rbl@nitrex.UUCP (Dr. Robin Lake) (02/04/90)
COMPUTER BLACKMAIL ALLEGED
Lake [County] man held on British counts
For those of you who don't find the Cleveland Plain Dealer on your
doorstep or bushes each morning ----
>From Page 1 of The Plain Dealer, Cleveland, OH, Saturday, February 3
By META McMILLAN, Staff Writer
" A Willowick man is being held without bond on a federal fugitive
warrant, pending extradition to England to face blackmail and
extortion charges in connection with a computer disk that scrambled
and stymied computer systems across Europe and Africa.
Joseph L. Popp Jr., 39, of W. Willowick Dr., was brought before U.S.
Magistrate Joseph W. Bartunek yesterday morning, complaining of
mental illness, to face charges that the disk he allegedly created and
mailed to as many as 26,000 businesses and hospitals was part of an
elaborate blackmail scheme.
Authorities in England are seeking to extradite Popp under the terms
of a 1972 treaty with the United States.
Bartunek delayed the extradition hearing until after he can review two
psychiatric evaluations of Popp. The magistrate ordered the
examinations --- one by a court-appointed psychiatrist and the other
by Popp's doctor --- after Popp's lawyer told the judge his client was
suffering from mental illness and was on medication.
Bartunek said he expected the psychiatric reports to be available
within 10 days, after which he will determine whether a competency
hearing is needed before an extradition hearing is scheduled.
Popp was arrested Thursday without incident by FBI agents and
Willowick police at the home he shared with is parents. A warrant for
his arrest was issued Jan. 18 by a London magistrate. A sealed U.S.
warrant was issued Jan. 24 by U.S. District Judge Ann Aldrich.
Scotland Yard charges that about Dec. 11, while he was in London, Popp
mailed 20,000 to 26,000 IBM data disks to hospitals, insurance
companies and major corporations.
The disks purportedly provided information on what individuals could
do to reduce their chances of catching acquired immune deficiency
syndrome.
After some computers became infected by the program, word of the
potentially destructive disks spread within days, and AIDS researches
in the United States were put on alert.
Companies in African nations, England, Belgium, Denmark, Holland and
Australia received the disks, London officials said. Investigators
believe no disks were mailed to the United States or Canada.
The packages containing the disks bore a printed warning that users
would be billed up to $378 for use of the disk. Payments were to be
sent to PC Cyborg Corp., whose address is a post office box in Panama.
Gary Arbeznik, an assistant U.S. attorney, said that London
authorities had told U.S. investigators that "when the disk was used
in a computer, an AIDS program was generated. At the end of that
program, the screen would go blank, except for an invoice, which said
"if you wish to use this computer," up to $378 must be paid to an
address in Panama.
"When the money was paid, an antidote would be sent," Arbeznik said,
"Until then, the machine was unusable."
Popp is believed to have used the mailing list from PC Business World,
a London computer publication, to target recipients of the disks.
Officials of PC BUsiness World said a man identifying himself as
"Ketema," an African businessman, contacted the magazine's circulation
department in October about purchasing part of its mailing list. He
paid more than $1,000 for 7,000 names, the magazine said. About 1,200
of those PC users were hit with the virus; the rest were warned in
time, said senior reporter Mark Hamilton.
PC Business World said Cyborg also used other mailing lists.
Cyborg's directors are listed as Kitain Mekonen, Asrat Wakjira and
Fantu Mekease.
The suit for extradition said Popp began planning the scheme in
February 1989, when he set up the Panama firm. FBI spokesman Bob Hawk
said the bureau had information that Popp was prepared to mail out an
additional 2 million disks.
Popp, soft-spoken with dark hair and flecks of gray in his dark beard,
was handcuffed as he appeared in the courtroom. He was dressed in
loafers, faded blue jeans and a multicolored sweater. His eyes at
time darted anxiously toward the few spectators in the courtroom.
He was rushed in and out of the federal courtroom through back
entrances.
Popp is a zoologist and anthropologist who has conducted animal
behavior research for several international health agencies, including
UNICEF and the World Health ORganization. He said he was under
psychiatric care and taking medication for a mental illness. Twice
during the morning hearing, he said he was not clear about
proceedings.
Bartunek ordered the courtroom cleared so Popp could consult with his
lawyer, John Kilroy, who practices in Euclid [Ohio]. The meeting
lasted several minutes, after which Bartunek again apprised Popp of
the charges.
Popp said he understood what they involved but added "I do not
understand how it applies to my case." Kilroy unsuccessfully asked
that Popp be held in a psychiatric hospital rather than in jail.
Kilroy described Popp, and Ohio State University graduate [1972,
biological science] with a doctorate in anthropology from Harvard
University [1979], as a respected anthropologist being unfairly
painted as a criminal.
Popp left the World Health Organization, a special agency of the
United Nations, a few weeks before Christmas and returned to his
parents' home, Kilroy said.
Popp received no money in his endeavor to market the flawed disk,
Kilroy said, but had hoped to generate money to conduct research on
the AIDS virus.
Kilroy said he did not have enough information to explain why the
disks apparently had shut down computer systems across two continents
and in some cases destroyed the information those systems contained.
He said he had had only two brief interviews with Popp since his
arrest.
John Austen, an investigator with the computer crimes division of New
Scotland Yard, said Popp's actions were motivated by money and that
Popp could face up to 10 years in prison for each count of blackmail.
He declined comment on whether investigators believe Popp acted alone,
but a recent article in the Times of London referred to an
investigation seeking four men in connection with the virus.
Popp was moved after the hearing to an undisclosed jail. Bartunek
told Kilroy to make a list of medications Popp required so federal
marshals could ensure that he received them. Popp has complained to
Bartunek that while he was held at the Lake County Jail after his
arrest Thursday, he as not given proper medication.
"I am deeply disturbed at times," he told Bartunek, "and one day in
custody ... can be a day of disorientation." " Staff writers Eric
Stringfellow and Rebecca Yerak contributed to this article. "
[Sidebar articles include a diagram of a PC with a Computer Virus
Glossary: "Time bomb, Logic bomb, Trojan horse, Vaccine"; and
"Neighbors express surprise at arrest". Summary: "Quiet, Intelligent,
Outstanding young man. He was a real smart kid ... we didn't
socialize that much, but I always figured he would end up being a CPA.
I remember him as a real gentleman.]