A friend of mine botched a suicide attempt and in order to get any info I (we) pretended we were stepbrothers. It occurred to me a half hour later that we had the same first names. So it must have been confusing to our fictious stepmom :-) But if you play up a story about dysfunctional separated families, and adopting middle names as True Names, you can quickly get the questioner to feel uncomfortable enough to accept your ploy. Despite HIPAA. Welcome to the world of social engineering, Major. So, which is better, Schneier's books or Mitnick's? I suspect the former, but am curious what the community opinion is? Note that I am generally a guile-less person who does not weave arbitrarily complex webs of lies. In fact, brutally honest at times. But sometimes circumstances (like a brain damaged virtual brother) demand it. And I was bemused at my ability to maintain it. And multiple nurses/MDs to accept it. ------- While interviewing for a security job, I overheard the building-guards shout passwords for the building as I waited in the lobby. I thought it a test at first, but realized later it was reality, in all its glory. The passwords were regexps based on the company's name, of course. I mentioned this to my future quasiboss, who dug it. Which made me feel better about him. PS: Major kiratsu do not appreciate extreme programming (or keeping the building open past 8PM). Dinosaurs whose eggs were eaten by warm furry little mutants did not do so well. Though aligators eat a few kids a year in FLA, and an ostrich can kick your ass, I ask you: who rules, mammals or reptiles and birds? Still, its a job, and a job these days is a pearl, even if the tech is succeptible to reverse engineering, which you try to point out but are told its ok to be lame. Maybe they'll hire me after the contract and we can do some PK/cert work for real. Or maybe they'll move strong passphrases around with PGP email. One can hope, if only to keep one's upper lip stiff, one's faith in mankind nominally intact. Hard sometimes. PS: what is Michael Jackson's medical report worth in the free market?