- Matthew Bevan
Mathew Bevan is a British hacker from
Cardiff ,Wales . In 1996 he was arrested for hacking into secure US government networks under the handle "Kuji". He was 21 when he hacked into the files of theGriffiss Air Force Base Research Laboratory inNew York [ [http://www.fas.org/irp/congress/1996_hr/s960605b.htm Security in Cyberspace: U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations] ] .Intent on proving a UFO Conspiracy Theory [ [http://www.phrack.org/issues.html?issue=42&id=13 Phrack magazine 4 Issue 42] ] ; his sole tool was aCommodore Amiga loaded with a blueboxing program called Roxbox.He was one of two hackers said to have "nearly started a third world war" according to Supervisory Special Agent Jim Christy [ [http://www.fas.org/irp/congress/1996_hr/s960605b.htm Security in Cyberspace: U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations] ] , at the time working for the
Air Force Office of Special Investigations Background
Bullied by his peers, Mathew had a difficult time with school and turned to the online world at night for an escape. Having been told ways to negate the phone system, he could call anywhere in the world without charges appearing on his bill. Mathew began to lead a double-life, a normal school life during the day followed by his now well publicized nocturnal activities.
On
June 21 ,1996 he was arrested in connection with hacking incidents relating to several sensitiveUSAF ,NASA andNATO establishments. The United States Senate had already misinterpreted the situation and branded Mathew's pseudonymKuji as a "Foreign Agent, possibly of Eastern European origin". [ [http://www.fas.org/irp/congress/1996_hr/s960605b.htm Security in Cyberspace: U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations] ]After 36 hours [ [http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Shadowlands/6583/project159.html UK Hacker Says He Found Anti-Gravity Engine File At W/P AFB] ] of interviews with police, he was charged with intent to secure access to computer systems belonging to the
US Air Force and defense manufacturer Lockheed.A
US Air Force investigator summed up the risks and concerns brought about by their hacking, how Bevan's alleged partnerRichard Pryce ("Datastream Cowboy"), then 16 years old, hacked his way into a research facility inKorea , and dumped the contents of the Korean Atomic Research Institute's database on the USAF system. [ [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C03E2D61539F937A15755C0A960958260 2d Briton Is Charged In Computer Spying] ] . The concern was that ifNorth Korea noticed, they would think the transfer of data was an intrusion by the US Air Force, and threaten physical retaliation for the espionage; fortunately it turned out to beSouth Korea n data, significantly less volatile.At Woolwich Crown Court, Friday 21 November 1997 some 18 months later, the CPS decided that it was no longer in the public interest to pursue the case. They offered 'no evidence' which resulted in a full
acquittal being recorded.Current
Mathew runs a computer consultancy and has worked with many media firms [ [http://www.theregister.co.uk/2001/03/29/exhacker_to_help_nintendo/ Ex-hacker to help Nintendo] ] in relation to computer technology and has commented on the
Gary McKinnon case as being very similar to his own. [ [http://www.theinquirer.net/en/inquirer/news/2006/05/10/hacker-mathew-bevan-vents-his-spleen-on-the-inq Mathew Bevan vents his spleen] ] [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4761985.stm History repeats for former hacker] ]He is a
holistic therapist trained in NLP,Reiki and clinicalhypnotherapy .Video Interview
* [http://www.kujimedia.com/?page_id=14 Lengthy interview citing history of the case along with tv spots]External links
* [http://www.kujimedia.com Kuji Media Corporation (archive of news stories relating to case)]
* [http://www.wasc.noaa.gov/wrso/security_guide/hacking.htm NOAA list of several hackers of U.S. Government systems]
* [http://www.soci.niu.edu/~crypt/other/afosi.htm Article about Mathew Bevan by Dr. George Smith, Ph.D. in his "Crypt Newsletter"]References
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