4 ms·
Things were different then. I remember, a few years after the worm, Sun had just come out with shadow passwords; but our system hadn't implemented them yet. So
by ajays 15y ago
Things were different then.
I remember, a few years after the worm, Sun had just come out with shadow passwords; but our system hadn't implemented them yet. So I decided to run a dictionary attack the passwords stored in /etc/passwd. I wanted to show our sysadmins that going shadow was better, by telling them how many passwords could be broken. Obviously, I ran this password cracker on the same machine, and didn't bother to hide the fact.
The next day I get an email from our sysadmin, "why are you cracking passwords?".
"To show you how many of them are weak and can be cracked", I replied.
"Please don't do that" he replied, and I stopped.
In those days, harmless curiosity (as long as it wasn't malicious) was encouraged. People weren't as touchy as they are today.
- StavrosK 15y agoI guess you're right. I do agree that people are too touchy today.
- microtherion 15y agoPeople got into a LOT of trouble over that as early as 1995, cf. the Randal Schwartz case: http://www.lightlink.com/spacenka/fors/ http://www.lightlink.com/spacenka/fors/
- ajays 15y agoI remember that episode. Memory's fuzzy, but I think Merlyn wasn't employed by Intel at that time; I think even his consultant gig had just lapsed. I think someone at Intel just got a bee up his bonnet and decided to raise a stink; and things snowballed after that. In my case, I was a student with unbounded curiosity at a Univ; and the sysadmins were very tolerant then.