Schneier on Security

Laura Woodford • June 28, 2011 5:09 PM

In a severe crack that. hit gov in @ may 2006, then our pcs in nov 2006, FBI, state pc crimes
did not want my info cuz I was not cissp. Bid
security firms said they only worked w big corps. I had a small pc Corp when certs did not matter, but what u knew, could do.

as things changed I read books by u, skoudis etc. I saw things that many even cissps thought
impossible. when screen messages looked like
packs yet pc not connected, puzzling. If the geeks knew enuff to explain an intelligent reason like a illusion from a certain file set wrong, better
than calling me an idiot.

I met ladies in wmt who said pcs had viruses. perhaps the malware were trogan/ root kits, but
many knew. same story av software said nothing
wrong, store geeks same. how many mid to low mid folks knew? they knew not geekese. Not only us.

I knew the invader’s code written someone w 20-30 yrs of coding and pc arch. I recognized pre 95
design, saw programs. Why they did not cut my pcs from their net? I had a flash in pc at time. It was not part of xp, the flash was mine. my opinion, I had the right to know contents.

I knew contents were hack files, opened them up in OO. The most dangerous person for hck is 1) I knew 2) I was insanely curious, would not give up. My gut screamed ‘ hope those top secret security folks know or it will be Global Econ collapse’.

number hit would be low cuz those regular fills
that know are ignored. Foe me, too much at stake. Not the FBI nor Cissps convinced me I did not see what I saw. Some answers in books for pros in assembler, C folks doing security compliance at big orgs, pc arch, etc.

I got clues from Linux geeks, engineers, one apple expert. Those were eth hackers in biz management who avoid the rate race of Corp
security. Many hide cuz they fear govt. The ‘patriot. act’ drove them underground. Careful to do nothing illegal, renounce it when asked

I know not how many hide, but I was left clues in odd places. I was posting, nor asked those on the sitesto fix my problem. Two yrs hcking my pcs, living in registry, still unable to get it out, one day it was gone.

Honestly, I was too close. no proof but knew locations, corps. before someone chased it out, My gut screamed danger. I was one, running too close. If I had figured out 2-3 more details, I feared perception as a threat, I quit. I used no
security tools cuz hcks made them.

Arrogant folks leave info. I was unpredictable, played head games like ‘the art ofnwar’. from the
first, the crackers declared war. it was wAr. my
strategies were atypical war. I did not win, I quit. I learned a lot. After a year I was thinking like a hcker. My mind scared me. Now thinking of worse hack attacks, most think impossible, I went to an expert with, what if?

He looked like he had seen a ghost. Lived hoping
no one would think of such devious possibilities. To one not a programmer, hw expert, nor security xpert, he sadly said ‘u better believe it’.

I cannot say the vulnerable cuz they are Ed Skoudis worst nightmare. Not the os, but the hw. None that make the components would fizz until
bad guys are doing it. Only apple. 2007, Jobs was hiring engineers to reverse every board chip.
Some of the flaws are obvious to a ‘child’s mind’.

Intel knows nada @ ram, USB engineers know that, those that make HD make that. I have no lofty position, nor certs. If I met Israel geeks, only they would listen. A More secure board is possible, but someone would have to make it. I doubt such boards would be expensive. After freaking, I thought,.,’ how could it be fixed’. designs flooded my brain, wrote them down.

This society is not ready. A brilliant mathematician put this theorems, some explanations in a box. Found 300 yrs later, they groaned, ‘why didn’t he publish, we would be further’. They could barely grasp it. If the math guy had published 300 yrs before, he would have
been tormented dAily if not burned at then stake.

The oppression of science that goes against popular continues whether global war wing, Darwinism. The pc architecture has changed little since the 286, cept changes that made it less secure. Only an idiot would think a different one
would well received. In a greedy world, where profits are at stake, they might fight. The cracker
would think the impossible well before the denial
that preceded the righting ended.

The professor was right. He hoped no one would
think such thoughts. Now, if a novice thought them, how long? One hint. Hacking is getting something to exec it’s programming or design. It is what it is capable or, not what it designed to do.

My son in security thinks ur the best.

@aura