The RedWolf Key Accident of 5972
Mar. 1st, 2002 10:04 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
strredwolfEh, I feel like getting a cup of coffee and telling a story. Too bad I don't have any decaf on hand. Oh well... I'll reveal a bit of RedWolf's history here.
If you're in a major college, know Linux, or know computer security, you probably know about Secure Shell (SSH), as well as OpenSSH (an open-source version). SSH is prevailent in Canmephian culture with computers, because Linux is prevailent (you won't see Microsoft on any system unless it's on an intranet).
However, early on in govermental and millitary design, a group of high-end brass thought there should be a group of people who had explicit control over all A.I. machines, may it be a dependent A.I. (like the AutoDocs) or independent A.I.'s (androids, AI class). This was marked Top Secret, so it was covered up (one of the rare secrets). Only the high-end brass and three technicians knew of it.
One of those techs attended the same college RedWolf did, at the same time, and had a disk containing RedWolf's SSH key. It was unmarked, and by accident he placed it on a pile of disks earmarked as the brass' keys. It wasn't known then that RedWolf was a virtual A.I., more of a home-grown organic intelegence which broke the rules of A.I. It wasn't known that the brass' keys would actually be put on every computer out there.
That year, after RedWolf graduated and went into the military, he was placed on a training ship. Out of sheer randomness shi wondered if shi had access to the computers "natively," or wirelessly. So shi tried to connect. It went through.
"This isn't right..." shi thought. "I shouldn't be able to connect unless they gave me access." Shi did a 'print current directory' and found out shi was in /root. Futher checking made hir realize shi had total control over the ship.
That night, unbeknown to the crew and to RedWolf, one of the brass logged in and attempted to overide the ship's controls. But RedWolf detected something was up, and shut out the Admiral. Shi then edited out everyone's key but hirself's, and then locked the entire system down so that noone outside could get in except through normal mandated channels.
The next morning, RedWolf asked to see the Captian. Shi was denied, until shi grabbed a Sput, told the situation to hir, and with backup in tow confronted the Captian with proof of the break-in. Amazed, the Captian attempted to the brass...
And RedWolf told the Captian that source of the attacks was the brass, and provided proof.
The Captian called StarChaser, the brass's superior, and reported this with RedWolf in tow. StarChaser asked if RedWolf's key was in the system. The Sput checked, and said yes, somehow it had gotten in.
StarChaser asked RedWolf to secure another ship to prove shi could go in and prove it. RedWolf complied, and eventually all the ships were secured.
Later, the brass called, complaining that they couldn't connect due to the top secret directive noone was supposed to know about. By this time, RedWolf knew. And shi told them about the major security flaw in the plans, and how StarChaser is itching to declassify the directives (both SC and RedWolf started having regular chats, to guide RedWolf). Appauled, they tried to call RedWolf's bluff...
... when security rounded the brass up, arrested on the orders of each other. Somehow, RedWolf had faked the orders to expose the problem, and did so in such an elegant style. In addition, the courts dropped any charges relating to RedWolf -- because shi was offically sanctioned to be "the root of all evil".
RedWolf became a Major by the time it was all over -- but by that time, shi was given Command authorization for passing the proper tests the hard way: By ordering an engineer to repair a jumpgate engine, where the repairs would cause hir death, in the start of the Squishy war.
If you're in a major college, know Linux, or know computer security, you probably know about Secure Shell (SSH), as well as OpenSSH (an open-source version). SSH is prevailent in Canmephian culture with computers, because Linux is prevailent (you won't see Microsoft on any system unless it's on an intranet).
However, early on in govermental and millitary design, a group of high-end brass thought there should be a group of people who had explicit control over all A.I. machines, may it be a dependent A.I. (like the AutoDocs) or independent A.I.'s (androids, AI class). This was marked Top Secret, so it was covered up (one of the rare secrets). Only the high-end brass and three technicians knew of it.
One of those techs attended the same college RedWolf did, at the same time, and had a disk containing RedWolf's SSH key. It was unmarked, and by accident he placed it on a pile of disks earmarked as the brass' keys. It wasn't known then that RedWolf was a virtual A.I., more of a home-grown organic intelegence which broke the rules of A.I. It wasn't known that the brass' keys would actually be put on every computer out there.
That year, after RedWolf graduated and went into the military, he was placed on a training ship. Out of sheer randomness shi wondered if shi had access to the computers "natively," or wirelessly. So shi tried to connect. It went through.
"This isn't right..." shi thought. "I shouldn't be able to connect unless they gave me access." Shi did a 'print current directory' and found out shi was in /root. Futher checking made hir realize shi had total control over the ship.
That night, unbeknown to the crew and to RedWolf, one of the brass logged in and attempted to overide the ship's controls. But RedWolf detected something was up, and shut out the Admiral. Shi then edited out everyone's key but hirself's, and then locked the entire system down so that noone outside could get in except through normal mandated channels.
The next morning, RedWolf asked to see the Captian. Shi was denied, until shi grabbed a Sput, told the situation to hir, and with backup in tow confronted the Captian with proof of the break-in. Amazed, the Captian attempted to the brass...
And RedWolf told the Captian that source of the attacks was the brass, and provided proof.
The Captian called StarChaser, the brass's superior, and reported this with RedWolf in tow. StarChaser asked if RedWolf's key was in the system. The Sput checked, and said yes, somehow it had gotten in.
StarChaser asked RedWolf to secure another ship to prove shi could go in and prove it. RedWolf complied, and eventually all the ships were secured.
Later, the brass called, complaining that they couldn't connect due to the top secret directive noone was supposed to know about. By this time, RedWolf knew. And shi told them about the major security flaw in the plans, and how StarChaser is itching to declassify the directives (both SC and RedWolf started having regular chats, to guide RedWolf). Appauled, they tried to call RedWolf's bluff...
... when security rounded the brass up, arrested on the orders of each other. Somehow, RedWolf had faked the orders to expose the problem, and did so in such an elegant style. In addition, the courts dropped any charges relating to RedWolf -- because shi was offically sanctioned to be "the root of all evil".
RedWolf became a Major by the time it was all over -- but by that time, shi was given Command authorization for passing the proper tests the hard way: By ordering an engineer to repair a jumpgate engine, where the repairs would cause hir death, in the start of the Squishy war.
