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Interview With Flipz
10/27/99
Mike Hudack
Editor-in-Chief
Flipz is a young man who both goes to school and moonlights as a systems analyst somewhere. Heīs got a bright future for someone only fifteen years old [Editorīs NOTE: As the writer of this article, I must admit that I am but sixteen years old.]... And, at that young age, he has been covered in MSNBC, Ziff Davis, Slashdot and so many more. At that young age heīs made history as the first person to deface a Microsoft Web page -- ever.
"I do it for fun, just like everyone does it for fun," Flipz said in an effect to explain why he defaces sites, "we donīt do it because we have to, we donīt do it because we want to, we donīt do it because itīs fun." He says that his first defacement was when he was around ten or eleven -- that time a Solaris machine.
He cnows that he hacs but doesnīt now that heīs defaced servers?
Andersen Air Force Base
"Hold on five seconds, Iīll tell you," he told me when I asked if anything else was happening soon. After a couple affirmatives and a few obscenities he informed me that heīd just gotten his latest defacement. "Andersen.af.mil," he calmly told me.
It was just the latest in a string of sites he had previously held root on. Apparently something has happened in Flipzī life to make him want to just throw it all out. "Itīs been tough," he said. "I just wanted to have some fun," let out some pent-up aggression.
Microsoft
Now it seems that he targets Microsoft NT boxes exclusively, explaining that he hates Windows NT -- and that Windows 2000 pisses him off even more.
The thing that Flipz is most famous for right now is defacing the first Microsoft site ever. He was on the phone with someone when he defaced it... When he heard it was the first he was excited, but not suprised. "I kind of knew it, but I didnīt know it," he says about the defacement.
High Profile
Like the Microsoft defacement, all of Flipzī attacks have been attention garnering, although none so much as that. Heīs attacked numerous military sites, including from the Navy and Army. In addition heīs defaced two Department of Energy Web sites and the Duracell Battery Company, among others.
Law Enforcement
It was a couple months ago when Flipz defaced Peopleīs Bank, a relatively small Connecticut bank. Somewhat aftewards Attrition.org was subpeonaed for any records they may have pertaining to Flipz and the defacement. When I told him about the subpeona Flipz was rather shocked that the FBI hadnīt raided him yet. "Itīs been a while... youīd think they would have at least stopped me after White Sands [Missile Base.]"
The FBI didnīt though. At one point during our conversation Flipz thought he was being raided as a black van rounded the corner to his house. It turned out to be nothing, however. "Iīm just sitting on edge, waiting for them to raid me," he said.
He explained that he hadnīt done much to cover his tracks because theyīd find him anyway. "Why bother with twenty hops when theyīll just issue twenty subpeonas?" And, he added, "even if I cover my tracks well... all they need is one person on IRC to say `oh, I know who this person is.ī"
The FBI, at this point, doesnīt seem to know Flipzī identity. They asked me several times in a later interview, and each time came up empty because I didnīt know myself. More is available on the FBI.
Skills
Some people on IRC have questioned Flipzī skills. Flipz says that he "works with NT on a daily basis [as a] systems analyst" but others arenīt too sure.
"Heīs demonstrated no real NT skills," said one IRCer who knew flipz but wished to remain anonymous. This IRCer said that all the defacements were on NT systems running IIS, insinuating that Flipz was simply using the eEye exploit released earlier this year.
But Flipz mantains that "Iīm not using IIS, Iīm not using FrontPage, Iīm not using FTP exploits..." Rather, he says heīs using "some exploits modified for my own use and a private one or two." More detail on his methodology, or speculation thereof, is available.
More to Come
This article was put together in the ten or fifteen minutes after I got off the phone with Flipz. This article is to be considered a work in progress and will be updated and mantained throughout the day as more work can be done on it.
Related Articles on OSAll:
Flipzī Exploit
Fuqrag Interviewed
Talking to the FBI
eEye Exploit
NSA-like Site Defaced |
