"Dark Dante" - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

crystaldawn · 09-09-2005, 10:05 AM

aka Kevin Poulson. Here is an article that talks a little about what he is doing since he served his prison sentence. I found it very interesting that it says on here that the first night UM profiled him the show's telephone lines mysteriously crashed.

http://www.answers.com/main/ntquery;...ies&sbid=lc05a

pjpiazza · 09-09-2005, 10:18 AM

I expect that update to appear the next time they air the dark dante story. Yeah right!!!!

ouphe · 09-15-2005, 04:06 AM

Kevin Poulsen wrote some interesting articles for Wired Magazine. Here's one of them.

As a teenager, I was heavily involved in the BBS scene back in the mid to late 80s and into the early 90s. I remember the buzz about DarkDante. In all honesty, DarkDante was only a moderately talented hacker (remember, he broke into the Berkeley system by simply guessing a ridiculously easy-to-guess password). What set him apart from the others of that era was his propensity for burglary. Same goes for Kevin Mitnick, aka Condor, although Mitnick was pretty sharp, technically speaking.

Without question, the two most dangerous hackers of that era were guys who went by the pseudonyms "Acid Phreak" and "Phiber Optik." They regularly accessed government, military and national credit card databases with the same effort that most folks today exert while checking their email.

I'm still amazed at how outrageously insecure the government computer networks were back then, and can't help but wonder how much the Soviets really did know.

U.M. Fanatic · 09-15-2005, 10:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by crystaldawn

aka Kevin Poulson. Here is an article that talks a little about what he is doing since he served his prison sentence. I found it very interesting that it says on here that the first night UM profiled him the show's telephone lines mysteriously crashed.

http://www.answers.com/main/ntquery;...ies&sbid=lc05a

Thanks for the update, Crystaldawn!

Awsi Dooger · 09-15-2005, 01:51 PM

I saw Kevin Poulsen years ago as a semi-regular guest on ZDTV, the computer-oriented channel. I think it subsequently changed it's name. Anyway, Poulsen would give advice on keeping your setup secure on the net. He looked as cocky and somewhat odd as i expected, with a wired hairdo.

I broke up at the reference that UM's 800 numbers broke down on the night his profile appeared. Talk about a pathetic conspiratorial reach. Once again, I'd have jillions the best of it if I offered 100/1 odds that Poulsen had zilch to do with that. What, was that the only way to reach UM? Was he going to knock out the lines forever? The internet has more stretch jobs than Phyllis Diller's face if she lived forever.

On edit: let me emphasize I'm not knocking crystaldawn for the reference to the 800 number collapse. Her smilie was very apropos. The reference came from her link. Whoever wrote that blurb on Poulsen that crystaldawn linked gave far too much weight to that 800 number bit, making it appear like a serious possibility.

09-09-2005, 10:05 AM	#1
crystaldawn Member Forum 4000 Club Member Join Date: Dec 17, 2002 Location: Illinois Posts: 4,261	"Dark Dante" aka Kevin Poulson. Here is an article that talks a little about what he is doing since he served his prison sentence. I found it very interesting that it says on here that the first night UM profiled him the show's telephone lines mysteriously crashed. http://www.answers.com/main/ntquery;...ies&sbid=lc05a

09-09-2005, 10:18 AM	#2
pjpiazza Member Frequent Poster Join Date: Mar 06, 2005 Posts: 164	I expect that update to appear the next time they air the dark dante story. Yeah right!!!!

09-15-2005, 04:06 AM	#3
ouphe Purveyor of Truth Occasional Poster Join Date: Aug 01, 2005 Posts: 38	Kevin Poulsen wrote some interesting articles for Wired Magazine. Here's one of them. As a teenager, I was heavily involved in the BBS scene back in the mid to late 80s and into the early 90s. I remember the buzz about DarkDante. In all honesty, DarkDante was only a moderately talented hacker (remember, he broke into the Berkeley system by simply guessing a ridiculously easy-to-guess password). What set him apart from the others of that era was his propensity for burglary. Same goes for Kevin Mitnick, aka Condor, although Mitnick was pretty sharp, technically speaking. Without question, the two most dangerous hackers of that era were guys who went by the pseudonyms "Acid Phreak" and "Phiber Optik." They regularly accessed government, military and national credit card databases with the same effort that most folks today exert while checking their email. I'm still amazed at how outrageously insecure the government computer networks were back then, and can't help but wonder how much the Soviets really did know.

09-15-2005, 01:51 PM	#5
Awsi Dooger Member Senior Member Join Date: Feb 18, 2003 Location: Miami Posts: 1,537	I saw Kevin Poulsen years ago as a semi-regular guest on ZDTV, the computer-oriented channel. I think it subsequently changed it's name. Anyway, Poulsen would give advice on keeping your setup secure on the net. He looked as cocky and somewhat odd as i expected, with a wired hairdo. I broke up at the reference that UM's 800 numbers broke down on the night his profile appeared. Talk about a pathetic conspiratorial reach. Once again, I'd have jillions the best of it if I offered 100/1 odds that Poulsen had zilch to do with that. What, was that the only way to reach UM? Was he going to knock out the lines forever? The internet has more stretch jobs than Phyllis Diller's face if she lived forever. On edit: let me emphasize I'm not knocking crystaldawn for the reference to the 800 number collapse. Her smilie was very apropos. The reference came from her link. Whoever wrote that blurb on Poulsen that crystaldawn linked gave far too much weight to that 800 number bit, making it appear like a serious possibility.