Chad Davis
| Chad Davis | |
|---|---|
| Born |
1981 (age 35–36) San Diego, California |
| Residence | Maidstone, England |
| Other names | Mindphasr |
| Occupation | Hacker/cracker |
Chad Davis (born 1981?) is an American hacker (or cracker) from Green Bay, Wisconsin, who operated under the alias of Mindphasr. He was the subject of one of the most high-profile prosecutions of cybercriminals of the late 20th century. Davis is a founding member of the globalHell syndicate of hackers, and is suspected to have authored or participated in the hacking of the websites of numerous businesses and government agencies.[1]
Biography
Arrest and prosecution
On June 2, 1999, Davis's apartment was searched in a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) attempt to crack down on members of globalHell, who had just weeks before vandalized the homepage of the White House. Davis was not charged with any crime relating to his computer activities on this occasion. However, as he was underage at the time, he was fined $165 for a can of beer investigators discovered in his refrigerator.[2]
On June 28, in retaliation for the search, Davis allegedly hacked the homepage of the US Army,[3] vandalizing it with the message "globalHell will not die", and shutting it down for four hours.[4] The case was immediately assigned to the Computer Crime Resident Agency of the Army's Criminal Investigation Command, and to the FBI. Davis was taken into custody shortly afterwards.[5]
United States Attorney Thomas Schneider told reporters, "Even though the intrusion involved an unclassified Army computer network, the intruder prevented use of the system by Army personnel. Interference with government computer systems are not just electronic vandalism, they run the risk of compromising critical information infrastructure systems."[6]
On January 4, 2000, Davis pleaded guilty to intentionally hacking a protected computer and causing damage. On March 1, 2000, Judge Joseph P. Stadtmueller sentenced him to six months in prison, US$8,054 in restitution, and three years' probation, and forbade Davis from using or aiding anyone else in the use of a computer.[7]
Post-conviction
Since his incarceration in 2000, Davis has gone on to a career as an independent jewelry designer. As a jeweler, he has also been hired by some of the world's top corporations to oversee repairs and design.
Fallout
Other computer security experts predicted a massive wave of retaliation from the hacker community for the aggressive pursuit of globalHell members. However, as of 2010, only one other group of hackers — known as Team Spl0it — has explicitly taken up the call for retaliation, by committing low-grade vandalism of several commercial web sites unaffiliated with the federal government.[8]
Davis's successful prosecution for hacking — and the concurrent successful prosecution along with his wife, Jennel Whitehead, of fellow globalHell members Patrick W. Gregory, Eric Burns, and Russell Sanford — was actually seen by commentators to be the turning point in the attitude of globalHell, which has since declared itself legitimate.[9]
Modus operandi
Officials said that Davis typically used the ColdFusion software development framework, and attacked vulnerabilities in Microsoft Windows programs to gain backdoor entry into a system.[7] Davis did not program in ColdFusion; rather, he exploited a vulnerability discovered by rain.forest.puppy and extended to allow file uploads by a member of the L0pht.[10] Davis also allegedly used Domain Name System spoofing extensively, especially on the Eris Free Network.
In pop culture
"Chad Davis" is the name of the main character of Spyros Nomikos and Herbert Hugh Thompson's 2004 techno-thriller The Mezonic Agenda: Hacking the Presidency.[11] The character is a computer intrusion expert and "ethical hacker" who testifies before the United States Congress about the vulnerability of certain computer networks.
References
- ↑ Suro, R. (1999). "FBI Raid Fails to Deter Cracker; 'Global Hell' Continues Attacks". The Washington Post. Retrieved October 30, 2006.
- ↑ Taylor, C. (1999). "Geeks Vs. G-Men: A virtual shooting war breaks out between hackers and the FBI. Are the kids really worth the trouble?" Time. Retrieved October 31, 2006
- ↑ US Army home page
- ↑ HPCwire Article # 16194 Archived September 28, 2007, at the Wayback Machine.
- ↑ Chad Davis, "Global Hell" Hacker, Sentenced to Six Months in Prison, Three Years Probation, for Air Force Network Hacks (March 1, 2000) Archived October 8, 2006, at the Wayback Machine.
- ↑ Newton, Michael (2004). The Encyclopedia of High-Tech Crime and Crime-Fighting. Checkmark Books, an imprint of Facts on File Inc. ISBN 0-8160-4979-3.
- 1 2 "Chad Davis, "Global Hell" Hacker, Sentenced to Six Months in Prison, Three Years Probation., For Air Force Network Hacks". United States Department of Justice. March 1, 2000. Archived from the original on May 11, 2009. Retrieved May 11, 2009.
- ↑ Lovesick hacker hits Microsoft site | Tech News on ZDNet
- ↑ Global Hell says it's going legit | Tech News on ZDNet Archived November 16, 2006, at the Wayback Machine.
- ↑ Allaire ColdFusion Remote File Display, Deletion, Upload and Execution Vulnerability.
- ↑ The Mezonic Agenda: Hacking the Presidency Archived July 16, 2006, at the Wayback Machine.