Wichita Eagle – Network Securitas

January 2, 2018

Serial Swatter “SWAuTistic” Bragged He Hit 100 Schools, 10 Homes

This post was originally published on this siteThe individual who allegedly made a fake emergency call to Kansas police last week that summoned them to shoot and kill an unarmed local man has claimed credit for raising dozens of these dangerous false alarms — calling in bogus hostage situations and bomb threats at roughly 100 schools and at least 10 residences. Tyler Raj Barriss, in an undated selfie. On Friday authorities in Los Angeles arrested 25-year-old Tyler Raj Barriss, who is thought to be known online as “SWAuTistic.” As noted in last week’s story, SWAuTistic is an admitted serial swatter, and was even […]

January 15, 2018

Serial SWATter Tyler “SWAuTistic” Barriss Charged with Involuntary Manslaughter

This post was originally published on this siteTyler Raj Barriss, a 25-year-old serial “swatter” whose phony emergency call to Kansas police last month triggered a fatal shooting, has been charged with involuntary manslaughter and faces up to eleven years in prison. Tyler Raj Barriss, in an undated selfie. Barriss’s online alias — “SWAuTistic” — is a nod to a dangerous hoax known as “swatting,” in which the perpetrator spoofs a call about a hostage situation or other violent crime in progress in the hopes of tricking police into responding at a particular address with potentially deadly force. Barriss was arrested […]

March 18, 2018

Adrian Lamo, ‘Homeless Hacker’ Who Turned in Chelsea Manning, Dead at 37

This post was originally published on this siteAdrian Lamo, the hacker probably best known for breaking into The New York Times‘s network and for reporting Chelsea Manning‘s theft of classified documents to the FBI, was found dead in a Kansas apartment on Wednesday. Lamo was widely reviled and criticized for turning in Manning, but that chapter of his life eclipsed the profile of a complex individual who taught me quite a bit about security over the years. Adrian Lamo, in 2006. Source: Wikipedia. I first met Lamo in 2001 when I was a correspondent for Newsbytes.com, a now-defunct tech publication […]