Kevin Poulsen Report
Introduction
Kevin Poulsen is a news editor at wired.com, and is co-author of Kingpin — How One Hacker Took Over the Billion Dollar Cyber Crime Underground (Crown, 2010). However, Poulsen did not start out as a journalist. Kevin Poulsen began his “career” as a hacker, and thanks to media attention, became rather notorious for his exploits. In this report I will attempt to highlight what Kevin Poulsen is famous for, what techniques he used, the criminal charges faced and the possible punishments, the social and ethical issues surrounding the case, and what countermeasures could have been used to prevent Poulsen's attacks.
What he is Famous for?
Kevin, like many hackers, began his hacking at a very early age. At age 13 he was hacking into telephone systems to impress friends, so that he and they were able to make free calls to long distance numbers. This activity is known as ‘phreaking’, and at the time was largely used for fun, although malicious uses could be made. By age 17 Kevin and a friend, Ronald Austin, hacked into the ARPANET, (Advanced Research Projects Agency Network), which was the world’s first operational packet switching network and the core network of a set that came to compose the internet. They were both caught, but “Because Poulsen was a juvenile, he wasn’t charged, but Austin was convicted of several of the 14 charges against him…” (Doug Fine for Spin Magazine, Jan 1994, page 64).
It would be three years later that Kevin Poulsen was to make his mark. Kevin hacked into the telephone and computer systems of Pacific Bell, as well as gaining entry to their buildings. He was caught again but it took the court nearly 18 moths to decide on what charges to impose on him. During this time, Kevin allegedly went on the run. Whilst waiting on the indictment, Kevin engaged in more hacking and phreaking activities. He and some friends hacked into the telephone system of KIIS-FM radio station in order to win the phone in competitions.
Kevin Poulsen is a news editor at wired.com, and is co-author of Kingpin — How One Hacker Took Over the Billion Dollar Cyber Crime Underground (Crown, 2010). However, Poulsen did not start out as a journalist. Kevin Poulsen began his “career” as a hacker, and thanks to media attention, became rather notorious for his exploits. In this report I will attempt to highlight what Kevin Poulsen is famous for, what techniques he used, the criminal charges faced and the possible punishments, the social and ethical issues surrounding the case, and what countermeasures could have been used to prevent Poulsen's attacks.
What he is Famous for?
Kevin, like many hackers, began his hacking at a very early age. At age 13 he was hacking into telephone systems to impress friends, so that he and they were able to make free calls to long distance numbers. This activity is known as ‘phreaking’, and at the time was largely used for fun, although malicious uses could be made. By age 17 Kevin and a friend, Ronald Austin, hacked into the ARPANET, (Advanced Research Projects Agency Network), which was the world’s first operational packet switching network and the core network of a set that came to compose the internet. They were both caught, but “Because Poulsen was a juvenile, he wasn’t charged, but Austin was convicted of several of the 14 charges against him…” (Doug Fine for Spin Magazine, Jan 1994, page 64).
It would be three years later that Kevin Poulsen was to make his mark. Kevin hacked into the telephone and computer systems of Pacific Bell, as well as gaining entry to their buildings. He was caught again but it took the court nearly 18 moths to decide on what charges to impose on him. During this time, Kevin allegedly went on the run. Whilst waiting on the indictment, Kevin engaged in more hacking and phreaking activities. He and some friends hacked into the telephone system of KIIS-FM radio station in order to win the phone in competitions.