Hacker ready to surrender

SAN FRANCISCO - A 22-year-old hacker known for breaking into corporate

networks and publicly exposing the security holes said he is prepared to

surrender to federal authorities looking to arrest him for computer crimes,

including breaking into The New York Times network last year.

Adrian Lamo did not reveal his whereabouts in a telephone interview on

Saturday with Reuters, but did say he plans to turn himself in with the help of

the Federal Public Defender's office in Sacramento, California, near where his

parents live.

The Public Defender's office tried to contact the U.S. Attorney's office on

Friday to discuss the matter, he said.

There was no one available for comment at the U.S. Attorney's office in New

York on Sunday. The office had declined to comment on Friday.

A spokeswoman for The New York Times said the company was cooperating with a

federal investigation into the February 2002 security breach of the newspaper's

network, but declined to comment further. The complaint against Lamo is sealed,

the Public Defender's office said.

Lamo said he has broken into Web sites of Yahoo, Google and other companies.

Asked why he did it to show the companies' the weaknesses in their systems, he

said no. "I don't see myself as some sort of white knight to make companies

better," he said. "I was just in the right place at the right

time."

® Reuters