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TEEN-AGE HACKER
HAS LESSONS FOR
COLUMBIA POLICE
THE 13 YEAR OLD COLUMBIAN YOUTH'S VOYAGE
INTO THE WORLD OF COMPUTER PIRACY HAS BEEN AN EYE-OPENING
EXPERIENCE FOR LOCAL POLICE, WHO SAY THEIR COMPUTER EXPERTISE
PALES IN COMPARISON TO THE SELF-TAUGHT SKILLS OF THE
BYTE-SIZE BUCCANEER.
"I NEVER EVEN TOUCHED ONE OF THESE UNTIL WE GOT THIS ONE,"
SAID HOWARD COUNTY POLICE LT. MICHAEL SHIUCHIOLO, HOLDING
THE KEYBOARD OF THE YOUTH'S CONFISCATED HOME COMPUTER.
COUNTY POLICE, ACTING ON A TIP FROM AN INFORMANT, ARRESTED
THE UNIDENTIFIED YOUTH LAST MONTH FOR ALLEGEDLY USING DATA
SUPPLIED BY COMPUTER PIRATES FROM AROUND THE COUNTRY TO MAKE
ILLEGAL CREDIT CARD PURCHASES, PLACE FREE LONG-DISTANCE
TELEPHONE CALLS AND OBTAIN HUNDREDS OF BOOTLEGGED COMPUTER
PROGRAMS WORTH AS MUCH AS $20,000.
THE CASE HAS CALLED INTO QUESTION THE ABILITY OF LOCAL'
POLICE DEPARTMENTS TO INVESTIGATE COMPUTER BANDITRY, WHICH
SOME EXPERTS CONSIDER THE FASTEST-GROWING CRIME OF THE 1980S.
IN HOWARD COUNTY, HOME TO THOUSANDS OF WHITE-COLLAR
PROFESSIONALS WHO WORK IN HIGH-TECH INDUSTRIES, THE POLICE
WERE CAUGHT COLD.
AFTER OBTAINING A WARRENT, THE OFFICERS SEARCHED THE
YOUTH'S COLUMBIA HOME AND SEIZED HIS COMPUTER EQUIPMENT.
MERCHANDISE ALLEGEDLY PURCHASED WITH THE CREDIT CARD NUMBERS
AND AT LEAST 80 COMPUTER DISCS ON WHICH DATA WAS STORED. BUT
NONE OF THE OFFICERS KNEW HOW TO OPERATE THE COMMODORE 64, A
MODEL THAT SELLS FOR ABOUT $179, EVEN THOUGH IT IS CONSIDERED
AN EASY-TO-USE MODEL, CHIUCHIOLO SAID.
COUNTY POLICE HAD TO CALL IN AN EXPERT FROM THE FBI TO
GIVE THEM A CRASH COURSE IN COMPUTER PROGRAMMING. THE YOUTH,
WHO AUTHORITIES SAID WAS COOPERATING WITH POLICE, HAS GIVEN
SEVERAL DEMONSTRATIONS, CHIUCHIOLO SAID.
LOCAL POLICE ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR INVESTIGATING SUCH CASES.
THE FBI PROVIDES ONLY TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE, AN FBI SPOKESMAN
SAID.
THE SECRET SERVICE IS INVOLVED IN THIS CASE, BUT ONLY TO
INVESTIGATE ALLEGED CREDIT CARD FRAUD, SAID SPECIAL AGENT
JAMES DE DETTE.
RECENTLY, IN A CONFERENCE ROOM AT POLICE HEADQUARTERS,
SHIUCHIOLO DEMONSTRATES THE YOUTH'S EQUIPMENT, GINGERLY
HUNTING AND PECKING ON THE COMPUTER KEYBOARD TO CALL UP
PROGRAMS.
HE SAID IT MAY BE WEEKS BEFORE ALL OF THE INFORMATION
STORED ON THE COMPUTER DISCS IS EXAMINED.
"A LOT OF THEM ARE PROGRAMS MADE UP BY OTHER COMPUTER
HACKERS. HE EVEN DESIGNED A COMPUTER GAME HIMSELF WHICH IS
REALLY QUITE GOOD," THE OFFICER SAID.
THE YOUTH, WHO IS DESCRIBED BY POLICE AS AN OTHERWISE
"TYPICAL" SUBURBAN TEEN-AGER, GOT THE HOME COMPUTER LAST YEAR
AND READ DOZENS OF BOOKS AND MAGAZINES ON THE SUBJECT.
FIVE MONTHS AGO, HE ADDED A DISK DRIVE UNIT, WHICH CAN
RETRIEVE INFORMATION STORED ON SMALL DISCS INSERTED INTO THE
MACHINE.
AFTER THAT, POLICE SAID, HE EMBARKED INTO THE WORLD OF
COMPUTER PIRACY, APPARENTLY LINKING WITH 15 TO 20 COMPUTER
HACKERS AROUND THE COUNTRY. THE HACKERS, KNOWN BY CODE NAMES
SUCK AS "THE KERNEL" AND "THE BANDIT," EXCHANGED INFORMATION
AND PROGRAMS THROUGH SO-CALLED COMPUTER "BULLETIN BOARDS."
STORED ON THE YOUTH'S COLLECTION OF DISCS WERE SCORES OF
ALLEGEDLY PIRATED GAMES SUCH AS THE FARMILIAR "DONKEY KONG"
AND "SPACE INVADERS," POLICE SAID. THEY ALSO FOUND ILLEGAL
PROGRAMS THAT CAL PLACE FREE LONG-DISTANCE CALLS ON AT&T'S
OWN CORPORATE TELEPHONE LINES, SIMULATE THE TONES OF
COIN-OPERATED PHONES OR GET ACCESS TO SPRINT, MCI AND OTHERS
INDEPENDENT PHONE COMPANIES, SHUICHIOLO SAID.
TELEPHONE COMPANY OINVESTIGATORS WATCHED IN AMAZEMENT AS
THE YOUTH EFFORTLESSLY PLACED A CALL TO LONDON DURING ONE OF
HIS RECENT DEMONSTRATIONS, THE OFFICER SAID.
THE TEEM-AGER ALSO HAD A PROGRAM TO CONDUCT "DRITY
DIALING," A TERM USED FOR A COMPUTER THAT DIALS EVERY
TELEPHONE NUMBER IN A GIVEN EXCHANGE IN SEARCH OF OTHER
COMPUTERS WITH WHICH HIS COULD BE CONNECTED, POLICE SAID.
DIRTY DIALING WAS HIGHLIGHTED IN THE MOVIE "WAR GAMES," IN
WHICH A TEEN-AGE COMPUTER WIZARD INADVERTENTLY GAINS ACCESS
TO DEFENSE DEPARTMENT COMPUTERS AND ALMOST STARTS WORLD WAR
III.