Michigan "Anti-Hacker" Law's First Felony Charges

[William Knowles <wk () C4I ORG>]

http://167.240.254.37/AGWebSite/press_release/pr10189.htm

September 14, 2000

Attorney General Jennifer Granholm today announced that she has filed
felony criminal charges against two Michigan men each accused of
"hacking" - or unlawfully entering - a third-party computer system.
The charges are the first under a Michigan law which makes the
unauthorized alteration, damage or use of a computer system a felony.

In two separate hacking cases, Granholm alleges that Brian Salcedo,
age 17 of Whitmore Lake, and Jesse Salens, age 19 of Dearborn, each
gained unauthorized access to a third-party computer system, and then
either stole or destroyed information on the system. Salcedo and
Salens were each charged with one count of unauthorized use,
alteration or destruction of a computer system. The Salcedo charge was
filed in the 15th District Court in Ann Arbor; the Salens charge was
filed in the 19th District Court in Dearborn.

Granholm said: "Hacking is the dark side of high technology's power
and progress. For every person using a computer or the Internet for
research, commerce or communication, there may be another person using
that technology to commit a crime. The Internet, unfortunately, has
become one more tool to pick the locks of companies across the
country."

In the Salcedo case, the complaint alleges that, in March 2000, Brian
Salcedo gained unauthorized access to a computer system belonging to a
non-profit Internet service company in Ann Arbor called "Arbornet."
The company offered free or low-cost Internet service to customers
around the world through a public access system called "M-Net."
According to the complaint, Salcedo hacked into the M-Net system,
placed a program on the M-Net server that allowed him to use it
securely, then used the program to steal and change administrators'
passwords. The complaint further alleges that Salcedo used an
administrator's password to open an M-Net user's e-mail files at the
University of Maryland.

On May 31, while Salcedo had access to the M-Net system, the system
crashed and did not recover. On June 7, 2000, an M-Net employee
received an e-mail message from a user identified only as
6122 () grex org who claimed to have hacked into the M-Net system. On
June 11, 2000, Salcedo met with M-Net employees and admitted that he
was "6122," that he had hacked into the system, and that he had stolen
a number of passwords. The M-Net system remained down into July and
became available only after M-Net replaced the system's equipment.

In the Salens case, the complaint alleges that, on or about March 2,
2000, Jesse Salens hacked into the Dearborn Public Schools' computer
system and altered a number of pages on the school's web site. Access
to the web site is limited to the school's Instructional Computer
Network Manager.

According to the complaint, Salens inserted text and graphics into the
web site, made malicious comments about school employees and rewrote
the school's "Core Value" page. The complaint also alleges that a
pornographic image was placed on the site which was programmed to
alternate with a photograph of the school system's superintendent.

The unauthorized postings were traced to an Earthlink Internet Service
Provider account in Salens' name by analyzing the digital files which
log activity on the web site. On April 5, 2000, agents from the
Attorney General's High Tech Crime Unit and the Michigan State Police
seized the hard drive of Salens' computer. Forensic investigators
subsequently found evidence of the altered images.

Under current Michigan law, the unauthorized alteration, damage,
destruction or use of a computer system resulting in at least $1,000
in damage is a felony punishable by 5 years in jail and/or a fine of
$10,000 or three times the aggregate amount involved, whichever is
greater. An amendment to the law, however, which takes effect
September 19, will remove the $1,000 damage threshold.

Granholm added: "In the future, any hacking, regardless of the amount
of financial damage it causes, will be a felony. A vandal is a vandal
whether you are a virtual vandal putting graffiti on a web site or a
real world vandal putting graffiti on a wall. Both are illegal. And
using a computer to break into a company from the comfort of your
living room is just as illegal as using a hammer to break down that
company's front door. Because the Internet makes the crime easier
doesn't mean that it makes it right. These are the first hacking
charges in this state; you can bet that they won't be the last."

A criminal charge is merely an accusation, and the defendant is
presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.


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