On Thu, 7 Jan 1999, Michael Perry wrote:
> could imagine Jerry Springer landing
> this juicy tidbit; saying, "Today its rich stuff. The folks that don't
> password protect their root accounts and their lives". My interest is
> more than just from a personal level. I want to protect my investment
> in both learning this stuff and knowing that I understand that running
> a linux workstation is not the same as "using a win98 desktop". I do
> both sometimes and I use NT sometimes and I have watched people get
> their NT systems messed up with no admin password.
Most of my friends are hackers. I have been involved in some good stuff
--and some of it ( the activities around me ) have been questionable. I'm
very much familiar with the 'scene.' An insecure system isn't really JUST
a threat to the one with the machine. It can be a bridge to other systems,
and can create all sorts of problems. Nevertheless, I had a bit of an
overreaction and should keep such thoughts to myself.:-) I just have seen
too many machines compromised, broken into--- often 'just for the hell of
it' to not be a bit conscious about such things. I know many people
personally who will hack you and wipe your drive just to kill some time
before lunch if your system isn't secure. The justification is if you're
'too lame' to have some minimal security you deserve to be hacked and
fragged. Also, if your system is totally open to attack, it can be used to
attack and harrass others, so in this sense ( hitting on the 'dogma'
comment again ) it's a moral responsibility to at least excercise minimal
care in having at least the trappings of half-way decent system security.
It effects more than just the owner of the box.
-M
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