"Unauthorized Access" is now going into post-production!!!
"Unauthorized Access" is an insider's view of the computer hacker subculture. The filming took place all across the United States, Holland, and Germany. The documentary aims to reveal the personalities behind the computer screens and to dispel the negative mythologies surrounding the "outlaw cyberpunk".
To date the footage includes:
Los Angeles:
Hackers at a 2600 meeting in Los Angeles (2600 is the name of a Hacker
magazine that is published quarterly by Emmanuel Goldstein - 2600 keeps the
hacking community informed of the latest happenings in the underground).
Hackers demonstrate cellular phone technology and call scanning
capabilities; a hacker red boxes to Italy (a red box is used to make free
phone calls), the red box is explained; and there is a general exchange of
information between the participants.
San Francisco:
Footage includes an interview with Terminus, a hacker who was imprisoned
for a year for computer hacking; Dan Farmer (a security expert from Sun
Microsystems) talks about his paper on well-known Unix security holes and
how it has been received by the security and hacker communities; Dan also
demonstrates the ease with which one can breach computer security; Peter
Shipley talks about his book Hackman, which chronicles known security
software holes.
Portland, Oregon:
Nyarlathotep, a computer hacker who wrote his first computer program at the
age of 4, talks about his questioning by the US Secret Service for breaking
into Bank of America and Westinghouse Computer Systems at the age of 13.
His parents are also interviewed about their feelings toward their son's
activities and his entanglement with the United States Government.
Austin, Texas:
Footage from HoHoCon, a Christmas-time hacker convention held in Texas:
There were many speakers such as Bruce Sterling, whose topic was "Viruses
are not Cool". Captain Crunch talked about his recent craze of swapping
PGP keys on the local rave scene in San Francisco. Lex Luther, the founder
of the American hacker group the Legion of Doom, spoke of LOD-COMS project
to archive the early days of the hacking scene. Drunkfux is interviewed
about the Convention, its origins and the positive and negative aspects of
running a large hacker convention in the middle of Texas. Erik Bloodaxe,
the current editor of Phrack (an electronic Hacker magazine) talks about
the magazine, Comsec and Project Green-Cheese. Frosty talks about The
Sot-Mesc; an organization that provides a scholarship fund for hackers.
Kingpin and Count Zero demonstrate cellular phone technology. Omega talks
about hacking for U.F.O information, and Scott Simpson talks about his
electronic Bulletin Board being seized by the Secret Service. Footage also
includes the Texas Police arresting hackers in their hotel room for
allegedly setting up a software bulletin board at the convention. The
police also show off their squad car's computer to the camera crew.....
Washington, D.C.:
Craig Neidorf is interviewed about his arrest and court case. Craig aka
Knight Lightning started the electronic hacker 'zine Phrack and was
arrested in his college dorm for publishing a document called E-911 about
the emergency services in America...he won his case, much to the
embarrassment of the United States government, he still owes $100,000.00 in
legal costs.
New York:
"Unauthorized Access" spent the last few days with Phiber Optik before he
was sent to Federal prison for a year and a day. Footage includes Phiber's
last radio show with Emmanuel Goldstein editor of 2600 - The Hacker
Quarterly. The show "Off the Hook" is a weekly spot about
telecommunications and computers. The title of the show was "Say Goodbye
to Phiber". An interview with Mark Abene aka Phiber Optik reveals what led
up to his arrest and sentencing. Mark talks about how he feels about being
made an example of by the United States Judicial system. Other footage in
New York includes an interview with Emmanuel Goldstein at the 2600 office.
Emmanuel talks about how the magazine started, what it has achieved and its
goals for the future.
Boston:
Footage of "The Loft" in Boston, hacker hangout and home of the R.T.D.
Count Zero introduces "Unauthorized Access" to the inhabitants of "The
Loft". The Loft is a space where people go to swap information and work on
various projects. Kingpin shows how to reprogram a cellular phone, the VAX
goes on-line, Doom is networked....
Amsterdam, The Netherlands:
Amsterdam is the home of Hacktic, a Dutch hacker group. Footage includes
Rop giving the camera a tour of the nuclear Bunker under the Metro. Rop
talks about Hacktic, The Galactic Hacker Party, The Hacking at the End of
the Universe Conference, Xs4all, and the ideology behind hacktic and the
term techno-anarchists. Felipe talks about the Digital City, an on-line
internet service for the public, educating people about the services
available on the internet in a way that non-computer-literate people can
understand, De Digitale Stad is run by Hacktic and sponsored by the local
council in Amsterdam. A Dutch hacker gives a demonstration on how to pick
locks. Someone demonstrates how to phreak a phone call to San Francisco
via Malaysia. Hanneka talks about her interests in the net, her
involvement with Hacktic and the organizing of `The Hacking at the End of
the Universe Convention', Nils shows us how to roll a joint in the local
Coffee shop.
Hamburg, Germany:
Members of the Chaos Computer Club are interviewed about the Club, what it
has achieved in the past and the direction it hopes to take in the future.
Peter Glaser, a well-known author talks about his involvement in CCC. Rolf
and Christian talk about the NASA hack and The KGB hack (an incident
involving the sale of Public Domain Software to the KGB by German hackers
in the 80's -one of the group died in mysterious circumstances) Christian
also takes "Unauthorized Access" to Van Gogh T.V. where he works developing
software for interactive television.
Bielefeld, Germany:
Footage includes members of the hacker group FoeBuD talking about their
organization and their BBS system: Bionic. Padeluun talks about the
beginnings of FoeBuD, its ideology, and the future of FoeBuD and the
internet. Rena takes "Unauthorized Access" on a tour of Bielefeld,
including: "The Bunker" a famous jazz nightclub and home of FoeBuD's
Public Domain meetings (where lectures are given once a month on a variety
of topics concerning hacking, the net and the on-line community), the cafe
where once a week the members and friends of FeoBuD congregate to exchange
information and socialize, and the local police station, where the police
demonstrate locks and security and show off their latest computer system.
Rena also talks about the German hacker scene, FoeBuD, and Bionic's
connection with Peacenet, Greenet, Glasnet and the former Yugoslavia.
"Unauthorized Access" is shot on high-8 and will run approximately 50 minutes. The film will be a portrait of the unique qualities of the people involved in the hacker underground and will explore the misconceptions that hackers face from the government, the police, the media and the public in general.