Tech Time Warp: Hungarian hacker attempts to extort a job
Most people seeking employment dust off their resumes, respond to listings on Indeed, and wait to be called in for interviews. But, the subject of this week’s Tech Time warp, the Hungarian hacker Attila Nemeth, took a more colorful approach.
Tech Time Warp: Ally McBeal, the dancing baby, and the birth of memes
Oogachaka, oogachaka … readers of a certain age will remember the night in late January 1998 when the titular character on TV’s Ally McBeal danced with a computer-generated baby. The iconic scene—meant to convey Ally’s concerns about her biological clock—not...
Tech Time Warp: Microsoft offers $250,000 to catch the makers of Mydoom
Beginning in late January 2004, an email worm called Mydoom caught the attention of the world—and led Microsoft to offer $250,000 for information leading to its creator’s apprehension. At its peak, Mydoom accounted for approximately one-quarter of all email traffic...
Pioneers in Tech: Anita Borg, Champion of Women in STEM
In 1992, Mattel made a big mistake with one of its flagship products. Teen Talk Barbie featured a computer chip, with each doll programmed to say four of 270 phrases. One of the phrases was the ill-conceived “Math class is...
Tech Time Warp: Happy 59th birthday to Sketchpad
Your Apple Pencil or Surface Pen hardly seems remarkable now—but did you know the ancestor of these styli was first introduced 59 years ago? So begins our Tech Time warp back to January 7, 1963, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)...
Tech Time Warp: Game Over for GameOver Zeus
On Dec. 30, 2016, President Barack Obama announced sanctions related to Russian state-sponsored hacking of the 2016 U.S. presidential election. An individual believed to be involved was already on the FBI’s most wanted list of cybercriminals—one Evgeniy Bogachev, leader of...
Tech Time Warp: Santy worm brings unwelcome gifts
Network administrators had to deal with an unfriendly visitor during the 2004 holiday season: the Santy worm. Written in Perl, this malware targeted servers that hosted online bulletin boards running on the free phpBB software.
Tech Time Warp: Linux.Darlloz attacks the Internet of Things
What’s on your holiday shopping list this year? Fitness trackers? Smart home hubs? Maybe even a smart coffee mug? No matter how enchanting or convenient a smart device might seem, it never pays to be uninformed about the security risk...
Pioneers in Tech: Evelyn Boyd Granville, Another Hidden Figure
Although not featured in the popular film, mathematician Evelyn Boyd Granville surely deserves acclaim alongside Katherine Johnson and the other “Hidden Figures” we’ve celebrated in previous installments of Pioneers in Tech. Granville was the second African American woman to earn...
Tech Time Warp: The Marconi Wireless Hack of 1903
Technology history is filled with the stories of ethical hackers, as well as the intellectually curious seeking to prove a point. (See the stories of punch card expert René Carmille and the British journalists who hacked into Prince Philip’s inbox.)...
