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Hacker suspect called 'damn good ... and dangerous'
American, Israelis arrested for U.S. government computer infiltration
March 19, 1998
Web posted at: 12:33 p.m. EST (1733 GMT)In this story:
JERUSALEM (CNN) -- An Israeli teen-ager accused of infiltrating the Pentagon computer system and others in Israel is "damn good ... and very dangerous," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday.
Ehud Tenebaum, known as the "Analyzer," is one of several people arrested in connection with break-ins of U.S. government computers.
Another -- Calldan Levi Coffman, 20, of Carson, Washington -- is the suspected leader of a group of computer hackers who broke into the network of a NASA laboratory. Coffman was arrested March 10 at his home.
It was not immediately clear what connection may exist between the two.
Tenebaum and two alleged accomplices, all 18, were questioned on Wednesday for several hours at a police station in Bat Yam, a southern suburb of Tel Aviv, then put under house arrest.
U.S. officials said Tenebaum's arrest culminates an investigation into a series of infiltrations into U.S. military computer systems that occurred last month.
Tenebaum The computer raids were viewed as serious, although officials maintain no classified information was compromised. In addition, there was no indication the intrusions were part of an organized military or state-sponsored campaign.
Hundreds of break-ins alleged
Tenenbaum is accused of illegally accessing computers serving "hundreds of other commercial and educational systems in the United States and elsewhere."
He is suspected of being the mentor of two Cloverdale, California, teen-agers who have been questioned by the FBI in connection with hacking into the Pentagon's computer system and university research computers.
Asked by reporters what he thought about Tenebaum, Netanyahu smiled and answered "damn good." Then, after a brief hesitation he added, "and very dangerous."
U.S. authorities hunting for Tenebaum allege he led the most organized and systematic attack the Pentagon has seen to date.
Tenebaum told interviewers before his arrest that he broke into the computers of big institutions to develop his skills and not to cause damage or uncover secrets.
In an interview with the Internet magazine AntiOnline before he was caught, Tenenbaum said the penetrations were innocent and claimed that he even helped the targets by patching any weaknesses he found.
Netanyahu The first report on "The Analyzer's" work came February 3 from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's plasma energy lab.
Break-ins were then reported at a series of military locations, including the Naval Undersea Warfare Center, as well as at other universities and NASA.
Two other Israeli youths also were arrested for cooperating with Tenenbaum, an Israeli police spokeswoman said.
The three were released on an undisclosed amount of bail on the condition they turned in their passports to police and agreed not to contact each other, she added.
NASA break-ins
In addition to breaking into the NASA computer system, Coffman infiltrated the networks of various corporations, universities and other government agencies, NASA investigators said.
Coffman is the suspected leader of the group "ViRii." NASA officials started looking into the group last June when security officials at its Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California detected a problem with the computer system.
An investigation determined the system was being controlled by intruders using the network to help break into other systems targeted by ViRii, NASA said.
The agency initially investigated suspects other than Coffman, including Tenenbaum.
In a separate computer hacking development, federal prosecutors have charged a teen-age boy in Massachusetts with shutting down an airport communications system.
Jerusalem Bureau Chief Walter Rodgers, Correspondent Pierre Thomas and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Related stories:
- Master hacker 'Analyzer' held in Israel - March 18, 1998
- Teen hacker faces federal charges - March 18, 1998
- U.S. seeks world's help to fight Internet crime - December 3, 1997
- Study: U.S. vulnerable to cyberterrorism - October 21, 1997
Related sites:
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