Thursday, March 28, 2024

June 1, 2000– Newsletter #83

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Goodies to Go ™
June 1, 2000–Newsletter #83
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Greetings, Weekend Silicon Warriors,


Did you hear …


According to Computerworld magazine, the majority of people
hired to make Y2K fixes are still employed by the company
that hired them. They simply moved on to new projects after
the clock ticked over to 2000.


Should you be able to set up a site that searches eBay.com
and keeps people ahead of the bidding game? Nope. The company
Bidder’s Edge has been ordered to stop making automated
searches of eBay by a federal judge in San Jose, California.


Do you remember a newsletter a while ago about the town of
Halfway, Oregon becoming Half.com, Oregon? Well, apparently
the tourist boom anticipated by local restaurants and hotel
managers has not happened. I guess the deal was not half as
good as they expected.


Now onto today’s topic …


If Janet Simons sends your company a resume, for goodness
sake, don’t open it. A virus hidden within an attachment
activates when you click on the document. The virus spreads
using Microsoft Outlook, and what’s especially damaging about
this one is that it also erases the hard drive of the computer
that triggers it. This is just getting silly.


Before this one it was KAK, then ILOVEYOU, then Melissa and
any number of other viruses that caused the FBI to put out
warnings. I’ll bet the virus protection companies didn’t see
all of this coming when they offered free upgrades online.
Then again, maybe they are doing well with all of these new
viruses. People come to the sites like crazy to update, and
the sites sell advertising.


Hey! Maybe the virus protection companies are the ones
putting out all of these viruses!


Nah. That’s silly.


I had a wonderful discussion with a friend of mine over the
latest email virus scare. She is just positive that the
latest run of viruses is the precursor to a huge cyber-
terrorism plot. She believes that somewhere in the world, a
group of people is discussing how they can release the
digital Andromeda Strain.


I get the feeling she’s a little more than just a conspiracy
theorist. It is my opinion that the majority of the viruses
being thrown around at this point are not really meant to
cause great harm. I think the authors of the viruses are
still at the point where they are just trying to outdo one
another. The creation and distribution of the viruses is
done to gain stature among others who do it. Yes, some of
the viruses will do damage to hard drives, but I don’t yet
see any of the viruses being used as weapons of traditional
terrorism.


I say that for two reasons. I don’t hear any demands being
made, nor do I hear of groups taking responsibility for the
viruses.


Just spreading a virus with no name attached and no advance
warning isn’t terrorism. But, as my friend argued … why
not? Why can’t a brilliant programmer keep a company at bay?
It’s already happened, on a small scale, if you read far
enough into the daily news.


A student at Colorado State was just charged with the
extortion of a New Jersey company that sells digital books
over the Net. Apparently this kid learned a backdoor
entrance into the system and he used that crack in their
security to download just about every book they had. The
student, Nelson Robert Holcomb (at least that’s the name on
the account he/she used), sent a total of ten emails to the
company. The student told the company that he/she would tell
them the security crack if they gave him money equal to the
net worth of their Web site, a Volvo wagon, some digital
audio equipment, and free downloads as long as the site was
up and running. If the company didn’t pay up, the student
would pass the crack along to everyone on the Web.


Yes, this was either a joke or a seriously dumb person …
extortion-wise that is.


But let’s take this a little farther. What if the people who
were pulling the stunt really knew what they were doing?
First they send Microsoft a letter, encoded and very hard to
trace, that says give us a jillion dollars or a virus will
be unleashed that will destroy Microsoft products.


Microsoft refuses and the group releases a series of small
hits to prove they can do what they claim.


The terrorist attack occurs and Microsoft pays up by
transferring funds, or stocks, or trade secrets. This isn’t
dropping a briefcase full of money behind a tree. It’s
possible that the terrorists could have the transfer made
through multiple systems, maybe have some corrupt people
along the way, and get away with it.


Maybe the person doesn’t want money. Maybe they hate banner
ads and take on a full-out assault on the companies that
produce the ads. The demand would be, kill the ads or we’ll
do it again.


You may say the same thing I said at this point: “It can’t
happen.” There’s no way you can do all of that and not leave
some kind of digital trace. It may take a while to follow it,
but if a group were able to do that, they would have to use
existing systems and that means leaving some kind of digital
footprint. That footprint can be followed. I don’t fully
understand how, but it can.


My friend assured me that it’s only a matter of time before
someone finds a method of doing just what I suggested above.


So, which is it? Is she paranoid or might there really be a
way to hold Microsoft hostage, to hold the Web hostage? I
know for sure there is a method of using a smurf attack to
bring the Web down, but in order for it to be viable in terms
of terrorism, there has to be someone taking responsibility
and/or making demands. The purpose of the terrorism would be
to get a point across, or to make money.


I guess the argument hinges on whether you believe there is
a way to remain fully anonymous on the Web without there
being any way for someone to find you. Either way, it’s a
scary thought, especially with the parade of viruses being
brought before us.


For now it’s annoying and a somewhat interesting story on the
evening news. But think about how fast technology moves. What
was life like a year ago compared to now?


What will these people be able to do a year from now?

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>


That’s that. Thanks for reading. My wife has me painting and
tiling a bathroom right now. Luckily I have to do this
newsletter so I had to stop. But I’m done now … so back to
the tile.


Joe Burns, Ph.D.


And Remember: I went to see the movie Gladiator. In the movie
the people gave the thumbs up if they wanted the gladiator to
kill his opponent. Not so. According to my reference books it
was just the opposite. The thumbs up was only given by
pointing the thumb at the chest. That meant pierce the heart
of the loser. The thumbs down (or inside the fist) meant for
the gladiator to drop his sword. Either way – the final
decision was up to the emperor.

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