Local businesses could be targeted in Net attacks, officials say

Kim Smith

Thursday, Feb. 10, 2000 | 9:56 a.m.

ETrade, eBay and CNN today. Could you be tomorrow? According to some experts, the answer is an emphatic "Yes."

Over the past few days federal investigators have been scrambling to find out just who is responsible for denying service to some of the nation's most popular Internet websites. Hackers have been directing a barrage of messages to such websites as ETrade and Amazon, crippling the sites for hours at a time.

Although the vandals are probably targeting high-profile websites so they can boast about their exploits in Internet chat rooms and on hacker websites, there is always the possibility local businesses could find themselves victimized, said Kevin Higgins, chief deputy state attorney general. He is the legal advisor for the Nevada High Technology Crime Task Force formed during the 1999 legislative session.

While some hackers get a big thrill out of breaking into websites and writing graffiti, Higgins said others are creating viruses, cruising the Internet and attempting to download them at whatever site strikes their fancy. Others are content to download viruses that strike at random.

That being the case, the task force recommends that business owners make sure they maintain adequate surge and virus protection.

What is scary is that as computers become more user-friendly, the easier it is to hack into them, Higgins said. Moreover, hackers are good about sharing their information with each other, whether it's in chat rooms, hacker magazines or at conventions.

FBI Special Agent Joe Dickey in Las Vegas agreed, noting that "you don't need high-tech, high-dollar equipment to perpetrate this kind of activity."

Anyone with a personal computer and a little knowledge can become a hacker, Higgins said.

While Dickey wouldn't comment on this specific investigation, he did say the Las Vegas office is well aware that high-tech crimes are increasing in popularity.

"I will say that we have assets in place to deal with the unauthorized intrusion or access into computers, and we stay very, very busy," Dickey said.

If someone is convicted of computer-related fraud that results in damage of more than $5,000, he can get up to 20 years in prison, Dickey said. If it's a government computer involved or a computer vital to the infrastructure such as a Nevada Power Co. system, the $5,000 benchmark is waived.

It's not just the anonymous hackers business owners need to be frightened of, Dickey said. Business owners and systems administrators need to change passwords whenever an employee leaves the company.

Other tips offered by the high-tech crimes task force:

What's amazing, Higgins said, is that while burglars aren't brazen enough to hold annual conventions, hackers are and do.

During a recent conference on high-tech crimes in Mesquite, Higgins said the hackers hold an annual convention in Las Vegas and hold contests to see who can point out the most undercover law enforcement officers.

Higgins said that in his experience, most hackers are males between 15 and 25 years old, have a lot of time on their hands and are somewhat anti-social.