[109320] in Cypherpunks
Re: FWD: PC Computing Online: Bombshell
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Sunder)
Thu Mar 18 11:46:43 1999
Date: Thu, 18 Mar 1999 11:01:33 -0500
From: Sunder <sunder@brainlink.com>
To: packetstorm@Genocide2600.com
CC: cypherpunks@toad.com
Reply-To: Sunder <sunder@brainlink.com>
Right, sure. When you try to "download" this program you get this:
APRIL FOOLS!
But it could happen . . .
What a world, huh? Do you <I>really</I> trust your IS department? Your
boss? Do you know that they can legally snoop through your e-mail, look at
the files on your computer, listen in on your phone calls, check out the Web
sites you visit?
Is this justified because they own the equipment and they're paying for your
time? Or is it an absolute abuse of authority and a violation of your
privacy? Do you have any privacy rights at work? Let us know how you feel.
[My comments]
However, I will add that any machine with a microphone, sound card, and speedy
network connection can do this. Most users won't notice, anyone with a
sniffer tool will notice the extra continous traffic. Under most unixen you
don't even have to write much software to listen to the microphone. (Netcat is
a great tool!) With 9x/NT you'll have to write a bit of code, but it's no big
deal.
A while back, at a previous employer we used to have racks and racks and racks
of Sun servers and since we were bored we uploaded Bevis & Butthead sounds to
all of them and setup cron jobs. Every night the machines would say "I am
Cornholio, I need TP for my bunghole." But we could have just as easily
plugged in microphones and listened and used netcat to pipe the sounds to our
own stations should we chose to. Of course we wouldn't have heard much more
than the fans in the racks, but I digress.
The warning in the article about blinking hard drive lights is fairly
ominous. Have no fear. Microsoft Swapping algorithms are shit. They always
swap randomly, even when there's little activity on the machine. So you will
normally see the lights blink and hear the drive going even if there's little
activity otherwise.
packetstorm@Genocide2600.com wrote:
>
> This message was forwarded to you from ZDNet (http://www.zdnet.com) by packetstorm@genocide2600.com.
>
> Comment from sender:
>
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> This article is from PC Computing Online (http:www.pccomputing.com/).
> Visit this page on the Web at:
> http://www.zdnet.com/pccomp/stories/all/0,6605,391688,00.html
>
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Bombshell
> Paul Somerson
> April, 1999
>
> A shocking revelation in a little-known Minnesota legal case is about
> to throw the entire PC industry into turmoil. And unless privacy
> advocates are successful in a court challenge, everyday users may be
> in serious danger of being sued or fired. The trouble started when
> Lydia Profaslo, a 24-year-old sales associate at Polar Foil, a
> manufacturer of thermal insulating material, posted a photograph on
> her firm's Web site taken at a company picnic. In the photo, Profaslo
> is wearing shorts and a bathing suit top.
<SNIP>
--
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