Identity Theft in the Information Age
Part 1, By Sam Di Bernardo
I have two incidences to use as illustrations regarding the safety of data in the age of information and computers.
Several years ago, when I was the Computer Teacher at St. Demetrius High School in Astoria, Queens, NY, FBI Agents came into my computer lab and asked to see one of my students. I pointed out the student whose name they had given me and they promptly went to him and after a short whispered conversation turned the boy around and handcuffed him. As they led my student out of my lab in tears I asked one of the agents what this 14 year old boy had done and they told me that he had hacked (broken into) the computers at the Pentagon! The agent said “you must be some heck of a computer teacher” but I felt that I was being damned with faint praise.
Later, because it was the “buzz” at our school, the kid became a “hero” and I wanted to play that aspect of hero worship down. I want to teach ethics and respect for the law besides computers so, I discussed this with all my classes! I thought this would also be a good lead it to a lesson on Computer Security I was planning. As I started my lesson I discussed that on the web HTTP meant Hyper Text Transfer Protocol and that if you were buying something or transferring important information you would want to look for an “S” after HTTP or HTTPS—the “S” standing for “secure” and to look for an icon of a little “lock” on a bar on the lower right hand screen. I told them about encryption and passwords. I told them how the passwords appeared in asterisks (stars) instead of the words and that was for protecting the those letters when one of my favorite students, George, raided his hand and said “Mr. D, I can get to see the letters easily.” I told him to show me after class and although I doubted him I didn’t want the rest of the class to see his little “show ‘n tell!”
After the class left George pulled out a floppy disk and “George the Genius” as I called him, asked my permission to install a little program on a lab computer. Because I trusted him, I approved. He told me to go to any program that required a hidden password and I complied George then left clicked the newly installed program icon and the encircled crosshairs, like those of a rifle scope appeared on screen. George then highlighted the box with the asterisks, placed the cross hairs over it and with one mouse click the letters of the no longer secret password appeared. By golly, he had shown the old professor something and it was amazing. Imagine you work in an office or bank and you leave your computer unattended for a moment to go to the water cooler with the password entered about to be activated. It would take a cheat or thief under one minute to steal that password or PIN (personal Identification number) then you would possibly be in deep trouble! What ever you were working on, your email or on-line banking would have persons other than yourself with access—not good! Incidentally software providers recommend you change your password regularly to foil intruders. You can never keep computer spies out completely but you can make it difficult for them and like electricity and water they will go somewhere else where entry is easier. But beware! I recall a line in a western movie I once saw where an old geezer like Gabby Hayes said: “I ain’t never seen a horse that can’t be rode and never saw a cowboy that can’t been throwed!” To me that means that as computer and data security improves so does the skill and knowledge of the criminal rise to cheat that system—it’s a vicious circle.
For security reasons I recommend two checking/visa/master whatever accounts and the lesser of the two, by far, I just keep just enough money to use for a small or specific purchase whether on-line or at a cash register; that reduces your risk. If the thief is not deterred by such a small amount he, if successful, just ends up with a little, what they call, “chump change!” Be careful with your information and personal data, avoid becoming a “chump” yourself.
PS, I told that student who had shown me how to reveal hidden passwords to take the program off the computer by deleting it. He deleted it and left the old professor at the computer. But, in leaving, he forgot to do one thing! Can you guess what that one thing was?
He, like most kids and many husbands, forgot to empty the trash!!!
Part 2, Protecting your Social Security Number and Driver’s License Information to follow.
Sam Di Bernardo,
Retired Computer Teacher
PS, This column was published in the Queens Courier--what I didn't mention in the story why emptying the trash was so important! Well I went onto the trash icon used "restore" and saved the program for future experimentation!
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