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Judging by what I've read lately, our military's stealth technology is working well in the Balkans. The idea is to build an aircraft that looks like something else, or like nothing at all, to the opposition's air-defense radar systems. Thus our bombers can penetrate foreign airspace and complete their missions.
That's quite an accomplishment, but the civilian sector has also been hard at work on similar technology. The idea is to sneak past your defenses to damage your computer or your wallet, and defending against these raids gets more difficult as the invaders' stealth technology improves.
Most recently, there's the Melissa
computer
virus. From what I've read, it shows up in your e-mail
inbox as a message with a subject line like Important
message from cozine@chaffee.net <Ed Quillen>.
The message itself is a list of racy web sites, but it also
has an attached file.
Open that file with MicroSoft Word, and it contains macros that look for your MicroSoft Outlook email address book, grab the first 50 names, and send the message along as though it came from you. Experts say this greatly increased volume can clog email servers throughout the world.
(The easiest way to avoid this virus, of course, is the easiest way to avoid many other computer problems -- don't use MicroSoft products.)
This is computer stealth technology because it looks like something that it really isn't: a message from a known correspondent.
That's a lot more sophisticated than the usual email
nuisances that try to sneak past your personal radar. On
those, the sender is generally unknown, but the subject
line is something like Did you get my last message?
Re: Your requested info
or Here's the data you
asked for.
Once you examine the message, it's an invitation to purchase stock in some company touted to be the next Amazon.com, a chance to buy a cable-TV descrambler kit for $7.99 or a request that I call Candi at 1-900-HOT4SEX.
It would seem to me that if these companies were selling stuff that people really wanted, they wouldn't try to disguise their messages.
Many of these email pests use another stealthy trick.
Their message will say something like If you would like
to be removed from our mailing list, send a reply and put
REMOVE in the subject field.
They don't remove you, of course. Your reply just confirms a valid email address, so that the company can target you with more offers.
The more traditional marketing hustles also progress in
their stealth technology. Telephone solicitors not only
lie about how they're making a courtesy call,
as
though their intrusion were anything but a flagrant
rudeness, but they'll ask chatty questions like How are
you today?
(So far, the best answer has been And why is that any
of your business?
Invariably, they hang up, rather
than answer.)
In magazines and newspapers, advertisers often try to dress up their material in editorial costumes, so that the wonders of the latest gated enclave with a spectacular mountain view unavailable to peons appear to have come from a staff writer, rather than from an advertising agency.
Reputable publications stick ADVERTISEMENT
atop
such material, but the question recurs: If these companies
were serving a legitimate need, why would they need to
disguise their messages?
As for the good old Postal Service, stealth technology has changed in recent years. It used to be that the mass-mailer tried to make the envelope look as down-home -- regular first-hand stamp stuck on crookedly, computer-printed address that attempted to mimic handwriting, etc.
Now the technique goes the other way: Make the envelope
look official with printed notices like Time sensitive
material
and The security of this package is
guaranteed from tampering under US Code Title 18, Sec.
1702
-- for a bunch of cents-off coupons for soap.
Just last week I received another official-looking envelope that purported to be from the local sheriff, Ron Bergmann, who's a pretty good guy even though he keeps trying to build a 100-bed jail here.
But the letter inside was really from some lobbyists,
based in Longmont, who call themselves County Sheriffs
of Colorado.
Send them $20 so they can promote good
law enforcement in the Colorado Legislature,
and
they'll send you, among other things, a membership card for
your wallet and two decals for your car.
Now, these things either work (that is, if a cop spots
the card or decal when you're pulled over, he'll go easy on
you because you're a law-abiding citizen who has worked
hard for what you have
) or they don't (the cop enforces
the law impartially). In the first case, County Sheriffs
of Colorado are running a protection racket. If the second
is true, they're running a scam.
Alas, this stealth letter crept past my defenses. Their techniques continue to improve, and as always, we must remain vigilant to protect ourselves.
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