Date: Thu, 26 Nov 92 10:57:18 CST
>From: ICEMAN@CCU.UMANITOBA.CA
Subject: File 2--Teen "Computer Whiz" Strikes Store
 
>From--Winnipeg Free Press (Winnipeg,Manitoba,Canada) on Nov 26,1992:
 
         STAFF THREATENED, FILES RUINED AS TEEN COMPUTER WHIZ STRIKES
 
                                 By George Nikides
                                  Staff Reporter
 
     A teen hacker uncovered a hole in a downtown software shop's
computer system and went on a rampage, destroying every file and
threatening employees.
 
     "It's an ego thing. 'Boy look what i've accomplished,' " said
Sgt.  Dennis Loupin of the Winnipeg police fraud unit.  "He's very,
very intelligent. He's got a tremendous future in the computer world."
 
     An 18 year-old, who can't be named because he's charged under the
Young Offender's Act, faces fraud charges.
 
     Police say a hacker discovered a "hole" - an opening that allows
a user to circumvent a computer system's passwords - in the bulletin
board program at Adventure Software Ltd., a Hargrave Street software
shop.
 
     The computer whiz unlocked the program several times, at one
point destroying every file.
 
                                 Bulletin Board
 
     The hacking is believed to have been carried out with an
IBM-style computer from a home.
 
     Adventure Software offers a computer bulletin board where
customers can communicate, read about news products, or leave messages
from their home systems.  The system has about 400 users, police say.
 
     An Adventure Software employee, who asked not to be identified,
said threatening messages were left in the system, some suggesting
that selling software was immoral. Some messages attacked a store
employee.  The system was out of operation at one point for 3 1/2
weeks, he said.
 
     But the employee said police are overstating the hacker's skills.
"It doesn't take a genius to hear about a 'hole' in the program," said
the man.
 
     The system was infiltrated four to six times, he said.
 
     "It's not crippling. It's just extremely annoying, " the employee
     said.  By breaking into the system the computer bandit found home
     phone numbers and addresses, he said.
 
     Police say they are also investigating the teen in connection
with break-ins at other systems across North America.
 
                                    Mischief
 
     "He's now going to have to face the consequences of something he
thought was just a challenge but it's more than that - it's a crime, "
said Loupin.
 
     A Victor Street teenager was arrested Tuesday night and charged
with using a computer service to commit mischief, an offence that
carries a maximum 10-year sentence.
 
     The teen is now 18, but police say he was 17 when the alleged
crimes occured.
 
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