Nahshon Even-Chaim

Nahshon Even-Chaim (born May 1971), aka Phoenix, was the first major computer hacker to be convicted in Australia. He was one of the most highly skilled members of a computer hacking group called The Realm, based in Melbourne, Australia, from the late 1980s until his arrest by the Australian Federal Police in early 1990. His targets centred on defence and nuclear weapons research networks.

Even-Chaim began breaking into systems by dialing in directly or placing a call through X.25 networks, later taking advantage of Internet connectivity as it became available. He developed a reputation within The Realm, his computer hacking group, for skill and arrogance.

In late 1988 Australian Federal Police officers discovered his identity using a combination of undercover work and informants. Aided by new computer crime legislation that came into force in June 1988, the AFP obtained a warrant in January 1990 to eavesdrop not only on Even-Chaim's phone conversations but also the data transmitted through his modem. The tap on his voice calls, which began on 26 January 1990, ran for eight weeks, while the data tap started two weeks later and ran for six weeks. The intercepts were being monitored by the AFP at its Telephone Intercept Branch in Canberra, 650 km from Even-Chaim's home.

Both intercepts provided police with sufficient evidence to prosecute him and two other members of his hacking group, Richard Jones, a.k.a. Electron and David John Woodcock, a.k.a. Nom. The data taps revealed Even-Chaim spent marathon sessions at his computer, working at a rapid pace to enter and tamper with computer systems. It was the first time in the world a remote data intercept had been used to gain evidence for a computer crime prosecution.

Transcripts of the phone taps captured Even-Chaim laughing with another hacker about how he had been "fucking with NASA", adding: "Yeah, they're gonna really want me bad. This is fun!" In another conversation, this time with an American hacker, he claimed: "The guys down at the local universities here are screaming with rage because they couldn't get rid of us. The Americans are getting pretty damn pissed off with me because I'm doing so much and they can't do much about it. I'm getting to the point now where I can get into almost any system on the Internet. I've virtually raped the Internet beyond belief."

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