Date: 10 Jul 92 18:33:32 EDT From: Moderators Subject: File 1--MOD Busts in New York Federal Agents indicted five members of MOD, a group of computer crackers, last week on 11 counts that included conspiracy, wire fraud, unauthorized access to computers, unauthorized possession of access devices, and interception of electronic communications. Julio Fernandez (Outlaw), John Lee (Corrupt), Mark Abene (Phiber Optik), Elias Ladopoulos (Acid Phreak), and Paul Stira (Scorpion) were indicted under various provisions of Title 18, including 18 USC S. 1029(a)(3); 18 USC S. 371; 18 USC S. 2511(1)(a) and 2); and 18 USC S. 1343. The charges allege that the defendants broke into telephone switching computers of several Bell systems, engaged in "phreaking," and computer tampering. Phiber Optik, perhaps the best-known of the group, Scorpion, and Acid Phreak were raided by federal agents in January, 1990. Felony charges against Phiber Optik were dropped in January, 1991, when he pled guilty to misdemeanor offenses. The bulk of the allegations listed in last week's indictment occured in November, 1991. Members of MOD received national attention in 1990 as the result of an article on "hackers" in the Village Voice (Dibbell, Julian. 1990. "On Line and Out of Bounds," Voice, 35(July 24): 27-32.) Phiber Optik, an occasional active participant in The Well's "Hacker's conference," demonstrated his abilities to other members by obtaining credit and and similar private information, and by defending "hacking" and computer intrusion (see Harper's Forum. 1990. "Is Computer Hacking a Crime? A Debate from the Electronic Underground." Harper's, 280(March): 45-57). Among some "hackers," MOD was considered the "bad boys" of the computer underground because of alleged disruptiveness and harassment that was perceived to be their trademark. According to some, MOD had a reputation for arrogance and for vindictive retaliation against those who "crossed" them that ran counter to the "hacker ethic." A few, however, saw MOD as skilled teenagers whose apparent eccentricities should be tolerated because of their skill. Prosecution of malicious behavior is appropriate, but as the articles below suggest, much of the evidence against the group derives from wiretap information. As the NEWSBYTES article suggests, the case may be raised as an example of the importance of passing proposed legislation to expand the wire-tapping capability of law enforcement agents. One need not support alleged destructive behavior to be suspicious of law enforcement methods and attempts to expand intrusive powers that have been demonstrably abused in the past. Downloaded From P-80 International Information Systems 304-744-2253