[nfbmi-talk] blind hacker

Tue Feb 3 13:31:02 UTC 2009

Holy Toledo!  This is one troubled young man with a diabolical mind.
It's too bad all that talent and intelligence couldn't have been put to
better use.  This is one good example that blind people can do most
things sighted people can do.  They can even mastermind crime.  We'd
better watch our backs and protect our identies.

Pauline

-----Original Message-----
From: nfbmi-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org
[mailto:nfbmi-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Fred
Sent: Monday, February 02, 2009 5:30 PM
To: nfb of michigan; NFB of Missouri Mailing List
Subject: [nfbmi-talk] blind hacker

A legally blind Massachusetts phone hacker admitted this week to
federal computer intrusion and witness intimidation charges that could
put him away for as long as 13 years.

>>> Matthew Weigman, 18, pleaded guilty to two felonies before U.S.
>>> Magistrate
>>> Judge Paul D. Stickney in Dallas on Tuesday. Known in the telephone
>>> party-line scene as "Li'l Hacker," Weigman is widely considered one
of
>>> the
>>> best phone hackers alive.

>>> Relying on an ironclad memory and detailed knowledge of the phone 
>>> system,
>>> the teenager is known for using social engineering to manipulate
phone
>>> company workers and others into divulging confidential information,
and
>>> into entering commands into computers and telephone switching
equipment
>>> on
>>> his behalf. The FBI had been chasing Weigman since he was 15 years
old,
>>> at
>>> times courting him as an informant. He was finally arrested last
May,
>>> less
>>> than two months after celebrating his 18th birthday.

>>> "I've been interested in phones since I've been about 8," Weigman
said 
>>> in
>>> a
>>> 2007 interview with Wired.com. "I talked to technicians when they
came
>>> down
>>> here to do things on my phone."

>>> In his plea deal with prosecutors, Weigman, who was born blind,
admitted
>>> to
>>> a long criminal resume. Among other things, he confessed to
conspiring
>>> with
>>> other telephone hooligans who made hundreds of false calls to police

>>> that
>>> sent armed SWAT teams bursting into the homes of their party-line
>>> enemies.

>>> In a new revelation, Weigman also admitted eavesdropping on customer
>>> service calls to Sprint, by dialing into a phone line used by Sprint
>>> supervisors to monitor their employees. Weigman parked on the spy
line 
>>> to
>>> overhear customers giving out their credit card numbers, which he
>>> memorized
>>> and passed to accomplices. Weigman and his friends used the numbers
to
>>> purchase computers and other electronics.

>>> The FBI began investigating Weigman after he staged a 2005 hostage
hoax
>>> that sent police to the Colorado home of Richard Gasper, a TSA
screener
>>> whose daughter refused phone sex with Weigman. When the FBI caught
up
>>> with
>>> him more than a year later, cybercrime agent Allyn Lynd offered to
make
>>> him
>>> a confidential informant, but called off the deal when AT&T
discovered
>>> that
>>> Weigman was still manipulating the phone company.

>>> Lynd later told a police detective that Weigman couldn't stop
hacking 
>>> for
>>> more than 72 hours.

>>> Weigman's current troubles began in April, the month he reached
>>> adulthood.
>>> William Smith, a Verizon security investigator who'd been monitoring
>>> Weigman's hacking and phoning in updates to the FBI, noticed that 
>>> Weigman
>>> had used the name and identifying information of a Texas woman to
turn 
>>> on
>>> phone service at the East Boston apartment he shared with his mother
and
>>> siblings.

>>> When Smith disconnected the fraudulent account, Weigman turned it
back 
>>> on
>>> again. Then Weigman began making harassing phone calls to Smith at
his
>>> house. To trick the security worker into picking up the phone, the 
>>> hacker
>>> socially engineered phone company employees into sharing Smith's
billing
>>> records in near-real time, then used Caller ID spoofing to make
Smith
>>> think
>>> someone was returning his own calls, according to court records.

>>> "For example, Smith would call a travel agency to arrange for a
flight,"
>>> the FBI's Lynd wrote in an affidavit. "A few minutes later, he would
>>> receive a phone call which appeared to be coming from the travel
agency
>>> that he had just booked a flight through. When Smith answered the
phone,
>>> Weigman would begin harassing him again."

>>> Then on May 18, Weigman showed up at Smith's New Hampshire home with
his
>>> burly older brother. Smith felt intimidated and called the police,
who
>>> arrested the hacker.

>>> Weigman is set for sentencing on April 24. Under the terms of his
plea
>>> agreement, he can withdraw his guilty plea if sentencing judge
Barbara 
>>> M.
>>> G. Lynn gives him more than 13 years in prison.

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