2600 Flash
NSA Doesn't Feel Secure
The National Security Agency has told Congress that United States advantages in advanced technologies, including development of nuclear weapons, are threatened by the poor security of the nation's communications networks.
To protect information, the agency recommended that a single agency supervise the development of communication security procedures, the purchasing of telecommunications security equipment and carrying out personnel security procedures.
The National Security Agency is the largest and most secretive of the nation's intelligence agencies. Its chief responsibilities are to collect intelligence by eavesdropping on the electronic communications of other nations and to devise ways to prevent foreign countries from acquiring the confidential messages of the Defense Department and other security agencies.
(((Jerry F. Berman))), legislative counsel to the American Civil Liberties Union, agreed that the swift development of computerized communications systems had made security a legitimate public concern.
"But what is disturbing about the proposal is that it comes from the N.S.A., a super-secret agency with a major foreign intelligence mission and the least accountability of any agency in the United States Government," Berman said.
"If any agency is competent, it is the N.S.A. The problem, however, is that they are not accountable and cannot be counted upon to weigh other interests, such as the privacy of all American citizens.
"If the N.S.A. were to get involved in procurement, for example," Berman added, "they could end up putting a net of security over large parts of the academic community and industry. It might increase security, but it also could reduce freedom and hinder the open development of new forms of communications."
A list was not provided of the Government telecommunications networks that might come under the overall control of a centralized security agency if it was given a broadened mandate. The Federal Bureau of Investigation, the General Services Administration, and the (((Federal Reserve))) operate national communication networks that would qualify as being among "the nation's automated information systems."
Another Hacker Story
A boy who allegedly bought rare comic books and other goods worth thousands of dollars by using a computer to get credit card numbers is helping authorities trace other hackers across the country, Howard County [MD] police say.
He has cooperated with local police, FBI, and Secret Service investigators by providing information about illegal computer operating practices. The youth allegedly bought computer equipment and programs valued up to $4.000 by using credit card numbers supplied by computer hackers from the Midwest. He ordered the goods by telephone and then picked them up after their delivery to unoccupied homes.
Police obtained a warrant to search the boy's house August 16 after talking with an informant. Found were programs that allowed him to patch into several long-distance telephone companies illegally. Police say he apparently was able to call around the world and arrange conference calls using corporate telephone lines.
[Must have been a real genius...]
AT&T Faces Serious Money Problem
The American Telephone and Telegraph Company, despite service backlogs and increased competition, has moved closer in recent months to its maximum authorized profit margin for interstate long-distance telephone service.
A company spokesman said late last month that AT&T's rate or return, or profit margin, on long-distance service was 12.36 percent after the first seven months of 1984. The maximum authorized margin is 12.75 percent annually, based on AT&T's investment in equipment.
Among long-distance companies, only AT&T faces an Federal Communications Commission limit on profits. The commission last adjusted the margin in 1981 after more than a year of study, raising it from 11 percent. Should AT&T exceed it's margin, the F.C.C. can order rate cuts.
Private Directories Soon to be Available
How valuable are the telephone directories of some of the nation's top banks, investment and accounting firms, insurance companies, and corporations - especially those that include not only direct office numbers for managers, but also home addresses and phone numbers and, in at least one instance, such data for summer homes?
Steven Olsen is counting on their being worth a great deal. His firm, Corporate Information Services, plans to sell copies of directories for such companies as the General Motors Corporation; the RCA Corporation; Chase Manhattan Bank; Goldman, Sachs & Company; Arthur Andersen & Company, and Booz, Allen & Hamilton, the management consulting firm.
Prospective buyers are told to write to a box number and ask for a catalog detailing what Mr. Olsen said would be a package of directories for 250 companies from around the world. They must then submit bids through the mail for his package. Bidders topping a minimum set by Mr. Olsen's company would receive the package, and, he said, "We're not talking small money. This is a valuable source of information to stockbrokers, executive recruiters, [computer hackers,] insurance and real estate brokers, and those engaged in direct-mail marketing or telemarketing. We're talking about the most powerful companies and some of the highest-salaried people in the world," he added.
Mr. Olsen, who said he got his idea while working as an editor for a computer publication [it wasn't us, we swear], showed off copies of in-house directories for Chase Manhattan and Goldman. Sachs during an interview. His plans drew a cool response from both companies.
Many other companies declined comment on the attempted sale of their directory information. The reaction among those that did ranged from outrage to hearty amusement.
"We only have copies of the directories," Mr. Olsen stressed, not the directories themselves. "So we're not in receipt of stolen properties, and I acquired them all legally."
But Mr. Olsen, who wants to sell other people's addresses and telephone numbers, declined for "reasons of security" to disclose the address or telephone number of his company. There was no listing for Corporate Information Services in telephone information for New York City, and the address to which inquiries about the auction are to be sent is a mailbox in a private postal drop company on lower Fifth Avenue. Mr. Olsen was reached through an answering service, whose number is not as closely guarded. [The folks at 2600 would be more than proud if some of our readers were able to find out this guy's phone number so we can display it on Page One!!!]
Mr. Olsen said that such secrecy was necessary "as protection against attempts to steal or destroy this valuable database." He said he was followed for a time and "had to take evasive action" last year after a newspaper published an article about the company.
Mr. Olsen also said that he had no copies of company directories that are copyrighted. Victor A. Kovner, a lawyer who is a copyright expert, said that if a company has copyrighted its directory and given notice in it, the book cannot be reproduced without permission.
Mr. Kovner said that if a company has not copyrighted its directory, then in most cases it could not prevent copies from being disseminated. [To illustrate this point, we have published a picture of a directory on Page 5 that is not copyrighted. We suggest you look at it so you'll understand this article better. And as a public service to nearly everyone, we challenge Mr. Olsen to beat our price for "public" information, which is simply the cost of Xeroxing and mailing it. We'll cheerily make available any documents (non-copyrighted, of course!) provided by contributors,for a no-profit price. So send them on in!]