William Quinn, 27, of Eastchester, in Westchester County, New York obtained passwords to an internal central computer that Verizon technicians use in repairing telephone lines. The central computer can turn service on and off on all Verizon phone lines.
He was charged in a federal indictment on July 12th. The indictment said: "In so doing, Quinn acquired the same ability as an authorized Verizon employee to test and disable telephone numbers within various telephone area codes across the country."
Quinn, used the nickname "decoder," and he posted the passwords and instructions on how to use them on several hacker Web sites.
Verizon spent $120,000 to restore security to its systems.
If convicted, Quinn faces up to five years in prison and a maximum fine of $250,000.
Man charged with hacking Verizon [ComputerWeekly.com]
