Autor: lbs_at_phys.ufl.edu
Data: Tue 29 Nov 1994 - 06:31:56 MET
The Wall Street Journal
November, 28 November 1994
GE Says Computers Linked to Internet Were Infiltrated
by Jared Sandberg
New York
Computer hackers infiltrated General Electric Co. computers
connected to the Internet, according to a broadcast report
by GE's local NBC television station here.
The computer breach, which was confirmed by a GE spokeswoman,
gave the hackers access to research and proprietary information
on GE computers in two cities, according to the report on
WNBC-TV. The intruders, who managed to penetrate robust security
barriers, known as "firewalls," also looked at files pertaining
to NBC, the report said.
The hackers also obtained the passwords of workers who were
using GE computers to connect to more than a dozen other Internet
computers, including at least one other company and several
universities, according to the broadcast.
The GE spokeswoman said she didn't know details about the computer
break-in, but added, "We just know that the system was compromised."
She confirmed that after the breach was detected more than a week
ago, GE pulled its computers off the Internet and revamped its
security measures. GE reinstated its Internet connection Friday
night, a GE employee said.
GE, like many companies, has stepped up its efforts to make use
of the global network to take part in the burgeoning electronic
marketplace. Last month, the company publicized an informational
resource sponsored by its plastics division, supplying Internet
users with pricing and product information. The break-in, however,
underscores the potential vulnerability of connecting to
the Internet, which roughly 25,000 companies have registered to
use, according to Internet Info, a Falls Church, Va., research
firm.
Break-ins of this nature happen all the time, but few incidents
reach the public because companies -- especially those with
shareholders -- fear embarassment. Many companies also don't publicly
report computer security breaches for fear of giving hackers
information that could help them break in again. For that reason,
it is difficult to assess the cost of such intrusions, which give
hackers unauthorized control of computers and allow them to read
files or use customers' accounts.
In an apparently separate incident last week, an unauthorized user
broke into Pipeline Services, a popular Internet access provider
in New York, forcing the service to take its computers off-line
for five to six hours. System administrators said they caught
the intruder in progress and stopped from causing major damage,
which they believe he intended.
But Pipeline administrators didn't stop the culprit before he had
a chance to post a message on one of the Internet's many electronic
bulletin boards. The message, signed by group of hackers identifying
themselves as the Internet Liberation Front, warned corporate
America against commercializing the Internet into a "cesspool of
greed." The message also maintained that the hackers could break
into any computer connected to the network.
James Gleick, who founded the Pipeline service, said, "It's pure,
malicious vandalism. This is just self-indulgent, self-deluding
cover for the same kind of impulse that leads vandals to snap
antennas off cars."
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