| ==Phrack Inc.== | |
| Volume Three, Issue Thirty-one, Phile #2 of 10 | |
| -*[ P H R A C K # 3 1 P R O P H I L E ]*- | |
| -*[ June 1, 1990 ]*- | |
| -*[Phz]*- | |
| ---[ Markus Hess ]--- | |
| Recently the Phrack editors had the opportunity to talk to Markus Hess in | |
| his tiny Hannover flat. This special edition of the Phrack Prophile details | |
| our conversation, as well as general background information about the German | |
| Hacker. | |
| This Phrack Prophile is not in the same format as previous ones because of | |
| the nature of the profile. In the next issue, we will reform back to the | |
| orginal creator's format. | |
| AGE: 26 | |
| HEIGHT: 5' 10" | |
| HAIR COLOR: BROWN | |
| EYES: BROWN | |
| FROM: Hannover, West Germany | |
| PAST EMPLOYMENT: Software developer in Hannover. | |
| PEOPLE: Stephen Winero, Walu Holland (Other CCC members) | |
| STRENGTHS: AT&T Unix, VAX, SunOs and BSD os's | |
| Hess, most well known as the hacker who's exploits are detailed in | |
| Clifford Stoll's _The_Cuckoo's_Egg_, "is as paranoid on the telephone as he | |
| is on the computer." Although he was very reluctant to talk to us, we did | |
| manage to talk to him about hacking and _The_Cuckoo's_Egg_. | |
| Ringing Hanover.. | |
| RING | |
| RING | |
| RING | |
| ANSWERED | |
| HESS: Hallo? | |
| PHRACK: Is this Markus Hess? | |
| HESS: Yes. | |
| PHRACK: Do you smoke Benson & Hedges? | |
| (At this point we weren't sure it was actually him) | |
| HESS: Yes, who is this? | |
| PHRACK: We are calling from the USA, we want to ask you some questions. | |
| We talk to hackers in the USA. | |
| HESS: I won't have anything to do with hackers anymore. I have talked in | |
| court earlier this year. | |
| PHRACK: Did you know you were in a novel about a hacker in the US? | |
| HESS: Novel? Yes, I know of a novel. | |
| PHRACK: Have you read the book? | |
| HESS: Yes I have read the book. | |
| PHRACK: Is it all true? Is it all true? Do you think Cliff lied or tried | |
| to exaggerate in the book? | |
| HESS: Yes, I think so. | |
| HESS: Yes, He lied. | |
| PHRACK: Have you ever talked to Stoll? | |
| HESS: I have talked to him, but not privately. I don't want to talk about | |
| this. | |
| PHRACK: Have you ever seen Cliff Stoll? | |
| HESS: Yes I have seen him. | |
| (We might think this from the back of the book) | |
| PHRACK: He's goofy looking isn't he? | |
| HESS: goofy? I don't understand. | |
| PHRACK: Anyway, so you think he lied in the book? | |
| HESS: Yes, he lied. | |
| PHRACK: What did he lie about? | |
| HESS: I don't want to talk about this. | |
| PHRACK: Okay, are you in the Chaos Computer Club? | |
| HESS: No, I won't have anything to do with hackers any more. | |
| PHRACK: Were you ever involved with them? | |
| HESS: No. I was not in it. | |
| PHRACK: Do you know anyone in it [the CCC]? | |
| HESS: Yes. I really must go now. | |
| PHRACK: Who do you know in it [the CCC]? | |
| HESS: Stephen Winero. | |
| PHRACK: Is that it? | |
| HESS: I know Walu. | |
| PHRACK: Hmm. Are you being watched? | |
| HESS: I think so. I can not talk about this. | |
| PHRACK: Were you scared of going to jail? | |
| HESS: jail? | |
| PHRACK: Prison, were you scared of going to prison? | |
| HESS: I don't know. | |
| PHRACK: What happened in your words at court? | |
| HESS: In your words? I don't understand. | |
| PHRACK: What happened in court? | |
| HESS: I don't understand. | |
| PHRACK: Forget it. | |
| PHRACK: Do you still have your computer? | |
| HESS: No. I don't have any computer here. | |
| PHRACK: Did you think they were going to catch you? | |
| HESS: No. I knew nothing of it. | |
| PHRACK: Has any other hackers tried to contact you in the U.S.? | |
| HESS: No. You are the first to call. | |
| PHRACK: So is it my understanding that Stoll lied in parts of the book? | |
| HESS: Lied? Yes he lied. | |
| PHRACK: Why do you think he would lie? | |
| HESS: I don't know. | |
| PHRACK: Do you think he made you look destructive? | |
| HESS: Yes. He made me look mean. | |
| PHRACK: Are you? Mean that is? | |
| (Chuckle) | |
| HESS: No. He made me look like I was a criminal. | |
| PHRACK: Why did you do it Markus? | |
| HESS: Do what? | |
| PHRACK: Hack all over the network like that? | |
| HESS: I cannot answer. | |
| PHRACK: Do they call you a liar in court? | |
| HESS: Yes. They call me a liar. | |
| PHRACK: What are you going to do now? | |
| HESS: I don't understand. | |
| PHRACK: Are you finished with hacking? | |
| HESS: Yes, I have nothing to do with hackers. | |
| PHRACK: Was someone helping you hack? | |
| HESS: I cannot answer. | |
| PHRACK: How come you cannot answer that question? | |
| HESS: I cannot. | |
| PHRACK: Yes, well, Many in the U.S. [hackers] don't like the Novel. | |
| PHRACK: What do you think of it? | |
| HESS: It is not true. | |
| HESS: I don't know. | |
| PHRACK: Who taught you the EMACS hole? | |
| HESS: I cannot say. | |
| PHRACK: Then you must have been working with someone, correct? | |
| HESS: No, I cannot answer. | |
| PHRACK: Is the police comming down on you hard? | |
| HESS: police? I don't und... | |
| PHRACK: Yeah, yeah. The law? Are they being hard on you. | |
| HESS: Yes. | |
| <SILENCE> | |
| HESS: I must go now. | |
| PHRACK: Can we call you later? | |
| HESS: Umm, I don't know. No. | |
| PHRACK: Why not? | |
| HESS: I cannot answer. | |
| PHRACK: What about in a couple of months? | |
| HESS: Yes, in a couple of months you can call. | |
| PHRACK: Your not moving are you? | |
| (Knowing that Germans rarely ever move and their phone | |
| numbers never change this was a silly Q.) | |
| HESS: No. I no move. | |
| PHRACK: Okay, then we'll call you in a couple of months. | |
| HESS: Okay. I must go. | |
| PHRACK: Wait a second. | |
| HESS: Yes? | |
| PHRACK: Do you have anything to say to American Hackers? | |
| HESS: No. | |
| HESS: I have nothing to do with hackers. | |
| PHRACK: Well, good luck. | |
| HESS: Yes, you too. | |
| <CLICK> | |
| Unfortunately, our lack of German and Hess' weak English made | |
| communication difficult. He is a very paranoid person who was obviously | |
| uncomfortable talking to us. | |
| Those of you that have read Stoll's book know that Hess was involved | |
| with hacks on American Military Computers, and indirectly involved with | |
| Computer Espionage and the KGB. Phrack strongly discourages trying to | |
| hack Military computers and particularly takes offense to computer | |
| espionage. | |
| From the information we have gathered from him and by talking to him, | |
| we feel that Markus Hess wasn't as smart as Clifford Stoll portrayed him to be. | |
| We also feel that Markus was not working alone and that others were involved. | |
| This however we cannot be 100% sure because of our communication faults. | |
| _______________________________________________________________________________ | |