Back in 2013, Harvard University Administrators received an email that there were bombs placed between two buildings on campus. The emails were proven to be fake, and the FBI was immediately able to identify the person behind them. Who sent the email and why?
A student at Harvard University, by the name of Eldo Kim, used the Tor network to issue bomb threats in order to cancel a political history exam for which he was unprepared. He succeeded but was apprehended the next day.
The Student Behind The Hoax Bomb Threats
Eldo Kim, who was 20 at the time, was accused of sending bomb threats via email at around 8:30 in the morning. According to the five-page complaint, the Harvard University Police Department and the Harvard Crimson, the student-run daily newspaper, were among the offices targeted.
Bombs planted across campus, the subject line of each mail read, citing shrapnel bombs in four buildings on the school’s main campus in Cambridge.
The FBI, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Secret Service, the Cambridge Police Department, and the Boston Police Department, as well as numerous other first responders, including the Cambridge Fire Department, were all summoned by the Harvard police.
According to the Harvard Gazette, the school’s official news website, the buildings were evacuated and swept by bomb specialists and hazmat personnel, and entry to Harvard Yard was restricted to students with Harvard IDs.
Officials concluded that the threats were a fake and reopened the buildings well before 3 PM, long after Kim’s exam had been canceled for the day. Those who missed exams as a result of the evacuation should contact administrators to arrange a makeup date or other arrangements. (Source: CNN)
How Did Authorities Catch Eldo Kim?
According to the lawsuit, the emails were sent using a service called Guerrilla Mail, which sends transitory and anonymous email communications. The person had also used TOR, which assigns an anonymous Internet Protocol address that can be used to mask the sender’s identity. However, the sender failed to do so.
Harvard University was able to determine that Eldo Kim used Harvard’s wireless network to access TOR in the hours leading up to the receipt of the e-mail communications described above.
CNN Report
Kim was described as a sophomore by the Crimson. According to the complaint, an FBI agent and a Harvard University Police Department officer interviewed Kim Monday night at his campus residence, where he indicated that he created the bomb threat emails and claimed to have acted alone. He was motivated by a desire to escape a final exam set for Monday.
According to the lawsuit. He is scheduled to appear in the United States. Judith G. Dein, Chief Judge of the District of Massachusetts, presided over the case in District Court. School officials issued a statement saying they were saddened by the details revealed in the criminal complaint, but they had no more comment.
If convicted, the student may face up to five years in prison, three years on probation, and a $250,000 fine. (Source: CNN)