On 2015-Dec-28, at 6:10 PM, steve shumaker wrote: > On 12/28/2015 2:06 AM, jwsmobile wrote: >> >> On 12/28/2015 1:45 AM, Rod Smallwood wrote: >>> Hi >>> Anybody who has not seen this film (The KGB, the Computer, and Me) >>> its worth a look. 1980's DEC systems everywhere, LSI terminals, HP kit, >>> Tape drives in action and apart from the Mac no Windows anywhere. >>> >>> I think LBL must have bought one of everything. >>> The story (true) is not bad either. >>> >>> I now expect to get a long list of weveseenits. >>> >>> Ron >> I have not seen that, but have the Stoll Book, Cuckoo's Egg. A friend of >> mine is central to this, and is in the book (though I've not seen him for 30 >> years...) >> >> Ron Vivier was a programmer @ Microdata for a couple of years before leaving >> and moving to the Bay area and resurfacing @ Tymnet. There was a lull for a >> bit then all of a sudden the story about Stoll trapping the guy made >> headlines, and there in the front of it was Ron. He did what I'd have >> expected him to do, but the people covering the story didn't get that was in >> his nature to help like that. >> >> I ended up with the desk cleanout droppings from his desk and kept most of >> it for years, and still owe him a chess clock (which is around here >> somewhere). Still has his name dymo'ed on the top. >> >> I found the video you posted about, will take a look tomorrow, late here >> tonight. thanks for the lead. Wonder what Stoll is up to these days. >> >> Thanks >> Jim >> > among the other activities mentioned here, he still gets speaking invitations > to law enforcement functions. He has a habit of showing up with a large > envelope of viewgraph slides asking for an overhead projector. > > steve shumaker > (yes... I was there - the book is actually rather accurate)
I didn't recognise the title at first, watched it and realised I had watched it previously. Sure was a snapshot of the time - even a trip to Radio Shack. Even had a sexy shower scene. In 1985 I was setting up our new email system at CERN, and the email system had a security flaw that allowed the users' mail access passwords to be seen. This in of itself wasn't too big deal as there was little a hacker could do with it (only get access to mail pickup, and you'd need a system that talked X.400, which weren't prevalent). What made it a big security problem, of course, was that users tended to use their login password for their mail password, so once the hackers uncovered the mail password they ipso-facto often got a login password. The hacking was noticed and I was told they were networking in from Germany. Given the commonalities: time proximity (85-86), hacker source (Germany) and hacking targets (HEP/nuclear/research community), I wonder now if it was the same group of hackers.
