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By Root 787 0

teach me some of his clever bug-hunting techniques, though not until I acquired a better understanding of the “internals” of VMS—that is, the inner workings of the operating system, the details of what was “under the hood.” He said I had spent too much time hacking into stuff instead of educating myself on the internals. Amazingly, he even gave me some exercises to work on, to learn more about this, and then he went over my efforts and critiqued them. The VMS bug hunter training the hacker—how ironic was that?

Later, I would intercept an email that I suspected Neill had sent to the FBI. It read:

Kathleen,

There was only one match in the mail log from nyx:

Sep 18 23:25:49 nyxsendmail[15975]: AA15975: message-id=<00984B0F.85F46A00.9@hicom.lut.ac.uk>

Sep 18 23:25:50 nyxsendmail[15975]: AA15975: from=, size=67370, class=0

Sep 18 23:26:12 nyxsendmail[16068]: AA15975: to=, delay=00:01:15, stat=Sent

Hope this helps

This log showed the dates and times when I was sending emails from my account on Hicom to one of the accounts I had on a public-access system in Denver called “nyx.” And who was the “Kathleen” the message was addressed to? I figured there was a 99 percent likelihood it was, once again, Special Agent Kathleen Carson.

The email message was clear evidence that Neill had been working with the FBI. I wasn’t surprised; after all, I had drawn first blood and gone after him, so maybe I deserved it. I had enjoyed our conversations and picking his brain; it was disappointing to learn that he had just been playing along in the hope that he might be able to help the Feds nail me. Even though I had always exercised precautions when calling him, I decided it would be best to cut off all contact, to avoid giving the FBI any more leads.

In a criminal prosecution, as you probably know, the government is required to share its evidence with the defendant. Among the documents later turned over to me was one that revealed both the extent of Neill’s cooperation and its importance to the FBI. When I first read a copy of this letter, I was surprised.

U.S. Department of Justice Federal Bureau of Investigation

11000 Wilshire Boulevard #1700

Los Angeles, CA 90014

September 22, 1994

Mr. Neill Clift

Loughborough University

Dear Neill:

It must be quite frustrating to sit over there and wonder if the FBI or British law enforcement authorities are ever going to do anything and catch our “friend,” KDM. I can only assure you that every little piece of information concerning Kevin which finds its way into my hands is aggressively pursued.

In fact, I just verified the information you provided…. It certainly appears this computer system has been accessed and compromised by Kevin. Our dilemma, however, is that the “NYX” system administrator is not as helpful to law enforcement as you have been; and we are somewhat limited in our pursuit of watching the account by the American legal procedures.

I wanted to let you know in this letter how much your cooperation with the FBI has been appreciated. Any telephonic contact made to you by Kevin is very important—at least to me.

… I can report that you (and only you) are the one concrete connection we have to Kevin outside the world of computers. I do not believe we will ever be able to find him via his telephone traces, telnet or FTP connections, and/or other technological methods. It is only through personal (or, in your case, telephonic) exchanges with Kevin that we gain more insight as to his activities and plans. Your assistance is crucial to this investigation. [Emphasis added.]

… I can only assure you, once again, that your efforts in the Kevin “chase” are appreciated…. If you choose to continue your cooperation with the FBI by providing me with information about discussions with Kevin, I promise that, one day, all the little pieces of data filtered to me from around the world will fall into place and lead to a computer terminal where I will find Kevin and promptly place him in handcuffs….

Thanks again,