Jerry Neil Schneider (born circa 1951) is a
social engineer and
security
Security is protection from, or resilience against, potential harm (or other unwanted coercion). Beneficiaries (technically referents) of security may be persons and social groups, objects and institutions, ecosystems, or any other entity or ...
consultant. While still in
high school
A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., ...
in 1968, Schneider started a company called "Creative Systems Enterprises" (CSE) and began selling his own invented electronic communication devices. Schneider obtained parts by
information diving Information diving is the practice of recovering technical data, sometimes confidential or secret, from discarded material. In recent times, this has chiefly been from data storage elements in discarded computers, most notably recoverable data remai ...
from
Pacific Telephone and Telegraph's dumpsters. During this scavenging, he built up a collection of PTT documents including invoices and training manuals. After a few years, he reportedly knew more about PTT's procedures than its own employees.
1970–1971: Schneider expanded his telephone wholesale business while majoring in
Electrical Engineering
Electrical engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the study, design, and application of equipment, devices, and systems that use electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism. It emerged as an identifiable occupation in the l ...
in college.
June, 1971: Schneider started a plan to acquire new telephone equipment from PTT, market it as "refurbished," and sell it through CSE, his own company. The exact details of his scam are currently not available, but did have a van with Pacific Bell logo he kept in his mom's garage. He also acquired equipment from Western Electric Company in a similar manner. He sold equipment back to Pacific and to others.
January, 1972: A former employee of CSE (refused a raise from $11/hour to $13/hour) tips off law enforcement. Police raid CSE's offices and warehouse. The
District Attorney
In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, county prosecutor, state attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or solicitor is the chief prosecutor or chief law enforcement officer represen ...
estimates the found equipment is worth $8,000. At this time, they learn that Schneider had made off with $125,000 worth of gear. Schneider later admits to nearly $900,000.
He was arrested on February 8, 1972. Contemporary sources rate his caper as one of the most famous computer crimes in history.
After
plea bargaining A plea bargain, also known as a plea agreement or plea deal, is a legal arrangement in criminal law where the defendant agrees to plead guilty or no contest to a charge in exchange for concessions from the prosecutor. These concessions can include ...
, Schneider eventually pleaded guilty on May 15, 1972 to one count of grand theft of $5,000 worth of equipment. In July 1972, he was sentenced to two months in a minimum security facility. He only served forty days and paid a $500 fine.
1972: Schneider, at 21, formed a security consultancy that targeted companies wishing to protect themselves from computer criminals.
November 26, 1974: Date of final judgement of
civil suit
A lawsuit is a proceeding by one or more parties (the plaintiff or claimant) against one or more parties (the defendant) in a civil court of law. The archaic term "suit in law" is found in only a small number of laws still in effect today. T ...
from PTT. Suit stated that Schneider had stolen equipment valued at $214,649.63, and that equipment valued at $73,452.81 had been returned.
1977: Schneider left the security consulting firm.
References
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1951 births
Living people
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