346 DEAR HACKER

346 DEAR HACKER

We simply do not believe security through obscurity is an effective approach. We will continue to expose security holes by discussing them and demonstrating them. History has proven that this is often the only way to get them to be taken seriously.

Dear 2600: We are eighth grade students attending a school in Queens, New York.

As a part of the eighth grade curriculum, we must complete a social studies exit project dealing with one of the problems of New York State. We will be based on a high school level, for our school has ac- celerated programs.

The topic we have chosen to study is that of the dangers of chat rooms. We understand that you are affiliated with this topic. As a necessary component of this project, we must write letters and conduct inter- views. We would like to know if you might aid us in our mission by contacting either by email, letters, telephone, or in person to give any information regarding the topic. Specifically, we’d like to know why your organization is supporting chat rooms when it is known that they harbor such dangers.

It is strange that there are still organizations that promote the use of chat rooms as a communicative device after so many incidents have occurred. Why does your company promote them? Especially your company. You are hacking magazine? A magazine that utilizes such dangers to take advantage of children and honest companies? What is the moral behind this? Our group would like to know why you and your company think it is OK to hack and as a result of this, promote the abduction and abuse of innocent adolescents. It would be extremely helpful if you could answer our questions as we are interested in your organization. If you have further information or brochures of any kind, advertisements, please contact us.

Amanda, Camille, Meriam, Christina And who says that schools these days are propaganda mills?

OUR BIGGEST FANS

We appreciate the questions and only wish we had received them before the end of the school year. But it sounds as if you’ve already made your conclusions and are simply looking for us to fill in the parts about the bad guys.

When exactly did we go around promoting chat rooms anyway? What’s all this about taking advantage of “children and honest companies?” And we promote abductions and abuse of adolescents?! Your teacher must have worked for a politi- cal campaign to successfully get you to believe such crap without any supporting evidence. Your leaps of logic are a whole lot more accelerated than the program you’re in.

We don’t enjoy insulting a bunch of eighth grade girls. Not a whole lot anyway. But we feel it’s only right to also offer you some advice, which is clearly more than you were given in this sorry excuse of a class. When seeking out the facts in a story, seek them before reaching your conclusions. What kind of response do you expect when you make such ridiculous accusations and state them as if they were fact?

Perhaps this was all some subtle way of teaching you of the dangers of prejudging

a group of people, in which case your teacher is a genius. We’re trying real hard to cling to this possibility.

Dear 2600: