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Louisiana Man Pleads Guilty to Creating 911 Worm
mabu writes "The United States Attorney's Office for the Northern District of California announced that, roughly a year after his arrest, David Jeansonne pleaded guilty Tuesday to two criminal counts in a scheme that sent email to users of Microsoft's WebTV Internet service containing an attachment that, when opened, reprogrammed their computers to dial 9-1-1 without their knowledge. It still unclear what motivated this 43-year-old to launch such a bizarre worm."
"Help! I'm using WebTV!"
You can have my cynical agnosticism when you pry it from my cold, dead logic.
This was a very, very, very dumb thing to do on his part. I could see the courts giving him some leniency if he was 12, but at 43 years of age I think he will get what he deserves. Does anyone know if the worm caused any delays in getting through to the 911 system that caused serious injury or death?
News Reporters Make Tasty Polar Bear Treats!
"It still unclear what motivated this 43-year-old to launch such a bizarre worm."
...
What? Mean and stupid doesn't cover it?
It's like asking why that person cut you off in traffic endangering the lives of a half-dozen others... cuz their mean and stupid. It's not some huge racist or plot
The guy probably thought he was hot shit writing a virus [instead of something productive like an OSS project that could benefit others...] and released something destructive.
The balance in me wants to say "for every good there is a bad" but fuck it. The dude's just plain mean and stupid.
Tom
Someday, I'll have a real sig.
None. He's just a dick. This isn't a cool hack or anything meaningful in computer science. It's taking an exploit of some type and messing with people's lives. Those operators on the other end and the police who are dispatched shouldn't be wasting their time with this nonsense.
Why do these people think that causing damage through an exploit is anything but stupid? It's not clever since they don't even find the exploits, they just use them.
It still unclear what motivated this 43-year-old to launch such a bizarre worm.
My guess is he wanted to flood the 911 service with useless calls, and in the long run potentially harm people because they can't get through to 911.
wow, can you say get out of your parents basement and get a girlfri....
Sorry wait, this is slashdot.
I like muppets.
..to see if he could.
That's what virus writing used to be all about. Darn kids and their spam n' such. Why in MY day we wrote virii for the pure joy of destruction and chaos!
... That only a WebTV user would be naive enough to open an attachment like that.
Sadly, I've found that the great majority of people I know apparently have the intelligence of a WebTV user.
This either means that even rudimentary computer security is far too complex for the average person, or that I need to get some new friends.
The next Slashdot story will be ready soon, but subscribers can beat the rush and slashdot the links early!
People from Louisiana can use a computer! Who'd have thought it!!
8)
Perhaps he wanted to create a Denial of Service attack against the 911 system.
-- Thou hast strayed far from the path of the Avatar.
This reminds me of the viruses free porn websites you to send out that cause computers to call 1-900 numbers, or out of country numbers. I always was suspicious of those pictures with .exe file extentions. ;)
Rosco: "If brains were gunpowder, Enos couldn't blow his nose."
According to TFA, only 21 people actually received this thing. I've cause more damage most days just driving to work.
Next on slashdot: Bill Gates picks nose, AGAIN! Film at 11.
Yeah? Well I think you're overrated too.
If they ever have a reality TV show based on this, I hope they won't call Eric Estrada and tell him "CHiP's" is being remade...
CHIP unit? Never heard of it.
help me i am using microsoft ;)
Sorry. I must disagree. Flooding the Larry King Show with fake calls is somewhat funny. Flooding a 911 center with fake calls is NOT.
ROTFL - seriously, if you're going to email your 25 closest friends - shouldn't you first make sure your virus doesn't directly involve the police coming to their door? Granted, it might be considered a funny prank - but at least make sure you can't be traced as easily as the from: 'Best Friend in Louisianna'.
wrong is wrong. if a 12 year old did this, it is just as much damage. hey, just a few days ago a court sent to prison a 13 year old who killed his grandparents because zoloft made him flip out. if a 13 year old gets nailed while on a doctor prescribed drug, who is going to give a 12 year old a break who is in their right state of mind?
i think what would be interesting is laws that punish parents for what thier kids do. but that could ruin a whole family, i could see someone losing their townhouse and having a mom out on the streets with 3 other kids because one of her kids is a nerd.
Rosco: "If brains were gunpowder, Enos couldn't blow his nose."
Actually, it would have been funny if it called up the local Pizza Hut. Or maybe if it randomly dialed people and asked if their refrigerator was running. This, on the other hand, was just dangerous.
Unknown host pong.
Look up. Do you see that? It's the joke. It's going over your head.
Go read up.
He had reprogramed them to dial romanian sex chat numbers he would have been invited to join the Direct Marketing Association.
Hey, it was one way of getting his name on Slashdot. Come on, how many of us lowly cretins here in the comments section have ever been referred to by our full names in a Slashdot post? Yeah, I can count all two of you out there. The guy's a douchebag, but, by jove, he's a famous douchebag!
It still unclear what motivated this 43-year-old to launch such a bizarre worm.
Simple... Why does a dog lick his own nuts? Because he can.
hack a day
"Okay?" What kind of word is that?
Some messed-up version of "O.K.," meaning "Oll Korrect," a dumb pun?
A language is defined as what people use, not what they're supposed to use. Go to college and take Introductory Linguistics...
Duh, he should have redirected them all to dial MS support! Much more effective use of virii writing skills.
You know, there is stupid, and then there's STUPID. Let's take tings one at a time. First this fellow created and released a virus that caused WebTV devices to call 911. This, of course is stupid on it's face, because flooding 911 with a lot of fake calls can obviously cause delays for real emergencies to get through, and possibly contribute to people dying or other physical destruction that might have been avoided. As well, there's another stupidity here: did this guy think that there are actually enough WebTVs to cause mass mayhem? I'd guess they are probably widely dispersed around the country so any given 911 location might only have a few machines that would be calling in, and then only if he achieves 100% coverage. Stupid. Again. And finally, the only way I could get my parents to communicate online was with a WebTV. These folks are not really tech savvy, and they often call me on the phone to ask what to do with this attachment thingie they received. I'd guess there are a fair number of WebTV users out there who might also not know what to do with an attachment, or not notice that it's there, and might never even open it up. This will also cut back on the virus coverage. Stupid. Again. I guess this fellow either was not smart enough to figure this coverage issue out - or maybe he went for low coverage because he really was not trying to do much damage? Nah. Stupid. Just plaun stupid. smp
Perhaps we was trying to prove the concept that it is possible to DoS the 911 service. Perhaps he was doing this because he was aware of the danger to himself and others, and wanted to prove the point to the herds of people that were buying these things, not caring about the potential danger to society. Perhaps he wanted to make news in the hope of saving more lives from an even worse situation which might have been created by not doing anything at all and waiting for 10 years.
Or perhaps he was just being a dick. Oh well, I guess we will never know.
I'll probably be modded down for this...
Maybe he didn't have a 401k and hadn't saved enough for retirement...
You know what else is funny. Sending weak people to jail who don't have a prayer of surviving the first week. Watching them get raped and beat up. That is funny. I also thought it is funny to watch neighborhood kids pick out the smaller and odder one, and make fun of him. That is funny too. And it is funny when the football team gives the chess team swirlies.
Rosco: "If brains were gunpowder, Enos couldn't blow his nose."
Most likely he was motivated by sheer boredom. There isn't a lot to do in Louisiana if you actually live there (as opposed to being a tourist). I speak from sad experience.:-P
picpix image polls. create - share - vote. fun!
Metairie is the old suburb adjoining New Orleans. Jeansonne was probably possessed at the time he wrote the worm.
--
make install -not war
If you're 12 it might seem like a prank, and you don't want to ruin the kid's life but hit him hard enough that he realizes that what he did is dead serious and never thinks of doing it again. He certainly deserves to be punished, but not as severely as a 43 year old who should be capable of fully understanding the consequences of his actions.
Umm...Timbuktu used to recover stolen iMac
This isn't a dig at Microsoft... Linux doesn't prevent it either. But perhaps such a safety feature should be incorporated directly into all modems.
Of course, some people use their modem as a voice dialer and talk on the phone using a mic (I don't understand why, but they do). In that case, they would have to be able to dial 911 quickly in case of an emergency.
I'm not sure what the correct solution is, but what is certain is that this kind of thing just shouldn't be possible.
So you have stopped using the "Jon Katz" account? Do not expect the amazingly perceptive Slashdot user base for fall for this transparent ruse. "Voices from the Hellmouth" indeed! Of course, the GP poster is just a jerk.
A prank done to annoy people results in a much greater sentence than a thousand petty crimes done for profit under a corporate banner.
911 is not funny.
Microsoft's Support(do they even still have one?)or piracy reporting telephone number however....
Go away Jon Katz!!!
If you don't get it, don't mod it.
Swirlies are SO 2004. When this master cracker is convicted and sent to prison, just put the programs that keep track of prisoner feeding schedules and parole hearings on an unpatched Windows box connected to the Internet.
No mod points, no meta-moderating/Firehose/all the other free work Slashdot wants me to do.
So dificult is to write a virus and not to be arrested?
ajf
Okay, this weekend I had a suspected heart attack. I had to have an ambulance come out to check on me (I wanted to just have a doctor, not make any fuss like), but no an ambulance came. I got hooked up to several monitors, dodads and various dials and such. My heart was fine at the time but they still wanted me to goto the hospital. Now we have 3 cars (3 people who can drive in the house so one each) and my mum (I'm 19, so living at home with UK property prices) would of been able to drive me there. For a good few minutes I tried to explain I would rather they went off and sorted out someone in real danger then use their resources to take me to hospital, but they repeatedly said they had to take me if I went because it's unprofessional to just walk away in the "middle" of something. Yet to me this seemed totally and utterly stupid, I felt annoyed at wasting resources when the NHS is currently getting fucked in the eye socket.
So there I'am possiblely dying and I still don't want to waste their time and theres this dickhead who sits and wastes their time over and fucking over. Just for fucking giggles.. well I think I want some giggles at this guys cost, who is up for a good old fashioned hanging? Oh and lets also disect the fucker and cut his nuts off for some giggles as well.. I swear if I ever meet this guy he'll find my fist in his face and if he doesn't run off crying to his mummy I'll tell her what I think of her and her fucking kids!
I like muppets.
When the worm hit the UK, the tape answer machine overheated "You have dialled an incorrect number... you have dialled an incorrect number... you have dialled an inco.....Pppppppppppppppppp"
I don't get it.
Way to get your rant on. One of those days, eh?
I'm with you on this one.
How many people can read hex if only you and dead people can read hex?
He probably played GTAl ?tid=123&tid=10
http://yro.slashdot.org/yro/05/02/17/1340222.shtm
Probably something along the lines of, "I dunno..."
...and you wonder why your heart is a mess?
Hmmm.
Ummm...actually no it's not funnny at all.
Funny is all relative. I'm sure many people throughout history have found the wonton murder of people quite halarious. It's quite funny if you're able to disconnect yourself from the actual act and convince yourself that no real people are being hurt - something too easily done, sadly, by many people.
A few years ago with an old mini-laptop type thing(Windows CE 3), I was trying to get it to dial in to my ISP. I was messing with the dial options(like dial 9 before a #, etc), and didn't notice that it would be dialing like 1-911-#... So, when I dialed I could hear the 911 person, but since I had no mic, I had to hang up and let them call me back. Definately one of those "Oh shit" moments.
Every time you post an article on Slashdot, I kill a server. Think of the servers!
Or we could just outright ignore them, and they'd go away.
Some people have a reason to use the AC - in case they're posting about something they don't want blatently linked to, etc.
But yes, ACs can be annoying. Usually it's just trolling though....
Karnal
Uhhh
what's your point?
If you're implying that this guy shouldn't be sent to jail because he is probably "weak" and will get beat up; then THAT is funny. This isn't some harmless prank or victimless crime. By flooding the 911 lines real emergencies are not responded to.
This guy is an idiot. I have little sympathy for him.
Or maybe you're trying to say that autodialing 911 is somehow like beating up the neighborhood weird kid? I don't know.
so to sum up:
This guy is an idiot, and should go to jail.
How does this have anything to do with my rights online?
He references the very funny Terrible Secret of Space.
What exactly does that mean? If you dial '911' in the UK, do you get called back by someone saying "You have dialled an incorrect number"? That's awfully strange.
See also:
http://www.attrition.org/security/denial/w/mod-at
(Posting as AC for obvious reasons...) As a friend, tom, I strongly urge you to stop posting on slashdot, and get back to writing crypto code! You're wasting your life away here!
I wonder if someone could argue that he is liable for any deaths or sustained injuries caused because people could not get through to the 911 service while these attacks were going on?
Mmmm....swirlies.
He's an asshole?
You seem to get really bothered by ACs. You should learn to relax. Try some chai tea.
....why does the WebTV allow an attachment to reprogram itself?
Coder's Stone: The programming language quick ref for iPad
Wait a moment here. Just because this fool was from Louisiana doesn't really justify all the Louisiana jokes. As a Brit who has lived in this State for 8 years and taught in a University, I can tell you that not everone here is dumb. Not only that, of any State I have been to Louisiana is one of the most interesting. We have Cajun food, Cajun music, Zydeco music and Creole music. We have amazing festivals, many of which are completely free (see http://www.festivalinternational.com -- the site sucks, but the festival rocks). OK, the place is a bit ferral and rough at the edges and our politics can be a little 'interesting' (as the saying goes, 'We have the best politicians money can buy'), but that helps make this a unique State. It sure beats the strip mall culture that you find elsewhere. On our campus, we have 'gators -- this is wild and wierd. Perhaps some of you should come visit. But please do not insult a place you do not know because of one fool.
We already have that option. Check prferences -> comments -> set the AC mod to -6 and your threshold preference to 0. Bam, you don't have to see ACs anymore -- but that doesn't mean they aren't there...
Click that button marked "Preferences". Yep, that one. Click that. Now, "Messages"...good. Now see that "threshold" button? Set it to the "1". There, look at that, no more AC's unless someone's seen fit to mod 'em up!
Unfortunately, that doesn't always ENTIRELY solve the problem of, say, people ranting way the hell off the topic. But it sure helps.
To fight the war on terror, stop being afraid.
Why is the parent +4 Insightful?????? This should be -2:Redundant. Or at least -1:Idiotic. Or maybe, just maybe, +5:Droll Brit Humor.
All moderators who modded the parent comment up should be dragged into the street and shot.
"Thank you. Please spellcheck your genitalia references though.
What does it say about your intelligence; that you would get so obviously upset about some silly comments on a website. Oh cares! Why would you arbitrarily attack someones intelligence? Does it make you feel like a big man? Oh yeah, way to post a AC "Big Man".
That explains Mardi Gras!
It still unclear what motivated this 43-year-old to launch such a bizarre worm.
Like he's going to pull some great reason out of his ass. What could he possibly say that would make reasonable people say "Ohhh! No wonder!"?
I was going to create a worm exactly like this but instead of infecting webTv's it would just infect your normal computer. Back when everyone had internet access via dialup there was a much better chance that you would infect a computer with a modem. Then i wanted to make it call 911 in random intervals so that it would keep a constant load on the 911 system.
I never did do this but it is funny that 12 years later some (43 year old) one did it for me.
What a lame virus that guy wrote. Mine would do the following:
email all your messages (in and out boxes) to all of your contacts. Oh yeah, and a copy of itself.
Imagine the havock it would bring. Your wife would get that letter your girlfriend sent you. She'd also get that letter you sent your girlfriend. So would your boss. So would your in-laws. You'd get that letter your boss sent your coworker where they joke about how he got a bigger raise than you. Etc.
Fun times.
That's all.
It still unclear what motivated this 43-year-old to launch such a bizarre worm.
One problem with offshoring is that idle, bored, lonely programmers are not something you want to have too much of as a nation.
Table-ized A.I.
Now watch as parent and this post go down as "offtopic".
okay is in the dictionary because it is a word that is in common usage.
virii is not in the dictionary, because it is not a word at all, it is a misspelling.
Go to college and take Introductory Linguistics and you'll find out why language falls apart when people go around making up their own words.
Dave was in my drug class and I was in a halfway house with him until he was sent to California in November. hope he gets out of it...somehow. Still learned a few things from him before he left >:)
I have always thought some of these guys do it to draw attention towards their programming "skills".
They may do it in order to get a job later on working for an anti-virus company ( think of the retired burglars on that new discovery channel show " it takes a theif").
-William
God is everything science has yet to explain.
He just saved 15% on his car insurance!
may I suggest the sacred art and superior defence system that is Karate?
Karate is THE Ultimate Defence System (it says so in the ads). When you have trained long and hard enough you will earn the covetted Black Belt and become a God among men. (I personally found that I had grown six inches in height the day after passing my Dan grading.) You will read their minds, intimidate with a glance, scale small buildings as if you were Spiderman, make yourself seemingly invisible, people will see a supernatural glow around you when you prepare to fight, you will punch faster than the human eye can see. As a Black Belt, you will be privy to the Dark Secrets Of The Black (Arts) Belt - knock people unconscious by just brushing thier shoulder and more....
I recently trained with a 9th Dan Sensei and I actually saw him levitate !!!
(true story)
Join a Karate Club, become one of us.
I agree, who exactly didn't make the incredibly hard connection that this virus might end up blocking the 9-1-1 system?
I think it's been stated before that he released this primarily as a POC and since 911 automatically sends officers to the doorstep, they are guaranteed to call Microsoft and complain.
Unlike other viruses where nothing damaging happens, this one actually got Microsoft to get their rears in action fixing real issues.
It doesn't help that IE exploits come out once a month and Microsoft takes anywhere from one to two months to fix them. Or in the case of some exploits, just ignores them.
One extremely egotistical type generated a great deal of dislike, if not outright hate. Jeansonne was part of this individual's clique. The actual "exploit" is very simple to do and well known. Jeansonne was just the first person to combine the requisite amount of vindictiveness and stupidity to actually do this. Almost all WebTv users have html signitures that rival web pages in their complexity. A simple
was all that was necessary.
Having the police arrived unexpectedly at their door was very unsettling for the mostly female recipients of the email. Some were accused of making the calls on their own and threatened with arrest for missusing the 911 system.
This was not a virus, but a direct personal attack against the victims of the email.
[Stampy butts another elephant]
Marge: Gosh, I thought he'd be happier in his true habitat.
Warden: Oh, I think he is.
Marge: Then why is he attacking all those other elephants?
Warden: Well, animals are not like people, Mrs. Simpson. Some of them
act badly because they've had a hard life, or have been
mistreated...but, like people, some of them are just jerks.
Stop that, Mr. Simpson.
[Homer butts the warden repeatedly]
I don't care what he says. Dialing HIS OWN PHONE and then publishing the call stats would be a proof of concept. Dialing 911, taking police away from other situations where people really need them is not a proof of concept, it's called "being an asshole."
Or, more specifically, the ICQ prank on which that flash movie (I assume that links to the flash movie) is based. You may find it at www.somethingawful.com in the ICQ pranks section (I believe it is called Attack of the Space Robots or something like that).
Bob.
sorry, indignant people, but this is what it takes.
911 calls will be investigated regardless
= police
= proper feds having words with Redmond, not your half-hearted monopolies functionaries..
= better prospect of security improvements for everyone.
Shame it's US citizens that have to provide the example, but there we are.
Now think about carbon emissions/warming/rising seas... no US government will think of doing anything to address the issue until United States citizens are dying of it, no need to give a shit about Asians/Africans/Polynesians/miscellaneous.
US gets stung first, ain't life hard? Since Washington is the only thing that can really put pressure on Redmond, this can be seen as a Necessary Step.
Before you US-ians start flaming, look down at your body, and ask youself how many Chinese suffered to make the affordable clothing on your back...
I didn't know they had access to the Internets down there.
He could have done this a bunch of different ways if he wanted a private chuckle. He could have had virus call any number even a number at a public place where he could see it happening. Set it to happen at a particular time.
He didn't do that. He had it call one of the few places the would make it certian that the police would come after him. He had it call the police.
If it had called the local Denny's he could have sat there and watched and after it was all over most people would not care to persue it.
Sending weak people to jail who don't have a prayer of surviving the first week.
Maybe this person should of thought about it before sending out a virus to people that forces the local 911 services to send a police car by that person's house. What if there was an actual crime / murder going on at the same time he did this?
Maybe it was just a call for help.
Oh, I'm sorry, that was bad.
I was once a WebTV user, before and through the time that Bill Gates bought it (he gave us copy and paste). It was one of my first internet experiences and I genuinely enjoyed it, I even used irc heavily at that time without knowing it. This was probably 10 years ago though.
Anyway, the point I want to make is that you can't do much security-wise with WebTV. There is no third party software. Period. You dial up, it downloads updates every now and then, and you use their browser, their mail client, their everything with no choice (except for web-based stuff). The only thing to watch out for is phishing scams.
Who would have thought that a WebTV user would mature to a Linux addict?
His problem was either that he didn't know who he was pissed at, or didn't care.
He just wanted to cause damage. We all -- or at least a hell of a lot of us -- get the urge, he just had a prolonged bout and followed through on it.
Assume I was drunk when I posted this.
Is only funny if you're raping a clown
"No beer until you finish your tequila!" -Leela's Dad
Well maybe some people use WebTV because they can't afford a computer? And-or maybe they are not that bright...and can't figure out how to use a PC that well (I'm not being sarcastic) 98% of the population has a IQ of 85-115....pretty friggin low! ( _I_ happen to be a genius and can spot a fellow snob...even if I don't see a fellow genius. )
Who is Jon Katz and why should I hate him?
I use public toilets and I piss on the seats. I walk around in the summertime saying "how about that heat". I'm an asshole, he's an asshole, what an assho-le-o.
:p
Sorry, I couldn't resist the asshole song on this occassion.
Since when does joking about something make one a supporter, or even tolerant, of it in real life?
Or do you think it is ok to make racist jokes about jews or black people or bigot jokes about gays and lesbians because, after all, you are "just joking"?
*shrug*. Depends on context. There are plenty of comedians who, being part of some minority, that make jokes about their own people that, were said jokes coming from someone else, would be considered severely inappropriate. I don't think that makes them wrong, necessarily.
In any event, it's not really what I was referring to -- making jokes about someone isn't the same as making jokes about something. A better corollary would be making jokes about racism or making jokes about bigotry -- would you argue that said jokes are necessarily supportive of their subject matter?