Conference noted::hackers_v1

86.0. "The Computer isnt the System" by NY1MM::KURZMAN () Wed Jan 09 1985 23:11

Speaking of the 'public record', in most states, the Motor Vehicle Records
are in this category.  this is why Insurance Companies (and anyone else)
can find out your home address from your Driver's License number (ever wonder
why people who accept your check want all that info?).  Also, with only
a License Plate Number (remember that cutey yesterday?) you can get a copy 
of the Complete Registration History for that Plate (current car, plus any 
others it may have been transferred from) with home address, phone number,etc.
Don't blame me if this fact upsets you. What is in the public record, is
in fact, part of the public record in most cases.

In most states, you are only charged an 'administrative fee', usually
less than $5.00.  Once something is in the 'public record' it is available
to a whole lot of people, not just those it was intended for.
Remember, the 'system' is more than just the 'computer'-its the procedures.

BTW, I still am upset that SEARS (or any other quote 'company') can get
access to all my financial records. The security problem is not that
the password to TRW is too easy to find. The problem is that SEARS should
not have such easy access to all that information even with the Password.
The people who accessed TRW's system weren't stealing information. They
just weren't paying TRW the money it normally would have charged (in my
opinion).  

I am getting very tempted to forming my own 'company' and getting my own
TRW ID. Of course I will agree to keep TRW abreast of info on the people,
just like the other companies. I haven't gotten the cost breakdown yet
(maybe they avoid people like me by having a high initiation fee, or minimum
usage).  In the same regard, though, companies such JC PENNEY do not have
immediate access to TRW. Instead, they use another company (that would be
happy to have me as a customer) to do credit checks through TRW, the public
record (ie. court records, etc), and other means.  So even without 'hacking'
a 'computer', the Credit 'system' is still quite easy to hack.

Information is a wild beast, and blaming security flaws on the computer
is totally ridiculous. The flaw (or beauty, when you learn to tame it)
is the system itself.

[If any of youhave experiences you would like to share in this 'public record'
or 'credit history' area, feel free to MAIL or call.
Conversations with me are NOT public record].

I am not condoning anything illegal here. I am only trying to start a 
discussion of ways to use the 'system' in ways that can help us, rather
than being a victim to it.