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<mailto:?subject=A document from
www.cybercrime.gov&body=A copy of a Press Release regarding Orange
County Man Pleads Guilty to hacking into Government Computers is
available by the following link: www.cybercrime.gov/diekman2.htm.
Additional information about cybercrime is available at
www.cybercrime.gov.>
*For Immediate Release
Press Release
**November 7,  2000* 	*/U.S. Department of Justice/* /
United States Attorney
Central District of California
/
/Thom Mrozek, PAO/
/(213) 894-6947/
/thom.mrozek@usdoj.gov/
/www.usdoj.gov/usao/cac/
/ /

------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

*Orange County Man Pleads Guilty to Hacking into Government Computers*



A Mission Viejo man has pleaded guilty to hacking into NASA computers
and using stolen credit card numbers to purchase electronic equipment,
United States Attorney Alejandro N. Mayorkas announced today.

Jason Allen Diekman, 20, pleaded guilty yesterday before United States
District Judge Dean D. Pregerson to one misdemeanor count of intentional
unauthorized access of a government computer and one felony count of
knowingly transmitting a program, code and command which recklessly
caused damage to a computer. He also pleaded guilty to a felony charge
of unauthorized use of a credit card.
 
 According to Assistant United States Attorney Arif Alikhan, Diekman
illegally accessed government computers at NASA's Jet Propulsion
Laboratory in Pasadena, NASA computers at Stanford University, and
numerous other government and university computer systems. Diekman, who
for the past two years used the nicknames "Shadow Knight" and "Dark
Lord," gained unauthorized "root-level" access to at least three
computer systems at JPL. This hacking activity gave him control over all
aspects of the computers, including the ability to modify files and
alter security on the systems.
 
The NASA computer systems at Stanford were used to develop sensitive
satellite flight control software used to control NASA satellites. As
part of his guilty plea, Diekman admitted that he caused $17,000 in
damage to these computers.
 
Federal agents discovered evidence on Diekman's computers indicating
that he intercepted usernames and passwords from universities, including
Harvard University in Massachusetts. In a statement he made to
investigators, Diekman admitted that he has hacked into "hundreds, maybe
thousands" of computers, including systems at JPL, Stanford, Harvard,
Cornell University, the California State University at Fullerton, and
University of California campuses in Los Angeles and San Diego.
 
In addition to the two charges related to his hacking activities,
Diekman  pleaded guilty to one count of using unauthorized access
devices - in this case a credit card number he used to make unauthorized
purchases. Diekman admitted that he caused approximately $6,000 in
losses when he used the credit card number to purchase electronic
equipment.
 
Diekman, who is being held in federal custody, is scheduled to be
sentenced by Judge Pregerson on February 5. At that time, he faces a
maximum possible penalty of 16 years in federal prison.
This case was investigated by special agents with NASA's Office of
Inspector General, who received assistance from special agents with the
Federal Bureau of Investigation, San Francisco Field Office.

 Release No. 00-197
 
 

 # # # #

------------------------------------------------------------------------

    * *More information on:  Diekman's Sentence <diekmanSent.htm>*
    * *More information on:  Diekman's Arrest <diekman.htm>*
    * *More information on:  Diekman's subsequent arrest for Scheme to
      Use Stolen Credit Cards to Make Wire Money Transfers <diekman3.htm>*
    * *More information on:  Computer Crime Cases <cccases.html>*

        

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Last updated June 3, 2002

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