Alleged WebTV 911 hacker charged with cyberterrorism

[InfoSec News <isn () c4i org>]

http://www.securityfocus.com/news/8136

By Kevin Poulsen
SecurityFocus
Feb 26 2004

FBI agents arrested a Louisiana man last week under the cyberterrorism
provisions of the USA PATRIOT Act for allegedly tricking a handful of
MSN TV users into running a malicious e-mail attachment that
reprogrammed their set-top boxes to dial 9-1-1 emergency response.

According to prosecutors, David Jeansonne, 43, was targeting 18
specific MSN TV users in an online squabble when he crafted the script
in July 2002, and sent it out disguised as a tool to change the colors
on MSN TV's user interface. Though the code didn't mass-mail itself to
others, some of the recipients were sufficiently fooled that they
forwarded it to friends, for a total of 21 victims.

Known as WebTV before it was acquired by Microsoft, MSN TV works with
television set-top boxes to allow users to surf the Web and send and
receive e-mail without using a PC.

The boxes connect to the Internet through a local dial-up number. The
malicious script changed the dial-up to 9-1-1. If a victim didn't go
online again after being infected, the box would summon help anyway
when it tried to make an automatic daily call to the network at
midnight.

The code also crossmailed itself to the 18 targeted users, so it would
appear in some cases to have come from someone the victim knew.  
Additionally, it posted victims' browser histories to a particular
website, and e-mailed their hardware serial number to the free webmail
account "timmy () postmark net."

According to an FBI affidavit filed in the case, Jeansonne was undone
when cyber sleuths at Microsoft's MSN unit searched e-mail logs and
found that the "Timmy" account had previously sent beta versions of
the malware to Jeansonne's MSN TV account. Microsoft pillaged
Jeansonne's e-mail, and found messages between him and an online
friend that suggested Jeansonne was responsible for the hack. In
December, the FBI raided his home and seized his computers.

Jeansonne is charged under a provision of the federal computer crime
statute added in the 2001 USA PATRIOT Act, and intended to address
what the act calls "cyberterrorism." The amended law dispenses with
the requirement that a computer crime cause at least $5,000 in damage
to qualify as a federal felony in cases where the attack caused "a
threat to public health or safety."

Playing it safe, prosecutors included a second count in the indictment
charging Jeansonne with causing over $5,000 in damage.

According to court records, the hack resulted in police responding 10
times to false alarms at subscribers' homes, either in person, or by
phoning them back. It's unclear what happened to the other 11 calls to
9-1-1.

In 2000, the FBI issued a public warning about a Windows virus
circulating in the Houston area that similarly phoned for help though
victims' modems.

Jeansonne appeared in federal court in New Orleans last week and was
released on $25,000 bail. Another court appearance is scheduled for
Friday. The case is being prosecuted in the San Francisco Bay area,
where Microsoft's MSN TV unit is based. A company spokesperson said
nobody was available for comment Thursday. Jeansonne could not be
reached for comment.



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