, and will summarize a
- rebuttal of my own, also probably tomorrow space permitting. PAT]
-
- ------------------------------
-
- End of TELECOM Digest V11 #459
- ******************************
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- P)
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- Sun, 16 Jun 91 00:20:06 LCL
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- 15 Jun 91 23:38 CDT
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- 15 Jun 91 22:30 CDT
- Date: Sat, 15 Jun 91 21:44:35 CDT
- From: TELECOM Moderator <telecom@EECS.NWU.EDU>
- [To]: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
- Subject: TELECOM Digest V11 #460
- Message-ID: <9106152144.ac18147@delta.eecs.nwu.edu>
-
-
- TELECOM Digest Sat, 15 Jun 91 21:44:11 CDT Volume 11 : Issue 460
-
- Inside This Issue: Moderator: Patrick A. Townson
-
- Re: Len Rose Sent to Prison [Craig Neidorf]
- Re: Well Len, Was it Worth a Prison Term? [John Richard Bruni]
- Re: Well Len, Was it Worth a Prison Term? [Owen M. Hartnett]
- Re: Fighting Phone Hackers in SoCal [Jeff Sicherman]
- Re: Fighting Phone Hackers in SoCal [John Higdon]
- Re: Fighting Phone Hackers in SoCal [Nick Sayer]
- Re: Does a National Phonebook Exist? [Don Froula]
- ----------------------------------------------------------------------
-
- Date: Sat, 15 Jun 91 10:54:22 CDT
- From: Craig Neidorf <C483307@umcvmb.bitnet>
- Subject: Re: Len Rose Sent to Prison
-
-
- In TELECOM Digest, Volume 11 : Issue 453, Scott Dorsey writes:
-
- > In article <telecom11.448.1@eecs.nwu.edu> bill@eedsp.gatech.edu
- > writes:
-
- >> BALTIMORE (AP) -- A computer hacker has been sentenced to a year
- >> and a day in prison for stealing information from American Telephone &
- >> Telegraph and its subsidiary Bell Laboratories.
-
- >> Leonard Rose Jr., 32, an unemployed computer consultant, pleaded
- >> guilty in March to one count of sending AT&T source codes via computer
- >> to a hacker in Illinois, and a similar wire fraud charge involving a
- >> Chicago hacker.
-
- > He did indeed send a copy of the System V login source code to
- > someone who may have used it in the commission of a crime.
-
- Who is this person that you believe he sent the System V login source
- code to that may have used it in the commission of a crime?
-
- >> The judge did not order restitution to AT&T because Rose has what
- >> one of his attornies called "a negative net worth."
-
- > This is indeed true. He did not have such a condition until
- > spending huge amounts of money for defense.
-
- Speaking as someone who knows what really happened to Len and how the
- system really treats a criminal defendant, I will inform you of a
- couple of things.
-
- Len Rose did not spend huge amounts on his defense. When Rose was
- first raided by the Secret Service in March 1990, the agents seized
- all of his computers and everything related (and a lot of things
- unrelated). They effectively deprived him of his livelihood as a
- private Unix consultant. They had their reasons and I'm not going to
- argue about those. However, Len had little money to begin with and
- was already deep into debt before these incidents happened. He lost
- his house and his truck.
-
- Len Rose had a court appointed attorney for a while and there are some
- things you should know about how that works. You can only get court
- appointed counsel if you cannot afford an attorney and you must prove
- this to the court by bringing in all of your financial files.
-
- Later attornies like Sheldon Zenner and Jane Macht were paid for by
- friends of Len Rose and there was a donation fund for his family's
- living expenses to which many people contributed.
-
-
- Craig Neidorf (C483307 @ UMCVMB.MISSOURI.EDU)
-
-
- [Moderator's Note: Mr. Neidorf was a defendant in one of the criminal
- prosecutions associated with the Legion of Doom. He is (was?) the
- publisher and editor of {Phrack}, an electronic journal whose name is
- a contraction of the two words 'phreak' and 'hack'. He was found not
- guilty of the charges lodged against him, and the government dropped
- its prosecution of him when it was discovered that the information he
- published (relating to the complaint) was available to the public from
- other sources. PAT]
-
- ------------------------------
-
- From: John_Richard_Bruni@cup.portal.com
- Subject: Re: Well Len, Was it Worth A Prison Term?
- Date: Fri, 14 Jun 91 22:40:24 PDT
-
-
- Pat,
-
- I grant you all of what you said in your preface to the Len Rose
- topics, yet I still wonder. As a journalist I keep coming across
- references to computer fraud totalling somewhere between $2 BILLION to
- $20 billion a year. There must be some fire to all this smoke. Yes,
- the hackers make life more problematical for those who like (as I do)
- open exchange of information on the computer nets. The security
- requirements are a hassle.
-
- But in the course of researching a novel that has hackers in it, it
- slowly came to me that the real troublemakers are much more deeply
- buried in the system. I know of 'Phone Phreaks' who have written
- themselves into the system since ESS-4 came out. These guys are not
- just hacking the phone company, they are so far into to it that for
- all intents and purposes they *ARE* the phone company. Darksiders
- like these make hackers look like small fry ... which for the most
- part they are. I still think Cal Tech and MIT oughta get the good
- hackers and make them into useful members of society. Universities do
- a much better job of that on smart people than jails do.
-
- Put the moles in jail, if you can find 'em. Most of them probably
- have Swiss bank accounts by now and have retired to the Riviera.
-
- That's my two cents worth, and I know it's controversial. But I was
- forced to decide what I thought of all this when, in the course of
- researching my book, I made friends with both hackers and 'trackers.'
-
- That's all, folks!
-
- ------------------------------
-
- From: "Owen M. Hartnett" <omh@cs.brown.edu>
- Subject: Re: Well Len, Was it Worth a Prison Term?
- Date: 16 Jun 91 00:26:13 GMT
- Reply-To: "Owen M. Hartnett" <omh@cs.brown.edu>
- Organization: Brown University Department of Computer Science
-
-
- In article <telecom11.453.1@eecs.nwu.edu> telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
- (TELECOM Moderator) writes:
-
- (in a very fine article)
-
- > When Len is released, he'll be 'allowed to' carry the tag "ex-con"
- > with him when he applies for work and tries to make new friends. One
- > part of his punishment is that in the future he must reveal his status
- > to prospective employers.
-
- Something about the above bothers me, from a legal standpoint. Wasn't
- there a movement quite a few years ago that said, in effect, that
- since ex-cons have little chance of employment once they've told their
- prospective bosses that they're ex-cons, that requirements to do so
- were being mitigated, so that they would stand a better chance of
- rehabilitating once they got out?
-
- This seems probably the most harsh of the requirements. Does a bank
- robber have to inform a prospective employer of his past history, even
- if said employer doesn't ask? This sounds almost unconstitutional, if
- not cruel and unusual punishment.
-
-
- Owen Hartnett omh@cs.brown.edu
-
-
- [Moderator's Note: In your example, it probably would be unreasonable
- to force a garage mechanic to tell a prospective employer he had
- robbed a bank. It would not be as unreasonable to force the same
- person to reveal this if he applied for employment as a bank teller.
- In the case at hand, I quoted the court's decision without really
- agreeing with it. If Len goes into non-computer employment, it should
- not have to be discussed. If he goes into computer-related employment,
- well ... I'd be reluctant to make him wear that ball and chain his
- whole life. PAT]
-
-
-