On Fri, 26 Apr 1996, <root> wrote:
> Our jobs exist *because* of a lack of education in morals and ethics. As
> I learned from reading _Hackers_ by Steve Levy, the kids at MIT during the 60s
> did "twist the knobs" of the Telco's system to learn about it. They weren't
> looking to reek havoc on it but were explorers of undocumented features of what
> they studied. On the other hand, I'll be the first to condemn their activity
> if someone here proves that those kids violated the law. :)
Unauthorized teleco access, posession of a toll fraud device, intent
to defraud, etc.. And there are a lot more laws now. I don't really see
anything wrong with trying to learn more about a system. Just ripping
someone off or destroying their data though is unnaceptable.
> I recall earlier that someone wrote here that "hacking" in and of itself isn't
> illegal. The illegality of it is determined by what is accomplished by the
> hacker(s). If a SecAdmin discovers a gaping breach of security within the
> TCP protocol and announces it, he is quite likely to remain unknown.
Are you kidding? Anyone remember the big news the Netscape
encryption bug was? I'm sure the media would give him plenty of coverage
if it was a real threat.
> OTH, if a young person (high schooler?) finds the hole and exploits it to
> breach and enter a .mil site, when the news media acquires the story, they will
> spin the story with sensationalism and i believe that the perception of the
> audience will be one of shock and great concern. Both of these concerns
> being correct, people might then assume that the Internet is unrepairable
> perhaps. Of course this is not quite true, but if it were totally made up
> we wouldn't have jobs right now! :)
I still have a copy of the "Crucial flaw may force extensive Internet
redesign" article written by John Markoff a few months ago. It makes the
Internet sound like hackers can basically do anything they want to with
people's information. Sad.
Bruce Marshall
References:
|
|
