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Show Ag The Salt Lake Tribune NATION Sunday,September 15,1996 _ ComputersForbidden Fruit for Paroled Hacker BY CAROL MORELLO THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER LOS ANGELES — Kevin Lee Poulsen can do amazing things with a computer and a modem, manyof themillegal. He can tap the FBI's phones,rig radiocall-in lines to win big prizes, even make his own calls traceableto the bowels of the phone companyitself. Butheis forbidden to use any computer for three years, even for schoolworkora job. He considers his megabyte machinations an art form, fies many oils and brushes in the hands of Picasso. But to prosecu- tors, letting the 30-year-old Poulsen be in the same room with a computeris like handing a base- ball bat to Al Capone. In a world increasingly driven by computers and plagued by a spreading rash of security breachesand viruses, authorities fear sophisticated hackers such as Poulsen can outwit all the barriers they conjure. Even amonghackers, Poulsen’s computer shenanigans are leg- endary. And that is why authorities made an exampleof him and he landed more hard time than any hackerin history. Fresh out of five years in prison, Poulsen now is forbidden to so much as touch a keyboard for three years. Under the terms of his probation, itchy fingers around a PC could send him straight back to jail. Theironyis notlost on him. In libraries, he pointedly laments the demiseofthe card catalog andasks librarians to look up books for him in their computer indexes. Wanting to pursue higher education, he chose a field — English literature — that doesn’t require computer literacy. He needs work, but mostoffice jobs are out of the question, so he’s pursuing an openingfor a boot salesmanat years in jail before his release in July. Ordered to pay restitution for the prizes he swindled, Poulsen military projects. Although he had made a smooth transition from renegade to government-approved hacker, Poulsen was surrounded by other computerphiles who talked about their hacking exploits. The 11thgrade dropout was hanging out with men who had master's and doctorates, but they were all hackers at heart. “We started swapping war stories aboutthe trouble we got into and how to avoid it,” Poulsen said.“It got the old juices going. I like something challenging.” Soon Poulsen and colleague were picking the locks of phonecompany buildings and entering at night to purioin manuals, passwords — anything that got him access to pearls such as the unlisted phonenumbers of the Soviet Con- sulate in San Francisco. In essence, Poulsen was living out a fantasy computer game, going in stealth to explore dark rooms filled with exotic goodies. “To be physically inside an office, finding the flaws in the system and what works,was intellectually challenging,”said Poulsen, recalling the time he crawled throughthe transom to break into the local phone company’s security office. “It provedirresistible. It wasn't for ego or money. It was for curiosity. A need for adventure. An intellectual challenge and an adrenalin rush.It was fun. Andat the time, it seemed pretty President Ferdinand Marcos. was guaranteed to be whatever number caller would win. He raked in $30,000 cash, a Porsche and a vacation in Hawaii. In the end,all his subterfuges cameto nothing. He was caughtin 1991 when authorities staked out Poulsen felt he was being set up, and figured out both low- and high-tech ways to elude capture He rented an apartment and an office under an alias, dyed his hair and tapped FBI phonesso he could determine which of his friends and family they were tapping. When his case was profiled on thetelevision show “Unsolved the supermarket he frequented In his contact-lens case, the FBI found a handcuff key he had stashed in case he was caught. Mysteries,” he called in a tip that the real Kevin Lee Poulsen was the actor playing him onthe pro- gram. He desperately needed cash to live on. So, using his computer expertise, he jimmied telephone lines during radio contests so he Ultimately, the government dropped its espionage charges and Poulsen pleaded guilty to computer fraud, mail fraud,intercepting wire and electronic communications, money launder- ing, and removing property to prevent seizure. He spent five Homeowners with money worries may qualify for low-interest loans LOANS—Local lender loosens its require- | credit? Self-employed” Late house payments? ments for homeowners who need money now, Financial problems” Medical bills? IRS liens? Haveyou been turned downfor a loan? Do Bankruptcy? Foreclosure? /t doesn't matter! you need more than $10,000 for any reason? 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Poulsen went into hiding, but he set up a voice mail where the feds could leave messages for him.He learned they weretalking espionage, accusing him of infiltrating federal investigations of believes he should be permitted to get a degree in computerscience so he can eventually get a well-paying job. His friends have designed a Web page in which he outlines his casein a letterto the judge: http://www.eatalog.com- /kevin The prosecutor who handled the case believes Poulsen needs supervision at the keyboard. “Two times before he's been in- other way and give him unfet- tered control over a computer.” Poulsen said he just hopes to start building a life makinglegitimate use of the field he knows best. “I wasted years as a fugitive andin jail,” he said. “Three more years of mylife will be wastedif this obstacle remains. That's what I wantto avoid. 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Because of this record breaking summer our installation staff is larger than ever and we need to keep them busy until cold weather arrives, so we are willing BY DESI POLLE INC, 266-8200 mobsters and former Philippine volved in computers and abused them,” said Assistant U.S. Attorney David Schindler. ‘It would be foolish and foolhardy to look the When our work back log increases and when cold weather is here our prices will be back to normal If you would like to save hundredsof dollars on replacing that old worn-out furnace or adding central airconditioning, please call Air Comfort at 466-3583 for free in-home survey! Financing is available at very low rates. Wealsooffer senior citizen discounts LENNOX EASE Heating | Air Conditioning ETO. NATURAL BY DESIGN a country-western store. For now,helives with his parents, although on the adviceof his probation officer they stashed their new computer in a ware- house before he moved in. Fearful of crossing the line unwittingly, he has goneto the extremeof seeking permission to use auto- matedteller machines and drive automobiles equipped with com- puter chips that regulate the engines. Poulsen has found being com- puterless such an impedimentto normallife that he has asked the US.district judge who sentenced him to granta little leeway to enroll in college courses — as a student, not a teacher — in computer science to get his degree. “IT can do without computers for threeyears if I haveto, but it's where mytalents lie,” said Poul- sen, a slender, clean-cut blond wholooks as though he belongsat a fraternity party instead ofsitting outside a Santa Monica Starbucks swapping prison stories with a homeless ex-con whotried to cadge some change from him. “I have to pay almost $70,000 in restitution, and I have no chance of doing that without a computer job. There are a lot of legitimate opportunities in com- puters.I'm a reformedguy.” Poulsenalreadylost one chance to proveit. As a teen-ager, he was brilliant hacker who wentby the handle “Dark Dante.” Working on a cheap Radio Shack TRS-80, he got his thrills penetrating the Pentagon’s computerwebofmili- tary and research centers, as well as various universities and think tanks that work onclassified military projects. It was all reminis- cent of “WarGames,” the hallmark movie of teen-age hacking culture. He was just 17 when the FBI and UCLA campus cops caught up with him in 1983. He was never charged because he was a juve- nile, but his $200 computer was seized. cK be. The new fragrancefor people. Calvin Klein As Poulsen tells it, he was ready to give up clandestine hacking for a legitimate job with a prestigious think tank near Stanford Univer- It’s about thefreedomto express your individuality. It’s aboutthe freedomto be yourself. As the next additionto the Calvin Kleinfragrance family, cK be moves away fromthe mainstream, blendingfreshness with sensuality. For a man or a woman, cK be, as distinct as each individual who wears it sity that recruited him after pub- licity over his exploits. The job initially was boring, but he quick- ly ‘advanced in pay and responsibilities. The Pentagon even ap- The cK be Fragrance Collection by Calvin Klein: $10-$50. proved his security clearance for Classmates Back Boy WhoDresses as Girl THE ASSOCIATED PRESS BURLINGTON, Vt. — A gay high school student suspended several times for wearing a dress, makeup and a wig to class says he has noplans to change. “This is who I am,” said 15year-old Matt Stickney, who showed up Friday with a black top and a pink, red, and green flowered skirt. Administrators say the ouifits Nowat (‘Z7,Ci MII worn by the Burlington High School sophomore disrupt class and thereforeviolate thedistrict's dress code. 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