A computer hacker broke into the 911 emergency telephone network covering nine states in the South and another intruder passed on the access data to other hackers, authorities said. Robert J. ``The Prophet'' Riggs, 20, of Decatur, Ga., and Craig M. ``Knight Lightning'' Neidorf, 19, of Chesterfield, Mo., were indicted Tuesday by a federal grand jury and accused of computer crimes, said acting U.S. Attorney Ira H. Raphaelson. He said Riggs was a member of the so-called Legion of Doom hackers group, whose members are involved in numerous illegal activities. Riggs and two other alleged members also were indicted Tuesday in Atlanta and charged in other computer break-ins. The government would not say if any emergency calls were disrupted or whether other damage was done during the tampering. ``These were not teen-agers playing games,'' Raphaelson said. ``They are thieves, they're reckless and they're dangerous.'' In the Chicago case, Riggs is accused of entering Atlanta-based Bell South's 911 system with a computer, stealing a copy of the program that controls the system and publishing this data on a hackers' computer bulletin board in Lockport. Neidorf is accused of transferring the data to his computer at the University of Missouri in Columbia, where he allegedly edited it for a computer hacker publication known as PHRACK. There was no immediate comment from either defendant. Directory information had no listing for Riggs, and there was a recorded message at the Neidorf residence. Neidorf's attorney, Art Margulis, said he had not seen the indictment so he could not comment. Raphaelson said industry specialists estimate that $3 billion to $5 billion is lost yearly to computer fraud. He said this is the fourth hacker case brought by the federal government in the past year. Bell South's 911 controls emergency calls to municipal police, fire, ambulance and emergency services in Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Louisiana, North Carolina, South Carolina and Florida. ``People who invade our telecommunications and related computer systems for profit or personal amusement create immediate and serious consequences for the public at large,'' said Raphaelson. He said the 911 data was valued at nearly $80,000, but would not say how a hacker could profit by stealing this data, other than by selling the information to others. Riggs, if convicted on all charges, could be sentenced to 32 years in prison and fined $222,000. Neidorf could be sentenced to 31 years and fined $122,000 on conviction. Riggs and Neidorf are charged with interstate transportation of stolen property, wire fraud and violations of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act of 1986.
