trial haunted by images of life in the twilight zone: in the hacking underworld, paul bedworth was an unlikely villain. susan watts reports - outdoor electronic message boards

The image of a hacker crouching on his microcomputer in a dark bedroom has plagued Paul Bedworth's trial.
Cracking another computer, sniffing, and perhaps leaving some of the thrill of an electronic footprint is an opportunity to brag to other hackers.
However, somehow, at 16-
Day Southwark Crown Court, as described by the defense, "show trial", skinny, wan 19-year-
The old seems to always be an unlikely villain.
The jury is the second jury in the UK to deal with computer hackers, facing a young man whose best friend is the one he chats through the screen in the electronic underworld;
One told the psychiatrist that he would rather spend two hours with a computer than with a person.
Instead of challenging the facts, the defense asked the jury to decide that Paul Bedworth was bad.
He admitted that he had access to many computers not only in Britain.
He caused panic among system managers, whose machines began to run strangely, running mysterious phone bills.
Some people have to stop their computer in order to check whether the data is safe.
But the question raised by the defense was whether Mr Bedworth was driven by such a strong obsession with computers that he prevented him from forming a criminal intention.
Does he have the "guilty thought" necessary for a jury conviction "?
The three allegations Mr. Bedworth faces are "conspiracies ".
But the defense asked if the conversation with the other teengers over the computer chat line could really be said to be a conspiracy, or if Mr Bedworth was basically operating alone, just swapping the odd
With modern information-day pen pals?
At the age of 11, he joined his Computer Club in Ilkley, West Yorkshire, but soon got tired of switching games.
Once he bought a modem, he found out that he could "talk" to the world outside the bedroom ".
He started hacking around the age of 14 using the BBC Microcomputer his mother bought for him.
At that time, hacking was not illegal.
This has only become the case with the introduction of the 1990 Computer Abuse Act.
He started jumping on the bulletin board.
Electronic information point-
There are strange fantasy names like "tigerlair" and "lucifer ".
He used the password that stayed at the travel agency's desk to access the computerized holiday booking form, but quickly turned to a more challenging goal to get a bigger and more powerful machine, often "borrow" the name and password of a legitimate user.
After entering the computer, his main goal is to get the privileged "super"
User or root status.
This makes him equal to the system manager, which means that he can change any file on his computer.
Like other hackers, he "hopes" from one computer to another.
In most cases, he will only be charged for a local call.
Once he enters a machine, the organization that owns it will bear the cost of subsequent calls to a continuous computer.
Once his BBC Micro-signal enters, it becomes a keyboard.
The ability and complexity of operating a remote computer is greatly improved.
He did not gain any financial benefit and claimed that he did not tamper with the data on the system he entered.
However, he admitted that he put his program into some computers.
The European Commission's computer staff alerted the professional computer crime unit in Scotland Yard.
Police have been informed by a hacker named "wandii" that he is using a computer as his main launch pad at Leeds Institute of Technology.
The Institute of Technology offers a free service that gives students access to Janet, the national network that connects academic institutions.
From Leeds, he entered the computer field of other educational institutions and made phone calls through BT's "Packet Exchange stream" or PSS data network to reach the world of machines --wide.
The police asked the Institute of Technology to install a monitor on the computer.
This "list" of data traffic is the same as the way the phone listens for sound.
In early June 1991, the Institute of Technology called the unit and said Wandii had logged into its computer and was using it to invade another computer at Bristol Institute of Technology.
Police contacted British Telecom investigators who tracked the phone from Bristol to Leeds and finally tracked Bedworth's home in Ilkley.
They raided the property at 11.
At 40 p. m. on June 26, 1991, Mr. Bedworth was accused of conspiring to obtain the telecom service with dishonesty, plotting to modify computer materials without authorization, and conspiring to ensure unauthorized access to computer materials.
The second count is the worst, with a maximum of five.
Years in prison.
Police said they chose the conspiracy because Mr Bedworth entered so many computers that listing all of them would result in an indictment of the length of the telephone directory.
The prosecution focused on five of his hacks, one involving a computer owned by the European Community Council in Luxembourg, where he secured his home --
Made a bulletin board.
This flashed the greeting of wandii's "Welcome to the magic mushroom.
He also got a computer on the Financial Times and used it as a transit point to other computers.
He installed a "scan program" on the machine, which automatically calls other computer phone numbers once the settings are running, hoping that people will respond and get a big prize.
In some cases, he may cause serious harm.
In June 1991, he obtained confidential medical records of thousands of cancer patients in a database in Brussels.
The computer that holds this database is vulnerable and remains the username and password given to the maintenance engineer.
Mr. Bedworth added another scanning program to this computer, which has made about 50,000 unauthorized calls over a week.
The defense says James Griffith
As an expert witness, Edwards, professor of addiction at the University of London.
He helped write WHO's definition of addiction and has years of clinical experience.
He interviewed Mr Bedworth and found him alone and vulnerable.
But the professor also found that he had an unusual talent in eight O-
Level subjects, passed-
Level of 15 years old and get two As and A-B in the other three-level subjects.
He never had a girlfriend and said he wanted one, but he didn't know how to ask a girl out.
He became very embarrassed when asked to talk about his feelings.
The professor said he couldn't cope at all when asked what he was.
Professor Griffith, what bothers him is the intellectual challenge of trying to defeat the security of the systemEdwards said.
This is the core of attracting gamblers.
He repeated 12 times in an interview with the police: "I'm just addicted . "
In his view, the professor said, Mr. Bedworth could not stop, and that obsession deprived him of the freedom of choice.
The prosecution questioned whether he would become addicted, since his activities were "obviously enjoyable.
There is no evidence that he is trying to resist and there is no evidence that this seriously affects his family or school life.
It believes that his "vandalism" is still vandalism, although it requires great intelligence.
Bedworth now thinks hacking is "stupid ".
He is a second-year student in the University of Edinburgh's artificial intelligence program.
He is designing a computer system that can recognize handwriting.
This is one of the more difficult tasks for computers.
John Butler, computer service manager at the university department, said a student who is obsessed with climbing in the system is recognized for his identity.
"I usually tell them to find beer and women, and that happens occasionally.
He also said that this is a new area of morality.
We are dealing with things under the age of 20.
Our moral values in other areas can be traced back centuries ago.
The investigation, which lasted two years, involved police officers of eight units and BT's own special investigators, led the defense to describe the trial as a "sledgehammer against crime ".
One question was not answered: Mr Bedworth is not a happy manraider.
He did not commit violence.
Why didn't the police warn him that they knew about his activities and gave him a chance to stop? (
Slightly) photos