Security News > 2002 > January > Accused Los Alamos hacker freed, barred from using computers

http://www.nandotimes.com/technology/story/232587p-2233872c.html SAN JOSE, Calif. (January 29, 2002 9:44 p.m. EST) - A former Los Alamos National Laboratory computer specialist accused of hacking was set free on $50,000 bond Tuesday and ordered to stay away from computers and several other electronic devices. Jerome Heckenkamp, 22, was charged last year in federal courts in San Jose and San Diego with breaking into the networks of eBay, Exodus Communications, Qualcomm, Juniper Networks, ETrade, Lycos and Cygnus Support Solutions, causing more than $1 million in damage. The acts allegedly occurred when Heckenkamp was a graduate student at the University of Wisconsin, before he worked at Los Alamos. He had been free on $50,000 bond - and allowed to use a computer, but not the Internet - until Jan. 18, when he asked to be put in jail so the friend who posted the money for him could get it back. Heckenkamp said he wanted to fire his lawyer and represent himself. Heckenkamp later decided to keep his attorney and asked to be freed again. But prosecutor Ross Nadel said there was evidence Heckenkamp had violated his original bond agreement by getting on the Internet. U.S. Magistrate Judge Patricia Trumbull said she was puzzled by Heckenkamp's strange behavior and worried she could not trust him to stay off the Internet. So she freed him on $50,000 bond posted by his father, placed Heckenkamp on electronic monitoring and barred him from using computers, fax machines, cell phones and video games. A judge in San Diego also must approve the terms. Heckenkamp's first trial, in San Jose, is set to begin March 19. Hacking charges carry up to five years in prison. - ISN is currently hosted by Attrition.org To unsubscribe email majordomo () attrition org with 'unsubscribe isn' in the BODY of the mail.

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