Croatian teenagers hack Pentagon

[Harry Bush]

* From Area: LV.NEWS (LV.NEWS)
* Friday February 21 1997 from Uldis Mikelsons 2:5100/100 to All:

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Croatian teenagers hack Pentagon
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By Reuters
February 20, 1997, 5:15 p.m. PT

ZAGREB, Croatia--Three teenage computer
hackers in Croatia broke Pentagon protection
codes and copied highly classified files from U.S.
military bases, according to local media and school
officials.

While surfing the Internet on their home computer,
the three high school students applied a search
program and deciphered codes, barging into the
database of several U.S. military installations, the
Zagreb daily Vecernji List said.

The databases included those of a nuclear
installation and an unnamed satellite research
center, it said.

The break-in left a trace on the Internet which was
tracked down by the Pentagon, reports said.

The U.S. Defense Department contacted Croatian
police through Interpol demanding an investigation
while local police searched the youngsters'
apartments and confiscated their computer
equipment, local media said.

The damage caused by the teenagers' destruction
of high-profile protection programs could reach
half a million dollars, Vecernji List said.

Computer hacking is not illegal in Croatia.

The three teenagers attend a school in the Adriatic
port of Zadar specializing in mathematics and
science.

Principal Zdravko Curko said the three had no
criminal intent and their "success" was a
compliment to their education.

"This is a case of extensive curiosity that had
undesired consequences," Curko said. "They are
excellent students, in love with mathematics and
computer science--they are fanatics in a positive
sense of the term."

But Curko said the hackers' parents were
concerned that they might be sued for damages.
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