Internet backbone provider MCI WorldCom has acknowledged that network-intrusion specialist Adrian Lamo used a security hole in a company Web server to grant himself access to its administrative network.
The quizzical hacker poked around WorldCom's system four times over the past two months, ending last Friday when he told the company of the hole and helped it secure a misconfigured server.
"I was looking for something to do," the sometimes consultant and security researcher said of his desire to probe the infrastructure. Lamo considers himself a harmless intruder, which he asserts is far better than one bent on misdeeds.
