The Region - News from Oct. 18, 1985

Nearly two dozen personal computer systems belonging to north San Diego County high school students were seized by FBI agents investigating unauthorized “accessing” into a computer data base belonging to Interactive Data Corp., a subsidiary of Chase Manhattan Bank. No arrests were made, an FBI spokesman said, but the probe is continuing. Many of the students whose computers were seized reportedly attend Mt. Carmel High School in Penasquitos and Poway High School. The latter school was attended by computer hacker Bill Landreth, known as “The Cracker,” who drew a three-year suspended sentence last year for using his computer to read, among other things, private mail from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the Defense Department. The father of one young suspect was told that the FBI may hold the newly seized equipment for up to 90 days, depending on whether it intends to prosecute.