Pubdate:  19 Sep 1997
Source: Reuter

By Kourosh Karimkhany 

PALO ALTO, Calif., Sept 19 (Reuter)  A purported transcript of dozens of
intercepted pager messages sent to President Bill Clinton's Secret Service
detail was posted on the Internet on Friday by a computer hacker. 

The messages included minutebyminute updates about the president's
whereabouts as well instructions to agents to call the White House
switchboard, love notes, basketball scores and notification that Chelsea
Clinton was on hold for her father. 

According to time stamps, the messages were intercepted on April 27, a day
on which the president was visiting Philadelphia for an awards ceremony. 

The White House said it knew its pager messages had been monitored but
declined to say whether the transcript was genuine. 

Pamela Finkel, a New Yorkbased computer consultant, published the messages
on her Web site (http:/www.inch.com/esoteric/pamsuggestion/formal.html) on
Friday to show how easy it was to intercept private communications, she said.

She also said she wanted lawmakers to reconsider proposed legislation that
would make it illegal for private citizens to protect themselves from
electronic eavesdropping by using socalled strong encryption technology. 

``I don't know if I'm going to win converts in Congress, but if I make them
stop to think, this would be worth it,'' Finkel said in an interview. ``The
information is more embarrassing than dangerous.'' 

Finkel is also a member of the staff of 2600, a quarterly hacker
newsletter. She said the transcript was handed to her on a floppy disk a
few months ago by an unidentified young male hacker who wanted it printed
anonymously. 

``The White House is aware that sombody has monitored paging traffic,''
White House spokesman Joe Lockhart said on Friday. ``Our paging system is
not secure, so we'd know not to send unsecured messages.'' 

Secret Service officials in Washington could not immediately be reached for
comment. 

The alleged interception highlights a debate between technology companies
and lawenforcement agencies over whether citizens should be able to use
unbreakable codes in everything from electronic mail to conversations over
cellular phones. 

While companies like Microsoft Corp. say strong encryption is necessary for
electronic commerce on the Internet, law agencies argue that encryption
would allow drug smugglers and political extremists to communicate among
themselves without fear of police eavesdropping. 

Two weeks ago, a House of Representatives committee on national security
revamped a bill that would have let software companies export technology
that contains strong encryption techniques. 

The House is also considering curbing the use of encryption technology
domestically. 

Encryption experts said the alleged interception illustrated why encryption
was necessary. 

``What an example! The Secret Service are victims themselves,'' said Jim
Bidzos, chief executive of RSA Data Security Inc., a software company that
sells encryption products. ``This is the most sensitive communication of
the Secret Service. What better argument could there be?'' 

Finkel said it was relatively easy to intercept almost any pager message.
All it takes is a highend radio scanner, a personal computer and hacking
software readily found on the Internet, she said. 

The transcript includes messages like: ``If you don't come back with food
... don't come back  Airborn''; ``Call your mother''; ``Minor hostage
situation in Texas, not much known now''; and ``Sir, Bulls 109, Bullets
104, Jordan 55 points.'' 

REUTER