THE STORY OF C0SMOS -------------------- Downloaded off Scan Line -------------------- Distributed by: Twisted Sector -------------------- The story that follows was reproduced by the original 'Time Lord' now know to all as The Scanner. Contrary to belief he is not a Fed. In fact he is back on-line again with a new board! ----------------------------------------March 28, 1987 Edited for Scan Line systems under C0SMOS communications. 313/851-0912 ----------------------- By Kieth Gave Free Press Staff Writer ----------------------- He called himself The Time Lord and he ruled 'Cosmos' from a bedroom in his parents' West Bloomfield home - untill the FBI came and shut down the 15 year old who had masterminded one the coun- try's most notorious computer bulletin boards. A sophomore at Birmingham Groves High School, he ran the electronic equival- ent of a street gang with the Apple //e computer he recieved as a birthday gift two years ago. The hackers traded information on how to make bombs and scramble the phone company. They swapped illegally obtain- ed credit card numbers that many of them used to charge thousands of dollars worth of merchandise. The youth said only the 'elite' among computer hackers frequented his board, which took the name Cosmos from Bell Telephone Co's. computer systems. He is not named here because he is a juvenile, he has not been charged and his parents asked his name not be used. "I had about 80 regular users on the board" he said, adding that only about a handful were from the Detroit area. Probably 75 percent were into credit card fraud. Although Time Lord was not charged, he was questioned at length by federal authorities. The FBI agent in charge of computer hackers in the Detroit area would not comment other then to say the youths he has talked with 'seem to be bright, affluent and board kids." John Anthony, FBI spokesman in De- troit, said authorities "have no idea how many are involved." "Thats one of the problems. I don't think we know for sure how amny are out there," Authony said. "These type of crimes are hard to detect and when you do, its usually the tip of the iceberg" The FBI's April 18 visit to Time Lords home turned up plenty, thanks to a willing young man who admitted think- ing like most of his friends, he would never get caught. 'They knocked on the door and my mom answered, she told me the FBI was here to see me about Cosmos," said Time Lord, a slender, well-spoken young man. "I just froze right there." Amoung the material tunred up was a printout of Cosmos' user list that in- cluded such names as Ima hacker, The (414) Wizard, The Anarchist and various other popular hackers. Agents also found the youths pass- words to other similar systems around the country. These Included The World of Cryton, a Milwaukee board popular amoung credit card theives who were arrested last month. Time Lord talked with with agents from the FBI and the Secret Service and Farminging Hills police officer Paul Cavan (WHO WAS OUTA HIS FUCKEN DISTRICT AT THE TIME AND SHOULDN'T OF BEEN THERE ANYWAYS) for a short time before they were joined in his room by his unwitting parents. "They were totally shocked. They had no idea" said Time Lord, the oldest of six children, who said he tried to ex- plain to his parents why the phone rang at all hours of the night. Indeed, C0SMOS built quite a rep- utation. Newsweek mentioned it in one of its stories about computer hackers. Other reporters also have called since the interrogation. Cosmos apparently was a pacesetter amoung bulletin boards, Cavan said. "Anybody interrested in setting up a board in the Detroit area, thats the one they modeled it after," Cavan said. "There were eight levels of access. (HA. THERE WERE NINE BUDDY!) You could by your way up with credit card numbers or other criminal infor- mation." (YEAH RIGHT, YOU HAD TO PASS A TEST TO GET ACCESS, SHOWS WHAT THIS DUDE KNEW ABOUT IT.) Subject matter found on the board was trashing, phreaking and hacking. This was the usual stuff you would find on these types of boards. John Maxfield, (ALIAS: CABLE PAIR) a self described 'hacker tracker' who has compiled a list of then 1,200 com- puter bad guys concurred. "These guys are real pros," said Max- field, a computer security consultant for several firms. "There running the credit cards to their limit". "These guys have graduated from War Games fun to a real kind of electronic underworld," Maxfield said from his Detroit office. ---------- Well, we all know how much the media blows things up and you should re- ize that this took place a while ago. The good boards only TALK ABOUT the way phoco works and don't post stupid c0dzes (heh) or anything that would get you busted. I hope you enjoyed reading this little bit of information as much as I enjoyed participating in it. ---------- For those of you who were asking what C0SMOS communications was/is, I hope this kinda cleared things up. ---------- (>