Man reportedly participated in scheme while he was a student and community advisor at UCM
By The Sedalia Democrat, Sedalia, Mo.
Updated: 06-24-2011 8:40 am
June 24--A former University of Central Missouri student pleaded guilty Wednesday to his role in a computer hacking conspiracy, according to Beth Phillips, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Missouri.
Daniel J. Fowler, 21, of Kansas City, pleaded guilty to charges contained in a November 2010 federal indictment. In addition to the computer hacking conspiracy, Fowler also pleaded guilty to one count of computer intrusion causing damage.
Fowler admitted that he participated in an unlawful computer hacking scheme while he was a student and community advisor at UCM from March 2009 to March 2010.
Conspirators gained unlawful and unauthorized access to the UCM computer network, which allowed them to view and download large databases of faculty, staff, alumni and student information, transfer money to their student accounts, and attempt to change grades. According to Phillips, they sought to profit by attempting to sell lists of the personal information of faculty, staff, alumni and students to others.
Fowler admitted that they used a thumb drive to download and install the virus on at least one university administrator's computer, monitoring his computer activity to capture his username and password. Conspirators also obtained the username and password of a residence hall director, Fowler admitted, and used that information to exploit the university's computer system to conduct financial transactions, in an attempt to unlawfully credit their student accounts with UCM funds.
Phillips also reported conspirators used the identities of fellow students, along with their university computer network permissions, to gain access to various portions of the computer network they would otherwise not have access to, which enabled them to mask their activities and mislead university authorities as to the identities of those conducting the attacks on the computer network.
After learning that a co-conspirator had been arrested, Fowler admitted, he encrypted and destroyed computer evidence that he thought could be used against him.
Under federal statutes, Fowler could face a sentence of up to 15 years in federal prison without parole, plus a fine up to $500,000 and an order of restitution. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled after the completion of a presentence investigation by the United States Probation Office.
LulzSec claims responsibility for hacking of Ariz. state police computers
Hacker group says it targeted police agency due to immigration legislation passed by state
BY YVONNE WINGETT SANCHEZ, MATT HALDANE AND SHAUN MCKINNON, THE ARIZONA REPUBLIC
Gannett News Service
Updated: 06-28-2011 11:45 am
PHOENIX -- Computer experts are trying to determine how an international group of hackers broke into the Arizona Department of Public Safety's computers Thursday and downloaded and released hundreds of law-enforcement files.
The group Lulz Security, which has taken responsibility for breaching websites of the CIA and U.S. Senate and hacking into Sony computers, said in a bulletin that it targeted the the state police agency because LulzSec opposes Senate Bill 1070, a law the Arizona Legislature passed that widened law-enforcement officers' ability to apprehend illegal immigrants. The law is largely on hold pending a Supreme Court review.
The files, posted on LulzSec's website, include personal information about officers and numerous documents ranging from routine alerts from out-of-state police agencies to videos and photos about the hazards of police work and operations of drug gangs. The names of the files are as innocuous as "resume" and "evaluation form" and as provocative as "cartel leader threatens deadly force on U.S. police."
In its Web posting, the group said the files were primarily related to U.S. Border Patrol and counterterrorism operations. The hackers vowed to release more classified documents each week as a way to embarrass authorities and sabotage their work.
In London, a 19-year-old who may have ties to LulzSec was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of involvement with cyber attacks on Sony and the CIA website, according to The Associated Press.
Steve Harrison, a state police spokesman, confirmed late Thursday that the agency's system had been hacked earlier in the day.
Experts are working on closing the loopholes and have closed external access to the system.
Harrison said the release of officers' personal information is alarming. This information included the names of eight officers, their spouses' names, cell-phone numbers and addresses.
"When you put out personal information, you don't know what kind of people will respond," Harrison said, noting that another officer was attacked at his home Thursday morning in an unrelated incident.
The only breach that the agency identified so far has been that of email accounts, the passwords of which were also posted online. The agency suspects most, if not all, of the information released was obtained via what was available on those accounts.
Although LulzSec claims some of the files were labeled "not for public distribution," Harrison said. The agency did not believe any sensitive information that would compromise current investigations was leaked.
Many of the files reflect the mundane concerns of law enforcement. Others offer insight into efforts to keep pace with rapidly evolving technology and the ways criminals take advantage of it.
Some documents also relate to the agency's effort to address issues of alleged racial profiling, stemming from a 2001 lawsuit that it agreed to settle. As part of that agreement, state police have continued to allow a university research firm to collect data on its officers' traffic stops.
Other documents included an intelligence bulletin about the leader of a Mexican drug cartel, an advisory from the Arizona Counter Terrorism Intelligence Center and Highway Patrol operational plans for responding to border threats.
According to news reports, the anonymous computer-hacking group has taken responsibility for breaching websites of the CIA, the U.S. Senate, the Public Broadcast System and numerous video-game companies.
LulzSec posts its exploits on Twitter and, as of Thursday, claimed more than 261,200 followers.
Aaron Sandeen, the state's chief information officer, said a national cybersecurity agency that monitors state websites notified his office of a potential breach and the site was shut down immediately.
The agency's information system is separate from the rest of state government, he said. No other state agency websites have been compromised, he said.
On Thursday afternoon, LulzSec taunted Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio on his official account, saying, "Media? Heat? You?" The tweet included an expletive in Spanish aimed at the Border Patrol.
Sheriff's Deputy Chief Jack MacIntyre said the Sheriff's Office is taking "some countermeasures" with the agency's IT system.
"We will be cooperating with DPS to make sure that we minimize any possible impact," he said. Asked if the sheriff's computer systems had been compromised, MacIntyre responded, "We don't think so, we're looking at that."
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