Slashdot Mirror
Fake ATM Fraud Expose
santos_douglas writes "Forget ATMs coming under attack by worms, MSNBC has this article about Dateline NBC's investigative report into fake ATMs and other ATM related scams. ATM frauds are a clever combination of social engineering and hardware hacking. The most sophisticated thefts involve the purchase and setup of real ATMs that actually do dispense cash to avoid suspicion, but are altered to save both the card's magnetic signature and the customers PIN, which are later added to false cards and used to empty bank accounts at real ATMS. The 'ATM gang' profiled managed to purchase and setup 50+ machines and steal over $4 million from over 21,000 customers. The machines can be purchased legitimately and hooked into the banking network with no more than a regular bank account. Less sophisticated attacks include building and attaching false fronts to existing ATMs to collect info, and using covert cameras to collect PINs from afar. The articles has some handy tips for avoiding scams."
fp, from a fake atm
What Happened To The Censorware Project (censorware.org)
by Seth Finkelstein, former chief programmer of Censorware Project
An updated version of this essay is available at http://sethf.com/freespeech/censorware/essays/cens orwareorg.php
"Reporters come in as newspaper men, trained to get the news and eager to get it; they end as tinhorn statesmen, full of dark secrets and unable to write the truth if they tried."
-- H.L. Mencken
Summary
This essay describes what happened to the former website for the Censorware Project (censorware.org), an activist organization which produced much work exposing the flaws of censorware (programs euphemistically called "filters"). In brief, the site was taken down for one week in August 2000, put back, then was taken down again on November 4 2000. As of this publication (February 2001), the second removal has lasted three months, and appears permanent. Both times, the shut-downs were done deliberately by the webmaster, Michael Sims. This is an account of the why and wherefore.
Disclaimer: The author is a biased, partial, partisan, interested party to the events chronicled below.
Beginnings
The White Rabbit put on his spectacles. "Where shall I begin, please your Majesty?" he asked.
"Begin at the beginning", the King said gravely, "and go on till you come to the end: then stop."
- Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
Unfortunately, I can't begin at the beginning, only very near the end. The story of the formation, tensions, and then public meltdown, of Censorware Project would fill a book (plus an updated edition concerning the aftermath and issues about partial re-grouping). This article is a cautionary tale about what happened to the censorware.org website, and some associated personal memoirs.
Censorware is software designed and optimized for use by an authority to prevent another person from sending or receiving information. It's more than an essay in itself to discuss the politics of censorware, the various government mandates and laws involving it, and the free-speech opposition to it. For background on these topics, see websites as such as Peacefire or The Net Censorship Dilemma (or Seth Finkelstein's Anticensorware Investigations)
The Censorware Project was formed by a group of writers, lawyers, and activists in late 1997. The coFounders were Seth Finkelstein (the writer of this essay), Bennett Haselton, Jamie McCarthy, Michael Sims, James Tyre, and Jonathan Wallace. The goal was to expose information about censorware products. I donated my skills as a senior-level programmer. Michael Sims became the webmaster.
We produced a great amount of important free-speech material. But analyzing censorware is hard, unrewarding, legally risky work. Programmers have been sued for reverse-engineering the secret blacklists. To compress a year's worth of story down to a few sentences, there came a time I received legal advice that I was heading for a lawsuit. I was the person with my fingers on the server. There was a deep conflict between what Censorware Project could do which would be good for me, as a programmer at risk of being sued, and what would be good for e.g. Michael Sims, in terms of promoting his nascent career as a journalist. The fact that I'm writing this essay should tell you what was the outcome of that conflict.
I'm Grand Poohbah or I'll Shoot This Site!
"Buy This Magazine or We'll Shoot This Dog!"
- famous National Lampoon cover (January 1973)
On Wednesday, August 30 2000, the webmaster for Censorware Project, Michael Sims removed the contents of censorware.org for the first time. All reports, essays, and other information were taken down from the website. The front page was replaced with a message about "Closed for remodeling". That was false. There was no remodeling planned. Michael Sims had taken down the website as a means of retaliation (concurrence: Jonathan Wallace's account: "... Mike Sims' reaction to a perceived slight was to take the site down for
STFU Troll
MOD PARENT DOWN just look at this guy's posting history!
This censorship cannot be tolerated. We have fought too hard and too long to submit to it.
Anyone have any thoughts on what they'd go with?
Why didn't you just say that is was ON TEH SPOKE!!
actually, it was a mule, not a donkey.
"Setup", "login", "logout", "logon", "logout" are nouns.
"Set up", "log in", "log out", "log on", "log out" are verbs.
That's what ya git for believing your spam
Alternatively: get laid.
Are you saying Simpsons is racist? Because Simpsons happens to be my favorite show. So watch it, buster
Yes they do!
Backing down? I never stepped up!!!
I really do hate their habits. I'm just not burning crosses with a nazi emblem and a "I beat jews" t-shirt.
Tom
Someday, I'll have a real sig.
GNU's Not Unix Not Unix Not Unix