**************************************************************************** >C O M P U T E R U N D E R G R O U N D< >D I G E S T< *** Volume 1, Issue #1.02 (April 2, 1990) ** **************************************************************************** MODERATORS: Jim Thomas / Gordon Meyer REPLY TO: TK0JUT2@NIU.bitnet SUBSCRIBE TO: INTERNET:TK0JUT2@NIU.BITNET@UICVM.uic.edu COMPUTER UNDERGROUND DIGEST is an open forum dedicated to sharing information among computerists and to the presentation and debate of diverse views. -------------------------------------------------------------------- DISCLAIMER: The views represented herein do not necessarily represent the views of the moderators. Contributors assume all responsibility for assuring that articles submitted do not violate copyright protections. -------------------------------------------------------------------- *************************************************************** *** Computer Underground Digest Issue #1.02 / File 3 of 3 *** *************************************************************** Following the discussion of FBI surveillance in CuD 1.02, the following was sent in. The contributor's anonymity is protected %eds.% ----------------------- Date: Sun, 01 Apr 90 17:06 CDT Subject: FBI BBS Surveillence (PHRACK Article) ---------------------- ==Phrack Inc.== Volume Two, Issue 23, File 10 of 12 In The Spirit Of The Vicious Circle Trilogy... Phrack Inc. Presents ***************************************** *** *** *** Big Brother Online *** *** *** *** by Thumpr Of ChicagoLand *** *** *** *** June 6, 1988 *** *** *** *** Special Thanks To Hatchet Molly *** *** *** ***************************************** The United States Government is monitoring the message activity on several bulletin boards across the country. This is the claim put forth by Glen L. Roberts, author of "The FBI and Your BBS." The manuscript, published by The FBI Project, covers a wide ground of FBI/BBS related topics, but unfortunately it discusses none of them in depth. It begins with a general history of the information gathering activities of the FBI. It seems that that the FBI began collecting massive amounts of information on citizens that were involved with "radical political" movements. This not begin during the 1960's as one might expect, but rather during the 1920's! Since then the FBI has amassed a HUGE amount of information on everyday citizens... citizens convicted of no crime other than being active in some regard that the FBI considers potentially dangerous. After discussing the activities of the FBI Roberts jumps into a discussion of why FBI snooping on BBS systems is illegal. He indicates that such snooping violates the First, Fourth, and Fifth amendments to the Constitution. But he makes his strongest case when discussing the Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1987. This act was amended to the Federal Wiretapping Law of 1968 and But as with all good laws, it was written in such broad language that it can, and does, apply to privately owned systems such as Bulletin Boards. Roberts (briefly) discusses how this act can be applied in protecting *your* bulletin board from snooping by the Feds. How to protect your BBS: Do NOT keep messages for more than 180 days. Becaus the way the law is written, messages less then 180 days old are afforded more protection then older messages. Therefore, to best protect your system purge, archive, or reload your message base about every 150 days or so. This seems silly but will make it harder (more red tape) for the government to issue a search warrant and inform the operator/subscriber of the service that a search will take place. Roberts is not clear on this issue, but his message is state emphatically... you will be better protected if you roll over your message bas sooner. Perhaps the best way to protect your BBS is to make it a private system. This means that you can not give "instant access" to callers (I know of very few underground boards that do this anyway) and you can not allow just anyone to b a member of your system. In other words, even if you make callers wait 24 hours to be validated before having access you need to make some distinctions about who you validate and who you do not. Your BBS needs to be a PRIVATE system and you need to take steps to enforce and proclaim this EXPECTED PRIVACY. One of the ways Roberts suggests doing so is placing a message like this in your welcome screen: "This BBS is a private system. Only private citizens who are not involved in government or law enforcement activities are authorized gained from this system to any government agency or employee." Using this message, or one like it, will make it a criminal offense (under the ECPA) for an FBI Agent or other government snoop to use your BBS. The manuscript concludes with a discussion of how to verify users and what to do when you find an FBI agent using your board. Overall, I found Roberts book to be moderately useful. It really just whetted my appetite for more information instead of answering all my questions. If you would like a copy o the book it sells for $5.00 (including postage etc). Contact; THE FBI PROJECT Box 8275 Ann Arbor, MI 48107 Visa/MC orders at (313) 747-7027. Personally I would use a pseudonym when dealing with this organization. Ask for a catalog with your order and you wil the FBI would be interested in knowing who is doing business with this place. The manuscript, by the way, is about 20 pages long and offers references to other FBI expose' information. The full citation of the EPCA, if you want to look it up, is 18 USC 2701. Additional Comments: The biggest weakness, and it's very apparent, is that Roberts offers no evidence of the FBI monitoring BBS systems. He claims that they do, but he does not give any known examples. His claims do make sense however. As he states, BBS's offer a type of "publication" that is not read b any editors before it is "published." It offers an instant form of news and one that may make the FBI very nervous. Roberts would do well to include some supportive evidence in his book. To help him out, I will offer some here. * One of the Ten Commandments of Phreaking (as published in the famous TAP Magazine) is that every third phreaker is an FBI agent. This type of folklore knowledge does not arise without some kind of justification. The FBI is interested in the activities of phreakers and is going to be looking for the BBS systems that cater to them. I your system does not, but it looks like it may, the FBI may monitor i just to be sure. * On April 26, 1988 the United States Attorney's Office arrested 19 people for using MCI and Sprint credit card numbers illegally. These numbers were, of course, "stolen" by phreakers using computers to hac them out. The Secret Service was able to arrest this people by posin as phone phreaks! In this case the government has admitted to placin there, the success of theis "sting" will only mean that they will try it again. Be wary of people offering you codes. * In the famous bust of the Inner Circle and the 414s, the FBI monitore electronic mail for several months before moving in for the kill. While it is true that the owners of the systems being hacked (Western Union for one) invited the FBI to snoop through their files, it does establish that the FBI is no stranger to the use of electronic snooping in investigating crimes. Conclusion: There is no reason to believe that the government is *not* monitoring your bulletin board system. There are many good reasons to believe that they are! Learn how to protect yourself. There are laws and regulations in place that can protect your freedom of speech if you use them. You should take every step to protect your rights whether or not you run an underground system or not. There is no justification for the government to violate your rights, and you should take every step you can to protect yourself. I have no connections with Roberts, his book, or The FBI Project other then being a mostly-satisfied customer. I'm not a lawyer and neither is Roberts. No warranty is offered with this text file. Read and use it for what you thin it is worth. You suffer the consequences or reap the benefits. The choice is yours, but above all stay free. =+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ + END CuD #1.02 + +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+===+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+= !  Downloaded From P-80 International Information Systems 304-744-2253 12yrs+