Cyberspace Case

Prologue

Cyberspace is a virtual place highly populated by people. A place not consumed in the physical sense, but by the human mind. Since it is people's intellects that leads them to venture, reside, and meet one another in this virtual realm. For some, it is to simply buy new or used products, while others are searching for his or her soul mate. Some merely look for casual encounters, while others are trying to contact a long lost friend, to simply trade pictures, or even make new friends.

However, crime is an ever present issue that lingers in the shadows of every aspect of every society. So it should come as no surprise that computers should be the next evolution for criminal activities. For computer crimes have strong tendencies to cross over into the real world.

The Internet, a term that refers to global network that links people via computers, cell phones, gaming systems (Xbox, Play Station, or Wii) and many other electronic devices, uses has grown so quickly, that it is impossible to know at any given moment the actual number of devices connected to it. It is even far less possible to determine the number of people with access to the Internet. However, the uses of the Internet and computer technology are clearly growing quicker day by day, so are computer crimes, and the needs to control them.

Behind these cybercrimes, sometimes are very educated and computer savvy persons, whom are considered to be hackers. Hackers by definition are persons or groups of people who access a computer system by circumventing or overriding its security system. Ones who may also make innovative customized programs or combinations of retail electronic and computer equipment, and/or persons who share an anti-authoritarian approach to software development now associated with the free software movement.

When mentioning hackers, six young men ranging from the ages of sixteen to twenty-two years old, are considerably the fore-fathers of hackers, known as the 414s, calling themselves the "414s," after their Milwaukee telephone area code, since the term "hacker" was first used by mainstream media on September 5, 1983, at the time, seventeen year old, 414s member, Neal Patrick appeared on the cover of Newsweek.

NEAL PATRICK APPEARRING ON THE COVER OF NEWSWEEK

The 414s

The 414s were a group of six friends who met in their early teens as members of a local Explorer Scout troop from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. At the time of the crime, Neal Patrick, a seventeen year old, Gerald Wondra, a twenty-two year old, Paul Sundquist, a sixteen year old, and three other teens, gained notoriety in the early 1980's as computer hackers who broke into dozens of high profile computer systems.

In early 1982, six friends, started making simple prank calls on the telephone. After a couple months of the phone call pranks, the humor lost its entertainment value. The young men, who were all gifted with extensive computer knowledge, especially for a time when computers were not very user friendly, decided to take their prank calls to a higher level.

Using, what would now to be considered ancient telephone modems, where the user manually dials a phone number that is linked to a computer system, wait for a connection to be made, and then place a telephone receiver onto the modem. This would allow the computer systems to communicate to one another. With sounds like beeps, wheezes, whistles, and clicks, the computer systems would translate these as electronic commands. Through this method, the 414s started hacking into small businesses and other low level security networks.

TELEPHONE HAND SET USING MODEM

The boys started out infiltrating small business computer systems that had little to no security defenses. However, the 414s quickly started to challenge themselves by gaining access into several U.S. Federal facilities and high-profile computer systems, included breaking the cyber barriers at Los Alamos National Laboratory, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, and Security Pacific Bank.

Los Alamos National Laboratory is located in Alamos, New Mexico. The laboratory is one of the largest science and technology institutions in the world. This institution conducts many researches in many fields, such as, national security, space exploration, renewable energy, medicine, nanotechnology, and supercomputing. At the time of the 414's computer hacks, Los Alamos National Laboratory was one of two laboratories in the United States that were classified to work towards the design of nuclear weapons.

Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) was and still is today, a cancer treatment and research institution. It was founded in 1884 as the New York Cancer Hospital. The main campus is located at 1275 York Avenue, between 67th and 68th Streets, in New York City. As the world's oldest and