a program called LINUX

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Hacker-plagued Sharon library drops the 'Net

       By Joshua Trudell, Globe Correspondent, 02/27/97
       It's an international high-tech war that Kip Roberson and Brian
       Myers have been fighting.
       Roberson, Sharon Public Library director, and Myers, a Canton
       computer consultant, are trying to stop an Asia-based hacker who
       has broken into the library's computer server and used it to roam
       the Internet and store files.
       This week, the library defenders have been forced to temporarily
       shut down the system's two Internet and e-mail-capable computers
       after the hacker's raids left a key program, called LINUX, in
       ruins.
       ``It's been a nuisance,'' Roberson said yesterday, as both popular
       machines sat dark.
       The hacker's vandalism has temporarily brought to an end the first
       public e-mail stations established in the state.
       ``A lot of people use this system,'' Roberson said. ``We operate
       at about 90 percent capacity; there are always people signed up to
       use the computers.'' The problem had not interfered with any
       patrons' e-mail accounts, he said.
       Roberson and Myers have traced the hacker - who uses the handle
       ``JSingh'' - to addresses in Thailand. Myers believes the hacker
       may actually be someone in Thailand, not a local person who is
       working through a Thai computer system.
       Roberson said the problem apparently started in November or
       December, when he began getting computer messages that the
       library's server memory was close to full.
       ``I didn't think anything of it at the time,'' he said.
       Then, early this year, Roberson tried to log on to the system and
       it wouldn't accept his password. At that point, he called in
       Myers, who determined that the library had a hacker problem.
       Myers said the hacker seems to have been using the Sharon library
       system to store personal computer files for ``quite a while. He
       was very sophisticated. He knew how to cover his tracks.''
       But Myers also said the hacker probably never would have been
       noticed if his activities had not affected Roberson's log-on
       routine. ``I don't know why he thought he could change the
       password,'' Myers said.
       Myers said the hacker would create programs to turn on the
       library's computer system and use its capabilities until 3 a.m.,
       when the programs would self-destruct.
       The hacker's program, he said, would search for information and
       moderate certain chat groups. Myers said he believes the hacker
       has not been chatting, but merely collecting information by a sort
       of remote control.
       ``While he slept, it was doing his bidding,'' Myers said.
       For about a month, Myers and Roberson battled the hacker by
       deleting the files he left in the Sharon library system. But the
       nightly intrusions continued unabated. Now they hope that shutting
       down the LINUX program and switching off the system's modem will
       keep him away.
       ``He had so many accounts and so many files, so much had been
       manipulated,'' Roberson marveled.
       Myers said the version of the LINUX program the library computer
       was using was 2 1/2 years old and had not been designed to be
       particularly secure. ``It was designed by hackers,'' Myers said.
       ``Not bad hackers, but great hackers.''
       Now Roberson and Myers are looking ahead. The library is expected
       to have a temporary Internet setup and e-mail capability within
       the week, and Roberson said he is asking town officials to help
       the library upgrade its computer system.
       ``It'll be back, stronger and more secure,'' Roberson said.
       The temporary shutdown has annoyed some Sharon residents.
       Joseph Graham, who lives in Sharon and works in Boston as a
       security officer, has used the town library computer to access
       news groups related to his work and to find information on his
       hobbies.
       ``Because someone has a little malice in their heart, or hearts,
       they are inconveniencing everyone,'' he said.
       This story ran on page b1 of the Boston Globe on 02/27/97.
       
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