general, they are the most difficult to describe and the most difficult to protect against. We have no way of determining who is sufficiently irrational to trigger an attack against an organization or individual because of a perceived affront. We also have no way of predicting negligence. Criminal negligence is common in the abuse and misuse of computers. Programmers in New Zealand, for example, were convicted of criminal negligence when they failed in their duty to inform the captain of an airliner that they had reprogrammed his navigation system. He flew the plane into a mountain in Antarctica that, according to his navigation computer, was not supposed to be there, killing 80 tourists.(7).Access to computer systems can be gained in many different ways. The simplest of these is direct access. Being the programmer, developer or specialist working with the system puts you in control of how the computer or network functions. Access can also be gained through a method called cracking. Cracking is a method of finding and using somebody elses username and password. In order to crack a password, you can make a good guess, try out a number of combinations, look for the combination (password) written someplace nearby orone might try to find an alternate way into the system, a back door(2). Scanning is another way to crack information. Scanning is [using] a computer program that automatically generates a sequence of phone numbers, credit card numbers, passwords or the like to try against a system entry test(2). There are ways around scanning, such as putting a limit of attempts one gets to enter the correct password in the system entry test would stop the program from trying over and over again. An additional way one might gain access in through piggybacking. Piggybacking is getting into a secured area by slipping in right behind someone who is cleared for access [Piggybacking] can happen if the person using a terminal ahead of you di...
