Defense Considerations

As an example case of cybercrime, consider the criminal information and guilty plea by the former owner of AlterNIC, a Washington State-based commercial registration service for Internet domain names associated with internet web sites.

The owner was charged with violating the federal computer fraud statute, 18 United States Code, Section 1030.

In pleading guilty, the owner admitted that on two occasions in July 1997, he unleashed software on the Internet that interrupted service for tens of thousands of Internet users worldwide. The owner, a self-described "webslinger," designed a corruption of the software system that allows Internet-linked computers to communicate with each other. By exploiting a weakness in that software, he hijacked Internet users attempting to reach the web site for InterNIC, his chief commercial competitor, to his AlterNIC Web Site, impeding those users' ability to register web site domain names or to review InterNIC's popular "electronic directory" for existing domain names.

The owner worked to perfect this DNS corruption over a one-year period, under the name "Operation DNS Storm." As a result of his actions, between July 10 and 14, 1997, and again between July 21 and 24, 1997, thousands of Internet users throughout the world trying to reach InterNIC were involuntarily rerouted to AlterNIC's web site, and were impeded from registering or updating the registration of domain names.

After launching his Internet attacks, the owner boasted to the media about the effects of his scheme, claiming that he could divert all communications destined for China, the 100 most visited web sites in the world, and the White House Web Site.

On September 12, 1997, a criminal complaint and warrant for his arrest were obtained. After discovering that he had left the United States and was residing in Canada, the government initiated extradition proceedings with the Canadian Department of Justice. Canadian authorities arrested the owner in Toronto where he remained in custody for almost two months while he resisted extradition to the United States. On December 24, 1997, after waiving extradition, he was turned over by Canada to United States authorities and arraigned on charges in Brooklyn.

The owner pleaded guilty before United States District Judge Allyne Ross. He faced a maximum sentence of five years and a maximum fine of $250,000.

If you are facing potential cybercrime charges, it is critical that you use a legal defense team with specific experience and expertise dealing with these types of charges. Call us at any time at (800) 459-2500 for a free, confidential initial consultation. Early intervention is critical to obtaining the best results.