Wednesday, March 8, 2000

Hacking Charges Brought Against Teen

CONCORD, N.H.--A 17 -year-old computer hacker questioned by FBI agents about February's crippling attacks on big Internet sites was charged Wednesday with defacing an anti-drug Web page months before the spree.

Dennis Moran surrendered without incident at his home in Wolfeboro and was charged as an adult with two counts of unauthorized access to a computer system. Each charge carries up to 15 years in prison.

He was released on $5,000 bail, and no arraignment was set. Moran, a high school dropout who lives at home, is charged with hacking a Los Angeles Police Department anti-drug Web site in November. He allegedly used the Internet name "Coolio" and defaced the site with pro-drug slogans and images, including one depicting Donald Duck with a hypodermic syringe in his arm.

He is not charged with broader claims he made in an Internet chat room of disrupting traffic on some of the Web's busiest sites, like yahoo.com and ebay.com. Michael Delaney, a New Hampshire assistant attorney general, said Moran was unlikely to face charges in those attacks. Although the FBI had said agents were seeking someone using the name "Coolio," authorities have also said Coolio -the name of a popular rap singer -is used by many people online.

In a recent Associated Press interview, Moran denied causing the larger problems. His boasts in the chat room prompted the FBI scrutiny. However, Moran did admit to hacking the LAPD drug page and sites of the Commerce Department and an Internet security firm. Authorities are still investigating the last two claims. Moran's father, also named Dennis, was shocked by his son's arrest. "He's only 17, for crying out loud," he said. "He's not a killer or anything. I don't believe this."

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), March 08, 2000

Answers

URL for above

http://www.latimes.com/wires/20000308/tCB00V0523.html

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), March 08, 2000.