Re: Many pieces!

[mea culpa <jericho () DIMENSIONAL COM>]

[Moderator: The original post was taken from a SANS News Summary.
 I did not receive it in its entirety]


Response From: Hal Lockhart <Hal.Lockhart () storagenetworks com>

> 11 November 1999  Cracking Suit Filed Against Law Firm
> A private company that conducts investigative research for law enforcement
> has filed a lawsuit in US District Court for the District of Columbia,
> alleging that an employee of a Washington law firm tried repeatedly to
> crack its computer systems.
> http://www.computerworld.com/home/news.nsf/all/9911114hacksuit
> http://www.wired.com/news/print/0,1294,32488,00.html

This has to be the strangest use of the term "cracking" I have seen yet.
Certainly the alleged behavior constitutes "unauthorized access", but
cracking? The first paragraph says the first paragraph says that "...Dig
Dirt Inc. this week renewed charges that a Washington law firm tried to
hack into its Internet domain and systems more than 750 times."

But further down it says they used somebody else's account and password to
post messages on Internet discussion boards. Actually the more I think
about this, the less sense it makes. If they wanted to impersonate
somebody while posting to USENET, why not just forge their email address?
I guess this story is just another example of garbled reporting by someone
who doesn't understand the technology and didn't bother to ask.

Hal
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Harold W. Lockhart Jr.             StorageNetworks, Inc.
Voice: 781-434-6741                100 Fifth Avenue
Fax:   781-434-6799                Waltham, MA 02451
hal.lockhart () storagenetworks com   www.storagenetworks.com
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