---[ Phrack Magazine Volume 8, Issue 52 January 26, 1998, article 05 of 20
---------[ EVERYTHING A HACKER NEEDS TO KNOW ABOUT GETTING BUSTED BY THE FEDS
--------[ Agent Steal
From Federal Prison, 1997
Contributions and editing by Minor Threat
Special thanks to Evian S. Sim
NOTICE: The following document is to be construed as "Legal Material" as set
forth in The Federal Bureau of Prisons policy statement, P.S. 1315.05, and as
codified in 28 C.F.R. 543.10-16
This article may be freely reproduced, in whole or in part, provided
acknowledgments are given to the author. Any reproduction for profit, lame
zines, (that means you t0mmy, el8, thief) or law enforcement use is prohibited.
The author and contributor to this phile in no way advocate criminal behavior.
----------------
CONTENTS
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INTRODUCTION
PART I - FEDERAL CRIMINAL LAW PART II - FEDERAL PRISON
A. Relevant Conduct A. State v. Federal
B. Preparing for Trial B. Security Levels
C. Plea Agreements and Attorneys C. Getting Designated
D. Conspiracy D. Ignorant Inmates
E. Sentencing E. Population
F. Use of Special Skill F. Doing Time
G. Getting Bail G. Disciplinary Action
H. State v. Federal Charges H. Administrative Remedy
I. Cooperating I. Prison Officials
J. Still Thinking About Trial J. The Hole
K. Search and Seizure K. Good Time
L. Surveillance L. Halfway House
M. Presentence Investigation M. Supervised Release
N. Proceeding Pro Se
O. Evidentiary Hearing
P. Return of Property
Q. Outstanding Warrants
R. Encryption
S. Summary
Part III - 2600 Special Section:
A. How to Avoid Detection
B. The Stealth Box
C. More Protection
CLOSURE
INTRODUCTION
The likelihood of getting arrested for computer hacking has increased
to an unprecedented level. No matter how precautionary or sage you are, you're
bound to make mistakes. And the fact of the matter is if you have trusted
anyone else with the knowledge of what you are involved in, you have made your
first mistake.
For anyone active in hacking I cannot begin to stress the importance
of the information contained in this file. To those who have just been
arrested by the Feds, reading this file could mean the difference between a
three-year or a one-year sentence. To those who have never been busted,
reading this file will likely change the way you hack, or stop you from
hacking altogether.
I realize my previous statements are somewhat lofty, but in the 35
months I spent incarcerated I've heard countless inmates say it: "If I knew
then what I know now..." I doubt that anyone would disagree: The criminal
justice system is a game to be played, both by prosecution and defense. And if
you have to be a player, you would be wise to learn the rules of engagement.
The writer and contributors of this file have learned the hard way. As a
result we turned our hacking skills during the times of our incarceration
towards the study of criminal law and, ultimately, survival. Having filed our
own motions, written our own briefs and endured life in prison, we now pass
this knowledge back to the hacker community. Learn from our experiences...
and our mistakes.
- Agent Steal
PART I - FEDERAL CRIMINAL LAW
A. THE BOTTOM LINE - RELEVANT CONDUCT
For those of you with a short G-phile attention span I'm going to
cover the single most important topic first. This is probably the most
substantial misunderstanding of the present criminal justice system. The
subject I am talking about is referred to in legal circles as "relevant
conduct." It's a bit complex and I will get into this... However, I have to
make this crystal clear so that it will stick in your heads. It boils down to
two concepts:
I. ONCE YOU ARE FOUND GUILTY OF EVEN ONE COUNT, EVERY COUNT WILL BE USED TO
CALCULATE YOUR SENTENCE
Regardless of whether you plea bargain to one count or 100, your
sentence will be the same. This is assuming we are talking about hacking,
code abuse, carding, computer trespass, property theft, etc. All of these are
treated the same. Other crimes you committed (but were not charged with) will
also be used to calculate your sentence. You do not have to be proven guilty
of every act. As long as it appears that you were responsible, or someone
says you were, then it can be used against you. I know this sounds insane ,
but it's true; it's the preponderance of evidence standard for relevant
conduct. This practice includes using illegally seized evidence and
acquittals as information in increasing the length of your sentence.
II. YOUR SENTENCE WILL BE BASED ON THE TOTAL MONETARY LOSS
The Feds use a sentencing table to calculate your sentence. It's
simple; More Money = More Time. It doesn't matter if you tried to break in 10
times or 10,000 times. Each one could be a count but it's the loss that
matters. And an unsuccessful attempt is treated the same as a completed crime.
It also doesn't matter if you tried to break into one company's computer or 10.
The government will quite simply add all of the estimated loss figures up, and
then refer to the sentencing table.
B. PREPARING FOR TRIAL
I've been trying to be overly simplistic with my explanation. The
United States Sentencing Guidelines (U.S.S.G.), are in fact quite complex. So
much so that special law firms are forming that deal only with sentencing. If
you get busted, I would highly recommend hiring one. In some cases it might
be wise to avoid hiring a trial attorney and go straight to one of these "Post
Conviction Specialists." Save your money, plead out, do your time. This may
sound a little harsh, but considering the fact that the U.S. Attorney's Office
has a 95% conviction rate, it may be sage advice. However, I don't want to
gloss over the importance of a ready for trial posturing. If you have a
strong trial attorney, and have a strong case, it will go a long way towards
good plea bargain negotiations.
C. PLEA AGREEMENTS AND ATTORNEYS
Your attorney can be your worst foe or your finest advocate. Finding
the proper one can be a difficult task. Costs will vary and typically the
attorney asks you how much cash you can raise and then says, "that amount will
be fine". In actuality a simple plea and sentencing should run you around
$15,000. Trial fees can easily soar into the 6 figure category. And finally,
a post conviction specialist will charge $5000 to $15,000 to handle your
sentencing presentation with final arguments.
You may however, find yourself at the mercy of The Public Defenders
Office. Usually they are worthless, occasionally you'll find one that will
fight for you. Essentially it's a crap shoot. All I can say is if you don't
like the one you have, fire them and hope you get appointed a better one. If
you can scrape together $5000 for a sentencing (post conviction) specialist to
work with your public defender I would highly recommend it. This specialist
will make certain the judge sees the whole picture and will argue in the most
effective manner for a light or reasonable sentence. Do not rely on your
public defender to thoroughly present your case. Your sentencing hearing is
going to flash by so fast you'll walk out of the court room dizzy. You and
your defense team need to go into that hearing fully prepared, having already
filed a sentencing memorandum.
The plea agreement you sign is going to affect you and your case well
after you are sentenced. Plea agreements can be tricky business and if you
are not careful or are in a bad defense position (the case against you is
strong), your agreement may get the best of you. There are many issues in a
plea to negotiate over. But essentially my advice would be to avoid signing
away your right to appeal. Once you get to a real prison with real jailhouse
lawyers you will find out how bad you got screwed. That issue notwithstanding,
you are most likely going to want to appeal. This being the case you need to
remember two things: bring all your appealable issues up at sentencing and
file a notice of appeal within 10 days of your sentencing. Snooze and loose.
I should however, mention that you can appeal some issues even though
you signed away your rights to appeal. For example, you can not sign away
your right to appeal an illegal sentence. If the judge orders something that
is not permissible by statute, you then have a constitutional right to appeal
your sentence.
I will close this subpart with a prison joke. Q: How can you tell when
your attorney is lying? A: You can see his lips moving.
D. CONSPIRACY
Whatever happened to getting off on a technicality? I'm sorry to say
those days are gone, left only to the movies. The courts generally dismiss
many arguments as "harmless error" or "the government acted in good faith".
The most alarming trend, and surely the root of the prosecutions success, are
the liberally worded conspiracy laws. Quite simply, if two or more people
plan to do something illegal, then one of them does something in furtherance
of the objective (even something legal), then it's a crime. Yes, it's true.
In America it's illegal to simply talk about committing a crime. Paging Mr.
Orwell. Hello?
Here's a hypothetical example to clarify this. Bill G. and Marc A. are
hackers (can you imagine?) Bill and Marc are talking on the phone and
unbeknownst to them the FBI is recording the call. They talk about hacking
into Apple's mainframe and erasing the prototype of the new Apple Web Browser.
Later that day, Marc does some legitimate research to find out what type of
mainframe and operating system Apple uses. The next morning, the Feds raid
Marc's house and seize everything that has wires. Bill and Marc go to trial
and spend millions to defend themselves. They are both found guilty of
conspiracy to commit unauthorized access to a computer system.
E. SENTENCING
At this point it is up to the probation department to prepare a report
for the court. It is their responsibility to calculate the loss and identify
any aggravating or mitigating circumstances. Apple Computer Corporation
estimates that if Bill and Marc would have been successful it would have
resulted in a loss of $2 million. This is the figure the court will use.
Based on this basic scenario our dynamic duo would receive roughly three-year
sentences.
As I mentioned, sentencing is complex and many factors can decrease or
increase a sentence, usually the latter. Let's say that the FBI also found a
file on Marc's computer with 50,000 unauthorized account numbers and passwords
to The Microsoft Network. Even if the FBI does not charge him with this, it
could be used to increase his sentence. Generally the government places a
$200-per-account attempted loss on things of this nature (i.e. credit card
numbers and passwords = access devices). This makes for a $10 million loss.
Coupled with the $2 million from Apple, Marc is going away for about nine
years. Fortunately there is a Federal Prison not too far from Redmond, WA so
Bill could come visit him.
Some of the other factors to be used in the calculation of a sentence
might include the following: past criminal record, how big your role in the
offense was, mental disabilities, whether or not you were on probation at the
time of the offense, if any weapons were used, if any threats were used, if
your name is Kevin Mitnick (heh), if an elderly person was victimized, if you
took advantage of your employment position, if you are highly trained and used
your special skill, if you cooperated with the authorities, if you show
remorse, if you went to trial, etc.
These are just some of the many factors that could either increase or
decrease a sentence. It would be beyond the scope of this article to cover
the U.S.S.G. in complete detail. I do feel that I have skipped over some
significant issues. Nevertheless, if you remember my two main points in
addition to how the conspiracy law works, you'll be a long way ahead in
protecting yourself.
F. USE OF A SPECIAL SKILL
The only specific "sentencing enhancement" I would like to cover would
be one that I am responsible for setting a precedent with. In U.S. v Petersen,
98 F.3d. 502, 9th Cir., the United States Court of Appeals held that some
computer hackers may qualify for the special skill enhancement. What this
generally means is a 6 to 24 month increase in a sentence. In my case it
added eight months to my 33-month sentence bringing it to 41 months.
Essentially the court stated that since I used my "sophisticated" hacking
skills towards a legitimate end as a computer security consultant, then the
enhancement applies. It's ironic that if I were to have remained strictly a
criminal hacker then I would have served less time.
The moral of the story is that the government will find ways to give
you as much time as they want to. The U.S.S.G. came into effect in 1987 in an
attempt to eliminate disparity in sentencing. Defendants with similar crimes
and similar backgrounds would often receive different sentences. Unfortunately,
this practice still continues. The U.S.S.G. are indeed a failure.
G. GETTING BAIL
In the past, the Feds might simply have executed their raid and then
left without arresting you. Presently this method will be the exception
rather than the rule and it is more likely that you will be taken into custody
at the time of the raid. Chances are also good that you will not be released
on bail. This is part of the government's plan to break you down and win their
case. If they can find any reason to deny you bail they will. In order to
qualify for bail, you must meet the following criteria:
- You must be a resident of the jurisdiction in which you were arrested.
- You must be gainfully employed or have family ties to the area.
- You cannot have a history of failure to appear or escape.
- You cannot be considered a danger or threat to the community.
In addition, your bail can be denied for the following reasons:
- Someone came forward and stated to the court that you said you would flee if
released.
- Your sentence will be long if convicted.
- You have a prior criminal history.
- You have pending charges in another jurisdiction.
What results from all this "bail reform" is that only about 20% of
persons arrested make bail. On top of that it takes 1-3 weeks to process your
bail papers when property is involved in securing your bond.
Now you're in jail, more specifically you are either in an
administrative holding facility or a county jail that has a contract with the
Feds to hold their prisoners. Pray that you are in a large enough city to
justify its own Federal Detention Center. County jails are typically the last
place you would want to be.
H. STATE VS. FEDERAL CHARGES
In some cases you will be facing state charges with the possibility of
the Feds "picking them up." You may even be able to nudge the Feds into
indicting you. This is a tough decision. With the state you will do
considerably less time, but will face a tougher crowd and conditions in prison.
Granted, Federal Prisons can be violent too, but generally as a non-violent
white collar criminal you will eventually be placed into an environment with
other low security inmates. More on this later.
Until you are sentenced, you will remain as a "pretrial inmate" in
general population with other inmates. Some of the other inmates will be
predatorial but the Feds do not tolerate much nonsense. If someone acts up,
they'll get thrown in the hole. If they continue to pose a threat to the
inmate population, they will be left in segregation (the hole). Occasionally
inmates that are at risk or that have been threatened will be placed in
segregation. This isn't really to protect the inmate. It is to protect the
prison from a lawsuit should the inmate get injured.
I. COOPERATING
Naturally when you are first arrested the suits will want to talk to
you. First at your residence and, if you appear to be talkative, they will
take you back to their offices for an extended chat and a cup of coffee. My
advice at this point is tried and true and we've all heard it before: remain
silent and ask to speak with an attorney. Regardless of what the situation is,
or how you plan to proceed, there is nothing you can say that will help you.
Nothing. Even if you know that you are going to cooperate, this is not the
time.
This is obviously a controversial subject, but the fact of the matter
is roughly 80% of all defendants eventually confess and implicate others. This
trend stems from the extremely long sentences the Feds are handing out these
days. Not many people want to do 10 to 20 years to save their buddies' hides
when they could be doing 3 to 5. This is a decision each individual needs to
make. My only advice would be to save your close friends and family. Anyone
else is fair game. In the prison system the blacks have a saying "Getting
down first." It's no secret that the first defendant in a conspiracy is
usually going to get the best deal. I've even seen situations where the big
fish turned in all his little fish and received 40% off his sentence.
Incidentally, being debriefed or interrogated by the Feds can be an
ordeal in itself. I would -highly- recommend reading up on interrogation
techniques ahead of time. Once you know their methods it will be all quite
transparent to you and the debriefing goes much more smoothly.
When you make a deal with the government you're making a deal with the
devil himself. If you make any mistakes they will renege on the deal and
you'll get nothing. On some occasions the government will trick you into
thinking they want you to cooperate when they are not really interested in
anything you have to say. They just want you to plead guilty. When you sign
the cooperation agreement there are no set promises as to how much of a
sentence reduction you will receive. That is to be decided after your
testimony, etc. and at the time of sentencing. It's entirely up to the judge.
However, the prosecution makes the recommendation and the judge generally goes
along with it. In fact, if the prosecution does not motion the court for your
"downward departure" the courts' hands are tied and you get no break.
As you can see, cooperating is a tricky business. Most people,
particularly those who have never spent a day in jail, will tell you not to
cooperate. "Don't snitch." This is a noble stance to take. However, in some
situations this is just plain stupid. Saving someone's ass who would easily
do the same to you is a tough call. It's something that needs careful
consideration. Like I said, save your friends then do what you have to do to
get out of prison and on with your life.
I'm happy to say that I was able to avoid involving my good friends
and a former employer in the massive investigation that surrounded my case. It
wasn't easy. I had to walk a fine line. Many of you probably know that I
(Agent Steal) went to work for the FBI after I was arrested. I was
responsible for teaching several agents about hacking and the culture. What
many of you don't know is that I had close FBI ties prior to my arrest. I was
involved in hacking for over 15 years and had worked as a computer security
consultant. That is why I was given that opportunity. It is unlikely however,
that we will see many more of these types of arrangements in the future. Our
relationship ran afoul, mostly due to their passive negligence and lack of
experience in dealing with hackers. The government in general now has their
own resources, experience, and undercover agents within the community. They
no longer need hackers to show them the ropes or the latest security hole.
Nevertheless, if you are in the position to tell the Feds something
they don't know and help them build a case against someone, you may qualify
for a sentence reduction. The typical range is 20% to 70%. Usually it's
around 35% to 50%. Sometimes you may find yourself at the end of the
prosecutorial food chain and the government will not let you cooperate. Kevin
Mitnick would be a good example of this. Even if he wanted to roll over, I
doubt it would get him much. He's just too big of a fish, too much media. My
final advice in this matter is get the deal in writing before you start
cooperating.
The Feds also like it when you "come clean" and accept responsibility.
There is a provision in the Sentencing Guidelines, 3E1.1, that knocks a little
bit of time off if you confess to your crime, plead guilty and show remorse.
If you go to trial, typically you will not qualify for this "acceptance of
responsibility" and your sentence will be longer.
J. STILL THINKING ABOUT TRIAL
Many hackers may remember the Craig Neidorf case over the famous 911
System Operation documents. Craig won his case when it was discovered that
the manual in question, that he had published in Phrack magazine, was not
proprietary as claimed but available publicly from AT&T.; It was an egg in
the face day for the Secret Service.
Don't be misled by this. The government learned a lot from this
fiasco and even with the laudable support from the EFF, Craig narrowly
thwarted off a conviction. Regardless, it was a trying experience (no pun
intended) for him and his attorneys. The point I'm trying to make is that it's
tough to beat the Feds. They play dirty and will do just about anything,
including lie, to win their case. If you want to really win you need to know
how they build a case in the first place.
K. SEARCH AND SEIZURE
There is a document entitled "Federal Guidelines For Searching And
Seizing Computers." It first came to my attention when it was published in
the 12-21-94 edition of the Criminal Law Reporter by the Bureau of National
Affairs (Cite as 56 CRL 2023 ). It's an intriguing collection of tips, cases,
mistakes and, in general, how to bust computer hackers. It's recommended
reading.
Search and seizure is an ever evolving jurisprudence. What's not
permissible today may, through some convoluted Supreme Court logic, be
permissible and legal tomorrow. Again, a complete treatment of this subject
is beyond the scope of this paper. But suffice it to say if a Federal agent
wants to walk right into your bedroom and seize all of your computer equipment
without a warrant he could do it by simply saying he had probable cause (PC).
PC is anything that gives him an inkling to believe you were committing a
crime. Police have been known to find PC to search a car when the trunk sat
too low to the ground or the high beams were always on.
L. SURVEILLANCE AND WIRETAPS
Fortunately the Feds still have to show a little restraint when
wielding their wiretaps. It requires a court order and they have to show that
there is no other way to obtain the information they seek, a last resort if
you will. Wiretaps are also expensive to operate. They have to lease lines
from the phone company, pay agents to monitor it 24 hours a day and then
transcribe it. If we are talking about a data tap, there are additional costs.
Expensive interception/translation equipment must be in place to negotiate the
various modem speeds. Then the data has to be stored, deciphered,
decompressed, formatted, protocoled, etc. It's a daunting task and usually
reserved for only the highest profile cases. If the Feds can seize the data
from any other source, like the service provider or victim, they will take
that route. I don't know what they hate worse though, asking for outside help
or wasting valuable internal resources.
The simplest method is to enlist the help of an informant who will
testify "I saw him do it!," then obtain a search warrant to seize the evidence
on your computer. Ba da boom, ba da busted.
Other devices include a pen register which is a device that logs every
digit you dial on your phone and the length of the calls, both incoming and
outgoing. The phone companies keep racks of them at their security
departments. They can place one on your line within a day if they feel you are
defrauding them. They don't need a court order, but the Feds do.
A trap, or trap and trace, is typically any method the phone company
uses to log every number that calls a particular number. This can be done on
the switching system level or via a billing database search. The Feds need a
court order for this information too. However, I've heard stories of
cooperative telco security investigations passing the information along to an
agent. Naturally that would be a "harmless error while acting in good faith."
(legal humor)...
I'd love to tell you more about FBI wiretaps but this is as far as I
can go without pissing them off. Everything I've told you thus far is public
knowledge. So I think I'll stop here. If you really want to know more, catch
Kevin Poulsen (Dark Dante) at a cocktail party, buy him a Coke and he'll give
you an earful. (hacker humor)
In closing this subpart I will say that most electronic surveillance
is backed up with at least part-time physical surveillance. The Feds are
often good at following people around. They like late model mid-sized
American cars, very stock, with no decals or bumper stickers. If you really
want to know if you're under surveillance, buy an Opto-electronics Scout or
Xplorer frequency counter. Hide it on your person, stick an ear plug in your
ear (for the Xplorer) and take it everywhere you go. If you hear people
talking about you, or you continue to hear intermittent static (encrypted
speech), you probably have a problem.
M. YOUR PRESENTENCE INVESTIGATION REPORT, PSI OR PSR
After you plead guilty you will be dragged from the quiet and comfort
of your prison cell to meet with a probation officer. This has absolutely
nothing to do with getting probation. Quite the contrary. The P.O. is
empowered by the court to prepare a complete and, in theory, unbiased profile
of the defendant. Everything from education, criminal history, psychological
behavior, offense characteristics plus more will be included in this
voluminous and painfully detailed report about your life. Every little dirty
scrap of information that makes you look like a sociopath, demon worshiping,
loathsome criminal will be included in this report. They'll put a few negative
things in there as well.
My advice is simple. Be careful what you tell them. Have your
attorney present and think about how what you say can be used against you.
Here's an example:
P.O.: Tell me about your education and what you like to do in your spare time.
Mr. Steal: I am preparing to enroll in my final year of college. In my spare
time I work for charity helping orphan children.
The PSR then reads "Mr. Steal has never completed his education and hangs
around with little children in his spare time." Get the picture?
J. PROCEEDING PRO SE
Pro Se or Pro Per is when a defendant represents himself. A famous
lawyer once said "a man that represents himself has a fool for a client."
Truer words were never spoken. However, I can't stress how important it is to
fully understand the criminal justice system. Even if you have a great
attorney it's good to be able to keep an eye on him or even help out. An
educated client's help can be of enormous benefit to an attorney. They may
think you're a pain in the ass but it's your life. Take a hold of it.
Regardless, representing yourself is generally a mistake.
However, after your appeal, when your court appointed attorney runs
out on you, or you have run out of funds, you will be forced to handle matters
yourself. At this point there are legal avenues, although quite bleak, for
post-conviction relief.
But I digress. The best place to start in understanding the legal
system lies in three inexpensive books. First the Federal Sentencing
Guidelines ($14.00) and Federal Criminal Codes and Rules ($20.00) are
available from West Publishing at 800-328-9352. I consider possession of
these books to be mandatory for any pretrial inmate. Second would be the
Georgetown Law Journal, available from Georgetown University Bookstore in
Washington, DC. The book sells for around $40.00 but if you write them a
letter and tell them you're a Pro Se litigant they will send it for free. And
last but not least the definitive Pro Se authority, "The Prisoners Self Help
Litigation Manual" $29.95 ISBN 0-379-20831-8. Or try
http://www.oceanalaw.com/books/n148.htm
O. EVIDENTIARY HEARING
If you disagree with some of the information presented in the
presentence report (PSR) you may be entitled to a special hearing. This can
be instrumental in lowering your sentence or correcting your PSR. One
important thing to know is that your PSR will follow you the whole time you
are incarcerated. The Bureau of Prisons uses the PSR to decide how to handle
you. This can affect your security level, your halfway house, your
eligibility for the drug program (which gives you a year off your sentence),
and your medical care. So make sure your PSR is accurate before you get
sentenced!
P. GETTING YOUR PROPERTY BACK
In most cases it will be necessary to formally ask the court to have
your property returned. They are not going to just call you up and say "Do
you want this Sparc Station back or what?" No, they would just as soon keep it
and not asking for it is as good as telling them they can have it.
You will need to file a 41(e) "Motion For Return Of Property." The
courts' authority to keep your stuff is not always clear and will have to be
taken on a case-by-case basis. They may not care and the judge will simply
order that it be returned.
If you don't know how to write a motion, just send a formal letter to
the judge asking for it back. Tell him you need it for your job. This should
suffice, but there may be a filing fee.
Q. OUTSTANDING WARRANTS
If you have an outstanding warrant or charges pending in another
jurisdiction you would be wise to deal with them as soon as possible -after-
you are sentenced. If you follow the correct procedure chances are good the
warrants will be dropped (quashed). In the worst case scenario, you will be
transported to the appropriate jurisdiction, plead guilty and have your "time
run concurrent." Typically in non-violent crimes you can serve several
sentences all at the same time. Many Federal inmates have their state time
run with their Federal time. In a nutshell: concurrent is good, consecutive
bad.
This procedure is referred to as the Interstate Agreement On Detainers
Act (IADA). You may also file a "demand for speedy trial", with the
appropriate court. This starts the meter running. If they don't extradite
you within a certain period of time, the charges will have to be dropped. The
"Inmates' Self-Help Litigation Manual" that I mentioned earlier covers this
topic quite well.
R. ENCRYPTION
There are probably a few of you out there saying, "I triple DES
encrypt my hard drive and 128 character RSA public key it for safety." Well,
that's just great, but... the Feds can have a grand jury subpoena your
passwords and if you don't give them up you may be charged with obstruction of
justice. Of course who's to say otherwise if you forgot your password in all
the excitement of getting arrested. I think I heard this once or twice before
in a Senate Sub-committee hearing. "Senator, I have no recollection of the
aforementioned events at this time." But seriously, strong encryption is
great. However, it would be foolish to rely on it. If the Feds have your
computer and access to your encryption software itself, it is likely they
could break it given the motivation. If you understand the true art of code
breaking you should understand this. People often overlook the fact that your
password, the one you use to access your encryption program, is typically less
than 8 characters long. By attacking the access to your encryption program
with a keyboard emulation sequencer your triple DES/128 bit RSA crypto is
worthless. Just remember, encryption may not protect you.
S. LEGAL SUMMARY
Before I move on to the Life in Prison subpart, let me tell you what
this all means. You're going to get busted, lose everything you own, not get
out on bail, snitch on your enemies, get even more time than you expected and
have to put up with a bunch of idiots in prison. Sound fun? Keep hacking.
And, if possible, work on those sensitive .gov sites. That way they can hang
an espionage rap on you. That will carry about 12 to 18 years for a first
time offender.
I know this may all sound a bit bleak, but the stakes for hackers have
gone up and you need to know what they are. Let's take a look at some recent
sentences:
Agent Steal (me) 41 months
Kevin Poulsen 51 months
Minor Threat 70 months
Kevin Mitnick estimated 7-9 years
As you can see, the Feds are giving out some time now. If you are
young, a first-time offender, unsophisticated (like MOD), and were just
looking around in some little company's database, you might get probation. But
chances are that if that is all you were doing, you would have been passed
over for prosecution. As a rule, the Feds won't take the case unless $10,000
in damages are involved. The problem is who is to say what the loss is? The
company can say whatever figure it likes and it would be tough to prove
otherwise. They may decide to, for insurance purposes, blame some huge
downtime expense on you. I can hear it now, "When we detected the intruder,
we promptly took our system off-line. It took us two weeks to bring it up
again for a loss in wasted manpower of $2 million." In some cases you might
be better off just using the company's payroll system to cut you a couple of
$10,000 checks. That way the government has a firm loss figure. This would
result in a much shorter sentence. I'm not advocating blatant criminal actions.
I just think the sentencing guidelines definitely need some work.
PART II - FEDERAL PRISON
A. STATE v. FEDERAL
In most cases I would say that doing time in a Federal Prison is better
than doing time in the state institutions. Some state prisons are such
violent and pathetic places that it's worth doing a little more time in the
Federal system. This is going to be changing however. The public seems to
think that prisons are too comfortable and as a result Congress has passed a
few bills to toughen things up.
Federal prisons are generally going to be somewhat less crowded,
cleaner, and more laid back. The prison I was at looked a lot like a college
campus with plenty of grass and trees, rolling hills, and stucco buildings. I
spent most of my time in the library hanging out with Minor Threat. We would
argue over who was more elite. "My sentence was longer," he would argue. "I
was in more books and newspapers," I would rebut. (humor)
Exceptions to the Fed is better rule would be states that permit
televisions and word processors in your cell. As I sit here just prior to
release scribbling this article with pen and paper I yearn for even a Smith
Corona with one line display. The states have varying privileges. You could
wind up someplace where everything gets stolen from you. There are also
states that are abolishing parole, thus taking away the ability to get out
early with good behavior. That is what the Feds did.
B. SECURITY LEVELS
The Bureau of Prisons (BOP) has six security levels. Prisons are
assigned a security level and only prisoners with the appropriate ratings are
housed there. Often the BOP will have two or three facilities at one location.
Still, they are essentially separate prisons, divided by fences.
The lowest level facility is called a minimum, a camp, or FPC.
Generally speaking, you will find first time, non-violent offenders with less
than 10 year sentences there. Camps have no fences. Your work assignment at
a camp is usually off the prison grounds at a nearby military base. Other
times camps operate as support for other nearby prisons.
The next level up is a low Federal Correctional Institution (FCI).
These are where you find a lot of people who should be in a camp but for some
technical reason didn't qualify. There is a double fence with razor wire
surrounding it. Again you will find mostly non-violent types here. You would
really have to piss someone off before they would take a swing at you.
Moving up again we get to medium and high FCI's which are often
combined. More razor wire, more guards, restricted movement and a rougher
crowd. It's also common to find people with 20 or 30+ year sentences.
Fighting is much more common. Keep to yourself, however, and people generally
leave you alone. Killings are not too terribly common. With a prison
population of 1500-2000, about one or two a year leave on a stretcher and don't
come back.
The United States Penitentiary (U.S.P.) is where you find the murderers,
rapists, spies and the roughest gang bangers. "Leavenworth" and "Atlanta" are
the most infamous of these joints. Traditionally surrounded by a 40 foot
brick wall, they take on an ominous appearance. The murder rate per prison
averages about 30 per year with well over 250 stabbings.
The highest security level in the system is Max, sometimes referred to
as "Supermax." Max custody inmates are locked down all the time. Your mail is
shown to you over a TV screen in your cell. The shower is on wheels and it
comes to your door. You rarely see other humans and if you do leave your cell
you will be handcuffed and have at least a three guard escort. Mr. Gotti, the
Mafia boss, remains in Supermax. So does Aldridge Ames, the spy.
C. GETTING DESIGNATED
Once you are sentenced, the BOP has to figure out what they want to do
with you. There is a manual called the "Custody and Classification Manual"
that they are supposed to follow. It is publicly available through the
Freedom of Information Act and it is also in most prison law libraries.
Unfortunately, it can be interpreted a number of different ways. As a result,
most prison officials responsible for classifying you do pretty much as they
please.
Your first classification is done by the Region Designator at BOP
Regional Headquarters. As a computer hacker you will most likely be placed in
a camp or a low FCI. This is assuming you weren't pulling bank jobs on the
side. -IF- you do wind up in an FCI, you should make it to a camp after six
months. This is assuming you behave yourself.
Another thing the Region Designator will do is to place a "Computer
No" on your file. This means you will not be allowed to operate a computer at
your prison work assignment. In my case I wasn't allowed to be within 10 feet
of one. It was explained to me that they didn't even want me to know the
types of software they were running. Incidentally, the BOP uses PC/Server
based LANs with NetWare 4.1 running on Fiber 10baseT Ethernet connections to
Cabletron switches and hubs. PC based gateways reside at every prison. The
connection to the IBM mainframe (Sentry) is done through leased lines via
Sprintnet's Frame Relay service with 3270 emulation software/hardware resident
on the local servers. Sentry resides in Washington, D.C. with SNA type
network concentrators at the regional offices. ;-) And I picked all of this up
without even trying to. Needless to say, BOP computer security is very lax.
Many of their publicly available "Program Statements" contain specific
information on how to use Sentry and what it's designed to do. They have other
networks as well, but this is not a tutorial on how to hack the BOP. I'll save
that for if they ever really piss me off. (humor)
Not surprisingly, the BOP is very paranoid about computer hackers. I
went out of my way not to be interested in their systems or to receive
computer security related mail. Nevertheless, they tried restricting my mail
on numerous occasions. After I filed numerous grievances and had a meeting
with the warden, they decided I was probably going to behave myself. My 20 or
so magazine subscriptions were permitted to come in, after a special screening.
Despite all of that I still had occasional problems, usually when I received
something esoteric in nature. It's my understanding, however, that many
hackers at other prisons have not been as fortunate as I was.
D. IGNORANT INMATES
You will meet some of the stupidest people on the planet in prison. I
suppose that is why they are there, too dumb to do anything except crime. And
for some strange reason these uneducated low class common thieves think they
deserve your respect. In fact they will often demand it. These are the same
people that condemn everyone who cooperated, while at the same time feel it is
fine to break into your house or rob a store at gunpoint. These are the types
of inmates you will be incarcerated with, and occasionally these inmates will
try to get over on you. They will do this for no reason other than the fact
you are an easy mark.
There are a few tricks hackers can do to protect themselves in prison.
The key to your success is acting before the problem escalates. It is also
important to have someone outside (preferably another hacker) that can do some
social engineering for you. The objective is simply to have your problem
inmate moved to another institution. I don't want to give away my methods but
if staff believes that an inmate is going to cause trouble, or if they believe
his life is in danger, they will move him or lock him away in segregation.
Social engineered letters (official looking) or phone calls from the right
source to the right department will often evoke brisk action. It's also quite
simple to make an inmates life quite miserable. If the BOP has reason to
believe that an inmate is an escape risk, a suicide threat, or had pending
charges, they will handle them much differently. Tacking these labels on an
inmate would be a real nasty trick. I have a saying: "Hackers usually have
the last word in arguments." Indeed.
Chances are you won't have many troubles in prison. This especially
applies if you go to a camp, mind your own business, and watch your mouth.
Nevertheless, I've covered all of this in the event you find yourself caught
up in the ignorant behavior of inmates whose lives revolve around prison. And
one last piece of advice, don't make threats, truly stupid people are too
stupid to fear anything, particularly an intelligent man. Just do it.
E. POPULATION
The distribution of blacks, whites and Hispanics varies from
institution to institution. Overall it works out to roughly 30% white, 30%
Hispanic and 30% black. The remaining 10% are various other races. Some
joints have a high percent of blacks and vice versa. I'm not necessarily a
prejudiced person, but prisons where blacks are in majority are a nightmare.
Acting loud, disrespectful, and trying to run the place is par for the course.
In terms of crimes, 60% of the Federal inmate population are
incarcerated for drug related crimes. The next most common would be bank
robbery (usually for quick drug money), then various white collar crimes. The
Federal prison population has changed over the years. It used to be a place
for the criminal elite. The tough drug laws have changed all of that.
Just to quell the rumors, I'm going to cover the topic of prison rape.
Quite simply, in medium and low security level Federal prisons it is unheard
of. In the highs it rarely happens. When it does happen, one could argue
that the victim was asking for it. I heard an inmate say once, "You can't
make no inmate suck cock that don't wanta." Indeed. In my 41 months of
incarceration, I never felt in any danger. I would occasionally have inmates
that would subtly ask me questions to see where my preferences lie, but once I
made it clear that I didn't swing that way I would be left alone. Hell, I got
hit on more often when I was hanging out in Hollywood!
On the other hand, state prisons can be a hostile environment for rape
and fighting in general. Many of us heard how Bernie S. got beat up over use
of the phone. Indeed, I had to get busy a couple of times. Most prison
arguments occur over three simple things: the phone, the TV and money/drugs.
If you want to stay out of trouble in a state prison, or Federal for that
matter, don't use the phone too long, don't change the channel and don't get
involved in gambling or drugs. As far as rape goes, pick your friends
carefully and stick with them. And always, always, be respectful. Even if
the guy is a fucking idiot (and most inmates are), say excuse me.
My final piece of prison etiquette advice would be to never take your
inmate problems to "the man" (prison staff). Despite the fact that most
everyone in prison snitched on their co-defendants at trial, there is no
excuse for being a prison rat. The rules are set by the prisoners themselves.
If someone steps out of line there will likely be another inmate who will be
happy to knock him back. In some prisons inmates are so afraid of being
labeled a rat that they refuse to be seen talking alone with a prison staff
member. I should close this paragraph by stating that this bit of etiquette
is routinely ignored as other inmates will snitch on you for any reason
whatsoever. Prison is a strange environment.
F. DOING TIME
You can make what you want to out of prison. Some people sit around
and do dope all day. Others immerse themselves in a routine of work and
exercise. I studied technology and music. Regardless, prisons are no longer
a place of rehabilitation. They serve only to punish and conditions are only
going to worsen. The effect is that angry, uneducated, and unproductive
inmates are being released back into society.
While I was incarcerated in 95/96, the prison band program was still
in operation. I played drums for two different prison bands. It really helped
pass the time and when I get out I will continue with my career in music. Now
the program has been canceled, all because some senator wanted to be seen as
being tough on crime. Bills were passed in Congress. The cable TV is gone,
pornography mags are no longer permitted, and the weight piles are being
removed. All this means is that prisoners will have more spare time on their
hands, and so more guards will have to be hired to watch the prisoners. I
don't want to get started on this subject. Essentially what I'm saying is
make something out of your time. Study, get in to a routine and before you
know you'll be going home, and a better person on top of it.
G. DISCIPLINARY ACTIONS
What fun is it if you go to prison and don't get into some mischief?
Well, I'm happy to say the only "shots" (violations) I ever received were for
having a friend place a call with his three-way calling for me (you can't call
everyone collect), and drinking homemade wine. |-) The prison occasionally
monitors your phone calls and on the seven or eight hundredth time I made a
three-way I got caught. My punishment was ten hours of extra duty (cleaning
up). Other punishments for shots include loss of phone use, loss of
commissary, loss of visits, and getting thrown in the hole. Shots can also
increase your security level and can get you transferred to a higher level
institution. If you find yourself having trouble in this area you may want to
pick up the book, "How to win prison disciplinary hearings", by Alan Parmelee,
206-328-2875.
H. ADMINISTRATIVE REMEDY
If you have a disagreement with the way staff is handling your case
(and you will) or another complaint, there is an administrative remedy
procedure. First you must try to resolve it informally. Then you can file a
form BP-9. The BP-9 goes to the warden. After that you can file a BP-10
which goes to the region. Finally, a BP-11 goes to the National BOP
Headquarters (Central Office). The whole procedure is a joke and takes about
six months to complete. Delay and conquer is the BOP motto. After you
complete the remedy process to no avail, you may file your action in a civil
court. In some extreme cases you may take your case directly to the courts
without exhausting the remedy process. Again, the "Prisoners Self-Help
Litigation Manual" covers this quite well.
My best advice with this remedy nonsense is to keep your request brief,
clear, concise and only ask for one specific thing per form. Usually if you
"got it coming" you will get it. If you don't, or if the BOP can find any
reason to deny your request, they will.
For this reason I often took my problems outside the prison from the
start. If it was a substantial enough issue I would inform the media, the
director of the BOP, all three of my attorneys, my judge and the ACLU. Often
this worked. It always pissed them off. But, alas I'm a man of principle and
if you deprive me of my rights I'm going to raise hell. In the past I might
have resorted to hacker tactics, like disrupting the BOP's entire
communication system bringing it crashing down! But...I'm rehabilitated now.
Incidentally, most BOP officials and inmates have no concept of the kind of
havoc a hacker can wield on an individuals life. So until some hacker shows
the BOP which end is up you will have to accept the fact most everyone you
meet in prison will have only nominal respect for you. Deal with it, you're
not in cyberspace anymore.
I. PRISON OFFICIALS
There are two types, dumb and dumber. I've had respect for several
but I've never met one that impressed me as being particularly talented in a
way other than following orders. Typically you will find staff that are
either just doing their job, or staff that is determined to advance their
career. The latter take their jobs and themselves way too seriously. They
don't get anywhere by being nice to inmates so they are often quite curt.
Ex-military and law enforcement wannabes are commonplace. All in all they're
a pain in the ass but easy to deal with. Anyone who has ever been down
(incarcerated) for awhile knows it's best to keep a low profile. If they don't
know you by name you're in good shape.
One of the problems that computer hackers will encounter with prison
staff is fear and/or resentment. If you are a pretentious articulate educated
white boy like myself you would be wise to act a little stupid. These people
don't want to respect you and some of them will hate everything that you stand
for. Many dislike all inmates to begin with. And the concept of you someday
having a great job and being successful bothers them. It's all a rather
bizarre environment where everyone seems to hate their jobs. I guess I've led
a sheltered life.
Before I move on, sometimes there will be certain staff members, like
your Case Manager, that will have a substantial amount of control over your
situation. The best way to deal with the person is to stay out of their way.
Be polite, don't file grievances against them and hope that they will take
care of you when it comes time. If this doesn't seem to work, then you need
to be a total pain in the ass and ride them with every possible request you
can muster. It's especially helpful if you have outside people willing to
make calls. Strong media attention will usually, at the very least, make the
prison do what they are supposed to do. If you have received a lot of bad
press, this could be a disadvantage. If your care continues to be a problem,
the prison will transfer you to another facility where you are more likely to
get a break. All in all how you choose to deal with staff is often a
difficult decision. My advice is that unless you are really getting screwed
over or really hate the prison you are in, don't rock the boat.
J. THE HOLE
Segregation sucks, but chances are you will find yourself there at
some point and usually for the most ridiculous of reasons. Sometimes you will
wind up there because of what someone else did. The hole is a 6' x 10'
concrete room with a steel bed and steel toilet. Your privileges will vary,
but at first you get nothing but a shower every couple of days. Naturally they
feed you but, it's never enough, and it's often cold. With no snacks you
often find yourself quite hungry in-between meals. There is nothing to do
there except read and hopefully some guard has been kind enough to throw you
some old novel.
Disciplinary actions will land you in the hole for typically a week or
two. In some cases you might get stuck there for a month or three. It depends
on the shot and on the Lieutenant that sent you there. Sometimes people never
leave the hole....
K. GOOD TIME
You get 54 days per year off of your sentence for good behavior. If
anyone tells you that a bill is going to be passed to give 108 days, they are
lying. 54 days a year works out to 15% and you have to do something
significant to justify getting that taken away. The BOP has come up with the
most complicated and ridiculous way to calculate how much good time you have
earned. They have a book about three inches thick that discusses how to
calculate your exact release date. I studied the book intensely and came to
the conclusion that the only purpose it serves is to covertly steal a few days
of good time from you. Go figure.
L. HALFWAY HOUSE
All "eligible" inmates are to serve the last 10% of their sentence
(not to exceed six months) in a Community Corrections Center (CCC). At the CCC
, which is nothing more than a large house in a bad part of town, you are to
find a job in the community and spend your evenings and nights at the CCC. You
have to give 25% of the gross amount of your check to the CCC to pay for all of
your expenses, unless you are a rare Federal prisoner sentenced to serve all of
your time at the CCC in which case it is 10%. They will breathalyse and
urinanalyse you routinely to make sure you are not having too much fun. If
you're a good little hacker you'll get a weekend pass so you can stay out all
night. Most CCCs will transfer you to home confinement status after a few
weeks. This means you can move into your own place, (if they approve it) but
still have to be in for the evenings. They check up on you by phone. And no,
you are not allowed call forwarding, silly rabbit.
M. SUPERVISED RELEASE
Just when you think the fun is all over, after you are released from
prison or the CCC, you will be required to report to a Probation Officer. For
the next 3 to 5 years you will be on Supervised Release. The government
abolished parole, thereby preventing convicts from getting out of prison early.
Despite this they still want to keep tabs on you for awhile.
Supervised Release, in my opinion, is nothing more than extended
punishment. You are a not a free man able to travel and work as you please.
All of your activities will have to be presented to your Probation Officer
(P.O.). And probation is essentially what Supervised Release is. Your P.O.
can violate you for any technical violations and send you back to prison for
several months, or over a year. If you have ANY history of drug use you will
be required to submit to random (weekly) urinalyses. If you come up dirty it's
back to the joint.
As a hacker you may find that your access to work with, or possession
of computer equipment may be restricted. While this may sound pragmatic to
the public, in practice it serves no other purpose that to punish and limit a
former hacker's ability to support himself. With computers at libraries, copy
shops, schools, and virtually everywhere, it's much like restricting someone
who used a car to get to and from a bank robbery to not ever drive again. If a
hacker is predisposed to hacking he's going to be able to do it with or
without restrictions. In reality many hackers don't even need a computer to
achieve their goals. As you probably know a phone and a little social
engineering go a long way.
But with any luck you will be assigned a reasonable P.O. and you will
stay out of trouble. If you give your P.O. no cause to keep an eye on you,
you may find the reins loosening up. You may also be able to have your
Supervised Release terminated early by the court. After a year or so, with
good cause, and all of your government debts paid, it might be plausible. Hire
an attorney, file a motion.
For many convicts Supervised Release is simply too much like being in
prison. For those it is best to violate, go back to prison for a few months,
and hope the judge terminates their Supervised Release. Although the judge
may continue your supervision, he/she typically will not.
PART III
A. HOW TO AVOID DETECTION
Now that you know what kind of trouble you are facing I'll go back to
the beginning. If what I've just covered doesn't make you want to stop
hacking then you had better learn how to protect yourself. Many hackers feel
they have some god given constitutional right to hack. Many don't believe it
should be illegal. Well, neurosis and personality disorders work in strange
ways. Regardless, I'll cover the topic of stealth. Please note that I in no
way advocate or encourage hacking. This technical information is being
provided for educational purposes only. And as I mentioned you may feel you
have a perfectly legitimate reason for avoiding detection, simply trying to
stay clear of other hackers would be an acceptable reason. This paper (I'm
sure) will also serve to educate law enforcement officials on the methods
currently being deployed by hackers to avoid detection.
Avoiding being identified while hacking is in actually a rather simple
feat, assuming you follow a few simple rules. Unfortunately, very few
people bother with them, due typically to arrogance and ego. Which as I have
noticed, seems to be a trait that is a prerequisite to being a successful
hacker. I've never met a hacker who didn't think he was the shit. And when
it gets right down to it that was the reason that Mitnick got caught. I'll
examine this incident a little later.
So I will list here a few of the basic rules I used, and then I'll
expound upon them a little later.
* Most important of all, I would never tell another hacker who I was,
where I lived, or give out my home phone number. (OK, I screwed up
on that one.)
* I didn't set up network access accounts up in my real name or use
my real address.
* I didn't set up phone numbers in my real name.
* I would never dial directly in to anything I was hacking.
* I would set up some kind of notification system that would let me
know if someone was trying to figure out where I was connecting from.
* I didn't transmit personal data on systems I had have hacked into.
* When I used a network or computer for work or social objectives, I
tried to keep it separate from my hacking.
* I never assumed that just by connecting through a bunch of different
networks or using cellular phones that I was safe. Even though most
cellular networks do not have triangulation equipment installed they
still have the ability to narrow a transmitting location down to a
square mile of even a few blocks, this even well after you have dis-
connected.
* The minute I got into a system I would examine and edit all of the
logs. I would also look for email daemons on admin or admin assoc-
iated accts. that sent out copies of the system security logs.
* When setting up accts. on systems I would use different login ID's.
* I never went to hacker cons. (Until I worked with the FBI)
* I would change network access dial up accts. and dial up numbers
every so often. I would also change living locations every 8-12
months.
* I would keep in mind that the numbers I dialed on my phone could
eventually be used to track me again. For example, if I called my
girl friend frequently, after I changed numbers and location I might
still be calling that number. The telcos now have toll record data
base software that can cross reference and track this type of thing.
* I rarely used IRC until I worked with the FBI. If -you- must, change
your handle frequently, remain in invisible mode, and if you're leet
enough, spoof your IP. Remember that you should never trust other
hackers. Many times association with them will cause you as much
trouble as a run in with the Feds.
And yes the FBI logs all of the IRC channels and searches them for key
words when they are looking for information on someone or some breech. There
is a secret logging program running on a special irc.server that doesn't
accept port 6667 connections, etc. Doesn't show up as a link either. Hmm. ;-)
Following all of those rules would be tough. The fact of the matter
is if you generate enough interest and piss off the right people, they will
come after you. However, the FBI routinely passes over low level hackers.
When I worked with the Bureau I was instructed that only the most malicious
and aggressive hackers where to be investigated. Fine with me, wasn't my goal
in life to put a bunch a little hacker dorks in jail. It's not real easy to
catch an accomplished hacker but it can be done, it's really just a matter of
contacting all of the right people and putting a little time into it.
Typically hackers get caught because someone snitched. Thus the importance of
my first rule, I never told anyone who I really was. The other primary reason
for getting caught is arrogance or underestimating the abilities of the
authorities. Poulsen didn't believe an investigator would sit outside of a
grocery store for a week on the off chance he might show up. Poulsen had used
the pay phones at that store a few times, which was determined by a toll
record search. Mitnick didn't think someone would go through the trouble of
doing toll searches on cell phone records then radio frequency triangulating
his location.
Poulsen and I went through some rather elaborate anti-detection
procedures. Since I had physical access to my local telco Central Office I
would activate, connect, and wire all of my own phone services. There was
essentially no record of my phone number or cable and pair data. In addition,
I ran the wires going into my apartment through a trash chute, over the roof
covered by tar, and down a vent pipe into my bathroom. The connection to the
bridging terminal (F2) was through a hole drilled into the back of the
junction box. Examination of the telephone box in the basement of my building
revealed no connections, you would have had to take the box apart to see it.
And if that wasn't enough over at the C.O. I tapped on to the output channel
(SC1, which was the feed to SCCS) of the 1AESS telephone switch and ran it up
to my apartment. There I had an old PC-XT with a Bell 202 modem watching the
1AESS output. Poulsen wrote a small basic program that looked for call traces
and any other suspicious activity. The XT would start beeping and print out
any of those output messages. Elaborate indeed.
B. THE STEALTH BOX
But a truly good anti-detection system would notify you absolutely if
someone was attempting to trace your connection. In addition, it would
terminate the connection before it allowed someone to see where it was going.
What I am suggesting is some type of dial in/dial out mechanism. For example,
2 modems connected back to back, with their 232 ports connected. They would
then be placed in a generic wall mounted box in anonymous phone closet
somewhere. In addition, a stun gun would be wired to give the modems a death
shock if the box was opened by an unauthorized person. A password would be
set on the modem for dial out and the phone lines feeding the two modems would
have to be set up under separate accounts. This would require anyone
investigating, to come out and take a gander at this device to determine that,
it's not the location of the hacker, and that yet another call trace is in
order to see who is dialing in. However, having opened the box the
investigator has disabled the device and when you dial in you'll know that
something is up. Even if they attempt to replace the device, they could never
know the original password, or even if there was one. It would be further
advisable to disguise the telephone lines feeding the device, making it
necessary to open the box to identify them.
Well that's just an idea for the design of an anti-detection device.
It's obviously a bit complex, but you get the idea. My point being that
avoiding detection is not a simple task. If someone wants you they can get
you. There really isn't such a thing as a secure connection; virtually
everything can be traced, short of a highly directional data burst satellite
uplink. At that point the Air Force National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) or
the NSA would have to get involved, big bucks.
Aside from setting up physical hardware another idea would be to find
a Sysadmin that will let you use his system to connect through. If you trust
him to tell you if there has been an inquiry regarding your connection then
you might be OK. It would also be wise to set up background processes that
monitor finger and other related probes of your account. Watch them watch you.
As I mentioned earlier if you fall under surveillance there will be
2-way radio traffic in your vicinity. Using the Opto-Electronics Explorer
will detect this and you can further investigate to see who it may be. Good
physical surveillance is difficult to detect. Bad physical surveillance is
comical.
C. MORE PROTECTION
I covered encryption earlier and as I mentioned it really is not safe
to assume that it will protect you from someone who takes possession of your
computer. The only truly safe encryption would be a military spec.
hardware/software implementation. When people talk about secure encryption
they are not taking into account that all the power of a Government might be
trying to crack it, and that they will have physical access to the encryption
device, your computer! This leaves us with one other method, destroying the
data. Now this in and of it's self can be construed as obstruction of
justice. However, should you feel the need to instantly destroy all of the
data on your hard drive, for oh.. lets say educational purposes. I would
suggest mounting a bulk magnetic tape eraser next to your hard drive. You can
pick one up at Radio Hack, err Shack. One flip of the panic switch, thus
powering up the eraser while the drive is turning, and ZAP! Mount a switch
next to your bed. ;-)
This may or may not destroy all of the data on your drive. If the
drive disk is removed and placed on a special reader some data may still be
recovered. This is a science in itself. DOD spec. requires that a hard drive
be written to with O's 7 times before it is considered erased. Simply erasing
a file, formatting, or defragging will not suffice. Look for a shareware
utility named "BCwipe". This will erase to military spec. You may also want
to install some type of program that auto erases under certain conditions.
Regardless, computer specialists that work with computer crime are trained to
look for this.
There are still a lot of issues that could be covered with respect to
avoiding detection and keeping clear of hackers. In fact I could fill a book,
and in retrospect I probably should have. But I told a lot of people I would
write this file and make it public. Hope you found it of some assistance.
CLOSURE
What a long strange trip it's been. I have a great deal of mixed
emotions about my whole ordeal. I can however, say that I HAVE benefited
from my incarceration. However, it certainly was not on the behalf of how I
was handled by the government. No, despite their efforts to kick me when I
was down, use me, turn their backs after I had assisted them, and in general,
just violate my rights, I was still able to emerge better educated than when I
went in. But frankly, my release from prison was just in the nick of time.
The long term effects of incarceration and stress were creeping up on me, and
I could see prison conditions were worsening. It's hard to express the
poignancy of the situation but the majority of those incarcerated feel that if
drastic changes are not made America is due for some serious turmoil, perhaps
even a civil war. Yes, the criminal justice system is that screwed up. The
Nation's thirst for vengeance on criminals is leading us into a vicious
feedback loop of crime and punishment, and once again crime. Quite simply,
the system is not working. My purpose in writing this article was not to send
any kind of message. I'm not telling you how not to get caught and I'm not
telling you to stop hacking. I wrote this simply because I feel like I owe it
to whomever might get use of it. For some strange reason I am oddly compelled
to tell you what happened to me. Perhaps this is some kind or therapy,
perhaps it's just my ego, perhaps I just want to help some poor 18 year old
hacker who really doesn't know what he is getting himself in to. Whatever the
reason, I just sat down one day and started writing.
If there is a central theme to this article it would be how ugly your
world can become. Once you get grabbed by the law, sucked into their vacuum,
and they shine the spotlight on you, there will be little you can do to
protect yourself. The vultures and predators will try to pick what they can
off of you. It's open season for the U.S. Attorneys, your attorney, other
inmates, and prison officials. You become fair game. Defending yourself from
all of these forces will require all of your wits, all of your resources, and
occasionally your fists.
Furthering the humiliation, the press, as a general rule, will not be
concerned with presenting the truth. They will print what suits them and
often omit many relevant facts. If you have read any of the 5 books I am
covered in you will no doubt have a rather jaded opinion of me. Let me assure
you that if you met me today you would quickly see that I am quite likable and
not the villain many (especially Jon Littman) have made me out to be. You may
not agree with how I lived my life, but you wouldn't have any trouble
understanding why I chose to live it that way. Granted I've made my mistakes,
growing up has been a long road for me. Nevertheless, I have no shortage of
good friends. Friends that I am immensely loyal to. But if you believe
everything you read you'd have the impression that Mitnick is a vindictive
loser, Poulsen a furtive stalker, and I a two faced rat. All of those
assessments would be incorrect.
So much for first impressions. I just hope I was able to enlighten
you and in some way to help you make the right choice. Whether it's
protecting yourself from what could be a traumatic life altering experience,
or compelling you to focus your computer skills on other avenues, it's
important for you to know the program, the language, and the rules.
See you in the movies.
Agent Steal
1997
----[ EOF