Student Admits Hacking U.S. Government Computers

[Paul Howell]

At http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/00/07/biztech/articles/01internet-hacker.html


July 1, 2000


         Student Admits Hacking U.S.  Government Computers

         By REUTERS

              BOSTON, June 30 -- A university student admitted in Boston
              federal court to breaking into U.S. government computers
              including Defense Department and NASA systems. 

         Ikenna Iffih, a student at Northeastern University's College of
         Computer Science, pleaded guilty to a series of coast-to-coast
         cyber attacks before U.S. District Judge Robert Keeton late
         Thursday. 

         Under a plea deal, Iffih faces up to 20 years in prison with a possible
         mandatory minimum sentence of six months, a fine of up to
         $750,000 and three years of supervised release when sentenced
         Oct. 25. 

         The 29-year-old student also admitted hacking into Zebra Marketing
         Online Services (ZMOS), a Washington-state based company that
         provides Web service to other firms. Court papers showed the
         Bainbridge Island company near Seattle lost more than $30,000 and
         took about 42 hours to return to minimal operations during the April
         1999 attack. 

         FBI agents, after obtaining about 20 court orders, were able to trace
         the break-ins to the NASA (National Aeronautics and Space
         Administration) computer, the Defense Department's Logistics
         Agency computer, and ZMOS system to the personal computer in
         Iffih's Boston home. 

         "All in all, the defendant used his home computer to leave a trail of
         cybercrime from coast to coast," U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts
         Donald Stern said in a statement.