Hackers Having a Blast
   ----------------------
   By Michael J. Martinez
   ABCNEWS.com

   L  A  S     V E G A S ,   July 9 -- More than 2,000 hackers, including
   some  of  the  world's  premier  computer  security  specialists,  are
   descending  on  Sin  City this weekend. DefCon 7.0, the annual hackers
   convention  for  iconoclastic  computer  wizards,  features  dozens of
   speakers and panelists, a new and dangerous hacking tool, DJs spinning
   techno  and  goth,  a  recreational  rifle  shoot, and inflatable sumo
   suits.

       The media spotlight will be particularly intense this year, thanks
   to  the  release of Back Orifice 2000, a program created by the hacker
   group  that  calls itself the Cult of the Dead Cow. More than 60 media
   outlets will be represented, including CNN, 60 Minutes II and The Wall
   Street  Journal.  BO2K,  as it's called, is a so-called "Trojan Horse"
   program  that hackers can use to gain remote access to systems running
   on Windows NT.

         With  all  the  buzz  about  computer  bugs and cyber-attacks on
   government  Web  sites in the last year, this weekend's event promises
   to draw the biggest crowd in its seven-year history.

   Net Vandalism on the Rise 

   Since  last  summer,  computer  networks  have been besieged by e-mail
   viruses  called  Melissa and Chernobyl, and a file-eating bug with the
   not-so-catchy name Worm.Explore.Zip.

        Meanwhile, hackers have managed to break into Web sites belonging
   to  institutions  as  prestigious  as the White House and The New York
   Times,  as well as security-minded organizations like the FBI and U.S.
   Army.  There  have  been  nearly  1,500  cases  of  Internet vandalism
   reported  in the first half of 1999, according to Attrition.org, a Web
   site  that attracts hackers. Many of these security breaches have gone
   unsolved. That's a big reason why DefCon 7.0 will probably attract the
   largest cadre yet of undercover law enforcement.

         One  of the pastimes at DefCon is "Spot the Fed" -- a contest to
   single   out   undercover  law-enforcement  agents.  Upon  spotting  a
   suspicious-looking  figure, DefCon attendees point the alleged fed out
   to  the rest of the crowd. The onlookers vote on whether the target is
   actually  a  fed.  If the crowd agrees, the spotter gets an "I Spotted
   the  Fed" T-shirt, while the supposed fed gets an "I Am the Fed" shirt
   --  even  if he or she has nothing to do with the FBI or any other law
   enforcement agency.

   Another Attack on Windows 

   Back Orifice 2000 is a technical improvement to the first Back Orifice
   (a play on Microsoft's Back Office program), introduced at last year's
   convention. The original only affected machines running Windows 95 and
   98.  The  new version allows hackers -- or "crackers, " as they prefer
   to  call  those  who  tamper  maliciously with protected systems -- to
   wreak havoc on any system using a version of Windows.

         Like  its  predecessor, BO2K must gain access to a user's system
   through an e-mail attachment or a Web download.

         "We've been trying to get a copy, but they're apparently keeping
   it  pretty  close to the chest," says Jason Garns, product manager for
   Windows  NT  security  at  Microsoft.  "It's  unfortunate.  From their
   actions,  they  seem to think this is a game, but there are people out
   there that will be hurt by this."
	
        The program, when installed on computers with a Microsoft Windows
   operating system, is designed to let someone control that machine from
   another  location.  The Cult of the Dead Cow says that if anybody uses
   Back Orifice 2000 maliciously, that's Microsoft's problem, not theirs.
   Cult  members  say  that  if Microsoft's security was better, it would
   have  no  problems,  though  in  the past the group has offered little
   justification for distributing its tools so widely.

   Michael  Martinez  is  one  of the speakers at a DefCon 7.0 session on
   "Hackers and the Media."

   The Associated Press contributed to this report.