ISECOM's Top 10 Real Computer Crimes

thelordx writes "ISECOM, the Institute for Security and Open Methodologies, has just posted their Top 10 Real Computer Crimes for 2007 and Beyond. This list runs the gambit from poorly designed patches to chlamydia! It's entertaining, but also scary, as many of us could fall victim to some or all of them."

Comments

Re:Crimes against the English Language

[poopdeville]

A gambit requires a material sacrifice. Otherwise it's just a move or a ploy. Really.

It's originally a chess term, for an early material sacrifice that gains (usually) positional advantage. In particular, the loss of a pawn isn't a big deal if it causes the opponent's pawn structure to restrict their movement. Most gambits are pawn sacrifices, though ballsy players might got for a bishop or knight gambit. From the Italian 'gambetta', a wrestling term meaning 'to trip up by the heels'.

To be fair, I'll note the "usage note" at answers.com:

Critics familiar with the nature of chess gambits have sometimes maintained that the word should not be used in an extended sense except to refer to maneuvers that involve a tactical sacrifice or loss for some advantage. But gambit is well established in the general sense of "maneuver" and in the related sense of "a remark intended to open a conversation," which usually carries no implication of sacrifice.

I'm obviously one of the critics, though the only times I've seen the word 'gambit' in literary uses, it has corresponded to the material loss sense.