net.history (flashback)

[Anonymous <nowhere@bsu-cs.bsu.edu>]

On Fri, 3 Sep 1993 02:20:00 GMT,
 Bill Murray <WHMurray@DOCKMASTER.NCSC.MIL> writes -
 
> I am reminded of a story, perhaps apocryphal.  In the middle
> seventies Fortune magazine was working a feature on computer
> crime.  Most of the experts that they interviewed told them
> that the security on most of the nation's commercial time
> sharing systems was pretty good.  However, they admitted that
> one convicted felon and hacker, Jerry Schnieder, would tell
> them otherwise.  Of course Fortune had to interview him.
 
 I remember this story, Bill, and I find this correlation
 interesting. It's funny how Schneider's name hasn't really
 surfaced in such a long time. In fact, once I think about the
 real parallels to Herren Doktor's lip service, I find it even
 frightening, given the anticipated impact with which her opinions
 seem to affect governmentalism.
 
 For what its worth, there was another interesting item concerning
 Schneider which appeared in Info Security News this issue, in their
 "Top Ten Events" article of the top ten info-security events since
 the inception of computers.
 
 I relay the pertinent portion of this article below:
 
 "Jerry Schneider was not the first computer crook, which he
 became at 18; nor was he the first computer security consultant,
 which he became at age 21. Still, his antics on both sides of
 the law helped bring computer crime to the awareness of the
 public in general and business managers in particular.
 
 Although still in high school in 1968, Schneider started a
 company called Creative Systems Enterprises and began selling
 electronic telecommunications gadgets he invented. Each day as
 he passed the Pacific Telephone and Telegraph Company office, he
 scavenged the firm's dumpster for discarded equipment that could
 be used to build his gadgets. He also collected a wide variety
 of documents, ranging from invoices to training manuals. Within
 just a few years, he became an expert on telephone company
 technology and business, and reportedly knew more about Pacific
 Telephone's telephone equipment supply procedures than any of
 its employees.
 
 In June, 1971, Schneider set into motion an elaborate plan to
 steal new telephone equipment from Pacific Telephone and resell
 it as refurbished equipment through Creative Systems. Eventually
 the scam would net him hundred of thousands of dollars worth of
 Pacific Telephone equipment. Scneider accessed Pacific
 Telephone's computerized ordering system and by using a telephone
 card dialer succeeded in placing orders for equipment. To
 complete the scam, he needed to learn the telephone equipment
 budgets for individual telephone company's sites, equipment
 inventory levels and other key pieces of information. He
 gathered  the required information by getting access codes to a
 commercial time-sharing service used by the telephone company
 for inventory control and parts distribution.
 
 In January 1972, acting on information provided to them by one
 of Schneider's former employees, law enforcers raided
 Schneider's offices and a warehouse where they found equipment
 the district attorney said was worth $8,000. They also learned
 at that time that Schneider had stolen a total of $125,000 worth
 of equipment. Later, Schneider would admit that he had taken
 close to $900,000  worth of goods.
 
 The day after his arrest on February 8, 1972, newspapers across
 the country called it one of the most famous computer crimes
 ever. "How he Folded, Spindled, and Mutilated," one headline
 said.
 
 In a plea bargain, Schneider agreed to plead guilty to one
 count of grand theft of $5,000 worth of equipment. In July, he
 was sentenced to two monyhs in a minimum security corrections
 institution. In all, however, served 40 days and paid a $500
 fine.
 
 Later that year, Schneider, then only 21 years old, formed a
 computer consulting firm catering to companies that did not want
 to get ripped off by cyber-crooks. He stayed in the business
 until 1977. Today, he owns a firm that sells off-shore banking
 services.
 
 
8<------ Gut Here ---------------
 
Gee, imagine that.

Ye olde Spooge Meister    spooge /spooj/ 1. Inexplicable or arcane code
<spooge@dev.null.net>            or random and probably incorrect output
                                 from a computer program.