266 DEAR HACKER
266 DEAR HACKER
questions and before I could pull out my ID she dropped the key on the counter. I guessed because of my business attire that she just as- sumed I was okay. As I walked back to the practice I looked at the tag on the key and noticed that it had two building numbers on it. Sure enough, it opened all closets I passed in both buildings! After the call was finished, I brought the key back. She didn’t check my name off in her book. She just took the key back to the locker. I put it behind me thinking that she may have been in a bad mood or something (com- mon at this hospital).
In March, I had a similar call at another practice. The same exact thing happened! No ID check. No check off in the “log book.” And absolutely no signatures! It was a different girl that was working the counter. I don’t know about anyone else, but it scares me to think that the proper safeguards aren’t being taken with the networking closets at this hospital. Both of my coworkers reported that they have never been prompted for any form of ID or proof of work. I can just imagine the wealth of knowledge a person could obtain by monitoring a network from the closet: SSNs, DOBs, addresses, and medical information! I have sent an anonymous tip to the management company to hope- fully resolve this. I guess I will find out the next time I have network work to do!
inf3kT1D Don’t hold your breath. Stupidity and bad security practices have an amazing
resiliency.
Dear 2600: I’ve been a reader of 2600 since about 1998, so first let me say thanks
for giving me something to look forward to every three months. I also catch Off The Hook and Off The Wall, although mostly webcasts these days as sadly I’ve moved off Long Island.
Anyway, I just thought you might get a kick out of this website— in particular, the user agreement which can be found here: http:// www.cybertriallawyer.com/user-agreement .
T H E M A G I C O F T H E C O R P O R AT E W O R L D
Toward the middle you will find my personal favorite snippet: “We also own all of the code, including the HTML code, and all content. As you may know, you can view the HTML code with a standard browser. We do not permit you to view such code since we consider it to be our intellectual property protected by the copyright laws. You are therefore not authorized to do so.”
I am just curious to see your opinion of it, as well as the opinion of the listeners and viewers. Keep up the great work and rest assured you have a loyal reader/listener for life.
speedk0re This is just so typical of the corporate world and how their little fantasyland
becomes reality on so many levels. We live in a land where filmmakers have to cover up ads in public places or blot out the names of products or logos on t-shirts because they haven’t gotten “permission” to use these images. Groups of people who sing “Happy Birthday” face prosecution if they don’t pay for the rights. There are even those who believe you can be prosecuted for taking a picture of a build- ing without getting the permission of the people who “own” the rights to its image. And now a website that tells you that you are not authorized to read its contents. Since we have now printed their words without getting specific permission from them, we can only cower in fear in anticipation of the action that will undoubtedly
be taken against us. What a screwed up planet we have become.
Dear 2600:
I was not really sure which email address to send this to, but I wanted to get some information on submitting photos to the magazine.