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The Kid Who Hacked the Pentagon (and paid with his life) — Transcript

by fern · 2,804 words · 469 segments · language en · Watch on YouTube

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0:00accused
0:03of hacking into Pentagon and Nazi
0:05systems. 40 million credit card and
0:07debit number stolen.
0:11>> On its surface, the International Space
0:13Station heats up to 120° C.
0:18The onboard temperature and humidity
0:20control system keeps the inside at the
0:22right temperature for human survival.
0:26If it fails, the astronauts stationed
0:27here would literally be cooked. And just
0:30now, a hacker has gotten hold of the
0:33system software.
0:37He's not a hostile government agent,
0:40just a 15-year-old in his bedroom. He
0:43successfully gained access to 13 NASA
0:45computers.
0:46This teenager is a prodigy, one of the
0:49most talented young hackers the world
0:51has ever seen.
0:53And he didn't just break into NASA, he
0:55also hacked the Pentagon.
0:57From his point of view, he's just toying
0:59around.
1:01From the government's perspective, he's
1:03a national security threat.
1:05>> Largest identity theft case ever.
1:07>> Largest data breach in US history
1:09>> that affected millions of people.
1:11>> One that humiliated them over and over
1:13again and one that they will go after
1:16ruthlessly.
1:17[Music]
1:21Confirmed.
1:27It's the year 1989, a suburban village
1:30in South Florida.
1:33This is Jonathan James. He is 6 years
1:35old.
1:37While other kids are outside playing
1:38tag, he's busy inside, glued to the
1:41family's computer. Mostly, he's just
1:43playing games. His parents are worried
1:46about his obsession. His dad is a
1:48programmer. At one point, he installs
1:50parental protection on the computer, but
1:53Jonathan just breaks through it.
1:57In his early teens, he starts reading
1:59books in the programming language C and
2:00the operating system Unix, a precursor
2:03for Linux and Mac OS. He studies source
2:06code extensively and talks to other
2:08computer enthusiasts.
2:10He spends countless hours in front of
2:11the computer, often until late into the
2:14night.
2:17One afternoon, Jonathan uninstalls
2:18Windows from his family PC, then
2:20installs Linux. No one asked him to. No
2:24one could stop him.
2:27His computer time regularly leads to
2:28arguments with his parents. It doesn't
2:31get any better once he gets his own PC.
2:34After a while, his parents decide to
2:36confiscate it. Jonathan runs away and
2:38says he's not coming home until he gets
2:40it back.
2:43Soon it won't be his parents who are
2:44trying to keep him away from a computer,
2:46but the US government.
2:48[Applause]
2:49[Music]
2:55At 15, Jonathan has long morphed from
2:58curious pre-teen to full-blown hacker,
3:00one of the youngest and best at the
3:03time. Online, he's known under his
3:05alias, Comrade. Jonathan really enjoys
3:09messing with systems, not to break them,
3:11but to beat them. It's a power thing, a
3:14control thing. He likes the thrill of
3:16it. The tougher the system, the more it
3:19pulls him in. He goes in, proves it's
3:22not so secure after all, and moves on.
3:24He doesn't care much about the stuff
3:25inside. He doesn't steal data, delete
3:28files, or spread viruses. In fact,
3:31sometimes he does the opposite. He'll
3:33break in, then send a polite little
3:34email to the system admin. Hey, your
3:37setup's got holes. Here's where. Here's
3:39how to fix it.
3:41[Music]
3:47In the summer of 1999, Jonathan is
3:49looking for a new challenge. So, he
3:51decides to hack NASA, more specifically
3:54the AY's Marshall Space Flight Center in
3:56Huntsville, Alabama.
3:59He gains access to 13 NASA computers.
4:02It's unclear how, and this time,
4:04Jonathan decides to actually take
4:05something. He downloads proprietary
4:08software valued at $1.7 million.
4:12It's the software for the temperature
4:13and humidity control of the ISS.
4:18In an interview, Jonathan will later
4:19say, "The code itself was crappy.
4:22Certainly not worth $1.7 million like
4:24they claimed. The only reason I was
4:26downloading the source code in the first
4:27place was because I was studying C
4:29programming. And what better way to
4:30learn than reading software written by
4:32the government."
4:34Just downloading the software didn't
4:35give Jonathan remote control over the
4:37ISS systems. Having the source code is
4:40one thing, but actually sending commands
4:42to his spacecraft is a whole different
4:43story. It would have taken more steps to
4:46actually access the system. But this
4:48hack is still a massive security breach.
4:52When NASA finds out, they have to shut
4:54down their systems for 3 weeks,
4:56resulting in damages of around $40,000.
5:01Two months later, Jonathan takes up his
5:03next challenge, hacking the Pentagon.
5:06More specifically, their Defense Threat
5:08Reduction Agency. It analyzes and deals
5:10with potential threats to the US from
5:12nuclear, chemical, and biological
5:14weapons.
5:16Jonathan gains access to a server in
5:17Bellis, Virginia, and installs a back
5:19door. Again, it is unknown how he
5:22actually pulled this off. Once inside
5:25DTR systems, he intercepts more than
5:273,300 messages to and from DTR staff. He
5:31retrieves 19 usernames and passwords of
5:33employees, at least 10 of which have
5:35access to military computers.
5:39Jonathan thinks his hacks are no big
5:40deal. To him, they are quote just
5:43harmless exploration. Law enforcement
5:45disagrees.
5:50[Music]
5:52It's an early morning in January 2000.
5:54Last month, Jonathan turned 16. By now,
5:58he has not one but multiple computers of
6:00his own. He is well connected with other
6:01hackers, sharing tips and tricks. He
6:04also loves Star Trek. His mother comes
6:07into the room and wakes him up.
6:09>> Jonathan, honey, the FBI is at the door.
6:16>> They're here for him.
6:18They raid his family home and take five
6:20computers. They also take his Palm
6:22Pilot, some CDs, and his Star Trek book.
6:26Bull choice for evidence.
6:30Jonathan is questioned by the officers.
6:32He admits everything and promises to
6:34never do it again. Then he hears nothing
6:36for 3 months.
6:39And then the authorities press charges
6:42and his life begins to change
6:43dramatically.
6:47Jonathan James becomes the youngest
6:49person ever convicted of violating cyber
6:51crime laws in the US. If Jonathan had
6:54been an adult, he might have ended up
6:55with a decade behind bars, but he's
6:58still a minor. So, the US District Court
7:00in Miami puts him on 6 months house
7:02arrest.
7:04Jonathan is no longer allowed to use his
7:05computers in his free time, and even
7:08worse, he has to write letters of
7:09apology to NASA and the Department of
7:11Defense. Later, he tests positive for
7:14drugs. a clear probation violation. So,
7:16he gets sent to a juvenile detention
7:18facility for 6 months. He's scared about
7:21spending time there with actual
7:22criminals.
7:25His father will later say that prison
7:26changed Jonathan. It made him strangely
7:29idle.
7:32Looking back, Jonathan regrets the whole
7:34thing. What started as fun challenges
7:36ended with him behind bars. The thrills
7:39weren't worth it. Not even close. From
7:41that point on, he decides to leave
7:43hacking behind for good. But not
7:45everyone believes him. And a few years
7:47later, his past life will catch up with
7:49him.
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8:59[Music]
9:03This is Albert Gonzalez. He's got a few
9:05things in common with Jonathan James. He
9:08was also born in the8s. He too is a
9:10self-taught hacker. When he was 14, he
9:13also broke into NASA systems. And as a
9:16consequence, he also got a visit by the
9:18FBI.
9:19But that didn't stop Gonzalez from
9:21hacking. Far from it. We don't know if
9:24Albert Gonzalez and Jonathan James knew
9:26each other, but they had a common hacker
9:28friend called Christopher Scott.
9:30Gonzalez went by many aliases on the
9:31internet, but his favorite was Soup
9:33Nazi, a reference to a Seinfeld episode.
9:36>> You want bread?
9:37>> Yes, please.
9:38>> $3.
9:40>> In early 2000s, Gonzalez stumbled across
9:42Shadow Crew, a marketplace for
9:44trafficking stolen credit and bank card
9:45numbers and identity information. And
9:48even though the feds are having an eye
9:49on him, he gets involved.
9:52In 2003, he gets caught trying to pull
9:54cash from an ATM using fake credit
9:56cards. To avoid jail time, he agrees to
9:59work with the Secret Service. Soon, he
10:02helps them bust a bunch of shadow crew
10:03members. You'd expect that his work as
10:05an informant for the Secret Service
10:07would stop him from any criminal
10:08activity. But well, in his view, the
10:11salary from the Secret Service is too
10:12low. So, he gets back to what he does
10:15best, hacking. He sets up an elaborate
10:18scheme he calls get rich or die trying.
10:20The scheme will turn into one of the
10:22world's biggest cases of identity theft.
10:24It'll ruin his life, but Jonathan James
10:27will end up dead.
10:29[Music]
10:34This is Scott, who is both friends with
10:36Gonzalez and James. Next to him, said
10:39someone who, according to criminal
10:40reports, is only known as JJ.
10:43They're doing something called war
10:45driving. It's a simple technique. You
10:48drive around in your car and park close
10:49to companies. You only need your laptop
10:52and a high power radio antenna. Once
10:54you're close enough, you check for
10:55vulnerabilities in their Wi-Fi network.
10:58Back then, most companies weren't
10:59exactly taking cyber security seriously.
11:02Inside Office Max, people are buying
11:04Post-its and whiteboard markers in four
11:06colors, gearing up for a meeting that
11:08probably could have been an email.
11:10Outside, Scott and JJ access the store's
11:12Wi-Fi and through that enter its
11:14systems. Once inside, they install a
11:17sniffer program which captures and
11:18downloads credit and debit card data
11:20from customers.
11:22Then they send the data to Gonzalez. He
11:24forwards it to another hacker who
11:26decrypts the PIN codes. Gonzalez and his
11:28crew don't just sell the stolen card
11:30info. They encode them onto blank
11:31magnetic strip cards and use those to
11:33pull tens of thousands of dollars out of
11:35ATMs.
11:37After the Office Max breach, banks were
11:39apparently forced to reissue around
11:40200,000 cards. And this hack wasn't a
11:43one-off. Over the span of the next three
11:45years, Gonzalez and his crew hack into
11:46several major US companies, including
11:48BJ's Wholesale Club, Boston Market,
11:51Barnes & Noble, Forever 21, and others.
11:54Their biggest credit card data heist
11:55happens at TJX. That's the parent
11:57company of TJ Maxx, Marshalls,
11:59HomeGoods, and others. Around 96 million
12:02TJX customers are affected by the theft
12:03of their credit and debit card info.
12:08At the time, these attacks make up the
12:10largest case of identity theft in US
12:12history. The crew stole the data of
12:14around 180 million credit and debit
12:16cards. The total damage of all infected
12:18companies amounts to roughly $400
12:20million US in reimbursements, legal
12:22costs, and forensic fees.
12:24>> There's a major break in a credit card
12:26scam that affected millions of people.
12:28Experts say this man's arrest may lead
12:31to the kingpin behind the biggest credit
12:34card ID theft in history.
12:37The Secret Service investigates and at
12:39one point they realize that their very
12:42own informant is not only involved but
12:44is a mastermind behind the TJX heist.
12:53May 2008, Pinerest, Florida. Jonathan
12:56James is 24 years old now.
12:58[Music]
13:00He doesn't go to college. He doesn't
13:01have a job. His mother died of breast
13:05cancer 6 years ago.
13:08Together with his brother, he still
13:10lives in the house he grew up in.
13:13He apparently suffers from depression.
13:16Overall, he's living a withdrawn life
13:18and is retired from hacking.
13:21But today, he'll get another surprise
13:23visit.
13:25This time, it's the Secret Service. They
13:27raid the family's house just like the
13:29FBI had done 8 years ago.
13:31They drew a connection from Gonzalez to
13:33Christopher Scott to him. They suspect
13:35that JJ is short for Jonathan James and
13:37that he's part of the hacker group. The
13:40agents go through Jonathan's stuff.
13:43They find a suicide note he had written
13:44years ago and a gun.
13:47We don't know if the agents offer him
13:48psychological help, but according to
13:50Jonathan, they don't confiscate the
13:52weapon.
13:53[Music]
13:56Jonathan is shocked. He swears that he
13:58has nothing to do with the TJX case.
14:00What's going on?
14:02On the subpoena, he's able to find some
14:04answers. He reads about this guy, Albert
14:07Gonzalez.
14:09Jonathan recognizes him by another
14:10nickname he used online.
14:13Gonzalez has been working as an
14:14informant for the feds since 2003. For 5
14:17years, Gonzalez used Scott to pull off
14:19his hacks while simultaneously writing
14:21out other hackers to the feds to stay in
14:23their good graces.
14:26Jonathan is sure that Gonzalez is now
14:27trying to pin the hacks on Scott.
14:30and he is getting a bad feeling. He
14:32thinks they'll be a much more appealing
14:33target than Chris.
14:36It might not matter to the feds that
14:37he's innocent. Even though, in his
14:40words, Scott and Gonzalez are the most
14:42destructive, dangerous hackers the feds
14:44ever caught. They'll let them off easy
14:46because he's a juicier target. That
14:48would please the public more.
14:50In Jonathan's mind, the picture is
14:52clear. They need a scapegoat. Not
14:55Gonzalez, not Scott, not the one who
14:57actually caused the damage, but him,
15:00Jonathan.
15:02In his words, the feds played dirty. He
15:05holds these beliefs for a reason.
15:08There's this paper that has made rounds
15:09in the hacker scene, Agent Steel's Guide
15:11to Getting Busted. It's basically a
15:13survival guide for hackers written by
15:15one who ended up in prison.
15:18Agent Steel's real name was Justin
15:19Tanner Peterson. He was an American
15:21hacker who worked as an informant for
15:23the feds while continuing to commit
15:25crimes.
15:27Agent Steel writes, "The criminal
15:28justice system is a game to be played
15:30both by prosecution and defense. And if
15:33you have to be a player, you'd be wise
15:34to learn the rules of engagement." He
15:37makes it clear that law enforcement
15:38isn't always fair. They play dirty and
15:40will do just about anything, including
15:42lie, to win their case.
15:44Jonathan read this guide and he knows
15:46that Gonzalez is working with the feds,
15:48so he's convinced he's going to prison
15:50even though he's innocent.
15:53The first time was already terrifying.
15:55He doesn't want to go through that
15:56again.
16:03[Music]
16:06On May 18th, 2008, 2 weeks after agents
16:09raided his home, Jonathan was found dead
16:11in his home after a self-inflicted
16:12gunshot wound.
16:14[Music]
16:16He wrote a note. There are messages to
16:18his family and friends, passwords to his
16:20accounts. In this letter, he also
16:22expresses his opinion on the
16:24authorities. He writes, "I have no faith
16:26in the justice system. Perhaps my
16:29actions today in this letter will send a
16:31stronger message to the public. Either
16:33way, I have lost control over the
16:35situation, and this is my only way to
16:37regain control." Remember,
16:40it's not whether you win or lose. It's
16:42whether I win or lose. And sitting in
16:45jail for 20, 10, or even 5 years for a
16:47crime I didn't commit is not me winning.
16:50I die free.
16:55[Music]
16:57In March 2010, Albert Gonzalez was
16:59sentenced to 20 years in federal prison
17:01for his role in the series of hacks. In
17:03the backyard of his parents, the Secret
17:05Service seized a barrel containing $1.2
17:072 million in cash. Christopher Scott was
17:11sentenced to 7 years in prison for his
17:12role in the attacks. It's likely that
17:15the pseudonym JJ didn't refer to
17:16Jonathan James, but rather to Steven
17:18Watt, another figure convicted in the
17:20TJX case, who was known to use the alias
17:22Jim Jones online.
17:25[Music]
17:27At the point of his death, Jonathan
17:28neither had been arrested, charged,
17:30tried, nor sentenced. It seems like
17:32knowing that Gonzalez had worked with
17:33the Secret Service fueled Jonathan's
17:35fear to become a scapegoat and end up in
17:37prison.
17:40Jonathan James wasn't some criminal
17:41mastermind. He was a teenager with a
17:44rare talent and a deep curiosity for how
17:46systems work. After he hacked into them,
17:48he often offered to help fix them.
17:53Instead of guiding such talents, helping
17:55to channel them into something good, the
17:57justice system decided to make an
17:58example out of him.
18:00[Music]

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