THe US indictment against alleged Pentagon hacker Gary McKinnon reveals the IP addresses of attacked computers. The rap sheet against the suspected über-hacker contains the IP addresses of the Pentagon, US Air Force, and other Department of Defense servers he's accused of breaking into as part of an alleged quest to unraveling the truth about UFOs. These addresses are masked in a publically available PDF version of the indictment out of concerns their publication might invite further assaults. Except that, as Reg readers discovered, if you copy the PDF text into Acrobat Reader and then paste it into a text editor, the IP Addresses are unmasked and very-much readable. We only hope the hacked systems have now been hardened, preferably by nobody involved in the botched obfuscation job. McKinnon (AKA Solo), 39, of Wood Green, north London, allegedly hacked into 53 military and NASA computers over a 12 month period from February 2001 until March 2002. The unemployed sysadmin faces an extradition hearing at London's Bow Street Magistrates Court on 27 July, following his arrest early last month. ® Related links> http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4071708.stm http://www.computerworld.com/securitytopics/security/hacking/story/0,10801,75833,00.html WHAT DO THE PEOPLE OF WILDERS THINK OF THIS GUY >RUTHLESS HACKER OR A GUY WHO FOUND FOUND AN OPEN DOOR AND JUST DECEIDED TO HAVE ALOOK
We may never know all the truth because press reports are frequently inaccurate, but, that said... It says there that he actually did destructive things on the systems he accessed, (ie. deleting accounts and system files). Now, assuming that is actually true... If he was a "good and noble" hacker, the type that some people like to raise up as heros, then he wouldn't have destroyed anything. If he is one of those... "I only did it to show you that you're vulnerable" guys, fine... then put up a sign, but don't damage things. If you destroy, then you are not good and noble. You can highlight a system's weakness without breaking it. Anyway, I'm not much on the "hero hacker" idea. But, if it is true he destroyed some things, and not just highlighted issues he discovered, then he deserves no ones applause.
There's already enough destruction to people's puters and privacy, he doesn't sound like a hero to me. But the IP addresses being put in text editors and being able to read them? LOL! Sorry but, there are prob people here who are better protected than that!!!! The gov should really be embarrassed!! (And looking for better techies!!)