Hacker jailed for SWAT team prank

[piXelatedEmpire]

Story : http://www.theage.com.au/news/security/hacker-jailed-for-swat-team-prank/2008/03

A computer hacker was sentenced to three years in prison for placing a phony emergency call that led police to storm a family home at gunpoint.

It marked the first prosecution in Orange County, in South California, for a prank known as "swatting" that involves sending SWAT teams - special weapons and tactics units - on fruitless chases, said county district attorney's spokeswoman Farrah Emami today.

Randal Ellis, 19, pleaded guilty yesterday in Orange County Superior Court to five felony counts, including computer access and fraud, false imprisonment by violence and falsely reporting a crime.

He was given prison time and ordered to pay $US14,765 ($A16,050) in restitution, most of which will go to the county Sheriff's Department.

[MrFredPFL]

good. real cute, asshole. be happy they only gave you 3 years.

[Psycho Ced]

I can't disagree. This is beyond a prank. The poor family and toddlers aside, what if these officers were needed elsewhere? Idiot kid ruined his own life and could have ruined that families too.

[Paladwyn]

Yeah, there are pranks out there alot more acceptable than sending swat teams on fruitless chases, I would have loved to see the look on that moron's face when the swat team raided HIS house.

[Reniya]

That father could have gotten killed because he thought he may have to defend his family. That fucking moron, I hope he gets ass raped with a salted cactus. Nuff said. They should have given him more in my opinon.

[shevaberg]

Only 3 years.. Should get a lot longer

[Fartingbob]

Guess im the only one to find it funny then....

[loserboy]

the only thing i'm wondering is did he think he wouldnt get caught just because he used a redirect of some sort.... he's a schmuck

[shevaberg]

Guess im the only one to find it funny then....

I find it funny he is getting 3 years.... he should get longer....

[Fartingbob]

I think 3 years for making a single prank call is very severe.

[Psycho Ced]

A prank is ordering a pizza to the wrong house with a phone booth or telling some 2nd grade classmate you love them while pretending to be some kid you hate so you can laugh when he gets called down to the principals office the next day. (I never did either but knew people who did.)

"Five felony counts, including computer access and fraud, false imprisonment by violence and falsely reporting a crime" is more then a prank.

[fischju]

A prank is ordering a pizza to the wrong house with a phone booth or telling some 2nd grade classmate you love them while pretending to be some kid you hate so you can laugh when he gets called down to the principals office the next day. (I never did either but knew people who did.)

"Five felony counts, including computer access and fraud, false imprisonment by violence and falsely reporting a crime" is more then a prank.

Nah, go to the business district of your town, and find 2 places right next to each other. Call one, pretending to be from the other, and say some profanities, and that you are coming to pick up $90 in change (that you arranged yesterday). Then call the person you were imitating, and and ask for help (imitating the guy from the first store) because you have a problem with your register or something. Then watch.

[MrFredPFL]

somebody could easily have been killed, bob. you really think that's funny?

[Fartingbob]

when you speed in your car someone COULD die, that doesnt mean you should be arrested and jailed for 3 years for every time you speed. You should be punished yes, im not saying he should have walked. But 3 years for this is definitely overkill.

[Psycho Ced]

Actually good point, but I am sure there are some who would argue that perhaps you should get longer sentences based on how fast you were going, but I won't play devils advocate just for the sake of doing so. But if you're going to use this example in reference to Fred's question; do you think that speeding in a manner that increases the possibility of someone getting killed in an accident is funny?

[Fartingbob]

do you think that speeding in a manner that increases the possibility of someone getting killed in an accident is funny?

Well no i don't, but its more the way he did it by hacking a supposedly secure government network. Reminds me of the early days when people hacked phone companies to get free calls and just to test their abilities.
I wouldn't be surprised if the kid was doing just that, seeing if he could get into the network (not to dissimilar from people cracking DRM because its a challengeand "The Man" says it cant be done), found he could fake the location of a phone call and then decided to play around.
He crossed the line when he made the fake call, but up to that point i think what he was doing was funny.

[MrFredPFL]

so you're saying driving faster than the speed limit is no different from sending several armed people into what they think is a murder scene? and that the other people on the road are going to be as upset as the family whose home is invaded by these armed people?

three years is underkill, if anything. there is nothing funny about this. it's not funny to terrorize strangers because you think it's cute. it's not funny to send police into a situation where they think they might be facing an armed assailant. it's not funny to waste everyone's time and money just because you figured out a way how to. it's not funny.

[thaeuaeb]

It seems that all you of you are missing the big picture here. The blame is not only this "hacker" but also with and more so the police. First of all you don't have the be a hacker to spoof your telephone number or falsify the originating phone number. The spoofing services are available to anyone with an internet connection and they are all over the internet. So it seems to me that law enforcement and government are trying to make him appear to be more vicious then he should take credit for to shift all the responsibility and to mask the degenerateness of the police. Thats why they are charging him with computer access and fraud. To make him appear to be a hacker. Excuse me but you don't have to illegally access a computer to do what he did. And certainly just accessing a computer can't be illegal cause then we would all be guilty. That was obviously a phony charge.

This is the police state in action. What could you have possibly have said to get the SWAT team to be dispatched? Even if it had be a real situation like a domestic issue; why send a SWAT team to a residence? What is does show is the over zealous and aggressive police state. Please don't get me wrong- there is some blame for the "computer hacker" but don't' believe the spin.

[Paladwyn]

A prank is ordering a pizza to the wrong house with a phone booth or telling some 2nd grade classmate you love them while pretending to be some kid you hate so you can laugh when he gets called down to the principals office the next day. (I never did either but knew people who did.)

"Five felony counts, including computer access and fraud, false imprisonment by violence and falsely reporting a crime" is more then a prank.

And if he downloaded a song, he's be sentenced to ALOT more...

[stabnore]

Why are cops dumb enough to fall for this?

One anonymous phone call should not be enough to order a SWAT team raid.

I'm not defending the kid but grown men running into someones house armed to the teeth on the basis of an anonymous tip is just stupid.

Why is he called a hacker in the story? It doesn't say he hacked anything just that he made a prank call.

[shevaberg]

when you speed in your car someone COULD die, that doesnt mean you should be arrested and jailed for 3 years for every time you speed. You should be punished yes, im not saying he should have walked. But 3 years for this is definitely overkill.

You are comparing speeding to someone pointing an assulat rifle at your head waiting for you to sneeze wrong....
something is not funny there....

[MrFredPFL]

stabnore: he didn't anonymously report a possible murder at another location. he spoofed the originating phone number to the 911 system, and said it had happened there. you can't expect 911 to take their time confirming the validity of every apparent phone number - if they do that, LOTS of people die.

[Psycho Ced]

do you think that speeding in a manner that increases the possibility of someone getting killed in an accident is funny?

Well no i don't, but its more the way he did it by hacking a supposedly secure government network. Reminds me of the early days when people hacked phone companies to get free calls and just to test their abilities.
I wouldn't be surprised if the kid was doing just that, seeing if he could get into the network (not to dissimilar from people cracking DRM because its a challengeand "The Man" says it cant be done), found he could fake the location of a phone call and then decided to play around.
He crossed the line when he made the fake call, but up to that point i think what he was doing was funny.

I guess I can see where you're coming from.
But I still think he got what he deserved.

[Fartingbob]

Why is he called a hacker in the story? It doesn't say he hacked anything just that he made a prank call.

Actually he did, although as thaeuaeb said anyone can fake or hide their actual phone number using online tools.

Prosecutors said he hacked the 911 system and transmitted phony information that appeared to show he was calling from a Lake Forest home.

And SWAT teams are (we hope) very well trained on when to shoot someone and when not to. Unless the guy went psycho at them they wouldnt shoot for no reason. And i expect every sane person when seeing a SWAT team with guns pointing at them would decide that going psycho would not be the best idea at that moment.

Anyway, it should be mentioned that i have a rather dark sense of humour, and in situations like this when no-one was actually hurt i dont see why its so bad.

[Psycho Ced]

A prank is ordering a pizza to the wrong house with a phone booth or telling some 2nd grade classmate you love them while pretending to be some kid you hate so you can laugh when he gets called down to the principals office the next day. (I never did either but knew people who did.)

"Five felony counts, including computer access and fraud, false imprisonment by violence and falsely reporting a crime" is more then a prank.

And if he downloaded a song, he's be sentenced to ALOT more...

Only if it was copyright protected by a member of the RIAA,
and only if he were making it available for others to download,
and most likely if he were sharing a rather large amount of songs copy write protected by members of the RIAA,
and only if he got caught doing all the above
and only if the RIAA chose to take him to court
and only if the judge/jury agreed with the plaintive(s)
and any other details I'm too lazy to think of.


Though I can see the RIAA reading your version and saying "If only!"