http://www.freep.com/news/latestnews/pm2912_20010425.htm BY LAURA POTTS ASSOCIATED PRESS April 25, 2001 A teen-ager accused of breaking into at least three NASA computer systems has escaped with another teen from a juvenile facility near Grand Rapids, Michigan State Police said. In March, the 16-year-old from Grant pleaded guilty in family court to one count of unauthorized access to computers after officials said he broke into and altered NASA computers systems at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.; the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.; and the Energy Department system at Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, N.M. Stephen Nesbitt, who investigates computer break-ins at NASA's Office of Inspector General in Washington, said the teen-ager never got access to any sensitive information. The teen, who had been housed at the STEP Program juvenile center in Sand Lake, left the night of April 5 with another 16-year-old, said Michigan State Police Sgt. Ron Nelson of the Newaygo Post. The Grant boy's family reported it appeared he had stopped at their home to take some clothes, but no one was home at the time. Nelson said the boys' whereabouts are unknown, but state and local police are investigating. The boy was scheduled for a hearing on Wednesday, but failed to show up, Newaygo County prosecutors said. He has not been sentenced yet but adults convicted of the felony charge can be given up to five years in prison. The teen-ager still is on probation after a similar conviction last year while living with his father on Long Island, N.Y. The boy briefly attended Grant schools as an eighth grader and moved back to the community about six months ago. While authorities said the teen didn't access sensitive information at any of the sites, he created pathways, or "trap doors," that would allow other hackers access. The teen-ager displayed images on the sites related to a hacking group called Electronic Souls. Brian Martin of Attrition.org, which monitors Web security issues, earlier said his site had recorded 32 defacements by Electronic Souls since February. Members identifying themselves as part of the group also defaced commercial sites, he said. __ On the Net: NASA, http://www.nasa.gov/ Attrition.org, http://www.attrition.org/ ISN is hosted by SecurityFocus.com --- To unsubscribe email LISTSERVat_private with a message body of "SIGNOFF ISN".
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Thu Apr 26 2001 - 00:46:57 PDT