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Operation Sundevil
by the Prodigy
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Operation SunDevil, a legendary event in computer history. But what
was it and what were the results of it?
On May 9, 1990, the U.S. Attorney's in Phoenix, Arizona released to
the press an announcement of a crackdown on "illegal computer hacking
activities". The official name for this action was "Operation SunDevil",
named after the mascot of Arizona State University, where this case started.
Twenty seven search warrants were used on May 8, 1990, resulting
in four arrests, with 150 Secret Service Agents carrying out the operation.
Operation SunDevil was an effort to arrest several hackers to posting stolen
credit card codes and telephone calling card codes. The targets for this
crackdown had been selected through a detailed two year investigation. Forty
two computer systems were seized by the US secret service, and about twenty
five of them were actually running bulletin boards. During 1990, the
Phoenix branch of the Secret Service had close to 300 BBS's that were
under observation, and all of them had been either called by Secret Service
agents or by informers, who passed logs of their sessions on to the Secret
Service. The four people who were arrested were: "Tony the Trashman" in
Tucson, AZ on May 9th, "Dr. Ripco", sysop of the Ripco BBS, was also
arrested, on illegal firearms possessions however. Also arrested were
"Electra", in PA, and an unnamed male juvenile hacker in PA.
Along with the forty or so computers taken, the Secret Service also
took approximately 23,000 disks, and unknown quantities of printed material,
computer printouts, magazines, notebooks, diaries, non-fiction books on
hacking, and anything else that caught the Feds' eye.
The Secret Service claimed in a press conference on May 9, 1990, that
the primary purpose of Operation SunDevil was to send a message to the
hacking community, that they could not hide behind the "relative anonymity
of their computer terminals.", and that the Feds could and would bust them.
They said that this bust "should convey a message to any computer enthusiast
whose interests exceed the ethical use of computers." But who is to decide
what are the so-called "ethical uses" of computers?
The outcome of Operation SunDevil was a let down for the Feds. They
had sent their "message", but only one indictment was served as a result
of the arrests. Prosecutors involved in the case say chances are "extremely
high" that all charges will be dropped. In the end, this two year, expensive
operation resulted in not much of a real prize for the Feds, and shows
that even if you do get arrested, the Feds don't really have much of a
case against you, even if they do take all your stuff.
Written 1/5/1993 by Shredder.
All rights are fish.
Mail: shredder@works.uucp
VMB: 1-800-344-3624 Send mail to box 8888.
This has been a Taco Bell Syndicate Production.