The Hacker Syndrome - How they did it September 5, 1986 Be on the look out for the following 2 computer hackers that have recently started a raid of computer bulletin boards in the Southern Calif. area. Their names are: Steve Shaw and Pat Rajabi. They also go by the following aliases: Jim Brooks, Brian Ohart, John Aron, Jarrod Anderson, Sysop zz, Yocon Liber, John Smith, Nick Rivers, Marc Williams and Max Sterling. They have broken into a large PCBoard in this area and have downloaded their membership list and crashed the board. They have edited this list down to all sysops that have logged onto this PCBoard and have been calling these boards, logging on as they sysop and using the sysop's password. If you are a sysop and if you use different passwords you have nothing to fear. But, if you use the same password for calling other boards and use it on your own board, you are in for some real trouble, especially if your system is a PCBoard or a Fido BBS. I have called some sysops about this but gave up when I learned that they had all ready been hit or knew about the breech. If you operate a BBS-PC system you are relatively safe. They will download your membership directory in search of more sysops and that is about all. For other boards, they can be very destructive. When they log on to your board using your name and password they will quickly assign themselves top level security access and log off in hope of not being noticed. Then they will log back on using their own name, enter your membership records and create the above fictious names and give them all sysop status. If they run out of things to do they will try and exit to DOS and attempt a format of your discs. I have 100 pages of docs on hand showing what they do and how they do it (all my boards activities are logged to disk) and also they were dumb enough to upload their hit list from a PCBoard they raided that contains names of many sysops not only in Calif., but also in other states. One sysop I talked to knows these criminal's real addresses and phone numbers and is contacting the authorities. This sysop talked to Steve Shaw and told me that Steve Shaw informed him that they were out to destroy "every PCBoard in America." This threat should not be taken lightly. This guy means exactly what he says. He has all ready proven it in this area. If you notice these people's names on your BBS I would suggest deleting your entire membership log and starting over requiring your members to enter with new passwords that they have not used before. If you haven't been hit, I would strongly suggest changing your password to your board daily or weekly. These hackers are not exceptionally bright and are easy to catch if you are aware of how they operate. If you have any further questions, or if you would like to know if you are on their hit list please contact BBS-Buena page 1 The Hacker Syndrome - How they did it September 5, 1986 Park at (714) 821-5014. Don't ask for a copy of their hit list because I will not put it out on the boards for security reasons to others. But, if you know of a Pirate BBS, I'm sure that this list is on their. It is an extensive list and I'm sure that it has come from one of the very popular PCBoards in this area. I don't know which one, if that is what you are asking yourself. I am sure that these hackers will have their fun and quit but until then: play it safe! Ken Hedgecock SysOp: BBS-Buena Park [1] Tfiles: (1-8,?,Q) :