2 Youths Accused of Computer Data Thievery : Crime: Access codes of three phone companies were used to contact computer buffs around the country, investigators say. Losses of more than $1.5 million are blamed on the alleged hackers.
SANTA ANA — Sheriff’s Department investigators on Wednesday accused two county teen-agers of breaking into computers of three long-distance telephone companies and using access codes to contact computer buffs around the country.
Thrifty Tel Inc. of Garden Grove, Com-Systems of Van Nuys and Execuline of Sacramento reported a total loss of more than $1.5 million from the alleged hacking, Sheriff’s Sgt. Stan Kincade said.
Charges were filed in Orange County Juvenile Court on Monday against a 17-year-old who lives in the unincorporated area of Lemon Heights and a 16-year-old who lives in Buena Park, Deputy Dist. Atty. Howard Bundy said. Their names were not released because they are juveniles.
The teen-agers were released to the custody of their parents.
Kincade said the 16-year-old, who faces 24 counts of theft of computer data, admitted breaking into long-distance companies.
“He told us how he did it,†Kincade said.
The 17-year-old, who faces 16 counts of theft of computer data and 11 counts of fraudulent use of telephone service, declined to talk to investigators, he said.
Martin J. Barab, attorney for Thrifty Tel, said he plans to file civil suits against the teen-agers’ families to recoup the company’s losses.
“We have declared an all-out war against these hackers and the parents who supplied them with the tools,†said Barab, whose firm had most of the break-ins.
“You are being held up with a computer and a modem rather than a gun,†said Rebecca Bigley, Thrifty Tel’s security chief.
The company has caught 45 hackers breaking into its system in the past several years, Bigley said, adding, “They don’t walk through the front door, they come through the telephone lines.â€
Sheriff’s investigator Cliff Deller said the suspects allegedly broke into the companies’ computer systems last spring and summer and stole codes that enabled them to talk electronically to other computer buffs or to dial directly into computer bulletin boards without being billed.
They also posted the codes and authorization numbers on bulletin boards for use by other hackers, Deller said.
They stole the codes, Deller said, “to talk to each other and not pay the bills.â€
Not only did the teen-agers allegedly cost companies hundreds of thousands of dollars in illegal telephone calls, he said, but they forced the companies to spend hundreds of thousands more to change codes and buy anti-hacking equipment.
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