Took the antionline funpole but it was a tough study for a geriatric fem
to admit age grp. to such a formidable youngster. Here's a lst timer at
your sight who dropped in to salute you and report, --in confidence of
course--, making numerous possibly © infringing hard copy reprints of
Vanity Fairs 'Invisible Enemies' article. That static tech is still our
information footpath medium of exchange here. Wish we had the years
left to enjoy your gens Guttengurg rev- (delete that) ev-olution. sig.
us admiring ancien Ed. in Carmel Caif. --the village of newlyweds and
nearly deads,



- Dudley



What in the living hell did he/she just say? I'm not sure, but I bet that those could pass as rap lyrics..... Heh, as a matter of fact, I'll give a free AntiOnline T-shirt (fjear!) to the person sends in the best rap version of that paragraph. E-mail it to me in mp3 format and I'll post the best one in next week's mailbag......








Are you freaking NUTS? I found your ridiculous scan on our company webserver
as well as on my private one.



If you don't want to face any consequences You should stop doing this!



Konstantin Agouros



Yes, apparently some ub3r-h4x0r has created a vulnerability scanner that includes our webpage address in its remote scans. People sent me dozens of letters like the one above. Cute.....








By the time you read this I guess the election must be over, so now we are all waiting for your view: Do you think the new president will have any affect on the internet and the world of hackers and computer-geeks in general, and if so; How?
(..Yeah, I know this was a bad choice of words, so what... ScaRRy!



Yours, [Psychotic Illusion®]



Well, the election is over, but we still don't know who the president is. I guess it's looking like it will be Bush after all. I hear Canada isn't that bad of a country.....








John,



First off I want to say that I'm a big fan of your site and what you guys do. I'm a student at St. Ambrose University in Davenport, Ia and I'm doing a report on online creditcard fraud. I was wondering how you got started in monitoring for creditcard fraud, where you guys look for stolen numbers and what you do when you find a stolen number. I appreciate any information you can provide me with.



Thanks for your time and information.



Kevin



Well, my interest really isn't in credit card fraud, as much as it is Russian Mafia. I began looking into the Mafia, and the credit card fraud thing just turned out to be a big part of their operation. I just ignore stollen numbers, because it would be a full time job informing people, ect. My main goal is to research the ways that the Russian Mafia are operating online, how they are using technology to support their crimes and communicate with one another, how they hire externals to do technical work, etc. Maybe I'll do a report one of these days, "How I Became Part Of The Russian Mafia From My Home In Beaver, PA". Heh. My next mission is to become part of China's Information Warfare Program.








Hello,



I was woundering if I know about someone who is
hacking into my computer and possibly other peoples
computers who would I contact and what would I need to
be able to prove that his person has been illegally
hacking. Also what action can I take against them if
they have hacked into my email accounts deleted
infromation/ sent emails from my addresse/ and hacked
onto my computer leaving a viruses in my hard drive??
Thank you for your help and time.



Shawn



I hate to be the one to break the bad news to you, but the FBI is backlogged 900 "hacking" cases that they've chosen to investigate. Where do you think your case would rank on that list?








As a reader of your site, I was wondering if you and
your team would do reviews on firewalls and routers
since you have a vast knowledge of security?



What Great Idea! Ok, we use Cisco Routers and Cisco Pix Firewalls and think they're the best. End of review.








Please JP, print this in the next mailbag. The way people are beginning to think is beginning to really turn my stomach.



I read the mailbag today and the email from Kevin about rewarding "defacers" with scholarships so that "systems would be far safer" is total bunk. Just because "most of these guys are high schoolers wanting a challenge, with loads of time" doesn't give them any right to trash someone else's online site just because it's something to do between episodes of the Simpsons.
Kevin really misses the whole point - not to mention that there *are* also *grrls* out here in the Cyber Wastelands as well. (And yes, we all look like Jessica Alba and are all revved up!)



Seriously, comparing GNU/LINUX to website Defacing is totally bent.

Obviously the author knows nothing about either GNU or LINUX and the communities that nurture them. GNU and LINUX are constructive, cooperative, almost harmonious attempts at providing a better Operating System and Software products that benefit everyone for free. Defacing, on the other hand, is a malicious action to cause problems and intimidate people. These people don't want scholarships, they don't want a darn reward - they just want to break something and use whatever scant knowledge they have to make online life miserable for the rest of us. Because they think it's cool - to make up for their Real Life lameness. And I should know ....



When I was younger before the Internet was popular, my friends and I used to get bored too. So, I embarked upon a short lived career of breaking into and vandalizing the interiors of peoples' homes. Spray painting 4 letter words and graffitti on the walls with black paint, busting stuff up, stealing any money or valuables the people had in their bedrooms. I even stole some woman's nurse uniform 'cuz she had it hanging in an open closet.
We didn't know the people, but in our community people left their doors unlocked when they went to the store because nothing bad ever happened before. We went up and down neighborhoods trying backdoors and when we found an open one .... bingo.



So, was it okay for us to go trashing peoples' houses just because they left a screened kitchen door open and we had time on our hands? Should I get a scholarship for home decorating courses at the community college just because I took a black spray can and sprayed a swatstika on someone's bedroom wall and splashed tar all over their living room? Was it that woman's fault for leaving her uniform out on a hanger in her bedroom that I stole? Or the woman whose jewelry box we broke open and ripped off because she had it on her dresser?



People - it's just the same as if you break into someone's website, post degrading messages on it, and then steal credit card information.



My friends and I did jailtime when we got caught (we weren't minors), our parents had to pay and I am still paying for damages even today, and we basically ruined a lot of things for and hurt a lot of people for a very long time. And for what? Because we were bored.



What a pathetic excuse.



I tend to like China's "scholarship" solution to people they catch breaking into systems: a bullet to the back of your head. Then a "tuition" charge to your relatives for the bullet that taught you the "lesson" that it's not a good idea to be criminal - cyber or otherwise. It's one of those "Learning Experience" things .......



What's wrong with our world today? People wanting to reward the BAD GUYS/GALS for doing BAD THINGS! Gimme a break. Would Kevin be so quick to give ME a scholarship if I trashed HIS home and pat me on the back for being the first to steal his computer and his mother's jewelry?



I don't think so .....



Cheryl