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Ehud Tenenbaum

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Ehud Tenenbaum
אהוד טננבאום
Born (1979-08-29) August 29, 1979 (age 45)
Hod HaSharon, Israel
Other namesThe Analyzer, Solar Sunrise, Udi
OccupationComputer security analyst
Conviction(s)Admitted to hacking US and Israeli computers, and pled guilty to conspiracy, wrongful infiltration of computerized material, disruption of computer use and destroying evidence
Criminal penaltySix months of community service, one year of probation, a two-year suspended prison sentence and fined about US$18,000

Ehud "Udi" Tenenbaum (Hebrew: אהוד "אודי" טננבאום; born August 29, 1979), also known as The Analyzer, is an Israeli hacker.

Biography

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Tenenbaum was born in Hod HaSharon in 1979. He became famous in 1998 when he was arrested for hacking computers belonging to NASA, The Pentagon, the U.S. Air Force, the U.S. Navy, the Knesset, MIT, among other high-profile organizations. He also hacked into the computers of Palestinian groups and claimed to have destroyed the website of Hamas.[1] To do this, Tenenbaum installed packet analyzer and trojan horse software on some of the hacked servers.[2]

The then-US Deputy Defense Secretary John Hamre stated that the attack was "the most organized and systematic attack to date" on US military systems.[3] The military had thought that they were witnessing sophisticated Iraqi 'information warfare'.[3] In an effort to stop the attack, the United States government assembled agents from the FBI, the Air Force Office of Special Investigations, NASA, the US Department of Justice, the Defense Information Systems Agency, the NSA, and the CIA.[4] The government was so worried that the warning and briefings went all the way up to the President of the United States.[5] The investigation, code-named "Solar Sunrise," eventually snared two California teenagers.[4][6][7] After their arrest, a subsequent probe led US investigators to Tenenbaum, who was arrested after Israeli police were given evidence of Tenenbaum's activities. Later, the FBI sent agents to Israel to question Tenenbaum.

Before he was sentenced, Tenenbaum served briefly in the Israel Defense Forces, but was released soon thereafter after he was involved in a traffic collision.

In 2001, Tenenbaum pleaded guilty, while stating that he was not attempting to infiltrate the computer systems to get a hold of secrets but rather to prove that the systems were flawed. Tenenbaum was sentenced to a year and a half in prison,[8] of which he served only 8 months following the "Deri Law". After the attack, the FBI made a short 18 minutes training video called, Solar Sunrise: Dawn of a New Threat that was sold as part of a hacker defense course[7] that was discontinued in September 2004.[9]

In 2003, after being freed from prison, Tenenbaum founded his own Information security company called "2XS".[10]

In September 2008, following an investigation by Canadian police and the US Secret Service, Tenenbaum and three accomplices were arrested in Montreal. Tenenbaum was charged with six counts of credit card fraud, in the sum of approx. US$1.5 million.[11] U.S. investigators suspected Tenenbaum of being part of a scam, in which the hackers penetrated financial institutions around the world to steal credit card numbers. They then sold these numbers to other people, who used them to perpetrate massive credit card fraud.[12] He was later extradited to the United States to stand trial,[13] and was in the custody of the US Marshals for more than a year. In August 2010, he was released on bond after agreeing to plead guilty.[14]

In July 2012, after Tenenbaum accepted a plea bargain which may have involved cooperation in the investigation, New York district judge Edward Korman sentenced Tenenbaum to the time already served in prison. Tenenbaum was also ordered to pay $503,000 and was given three years' probation.[14][15]

References

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  1. ^ "Hacker Case Taps Into Fame, Fury". Los Angeles Times. April 27, 1998.
  2. ^ Reed, Dan; Wilson, David L. (November 6, 1998). "Whiz-kid hacker caught". San Jose Mercury News. Archived from the original on October 7, 2000.
  3. ^ a b Kevin Poulsen (15 June 2001). "Solar Sunrise hacker 'Analyzer' escapes jail". The Register. Retrieved 2008-09-11.
  4. ^ a b Catherine M. Kiser FBI supervisory Special Agent. Solar Sunrise: Dawn of a New Threat (Video) (VHS). America: FBI.
  5. ^ Interviews with Hacker Investigator John Vranesevich and BBC reporter Jane Corbin (July 3, 2000). "Cyber Attack!" (Audio). BBC News. Retrieved May 23, 2009. Solar Sunrise was serious enough that our top defense department people described it as the most serious intrusion into the United States up to that point ... It went all the way up to the President of the United States it was that serious ... Israeli youth about to be called up for his country's army, Ehud Tenenbaum [was responsible]
  6. ^ "Solar Sunrise". GlobalSecurity.org. 2009. Retrieved May 23, 2009.
  7. ^ a b Kevin Poulsen (September 23, 2008). "Video: Solar Sunrise, the Best FBI-Produced Hacker Flick Ever". Wired News. Retrieved May 23, 2009.
  8. ^ "בעניין". Archived from the original on 2006-06-14. Retrieved 2012-05-25.
  9. ^ "Information Assurance Training Products/ Courses Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)". USA.gov. 2009. Archived from the original on June 24, 2009. Retrieved May 23, 2009.
  10. ^ "הרשת NRG - לא טרויאנים, סוסים". Archived from the original on 2008-12-06. Retrieved 2012-05-25.
  11. ^ Kim Zetter (March 24, 2009). "'The Analyzer' Hack Probe Widens; $10 Million Allegedly Stolen From U.S. Banks". Wired News. Retrieved May 23, 2009. [dead link]
  12. ^ Ofri Ilani (October 7, 2008). "Israeli hacker said behind global ring that stole millions". Haaretz. Retrieved May 23, 2009.
  13. ^ Edelson, Daniel (May 3, 2009). "Israeli hacker to be extradited to US". Ynetnews – via www.ynetnews.com.
  14. ^ a b "US: Plea bargain for 'The Analyzer'". Ynetnews. July 8, 2012 – via www.ynetnews.com.
  15. ^ "'The Analyzer' Gets Time Served for Million-Dollar Bank Heist". Wired News. July 5, 2012. Retrieved July 6, 2012.
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