Californian Accused of Hacking Into NASA Computers

[William Knowles <wk () C4I ORG>]

http://news.excite.com/news/r/000922/08/net-crime-califhacker-dc

Updated 8:19 AM ET September 22, 2000

By Dan Whitcomb

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A man who allegedly hacked into "hundreds,
maybe thousands" of U.S. government, NASA and university computers
under the nicknames "Shadow Knight" and "Dark Lord" was arrested on
federal charges of breaking into the wrong computers.

And police did not have far to go to get him: Jason Diekman, 20, who
was already being held in Orange County Jail in an unrelated state
case when federal authorities took him into their custody, is accused
in a federal criminal complaint of unauthorized access to government
computers.

Prosecutors said Thursday that the Mission Viejo resident had hacked
into computer systems at the National Aeronautics and Space
Administration's (NASA) Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena
and NASA computers at Stanford University. Mission Viejo is about 50
miles south of Los Angeles in Orange County, Calif.

The NASA computer systems at Stanford contained sensitive software
used to control satellites, U.S. Attorney's Office spokesman Thom
Mrozek said, but added that it was not clear why Diekman wanted access
to those systems.

"Computer hacking poses one of the most significant threats to this
nation's technological infrastructure," U.S. Attorney Alejandro
Mayorkas said. "Unauthorized access to government computers is a crime
and we are prepared to do battle with hackers in cyberspace."

The charges against Diekman accuse him of using his access to
computers at JPL to intercept electronic communications on the lab's
systems, launch attacks on other computer systems and communicate with
other hackers.

Mrozek said Diekman also allegedly gained access to about 24 computers
at Stanford, causing $17,000 in damage, and has admitted to hacking
into "hundreds, maybe thousands" of systems at JPL, Stanford, Cornell
University, California State University at Fullerton and at least two
University of California campuses.

He is also accused of stealing more than 500 credit card numbers
through his hacking activities, which he used to buy $6,000 in
computer equipment, stereo speakers and clothes.

Diekman was being held in Orange County Jail after a judge sentenced
him to 75 days in jail for stealing power boxes from a local cable
company and failing to appear at a court hearing.

He faces a maximum of 26 years in prison and $750,000 in fines if
convicted on the federal charges, although sentencing guidelines
typically result in much lighter penalties.


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