Nahshon Even-Chaim
Encyclopedia
Nahshon Even-Chaim aka Phoenix, was the first major computer hacker
to be convicted in Australia. He was one of the most highly-skilled members of a computer hacking group called The Realm, based in Melbourne
, Australia
, from the late 1980s until his arrest by the Australian Federal Police
in early 1990. His targets centred on defence and nuclear weapons research networks.
networks, later taking advantage of Internet
connectivity as it became available. He developed a reputation within The Realm, his computer hacking group, for skill and arrogance.
In late 1988 Australian Federal Police
officers discovered his identity using a combination of undercover work and informants. Aided by new computer crime legislation that came into force in June 1988, the AFP obtained a warrant in January 1990 to eavesdrop not only on Even-Chaim's phone conversations but also the data transmitted through his modem
. The tap on his voice calls, which began on 26 January 1990, ran for eight weeks, while the data tap started two weeks later and ran for six weeks. The intercepts were being monitored by the AFP at its Telephone Intercept Branch in Canberra
, 650 km from Even-Chaim's home.
Both intercepts provided police with sufficient evidence to prosecute him and two other members of his hacking group, Richard Jones, a.k.a. Electron
and David John Woodcock, a.k.a. Nom. The data taps revealed Even-Chaim spent marathon sessions at his computer, working at a rapid pace to enter and tamper with computer systems. It was the first time in the world a remote data intercept had been used to gain evidence for a computer crime prosecution.
Transcripts of the phone taps captured Even-Chaim laughing with another hacker about how he had been "fucking with NASA
", adding: "Yeah, they're gonna really want me bad. This is fun!" In another conversation, this time with an American hacker, he claimed: "The guys down at the local universities here are screaming with rage because they couldn't get rid of us. The Americans are getting pretty damn pissed off with me because I'm doing so much and they can't do much about it. I'm getting to the point now where I can get into almost any system on the Internet. I've virtually raped the Internet beyond belief."
Accounts of the police investigation that identified Even-Chaim and the two other offenders, as well as their arrest and prosecution, are contained in the book Hackers: The Hunt for Australia’s Most Infamous Computer Cracker, co-written by Bill Apro, an AFP computer crime investigator who led the investigation, in the book Underground: Tales of Hacking, Madness and Obsession on the Electronic Frontier by Suelette Dreyfus
and In the Realm of the Hackers
, a film by Kevin Anderson.
After allegedly compromising computers used by computer security experts Eugene Spafford, Clifford Stoll
, and Russell L. Brand (at LLNL
), Even-Chaim called New York Times journalist John Markoff
in response to an article in which Markoff had attributed a recent spate of computer break-ins to a worm. Even-Chaim boasted to Markoff that the break-ins had been the work of himself and his associates, and ridiculed the computer security community, claiming: "It used to be the security guys chasing the hackers. Now, it's the hackers chasing the security guys." Markoff published the claims in a follow-up article in March 1990.
Even-Chaim apparently worked in IT for at least some time after his conviction and has pursued an interest in music. Despite approaches by The Age
newspaper in 2003 and the producer of a television documentary on The Realm, Even-Chaim has declined to discuss his hacking career.
Hacker (computer security)
In computer security and everyday language, a hacker is someone who breaks into computers and computer networks. Hackers may be motivated by a multitude of reasons, including profit, protest, or because of the challenge...
to be convicted in Australia. He was one of the most highly-skilled members of a computer hacking group called The Realm, based in Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, from the late 1980s until his arrest by the Australian Federal Police
Australian Federal Police
The Australian Federal Police is the federal police agency of the Commonwealth of Australia. Although the AFP was created by the amalgamation in 1979 of three Commonwealth law enforcement agencies, it traces its history from Commonwealth law enforcement agencies dating back to the federation of...
in early 1990. His targets centred on defence and nuclear weapons research networks.
The trail of evidence
Even-Chaim began breaking into systems by dialing in directly or placing a call through X.25X.25
X.25 is an ITU-T standard protocol suite for packet switched wide area network communication. An X.25 WAN consists of packet-switching exchange nodes as the networking hardware, and leased lines, Plain old telephone service connections or ISDN connections as physical links...
networks, later taking advantage of Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
connectivity as it became available. He developed a reputation within The Realm, his computer hacking group, for skill and arrogance.
In late 1988 Australian Federal Police
Australian Federal Police
The Australian Federal Police is the federal police agency of the Commonwealth of Australia. Although the AFP was created by the amalgamation in 1979 of three Commonwealth law enforcement agencies, it traces its history from Commonwealth law enforcement agencies dating back to the federation of...
officers discovered his identity using a combination of undercover work and informants. Aided by new computer crime legislation that came into force in June 1988, the AFP obtained a warrant in January 1990 to eavesdrop not only on Even-Chaim's phone conversations but also the data transmitted through his modem
Modem
A modem is a device that modulates an analog carrier signal to encode digital information, and also demodulates such a carrier signal to decode the transmitted information. The goal is to produce a signal that can be transmitted easily and decoded to reproduce the original digital data...
. The tap on his voice calls, which began on 26 January 1990, ran for eight weeks, while the data tap started two weeks later and ran for six weeks. The intercepts were being monitored by the AFP at its Telephone Intercept Branch in Canberra
Canberra
Canberra is the capital city of Australia. With a population of over 345,000, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The city is located at the northern end of the Australian Capital Territory , south-west of Sydney, and north-east of Melbourne...
, 650 km from Even-Chaim's home.
Both intercepts provided police with sufficient evidence to prosecute him and two other members of his hacking group, Richard Jones, a.k.a. Electron
Electron (computer hacker)
Electron was the computer handle of Richard Jones, a member of an underground hacker community called The Realm. Jones, born in June 1969, was one of three members of the group arrested in simultaneous raids by the Australian Federal Police in Melbourne, Australia, on 2 April 1990...
and David John Woodcock, a.k.a. Nom. The data taps revealed Even-Chaim spent marathon sessions at his computer, working at a rapid pace to enter and tamper with computer systems. It was the first time in the world a remote data intercept had been used to gain evidence for a computer crime prosecution.
Transcripts of the phone taps captured Even-Chaim laughing with another hacker about how he had been "fucking with NASA
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
", adding: "Yeah, they're gonna really want me bad. This is fun!" In another conversation, this time with an American hacker, he claimed: "The guys down at the local universities here are screaming with rage because they couldn't get rid of us. The Americans are getting pretty damn pissed off with me because I'm doing so much and they can't do much about it. I'm getting to the point now where I can get into almost any system on the Internet. I've virtually raped the Internet beyond belief."
Accounts of the police investigation that identified Even-Chaim and the two other offenders, as well as their arrest and prosecution, are contained in the book Hackers: The Hunt for Australia’s Most Infamous Computer Cracker, co-written by Bill Apro, an AFP computer crime investigator who led the investigation, in the book Underground: Tales of Hacking, Madness and Obsession on the Electronic Frontier by Suelette Dreyfus
Suelette Dreyfus
Suelette Dreyfus is an Australian-American technology journalist and researcher, and author of the 1997 cult classic Underground: Hacking, Madness and Obsession on the Electronic Frontier...
and In the Realm of the Hackers
In the Realm of the Hackers
In The Realm of the Hackers is a 2003 Australian documentary directed by Kevin Anderson about the prominent hacker community, centered in Melbourne, Australia in the late 80's to early 1990...
, a film by Kevin Anderson.
Even-Chaim's targets
Even-Chaim pleaded guilty to 15 charges, which involved his intrusion into computers at:- Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research OrganisationCommonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research OrganisationThe Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation is the national government body for scientific research in Australia...
in MelbourneMelbourneMelbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
, where he gained unauthorised access to and copied ZardozZardoz (computer security)The Zardoz list, more formally known as the Security-Digest list, was a famous semi-private full disclosure mailing list run by Neil Gorsuch from 1989 through 1991, identifying weaknesses in systems and where to find them...
, a computer industry bulletin identifying security weaknesses in UnixUnixUnix is a multitasking, multi-user computer operating system originally developed in 1969 by a group of AT&T employees at Bell Labs, including Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie, Brian Kernighan, Douglas McIlroy, and Joe Ossanna...
operating systems; - University of California, BerkeleyUniversity of California, BerkeleyThe University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
(inserting data); - NASANASAThe National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
in Virginia (accessing data, inserting data, altering data, obstructing the lawful use of the NASA computer); - ExecucomExecucomExecucom was a software company in Austin, Texas, started by professor Gerald R. Wagner of the University of Texas at Austin to market a financial modelling language called Interactive Financial Planning System . The company was acquired by Comshare in 1996....
, a software and technology company in Austin, TexasAustin, TexasAustin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...
(altering data, erasing data); - Lawrence Livermore National LaboratoryLawrence Livermore National LaboratoryThe Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory , just outside Livermore, California, is a Federally Funded Research and Development Center founded by the University of California in 1952...
, Livermore, California (altering data, interfering with a computer); - University of Wisconsin–MadisonUniversity of Wisconsin–MadisonThe University of Wisconsin–Madison is a public research university located in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. Founded in 1848, UW–Madison is the flagship campus of the University of Wisconsin System. It became a land-grant institution in 1866...
(inserting data); - Purdue UniversityPurdue UniversityPurdue University, located in West Lafayette, Indiana, U.S., is the flagship university of the six-campus Purdue University system. Purdue was founded on May 6, 1869, as a land-grant university when the Indiana General Assembly, taking advantage of the Morrill Act, accepted a donation of land and...
, West Lafayette, IndianaWest Lafayette, IndianaAs of the census of 2010, there were 29,596 people, 12,591 households, and 3,588 families residing in the city. The population density was 5,381.1 people per square mile . The racial makeup of the city was 74.3% White, 17.3% Asian, 2.7% African American, 0.16% Native American, 0.03% Pacific...
(inserting data).
After allegedly compromising computers used by computer security experts Eugene Spafford, Clifford Stoll
Clifford Stoll
*High-Tech Heretic: Reflections of a Computer Contrarian, Clifford Stoll, 2000, ISBN 0-385-48976-5.-External links:* at Berkeley's Open Computing Facility**, December 3, 1989* copy at Electronic Frontier Foundation, May 1988...
, and Russell L. Brand (at LLNL
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
The Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory , just outside Livermore, California, is a Federally Funded Research and Development Center founded by the University of California in 1952...
), Even-Chaim called New York Times journalist John Markoff
John Markoff
John Markoff is a journalist best known for his work at The New York Times, and a book and series of articles about the 1990s pursuit and capture of hacker Kevin Mitnick.- Biography :...
in response to an article in which Markoff had attributed a recent spate of computer break-ins to a worm. Even-Chaim boasted to Markoff that the break-ins had been the work of himself and his associates, and ridiculed the computer security community, claiming: "It used to be the security guys chasing the hackers. Now, it's the hackers chasing the security guys." Markoff published the claims in a follow-up article in March 1990.
The raid and aftermath
In the early hours of 2 April 1990, Even-Chaim's home in Caulfield North, suburban Melbourne, was raided by the Australian Federal Police and he was arrested. Simultaneously, the AFP raided the homes of fellow Realm members Jones and Woodcock. Even-Chaim was charged with 48 offences, most of which carried a maximum 10-year jail sentence. On 6 October 1993, Even-Chaim, who by then had negotiated a deal in which he would plead guilty if the number of charges was reduced to 15, was sentenced to 500 hours of community service, with a 12 month suspended jail term. Unlike his two co-accused, he had revealed little at his police interview or in court that might explain his motivation for his hacking.Even-Chaim apparently worked in IT for at least some time after his conviction and has pursued an interest in music. Despite approaches by The Age
The Age
The Age is a daily broadsheet newspaper, which has been published in Melbourne, Australia since 1854. Owned and published by Fairfax Media, The Age primarily serves Victoria, but is also available for purchase in Tasmania, the Australian Capital Territory and border regions of South Australia and...
newspaper in 2003 and the producer of a television documentary on The Realm, Even-Chaim has declined to discuss his hacking career.
External links
- Crimes Legislation Amendment Act 1989 dealing with offences relating to computers