Nick Bredimus On Dallas Hackers Arrested

Federal prosecutors will tell a U.S. District Court in Tampa today of a plea deal with a man they call one of the most skillful pirates of DirecTV and EchoStar signals. The deal includes his agreement to help them crack several international computer-chip-hacking groups.

Steven Woida has yet to be formally sentenced on his guilty plea to charges of conspiracy to steal satellite services, and the government will ask at a bond hearing that he be kept jailed for now.... Prosecutors will describe their actions today in the case involving Woida, who was arrested Oct. 11 as he was making progress toward cracking the code for DirecTV's latest smart card, known as the P-4, they say. He is believed to be one of just a few dozen people with the computer know-how and contacts to pull this off....

...According to court documents, Petersen was arrested in July 1991, in Dallas for possession of a stolen car. Police searched his apartment and found more than a dozen stolen or fraudulent credit cards, telephone calling cards, bank cards, five modems, a computer, and some 200 diskettes. He was charged by the federal government in eight counts with breaking into the TRW computer system, among other crimes....