full-disclosure - Meth and hacking?

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From: cdevoney at u.washington.edu (Chris DeVoney)
Subject: Meth and hacking?

On Wednesday, March 10, 2004 9:44 AM, Steven Alexander wrote:

> http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4460349/
> 
> "The drugs and the crime fit neatly together; addicts strung 
> out on meth can stay awake and focused for days at a time, 
> making them expert hackers and mailbox thieves. And ID theft 
> is easy money, the perfect income for drug addicts who have 
> no other way to fund their habit."
> 
> Expert hackers?  WTF? 

Depends on how you define "expert" but I could accept Bob Sullivan's
defintion (although his idiot editor at MSNBC could have changed the
wording). 

According to the article, the theft doesn't start with an online activity;
it starts by stealing US Mail. The information is then successfully
exploited online. No, the person isn't an expert hacker, per sa; they become
expert at exploiting identify theft, just a fancy name for a thief.

But concentration and long, continuous effort working at a craft can improve
anyone's skills.<grin>

cdv