The teenage cracker who claimed to have penetrated 400 military computer networks, then taunted the FBI to find him, is now under house arrest in Israel. The 18-year old, who goes by the name “Analyzer,” was arrested today by members of the Israeli police, acting on information supplied to them by US investigators.
In an interview with Wired News on 3 March, Analyzer said he worried about being caught, and knew that jail might be a possibility if he was.
“If I ever get caught there are a few [options]”, Analyzer said. “Get hired (unlikely), [or go to] jail, or get killed somehow.”
Ironically, a member of Enforcers, Analyzer’s online peer group, said that a few days ago Analyzer had been offered a job with the Israeli government. This could not be confirmed with Israeli authorities.
In the Wired News interview, Analyzer said that he believed investigators were close on his tail. Eight months before, he said, investigators had asked a “few friend[s] of mine that got arrested if they know me and where they [could] find me.” Analyzer also said at that time that he suspected investigators had a photo of him on a warrant.
The hacker said that he feared for his life, claiming that following the arrest of a group of hackers by German authorities in the late 1980s, one of them later turned up dead, shot in the head.
Israeli police said they picked up Analyzer at an undisclosed location, along with several other youths. All of the alleged crackers are under house arrest and barred from leaving the country. An Enforcers member calling himself “paralyse” said that Analyzer’s accomplices were probably members of the Israeli Internet Underground, an elite hacking and cracking group. Analyzer told Wired News that he mostly worked alone, but “supported” the Israeli Internet Underground.
On Monday, a member of Enforcers told Wired News that Analyzer had not been seen online for several weeks, and that he had “retired” from online mischief. In a conversation today, another member said that he had spoken with Analyzer and was told that he was reporting for compulsory military service today.
Other members of Enforcers rose to Analyzer’s defense.
“I think Analyzer was nothing but good for the US government and that the punishment he received should be lessened from what the original reports have been,” said “mindphasr,” an 18-year-old member of the Enforcers. “Without him, the holes in some of the government’s sites would still be there and the fact that he did not destroy anything should be taken into thought.”
“Without people like him there would be no advance in any type of computer security,” added “drdavidge,” another Enforcer.
Another member said that Analyzer was the victim of a witch hunt intended to justify Attorney General Janet Reno’s proposed $63 million anti-cybercrime command center.
“It’s a shame that the political system in this country is so screwed up that they have to arrest people and put them on trial to push a crime bill,” said KuRuPTioN, who speculated that the Israelis may have arrested Analyzer when he reported for military service. “When else would they know exactly where he was going to be?”
Another member of the hacking community, though not a member of Enforcers, confirmed that the investigation had been underway for some time.
“I know for a fact that Analyzer was breaking into various [Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory] systems as long as six months ago,” an associate who goes by the name “FallLine” told Wired News earlier this month.
FallLine said that an Internet Relay Chat operator named “BONK” informed federal agents, who investigated the case and prepared a formal report.
“It amazes me they did [not] seize that opportunity then,” said FallLine. “They had logs of his [IP address] in Israel, most likely a hacked dialup. They could have, and still can, trace him through this means.”
In an interview two days ago with John Vranesevich of the group AntiOnline, Analyzer claimed that he had left Israel. “I am not in Israel,” he told Vransevich in the Internet Relay Chat interview.
“For now there [are] no charges against me in Israel whatsoever,” Analyzer claimed. “For now it’s better for me to stay on low profile.”
More than 30 federal agents were tracking Analyzer, according to Dane Jasper of Sonic, the Santa Rosa, California, Internet service provider that Analyzer and his two American students used as a steppingstone in their attacks.
Earlier this month, a Department of Justice spokesman told Wired News that because the US has no extradition treaty with Israel, Analyzer could not be prosecuted in this country if captured there. But according to a report in the online Israeli Internet magazine Walla, Analyzer also broke into systems in his home country, including the Israeli Parliament. If prosecuted and convicted, those are the crimes that might land him in prison.
