Operation Sundevil was a 1990 nationwide United States Secret Service crackdown on "illegal computer hacking activities." It involved raids in approximately fifteen cities and resulted in three arrests and the confiscation of computers, the contents of electronic bulletin board systems (BBSes), and floppy disks. It was revealed in a press release on May 9, 1990. The arrests and subsequent court cases resulted in the creation of the Electronic Frontier Foundation. The operation is now seen as largely a public-relations stunt. Operation Sundevil has also been viewed as one of the preliminary attacks on the Legion of Doom and similar hacking groups. The raid on Steve Jackson Games, which led to the court case Steve Jackson Games, Inc. v. United States Secret Service, is often attributed to Operation Sundevil, but the Electronic Frontier Foundation states that it is unrelated and cites this attribution as a media error.
The name comes from the Sun Devil Stadium of Arizona State University, near the local Secret Service headquarters from where the investigation and raids were coordinated.
Background
Prior to 1990, people who manipulated telecommunication systems, known as phreakers, were generally not prosecuted within the United States. The majority of phreakers used software to obtain calling card numbers and built simple tone devices in order to make free telephone calls. A small elite, highly technical segment of phreakers were more interested in information about the inner workings of the telecommunication system than in making free phone calls. Phone companies complained of financial losses from phreaking activities.
Operation Sundevil allowed multiple federal law enforcement agencies, particularly the Secret Service and the FBI, to gain valuable expertise on fighting this new form of criminal activity as well as expanding the agencies' budgets. New laws were created to allow federal prosecutors to charge individuals accused of phreaking, hacking, wire, and credit card fraud. Evidence gained from Operation Sundevil allowed law enforcement to convince the United States Congress of the need for additional funding, training, and overall expansion. They were carried out by local police, with the aid of over 150 Secret Service agents, FBI and CIA. Police also took around 42 computers and approximately 25 BBSes, including some of the most infamous and elite hacking BBSs in the world at that time, such as Cloud Nine. This was the largest crackdown on electronic bulletin boards in world history. Finally, about 23,000 floppy disks were also seized. These held a variety of data, including software, phreaking and hacking tools, tens of thousands of credit card details, and a plethora of illegal copyrighted material. The three people arrested were "Tony the Trashman," "Dr. Ripco," and "Electra."
Aftermath
In a press release on May 9, 1990, officials from the federal government and the Arizona state government revealed that the Secret Service was involved in the investigation. The Assistant Director of the US Secret Service, Garry M. Jenkins, commented in a press release that, "the Secret Service is sending a clear message to those computer hackers who have decided to violate the laws of this nation in the mistaken belief that they can successfully avoid detection by hiding behind the relative anonymity of their computer terminals." The foundation hired lawyers to represent the hackers in two of the cases arising from Operation Sundevil.
Operation Sundevil was the most publicized action by the federal government against hackers.
See also
- Operation Cybersnare
- The Hacker Crackdown