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SURFPUNK Technical Journal 045
Date: Tue, 2 Feb 93 11:03:18 PST
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From: surfpunk@osc.versant.com (encvqyl vasrpgvat pbzchgref)
To: surfpunk@osc.versant.com (SURFPUNK Technical Journal)
Subject: [surfpunk-0045] VIRUS: MBDF-A students admit mistakes
Keywords: surfpunk, MBDF-A virus, immunity grant, sumex-aim, Eric Soroos
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From: Gene Spafford <spaf@cs.purdue.edu>
Subject: MBDF students admit mistakes
Organization: SERC, Department of Computer Sciences, Purdue Univ.
This was sent to me by somebody in Ithaca:
Subject: MBDF students admit mistakes
[The Cornell Daily Sun, Monday, February 1, 1993]
Virus Students Admit They Made Mistakes
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First Interviews Since Their Crimes
By Jeff Carmona
In a case that brought Cornell national media attention, two sophomores
were arrested last February and charged with creating and launching a
computer virus that crippled computers around the world.
Authorities later implicated a third Cornellian for releasing the
"MBDF-A" virus from Cornell Information Technologies' (CIT) Upson Lab onto a
public server at Stanford University.
But roughly a year after the original story broke, The Sun has learned
that a fourth student played a integral role in unleashing the virus, which
rapidly infected computers as far away as Japan and Wales.
Immunity Grant
Eric Soroos '94 was granted immunity in return for his grand jury
testimony against the other three students: David Blumenthal '94, Mark
Pilgrim '94 and Randall Swanson '94.
The revelation of Soroos' involvement came yesterday, when all four
former students agreed for the first time to be interviewed. None of the
students is currently registered at Cornell.
After pleading guilty to misdemeanor computer tampering charges in
September, Pilgrim and Blumenthal were each sentenced to 520 hours of
community service. Besides forfeiting their seized computer equipment, they
also had to pay over $2,000 in restitution to Cornell and other parties.
Pilgrim and Blumenthal are currently working to develop software for a
quadriplegic in Tennessee as part of their community service.
Although he was immune from criminal prosecution, Soroos said he was
surprised when the University used his testimony against him during academic
hearing board proceedings in the College of Engineering.
Confused and under intense pressure, Soroos said he provided authorities
with two statements that implicated himself and the three others in the
release of the virus, which caused undetermined damage to personal
computers.
"Otherwise, I probably would have gone down in flames," Soroos said,
noting that investigators promised the testimony could not be used against
him "in a court of law."
According to Soroos, the students launched the virus three separate times
last Feb. 14, but inadvertently left an "electronic paper trail" that
Cornell officials were able to trace within a few days.
"I wish I'd never been involved in it," Soroos said, adding that he was
"at the wrong place at the wrong time."
Soroos, who resides and works in Ithaca, said he intends to reapply to
Cornell next fall and hopes to pursue his civil engineering education.
Although Soroos downplayed his involvement with the virus, the other
students painted a different picture, alleging that Soroos escaped
punishment even though he may have been the only one to successfully
"upload" the virus onto the networks.
Blumenthal, Soroos' former roommate, said all four were present when the
virus was launched, but claimed that only Soroos sent the virus to the
"Sumex-Aim" public archive, from where it quickly spread.
The students did not realize the severity of the episode, Blumenthal
said, until they were interviewed by CIT officials several days later. "I
still maintain that I did not violate the laws," he said, calling his
actions "reckless, but not intentional."
Blumenthal, who is attending school in Wisconsin, said that by working
with the virus he "gained a great amount of insight into the Mac programming
system," adding, "It should have stopped there."
Pilgrim, who spoke from his home in Pennsylvania, said he also "learned a
lot" by writing the virus, which was embedded in three shareware games.
"I'm not sorry that I wrote it. ... Releasing it was stupid."
According to Pilgrim, Soroos was being investigated by CIT for unrelated
computer pranks and decided to cooperate with the District Attorney because
"he felt he should cover his ass."
"I hope this year's better than last one," Pilgrim concluded.
Both Pilgrim and Blumenthal criticized Cornell, alleging that the
University violated their civil rights on a number of occasions during the
investigation into the virus. They said their punishments were more severe
than their crimes.
M. Stuart Lynn, vice president for information technologies, defended the
University's handling of the incident, saying he "hopes it's a message" that
abusing computer privileges could have serious consequences.
Lynn said Pilgrim's claim that only Soroos launched the virus was
"absolute nonsense," citing evidence that proves the participation of all
four students.
"We hope they learn from their experience and grow and become productive
members of society," Lynn said. "It's time now to move on."
The four students were disciplined by the academic hearing boards in
their respective colleges. Although administrators contacted yesterday
would not elaborate on the students' punishment, a memorandum still posted
in Upson Lab indicates they suffered "expulsion and suspension for a year or
more."
The memo, written by College of Engineering Dean William Street and
addressed to all computer users, did not include names but said "last spring
four students were charged with violating the Code of Academic Integrity."
"Don't waste your talents and jeopardize your education by interfering
with the Cornell computing and network systems," the memo continued.
Street, also interviewed yesterday, said the four students "knew what
they were doing" and "caused a great many problems."
Street made the final decision regarding Cornell's discipline of three of
the students. Pilgrim, a member of the College of Arts and Science, faced a
different hearing board.
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The SURFPUNK Technical Journal is a dangerous multinational hacker zine
originating near BARRNET in the fashionable western arm of the northern
California matrix. Quantum Californians appear in one of two states,
spin surf or spin punk. Undetected, we are both, or might be neither.
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