[sci.crypt] What is a 'salami'?

devine@vianet.UUCP (Bob Devine) (10/29/87)

  In the latest issue of InformationWEEK, Donn Parker is quoted
in an article about computer crime stemming from insiders as saying:

	"The number of Trojan horses, salamis, worms, viruses
	and other exotic methods are all extremely rare.  What's
	prevalent is data diddling -- changing data before or as
	it goes into the system rather than in the computer"

  OK, so what's a "salami"?   Or did the interviewer mis-hear and is
this all a bunch of bologna? :-)

Bob Devine

tedrick@ernie.Berkeley.EDU.UUCP (10/29/87)

>	"The number of Trojan horses, salamis, worms, viruses
>	and other exotic methods are all extremely rare.  What's
>	prevalent is data diddling -- changing data before or as
>	it goes into the system rather than in the computer"
>
>  OK, so what's a "salami"?   

If I remember correctly, its a scheme for stealing fractional
amounts of a cent many times (each theft being a small "slice",
hence "salami").

wb8foz@netsys.UUCP (10/31/87)

In article <250@vianet.UUCP> devine@vianet.UUCP (Bob Devine) writes:
>
>  OK, so what's a "salami"?   Or did the interviewer mis-hear and is
>Bob Devine

One of the famous computer frauds I remember reading about
involved stealing one cent/year out of each employee's 
withholding account. It went on for years until some 
diehard added up all his pay check stubs and (bitched)*10^6
until somebody listened to him.
That's salami