http://www.news-journalonline.com/NewsJournalOnline/News/Local/newEAST06030807.htm By JAY STAPLETON Staff Writer March 08, 2007 DAYTONA BEACH -- When men from across the country hacked into a local police department computer to get personal information, they didn't expect to get tripped up by detectives who watch every penny. The group of computer-savvy criminals who used a Trojan Horse virus to break into a Port Orange Police Department computer to gather personal information on a national crime fighting database has been ordered to pay back money for services they charged. Some of the young men involved also used computers to get information on celebrities including Paris Hilton and California Gov. Arnold Schwartzenegger, according to news reports. Justin A. Perras, 19, Timothy McKeage, 21, Jason D. Hawks, 24, Zachary W. Mann, 19, and Jeffrey R. Weinberg, 21, were ordered by a federal judge in West Palm Beach to stay away from computers. With a mix of prison or probation and community service as punishment for their pleas to conspiracy to commit computer fraud and identity theft, the five were ordered to pay $105,750 in restitution to database owner LexisNexis and Port Orange police, court records show. "It's nice to see people will be held responsible," said Lt. Frank Surmaczewicz, who oversees the detective division in Port Orange. He was pleased his department will get back it's share of $1,905 in database charges and computer security costs. Perras, of New Bedford, Mass., was sentenced Monday to a year in prison, to be followed by three years probation and 100 hours of community service. The others were sentenced in December to lesser prison sentences, or probation, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. The breach to the Port Orange police computer used in criminal investigations occurred between January and March 2005, court records show. McKeage, of Rhode Island, used a program to hack into the computer and infect it with a virus. He then used his unauthorized access in the department's database account to obtain user names and passwords used to create new usernames to access the database. The information was then shared with the others. The men used the Accurint law enforcement database owned by LexisNexis to obtain information on more than a dozen people from around the country, including addresses, dates of birth and Social Security numbers. The Washington Post reported last summer that interviews with three of the men revealed they obtained information on Hilton, Schwarzenegger and actors Laurence Fishburne and Demi Moore. Perras told the Post there was no malicious intent. "We were just a bunch of kids goofing around," he said. Surmaczewicz said officers here quickly recognized unusual activity in their database account, including more charges being billed to them than normal, and took action. One red flag was that information was being obtained on people who had nothing to do with any of their investigations. "Once we knew it was someone from the outside, working in, that's when the Secret Service was notified." _________________________________________ Visit the InfoSec News Security Bookstore http://www.shopinfosecnews.org
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