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To: P.M.Freedman who wrote (2595)	5/19/1998 12:28:00 PM
From: Mark Oliver	Respond to of 7150

Hackers everywhere Part II, By the way, this guy gets a $5000 fine and probably a job offer for $200,000. Argentine Computer Hacker Agrees to Waive Extradition and Returns to Plead Guilty to Felony Charges in Boston BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 19, 1998--The Argentine computer hacker who was tracked down with the aid of the first court-ordered wiretap of a computer network has returned voluntarily to the United States and is expected to plead guilty to illegal wiretapping and computer crime felonies today at one o'clock. United States Attorney Donald K. Stern announced that JULIO CESAR ARDITA of Buenos Aries, Argentina has returned voluntarily to the United States as part of a plea agreement to plead guilty to charges contained in an Information filed in the United States District Court. Under the present extradition treaty with Argentina, Ardita could not be extradited. ''If we aren't vigilant, cyber crime will turn the Internet into the Wild West of the 21st century,'' said Attorney General Janet Reno. ''The Justice Department is determined to pursue cyber-criminals at home and abroad,'' U.S. Attorney Stern stated: ''This case demonstrates that we will unwaveringly seek to bring international computer criminals to justice. However, the international tools available to computer crime investigators and prosecutors are perilously slow and inadequate. If law enforcement is to be put on even terms with criminals who cross between countries at the speed of light, multilateral treaties embodying the ever increasing cooperation between countries fighting computer crimes must be put in place.'' Stern added, ''We must make sure that we have a world wide web of criminal justice to catch cyber-criminals.'' During the summer of 1995, the Department of Defense detected intrusions into a number of military and university computer systems containing important and sensitive information about government research on satellites, radiation and energy. The activity was traced to a changing set of misappropriated accounts on an Internet host computer at Harvard University. Stern's investigative team put together an electronic profile of the intruder, using key words such as unique names the intruder gave to files and Internet protocol addresses of systems being targeted by him. This profile was used to apply for the wiretap order, the first ever obtained to search communications over a computer network, and to configure a monitoring computer which had been adapted to conduct the complex, high speed searches needed to isolate his activities. Barry W. Mawn, Special Agent in Charge of the Boston Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, stated, ''Computer intrusions represent a significant crime problem. As this case demonstrates, cyber-criminals know no state or international borders. It was excellent joint and international cooperative law enforcement efforts, in the U.S. and with Argentine authorities, that brought about the successful conclusion to this case.'' Pursuant to a plea agreement, Ardita agreed to waive extradition and plead guilty to charges that he unlawfully intercepted electronic communications over a military computer and that he damaged files on a second military computer. The agreement contains a joint sentence recommendation of three years' probation and a $5,000 fine. If adopted by the District Court, the agreement calls for the sentence to be imposed immediately following Ardita's plea. The agreement also acknowledges that Ardita had cooperated completely and truthfully to date and had been debriefed over a two week period in Buenos Aires. This case was investigated by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Stephen P. Heymann, Deputy Chief of Stern's Criminal Division, and Jacqueline Ross.

To: P.M.Freedman who wrote (2595)	5/19/1998 12:34:00 PM
From: Mark Oliver	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 7150

How embarassing for 3 COM. 3Com finds security flaws in LAN switches By Jim Duffy Network World Fusion, 5/15/98 3Com Corp. today began issuing a security advisory to users of its CoreBuilder and SuperStack II LAN switches due to widespread distribution of customer service and support logins. The logins are used for service and recovery procedures, and are issued only by 3Com's Customer Service Organization under conditions of "extreme emergency," such as in the event of a customer losing passwords. 3Com said the logins were published on the Internet by users chatting in a 3Com news group. Due to the login distribution, 3Com CoreBuilder and SuperStack II switches may be vulnerable to security breaches caused by unauthorized access via these special logins, 3Com said. 3Com is advising customers to log in to their switches via the following usernames and passwords. Users should then proceed to change the password using the switches' Password parameter to prevent unauthorized access. CoreBuilder 6000/2500 - username: debug, password: synnet CoreBuilder 7000 - username: tech, password: tech SuperStack II Switch 2200 - username: debug, password: synnet SuperStack II Switch 2700 - username: tech, password: tech Customers should also change the SNMP Community string from the default to a proprietary and confidential identifier known only to authorized network management staff, 3Com said. This is due to the fact that the admin password is available through a specific proprietary MIB variable when accessed through the read/write SNMP community string, the company said. This issue applies only to the CoreBuilder 2500/6000/3500 and SuperStack II Switch 2200/3900/9300, 3Com said. Fixed versions of software will be available from 3Com for all of these products by May 20, the company said.