Young hacker admits breaking into NASA systems

[William Knowles <wk () C4I ORG>]

http://www.techserver.com/noframes/story/0,2294,500277324-500434273-502755989-0,00.html

LOS ANGELES (November 7, 2000 7:51 p.m. EST http://www.nandotimes.com)
- A 20-year-old computer hacker pleaded guilty to federal charges of
infiltrating sensitive computer systems, including those at Stanford
University and NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena.

Jason Allen Diekman of Mission Viejo, Calif., entered the plea under
seal Monday after negotiating with prosecutors. Sentencing was set for
Feb. 5.

Diekman was charged with illegal hacking and using stolen credit card
numbers to buy more than $6,000 worth of stereo speakers, clothing and
computer equipment.

Prosecutors said Diekman hacked into "hundreds, maybe thousands" of
computers over two years, compromising systems at UCLA, Harvard,
Cornell, University of California, San Diego, and California State
Fullerton.

The most serious invasions were at the National Aeronautics and Space
Administration's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Stanford. At the JPL,
two computers were broken into at the "root level," which gives an
intruder the ability to create, delete or modify files and to alter
security on the system.

Diekman, using the nickname Shadow Knight, also gained control over 24
computer systems at Stanford, including two owned by NASA that
contained flight control software for the agency's satellites. He
didn't disrupt NASA operations, prosecutors said.

Diekman was taken into federal custody in September and held without
bail. He had been jailed in Orange County since August on unrelated
charges.


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