Masters of Deception: The Gang That Ruled Cyberspace by Michele Slatalla & Michele Slatalla

Author:Michele Slatalla & Michele Slatalla [Slatalla, Michele]
Format: epub, pdf
Tags: Computer security - New York (State) - New York, Technology & Engineering, Computer hackers, Sociology, Computer crimes - New York (State) - New York, True Crime, Social Science, Computers, New York, General, Computer crimes, Computer hackers - New York (State) - New York, Political Science, Gangs - New York (State) - New York, Computer security, Security, New York (State), Gangs
ISBN: 9780060926946
Publisher: HarperPerennial

What happens next is in dispute.

The way Paul remembers it, Gavin comes down on him like a tough guy, tells him that his older brother, Tom Stira, has been arrested for credit card fraud that morning and that Tom "told us everything" about Paul's hacking exploits. This is very confusing to Paul, because as far as he knows, his older brother has never been involved with any kind of fraud, and doesn't know the first thing about computers. In fact, Tom Stira never was accused of any crime.

Then, Gavin waves a manila envelope around, with the figures $70 million and $40 million written on it, and says, "You're responsible for a $110 million lost to the phone company. " That would be the AT&T crash again. Doesn't the Secret Service believe AT&T's explanation?

Gavin asks, "Are you Charles Stira?"

"No, " says Paul. "I'm Paul. "

Gavin remembers a very different version of the scene. He had not heard thing one about the hacker investigation until agents in the city called him in the Melville office at five P. M. They told him that New York City agents have already arrived at Paul's family's house in Cambria Heights with a search warrant, only to find that their quarry and his computer were at college. Fearful that Paul would get wind of the visit before they could drive out there with a new warrant to search Paul's dorm room, the agents called Gavin and asked for assistance. Gavin took notes on a manila envelope, he says, but he later lost the envelope. He doesn't remember what he wrote on the envelope, and doesn't remember saying that Paul was responsible for $110 million in damage. Gavin says he doesn't remember telling Paul his brother had been arrested for credit card fraud.

In one version of this story, you have a bully trying to intimidate a college student. In the other, you have a helpful federal agent introducing himself to Paul. The rest of the events are not in dispute.

Gavin asks Paul for written permission to search his dorm room. He tells Paul that if he doesn't sign, then they'll all have to sit around together in the dorm until a judge signs a search warrant. That could take hours.

Paul asks if he can call his mom. Gavin says he'll go with Paul to the pay phone in the hallway. He stands right next to Paul, even dials the call. Paul feels like a prisoner.

His mom answers. "What have you done?" asks Jean Stira, who has hurried home from her job as a secretary at the Queens District Attorney's office after learning that Secret Service agents were in her house. Now, agents mill around her as she talks on the phone to Paul.

"I don't know, " says Paul. "It must be something with the computer. It must be something through bulletin boards or something they got my name from. "

"Cooperate and do what they say, " she advises him. In Queens, agents are confiscating all kinds of stuff from the basement.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.