Blank Frank and Lori Banks

[Lori Banks]

Mr. Stewart,

I've just went out to the search engine I used to find the link that brought
me to a message from someone (Frank someone) who gave code for a cracking
the .pwl file program.  I merely sent a message to that person -- who I
guess was a patron of the cypherpunks list -- which, of course, IF I knew
that it would've been broadcast across the nation, I would not have asked
.... at any rate, I can see that I've made a grande mistake --
unfortunately, it was my first attempt at utilizing the Internet for
resources.  If there was any way possible to have my original request
removed and forgotten, I would do so.  I didn't find the original link, of
course ... I don't know why somone would post that out there and then not
help someone who's asking for assistance.  I have decided that I've wasted
entirely too much time trying to ask for assistance from people that do not
want to give the requested assistance, but their opinions.  I have gained
much from a few that have emailed me personally and I appreciate the time
and effort.  It just amazes me that people are so bored in their lives that
they find it necessary to... what's the word you use?  "Flame" ..... I have
made a mistake and have learned a lesson .... next time, I will be more
educated before I send anyone anything.  This cypherpunks list is much more
than I asked for  -- I am not some kiddie trying to do anything -- I can see
where people might do that .... on the otherhand, why would folks want to be
so *ugly* towards anyone?  I can see now why I do not want any of my
children to have access to the nation through the Internet.

In this process, the problem has solved itself, as I knew it would if I left
it in the hands of my Creator -- without the use of the Internet ... again,
thank you for your assistance -- God bless you all as you seek the path in
life that you must travel as I do the same.

Sincerely,
Mrs. Banks

----- Original Message -----
From: "Bill Stewart" <bill.stewart at pobox.com>
To: "Lori Banks" <Lori at bornagn.com>; <cypherpunks at toad.com>
Sent: Thursday, January 25, 2001 2:35 AM
Subject: Re: Blank Frank and Lori Banks


> At 07:51 AM 1/23/01 -0600, Lori Banks wrote:
> > I just read an interesting email that you sent concerning cracking .pwl
> files.
> >I have a need to crack a .pwl file, but I don't know how to make that
> program work.
> > I'm really not computer literate (if you can't tell).
> >I am a concerned parent that has stumbled upon information that is
> >not good regarding my teen and the Internet.
> >Could you help me find out what these passwords are or how to work that
> program?
> > I downloaded some sort of password pwl program and it showed 17
passwords,
> >but they are encrypted. Any help would be greatly appreciated.   Thanks,
> Mrs. Banks
>
> Mrs. Banks - Cypherpunks is a large, noisy mailing list.
> In addition to talking about cryptography, privacy, and the effects
> on economics and politics of being able to talk and conduct business
> without government interference, and random other topics,
> we end up receiving lots of mail from people pretending to be
> teenagers asking us about bombs, hacking, credit cards, etc.
> Some of them are clueless kiddies who think we'll tell them
> how to steal stuff to make bombs so they can be rilly kewl d00ds,
> some of them are annoying kiddies who've found they can stir up
> lots of annoyed discussion by posting provocative or clueless questions,
> and some are probably cops who think they can stir up business
> by finding people doing stuff with Bombs and Computer Crime
> that make good headline material.*
>
> So don't be surprised if readers like Blank Frank take you for
> one of these three categories (start at the middle and work your way out),
> and either gives you the flames you're looking for or
> the abuse you deserve if you're one of the clueless types.
> Your message could be perfectly legitimate, but it's just
> dripping with troll bait....  We haven't had anybody
> saying their somebody's Mom who wants to break into her kid's
> machine before, but hey, there's a first time for everything.
> On the other hand, many of us were once teenagers who had
> parents who didn't understand us (what a surprise, eh?)
> and a request saying "I don't trust my kid and I want to crack
> his passwords to spy on him" isn't guaranteed to get more
> sympathy for you than for your kid.
>
> Anyway, that being said, there are only a few reasons for having
> lots of Microsoft password files around.  One is that your son has created
> lots of logins on your home computer, either for his friends to use
> or because he's creating lots of different identities for himself.
> The former is something you may want to talk to him about,
> depending on how much control you want to have over that computer
> (is it his bedroom game machine or are you running the family business on
it?)
> Another is that he has logins of his own on multiple machines using
> Microsoft-style logins.   That's kind of odd - is he running a bunch
> of web pages on FrontPage-based servers, or is he cracking into
> corporate machines?
>
> The "17 passwords" is pretty close to a magic number, which is the number
> of "access devices" it takes for possessing stolen/cracked passwords
> to become a US Federal crime.  I forget if the number is 15,
> in which case by asking us to crack them you're asking us to
> commit a Federal crime (remember the discussion about cops trying
> to win friends and influence headlines through entrapment?),
> depending on whether you have authorization to access the machines
> that those passwords apply to (if you give us permission to crack the
> passwords for your own machine, it's not a crime, but if they're
> the passwords for your kid's publishing accounts on commercial porn sites,
> that might be criminal, and if they're for accounts your kid's
> trying to break into, or if you're really the kid or a cop,
> it could be criminal.)
>
> So if you're thinking about breaking into your kid's machine,
> because you don't trust him, yes, you've got some relationship
> problems you'll have to deal with.  Not much different from asking
> your kid where he went and having him say "Out" - either you go
> ask all the neighbors where he went because he won't tell you,
> or you work on the relationship, or you hire a private detective
> to track him, just as you could probably hire Access Data or somebody
> to break his password files, if you were willing to risk criminality.
> I'd recommend going for the relationship....
>
>
> ===================
> *  (Perhaps some are even good cops trying to do what they think is
> their job by stopping clueless kiddies from posting dangerous inaccurate
> information where more clueless kiddies will find it.
> We do have some cops and Feds on the list that are open about it,
> and they're good folks we go shooting with :-)
>
>
> Thanks!
> Bill
> Bill Stewart, bill.stewart at pobox.com
> PGP Fingerprint D454 E202 CBC8 40BF  3C85 B884 0ABE 4639