UK hackers have an easy life

[William Knowles <wk () C4I ORG>]

http://www.zdnet.co.uk/news/2000/26/ns-16459.html

By Will Knight
Fri, 07 Jul 2000 07:01:31 GMT

First published: Wed, 07 Jul 1999 16:35:17 GMT

A Welsh ex-hacker, famed for cracking the Pentagon's computers from
his Cardiff bedroom, claims inadequacies in UK law and erratic media
coverage guarantee leniency for British hackers -- even for serious
offences.

Mathew "Kuji" Bevan, who was acquitted of endangering the national
security of the United States by the High Court in November 1997 says,
"The American media has quite an anti hacker view. Over here they have
a much more positive attitude. They believe in the 'cool hacker', the
anarchist kind of thing. In my case the press was saying 'Cardiff boy
done good' and that sort of thing. I had a very positive response from
the press... it makes are real difference to the number of successful
prosecutions there are over here."

This follows claims (http://www.zdnet.co.uk/news/1999/26/ns-8747.html)
by U.S. hackers that the media can actually provoke hacking, and comes
just days before this year's biggest and most hyped computer security
spectacle, Def Con 7.0 in Las Vegas.

"I can't remember the last time I read about a British hacker being
prosecuted," says Kevin Street, anti-virus guru at Symantec. "However,
you must remember that there is a lot of shame that goes with being
hacked and companies are not exactly keen to promote it," adds Street.

Bevan believes that another UK hacker, Paul Bedworth, got off lightly
during his trial in 1992 despite overwhelming evidence against him,
largely because of the sympathetic attitude of the British press
towards hackers. "Although there was a great deal of evidence against
him, the jury really fell for his defence -- that he was addicted to
computers," says Bevan.

Bevan concedes however, that the British press are a fickle bunch who
either love you or hate you, sometimes with devastating results.

Another British hacker, Nicholas Whitely, nicknamed "mad hacker" by
the tabloids, was given a prison sentence in 1988 largely because his
particularly destructive hacking of ICL and various universities --
wiping files and bringing down hundreds of computers -- prompted
outrage in British papers.

Bevan believes there are other fundamental differences between hackers
in the UK and the US: "Hacking probably seems less prevalent over here
because British hackers know better than to hack at home. British law
is also less geared towards convicting hackers. The 1990 Computer
Misuse Act is very vague. It's designed so that it won't have to be
regularly updated. Most hackers who are convicted are charged with
other offences such as fraud, criminal damage or even software
piracy."

Peter Sommer, research fellow at LSE, and author of the Hacker's
Handbook says: "The term 'hacker' has become a very convenient trigger
word for the press. They are always trying to get a sexy angle. Often
they have gone for the idea of the little kid taking on the huge
corporation."

Sommer believes it is not the law that restricts the number of
successful cases against hackers in the UK. "The law is fairly
effective. The cost for the police and the judicial system prevent
prosecutions. If someone is just accessing a computer without
authority and not doing anything else illegal, there's little point in
prosecuting them."

Why do we hear so little about British hackers? Tell the Mailroom
(mailroomuk () zd com)

(And also here at c4i.org!) Mail us at: wk () c4i org


*-------------------------------------------------*
"Communications without intelligence is noise;
Intelligence without communications is irrelevant."
Gen. Alfred. M. Gray, USMC
---------------------------------------------------
C4I Secure Solutions             http://www.c4i.org
*-------------------------------------------------*

ISN is hosted by SecurityFocus.com
---
To unsubscribe email LISTSERV () SecurityFocus com with a message body of
"SIGNOFF ISN".