* subscribe at http://techPolice.com Feds catch principal in tickle terror Web by Dave Wedge Saturday, April 14, 2001 http://wwww.bostonherald.com/news/local_regional/cybe04142001.htm A New York assistant principal who crippled Suffolk University's e-mail system led a secret double life as the notorious cyber terrorist ``Territickle,'' a fictitious female coed who solicited teen bondage videos over the Internet, federal officials say. ``He used a female persona,'' U.S. Attorney's Office spokeswoman Samantha Martin said of 39-year-old David D'Amato. ``He sent e-mail bombs and shut down several universities' computers.'' According to court papers, D'Amato, a Boston University grad, posed as Terri Disisto, a 23-year-old Hub college student who spent thousands of dollars buying tapes of college guys being tied up and tickled. One Bay State teen told police he was paid $600 per video and made at least 15, starting at age 17, before quitting while a freshman at Drexel University. But when D'Amato's amateur fetish actors stopped sending movies, he went on a cyber stalking spree, sending them thousands of e-mails - flooding their college accounts and damaging computer systems at Suffolk, James Madison and Drexel universities, court papers show. ``He sent e-mail bombs,'' Martin said. ``It was a revenge thing.'' D'Amato, who recently resigned from his assistant principal's job at West Hempstead High School on Long Island, N.Y., pleaded guilty last month to two counts of violating federal computer fraud and abuse laws. The cyber attacks targeted ``numerous'' individuals for three years starting in 1997, officials said. D'Amato, who is free while awaiting sentencing July 16, could face up to a year in jail and $200,000 in fines, in addition to restitution. In the Suffolk case, the computer damage was estimated at $5,000. D'Amato did not return a phone message left yesterday at his Garden City, N.Y., home. According to an affidavit by FBI Special Agent Daniel Romanzo of the Boston computer crimes squad, the Suffolk attacks started after a student told D'Amato he wouldn't make any more tapes. The student was initially accused of mail bombing the school's e-mail system but it later turned out the messages were sent from accounts in Disisto's name. Romanzo said Suffolk received 40,000 e-mails in a week during December 1997, half of which were sent to one professor's account. The attacks shut down the school's computer system three times. ``It was very frustrating. Unfortunately, it comes with the territory of the technology age,'' Suffolk spokeswoman Rosemarie Sansone said. Sansone said the school has since stepped up its computer security. Court papers show D'Amato created a complete alter ego in Disisto's name by fabricating a Social Security number and stealing one from a dead woman. He also set up post office boxes and obtained an American Express card in Disisto's name. In addition to several New York residences, D'Amato listed two Beacon Street addresses, had a Bay State driver's license and set up a tickling Web site in Disisto's name, court papers show. In online messages, Disisto, widely known in the Internet fetish community as ``Territickle,'' writes, ``If you are a guy who is hot, ticklish and in need of a new computer, cash and/or audio equipment . . . this offer may really be for you. I just want to see guys tied up and mercilessly, relentlessly TICKLED!'' Disisto became an internationally known cyberterrorist who in 1998 was voted the Most Hated Person on the Web by one online newsgroup. ÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÐhy should you get a NextCard? It's simple. NextCard Visa will tailor an offer specifically for you in only 30 seconds! Rates as low as 2.99% Intro or 9.99% Ongoing APR. Apply Now! http://click.topica.com/caaabQEb1dhr0b1uN1If/NextCard ÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝ== --via http://techPolice.com archive: http://theMezz.com/cybercrime/archive subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] --via http://theMezz.com ==^================================================================ EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?b1dhr0.b1uN1I Or send an email To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] This email was sent to: archive@jab.org T O P I C A -- Learn More. Surf Less. Newsletters, Tips and Discussions on Topics You Choose. http://www.topica.com/partner/tag01 ==^================================================================
