Two Arrests Made in NASA Hacking

N E W   Y O R K, July 13 -- A 15-year-old high school student and a20-year-old man have been arrested and accused of hacking into NASAcomputers.

It was not clear whether the cases were linked.

The teen surrendered Tuesday for allegedly hacking into two NASAcomputers in Hampton, Va., and a third computer in Bethpage, N.Y.His name was not released by Suffolk County police.

Also, Raymond Torricelli, 20, was arrested at his New Rochellehome Wednesday and charged with breaking into two computers inNASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., andpossessing stolen passwords. The lab is the base of NASA’s roboticspace exploration program, having launched missions to every planetexcept Pluto.

Muppets in Space?

The teen hacker allegedly broke into the NASA computers inNovember. He was charged with computer tampering and released intohis father’s custody.

He allegedly defaced the NASA Web site by adding the message“SSH is coming,” for the hacker name “Sesame Street Haxorz.”

Police said he replaced system files with computer graffiti,including an image of the Sesame Street character Elmo.

Though he did not access sensitive or classified information,the teen, who said he was being tutored by another hacker online,caused about $5,000 in damage, said Special Agent James Jackson ofNASA’s Office of the Inspector General.

Meanwhile, investigators said they found 76,000 passwords onTorricelli’s computer, including usernames from computers owned bySan Jose State University and Georgia Southern University.

Mary Beth Murrill, a spokeswoman for the Pasadena lab, declinedto comment on the case but said security has since been improved.

“We have a computer security system like any other largeorganization but we don’t discuss it,” she said.

Torricelli was released on $50,000 bail. If convicted of themost serious charge — unauthorized password possession — he faces up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.