r competition.

Companies in search of computer-security have even been known to hire
hackers. Police shudder at this prospect.

Police treasure good relations with the business community. Rarely
will you see a policeman so indiscreet as to allege publicly that some
major employer in his state or city has succumbed to paranoia and gone
off the rails. Nevertheless, police --and computer police in
particular--are aware of this possibility. Computer-crime police can
and do spend up to half of their business hours just doing public
relations: seminars, "dog and pony shows," sometimes with parents'
groups or computer users, but generally with their core audience: the
likely victims of hacking crimes. These, of course, are telcos, credit
card companies and large computer-equipped corporations. The police
strongly urge these people, as good citizens, to report offenses and
press criminal charges; they pass the message that there is someone in
authority who cares, understands, and, best of all, will take useful
action should a computer-crime occur.

But reassuring talk is cheap. Sundevil offered action.

The final message of Sundevil was intended for internal consumption by
law enforcement. Sundevil was offered as proof that the community of
American computer-crime police had come of age. Sundevil was proof
that enormous things like Sundevil itself could now be accomplished.
Sundevil was proof that the Secret Service and its local
law-enforcement allies could act like a well-oiled machine--(despite
the hampering use of those scrambled phones). It was also proof that
the Arizona Organized Crime and Racketeering Unit--the sparkplug of
Sundevil--ranked with the best in the world in ambition, organization,
and sheer conceptual daring.

And, as a final fillip, Sundevil was a message from the Secret Service
to their longtime rivals in the Federal Bureau of Investigation. By
Congressional fiat, both USSS and FBI formally share jurisdiction over
federal computer-crimebusting activities. Neither of these groups has
ever been remotely happy with this muddled situation. It seems to
suggest that Congress cannot make up its mind as to which of these
groups is better qualified. And there is scarcely a G-man or a Special
Agent anywhere without a very firm opinion on that topic.

#

For the neophyte, one of the most puzzling aspects of the crackdown on
hackers is why the United States Secret Service has anything at all