Electron (computer hacker)
Australian computer criminal (born 1969)
- Life
- 1969 – present
- Born
- 1969
Electron was the computer handle of Richard Jones, a member of an underground hacker community called The Realm. Jones, born in June 1969, was one of three members of the group arrested in simultaneous raids by the Australian Federal Police in Melbourne, Australia, on 2 April 1990. All three — Nahshon Even-Chaim, Electron and Nom — were convicted of a range of computer crimes involving the intrusion into US defense and government computer systems and the theft of an online co
Background
Electron is the computer handle of Richard Jones, born in June 1969, who became a member of an Australian underground hacker community known as The Realm. The group operated in the late 1980s and early 1990s, targeting US defense and government computer systems and obtaining a stolen online computer security newsletter.
The Realm and Hacking Activity
The Realm consisted of three principal members: Nahshon Even-Chaim, who operated under the handle Phoenix and was considered the ringleader; Jones, operating as Electron; and David John Woodcock, known as Nom. The group engaged in a range of computer intrusions into US defense and government systems during the late 1980s and early 1990s.
Arrest and Prosecution
On 2 April 1990, the Australian Federal Police (AFP) conducted simultaneous raids in Melbourne, arresting all three members of The Realm. The investigation leading to the arrests was notable for its methodology: for six weeks prior to the raid, AFP computer crime section officers had been remotely capturing the online activity of Phoenix from the police Telephone Intercept Branch in Canberra, approximately 650 kilometers away. Conversations between Phoenix, Electron, and Nom were intercepted continuously for eight weeks before the raid. In these exchanges, the members freely discussed their hacking targets and described their exploits, providing the primary evidentiary basis for charges against Electron and Nom.
Electron pleaded guilty to 14 offences. In June 1993, he was sentenced to a suspended six-month jail term and 300 hours of community service.
Legal Significance
The case carried significant legal weight on multiple fronts. It represented the first prosecution of hackers under Australian federal computer crime legislation, which had come into force in June 1989 under the Crimes Legislation Amendment Act. More broadly, it was the first instance anywhere in the world in which law enforcement secured a criminal conviction using evidence obtained through the remote tapping of a computer, establishing a precedent for digital surveillance as a legitimate investigative tool in criminal proceedings.
Media Coverage and Cultural Impact
The exploits of The Realm attracted considerable media and literary attention over the years following the arrests. In 1997, journalist Suelette Dreyfus published Underground: Tales of Hacking, Madness and Obsession on the Electronic Frontier, which documented the group's activities. In 2005, former AFP computer crime investigator Bill Apro, who led the investigation resulting in the arrests, co-authored Hackers: The Hunt for Australia's Most Infamous Computer Cracker, naming all three offenders and recounting the police operation in detail.
Electron's story was also featured in In the Realm of the Hackers, a dramatized documentary written and directed by Kevin Anderson that aired on Australia's ABC Television in 2003. The film ran approximately 55 minutes and was produced by Film Australia in 2002.
Personal Life
Electron was friends with Julian Assange.
