PERSONAL BACKGROUND
- NAME: Richard Pryce
- AGE: 35
- OCCUPATION: hacker
Critical Recognition
The Case:
Some hackers steal information or money, or damage or hijack systems, but few hackers can claim to have nearly started a war.
According to a U.S. government report, the two allegedly worked together for several months, first establishing an electronic beachhead on a computer system located at Griffiss Air Force Base, in New York. They then installed password-collecting programs and began hacking their way into other government systems. After discovering the intrusions, U.S. officials became especially alarmed when they found that the duo may have infiltrated a North Korean system during an especially tenuous time of negotiations with that country over its nuclear-weapons program. Because the intrusion came via a hijacked U.S. government computer, it could’ve been construed as an act of war. Ultimately it was discovered that the hack in question had targeted a South Korean government agency.
The Reason:
Government secret files of UFO’s, Extra-Terrestials and other supernatural phenomena.
The Settlement:
Richard was convicted and fined the equivalent of $1,915 for cracking the U.S. Air Defense System Computers while Matthew Bevan walked free in November when charges of unauthorized access and data modification (into the Griffiss AFB and Lockheed) were dropped.
Hat Hacker
Richard Pryce was an old-style, War Games – style hackers. Pryce claimed that for him, “hacking was a game, a challenge”. Pryce may be classified as a black hat hacker, mainly because of his motif for hacking is pure power-tripping. An irresponsible recreational use of computers.
Where is he now?
“Richard Pryce decided there and then to have no more to do with computers. ‘Hacking is a waste of time,’ he said afterwards. ‘From now on I’m sticking to music.’ ” – Hackers (2001), David Orme.
