mel1@houxa.UUCP (06/19/87)
I agree with much of what Andy says, but feel that his anger should mostly be directed to the people who consciously allow the hackers to do so much damage. Woz's work was done several generations of system software and hardware ago. The holes were well know then and still allowed to exist. They exist now and are still allowed to exist. Why? Who makes these decisions? Why? The DES algorithm is now quite old, but still not used in computer hardware. Why? Call back and random password techniques are readily available, but aren't used. Why? Data communication protocols are well into the standards making procedure, but don't include encryption capabilities. Why? Our computer systems can be designed to be reliable and fault tolerant, but still require "superuser" gurus to administer them. Why? I think the damage is being done by the people who bury their heads in the sand and foist these security horrors onto the public, not the college kid hackers. Make it so that nothing gets onto any storage hardware in clear text. Don't allow anyone to get access to the system without their handy-dandy vest pocket gadget. Don't put anything over any line or cable in clear text. Don't let anybody, ever, get into the system with "privileged" access. ---- Then, do as Woz suggests, and pay the brightest and best to find holes in the defenses. And pay rewards for being a hacker and learning the next generation of techniques to cause problems. ---- Then DO SOMETHING about the problems, don't let another 12 years or so go by with heads buryed. Mel Haas , odyssey!mel