http://www.darkreading.com/insiderthreat/security/attacks/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=218300006 By Kelly Jackson Higgins DarkReading July 01, 2009 A former security guard for a Dallas hospital has been arrested by federal authorities for allegedly breaking into the facility's HVAC and confidential patient information computer systems. In a bizarre twist, he posted videos of his hacks on YouTube, and was trying to recruit other hackers to help him wage a massive DDoS attack on July 4 -- one day after his planned last day on the job. Jesse William McGraw, 25, also known as "GhostExodus," "PhantomExodizzmo," as well as by a couple of false names, was charged with downloading malicious code onto a computer at the Carrell Clinic in order to cause damage and as a result, "threatened public health and safety," according to an affidavit filed by the FBI . McGraw worked as a night security guard for United Protection Services, which was on contract with hospital, which specializes in orthopedics and sports medicine. McGraw heads up the Electronik Tribulation Army, an underground hacking group, and ironically, it was one of his followers who may have inadvertently given him up to the feds. Security researcher Wesley McGrew helped crack the case wide open after a "script kiddie" known as "XXxxImmortalxxXX " contacted him, bragging that he had hacked a hospital's HVAC system. "Upon further googling, it became apparent that XXxxImmortalxxXX was lying to me, and that it was the leader of the group Immortal had joined that allegedly carried out the attack. This attacker went by the name of 'GhostExodus,'" or McGraw, McGrew blogged. Researcher McGrew, who is an expert in control systems and SCADA security, says he saw screenshots posted online by GhostExodus of the interface to the hospital's HVAC system. "Screenshots taken by the attacker showed an HMI that gave the user control over many elements of the hospital, including pumps and chillers in the operating room. Messing around with a system like this can seriously impact the health and safety of the patients," he blogged. After gathering more information on GhostExodus, he contacted the Texas attorney general's office and the FBI, which on Friday arrested McGraw. [...] _______________________________________________ Attend Black Hat USA, July 25-30 in Las Vegas, the world's premier technical event for ICT security experts. Network with 4,000+ delegates from 50 nations. Visit product displays by 30 top sponsors in a relaxed setting. http://www.blackhat.comReceived on Thu Jul 02 2009 - 05:50:23 PDT
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