🚀 go-pugleaf

I agree with much of what Andy says, but feel that his anger should
mostly be directed to the people who consciously allow the hackers
to do so much damage.  Woz's work was done several generations of
system software and hardware ago.  The holes were well know then
and still allowed to exist.  They exist now and are still allowed
to exist.  Why?  Who makes these decisions?  Why?

The DES algorithm is now quite old, but still not used in computer
hardware.  Why?  Call back and random password techniques are readily
available, but aren't used.  Why?  Data communication protocols are
well into the standards making procedure, but don't include
encryption capabilities.  Why?  Our computer systems can be designed
to be reliable and fault tolerant, but still require "superuser"
gurus to administer them.  Why?

I think the damage is being done by the people who bury their heads
in the sand and foist these security horrors onto the public, not
the college kid hackers.

Make it so that nothing gets onto any storage hardware in clear text.
Don't allow anyone to get access to the system without their handy-dandy
vest pocket gadget.  Don't put anything over any line or cable in
clear text.  Don't let anybody, ever, get into the system with
"privileged" access.  ----  Then, do as Woz suggests, and pay the
brightest and best to find holes in the defenses.  And pay rewards
for being a hacker and learning the next generation of techniques to
cause problems.  ----  Then DO SOMETHING about the problems, don't let
another 12 years or so go by with heads buryed.

   Mel Haas  ,  odyssey!mel