Even when a case is prosecuted, however, it doesn't guarantee publicity. In the NASA case, the teenager agreed to allow the government to give out general background of the case, Boscovich said. If the teen had not approved, the government's public comments on the case would have been limited because it involved a juvenile. The case also is unusual because the teen got caught. Such well-publicized cases represent a tiny fraction of the number of people who try to invade others' computers.
Bigger cases get priority.
While reports occasionally surface of home users losing data, hackers have less to gain, in terms of publicity and financially, from those systems. Much of the probing of home systems likely comes from teenagers exploring with tools available on the Internet, experts say. And because these high-speed cable modem and DSL connections are always on, they are easier to probe. Particularly galling to these users is that some of the attacks seem to be coming from other Road Runner subscribers. Road Runner has one full-time staffer working on security issues in the Tampa Bay area and hopes to add a second before the end of the year, according to Mark Bailey, vice president of Time Warner's Road Runner Online Services in the area.