Teen Phone Phreak Targeted by the FBI 431
Wired has an interesting editorial on the latest resurgence of the old days of phone phreaking and the latest phreak that is rising into the FBI crosshairs. The most recent hoax, "swatting", involves malicious pranksters calling police with reports of fake murders, hostage crises, or the like and spoofing the call to appear as though it was from another location. "Now the FBI thinks it has identified the culprit in the Colorado swatting as a 17-year-old East Boston phone phreak known as "Li'l Hacker." Because he's underage, Wired.com is not reporting Li'l Hacker's last name. His first name is Matthew, and he poses a unique challenge to the federal justice system, because he is blind from birth. If he's guilty, the attack is at once the least sophisticated and most malicious of a string of capers linked to Matt, who stumbled into the lingering remains of the decades-old subculture of phone phreaking when he was 14, and quickly rose to become one of the most skilled active phreakers alive."
Thank Ma Bell (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Challenge? Why (Score:5, Interesting)
Skillz! (Score:1, Interesting)
Normal? Bullsh*t. (Score:-1, Interesting)
Hacking into the library does not have the resulting possibility of getting someone shot (fake hostage calls, etc.) or diverting emergency resources to places where they are not needed.
One is extremely sociopathic and criminal, the other isn't.
The fact that you can't distinguish between the two leads me to believe you may be in the former category.
No, not really (Score:5, Interesting)
So while the telcos should work towards a better identification system, it isn't necessarily the easiest thing in the world to develop and deploy, especially since the phone switches aren't the world's most extensible architecture (new features often mean adding hardware, not just changing code). We have to accept that virtual security is just like physical security: It cannot be perfect and impenetrable. We can have better and worse, but just because a failure is found doesn't mean the security is necessarily bad.
Besides, I see a bigger problem in kids who think this sort of thing is ok to do.
Nope, SWAT teams do this all the time. (Score:5, Interesting)
http://www.cato.org/raidmap/ [cato.org]
Hell, a 80-year-old grandmother was killed dead because the cops could just bust in with no warning and start shooting. Too bad the scum got the wrong fucking house. Makes me sick.
Re:Cops always think that way... (Score:4, Interesting)
That being said, I think they are using when it isn't necessary. And I think they are overly careless with it by getting the wrong houses and all. I don't think I read about the grandmother being shot down but I do remember a situation in Arizona (I think) where not only did they get the wrong house, but managed to catch it on fire and made the family watch their dog trapped on the second floor get burnt alive while hand cuffed and mocked on the front yard. A neighbor over heard a cop ask another if they should call the fire department in yet, and the reply was they don't deserve to have their shit saved.
This tells me that the cops did the swatt approach with the intent of somehow punishing the suspect in the process of his capture. They didn't even have enough competence to get the right house in the process. So yes, there is abuse. But I think instead of taking the tool away from them, they should have strict guidelines in when to use it, how it is used, with accountability for getting it wrong and hurting or damaging an innocent person. I don't think a telephone book lawsuit is enough, criminal charges and loss of job should be on the line for abuses and wrong houses and all.
Re:Challenge? Why (Score:4, Interesting)
Comment removed (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Yikes! (Score:5, Interesting)
Anyways, a common recurring theme I took from that and found it to be true with a lot of stuff is that the first generation doing something, whether that is separated by a few years of age or a real generation, the second seems to take it to an extreme and never gets the point of the fist right in practice. I mention this because the "plain assholes" are typically people who don't get it but want to participate in some way. It is usually what results in insane laws being made about things.
Re:What's the problem? (Score:5, Interesting)
It's funny that the posts saying that the police are frequently not comporting themselves professionally get modded down, while the obvious "donkey porn" troll does not. I really wish I had mod points today. Fact is, police teams rely on career criminal informants, and thanks to Tricky Dick and the Drug War, no-knock warrants are increasingly common. Police are happy to take shortcuts, since they're people just like everyone else. Problem is, that ends up with a greater number of innocent people being shafted.
"-1, Troll" is not a substitute for "I don't agree with you." Get over yourself.
caller-id spoofing is hacking? (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:No kidding (Score:0, Interesting)
the kind of braindead infrastructure these companies have deployed that are completely
insecure and prone to this kind of fault. Why should anyone be able to spoof the
telephone network from the convenience of their house? Don't you think that suggests
something is wrong with the telephone network and not the blind kid?
And stupid comments about how there are better ways to tell the phone company they
have a problem should go to
company to tell them you have found a problem with their network...
Who do you call at ANY provider or corporation to tell them that they have a security
issue? and then not be written off as some kind of loon?
Re:Nope, SWAT teams do this all the time. (Score:3, Interesting)
the first few times i didn't mind and said what ever.. and let them search it.. but that changed after they started saying they pulled me for things that couldn't have happend.. such as running a stop sign.. only problem was i had jsut back out of the parking space.. and hadn't gotten to the stop sign.. at that point when asked if they could search the car.. the answer was no not with out a warrent. they gave me alot of lip and tried to get me to do something so they had probiable cause..
i have no doubt in my mind that eventuly one of them would plant something.. and i still don't like going over there because of this.
Re:What's the problem? (Score:3, Interesting)
So the cop waits it out... drunk driving no longer admissable in court. Cop gets off w/ no crime other than reckless op. Suspended from the force for 30days w/ pay.
You or I would be in jail for years.
Re:No kidding (Score:3, Interesting)
A sociopath, a criminal.
This is strictly a devil's advocate post. That is to say, I mostly agree with you but have a nagging voice (perhaps from childhood) which poses a counterpoint to your post.
There seems to be a pattern echoed throughout generations which the rapid growth of communication technology in the 20th century lets us see quite clearly. Namely, previous generations attack the habits of current children/teenagers using reasons that seem perfectly sensible to members of the previous generations, but do not generally change the current children/teenagers' attitudes. Video games and rock music are two examples, and the proliferation of hacker culture (e.g. phreaking) seems to be limited only by the pervasiveness of internet access.
I mention this because the examples you gave seem perfect to prove my point. Is the fact that "calling in SWAT teams gets people killed" the fault of the prankster, or the SWAT teams? If innocent people shoot at SWAT team members, could they simply be trigger-happy gun owners? Granted that many gun-owners are responsible and informed, but are they all?
Wow, good job at anonymity there, Wired (Score:4, Interesting)
We're looking for a blind kid, heavyset, with a shaved head. Lives on the East side of Boston. Has a single mother, older brother, younger sister. His last name starts with W. His birthday is April 7, 1990. His mothers name is Amy Kahloul.
Hey, Wired, great job of protecting this kids identity! Shit, not only could I track him down, I could probably get a credit card in his name with all that!
(Of course, I wouldn't, because I like having a phone. )