Nahshon Even-Chaim
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Nahshon Even-Chaim (born May 1971), aka Phoenix, is a convicted former computer
hacker A hacker is a person skilled in information technology who achieves goals and solves problems by non-standard means. The term has become associated in popular culture with a security hackersomeone with knowledge of bug (computing), bugs or exp ...
in Australia. He was one of the most highly skilled members of a computer hacking group called The Realm, based in
Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...
,
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
, from the late 1980s until his arrest by the
Australian Federal Police The Australian Federal Police (AFP) is the principal Federal police, federal law enforcement agency of the Australian Government responsible for investigating Crime in Australia, crime and protecting the national security of the Commonwealth ...
in early 1990. His targets centred on defense and nuclear weapons research networks."Court 'no power' in hack case," Herald Sun, 14 August 1991, page 9. Story covered Even-Chaim's appearance in Melbourne Magistrates Court on 48 computer crime charges. Victims mentioned in the story include NASA, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and an unspecified Texas company."Hacker 'revelled in American publicity", Herald Sun, 26 August 1993, page 5. Story covered Even-Chaim's plea hearing in Victorian County Court. Even-Chaim had pleaded guilty to 15 charges. Victims mentioned in the story include University of California, Berkeley, NASA, Execucom Systems Corporation, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, University of Wisconsin, Madison and Purdue University, Indiana.


The trail of evidence

Even-Chaim began breaking into systems by dialing indirectly or placing a call through
X.25 X.25 is an ITU-T standard protocol suite for Packet switched network, packet-switched data communication in wide area network, wide area networks (WAN). It was originally defined by the CCITT, International Telegraph and Telephone Consultative Co ...
networks, later taking advantage of
Internet The Internet (or internet) is the Global network, global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a internetworking, network of networks ...
connectivity as it became available. He developed a reputation within The Realm, his computer hacking group, for his skill and arrogance. In late 1988
Australian Federal Police The Australian Federal Police (AFP) is the principal Federal police, federal law enforcement agency of the Australian Government responsible for investigating Crime in Australia, crime and protecting the national security of the Commonwealth ...
officers discovered his identity using a combination of undercover work and informants. Aided by new computer crime legislation that came into force in June 1989, the AFP obtained a warrant in January 1990 to eavesdrop not only on Even-Chaim's phone conversations but also the data transmitted through his
modem The Democratic Movement (, ; MoDem ) is a centre to centre-right political party in France, whose main ideological trends are liberalism and Christian democracy, and that is characterised by a strong pro-Europeanist stance. MoDem was establis ...
. The tap on his voice calls, which began on 26 January 1990, ran for eight weeks, while the data tap started two weeks later and ran for six weeks. The intercepts were being monitored by the AFP at its Telephone Intercept Branch in
Canberra Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's list of cities in Australia, largest in ...
, 650 km from Even-Chaim's home. Both intercepts provided police with sufficient evidence to prosecute him and two other members of his hacking group, Richard Jones, a.k.a.
Electron The electron (, or in nuclear reactions) is a subatomic particle with a negative one elementary charge, elementary electric charge. It is a fundamental particle that comprises the ordinary matter that makes up the universe, along with up qua ...
and David John Woodcock, a.k.a. Nom. The data taps revealed Even-Chaim spent marathon sessions at his computer, working at a rapid pace to enter and tamper with computer systems. It was the first time in the world a remote data intercept had been used to gain evidence for a computer crime prosecution.''How I Nailed the Master Hacker'', Sunday Herald Sun, 31 July 2005, pages 82–83. Transcripts of the phone taps captured Even-Chaim laughing with another hacker about how he had been "fucking with
NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...
", adding: "Yeah, they're gonna really want me bad. This is fun!" In another conversation, this time with an American hacker, he claimed: "The guys down at the local universities here are screaming with rage because they couldn't get rid of us. The Americans are getting pretty damn pissed off with me because I'm doing so much and they can't do much about it. I'm getting to the point now where I can get into almost any system on the Internet. I've virtually raped the Internet beyond belief." Accounts of the police investigation that identified Even-Chaim and the two other offenders, as well as their arrest and prosecution, are contained in the book ''Hackers: The Hunt for Australia’s Most Infamous Computer Cracker'', co-written by Bill Apro, an AFP computer crime investigator who led the investigation, in the book '' Underground: Tales of Hacking, Madness and Obsession on the Electronic Frontier'' by Suelette Dreyfus and '' In the Realm of the Hackers'', a film by Kevin Anderson.


Even-Chaim's targets

Even-Chaim pleaded guilty to 15 charges, which involved his intrusion into computers at: *
Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) is an Australian Government agency that is responsible for scientific research and its commercial and industrial applications. CSIRO works with leading organisations arou ...
in
Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...
, where he gained unauthorised access to and copied Zardoz, a computer industry bulletin identifying security weaknesses in
Unix Unix (, ; trademarked as UNIX) is a family of multitasking, multi-user computer operating systems that derive from the original AT&T Unix, whose development started in 1969 at the Bell Labs research center by Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie, a ...
operating systems; *
University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...
(inserting data); *
NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...
in Virginia (accessing data, inserting data, altering data, obstructing the lawful use of the NASA computer); * Execucom, a software and technology company in
Austin, Texas Austin ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat and most populous city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and W ...
(altering data, erasing data); *
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) is a Federally funded research and development centers, federally funded research and development center in Livermore, California, United States. Originally established in 1952, the laboratory now i ...
, Livermore, California (altering data, interfering with a computer); *
University of Wisconsin–Madison The University of Wisconsin–Madison (University of Wisconsin, Wisconsin, UW, UW–Madison, or simply Madison) is a public land-grant research university in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. It was founded in 1848 when Wisconsin achieved st ...
(inserting data); *
Purdue University Purdue University is a Public university#United States, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, United States, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded ...
,
West Lafayette, Indiana West Lafayette ( ) is a city in Wabash and Tippecanoe Townships, Tippecanoe County, Indiana, United States, approximately northwest of the state capital of Indianapolis and southeast of Chicago. West Lafayette is directly across the Wabash ...
(inserting data). After allegedly compromising computers used by computer security experts Eugene Spafford,
Clifford Stoll Clifford Paul "Cliff" Stoll (born June 4, 1950) is an American astronomer, author and teacher. He is best known for his investigation in 1986, while working as a system administrator at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, that led to th ...
, and Russell L. Brand (at
LLNL Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) is a Federally funded research and development centers, federally funded research and development center in Livermore, California, United States. Originally established in 1952, the laboratory now i ...
), Even-Chaim called
New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
journalist John Markoff in response to an article in which Markoff had attributed a recent spate of computer break-ins to a worm. Even-Chaim boasted to Markoff that the break-ins had been the work of himself and his associates, and ridiculed the computer security community, claiming: "It used to be the security guys chasing the hackers. Now, it's the hackers chasing the security guys." Markoff published the claims in a follow-up article in March 1990."Self-proclaimed hacker sends message to critics" by John Markoff, New York Times, March 1990.


The raid and aftermath

In the early hours of 2 April 1990, Even-Chaim's home in
Caulfield North Caulfield North is an inner suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 8 km south-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Glen Eira local government area. Caulfield North recorded a population of 16,903 at ...
, suburban Melbourne, was raided by the Australian Federal Police and he was arrested. Simultaneously, the AFP raided the homes of fellow Realm members Jones and Woodcock. Even-Chaim was charged with 48 offenses, most of which carried a maximum 10-year jail sentence. On 6 October 1993, Even-Chaim, who by then had negotiated a deal in which he would plead guilty if the number of charges was reduced to 15, was sentenced to 500 hours of community service, with a 12-month suspended jail term. Unlike his two co-accused, he had revealed little at his police interview or in court that might explain his motivation for his hacking. Even-Chaim apparently worked in IT for at least some time after his conviction and has pursued an interest in music. Despite approaches by ''
The Age ''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria (Australia), Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Austral ...
'' newspaper in 2003 and the producer of a television documentary on The Realm, Even-Chaim has declined to discuss his hacking career.


See also

* List of convicted computer criminals


References

Books *
Free electronic edition
* Newspapers * ''Hack to the Future'', The Sunday Age, 25 May 2003

* ''How I Nailed the Master Hacker'', Sunday Herald Sun, 31 July 2005. Magazines * ''Hackers 'plan revenge' for police clampdown on computer crime'': Extract of ''
New Scientist ''New Scientist'' is a popular science magazine covering all aspects of science and technology. Based in London, it publishes weekly English-language editions in the United Kingdom, the United States and Australia. An editorially separate organ ...
'' article on arrest of hackers, 21 April 1990

Film * '' In the Realm of the Hackers'', written and directed by Kevin Anderson, (Film Australia, 2003, 55 minutes)

E-zines: * Reprint of article ''Hacker Revelled in Spotlight, Court Told'' (
The Age ''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria (Australia), Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Austral ...
, 23 Aug 1993) in
Phrack ''Phrack'' is an e-zine written by and for Hacker (computer security), hackers, first published November 17, 1985. It had a wide circulation which included both hackers and computer security professionals. Originally covering subjects related to ...


* Reference to article in
New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
, 4 April 1990, on arrest of hackers in The Risks Digest


External links



dealing with offenses relating to computers {{DEFAULTSORT:Even-Chaim, Nahshon Living people 1971 births Place of birth missing (living people) 20th-century Australian criminals People convicted of cybercrime Hackers Criminals from Melbourne Australian Jews People from Caulfield, Victoria