Slashdot Mirror


Famous Criminal Opines that Technology Breeds Crime

jcatcw writes "In an interview with Computerworld's editor in chief, Don Tennant, Frank Abagnale spoke about his life of crime and crime prevention. Abagnale is a notorious criminal, whose exploits were portrayed in the movie 'Catch Me If You Can.' Abagnale claims: 'It would be 4,000 times easier to do today, what I did 40 years ago, and I probably wouldn't go to prison for it. Technology breeds crime — it always has, it always will ... I really think the more technology there is in the world, the more you have to instill character and ethics. You can build all the security systems in the world; you can build the most sophisticated technology, and all it takes is one weak link — someone who operates that technology — to bring it all down." This would seem to echo commentary in a New York Times article about the rise of Russian hackers in recent years.

2 of 243 comments (clear)

  1. It's scarry by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Troll


      A little history lesson: If you don't know the answer make your best guess. Answer all the questions before looking at the answers below. Who said it? (there are only six, you can do it!)

    1) "We're going to take things away from you on behalf of the common good."

    A. Karl Marx
    B. Adolph Hitler
    C. Joseph Stalin
    D. None of the above

    2) "It's time for a new beginning, for an end to government of the few, by the few, and for the few...and to replace it with shared responsibility for shared prosperity."

    A. Lenin
    B. Mussolini
    C. Idi Amin
    D. None of the Above

    3) "(We)...can't just let business as usual go on, and that means something has to be taken away from some people."

    A. Nikita Khrushev
    B. Jose f Goebbels
    C. Boris Yeltsin
    D. None of the above

    4) "We have to build a political consensus and that requires people to give up a little bit of their own...in order to create this common ground."

    A. Mao Tse Dung
    B. Hugo Chavez
    C. Kim Jong Il
    D. None of the above

    5) "I certainly think the free-market has failed."

    A. Karl Marx
    B. Lenin
    C. Molotov
    D. None of the above

    6) "I think it's time to send a clear message to what has become the most profitable sector in (the) entire economy that they are being watched."

    A. Pinochet
    B. Milosevic
    C. Saddam Hussein
    D. None of the above

    Answers:

    (1) D. None of the above. Statement was made by Hillary Clinton 6/29/2004
    (2) D. None of the above. Statement was made by Hillary Clinton 5/29/2007
    (3) D. None of the above. Statement was made by Hillary Clinton 6/4/2007
    (4) D. None of the above. Statement was made by Hillary Clinton 6/4/2007
    (5) D. None of the above. Statement was made by Hillary Clinton 6/4/2007
    (6) D. None of the above. Statement was made by Hillary Clinton 9/2/2005

  2. they meant 'nitrous' by circletimessquare · · Score: 0, Troll

    he either steals fertilizer, or always has a canister of laughing gas with him whenever he commits a crime, kind of like the joker

    --
    intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it