Hacker file: Phiber Optik
“The main difference between hackers is not the level of their knowledge, but the level of their mental imbalance. Take away their modems, put skateboards in your hands, and you won't even see much change. ”
- said John Perry Barlow , a freelance journalist and lyricist for the Grateful Dead, in 1990.
After 13 minutes, someone Phiber Optik posted a credit history of Barlow and screenshots of his desktop. [ source ]
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Mark Aben (born in 1972), an information security specialist originally from New York. Best known by the pseudonym Phiber Optik, he was a member of the hacker groups “Legion of Doom” and “Masters of Deception”.
Phiber Optik was an outstanding hacker in the 1980s and early 90s, they wrote about it “The New York Times”, “Harper's”, “Esquire”, he participated in debates on television. He is also an important character in the 1995 documentary book “Masters of Deception - The Gang that Ruled Cyberspace”
Mark Aben's first contact with computers occurred at the age of 9 at a local department store, where he often spent time while his parents went shopping. His first computer was a TRS-80 MC-10 with 4 kilobytes of RAM, a text screen (32 * 16 8 colors), a cassette tape-recorder connector for loading and saving programs. As it was usually in those days, the computer was connected to the TV, which was used as a monitor. After his parents gave him more RAM (improved to 20 kilobytes) and a 300-baud modem, he used his computer to access Compuserve and, thanks to new acquaintances, their world’s first CB Simulator chat, soon discovered Bbs .
On several BBSs, Aben found dial-up access and guest accounts for DEC minicomputers running on their own RSTS / E and TOPS-10 operating systems serving the School Resource Optimization Program (BOCES) in Long Island, New York. Gaining access to those DOC mini-computers, he realized that there was a space for programming far beyond the capabilities of his home computer, and he began to take books in the library in order to learn the programming languages that had opened up to him. This and the ability to remotely save and load back the programs that will still be there at the time of his next entry, made a deep impression on Aben, who began to perceive his rather modest computer as a window into a much larger world.
After learning enough about programming and the basics of security in those early years, Aben further honed his skills in understanding the mazes of the national telephone network.
In the mid-80s, he was first introduced to members of Legion of Doom (LOD) , a weakly organized group of trustworthy teenage hackers who shared Aben’s uncompromising desire to understand electronics. Their focus was the study of telecommunication systems, minicomputers, mainframe operating systems and networks for transferring large amounts of data. The final collapse of the LOD by the end of the 80s, which is mainly due to fragmentation and internal quarrels and the accompanying prosecution of some of its members, led Aben to a local group of energetic hackers who called themselves Masters of Deception (MOD) .
On January 24, 1990, the United States Secret Service searched the apartments of members of the MOD group and confiscated their property because of suspicion of the authorities about their involvement in the AT & T corporation's network crash that occurred a week earlier on January 15. A few weeks later, AT & T admitted that the cause of the crash was an error in updating the software of their remote networks and the human factor on their part.
In February 1991, Aben was arrested and charged with malicious interference with the operation of computing devices of the first degree in accordance with the laws of the State of New York. For the legislation of those days, information security was a rather vague area. Aben, being a minor at that time, was found innocent on most of the points, and, agreeing at the end with a minor offense, was sentenced to 35 hours of community service.
Aben and four other MOD members were also arrested in December 1991, and on July 8, 1992, the Manhattan federal jury court offered to condemn them for 11 years in prison. The official charge was based on the recordings of telephone conversations of the group members. According to prosecutor Otto Obermeyer, "this was the first time that the use of court-approved interception of telephone conversations and the exchange of hacker data in the United States was used."
As reported on July 9, 1992, the Electronic Frontier Foundation was accused of 50 years in prison and a $ 2.5 million fine if convicted on all counts. Despite the fact that Aben was a minor when the crimes were committed, and only a small part of the charges fell on him, the court decision was harsh: 12 months in prison, three years of probation and 600 hours of community service.
After serving his sentence at the Federal Prison Camp in Pennsylvania, Aben was released in November 1994. In January 1995, he celebrated it with a noisy party, the so-called. "Phiberphest '95", in the nightclub of Manhattan Irving Plaza. In the Time newspaper, Joshua Kittner called him "the first hero of the underground of the Information Age, Robin Hood of Cyberspace."
Many of the world of hacker and outside it was considered that Aben was convicted unfairly, to the edification of the rest.
Aben has built a significant reputation in the hacker subculture, for example, regularly appearing on the radio program “Off the hook” by Eric Corley (eg Emanuel Goldstein), participating in debates and defending the morality and motivation of hackers in public forums and interviews, giving lectures on history telecommunication technologies at night courses at a number of New York universities. At the time of the prosecution, he was working for MindVox (early BBS / ISP, organized by two LOD members) and subsequently for EchoNYC, a multi-user BBS and an early ISP.
ECHO users and hackers from all over the country expected Aben to be removed from probation or at least several months in prison. Other defendants in the same case received a softer punishment. And considering Aben’s desire to use his hacker skills for constructive purposes, the general feeling was that he was convicted unfairly.
The statement made by the prosecutor Otto Obermeyer regarding the sentence: “This sentence is a message that such behavior will not be lenient, regardless of age or declared goals” was perceived by Aben’s supporters as a demonstration of the authorities ’response to the notorious“ hacker threat ”. When sentencing, Judge Stanton said: “today's accusation is a symbol” and “hacker crimes present a real threat to the growing information highway”. This only strengthened the general opinion that the innocuous “teacher” was convicted only for the label “hacker”.
Aben spoke on the topic of security in many media outlets, incl. in the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Time Magazine. He was a speaker at security and hacker conferences around the world, often giving lectures to students about information security.
After several years working as a security consultant, he teamed up with former LoD member Dave Bushwald and third colleague Andrei Brown to create the consulting company “Crossbar Security”. The company provided services to companies doing business in the USA, Japan, Brazil and Sweden. After the dot-com crash, Crossbar ceased to exist, mainly due to corporate cuts in security costs.
Aben's acting debut took place in 2006 in the sci-fi movie “ Urchin ”, which also featured other famous hackers Dave Bushwald and Emmanuel Goldstein.
In 2009, he founded the company “TraceVector”, dealing with intrusion detection systems and using supercomputers for data analysis. Currently a resident of Silicon Valley.
Masters of Deception - The Gang that Ruled Cyberspace
Publication support is the Edison company, which develops the Electronic Transmission Service for Prisoners and implemented a viral newsletter .
- said John Perry Barlow , a freelance journalist and lyricist for the Grateful Dead, in 1990.
After 13 minutes, someone Phiber Optik posted a credit history of Barlow and screenshots of his desktop. [ source ]
')
Mark Aben (born in 1972), an information security specialist originally from New York. Best known by the pseudonym Phiber Optik, he was a member of the hacker groups “Legion of Doom” and “Masters of Deception”.
Phiber Optik was an outstanding hacker in the 1980s and early 90s, they wrote about it “The New York Times”, “Harper's”, “Esquire”, he participated in debates on television. He is also an important character in the 1995 documentary book “Masters of Deception - The Gang that Ruled Cyberspace”
early years
Mark Aben's first contact with computers occurred at the age of 9 at a local department store, where he often spent time while his parents went shopping. His first computer was a TRS-80 MC-10 with 4 kilobytes of RAM, a text screen (32 * 16 8 colors), a cassette tape-recorder connector for loading and saving programs. As it was usually in those days, the computer was connected to the TV, which was used as a monitor. After his parents gave him more RAM (improved to 20 kilobytes) and a 300-baud modem, he used his computer to access Compuserve and, thanks to new acquaintances, their world’s first CB Simulator chat, soon discovered Bbs .On several BBSs, Aben found dial-up access and guest accounts for DEC minicomputers running on their own RSTS / E and TOPS-10 operating systems serving the School Resource Optimization Program (BOCES) in Long Island, New York. Gaining access to those DOC mini-computers, he realized that there was a space for programming far beyond the capabilities of his home computer, and he began to take books in the library in order to learn the programming languages that had opened up to him. This and the ability to remotely save and load back the programs that will still be there at the time of his next entry, made a deep impression on Aben, who began to perceive his rather modest computer as a window into a much larger world.
After learning enough about programming and the basics of security in those early years, Aben further honed his skills in understanding the mazes of the national telephone network.
In the mid-80s, he was first introduced to members of Legion of Doom (LOD) , a weakly organized group of trustworthy teenage hackers who shared Aben’s uncompromising desire to understand electronics. Their focus was the study of telecommunication systems, minicomputers, mainframe operating systems and networks for transferring large amounts of data. The final collapse of the LOD by the end of the 80s, which is mainly due to fragmentation and internal quarrels and the accompanying prosecution of some of its members, led Aben to a local group of energetic hackers who called themselves Masters of Deception (MOD) .
Difficulties with the law
On January 24, 1990, the United States Secret Service searched the apartments of members of the MOD group and confiscated their property because of suspicion of the authorities about their involvement in the AT & T corporation's network crash that occurred a week earlier on January 15. A few weeks later, AT & T admitted that the cause of the crash was an error in updating the software of their remote networks and the human factor on their part.
In February 1991, Aben was arrested and charged with malicious interference with the operation of computing devices of the first degree in accordance with the laws of the State of New York. For the legislation of those days, information security was a rather vague area. Aben, being a minor at that time, was found innocent on most of the points, and, agreeing at the end with a minor offense, was sentenced to 35 hours of community service.
Aben and four other MOD members were also arrested in December 1991, and on July 8, 1992, the Manhattan federal jury court offered to condemn them for 11 years in prison. The official charge was based on the recordings of telephone conversations of the group members. According to prosecutor Otto Obermeyer, "this was the first time that the use of court-approved interception of telephone conversations and the exchange of hacker data in the United States was used."
As reported on July 9, 1992, the Electronic Frontier Foundation was accused of 50 years in prison and a $ 2.5 million fine if convicted on all counts. Despite the fact that Aben was a minor when the crimes were committed, and only a small part of the charges fell on him, the court decision was harsh: 12 months in prison, three years of probation and 600 hours of community service.
After serving his sentence at the Federal Prison Camp in Pennsylvania, Aben was released in November 1994. In January 1995, he celebrated it with a noisy party, the so-called. "Phiberphest '95", in the nightclub of Manhattan Irving Plaza. In the Time newspaper, Joshua Kittner called him "the first hero of the underground of the Information Age, Robin Hood of Cyberspace."
Public protests
Many of the world of hacker and outside it was considered that Aben was convicted unfairly, to the edification of the rest.
Aben has built a significant reputation in the hacker subculture, for example, regularly appearing on the radio program “Off the hook” by Eric Corley (eg Emanuel Goldstein), participating in debates and defending the morality and motivation of hackers in public forums and interviews, giving lectures on history telecommunication technologies at night courses at a number of New York universities. At the time of the prosecution, he was working for MindVox (early BBS / ISP, organized by two LOD members) and subsequently for EchoNYC, a multi-user BBS and an early ISP.
ECHO users and hackers from all over the country expected Aben to be removed from probation or at least several months in prison. Other defendants in the same case received a softer punishment. And considering Aben’s desire to use his hacker skills for constructive purposes, the general feeling was that he was convicted unfairly.
The statement made by the prosecutor Otto Obermeyer regarding the sentence: “This sentence is a message that such behavior will not be lenient, regardless of age or declared goals” was perceived by Aben’s supporters as a demonstration of the authorities ’response to the notorious“ hacker threat ”. When sentencing, Judge Stanton said: “today's accusation is a symbol” and “hacker crimes present a real threat to the growing information highway”. This only strengthened the general opinion that the innocuous “teacher” was convicted only for the label “hacker”.
Personal life
Aben spoke on the topic of security in many media outlets, incl. in the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Time Magazine. He was a speaker at security and hacker conferences around the world, often giving lectures to students about information security.
After several years working as a security consultant, he teamed up with former LoD member Dave Bushwald and third colleague Andrei Brown to create the consulting company “Crossbar Security”. The company provided services to companies doing business in the USA, Japan, Brazil and Sweden. After the dot-com crash, Crossbar ceased to exist, mainly due to corporate cuts in security costs.
Aben's acting debut took place in 2006 in the sci-fi movie “ Urchin ”, which also featured other famous hackers Dave Bushwald and Emmanuel Goldstein.
In 2009, he founded the company “TraceVector”, dealing with intrusion detection systems and using supercomputers for data analysis. Currently a resident of Silicon Valley.
Materials
Masters of Deception - The Gang that Ruled Cyberspace
Publication support is the Edison company, which develops the Electronic Transmission Service for Prisoners and implemented a viral newsletter .
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/311954/
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