Editorial

There are some things you just assume will never happen to you.  And, somehow, being hacked seems to always catch the victim by surprise.

We've been hacked before.  Someone found our Skyline code (not knowing who it belonged to) and raised our bill to the heavens.  This month, though, it was a bit more personal; a little closer to home.

Someone figured out the code for our answering machine and had actually listened to some messages that were left.  No real damage was done, except our beloved privacy had been invaded.

We're considering calling in the FBI.  They investigate this sort of thing, don't they?  And it would be a great opportunity to see how they work.

What we did do was call the manufacturer of our machine to complain about how easy it was to break in.  They weren't in.  They had their answering machine on.  And theirs was the kind that you could change the outgoing message on.  No need to elaborate, except to say we made our point.

We're using a different model temporarily.  But if you call us, or if you call anyone else, don't leave sensitive information on an answering machine.  And look for a hacker's guide to answering machines, coming soon.