---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Wed, 20 May 1998 11:37:06 -0500 From: Richard Thieme <rthiemeat_private> To: rthiemeat_private Subject: Imaginary Gardens. Ego Tripping. May 20, 1998 Ego Tripping by Richard Thieme Hackers apprehended by authorities often wanted their exploits to be acknowledged. They showed trophies to their pals, basking in digital clapping, and who can blame them? The respect of our peers matters much more than anonymous applause. It's an anchor for an ego that wants to know it has a home. A 23 year-old Argentine hacker who used a Harvard computer to gain access to military documents was caught when a government computer program searched the computer for his telltale trademarks. The hacker called himself "El Griton," the screamer. He had used the name years earlier on another electronic bulletin board posted on the Internet. He should have called himself Hush. Our tracks in the melting snows of cyberspace remain visible in the right goggles long after the tracks have vanished. In the world of corporate espionage, "social engineering" often secures more data than hacking. Social engineering means pretending to be someone else, playing a role so well that others give you what you want. It's like making a copy of a floppy and leaving the original intact. The information doesn't even know it's missing, and the transaction is invisible. El Griton was like a car with its panic button pushed, lights flashing and horn honking, his need for strokes the sign of an ego that had spread like pancake batter across an IRC channel. Hackers that boast of their trophies are not the ones to fear. The ones to fear are those who disappear into the digital system, as invisible as deer in the woods, and use stolen data to build a Big Picture. That leverages an advantage that no one knows they have. Knowing what knowledge makes a difference and how to use it is the key to real power. But when we use it, we are less noticeable than ever. And the trophies are inside, where only we can see them. ******************************************************************** Imaginary Gardens is a daily reflection on techno/spirituality -- the interaction between ourselves, computer technology, and the ultimate concerns of our lives. To subscribe to Imaginary Gardens, send email to rthiemeat_private with "subscribe gardens" in the body of the message. To unsubscribe, send an email to rthiemeat_private with the word "unsubscribe gardens" in the body of the message. Imaginary Gardens and the weekly column, Islands in the Clickstream, are archived at the ThiemeWorks web site at http://www.thiemeworks.com. Copyright 1998 Richard Thieme. All rights reserved. ********************************************************************* -o- Subscribe: mail majordomoat_private with "subscribe isn". Today's ISN Sponsor: Repent Security Incorporated [www.repsec.com]
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