Since the author also requests remuneration, we would ask these

W >> Winn Schwartau >> Since the author also requests remuneration, we would ask these

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"An even more accurate portrayal my friend, yes, do for each
other." Alex paused for effect and to sip his Metaxa. "Simply
put Sir George, I have the need for a well spoken gentleman to
represent me for a period of perhaps, three months, perhaps more
if all goes well. Would that fit into your schedule?"

"I see no reason that I mightn't be able to, take a sabbatical
from my sabbatical if . . .well now, how should I put
this . . ."

" . . .that you are adequately compensated to take time away from
your valuable projects?"

"Yes, yes quite so. Not that I am ordinarily for hire, you
understand, it's just that . . .". Alex detected a slight
stutter as Sir George spoke.

Alex held up both hands in a gesture of understanding. "No need
to continue my dear Sir George. I do thoroughly recognize the
exorbitant costs associated with your studies and would not
expect your efforts, on my behalf of course, to go unrewarded."

George Toft was negotiating with a man he had never met, for a
task as yet unstated. The only reason he didn't feel the discom-
fort that one should in such a situation is that he was in
desperate need of money. And, this stranger did seem to know who
he was, and did need his particular type of expertise, whatever
that was.

"What exactly do you require of me, Alex. That is, what form of
representation have you in mind?" He might as well find out what
he was supposed to do before naming a price.

Alex laughed. "Merely to be my voice. It is so simple, really.
In exchange for that, and some travel, first class and all ex-
penses to which you are accustomed, you will be handsomely paid."
Alex looked for Sir George's reaction to the proposed fees. He
was pleased with what he saw in George's face.

Crikey, this is too good to be true. What's the catch.
As George ruminated his good fortune and the Metaxa, Alex contin-
ued.

"The job is quite simple, really, but requires a particular
delicacy with which you are well acquainted. Each day you will
receive a list of names. There will be instructions with each
name. Call them at the numbers provided. Say only what is writ-
ten. Keep notes of each call you make and I will provide you
with the means to transmit them to me in the strictest of confi-
dence. You and I will have no further personal contact, either if
you accept or do not accept my proposition. If we are able to
reach mutually agreeable terms, monies will be wired to a bank
account in your name." Alex opened his jacket and handed George
an envelop. "This is an advance if you accept. It is $25,000
American. There is a phone number to call when you arrive in San
Francisco. Follow the instructions explicitly. If you do not,
there will be no lists for you, no additional monies and I will
want this money back. Any questions Sir George?" Alex was
smiling warmly but as serious as a heart attack.

Alex scanned the contents of the envelope. America. He had
always wanted to see the States.

"Yes, Alex, I do have one question. Is this legal?" George
peered at Alex for a clue.

"Do you really care?"

"No."

"Off you go then. And good luck."

* * * * *

Sir George Sterling arrived in San Francisco airport the follow-
ing evening. He flew first class and impressed returning Ameri-
can tourists with his invented pedigree and his construed impor-
tance. What fun. After the virtually nonexistent customs check,
he called the number inside the envelop. It rang three times
before answering. Damn, it was a machine, he thought.

"Welcome to the United States, Sir George. I hope you had a good
flight." The voice was American, female, and flight attendant
friendly. "Please check into the San Francisco Airport Hilton.
You will receive a call at 11 AM tomorrow. Good night." A dial
tone replaced the lovely voice. He dialed the number again.

A mechanical voice responded instead. "The number you have called
in no longer in service. Please check the number or call the
operator for assistance. The number you have called is no longer
in service..."

George dialed the number twice more before he gave up in frustra-
tion. He had over $20,000 in cash, knew no one in America and for
the first time in years, he felt abandoned. What kind of joke
was this? Fly half way around the world and be greeted with an
out of service number. But the first voice had known his name.
The Hilton. Why not?

At precisely 11AM, the phone in Sir George Sterling's suite rang.
He was still somewhat jet lagged from his 18 hours of flying and
the span of 10 time zones. The Eggs Benedict was exquisite, but
Americans could learn something about tea. The phone rang again.
He casually picked it up.

"Good morning, Sir George. Please get a pencil and paper. You
have fifteen seconds and then I will continue." It was the same
alluring voice from yesterday. The paper and pen were right there
at the phone so he waited through 14 seconds of silence. "Very
good. Please check out of the hotel and pay cash. Proceed to the
San Francisco airport and from a pay phone, call 5-5-5-3-4-5-6 at
1 P.M. Have a note book and two pens with you. Good Bye. "

The annoying dial tone returned. What a bloody waste of time.

At 1P.M. he called the number as he was instructed. He figured
that since he was to have a notebook and pens he might need to
write for a while, so he used one of the phone booths that pro-
vides a seat and large writing surface.

"Good afternoon Sir George. In ten seconds, your instructions
will begin." Again, that same voice, but it almost appeared
condescending to him now. Isn't that the way when you can't
respond. The voice continued. "Catch the next flight to New
York City. Stay at the Grand Hyatt Hotel at Grand Central Sta-
tion on 42nd. Street and Park Avenue. Not a suite this time, Sir
George, just a regular room." Sir George was startled at Alex's
attention to detail.

"You will stay there for fourteen days. On 56th. street and
Madison avenue is a school called CTI, Computer Training Insti-
tute. You are to go to CTI and enroll in the following classes:
DOS, that's D-O-S for beginners, Intermediate DOS and Advanced
DOS. You will also take WordPerfect I and II. Lastly, and most
importantly you will take all three classes on Tele-Communica-
tions. They call it TC-I, TC-II and TC-III. These eight class-
es will take you ten days to complete. Do not forget to pay in
cash. I will now pause for ten seconds." Alex was writing furi-
ously. Computers? He was scared silly of them. Not that he had
ever had the opportunity or the need or the desire to use them,
just from lack of exposure and the corresponding ignorance. But
if this meant he could keep the $25,000 he would do it. What the
hell.

"After you enroll, go to 45 West 47th street to a store called
Discount Computer Shoppe. Buy the following equipment with cash.
One Pro-Start 486-80 computer with 8 Meg RAM. That's 8 M-E-G R-
A-M and ask for a high resolution color monitor. Also purchase,
and have them install a high speed modem, M-O-D-E-M. Do not, I
repeat, do not purchase a printer of any type. No printers Sir
George. You are never to use a printer. Ever. Lastly, you will
purchase a copy of Word Perfect and Crosstalk. If you wish any
games for your amusement, that is up to you. When you have
completed your studies you will call 212-555-6091. Do not call
that number before you have completed your studies. This is
imperative."

Sir George was just writing, not comprehending a thing. It was
all gibberish to him. Pure gibberish.

"Sir George." The female voice got serious, very serious for the
first time in their relationship. "You are to speak to no one, I
repeat, no one, of the nature of your business, the manner in
which you receive instructions, or why computers have a sudden
interest for you. Otherwise our deal is off and your advance will
be expected to be returned. Am I clear?"

George responded quickly, "Yes!" before seeing the lunacy of
answering a machine.

"Good," the voice was friendly again. "Learn your lessons well
for you will need the knowledge to perform your tasks. Until we
speak again, I thank you, Sir George Sterling." The line went
dead.

George Toft took his computer classes very seriously. He had in
fact bought a few games to amuse himself and he found himself
really enjoying the work. It was new, and exciting. His only
social distractions were the sex shops on Times Square. Red
Light Amsterdam or the Hamburg they weren't, so midnight antics
with the Mario Brothers prevailed most evenings. Besides, there
was a massive amount of homework. Bloody hell, back to school.
He excelled in his studies which pleased George a great deal. In
fact most of the students in Sir George's computer classes ex-
celled. The teachers were very pleased to have a group of stu-
dents that actually progressed more rapidly than the curriculum
called for. Pleasant change from the E Train Bimbos from Queens.

The computer teachers didn't know that a vast majority of the
class members had good reason to study hard. Most of them had
received their own $25,000 scholarships.

* * * * *

Sunday, September 6
SDSU Campus, San Diego, California.

WTFO

the computer screen displayed. That was hackerese, borrowed from
the military for What The Fuck? Over! It was a friendly greeting
that offended no one.

Back on. Summer finals are over. Everyone still there?

BOOM'S STILL AT UCLA, I JUST TALKED TO CRACKER, MAD MAX, ALPHA,
SCROLLER, MR. MAGIC . . .WE MISSED YOU. LOOKING FORWARD TO A
GOOD VACATE?

Yeah, 4 days before next term starts . . .Has anyone got the key
to the NPPS NASA node?

THEY CLOSED IT AGAIN. WE'RE STILL LOOKING. WE WERE BACK INTO
AMEX, THOUGH. CLEANED UP A FEW DEBTS FOR UNSUSPECTING CARD
MEMBERS. HAPPY LABOR DAY TO THEM. GOOD FUN.

And CHAOS? Anyone?

BEST I'VE EVER HEARD. 4 NEW VIRUSES SET TO GO OFF. HIGHLY POTENT
VARIATIONS OF JERUSALEM-B. THEN SOME RUMORS ABOUT COLUMBUS DAY,
BUT NOTHING HARD.

When you get the code send me a copy, OK?

SURE. HEY, REMEMBER SPOOK? STILL ASKING TO JOIN NEMO. SEEMS HE
BEEN UP TO A LOT OF SUCCESSFUL NO GOOD. WE'RE ABOUT READY TO LET
HIM IN. HE BROUGHT A LOT TO THE PARTY.

Careful! Remember 401

YEAH, I KNOW. HE'S CLEAN. GOOD GOVT STUFF . HE BROUGHT US THE
NEWEST IRS X.25 SIGN-ONS, 2 MILNET SUPERUSER PASSWORDS AND, DIG
THIS, VETERAN'S BENEFIT AND ADMINISTRATION, OFFICE OF POLICY AT
THE VA.

What you gonna do, boy? In them thar computers?

I FIGURE I'D GIVE A FEW EXTRA BENEFITS TO SOME NEEDY GI'S WHO'VE
BEEN ON THE SHORT END.

Excellent! Hey, Lori's on the line. gotta go.

TA

<<<<<< CONNECTION TERMINATED >>>>>>

The screen of his communications program returned to a list of
names and phone numbers. Lori said she'd be over in an hour and
Steven Billings was tempted to dial another couple of numbers
before his date with Lori. But if he found something interesting
it might force him to be late, and Lori could not tolerate play-
ing second fiddle to a computer.

Steven Billings, known as "KIRK, where no man has gone before",
by fellow hackers, had finished his midterms at San Diego State
University. The ritual labors were over and he looked forward to
some relax time. Serious relax time.

The one recreation he craved, but downplayed to Lori, was spend-
ing time with his computer. She was jealous in some respects, in
that it received as much attention from Steve as she did. Yet,
she also understood that computers were his first love, and they
were part of his life long before she was. So, they came with the
territory. Steve attended, upon occasion, classes at SDSU, La
Jolla. For a 21 year old transplant from Darien, Connecticut, he
lived in paradise.

Steve's single largest expense in life was his phone bill, and
instead of working a regular job to earn spending money, Steve
tutored other students in their computer courses. Rather than
flaunt his skills to his teachers and risk extra assignments, he
was more technically qualified than they were, he kept his mouth
shut, sailed through classes, rarely studied and became a full
time computer hacker. He translated his every wish into a com-
mand that the computer obeyed.

Steve Billings did not fill the picture of a computer nerd. He
was almost dashing with a firm golden tanned 175 pound body, and
dark blond hair that caused the girls to turn their heads. He
loved the outdoors, the hot warmth of the summer to the cooler
warmth of the winter, surfing at the Cardiff Reef and betting on
fixed jai-alai games in Tijuana. He played soccer and OTL, a San
Diego specific version of gloveless and topless co-ed beach
softball. In short, he was a guy. A regular guy.

The spotlessly groomed image of Steve Billings in white tennis
shorts and a "Save the Whales" tank-top eclectically co-existed
with the sterile surroundings of the mammoth super computer
center. The Cray Y-MP is about as big and bad a computer as
money can buy, and despite Steve's well known skills, the head of
the Super Computing Department couldn't help but cringe when
Steve leaned his surf board against the helium cooled memory
banks of the twelve million dollar computer.

He ran his shift at the computer lab so efficiently and effort-
lessly that over time he spent more and more of his hours there
perusing through other people's computers. Now there was a feel-
ing. Hacking through somebody else's computer without their
knowledge. The ultimate challenge, an infinity of possibilities,
an infinity of answers.

The San Diego Union was an awful paper, Steve thought, and the
evening paper was even worse. So he got copies of the New York
City Times when possible, either at a newsstand, borrowed from
yesterday's Times reader or from the library. Nice to get a real
perspective on the world. This Sunday he spent the $4.00 to get
his own new, uncrumpled and unread copy of his revered paper, all
thirty four pounds of it. Alone. Peace.

Reading by the condo pool an article caught his eye. Steve
remembered a story he had heard about a hacker who had invaded
and single handedly stopped INTERNET, a computer network that
connected together tens of thousands of computers around the
country.

* * * * *

Government Defense Network Halted by Hacker
by Scott Mason, New York City Times

Vaughn Chase, a 17 year old high school student Galbraith High
School in Ann Arbor, Michigan was indicted today on charges that
he infected the nationwide INTERNET network with a computer
virus. This latest attack upon INTERNET is reminiscent of a
similar incident launched by Robert Morris of Cornell University
in November, 1988.

According to the Computer Emergency Response Team, a DARPA spon-
sored group, if Mr. Chase had not left his name in the source
code of his virus, there would have been no way to track down the
culprit.

A computer virus is a small software program that is secretly put
into a computer, generally designed to cause damage. A virus
attaches itself to other computer programs secretively. At some
time after the parasite virus program is 'glued' into the comput-
er, it is reawakened on a specific date or by a particular se-
quence of events.

Chase, though, actually infected INTERNET with a Worm. A Worm is
a program that copies itself, over and over and over, either
filling the computer's memory to capacity or slowing down its
operation to a snail's pace. In either case, the results are
devastating - effectively, the computer stops working.

Chase, a math wizard according to his high school officials,
released the Worm into Internet in early August with a detonation
date of September 1, which brought thousands of computers to a
grinding halt.

INTERNET ties together tens of thousands of computers from the
Government, private industry, universities and defense contrac-
tors all over the country. Chase said he learned how to access
the unclassified computer network from passwords and keys dis-
tributed on computer Bulletin Boards.

Computer security experts worked for 3 days hours to first deter-
mine the cause of the network slowdown and then to restore the
network to normal operation. It has been estimated that almost
$100 Million in damage was caused by Mr. Chase's Worm. Mr. Chase
said the Worm was experimental, and was accidentally released
into INTERNET when a piece of software he had written malfunc-
tioned. He apologized for any inconvenience he caused.

The Attorney General of the State of Michigan is examining the
legal aspects of the case and it is expected that Mr. Chase will
be tried within in a year. Mr. Chase was released on his own
recognizance.

This is Scott Mason wondering why the Pentagon doesn't shoot
worms instead of bombs at enemy computers.

* * * * *

The next day Steve Billings signed on to the SDSU/BBS from his
small Mission Beach apartment. It was a local university Bulletin
Board Service or BBS. A BBS is like a library. There are li-
braries of software which are free, and as a user you are recip-
rocally expected to donate software into the Public Domain. Con-
ference Halls or Conversation Pits on the BBS are free-for-all
discussions where people at their keyboards can all have a 'live'
conversation. Anyone, using any computer, anywhere in the world
can call up any BBS using regular phone lines. No one cared or
knew if you were skinny, fat, pimpled, blind, a double for
Christy Brinkley or too chicken shit to talk to girls in person.
Here, everyone was equal.

Billings 234

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

There was a brief pause.

WELCOME TO THE SDSU/BBS. STEVE BILLINGS, YOU ARE USER #109

Steve Chose (12) for SERVICES:

The menu changed to a list of further options. Each option would
permit the user to gain access to other networks around the
country. From one single entry point with a small computer,
anyone could 'dial up' as it's called, almost any of over
20,000,000 computers in the country tied into any of ten thousand
different networks.

SDSU/BBS WINDOW ON THE WORLD

NETWORK SERVICES MENU

Steve selected CALNET, a network at Cal Tech in Los Angeles.
Many of the Universities have permanent connections between their
computers.

LOGON: Billings014

PASSWORD: XXXXKIRKXXXX

Again, there was a pause, this time a little longer. Now, from
his room, he was talking to a computer in Los Angeles. There was
another menu of options, and a list of other widely dispersed
computer networks. He requested the SUNYNET computer, the State
University of New York Network. From there, he asked the comput-
er for a local phone line so he could dial into a very private,
very secret computer called NEMO.

It took Steve a grand total of 45 seconds to access NEMO in New
York, all at the price of a local phone call.

NEMO was a private BBS that was restricted to an elite few.
Those who qualifications and reputations allowed them entry into
the exclusive domain of hacking. NEMO was born into this world
by Steve and a few of his friends while they were in high school
in Darien. NEMO was a private club, for a few close friends who
enjoyed their new hobby, computers.

NEMO's Menu was designed for the professional hacker.

1. PASSWORDS
2. NEW NETS
3. DANGER ZONES
4. CRACKING TOOLS
5. WHO'S NEW?
6. PHREAKING
7. CRYPTO
8. WHO ELSE?
9. U.S. NETWORKS
10. INTERNATIONAL NETWORKS
11. FOR TRADE
12. FORTUNE 500 DOORKEYS

He selected (8), WHO ELSE? Steve wanted to see who else was 'on-
line' now. He wanted to talk about this Chase guy who was giving
hackers a bad name. The computer responded:

CONVERSATION PIT: LA CREME, RAMBO. DO YOU WANT TO JOIN IN?

That was great! Two of the half dozen of NEMO's founders were
there. La Creme de la Creme was KIRK's college roommate, but he
had not yet returned to San Diego for the fall term. RAMBO,
'I'll get through any door' was the same age as Kirk and Creme,
but chose to study at Columbia in New York's Harlem. Hackers
picked alter- ego monikers as CB'ers on the highways did; to
project the desired image. Steve and his cohorts picked their
aliases when they were only fifteen, and kept them ever since.

Steve typed in a 'Y' and the ENTER key.

WHO ARE YOU?

NEMO was asking for an additional password.

Kirk

Steve typed. A brief pause, and the computer screen came to
life.

WELCOME TO THE CONVERSATION PIT, KIRK. HOW HAVE YOU BEEN?

That was his invitation to interrupt any conversation in
progress. Steve typed in,

Dudes!

HOW'D EXAMS GO? <>

Greased'em. Ready to come back?

FAST AS THE PLANE WILL GO. PICK ME UP? 7:20 ON AMERICAN?CREME>

Sure. Hey, what's with the Morris copy cat? Some phreak blowing
it for the rest of us.

SO YOU HEARD. CHASE IS REALLY GONNA SCREW THINGS UP. <>

What the hell really happened? I read the Times. Said that he
claimed it was accident.

ACCIDENTAL ON PURPOSE MAYBE <>

HOW MANY WAYS ARE THERE INFECT A NATIONAL DEFENSE NETWORK? ONE
THAT I KNOW OF. YOU PUT THE VIRUS IN THERE. THAT'S NO ACCIDENT.
<>

Ten-Four. Seems like he don't wanna live by the code. Must be
some spoiled little brat getting too big for his britches . . .

BEST GUESS IS THAT HE DID IT TO IMPRESS HIS OLD MAN. HE SUPPOS-
EDLY CREATED AN ANTIDOTE, TOO. HE WANTED TO SET OFF A BIG VIRUS
SCARE AND THEN LOOK LIKE A HERO WITH A FAST FIX. THE VIRUS
WORKED ALL TOO WELL. THE ANTIDOTE, IF THERE WAS ONE, SUCKED. SO
INTERNET HAD GAS SO BAD, COMPUTING CAME TO A HALT FOR A COUPLE OF
DAYS TILL THEY CLEANED OUT THE PROVERBIAL SEWERS. <>

SURE SOUNDS LIKE A PUBLICITY GAG TO ME <>

Jeez. Anyone else been hit yet?

NO, BUT WE'VE BEEN EXTRA CAREFUL SINCE. A LOT OF DOORS HAVE BEEN
CLOSED SO IT'S BACK TO SQUARE ONE ON A BUNCH, BUT WE DIDN'T LOSE
EVERYTHING. THE DOORKEY DOWNLOAD WILL UPDATE YOU. <>

OK, I'll be supersleuth. Any word on CHAOS? Legion of Doom, The
Crusaders?

IT'S ONE BIG DEAL IN THE E-MAIL: NEW CHAOS VIRUSES, EVERY DICK
AND JANE IS WRITING THEIR OWN VIRUSES. COMPUTING WITH AIDS.

Funny. Why don't you put a rubber on your big 640K RAM? Or your
mouse?

GOT SOMETHING AGAINST SAFE COMPUTING? IF HALF OF WHAT THEY SAY
IS TRUE, WE'RE ALL IN TROUBLE. TAKE A LOOK AT THE PUBLIC BBS'S.
QUITE A CHAT. <>

Will do. Any word on the new Central Census Data Base? Every-
thing about every American stored in one computer. All of their
personal data, ripe for the picking. Sounds like the kind of
library that would do the bad guys a lot of good.

CAN'T FIND A DOOR FROM THE INTERNET GATE. THE JUSTICE LINK WAS
STILL GOOD YESTERDAY AND THE FBI STILL HASN'T CHANGED A PASSWORD,
SO THAT SHOULD BE AN EASY OPEN ONCE WE FIND THE FRONT DOOR.
GIMME A COUPLE OF DAYS AND WE SHOULD KNOW DAN QUAYLES' JOCK SIZE.
<>

Zero! Ha! Keep me in mind.

* * * * *

Steve copied several pages of names, phone numbers and passwords
from NEMO's data base into his computer 3000 miles across the
country. These were the most valuable and revered types of files
in the underground world of hackerdom. They include all of the
information needed to enter and play havoc inside of hundreds of
secret and private computers.

National Institute of Health 301-555-6761
USER: Fillstein PASSWORD: Daddy1
USER: Miller9 PASSWORD: Secret
VMS 1.01
SUPERUSER: B645_DICKY

VTEK NAS, Pensacola, Fla 904-555-2113
USER: Major101 PASSWORD: Secret
USER: General22 PASSWORD: Secret1
USER: Forestall PASSWORD: PDQS

IBM, Armonk, Advanced Research 914-555-0965
USER: Port1 PASSWORD: Scientist
USER: Port2 PASSWORD: Scientist
USER: Port3 PASSWORD: Scientist

There were seventeen pages of updated and illegal access codes to
computer systems across the country. Another reason NEMO was so
secret. Didn't want just anybody climbing the walls of their
private playground. Can't trust everyone to live by the Code.