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Israeli Hacker Finds Fame

April 7, 1998 / 3:29 PM EDT / CBS/AP

The FBI may be furious with him, but in Israel he's a sales icon.

Ehud Tenenbaum, the Israeli teenager who hacked into the Pentagon's computer system, was featured Tuesday in a full-page computer ad in the Yediot Ahronot newspaper.

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The clean-cut, dark-eyed 18-year-old gazes out at the reader, chin on hand, next to the slogan: "To go far, you need the best tools."

The ad is selling Newron computers, made by the Israeli company EIM.

Tenenbaum, who used the name "The Analyzer" on the Internet, is being investigated by the Israeli police for his cyber-assault on the Pentagon and other computer systems. He has not been charged.

The FBI has said he confessed to the intrusions.

"At first we had our doubts about the ethics of using his image in the ad," said Yoram Klein, managing director of EIM. "But we found that he is a most positive young man. He made a mistake, but that could happen to any teenager."

In return for appearing in the ad, Tenenbaum received EIM's latest model computer, the Newron Play Station, which sells for about $2,000. Tenenbaum's own computer was confiscated by Israeli police.

Tenenbaum has said he broke into the Pentagon's computer to expose the weakness in its protective systems. He said he liked to search the Internet for neo-Nazi, pedophile or anti-Israel web sites and destroy them.

Since he was exposed last month, he has been flooded with offers for book and movie deals.

Tenenbaum was drafted into the Israeli army last week. When he finishes his army service, EIM intends to offer him a job, Klein told The Associated Press.

"His knowledge of computers is staggering," he said. "He has enormous energy, and the important thing is to direct it into positive channels."