Captain Zap

IRL Name: 
Ian Arthur Murphy
Biography: 

Captain Zap, aka Ian Arthur Murphy is an alleged hacker from Philadelphia who has been credited with many extraordinary feats, including being the first person ever to be tried and convicted as a felon in the US for computer related crimes. According to many sources, Murphy broke into AT&T's computers in 1981 and changed the internal clocks that metered billing rates allowing people to get the late-night discount rates when they called at midday, and left late-night callers to pay the full daytime rates. In the 1980's, Murphy and several friends ordered five Texas Instrument 787 terminals worth $3,800 each, a $13,000 Hewlett Packard minicomputer and other odds and ends in the names of fake corporations. All together they stole over $100,000 in goods and $212,000 in services. Murphy received an $1,000 fine, 2 and a half years probation and 15 hours a week of community service.

Many claim that Murphy is nothing more than a con-artist, and a number of interesting web pages exist that attempt to debunk his claims. One of the more interesting ones can be found here, complete with scanned affidavits alleging that he was never charged with anything other than shoplifting, domestic violence, vandalism, and petty theft. Murphy's official website is www.ravenswoodinc.com.

Facts

Is currently the chairman of IAM/Secure Data System

Rumors

Claims to have been a Navy SEAL and was employed by the CIA as a member of a covert assassination team

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References