Max Butler
Encyclopedia
Max Ray Vision a former computer security consultant, was an online hacker charged with two counts of wire fraud and theft of nearly 2 million credit card numbers as well as approximately $86 million in fraudulent charges.
and had a younger sibling; his parents divorced when he was 14. His father was a Vietnam War
veteran and computer store owner and married a daughter of Ukrainian immigrants. As a teenager, Max Butler became interested in bulletin board systems
and hacking. After a parent reported a theft of chemicals from a lab room, Meridian High School expelled Butler, and Butler pled guilty to malicious injury to property, first-degree burglary, and grand theft. Butler was diagnosed as bipolar
in a two-week psychiatric evaluation at an in-care facility and ultimately received probation for his crimes, live with his father, and transfer to Bishop Kelly High School
.
for a year. In 1991, Butler was convicted of assault during his freshman year of college. His appeal was unsuccessful on procedural grounds, as a judge ruled that Butler's defense attorney did not raise the issue in an earlier appeal. The Idaho State Penitentiary paroled Butler on April 26, 1995.
and frequently downloaded warez
, or illegally downloaded software or media. After an Internet service provider
in Littleton, Colorado
traced Butler's uploads of warez to an unprotected file transfer protocol
–the uploads were consuming excessive bandwidth
–to the CompuServe
corporate offices in Bellevue, Washington
, CompuServe fired Butler.
Moving to Half Moon Bay, California
, Butler changed his last name to Vision and lived in a rented mansion "Hungry Manor" with a group of other computer enthusiasts. Butler became a system administrator at computer gaming start-up MPath Interactive. The Software Publishers Association filed a $300,000 lawsuit against Butler for pirating software from CompuServe's office and later settled the case for $3,500 and free computer consulting. In March 1997, Butler became an informant for the Federal Bureau of Investigation
; the first report that he wrote for the FBI covered unprotected FTPs like the one in Colorado in which he uploaded the warez.
After marrying Kimi Winters, he moved to Berkeley, California
, and worked as a freelance pentester
and security consultant. During this time, he developed the arachNIDS database, 'an online community resource called the “advanced reference archive of current heuristics for network intrusion detection systems,” or arachNIDS.'
server daemon. However, an investigator with the United States Air Force
found Butler via pop-up notifications and his FBI handlers. The FBI had Butler infiltrate a group of hackers who hijacked 3Com
's telephone system for personal teleconference
use.
Max Ray Vision (formerly Max Ray Butler, alias Iceman, born 1972), a former computer security consultant, was an online hacker charged with two counts of wire fraud and theft of nearly 2 million credit card numbers as well as approximately $86 million in fraudulent charges.
and had a younger sibling; his parents divorced when he was 14. His father was a Vietnam War
veteran and computer store owner and married a daughter of Ukrainian immigrants. As a teenager, Max Butler became interested in bulletin board systems
and hacking. After a parent reported a theft of chemicals from a lab room, Meridian High School expelled Butler, and Butler pled guilty to malicious injury to property, first-degree burglary, and grand theft. Butler was diagnosed as bipolar
in a two-week psychiatric evaluation at an in-care facility and ultimately received probation for his crimes, live with his father, and transfer to Bishop Kelly High School
.Poulsen, pp. 4-5.
for a year. In 1991, Butler was convicted of assault during his freshman year of college. His appeal was unsuccessful on procedural grounds, as a judge ruled that Butler's defense attorney did not raise the issue in an earlier appeal. The Idaho State Penitentiary paroled Butler on April 26, 1995.Poulsen 2011, p. 15.
and frequently downloaded warez
, or illegally downloaded software or media. After an Internet service provider
in Littleton, Colorado
traced Butler's uploads of warez to an unprotected file transfer protocol
–the uploads were consuming excessive bandwidth
–to the CompuServe
corporate offices in Bellevue, Washington
, CompuServe fired Butler.Poulsen 2011, p. 16.
Moving to Half Moon Bay, California
, Butler changed his last name to Vision and lived in a rented mansion "Hungry Manor" with a group of other computer enthusiasts.Poulsen 2011, pp. 14, 16. Butler became a system administrator at computer gaming start-up MPath Interactive.Poulsen 2011, p. 17. The Software Publishers Association filed a $300,000 lawsuit against Butler for pirating software from CompuServe's office and later settled the case for $3,500 and free computer consulting. In March 1997, Butler became an informant for the Federal Bureau of Investigation
; the first report that he wrote for the FBI covered unprotected FTPs like the one in Colorado in which he uploaded the warez.Poulsen, pp. 17-18.
After marrying Kimi Winters, he moved to Berkeley, California
, and worked as a freelance pentester
and security consultant. During this time, he developed the arachNIDS database, 'an online community resource called the “advanced reference archive of current heuristics for network intrusion detection systems,” or arachNIDS.'
server daemon. However, an investigator with the United States Air Force
found Butler via pop-up notifications and his FBI handlers. The FBI had Butler infiltrate a group of hackers who hijacked 3Com
's telephone system for personal teleconference
use.
Max Ray Vision (formerly Max Ray Butler, alias Iceman, born 1972), a former computer security consultant, was an online hacker charged with two counts of wire fraud and theft of nearly 2 million credit card numbers as well as approximately $86 million in fraudulent charges.
and had a younger sibling; his parents divorced when he was 14. His father was a Vietnam War
veteran and computer store owner and married a daughter of Ukrainian immigrants. As a teenager, Max Butler became interested in bulletin board systems
and hacking. After a parent reported a theft of chemicals from a lab room, Meridian High School expelled Butler, and Butler pled guilty to malicious injury to property, first-degree burglary, and grand theft. Butler was diagnosed as bipolar
in a two-week psychiatric evaluation at an in-care facility and ultimately received probation for his crimes, live with his father, and transfer to Bishop Kelly High School
.Poulsen, pp. 4-5.
for a year. In 1991, Butler was convicted of assault during his freshman year of college. His appeal was unsuccessful on procedural grounds, as a judge ruled that Butler's defense attorney did not raise the issue in an earlier appeal. The Idaho State Penitentiary paroled Butler on April 26, 1995.Poulsen 2011, p. 15.
and frequently downloaded warez
, or illegally downloaded software or media. After an Internet service provider
in Littleton, Colorado
traced Butler's uploads of warez to an unprotected file transfer protocol
–the uploads were consuming excessive bandwidth
–to the CompuServe
corporate offices in Bellevue, Washington
, CompuServe fired Butler.Poulsen 2011, p. 16.
Moving to Half Moon Bay, California
, Butler changed his last name to Vision and lived in a rented mansion "Hungry Manor" with a group of other computer enthusiasts.Poulsen 2011, pp. 14, 16. Butler became a system administrator at computer gaming start-up MPath Interactive.Poulsen 2011, p. 17. The Software Publishers Association filed a $300,000 lawsuit against Butler for pirating software from CompuServe's office and later settled the case for $3,500 and free computer consulting. In March 1997, Butler became an informant for the Federal Bureau of Investigation
; the first report that he wrote for the FBI covered unprotected FTPs like the one in Colorado in which he uploaded the warez.Poulsen, pp. 17-18.
After marrying Kimi Winters, he moved to Berkeley, California
, and worked as a freelance pentester
and security consultant. During this time, he developed the arachNIDS database, 'an online community resource called the “advanced reference archive of current heuristics for network intrusion detection systems,” or arachNIDS.'
server daemon. However, an investigator with the United States Air Force
found Butler via pop-up notifications and his FBI handlers. The FBI had Butler infiltrate a group of hackers who hijacked 3Com
's telephone system for personal teleconference
use.Poulsen 2011, p. 35. Butler attended the annual DEF CON
hacker convention the following summer and by then had second thoughts about his work with the FBI.Poulsen, pp. 35-39. He hired attorney Jennifer Granick
for legal representation after hearing Granick speak at DEF CON, and the FBI terminated Butler consequently.Poulsen 2011, pp. 39-41. On September 25, 2000, Butler pled guilty to gaining unauthorized access to Defense Department computers. Starting in May 2001, Butler served an 18 month federal prison sentence handed down by federal judge James Ware
.
After his release from prison in 2003 on supervised release, Butler exploited Wi-Fi
technology to commit cyberattacks anonymously along with Chris Aragon from San Francisco.Poulsen 2011, pp. 68-71. He advanced to programming malware
, such as allowing the Bifrost trojan horse
to evade virus scanner programs and exploited the HTML Application
feature of Internet Explorer
to steal American Express
credit card information.Poulsen 2011, pp. 80-84. Butler also targeted Citibank
by using a Trojan horse towards a credit card identity thief and began distributing PINs
to Aragon, who would have others withdraw the maximum daily amount of cash from ATMs until the compromised account was empty.Poulsen, pp. 101-104.
Arrested in 2007, Vision was accused of operating Carders Market, a forum where cyber criminals bought and sold sensitive data such as credit card numbers. After pleading guilty to two counts of wire fraud
from stealing nearly 2 million credit card numbers and spending $86 million in fraudulent purchases, Max Ray Vision was sentenced to 13 years in prison, which is the longest sentence ever given for hacking charges. After prison, he will also face 5 years of supervised release and is ordered to pay $27.5 million in restitution
to his victims.
Early life
Butler grew up in Meridian, IdahoMeridian, Idaho
-History:The town was established in 1891 on the Onweiler farm north of the present site and was called Hunter. Two years later an I.O.O.F. lodge was organized and called itself Meridian because it was located on the Boise Meridian and the town was renamed...
and had a younger sibling; his parents divorced when he was 14. His father was a Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
veteran and computer store owner and married a daughter of Ukrainian immigrants. As a teenager, Max Butler became interested in bulletin board systems
Bulletin board system
A Bulletin Board System, or BBS, is a computer system running software that allows users to connect and log in to the system using a terminal program. Once logged in, a user can perform functions such as uploading and downloading software and data, reading news and bulletins, and exchanging...
and hacking. After a parent reported a theft of chemicals from a lab room, Meridian High School expelled Butler, and Butler pled guilty to malicious injury to property, first-degree burglary, and grand theft. Butler was diagnosed as bipolar
Bipolar
-Medicine:* Bipolar cell* Bipolar cell of the retina* Bipolar disorder** Bipolar I disorder** Bipolar II disorder** Bipolar NOS* Bipolar spectrum-Astronomy:* Bipolar nebula, a two-lobed, axially symmetric nebula...
in a two-week psychiatric evaluation at an in-care facility and ultimately received probation for his crimes, live with his father, and transfer to Bishop Kelly High School
Bishop Kelly High School
Bishop Kelly High School is a private Roman Catholic high school in Boise, Idaho, operated by the Diocese of Boise.-History:The school opened its doors in the fall of 1964, succeeding St. Teresa's Academy, which had closed that spring. Bishop Kelly is the only Catholic high school in the state of...
.
First offence
Butler attended Boise State UniversityBoise State University
Boise State University is a public university located in Boise, Idaho. Originally founded in 1932 as a junior college by the Episcopal Church, the university became an independent institution in 1934, and has been awarding baccalaureate and master degrees since 1965...
for a year. In 1991, Butler was convicted of assault during his freshman year of college. His appeal was unsuccessful on procedural grounds, as a judge ruled that Butler's defense attorney did not raise the issue in an earlier appeal. The Idaho State Penitentiary paroled Butler on April 26, 1995.
Life after prison
Butler moved with his father near Seattle and worked in part-time technical support positions in various companies. He rediscovered Internet relay chatInternet Relay Chat
Internet Relay Chat is a protocol for real-time Internet text messaging or synchronous conferencing. It is mainly designed for group communication in discussion forums, called channels, but also allows one-to-one communication via private message as well as chat and data transfer, including file...
and frequently downloaded warez
Warez
Warez refers primarily to copyrighted works distributed without fees or royalties, and may be traded, in general violation of copyright law. The term generally refers to unauthorized releases by organized groups, as opposed to file sharing between friends or large groups of people with similar...
, or illegally downloaded software or media. After an Internet service provider
Internet service provider
An Internet service provider is a company that provides access to the Internet. Access ISPs directly connect customers to the Internet using copper wires, wireless or fiber-optic connections. Hosting ISPs lease server space for smaller businesses and host other people servers...
in Littleton, Colorado
Littleton, Colorado
Littleton is a Home Rule Municipality contained in Arapahoe, Douglas, and Jefferson counties in the U.S. state of Colorado. Littleton is a suburb of the Denver-Aurora Metropolitan Statistical Area. Littleton is the county seat of Arapahoe County and the 20th most populous city in the state of...
traced Butler's uploads of warez to an unprotected file transfer protocol
File Transfer Protocol
File Transfer Protocol is a standard network protocol used to transfer files from one host to another host over a TCP-based network, such as the Internet. FTP is built on a client-server architecture and utilizes separate control and data connections between the client and server...
–the uploads were consuming excessive bandwidth
Bandwidth
Bandwidth is the difference between the upper and lower frequencies in a contiguous set of frequencies. It is typically measured in hertz, and may sometimes refer to passband bandwidth, sometimes to baseband bandwidth, depending on context...
–to the CompuServe
CompuServe
CompuServe was the first major commercial online service in the United States. It dominated the field during the 1980s and remained a major player through the mid-1990s, when it was sidelined by the rise of services such as AOL with monthly subscriptions rather than hourly rates...
corporate offices in Bellevue, Washington
Bellevue, Washington
Bellevue is a city in the Eastside region of King County, Washington, United States, across Lake Washington from Seattle. Long known as a suburb or satellite city of Seattle, it is now categorized as an edge city or a boomburb. The population was 122,363 at the 2010 census.Downtown Bellevue is...
, CompuServe fired Butler.
Moving to Half Moon Bay, California
Half Moon Bay, California
Half Moon Bay is a coastal city in San Mateo County, California, USA. Its population was 11,324 as of the 2010 census. Immediately at the north of Half Moon Bay is the Pillar Point Harbor and the unincorporated community of Princeton-by-the-Sea....
, Butler changed his last name to Vision and lived in a rented mansion "Hungry Manor" with a group of other computer enthusiasts. Butler became a system administrator at computer gaming start-up MPath Interactive. The Software Publishers Association filed a $300,000 lawsuit against Butler for pirating software from CompuServe's office and later settled the case for $3,500 and free computer consulting. In March 1997, Butler became an informant for the Federal Bureau of Investigation
Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency . The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...
; the first report that he wrote for the FBI covered unprotected FTPs like the one in Colorado in which he uploaded the warez.
After marrying Kimi Winters, he moved to Berkeley, California
Berkeley, California
Berkeley is a city on the east shore of the San Francisco Bay in Northern California, United States. Its neighbors to the south are the cities of Oakland and Emeryville. To the north is the city of Albany and the unincorporated community of Kensington...
, and worked as a freelance pentester
Penetration test
A penetration test, occasionally pentest, is a method of evaluating the security of a computer system or network by simulating an attack from malicious outsiders and malicious insiders...
and security consultant. During this time, he developed the arachNIDS database, 'an online community resource called the “advanced reference archive of current heuristics for network intrusion detection systems,” or arachNIDS.'
FBI Target
In the spring of 1998, Butler installed a backdoor onto American federal government websites while trying to fix a security hole in the BINDBIND
BIND , or named , is the most widely used DNS software on the Internet.On Unix-like operating systems it is the de facto standard.Originally written by four graduate students at the Computer Systems Research Group at the University of California, Berkeley , the name originates as an acronym from...
server daemon. However, an investigator with the United States Air Force
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...
found Butler via pop-up notifications and his FBI handlers. The FBI had Butler infiltrate a group of hackers who hijacked 3Com
3Com
3Com was a pioneering digital electronics manufacturer best known for its computer network infrastructure products. The company was co-founded in 1979 by Robert Metcalfe, Howard Charney, Bruce Borden, and Greg Shaw...
's telephone system for personal teleconference
Teleconference
A teleconference or teleseminar is the live exchange and mass articulation of information among several persons and machines remote from one another but linked by a telecommunications system...
use.
Max Ray Vision (formerly Max Ray Butler, alias Iceman, born 1972), a former computer security consultant, was an online hacker charged with two counts of wire fraud and theft of nearly 2 million credit card numbers as well as approximately $86 million in fraudulent charges.
Early life
Butler grew up in Meridian, IdahoMeridian, Idaho
-History:The town was established in 1891 on the Onweiler farm north of the present site and was called Hunter. Two years later an I.O.O.F. lodge was organized and called itself Meridian because it was located on the Boise Meridian and the town was renamed...
and had a younger sibling; his parents divorced when he was 14. His father was a Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
veteran and computer store owner and married a daughter of Ukrainian immigrants. As a teenager, Max Butler became interested in bulletin board systems
Bulletin board system
A Bulletin Board System, or BBS, is a computer system running software that allows users to connect and log in to the system using a terminal program. Once logged in, a user can perform functions such as uploading and downloading software and data, reading news and bulletins, and exchanging...
and hacking. After a parent reported a theft of chemicals from a lab room, Meridian High School expelled Butler, and Butler pled guilty to malicious injury to property, first-degree burglary, and grand theft. Butler was diagnosed as bipolar
Bipolar
-Medicine:* Bipolar cell* Bipolar cell of the retina* Bipolar disorder** Bipolar I disorder** Bipolar II disorder** Bipolar NOS* Bipolar spectrum-Astronomy:* Bipolar nebula, a two-lobed, axially symmetric nebula...
in a two-week psychiatric evaluation at an in-care facility and ultimately received probation for his crimes, live with his father, and transfer to Bishop Kelly High School
Bishop Kelly High School
Bishop Kelly High School is a private Roman Catholic high school in Boise, Idaho, operated by the Diocese of Boise.-History:The school opened its doors in the fall of 1964, succeeding St. Teresa's Academy, which had closed that spring. Bishop Kelly is the only Catholic high school in the state of...
.Poulsen, pp. 4-5.
First offence
Butler attended Boise State UniversityBoise State University
Boise State University is a public university located in Boise, Idaho. Originally founded in 1932 as a junior college by the Episcopal Church, the university became an independent institution in 1934, and has been awarding baccalaureate and master degrees since 1965...
for a year. In 1991, Butler was convicted of assault during his freshman year of college. His appeal was unsuccessful on procedural grounds, as a judge ruled that Butler's defense attorney did not raise the issue in an earlier appeal. The Idaho State Penitentiary paroled Butler on April 26, 1995.Poulsen 2011, p. 15.
Life after prison
Butler moved with his father near Seattle and worked in part-time technical support positions in various companies. He rediscovered Internet relay chatInternet Relay Chat
Internet Relay Chat is a protocol for real-time Internet text messaging or synchronous conferencing. It is mainly designed for group communication in discussion forums, called channels, but also allows one-to-one communication via private message as well as chat and data transfer, including file...
and frequently downloaded warez
Warez
Warez refers primarily to copyrighted works distributed without fees or royalties, and may be traded, in general violation of copyright law. The term generally refers to unauthorized releases by organized groups, as opposed to file sharing between friends or large groups of people with similar...
, or illegally downloaded software or media. After an Internet service provider
Internet service provider
An Internet service provider is a company that provides access to the Internet. Access ISPs directly connect customers to the Internet using copper wires, wireless or fiber-optic connections. Hosting ISPs lease server space for smaller businesses and host other people servers...
in Littleton, Colorado
Littleton, Colorado
Littleton is a Home Rule Municipality contained in Arapahoe, Douglas, and Jefferson counties in the U.S. state of Colorado. Littleton is a suburb of the Denver-Aurora Metropolitan Statistical Area. Littleton is the county seat of Arapahoe County and the 20th most populous city in the state of...
traced Butler's uploads of warez to an unprotected file transfer protocol
File Transfer Protocol
File Transfer Protocol is a standard network protocol used to transfer files from one host to another host over a TCP-based network, such as the Internet. FTP is built on a client-server architecture and utilizes separate control and data connections between the client and server...
–the uploads were consuming excessive bandwidth
Bandwidth
Bandwidth is the difference between the upper and lower frequencies in a contiguous set of frequencies. It is typically measured in hertz, and may sometimes refer to passband bandwidth, sometimes to baseband bandwidth, depending on context...
–to the CompuServe
CompuServe
CompuServe was the first major commercial online service in the United States. It dominated the field during the 1980s and remained a major player through the mid-1990s, when it was sidelined by the rise of services such as AOL with monthly subscriptions rather than hourly rates...
corporate offices in Bellevue, Washington
Bellevue, Washington
Bellevue is a city in the Eastside region of King County, Washington, United States, across Lake Washington from Seattle. Long known as a suburb or satellite city of Seattle, it is now categorized as an edge city or a boomburb. The population was 122,363 at the 2010 census.Downtown Bellevue is...
, CompuServe fired Butler.Poulsen 2011, p. 16.
Moving to Half Moon Bay, California
Half Moon Bay, California
Half Moon Bay is a coastal city in San Mateo County, California, USA. Its population was 11,324 as of the 2010 census. Immediately at the north of Half Moon Bay is the Pillar Point Harbor and the unincorporated community of Princeton-by-the-Sea....
, Butler changed his last name to Vision and lived in a rented mansion "Hungry Manor" with a group of other computer enthusiasts.Poulsen 2011, pp. 14, 16. Butler became a system administrator at computer gaming start-up MPath Interactive.Poulsen 2011, p. 17. The Software Publishers Association filed a $300,000 lawsuit against Butler for pirating software from CompuServe's office and later settled the case for $3,500 and free computer consulting. In March 1997, Butler became an informant for the Federal Bureau of Investigation
Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency . The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...
; the first report that he wrote for the FBI covered unprotected FTPs like the one in Colorado in which he uploaded the warez.Poulsen, pp. 17-18.
After marrying Kimi Winters, he moved to Berkeley, California
Berkeley, California
Berkeley is a city on the east shore of the San Francisco Bay in Northern California, United States. Its neighbors to the south are the cities of Oakland and Emeryville. To the north is the city of Albany and the unincorporated community of Kensington...
, and worked as a freelance pentester
Penetration test
A penetration test, occasionally pentest, is a method of evaluating the security of a computer system or network by simulating an attack from malicious outsiders and malicious insiders...
and security consultant. During this time, he developed the arachNIDS database, 'an online community resource called the “advanced reference archive of current heuristics for network intrusion detection systems,” or arachNIDS.'
FBI Target
In the spring of 1998, Butler installed a backdoor onto American federal government websites while trying to fix a security hole in the BINDBIND
BIND , or named , is the most widely used DNS software on the Internet.On Unix-like operating systems it is the de facto standard.Originally written by four graduate students at the Computer Systems Research Group at the University of California, Berkeley , the name originates as an acronym from...
server daemon. However, an investigator with the United States Air Force
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...
found Butler via pop-up notifications and his FBI handlers. The FBI had Butler infiltrate a group of hackers who hijacked 3Com
3Com
3Com was a pioneering digital electronics manufacturer best known for its computer network infrastructure products. The company was co-founded in 1979 by Robert Metcalfe, Howard Charney, Bruce Borden, and Greg Shaw...
's telephone system for personal teleconference
Teleconference
A teleconference or teleseminar is the live exchange and mass articulation of information among several persons and machines remote from one another but linked by a telecommunications system...
use.
Max Ray Vision (formerly Max Ray Butler, alias Iceman, born 1972), a former computer security consultant, was an online hacker charged with two counts of wire fraud and theft of nearly 2 million credit card numbers as well as approximately $86 million in fraudulent charges.
Early life
Butler grew up in Meridian, IdahoMeridian, Idaho
-History:The town was established in 1891 on the Onweiler farm north of the present site and was called Hunter. Two years later an I.O.O.F. lodge was organized and called itself Meridian because it was located on the Boise Meridian and the town was renamed...
and had a younger sibling; his parents divorced when he was 14. His father was a Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
veteran and computer store owner and married a daughter of Ukrainian immigrants. As a teenager, Max Butler became interested in bulletin board systems
Bulletin board system
A Bulletin Board System, or BBS, is a computer system running software that allows users to connect and log in to the system using a terminal program. Once logged in, a user can perform functions such as uploading and downloading software and data, reading news and bulletins, and exchanging...
and hacking. After a parent reported a theft of chemicals from a lab room, Meridian High School expelled Butler, and Butler pled guilty to malicious injury to property, first-degree burglary, and grand theft. Butler was diagnosed as bipolar
Bipolar
-Medicine:* Bipolar cell* Bipolar cell of the retina* Bipolar disorder** Bipolar I disorder** Bipolar II disorder** Bipolar NOS* Bipolar spectrum-Astronomy:* Bipolar nebula, a two-lobed, axially symmetric nebula...
in a two-week psychiatric evaluation at an in-care facility and ultimately received probation for his crimes, live with his father, and transfer to Bishop Kelly High School
Bishop Kelly High School
Bishop Kelly High School is a private Roman Catholic high school in Boise, Idaho, operated by the Diocese of Boise.-History:The school opened its doors in the fall of 1964, succeeding St. Teresa's Academy, which had closed that spring. Bishop Kelly is the only Catholic high school in the state of...
.Poulsen, pp. 4-5.
First offence
Butler attended Boise State UniversityBoise State University
Boise State University is a public university located in Boise, Idaho. Originally founded in 1932 as a junior college by the Episcopal Church, the university became an independent institution in 1934, and has been awarding baccalaureate and master degrees since 1965...
for a year. In 1991, Butler was convicted of assault during his freshman year of college. His appeal was unsuccessful on procedural grounds, as a judge ruled that Butler's defense attorney did not raise the issue in an earlier appeal. The Idaho State Penitentiary paroled Butler on April 26, 1995.Poulsen 2011, p. 15.
Life after prison
Butler moved with his father near Seattle and worked in part-time technical support positions in various companies. He rediscovered Internet relay chatInternet Relay Chat
Internet Relay Chat is a protocol for real-time Internet text messaging or synchronous conferencing. It is mainly designed for group communication in discussion forums, called channels, but also allows one-to-one communication via private message as well as chat and data transfer, including file...
and frequently downloaded warez
Warez
Warez refers primarily to copyrighted works distributed without fees or royalties, and may be traded, in general violation of copyright law. The term generally refers to unauthorized releases by organized groups, as opposed to file sharing between friends or large groups of people with similar...
, or illegally downloaded software or media. After an Internet service provider
Internet service provider
An Internet service provider is a company that provides access to the Internet. Access ISPs directly connect customers to the Internet using copper wires, wireless or fiber-optic connections. Hosting ISPs lease server space for smaller businesses and host other people servers...
in Littleton, Colorado
Littleton, Colorado
Littleton is a Home Rule Municipality contained in Arapahoe, Douglas, and Jefferson counties in the U.S. state of Colorado. Littleton is a suburb of the Denver-Aurora Metropolitan Statistical Area. Littleton is the county seat of Arapahoe County and the 20th most populous city in the state of...
traced Butler's uploads of warez to an unprotected file transfer protocol
File Transfer Protocol
File Transfer Protocol is a standard network protocol used to transfer files from one host to another host over a TCP-based network, such as the Internet. FTP is built on a client-server architecture and utilizes separate control and data connections between the client and server...
–the uploads were consuming excessive bandwidth
Bandwidth
Bandwidth is the difference between the upper and lower frequencies in a contiguous set of frequencies. It is typically measured in hertz, and may sometimes refer to passband bandwidth, sometimes to baseband bandwidth, depending on context...
–to the CompuServe
CompuServe
CompuServe was the first major commercial online service in the United States. It dominated the field during the 1980s and remained a major player through the mid-1990s, when it was sidelined by the rise of services such as AOL with monthly subscriptions rather than hourly rates...
corporate offices in Bellevue, Washington
Bellevue, Washington
Bellevue is a city in the Eastside region of King County, Washington, United States, across Lake Washington from Seattle. Long known as a suburb or satellite city of Seattle, it is now categorized as an edge city or a boomburb. The population was 122,363 at the 2010 census.Downtown Bellevue is...
, CompuServe fired Butler.Poulsen 2011, p. 16.
Moving to Half Moon Bay, California
Half Moon Bay, California
Half Moon Bay is a coastal city in San Mateo County, California, USA. Its population was 11,324 as of the 2010 census. Immediately at the north of Half Moon Bay is the Pillar Point Harbor and the unincorporated community of Princeton-by-the-Sea....
, Butler changed his last name to Vision and lived in a rented mansion "Hungry Manor" with a group of other computer enthusiasts.Poulsen 2011, pp. 14, 16. Butler became a system administrator at computer gaming start-up MPath Interactive.Poulsen 2011, p. 17. The Software Publishers Association filed a $300,000 lawsuit against Butler for pirating software from CompuServe's office and later settled the case for $3,500 and free computer consulting. In March 1997, Butler became an informant for the Federal Bureau of Investigation
Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency . The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...
; the first report that he wrote for the FBI covered unprotected FTPs like the one in Colorado in which he uploaded the warez.Poulsen, pp. 17-18.
After marrying Kimi Winters, he moved to Berkeley, California
Berkeley, California
Berkeley is a city on the east shore of the San Francisco Bay in Northern California, United States. Its neighbors to the south are the cities of Oakland and Emeryville. To the north is the city of Albany and the unincorporated community of Kensington...
, and worked as a freelance pentester
Penetration test
A penetration test, occasionally pentest, is a method of evaluating the security of a computer system or network by simulating an attack from malicious outsiders and malicious insiders...
and security consultant. During this time, he developed the arachNIDS database, 'an online community resource called the “advanced reference archive of current heuristics for network intrusion detection systems,” or arachNIDS.'
FBI Target
In the spring of 1998, Butler installed a backdoor onto American federal government websites while trying to fix a security hole in the BINDBIND
BIND , or named , is the most widely used DNS software on the Internet.On Unix-like operating systems it is the de facto standard.Originally written by four graduate students at the Computer Systems Research Group at the University of California, Berkeley , the name originates as an acronym from...
server daemon. However, an investigator with the United States Air Force
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...
found Butler via pop-up notifications and his FBI handlers. The FBI had Butler infiltrate a group of hackers who hijacked 3Com
3Com
3Com was a pioneering digital electronics manufacturer best known for its computer network infrastructure products. The company was co-founded in 1979 by Robert Metcalfe, Howard Charney, Bruce Borden, and Greg Shaw...
's telephone system for personal teleconference
Teleconference
A teleconference or teleseminar is the live exchange and mass articulation of information among several persons and machines remote from one another but linked by a telecommunications system...
use.Poulsen 2011, p. 35. Butler attended the annual DEF CON
DEF CON
DEF CON is one of the world's largest annual computer hacker conventions, held every year in Las Vegas, Nevada...
hacker convention the following summer and by then had second thoughts about his work with the FBI.Poulsen, pp. 35-39. He hired attorney Jennifer Granick
Jennifer Granick
Jennifer Stisa Granick is an attorney at ZwillGen PLLC. Prior to joining ZwillGen in 2010, she held the position of Civil Liberties Director at the Electronic Frontier Foundation from 2007-2010. Prior to that, she served as the Executive Director of the Center for Internet and Society at...
for legal representation after hearing Granick speak at DEF CON, and the FBI terminated Butler consequently.Poulsen 2011, pp. 39-41. On September 25, 2000, Butler pled guilty to gaining unauthorized access to Defense Department computers. Starting in May 2001, Butler served an 18 month federal prison sentence handed down by federal judge James Ware
James Ware (judge)
James S. Ware is the chief judge of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California and his chambers are in San Francisco, California.- Early life and education :...
.
After his release from prison in 2003 on supervised release, Butler exploited Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi or Wifi, is a mechanism for wirelessly connecting electronic devices. A device enabled with Wi-Fi, such as a personal computer, video game console, smartphone, or digital audio player, can connect to the Internet via a wireless network access point. An access point has a range of about 20...
technology to commit cyberattacks anonymously along with Chris Aragon from San Francisco.Poulsen 2011, pp. 68-71. He advanced to programming malware
Malware
Malware, short for malicious software, consists of programming that is designed to disrupt or deny operation, gather information that leads to loss of privacy or exploitation, or gain unauthorized access to system resources, or that otherwise exhibits abusive behavior...
, such as allowing the Bifrost trojan horse
Trojan horse (computing)
A Trojan horse, or Trojan, is software that appears to perform a desirable function for the user prior to run or install, but steals information or harms the system. The term is derived from the Trojan Horse story in Greek mythology.-Malware:A destructive program that masquerades as a benign...
to evade virus scanner programs and exploited the HTML Application
HTML Application
An HTML Application is a Microsoft Windows program whose source code consists of HTML, Dynamic HTML, and one or more scripting languages supported by Internet Explorer, such as VBScript or JScript. The HTML is used to generate the user interface, and the scripting language is used for the program...
feature of Internet Explorer
Internet Explorer
Windows Internet Explorer is a series of graphical web browsers developed by Microsoft and included as part of the Microsoft Windows line of operating systems, starting in 1995. It was first released as part of the add-on package Plus! for Windows 95 that year...
to steal American Express
American Express
American Express Company or AmEx, is an American multinational financial services corporation headquartered in Three World Financial Center, Manhattan, New York City, New York, United States. Founded in 1850, it is one of the 30 components of the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The company is best...
credit card information.Poulsen 2011, pp. 80-84. Butler also targeted Citibank
Citibank
Citibank, a major international bank, is the consumer banking arm of financial services giant Citigroup. Citibank was founded in 1812 as the City Bank of New York, later First National City Bank of New York...
by using a Trojan horse towards a credit card identity thief and began distributing PINs
Personal identification number
A personal identification number is a secret numeric password shared between a user and a system that can be used to authenticate the user to the system. Typically, the user is required to provide a non-confidential user identifier or token and a confidential PIN to gain access to the system...
to Aragon, who would have others withdraw the maximum daily amount of cash from ATMs until the compromised account was empty.Poulsen, pp. 101-104.
Arrested in 2007, Vision was accused of operating Carders Market, a forum where cyber criminals bought and sold sensitive data such as credit card numbers. After pleading guilty to two counts of wire fraud
Wire fraud
Mail and wire fraud is a federal crime in the United States. Together, 18 U.S.C. §§ 1341, 1343, and 1346 reach any fraudulent scheme or artifice to intentionally deprive another of property or honest services with a nexus to mail or wire communication....
from stealing nearly 2 million credit card numbers and spending $86 million in fraudulent purchases, Max Ray Vision was sentenced to 13 years in prison, which is the longest sentence ever given for hacking charges. After prison, he will also face 5 years of supervised release and is ordered to pay $27.5 million in restitution
Restitution
The law of restitution is the law of gains-based recovery. It is to be contrasted with the law of compensation, which is the law of loss-based recovery. Obligations to make restitution and obligations to pay compensation are each a type of legal response to events in the real world. When a court...
to his victims.
Further reading
- Kevin PoulsenKevin PoulsenKevin Lee Poulsen is a former black hat hacker. He is currently News Editor at Wired.com.-Biography:...
, Kingpin: How One Hacker Took Over the Billion-Dollar Cybercrime Underground, 2011, publisher: Crown. ISBN 0307588688