http://gainesvillesun.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20030714/APF/307140992 By MARK NIESSE Associated Press Writer July 14. 2003 Two computer hackers admitted in a settlement Monday that they never completed a device that could cheat university campus debit card systems out of food, laundry machine use or sports tickets. Blackboard Inc., the maker of a vending system used by 223 colleges nationwide, agreed to drop its lawsuit against Georgia Tech student Billy Hoffman and University of Alabama student Virgil Griffith. The settlement requires the students to apologize to Blackboard and its clients, promise that they never built a transaction processing system and serve 40 hours community service. The device could purportedly manipulate the amount of money on a debit card used in the system. "They actually didn't do a lot of the things they were claiming to do," Blackboard spokesman Michael Stanton. "They knew full well the claims they were making were silly. They're obviously bright young guys, but a little misguided in where they were focusing their attention." Blackboard said the settlement reaffirms that its systems are secure. Hoffman and Griffith published information about the card reading system on a Web site, and they planned on talking at a hacker convention about manipulating university student ID cards for things like free soft drinks, laundry or access to school buildings. But Blackboard, based in Washington, got a judge to issue an order barring them from discussing it. Hoffman, a 22-year-old computer engineering major, said he and Griffith wanted to settle rather than fight in court. The settlement is to be filed in U.S. District Court in Atlanta on Tuesday. In April, Hoffman claimed he broke into a Blackboard card reader at Georgia Tech because he wanted to expose security flaws in the system. Georgia Tech asked Hoffman to sign a paper saying he wouldn't break computer rules again, and he wasn't punished further. An attorney for Griffith and Hoffman couldn't be reached for comment. - ISN is currently hosted by Attrition.org To unsubscribe email majordomoat_private with 'unsubscribe isn' in the BODY of the mail.
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