Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!swrinde!sdd.hp.com!caen!sol.ctr.columbia.edu!emory!athena.cs.uga.edu!mcovingt
From: mcovingt@athena.cs.uga.edu (Michael A. Covington)
Newsgroups: comp.org.eff.talk
Subject: Re: Should we let students run COPS to get each other's passwords?
Message-ID: <1991Jun13.152800.28492@athena.cs.uga.edu>
Date: 13 Jun 91 15:28:00 GMT
References: <1991Jun12.211143.18803@murdoch.acc.Virginia.EDU> <1991Jun13.042534.16952@athena.cs.uga.edu> <50445@ut-emx.uucp>
Organization: University of Georgia, Athens
Lines: 26

In article <50445@ut-emx.uucp> awessels@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu (Allen Wessels) writes:
>In article <1991Jun13.042534.16952@athena.cs.uga.edu> mcovingt@athena.cs.uga.edu (Michael A. Covington) writes:
>
>>  -- My point is extremely simple: honest people don't even TRY to
>>     break into other people's accounts or obtain passwords without
>>     authorization.  Security holes or not!
>
>Your point is very simple.  And absurd.  I've watched several people attempt
>to crack systems.  In most cases, their intent was to see if it could be done.
>That's it.  

By "don't" I meant "ideally don't".  

That's precisely the point on which I want to raise the ethical
consciousness of the user community.

Honest people do not go around picking the locks on people's houses or
cars, not even "to test security." I see no reason why the ethics of
computers should be any different.


-- 
-------------------------------------------------------
Michael A. Covington | Artificial Intelligence Programs
The University of Georgia  |  Athens, GA 30602   U.S.A.
-------------------------------------------------------