211 lines
10 KiB
Plaintext
211 lines
10 KiB
Plaintext
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----==== An -=RDT Special Report ====----
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BCS Speech/Discussion by John Markoff,
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co-author of _Cyberpunk: Outlaws and Hackers on the Computer Frontier_
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or
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Weenie-fest '92: People Who Have No Clue
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Special thanks to Craig Neidorf for informing me of this meeting...otherwise,
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I would have missed it...
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"Boston Computer Society General Meeting, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 7:30pm.
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Katie Hafner, co-author with husband John Markoff of _Cyberpunk_, talks
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about computer ethics [ya, right] and computer crimes. _Cyberpunk_
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details the stories of three computer hackers: Kevin Mitnick, an expert
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phone phreak, who carried his hacking to obsession [isn't that a perfume?]
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and addiction-wreaking havoc [holy SHIT!] with computer networks and
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top-secret research; Pengo, from Germany, who penetrated US military
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computers and sold information to the Soviet Union; and Robert Morris,
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a Harvard and Cornell graduate, who released a virus [WORM!] program that
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crippled thousands of computers on Internet. This discussion may change
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how you think about computer accessibility [sure changed MY life..jeesh]."
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That's how the ad appeared in the Boston Computer Society's UPDATE mag
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(w/o my bracketed snide comments, of course). KL informed me of this meeting
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via E-mail, and I read it the DAY it was happening. I read about half of the
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book _Cyberpunk_, and I know most of you have already checked it out. Yes, it
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is a piece of shit. A great deal of the info is *fabricated*, and the authors
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attempt to explain hacking as a 'social disorder'...on par with juvenile
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delinquency. True, a lot of hacking is just kids screwing around, but there is
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MORE to the scene than just that. What about the violation of civil liberties?
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What about privacy on the nets? What about the REAL DRIVE behind most of the
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hacking going on today...the search for TECH KNOWLEDGE? These things were NOT
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covered adequately in the book.
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Seeing this meeting a GREAT opportunity to grill Ms. Hafner and to hear what
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members of the BCS had to say, I attempted to quickly mobilize the entire RDT
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crew into attending. Alas, I was the *only* person able to make it. "What the
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hell," I figured, "I'm sure there'll be plenty of other people there who'll
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make the discussion lively and *heated*." Boy, was I wrong...
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For starters, Ms. Hafner was unable to attend. Instead, her husband and
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co-author, John Markoff [Whackoff?] showed up. I had never been to a BCS
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meeting before, and figured that the members would be relatively intelligent
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about computers and computer ethics. Well, about 80 ppl filled the lecture
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hall, and ALL of them were older than me (I'm 24). Looked like mostly yuppie
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trash ("Gee, I just bought this 486...I wonder what it does..guess I'll join
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the BCS!") and some old professor-types. Suddenly, I felt a chill...
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*Weenie-alert* Two bozos behind me were trying to discuss how to write an
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MS-DOS CONFIG.SYS file:
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"Bob, my computer is all messed up. Doesn't work"
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"Gee, well, maybe you need one of those set device equals things!"
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NOTE: ALL quotes are REAL...yes, truth is stranger than fiction...
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O well...Finally, John Markoff came onstage (BTW, he looks a lot like
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Dustin Hoffman). He started out by talking for 15 min on the definitions
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of "hacker", "cracker", and "cyberpunk". This is when my migrane started, a
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small throbbing pulse in my left temple. He discussed the origin of the term
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"cyberpunk" and made MANY references to *BILL* Gibson. Guess he wanted to
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stroke himself and make his 'personal' relationship with Gibson known to all.
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Then, he talked in DETAIL about how HE figured out who set loose the Internet
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worm. "I told them to 'finger RTM'...and the name Robert T. Morris popped up."
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Boy, some SERIOUS tech wizardry going on there. Markoff patted himself on the
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back for about 10 min more, and seemed proud of his dealings with Cliff Stoll
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(he plugged _The Cuckoos Egg_ about 5 times). Stroke, stroke, stroke...
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He seemed really *proud* at having discovered all this info about the computer
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underground (even tho his book is ONLY about *3* fucking case studies!!).
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"We wanted to get inside these cultures..."
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Well his book was basically just a REPORT of WHAT HAPPENED (not even
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factual half the time)...NOT about the CULTURE...NOT about what really made
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these people tick...NOT about what REALLY ATTRACTS ppl to the computer
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underground. He was just a *reporter*, looking for a scoop. Nothing more.
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After describing his book, he opened up the presentation to discussion. The
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FIRST question was by some BCS dork:
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"Do you know anything about the printer-ROM virus used in the
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Iraqi computer systems?"
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Holy shit...I got a sick feeling in my stomach. Markoff talked about this for
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10 min...with comments by other BCS members thrown in. ARRRGH. Anyway, the
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NEXT question was a real winner:
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"What about those computers that took the Turing test recently..
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did they pass? Could you explain what a Turing test is?"
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Uh, yeah..ok, so maybe the BCS ppl *weren't* that up on things. Maybe none of
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them read the book. Maybe none of them have ever read Phrack or 2600. Maybe
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*all* of them have their heads shoved up their butts?
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Finally, I made my move. I asked him:
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"What do you think of the punishments given to convicted 'cyberpunks'?
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Do you think they're fair? What about seizure of equipment w/out charges,
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taking examples from Operation Sundevil?"
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Markoff: "I think the government is just using scare tactics. It's a shame
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that equipment is seized. It's unconstitutional."
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Uh, that's IT? Yep..that's all he had to say about it. No comments on the
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*police state* that's evolving on the nets. Nothing about what's being done
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to *protect* computer users' free speech. Next question of mine:
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"What do you think really drives 'cyberpunks'...how 'serious' do you
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think the *crime* of *hacking* is?"
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Markoff: "It's just juvenile delinquency. Most of it has nothing to do
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with tech wizardry. It's mostly con-artists. I hope there's
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a 'fad element' to this cyberpunk thing. Hopefully they'll
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grow out of it."
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Yeah, this guy has his damn FINGER on the PULSE of the underground. We're
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just a bunch of delinquent, juvenile con-artists. We'll grow out of it.
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Really. Man, I was steamed. What he said was full of *half-truths*..leaving
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out IMPORTANT things, like the drive for exploration of highly complicated
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networks and machinery...but I wasn't going to pick a fight with this guy..
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I calmed down and asked the next question on my list:
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"What do you think of publications like Phrack and 2600? How do you feel
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about the E911 bust that tried to suppress Phrack?"
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Markoff: "I don't buy their 'exploration' excuse. I don't want people
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testing the locks on MY computer. It's just juvenile delinquency."
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How insightful. Completely ignored my question about the E911 affair. So
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much for understanding the underground. Ya, we all read stuff like Phrack
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and 2600 JUST so we can FUCK UP things.
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***ONE interesting thing he mentioned was that MOST hacker-related crimes are
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INSIDE JOBS. Trusted people working on the INSIDE. Well, that was the ONLY
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thing he said that I totally agreed with. At least Markoff isn't trying to
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start a 'Cyberpunk Witch-hunt'...not like OTHER people (Geraldo, Don I., etc.).
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This gets REAL funny now. Other BCS members seemed to have NO interest in
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talking about hacking/phreaking/civil liberties/hacker ethic/etc. ONE guy
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asked:
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"Is piracy a big problem in the US?"
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Another asked:
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"Do pirate bulletin boards still exist?"
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Some *insightful* BCS member said:
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"Yeah, but it's dangerous. Lawyers call up and check to see if you
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have copywrited software. You can go to jail for it!"
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Markoff: "Yes, piracy is still rampant. I can't give you any numbers
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<cheesy smile here> but I know many exist."
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BCS member responds:
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"You mean I can just call a number and get Pagemaker for free?"
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At this point, I vomited violently..at least my BRAIN did. Many other inane
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questions were asked, but I won't torture you further ("What about the
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IBM/Apple merger?"...that sort of thing). I managed to get in
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ONE LAST question:
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"What do you think of 'reformed cyberpunks'...for instance, the security
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consulting company 'Comsec' formed by ex-LOD members?"
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Markoff: "I think that any company that hires them should know what they're
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getting into. I'm skeptical. *I* wouldn't hire them."
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You should know that at this point MOST of the BCS dorks laughed out loud,
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in annoying, weenie-like chuckles of mirth. It took all of my strength not to
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get up and crack skulls. So much for intelligent discussions. Actually,
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throughout MOST of the meeting, people were laughing for no apparent reason.
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Guess they knew something *I* didn't?
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In the final analysis, the meeting confirmed my suspicions that Markoff is
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just a reporter trying to make a buck. Cashing in on half-truths. Not at all
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interested in the 'cyberpunk's' point of view. Not interested in the ETHICS
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and MORAL RAMIFICATIONS of hacker busts. He's just reporting the "news". At
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least he wasn't trying to stir up a 'witch-hunt'...but then again, he isn't
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contributing much to the awareness of the underground and what it "really"
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means...hacking is NOT a sickness...it is NOT something to 'grow out of'...
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.it means freedom of speech...freedom to explore (to an extent..heh)..
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and the DESIRE to explore... MUCH more than juvenile delinquency. I hope
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*someone* writes a book from that perspective someday.
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I also got an insight into the BCS community. Clueless. Need I say more?
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Hope you enjoyed this phile...look for more 'Special Reports' in the near
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future..
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count0@world.std.com
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: -=Restricted -=Data -=Transmissions :
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: :
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: "Truth is cheap, but information costs." :
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..oooOO Count Zero OOooo.. -=RDT |