19 year old hacks into 911

[Illiy]

Man accused of hacking into 911
Washington man accused of faking emergency call that sent armed
response to unsuspecting Lake Forest family's home.
By SALVADOR HERNANDEZ
The Orange County Register

LAKE FOREST – SWAT officers expected to find a victim shot to death,
drugs and a belligerent armed suspect when they surrounded the home of
an unsuspecting couple, but found they were only a part of a false
emergency call caused by a teenager who hacked into the county's
emergency response system, authorities said.

As officers swarmed the home with assault rifles, dogs and a
helicopter, a Lake Forest couple and their two toddlers inside their
home slept unsuspectingly.

On March 29 at 11:30 p.m., authorities allege, Randall Ellis, a
19-year-old from Mukilteo, Wash., hacked into the county's 911 system
from his home and placed a false emergency call, prompting a fully
armed response to the home of an unsuspecting couple that could have
ended tragically.

Thinking that a prowler was roaming his back yard, a resident of the
home, identified only as Doug B. in the district attorney's complaint
filed in court, walked outside with a kitchen knife as SWAT officers
from the Orange County Sheriff's Department waited with assault rifles.

"It was just a horrifying experience," said Doug B., who requested not
to be identified further. "You think you feel safe in your own home.
We had no idea what was going on."

Doug B. and his wife did not feel safe in their home for weeks after
the incident and wondered why their home was the one selected.

Doug B. was not able to go back to sleep for hours that night, and he
rigged the doors and windows before he was able to go to bed.

"I thought someone was in my back yard, and they were going to get my
family," he said. "It was terrifying for months afterward."

Officers apprehended and cuffed the resident and his wife, identified
as Stacy B. It was moments later they learned the call was false, said
Lt. Mike McHenry of the South County Investigations Bureau.

"The danger is significant," said Lt. Don Barnes, chief of police
services for Lake Forest. "That (situation) played out OK, although it
scared the victims significantly."

Ellis is expected to appear in an Orange County courtroom Monday to
face charges of computer access and fraud, false imprisonment by
violence, falsely reporting a crime and assault with an assault weapon
by proxy.

"It's not a prank," Emami said. "People's lives were in danger."

Farrah Emami, spokeswoman for the Orange County District Attorney's
Office, said
Ellis selected the couple's name and address at random and
electronically transferred false information into the 911 system.

Authorities believe this is not the only time that Ellis has done
this. As part of their investigation, authorities believe Ellis
created similar false SWAT responses in Bullhead, Ariz.; Millcreek
Township, Pa.; and in his hometown of Mukilteo, Wash.

False 911 calls are placed all the time, McHenry said, but he said
this is the first time someone has hacked into Orange County's system
and created a false call in this way.

"We've seen nothing like this," McHenry said. "This was unique. This
was pretty serious."

Other law enforcement agencies have seen similar breaches into their
911 systems as part of a trend picked up by computer hackers in the
nation called "SWATting", Barnes said.

The purpose is to create a false 911 call that appears to be coming
from the residence in question and prompt a SWAT response from local
law enforcement agencies, Barnes said.

Authorities would not divulge details on how Ellis hacked into the
system, stating that doing so would jeopardize the investigation and
possibly create copycats. But the call that prompted a full response
to the Lake Forest home started as a call to the Orange County Fire
Authority as a drug overdose and progressed into a possible murder,
McHenry said.

A supposed teenager stated someone had overdosed on cocaine. The
teenager then stated he had been shot in the shoulder and that
attackers were going to go shoot and kill his sister, he said.

Canines, a helicopter and SWAT officers responded to the false call.

"It was a pretty large response," McHenry said.

Through electronic forensics, investigators were able to link Ellis to
the false call, Emami said.

Ellis does not appear to have a criminal record, Emami said, but it
looks like he's done this before. He was taken into custody by
authorities in Mukilteo on Friday. He waived extradition Monday in
court and is expected to appear in Orange County Superior Court on
Oct. 22 for an arraignment hearing.

Now Doug B. said he is hoping that the upcoming court proceedings can
shed some light into why this happened and why his family was targeted.

"My family is my life and to feel like its being threatened is
horrifying," he said.

Contact the writer: shernandez@ocregister.com or 949-454-7361

[TheeBadOne]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J65yRvN8DPs

[Illiy]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J65yRvN8DPs

HAHAHA um... HAHAHAHA!

[TheeBadOne]

[10-42Adam]

What an idiot.

[Willowdared]

I wonder if they had VOIP???

Scary.

[BEK]

I am just amazed that the cops showed up ARMED it is unheard of in this country for ARMED police to respond to anything. Well on a positive note, he could prolly get a job with the company that develops the 911 systems as a computer tech checking for hackability . Feel bad for the people that he has done this too.

[Willowdared]

What really happened:

He did not "hack" into the 911 system, or into a VOIP account.

He used an internet based translation/relay service that is used by deaf people.

[conalabu]

This has happened at least four different times that I know of. Twice in the city of Syracuse, NY. Once almost got the home owner shot when he came out of the house to let out his dog. Once happened in Texas someplace and then this one. People are dumb.

[Willowdared]

There was a big story awhile back, about prisoners using a similar service to make obscene phone calls to people.

The poor staff are obliged to read out the text to the person being called - very nasty stuff.