http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1998-11/24/075l-112498-idx.html
Hacker Hits HFS
Concert Still On Despite E-Mail Hoax
By Frank Ahrens
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, November 24, 1998; Page C04
A computer hacker repeatedly broke into the e-mail system at WHFS
(99.1-FM) over the weekend, falsely telling thousands of the station's
fans that a popular annual concert had been canceled.
The modern rock station sponsors a multi-band show called the "HFSmas
Holiday Nutcracker." This year's concert -- scheduled for Dec. 5 at George
Mason University's Patriot Center -- sold out all 7,000 tickets in 24
minutes, the station's Web site reports.
Late Friday, the hacker gained entry to the station's e-mail list server,
which periodically sends out news about the station and concert updates to
more than 20,000 subscribers.
Pirating the e-mail address of WHFS webmaster Bill Gallagher (deejay name:
Billy Zero), the hacker wrote in fractured English: "Would you like to go
to the HFSmas Holiday Nutcracker? Well it's been cancled to to the
democrats. Sorry kiddies." The hacker followed up with three more e-mails
on Saturday and Sunday, all sent from Gallagher's address.
At 5:30 p.m. Sunday, the hacker wrote: "I am not the real Billy, I am a
hacker, sue me." Then, four minutes later, simply: "la la la."
Gallagher knew something was wrong Sunday when he logged on to check his
e-mail and his computer told him, "4,000 e-mails received."
As the station's webmaster, Gallagher is in charge of sending out the mass
e-mails. Usually, he gets about 400 responses, along the lines of "Great
show the other night."
But these were different: "I got your e-mail and started crying." "I tore
up my tickets." "You ruined my Christmas." Slowly, he realized the
station's e-mail list had been hacked. He sent out his own e-mail, titled
"This is the real Billy Zero." That message told e-mail subscribers that
someone had broken into the system and that the station was considering
lodging criminal charges.
"I'm still trying to figure out what happened," Gallagher said yesterday.
"He's got a backdoor entrance we couldn't find." The station made on-air
announcements Sunday, reassuring listeners that the show was still on.
Gallagher said the station's Internet provider, Cyber Realm in Rockville,
had contacted Erol's, the hacker's e-mail provider, to try to track him
down. But Erol's won't release the hacker's identity unless WHFS decides
to press charges, which it won't, Gallagher said.
"He's probably just some 17-year-old kid trying to have fun," he said.
Meanwhile, the station has temporarily shut down its e-mail service while
it replaces it with one that is more secure. The cost will be about $500,
he said, but the public relations damage was greater. And, he warned,
there could be further consequences.
"The Internet is one of the last great places for free speech and free
domain," he said. "But it's because of guys like this that there'll be
more and more policing by the government."
-o-
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Received on Tue Dec 8 08:58:30 1998