Brian Salcedo

Brian Salcedo is a hacker who successfully hacked into the Lowe's Hardware credit card system through an unsecured wireless line. He was then tossed into jail for nine years before he could do anything with the information. Brian serves as a prime example of how not to run a hacking operation.

What did Brian Do, Exactly?

Brian Salcedo, looking like he just raped something besides his own future.

Sometime in early 2003, a couple of computer enthusiasts from Michigan were driving around the Detroit suburbs mapping out the wireless networks in the area. When they were in a Lowe's Hardware parking lot, one of them noticed that they were connected to an unsecured network being run by the Lowe's. Not wanting to get caught and partyvanned, he quickly logged off, but first he made a note of it.

A few months later, a guy associated with the two hackers named Brian Salcedo returned to the Lowe's with the intention of hacking the shit out of the system. Over a series of visits, Salcedo managed to peel back layer after layer of security, eventually hacking into several different stores and the Lowe's Corporate Center.

Salcedo was already known to the police; in 2000 he was convicted of hacking an ISP running out of Ann Arbor, MI. This time, however, Salcedo was determined not go get caught. He was going to steal a bunch of money from unsuspecting Lowe's customers and flee to Canadia and from there to Turkey, which has no extradition laws for internet crime because they have yet to get on the internet.

If this whole plan strikes you as a bit retarded, then you are extremely observant.

Brain's Epic Failure

The result was a spectacular failure - sort of like Michael Bolton's attempt at hacking in Office Space. Lowe's employees took note of the perpetrators' 1995 Pontiac Grand Prix covered in antennas and other funny shit. When the Lunix based servers that held the credit information for the Lowe's (as well as other Lowe's systems Brian messed with) began to crash, the security faggot in charge put two and two together despite his incapacity to enable something as simple as WEP on the network he was paid to maintain. Store management informed the FBI who staked out the hackers. After a couple days of monitoring the hackers, the FBI pounced and fucked their shit up.

Total take from the operation: $0 and six credit card numbers.

Unlike Michael Bolton, the three people associated with the crime didn't get out of "pound me in the ass" prison. Salcedo's accomplices were given sentences of less than a year. Salcedo, the ringleader was given 9 years. Notably, he has now surpassed the record of jail time earned from a hacking incident - a record previously held by Kevin Mitnick.

Salcedo's argument against Lowe's is a bit like a rapist using the "asking for it" defense...with the same predicted outcome. This example was taken from his website:

	“	Others believe Lowe's should also be held accountable for neglecting to take appropriate steps to protect consumers' personal information.	„
	—www.briansalcedo.com, doing it wrong.

Salcedo also argues that he shouldn't be charged with the losses projected by his intrusion, but by the actual tangible damage done. This would represent a reversal of almost three decades of the criminal prosecution of cyber crime, so good luck with that, Bri.

See Also

• Kevin Mitnick
• Hacker

Brian Salcedo is part of a series on Softwarez Visit the Softwarez Portal for complete coverage.