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document which described in detail how to bring down a telephone exchange by dropping a computer program into a 5ESS switch. The program simply kept adding new files to the switch's hard disk until it was full, causing the computer to shut down.

What the investigators didn't uncover was any direct evidence linking the Atlanta Three to the computer bombs. Simple possession of a report that details how a crime could be committed does not prove that it has been. But they did find one document that seemed to portend even greater destruction: during the search of The Prophet's home they discovered something called the 'E911 file'. Its significance escaped the Treasury agents, but it immediately caused the technicians from BellSouth to blanch: 'You mean the hackers had this stuff?' The file, they said, described a new program developed for the emergency 911 service: the 'E' simply stood for enhanced.

The 911 service is in general use throughout North America for handling emergency calls - police, fire and ambulance. Dialling 911 gives direct access to a municipality's Public Safety Answering Point. The calls are carried on the public telephone network through an ordinary switch; however, incoming 911 calls are given priority over all others. From the switch the 911 calls travel on lines dedicated to the emergency services.

In March 1988 BellSouth had developed a new program for enhancing the service. The E911 file contained information relating to installation and maintenance, and was headed, 'Not for use of disclosure outside BellSouth or any of its subsidiaries except under written agreement.' It had been stored in a computer in BellSouth's corporate headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia. While hacking into the supposedly secure system, The Prophet had found the file and downloaded it to his own PC.

In the hands of the wrong people, the BellSouth technicians said, the critical E911 document could be used as a blueprint for widespread disruption in the emergency systems. Clearly, hackers were the wrong sort of people. According to BellSouth, 'any damage to that very sensitive system could result in a dangerous breakdown in police, fire, and ambulance services'.

Mere computer bombs seemed childish by comparison. The poten-

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