Questions cloud cyber crime cases

[InfoSec News <isn () c4i org>]

Forwarded from: Richard Caasi <caasi () gort ucsd edu>

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/3202116.stm

17 October, 2003

The acquittal of a teenager accused of carrying out a high-profile
hack attack has cast doubts over future computer crime prosecutions,
say experts.

Aaron Caffrey, 19, was accused of crashing systems at the port of
Houston in Texas by hacking into its computer systems.

But a jury cleared him after believing his defence that hackers had
broken into his computer and used it to launch the attack.

"This verdict sets a potentially dangerous precedent with regard to
hacking cases," said Cable & Wireless security expert Richard Starnes.

"A potential outcome is that defendants, charged with such an offence
in the future, could attempt to compromise their own system, in order
to employ a similar defence in the event they are caught."

Elite member

Mr Caffrey had faced one charge at Southwark Crown Court of
unauthorised modification of computer material.

He was accused of launching an attack on 20 September 2001 on one of
the US's biggest ports, bombarding its computer system with thousands
of electronic messages.

It froze the port's web service, which contained vital data for
shipping, mooring companies and support firms responsible for helping
ships navigate in and out of the harbour.

Mr Caffrey admitted being a member of a group called Allied Haxor
Elite and hacking into computers for friends to test their security.

But he insisted he was not responsible for the attack on the port of
Houston.

Both the defence and prosecution acknowledged that the attack had come
from Mr Caffrey's computer.

The case hinged on whether the jury believed the defendant's argument
that his computer had been taken over by a hacker using a Trojan horse
program.

A forensic examination of Mr Caffrey's PC had found no trace of a
hidden program with the instructions for the attack.

Trojan defence

The verdict shows that the prosecution case failed to convince the
jury that the teenage was responsible for the attack.

"Clearly the authorities are facing a fundamental problem when
attempting to prosecute suspected computer criminals," said Graham
Cluley, senior technology consultant at the security firm, Sophos.

"The Caffrey case suggests that even if no evidence of a computer
break-in is unearthed on a suspect's PC, they might still be able to
successfully claim that they were not responsible for what their
computer does, or what is found on its hard drive."

The Trojan defence has been successfully used in the UK courts before.

In July, a man was cleared of possessing child porn when a number of
Trojan horses were discovered on his computer.

Experts say the Caffrey case could prompt a review by police of how to
present evidence before a jury in computer crime cases.



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