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WebTV hacker pleads guilty

By Derek Sooman

On February 15, 2005, 2:49 PM

A virus which caused WebTV users' computers to dial the 911 emergency services without their knowledge has been traced by to David Jeansonne of Metairie, Louisiana. Jeansonne today pled guilty to sending email to 20 WebTV subscribers carrying a virus in an attachment in July 2002. The e-mail contained attachments which changed the dial-in telephone number in the user's WebTV box to 911. This meant that the next time the user attempted to log in to WebTV, the computer dialled 911, rather than calling the local modem telephone number supplied to the user by WebTV. Jeansonne, who is 44, is looking at the sharp end of a 10 year stay in prison, along with a fine of $250,000.

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  1. February 15, 2005 7:08 PM
    Spike said:
    OK. A DDoS attack against a company you don't like I can understand. I don't nessecarily agree, but I understand why.That said, Why the hell any irresponsible SoB would do the telephone equivelant to the emergency services I have no idea. I hope when they lock him up, they 'accidentally' loose they key. An innocent person could have died because of this guys actions.
    Reply
  2. February 16, 2005 2:45 AM
    Phantasm66 said:
    I think that anything that potentially causes chaos like this is wrong - its like the cyber equivalent of spray painting a wall, or smashing a window, stealing a car, beating someone. The different here is that this also caused problems for the emergency services. That means that there could (and may have been) potential loss of life. Anyone with a brain enough to cook up the tech behind this stunt must have thought of that. They DO deserve to go to jail.
    Reply

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