Incompetent Teachers Charge Students

[Machinus]

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/technology/AP-Kutztown-13.html?

I think its incredible that they issued everyone laptops, that is amazing. But we did stuff like this all the time, in the dorms and computer labs. "Computer trespass?" What the hell is that?

[Jacob Orlove]

The administrative password that allowed students to reconfigure computers and obtain unrestricted Internet access was easy to obtain. A shortened version of the school's street address, the password was taped to the backs of the computers.

Heh.

[Komatteru]

Infuckingcredible.

''No matter how many ways you can think to protect something, the truth is that someone can hack their way around it,'' said Leslie Conery, the society's deputy CEO. ''The gauntlet is thrown down if you have tighter control.''

Clearly, that means that even if you do a half-ass job of protecting something, no one should mess with it.  It's like putting a lock on a door--that lock tells everyone not to come in, even if you don't actually lock the lock. It doesn't matter b/c someone could circumvent better protection methods anyway.

[Bram]

Well, I basically agree with that. Better methods of protecting something are still a smart move though, because lots of people dont agree with that.

It's a common misconception that it is impossible to secure something perfectly. It is by no means impossibe, or even difficult, be it a vault or a computer system. The only caveat is that noone can get in anymore. The weak point of every 'secure' system is that there is always someone who does get to access it. If that condition is present, security can always be breached, no matter how well you secure it. Take away that condition, and you have the perfect security system

[Demonic Attorney]

People seem to lose sight of a corollary principle in IT security.  Sure, nothing can ever be perfectly secured, short of shutting it off to access from anyone.  But, the people who are out to break into security systems are by and large opportunistic.  If you make it prohibitively difficult for them to do, they won't bother.

Take my computer.  It uses a router and a firewall.  That is by no means the perfect security setup, and I'm sure there are people out there who could break into it without much trouble.  Thing is, there are other available targets out there that are no trouble at all.  Why opt for me when comparable victims are out there who make for an easier job? 

It's like the herd mentality.  Think of yourself as a member of a big pack of a prey species, constituted by other computer users that have similar appeal to yourself as a hack victim.  All it takes to be reasonably safe is to not appear to be the weakest of the herd, because the weakest is the one that gets picked out by roaming predators.  If you're a school, have your webpage, gateway computer, and network be about as secure as most other schools.  If you're a corporation, have your security be similar to that of similar corporations.  If you're just an individual user, hell probably any form of security will do; AOL users will supply enough prime targets to provide a distraction from you and your machine.

Perfect security isn't necessary; you just don't want to be an easy mark.  Taping administrative passwords to computers when they are issued tends to make you pretty easy, though.

[Machinus]

It's like the herd mentality.  Think of yourself as a member of a big pack of a prey species, constituted by other computer users that have similar appeal to yourself as a hack victim.  All it takes to be reasonably safe is to not appear to be the weakest of the herd, because the weakest is the one that gets picked out by roaming predators.  If you're a school, have your webpage, gateway computer, and network be about as secure as most other schools.  If you're a corporation, have your security be similar to that of similar corporations.  If you're just an individual user, hell probably any form of security will do; AOL users will supply enough prime targets to provide a distraction from you and your machine.

A significant amount of hacking isn't motivated only by opportunity. Don't make enemies of or piss off people who would/could break into your system and mess around. Certainly don't challenge them to, or press charges against them for pointing out your stupidity : /

[Bram]

On a semi-related note: I initially read the topic title as 'Impotent Teachers Charge Students' which really made me wonder what this thread was about. Go on, try it. I'm sure you can all come up with some pretty bizarre scenarios that fit that headline.

[Jacob Orlove]

On a semi-related note: I initially read the topic title as 'Impotent Teachers Charge Students' which really made me wonder what this thread was about. Go on, try it. I'm sure you can all come up with some pretty bizarre scenarios that fit that headline.

When I first saw it, I read it correctly, but I was envisioning some kind of physical attack by the teachers, with the students fleeing.

[Bram]

lol yeah! That's even funnier.

"CHAAAAAAAAAAAARGE!!!"