Hackers Force Pac Bell to Seek New Passwords

[mea culpa <jericho () DIMENSIONAL COM>]

Forwarded From: darek.milewski () us pwcglobal com

Hackers Force Pac Bell to Seek New Passwords
David Lazarus, Chronicle Staff Writer
Tuesday, January 11, 2000

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2000/01/11/BU39211.DTL&type=tech_article


Pacific Bell Internet subscribers have been instructed to change their
passwords after a group of young hackers gained access to the account
files of more than 60,000 members.

``Basically, you have a bunch of kids who are very smart and gained
unlawful access to accounts,'' said Damian Frisby, a detective with the
Sacramento Valley High-Tech Crimes Task Force. ``It was mainly for
bragging rights.''

However, some of the hackers decided to use the purloined passwords to
gain anonymous access to the Net and hack into other sites, and that's how
law-enforcement officials got involved.

Frisby said his unit was mobilized after one of the hackers managed to
shut down a Sacramento Internet service provider using one of the
ripped-off accounts.

A 16-year-old Los Angeles boy has been arrested on felony charges of
unlawful access and grand theft.

Frisby said that at least five other teens have been contacted by police
in connection with the case and that the circle of hackers may grow even
wider.

``There are quite a few juveniles being interviewed,'' he said.

The hackers managed to break into the servers of as many as 26 different
ISPs, businesses and schools, making off with thousands of users'
passwords.

Pacific Bell so far is the only one to issue a blanket request for users
to come up with new passwords.

Pac Bell learned of the hack attack last week. It said as many as 63,000
of its more than 300,000 subscribers statewide had their passwords stolen.

In a message to subscribers on Friday, Valeri Marks, president and chief
executive of Pacific Bell Internet Services, instructed members to change
their passwords in light of the incident.

Pac Bell said that if Internet subscribers do not change their passwords
by Friday, they will be shut out of their accounts and will be required to
call in to obtain a new password.

In any case, the company said Internet users should routinely change their
passwords every three months or so to prevent hackers from causing
mischief.

``Our priority is to make sure customers have a secure Internet
experience,'' said Michelle Strykowski, a Pac Bell spokeswoman. ``We sent
this note out because security is a top priority for us.''

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