Ain’t no network strong enough

Thu, 31 Aug 2000 19:04:00 +0000

The cloak-and-dagger capers of computer no-goodniks may seem like prime page-turning material, but most books on the subject have all the sex appeal of a VCR manual. The typical tome on digital security is a dreary assemblage of techno-jargon, geared toward the small clique that gets its hardcore jollies from Perl programming. Most laymen are asleep by Page 10, or at least yearning for their dog-eared copy of "Hannibal."

Bruce Schneier, master cryptographer and idol of the computer underground, targets those short-attention-spanners in his latest book, "Secrets and Lies: Digital Security in a Networked World." Aiming straight for the vaunted "general audience," he peppers the 400-plus pages with Yogi Berra quotes, analogies drawn from "Star Wars" and trivia tidbits from Greek mythology. But the folksy wit doesn't obscure a core message as frighteningly entertaining as Dr. Lecter's flesh-eating antics: In cyberspace, you're dead meat on a stick.

To heck with hactivism

Thu, 20 Jul 2000 19:37:00 +0000

The keynote address at a typical hacker convention is delivered by the "Wizened Security Guru," usually an ex-CIA spook who wows the crowd with cloak-and-dagger tales. If he's not available, then the honor may fall to the "Hot Young Programmer," invariably a cocky coder who recounts his latest "eureka!" moment. But at last weekend's third-ever Hackers on Planet Earth convention, nicknamed H2K, the featured speaker was a confessed techno-idiot, a man who denies ever having so much as pressed an "ESC" key: Jello Biafra, ex-frontman for punk provocateurs the Dead Kennedys.

Decked out in a "D.A.R.E. to Keep Kids Out of Church" T-shirt, Biafra enraptured hundreds of hackers with a 90-minute diatribe against, among other things, the World Trade Organization, the Philadelphia police, "Al Gore, Inc.," USA Today and Taco Bell's value meals. "Use the Internet to create a generation that sees through corporate bullshit like never before!" he exhorted the crowd at New York's Hotel Pennsylvania. "Don't hate the media; become the media!" And though most audience members were not yet in diapers when "Holiday in Cambodia" debuted, Biafra's address was frequently punctuated by high-decibel applause and "Preach on, brother!" shouts.

Salon.com > Brendan I. Koerner

Ain’t no network strong enough

To heck with hactivism