IP: highly classified files copied??

[David Farber <farber () cis upenn edu>]

Croatian teen hackers break Pentagon codes


ZAGREB, Croatia (Reuter) - Three teenage computer hackers in Croatia broke 
Pentagon protection codes and copied highly classified files from United
States 
military bases, local media and school officials said Wednesday.


While surfing the Internet on their home computer, the three high school 
students applied a search program and deciphered codes, barging into the 
database of several U.S. military installations, the Zagreb daily Vecernji
List 
said.


The databases included those of the Anderson nuclear installation and an
unnamed
 satellite research center, it said.


The break-in left a trace on the Internet which was tracked down by the 
Pentagon, reports said.


The U.S. Defense Department contacted Croatian police through Interpol
demanding
 an investigation while local police searched the youngsters' apartments and 
confiscated their computer equipment, local media said.


The damage caused by the teenagers' destruction of high-profile protection 
programs could reach half a million dollars, Vecernji List said.


Computer-hacking is not illegal in Croatia.


The three teenagers attend a school in the Adriatic port of Zadar specializing


in mathematics and science.


Principal Zdravko Curko said the three had no criminal intent and their 
``success'' was a compliment to their education.


``This is a case of extensive curiosity which had undesired consequences,'' 
Curko told Reuters by telephone. ``They are excellent students, in love with 
mathematics and computer science -- they are fanatics in a positive sense of
the
 term.''


But Curko said the hackers' parents were concerned that they might be sued for


damages.