Electron was the computer

handle A handle is a part of, or attachment to, an object that allows it to be grasped and manipulated by hand. The design of each type of handle involves substantial ergonomic issues, even where these are dealt with intuitively or by following tra ...

of Richard Jones, a member of an underground

hacker A hacker is a person skilled in information technology who uses their technical knowledge to achieve a goal or overcome an obstacle, within a computerized system by non-standard means. Though the term ''hacker'' has become associated in popu ...

community called The Realm. Jones, born in June 1969, was one of three members of the group arrested in simultaneous raids by the

Australian Federal Police The Australian Federal Police (AFP) is the national and principal federal law enforcement agency of the Australian Government with the unique role of investigating crime and protecting the national security of the Commonwealth of Australia. Th ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, on 2 April 1990. All three —

Nahshon Even-Chaim Nahshon Even-Chaim (born May 1971), aka Phoenix, was the first major computer hacker to be convicted in Australia. He was one of the most highly skilled members of a computer hacking group called The Realm, based in Melbourne, Australia, from the ...

(also known as ''Phoenix''), ''Electron'' and ''Nom'' (real name David John Woodcock) — were convicted of a range of computer crimes involving the intrusion into US defense and government computer systems and the theft of an online computer security newsletter in the late 1980s and early 1990.

Significance of case

The case was the first prosecution of hackers under Australian federal computer crime legislation that had come into law in June 1989. It was also the first time in the world police had gained a conviction using evidence obtained by the remote tapping of a computer. For six weeks before the raid, members of the AFP computer crime section had been capturing the online activity of the ringleader, Phoenix, in suburban Melbourne, from the police Telephone Intercept Branch in Canberra, 650 km away. His conversations with Electron and Nom, which were intercepted continuously for eight weeks before the raid, formed the basis of the evidence against both of Phoenix's co-offenders, as they freely discussed the targets of their hacking and bragged of their exploits. Electron pleaded guilty to 14 offences and in June 1993 was given a suspended six-month jail sentence and 300 hours

community service Community service is unpaid work performed by a person or group of people for the benefit and betterment of their community without any form of compensation. Community service can be distinct from volunteering, since it is not always performed ...

Media

A 1997 book by Suelette Dreyfus, '' Underground: Tales of Hacking, Madness and Obsession on the Electronic Frontier'', described the hackers' exploits; in 2005, former AFP computer crime investigator Bill Apro co-wrote a book, ''Hackers: The Hunt for Australia’s Most Infamous Computer Cracker'', in which he told of the police investigation he led that resulted in their arrest. All three offenders are named in the book. Electron's story was also told in a dramatised documentary, '' In the Realm of the Hackers'', which aired on Australia’s

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

Television in 2003.

References

Books *
Free electronic edition
) * Newspapers * ''Hack to the Future'', ''The Sunday Age'', 25 May 2003

* ''How I Nailed the Master Hacker'', Herald Sun, ''Sunday Herald Sun'', 31 July 2005. Magazines * ''Hackers 'plan revenge' for police clampdown on computer crime'': Extract of ''

New Scientist ''New Scientist'' is a magazine covering all aspects of science and technology. Based in London, it publishes weekly English-language editions in the United Kingdom, the United States and Australia. An editorially separate organisation publishe ...

'' article on arrest of hackers, 21 April 1990

Film * '' In the Realm of the Hackers'', written and directed by Kevin Anderson, (Film Australia, 2002, 55 minutes

E-zines: * Reprint of article ''Hacker Revelled In Spotlight, Court Told'' (

The Age ''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria (Australia), Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Austral ...

, 23 August 1993) in

Phrack ''Phrack'' is an e-zine written by and for hackers, first published November 17, 1985. Described by Fyodor as "the best, and by far the longest running hacker zine," the magazine is open for contributions by anyone who desires to publish remarkabl ...

* Reference in The Risks Digest to article in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', 4 April 1990, on arrest of hackers

References

External links

Crimes Legislation Amendment Act 1989
dealing with offences relating to computers {{DEFAULTSORT:Electron 1969 births Place of birth missing (living people) Living people Australian criminals Computer criminals

Significance of case

Media

See also

References

References

External links