Forwarded From: phreakmoi <hackereliteat_private> http://www.andovernews.com/cgi-bin/news_story.pl?120873,topstories UK Man Charged Over Omnipoint Message Hack DONCASTER, SOUTH YORKSHIRE, ENGLAND, 1999 FEB 3 (Newsbytes) -- By Steve Gold, Newsbytes. In one of first cases of its type in the world, a 22-year- old man from Doncaster in England has been charged with various offenses in connection with an SMS (short message system) text messaging attack on the Omnipoint cellular network last February. As reported by Newsbytes at the time, the cellular industry's first system hack left several hundred Orange and Vodafone subscribers feeling annoyed in the UK. It also knocking out a UK textile company's switchboard for several days. The saga started on February 11 last year when Orange and Vodafone cellular subscribers in the UK started receiving SMS text messages advising them that they had won a prize -- a Peugot 106 car -- and were to call a Nottingham (England) number to arrange delivery. Newsbytes' investigations of the time revealed that at least 50 Orange phone subscribers and several hundred Vodafone subscribers received the messages, resulting in an apparently innocent textile company being deluged with excited calls. Dave Danielli, a spokesperson for Vodafone, told Newsbytes at the time that the cellular carrier's investigations had led back to the Omnipoint GSM (global system for mobile communications) network in New York, where officials had traced the SMS messages' source to an oil company's e-mail server, where messages were apparently sent -- across the Internet -- without the oil company's consent. Danielli said that the problem knocked out the Nottingham company's switchboard whose number had been given in the "prize winner's" SMS messages. "They had seven switchboard operators, all of whom were kept busy with calls. After the Omnipoint to Vodafone SMS messages were blocked, things started to get back to normal," he said. According to Detective Sergeant Harry Parsonage of Nottinghamshire Police, a man from Doncaster was arrested yesterday in connection with the incident. "I can tell you that yesterday, 2nd February 1999 a 22-year-old man from Doncaster was charged with an offense under the Telecommunications Act 1984 in relation to this matter," he said, adding that the as-yet unnamed man will appear at Nottingham City Magistrates Court on March 17. According to DS Parsonage, the man has also been charged with seven other unrelated offenses under Sections one and three of the UK's Computer Misuse Act. Newsbytes notes that most digital cellular networks support SMS text messages, which can be up to 160 characters long. Although direct access to foreign SMS centers is not actively encouraged, it is difficult to stop, Newsbytes notes. This is because, when a subscriber from one GSM network is roaming on another country's network, SMS messages are forwarded on from the home system for the local network to deliver. Roaming voice, data and SMS calls are the basic features of GSM networks, making SMS messages very difficult to block on a localized basis. By accessing a foreign SMS center, in this case, the Omnipoint service in the US, by e-mail, the man appears to have been able to bulk e-mail the Vodafone and Orange cellular users, and thus cause chaos at the Nottingham-based textile company. -o- Subscribe: mail majordomoat_private with "subscribe isn". Today's ISN Sponsor: Internet Security Institute [www.isi-sec.com]
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