Hackers Having a Blast ---------------------- By Michael J. Martinez ABCNEWS.com L A S V E G A S , July 9 -- More than 2,000 hackers, including some of the world's premier computer security specialists, are descending on Sin City this weekend. DefCon 7.0, the annual hackers convention for iconoclastic computer wizards, features dozens of speakers and panelists, a new and dangerous hacking tool, DJs spinning techno and goth, a recreational rifle shoot, and inflatable sumo suits. The media spotlight will be particularly intense this year, thanks to the release of Back Orifice 2000, a program created by the hacker group that calls itself the Cult of the Dead Cow. More than 60 media outlets will be represented, including CNN, 60 Minutes II and The Wall Street Journal. BO2K, as it's called, is a so-called "Trojan Horse" program that hackers can use to gain remote access to systems running on Windows NT. With all the buzz about computer bugs and cyber-attacks on government Web sites in the last year, this weekend's event promises to draw the biggest crowd in its seven-year history. Net Vandalism on the Rise Since last summer, computer networks have been besieged by e-mail viruses called Melissa and Chernobyl, and a file-eating bug with the not-so-catchy name Worm.Explore.Zip. Meanwhile, hackers have managed to break into Web sites belonging to institutions as prestigious as the White House and The New York Times, as well as security-minded organizations like the FBI and U.S. Army. There have been nearly 1,500 cases of Internet vandalism reported in the first half of 1999, according to Attrition.org, a Web site that attracts hackers. Many of these security breaches have gone unsolved. That's a big reason why DefCon 7.0 will probably attract the largest cadre yet of undercover law enforcement. One of the pastimes at DefCon is "Spot the Fed" -- a contest to single out undercover law-enforcement agents. Upon spotting a suspicious-looking figure, DefCon attendees point the alleged fed out to the rest of the crowd. The onlookers vote on whether the target is actually a fed. If the crowd agrees, the spotter gets an "I Spotted the Fed" T-shirt, while the supposed fed gets an "I Am the Fed" shirt -- even if he or she has nothing to do with the FBI or any other law enforcement agency. Another Attack on Windows Back Orifice 2000 is a technical improvement to the first Back Orifice (a play on Microsoft's Back Office program), introduced at last year's convention. The original only affected machines running Windows 95 and 98. The new version allows hackers -- or "crackers, " as they prefer to call those who tamper maliciously with protected systems -- to wreak havoc on any system using a version of Windows. Like its predecessor, BO2K must gain access to a user's system through an e-mail attachment or a Web download. "We've been trying to get a copy, but they're apparently keeping it pretty close to the chest," says Jason Garns, product manager for Windows NT security at Microsoft. "It's unfortunate. From their actions, they seem to think this is a game, but there are people out there that will be hurt by this." The program, when installed on computers with a Microsoft Windows operating system, is designed to let someone control that machine from another location. The Cult of the Dead Cow says that if anybody uses Back Orifice 2000 maliciously, that's Microsoft's problem, not theirs. Cult members say that if Microsoft's security was better, it would have no problems, though in the past the group has offered little justification for distributing its tools so widely. Michael Martinez is one of the speakers at a DefCon 7.0 session on "Hackers and the Media." The Associated Press contributed to this report.