Re: Do the people I see in the movies use Unix?

From: David Schwartz (davids_at_webmaster.com)
Date: 05/21/05

  • Next message: joe_at_invalid.address: "Re: Do the people I see in the movies use Unix?" 
    Date: Fri, 20 May 2005 16:05:17 -0700

    <joe@invalid.address> wrote in message
    news:m3sm0hcxzj.fsf@invalid.address...

    > My favorite was one of the recent episodes of "24". One of the
    > analysts there had to hack into another analyst's computer becuase
    > there was a suspicion she was a mole.

    > It turns out that she could do this (in about a minute and a half)
    > even though the "network" was "blocked". She did it by getting to the
    > other computer through the AC power wiring instead. Apparently she had
    > an interface card for that handy, and a really good secret decoder
    > ring.

        That's totally plausible under the following circumstances:

        1) It's important that nobody think that anyone has tampered with the
    computer after the planted evidence became available.

        2) The computer is in an area that's normally monitored, but the
    attacked can get unonitored access to it well before the planted evidence
    becomes available.

        3) The computer only has network, power, and obviously local
    connections, and the network is monitored.

        In this case, the attacker can rig the computer to write data received
    over the power cable to disk and can discreetly send this data over the
    power network. Only the designated computer would have the hardware to
    receive it, and it would appear that the attacker had no way to get the data
    onto the computer after it become available.

        These were precisely the circumstances in the episode.

        DS

  • Next message: joe_at_invalid.address: "Re: Do the people I see in the movies use Unix?"

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