Forwarded From: phreakmoi <hackerelite@deathsdoor.com>
http://www.andovernews.com/cgi-bin/news_story.pl?120873,topstories
UK Man Charged Over Omnipoint Message Hack
DONCASTER, SOUTH YORKSHIRE, ENGLAND, 1999 FEB 3 (Newsbytes) -- By Steve
Gold, Newsbytes. In one of first cases of its type in the world, a
22-year- old man from Doncaster in England has been charged with various
offenses in connection with an SMS (short message system) text messaging
attack on the Omnipoint cellular network last February.
As reported by Newsbytes at the time, the cellular industry's first system
hack left several hundred Orange and Vodafone subscribers feeling annoyed
in the UK. It also knocking out a UK textile company's switchboard for
several days.
The saga started on February 11 last year when Orange and Vodafone
cellular subscribers in the UK started receiving SMS text messages
advising them that they had won a prize -- a Peugot 106 car -- and were to
call a Nottingham (England) number to arrange delivery.
Newsbytes' investigations of the time revealed that at least 50 Orange
phone subscribers and several hundred Vodafone subscribers received the
messages, resulting in an apparently innocent textile company being
deluged with excited calls.
Dave Danielli, a spokesperson for Vodafone, told Newsbytes at the time
that the cellular carrier's investigations had led back to the Omnipoint
GSM (global system for mobile communications) network in New York, where
officials had traced the SMS messages' source to an oil company's e-mail
server, where messages were apparently sent -- across the Internet --
without the oil company's consent.
Danielli said that the problem knocked out the Nottingham company's
switchboard whose number had been given in the "prize winner's" SMS
messages.
"They had seven switchboard operators, all of whom were kept busy with
calls. After the Omnipoint to Vodafone SMS messages were blocked, things
started to get back to normal," he said.
According to Detective Sergeant Harry Parsonage of Nottinghamshire Police,
a man from Doncaster was arrested yesterday in connection with the
incident.
"I can tell you that yesterday, 2nd February 1999 a 22-year-old man from
Doncaster was charged with an offense under the Telecommunications Act
1984 in relation to this matter," he said, adding that the as-yet unnamed
man will appear at Nottingham City Magistrates Court on March 17.
According to DS Parsonage, the man has also been charged with seven other
unrelated offenses under Sections one and three of the UK's Computer
Misuse Act.
Newsbytes notes that most digital cellular networks support SMS text
messages, which can be up to 160 characters long. Although direct access
to foreign SMS centers is not actively encouraged, it is difficult to
stop, Newsbytes notes.
This is because, when a subscriber from one GSM network is roaming on
another country's network, SMS messages are forwarded on from the home
system for the local network to deliver. Roaming voice, data and SMS calls
are the basic features of GSM networks, making SMS messages very difficult
to block on a localized basis.
By accessing a foreign SMS center, in this case, the Omnipoint service in
the US, by e-mail, the man appears to have been able to bulk e-mail the
Vodafone and Orange cellular users, and thus cause chaos at the
Nottingham-based textile company.
-o-
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Received on Thu Mar 11 17:18:18 1999