Insecurity demo theater: Tetris at the checkout

Begin forwarded message:

From: Ted Nelson <[email protected]>
Date: January 5, 2007 1:34:50 AM EST
To: David Farber <[email protected]>
Cc: Ted Nelson <[email protected]>
Subject: Insecurity demo theater: Tetris at the checkout
Reply-To: [email protected]

Hi Dave--

As we've seen lately (from the kid who made fake
  boarding passes last October), you can get in a lot
  of trouble if you go demonstrating that a system
  is insecure in a politically incorrect way.

So the theatrics of such demonstrations becomes
  the new focus.

It's one thing to know what the problem is; it's another
  to demonstrate it compellingly and theatrically and
  lovably, so that even the people who don't want your
  message to get out have to smile.

One example: Feynman's dunking the O-ring in the ice water.
  Simplicity and humor made the truth impossible to evade.

And now, two guys at the Other Place (Cambridge U.),
  Saar Drimer and Steven Murdoch, have demonstrated (with
  similar simplicity and good humor) the vulnerability of the UK's
  Chip-and-Pin terminals that want a four-digit number to
  validate a credit-card purchase.  (Do you have them in the USA?)

http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/04/chip-and-pin-terminal-cant-play- 
doom-but-tetris-runs-just-fine/
and for example

http://www.emergentchaos.com/archives/2006/12/chip_pin_and_tetris.html

This shows that the way to get the public alarmed
  about the Diebold voting machine isn't any more talking-head
  gloom and doom.  Get it playing Grand Theft Auto
  at some very appropriate time.

Cheers,Ted


-- 
Theodor Holm Nelson
   Visiting Fellow, Oxford Internet Institute
   Visiting Professor, University of Southampton
   Founder, Project Xanadu

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