The Hacker Chronicles - A…the Computer Underground/The Hacker Chronicles - A Tour of the Computer Underground (P-80 Systems).iso/cud3/cud317d.txt

Text File | 1992-09-10 | 14KB | 236 lines

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From: Moderators
Subject: EXHIBIT A from Riggs' Sentencing Memorandum
Date: 15 May, 1991

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***  CuD #3.17: File 4 of 5: Exhibit A from Memorandum           ***
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Exhibit A is a reprint from "Phrack 31" summarizing the history of the
Legion of Doom. It reflects a "guilt by association" device, a
rhetorical ploy without factual foundation that makes a series of
leaps from a dangerous act to the possibility that the defendants
*could* have committed such an act:

      Aside from the hacker logic bomb threat, a June 1989
      intrusion into the BellSouth network also prompted the
      federal investigation.  A computer hacker broke into the
      BellSouth network and rerouted calls from a probation office
      in Delray Beach, Florida to a New York Dial-A-Porn number.
      Although creative and comical at first blush, the rerouting
      posed a serious threat to the security of the telephone
      system. If a hacker could reroute all calls to the probation
      office, he or she could do the same to calls placed to this
      Court, a fire station, a police station or any other
      telephone customer in the country. Again, none of the three
      defendants are implicated in this dangerous prank, though an
      investigation of the intrusion ultimately led investigators
      to the illegal activities of the three defendants and other
      members of a self-proclaimed elite group of hackers called
      the Legion of Doom. The Legion of Doom is described in a
      hacker "magazine" article filed separately as _Government
      Exhibit A_. (Sentencing Memorandum, p. 3).

After an earlier allusion to logic bombs, which were unrelated to the
Riggs case, the spectre of serious crimes are linked to the
defendants. Next, an example in which none of the defendants were
implicated is raised--the rerouting of a dial-a-porn number to a
probation officer. Here, prosecutors move beyond the slippery slope
thesis of behavior that suggests, by analogy, if you have a marijuana
cigarette today you'll likely be a junkie by morning.  Despite the
DENOTED disclaimer of non-involvement, they phrase the language in
such a way that it CONNOTES guilt by arguing that the possession of
"forbidden knowledge" COULD allow one to commit potentially dangerous
acts such as "jeopardizing the entire telephone industry" or "shutting
down telephone service throughout the country" (p. 7 of Sentencing
Memorandum).

The Exhibit provides nothing more than a brief history of the
LoD and its members. For conspiracy theorists who see organized
malevolence in any voluntary association of 2 or more people who
defy conventional social norms, the document may seem significant.
But, for some, the Fortune 500 would seem equally dangerous and
conspiratorial. We do not claim that the LoD can stake claim to
the moral high ground, but neither does our reading of the Exhibit
A suggest a subversive group capable of threatening our social
fabric. It hardly provides evidence that would justify a
few years of incarceration.
Judge for yourself:

++++ Begin Exhibit A

                               ==Phrack Inc.==
                Volume Three, Issue Thirty-one, Phile #5 of 10

The History of The Legion Of Doom
--- ------- -- --- ------ -- ----
During the summer of 1984 an idea was formulated that would ultimately
change the face of the computer underground forever.  This particular
summer, a huge surge of interest in computer telecommunications placed
an incredibly large number of new enthusiasts on the national computer scene.
This crowd of people all seeking to learn as much as possible
began to put a strain on the nation's bulletin board scene, as the novices
stormed the phonelines in search of knowledge.  From out of this chaos
came a need for learned instructors to help pass on their store of
information to the new throngs.
One of the most popular bulletin boards of the day was a system in New York
state called Plovernet, which was run by a person who called himself
Quasi-Moto.  This BBS was so heavily trafficked, that a major long
distance company began blocking all calls to its number (516-935-2481).
The co-sysop of Plovernet was a person known as Lex Luthor.  At the time
there were a few hacking groups in existence, such as Fargo-4A and Knights of
Shadow.  Lex was admitted into KOS in early 1984, but after making a few
suggestions about new members, and having them rejected, Lex decided to
put up an invitation only BBS and to start forming a new group.
Starting around May of 1984, Lex began to contact those people who he had
seen on BBSes such as Plovernet and the people that he knew personally
who possessed the kind of superior knowledge that the group he envisioned
should have.  Many phone calls and Alliance Teleconferences later, the
group of individuals who made up the original Legion of Doom were compiled.
They were:
               Lex Luthor
               Karl Marx
               Mark Tabas
               Agrajag the Prolonged
               King Blotto
               Blue Archer
               EBA
               The Dragyn
               Unknown Soldier
The group originally consisted of two parts:  Legion of Doom, and Legion
of Hackers.  The latter was a sub-group of the first, comprised
of people who were more advanced in computer related subjects.  Later on,
as members began to all become more computer-based, the Legion of Hackers
was absolved.  (The name "Legion of Doom" came from the cartoon series
"Superfriends," in which Lex Luthor, Superman's arch rival, led a group
by the same name)
The actual Legion of Doom bulletin board was quite ahead of its time.
It was one of the first "Invitation-only" hacking based BBSes; it was the
first BBS with security that caused the system to remain idle until
a primary password was entered; and it was the first hacking BBS to deal
with many subjects in close detail, such as trashing and social
engineering.  The BBS underwent three number changes and three different
login procedures during its life.  At its height, the BBS had over
150 users and averaged about 15 posts per day.  This may seem
high when compared to contemporary BBSes, but this was a private system,
with only very-competent users, so the quality of messages content was always
high.
There was always some confusion that falsely assumed since someone
was on the LOD BBS, that they were a member of the group.  In fact,
only a handful of the total LOD membership were ever on the actual
LOD BBS.
The Legion of Doom also had special subboards created for its members on
other BBSes after the home base BBS went offline.  The first was on
Blottoland, the next on Catch-22, followed by one on the Phoenix Project,
and the last on Black Ice Private.  The group's members have usually tried to
keep a low profile publicly, and usually limited their trade of information
to select private BBSes and personal telephone conversations.  This adherence
to privacy has always added to the LOD mistique.  Since most people didn't
know exactly what the group was involved in, or experimenting with, people
always assumed that it was something far too detailed or sensitive to be
discussed.  For the most part, this was not true, but it did not help to
diminish the paranoia of security personnel that LOD was after their
company's systems.
The group has undergone three distinct phases, each a result of membership
changes.  The first phase ended with the busts of Marx, Tabas, Steve Dahl,
Randy Smith, X-man, and the abandonment by Agrajag and King Blotto.
The group lay semi-dormant for several months, until a resurgence
in the summer of 1986, in which several new members were admitted, and a new
surge of would-be hackers appeared, ready to be tutored.  This phase again
ended in a series of busts and paranoia.  The third phase basically revolved
around Summercon of 1988, where several new members were admitted by those
LOD members attending the festivites.  The third phase is now at an end
brought on by busts and related paranoia, again, two years after its onset.
There is no indication that points to any resurgence in the future, but
nothing is certain until summer.
Since its creation, LOD has tried to put out informative files on a wide
variety of topics of interest to its contemporaries.  These files ranged from
the first actual scanned directory of Telenet, to files on various operating
systems.  The LOD Technical Journal was to be a semi-regular electronic
magazine comprised of such files, and other items of interest to the hacking
community.  Only three issues of the Technical Journal were produced.  As
the fourth issue was being pieced together, several members were raided, and
work on it was abandoned.
>From the time it was formed continuing up to the present, the Legion of
Doom has been quite a topic of controversy in the computer underground and
with computer security professionals.  The Legion of Doom has been
called everything from "Organized Crime" to "a Communist threat to national
security" to "an international conspiracy of computer terrorists bent
on destroying the nation's 911 service."  Nothing comes closer to the
actual truth than "bored adolescents with too much spare time."
LOD members may have entered into systems numbering in the tens of
thousands, they may have peeped into credit histories, they may
have monitored telephone calls, they may have snooped into files and
buffered interesting text, they may still have total control over
entire computer networks; but, what damage have they done?  None, with
the exception of unpaid use of CPU time and network access charges.  What
personal gains have any members made?  None, with the exception of three
instances of credit fraud that were instigated by three separate greedy
individuals, without group knowledge.
The Legion of Doom will long be remembered in the computer underground as
an innovative and pioneering force, that consistently raised the collective
level of knowledge, and provided many answers to questions ranging from the
workings of the telephone system to the structure of computer operating
systems.  No other group dedicated to the persuit of computer and
telecommunications knowledge has survived longer, and none probably will.
The Legion of Doom  1984--1990
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Alumni of the Fraternal Order of the Legion of Doom  (Lambda Omega Delta)
Handle                Entered   Exited    Location       Reasons for leaving
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Lex Luthor            Early 84--          Florida
Karl Marx             Early 84--Late  85  Colorado       Bust w/Tabas..College
Mark Tabas            Early 84--Late  85  Colorado       Too numerous to list
Agrajag the Prolonged Early-84--Late  85  California     Loss of Interest
King Blotto           Early 84--Late  85  Ohio           College
Blue Archer           Early 84--Late  87  Texas          College
EBA         Early 84--          Texas
The Dragyn            Early 84--Late  86  Minnesota      Loss of Interest
Unknown Soldier       Early 84--Early 85  Florida        Bust-Toll Fraud
Sharp Razor           Late  84--Early 86  New Jersey     Bust-Compuserve Abuse
Sir Francis Drake     Late  84--Early 86  California     Loss of Interest
Paul Muad'dib         Late  84--Early 86  New York       Modem Broke
Phucked Agent 04      Late  84--Late  87  California     College
X-Man                 Late  84--Mid   85  New York       Bust-Blue Boxing
Randy Smith           Late  84--Mid   85  Missouri       Bust-Credit Fraud
Steve Dahl            Early 85--Early 86  Illinois       Bust-Credit Fraud
The Warlock           Early 85--Early 86  Florida        Loss of Interest
Terminal Man          Early 85--Late  85  Massachusetts  Expelled from Group
Dr. Who               Early 85--Late  89  Massachusetts  Several Reasons
The Videosmith        Early 86--Late  87  Pennsylvania   Paranoia
Kerrang Kahn          Early 86--Mid   89  London, UK     Loss of Interest
Gary Seven            Early 86--Mid   88  Florida        Loss of Interest
The Marauder          Early 86--Mid   89  Connecticut    Loss of Interest
Silver Spy            Late  86--Late  87  Massachusettts College
Bill from RNOC        Early 87--Late  87  New York       Bust-Hacking
The Leftist           Mid   87--Late  89  Georgia        Bust-Hacking
Phantom Phreaker      Mid   87--          Illinois
Doom Prophet          Mid   87--          Illinois
Jester Sluggo         Mid   87--          North Dakota
Carrier Culprit       Mid   87--Mid   88  Pennsylvania   Loss of Interest
Master of Impact      Mid   87--Mid   88  California     Loss of Interest
Thomas Covenant       Early 88--Early 90  New York       Bust-Hacking
The Mentor            Mid   88--Early 90  Texas          Retired
Necron 99             Mid   88--Late  89  Georgia        Bust-Hacking
Control C             Mid   88--Early 90  Michigan
Prime Suspect         Mid   88--          New York
The Prophet           Mid   88--Late  89  Georgia        Bust-Hacking
Phiber Optik          Early 89--Early 90  New York       Bust-Hacking
** AKA **
Randy Smith           Poof!
Dr. Who               Skinny Puppy
Kerrang Kahn          Red Eye
Phantom Phreaker      ANI Failure / Psychedelic Ranger
Doom Prophet          Trouble Verify
Thomas Covenant       Sigmund Fraud / Pumpkin Pete
Necron 99             The Urvile
Control C             Phase Jitter

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