Review:
The box gives the title of the video as ``Unauthorized Access: Technological
Crime'' but a title that appears in the video itself is ``Forbidden Places.''
The first portion of the video takes place in Canada,
while some of the later portions
take place in the United States, and so it appears to have been done
originally for Canadian television.
The copyright date on the video in 1995,
but the dates mentioned by people in the video are 1992 and 1993.
Also, while the text on the box says ``Crimes ranges from computer hacking via
the internet to telecommunications fraud," the predominant emphasis of the
video really is on telecommunications fraud.
Student will not even hear terms ``macro virus,'' ``timing attack,'
``denial of access attack'' or ``password sniffer.''
The video begins with a segment involving the Alberta telephone company
and describing the basic phone service fraud in which criminals gain
access to phone service without paying for it.
A figure of $100 million is given for the value of such fraud in
Canada in 1992.
There are brief explanations of terms
such as PBX and PABX are used,
the
concept of a ``daemon dialer'' program that systematically searches
for phone numbers that give a dial tone, and "red boxing" to simulate the
dial tones that the phone system uses for coins placed in a pay phone.
At some point in this, there is an unchallenged statement that
hackers ``most often began innocently in a quest for knowledge.''
The next segment also takes place in Canada. This segment discusses
``cloning'' of cellular phones. The basic method of cloning cell
phones is outlined, some figures are given for the economic value of
the crime and it is emphasized that criminals involved in this are
often also involved in drugs, money laundering and other crimes.
There is a segment involving two 15-year-old ``hackers'' (really
``crackers'') that discusses some basic cracker activities, including
the generation of valid credit card numbers.
There is some interesting material here on how the hackers rationalize
their activities: ``most people who get software this way wouldn't be
able to pay for it,'' parental (non)involvement, ....
There is a good segment with University of Toronto computer technician Norm
Wilson that describes tracking down one cracker that was using their systems.
Wilson offers some interesting analogies about computer crime and security
to crime and security involving a person's home.
The question of how to view these ``hackers'' comes up:
are they harmless adventurers? voyeurs? vandals? theives?
There are short interviews with a variety of personalities,
including the editors of on-line hacker magazines (e.g., ``2600''),
computer security people (e.g., Winn Schwartau) and others.
The terms ``hacking'' and ``cracking'' are finally distinguished, at least
to some degree.
The issues of cyber-terrorism and corporate espionage are also mentioned.
Even though this video is not quite what the advertising led me to expect, I think it could be useful for some classroom purposes. I could see using it to give students a broad introduction to computer crime, a look at computer crimes in the context of telecommunications, and/or as an introduction to talking about who ``crackers'' are and what their motivations are.
Video Format/Length:
This complete video is approximately 50 minutes in length.
Ordering Information:
This video is available from Films for the Humanities and Sciences at a list
price of $149.
Films for the Humanities and Sciences
P.O. Box 2053
Princeton, New Jersey 08543-2053
URL: www.films.com
(It is marked on their web page as ``available only in the United States.'')
It is catalog number FFH 7156.
phone number (800) 257-5126.
web address http://www.films.com/.