[TriLUG] In search of the walled machine at UNC

Jeff Bollinger jeff01 at email.unc.edu
Fri Oct 4 09:30:43 EDT 2002


I'm not sure what I can say to guarantee that this did NOT happen, but it
didn't.  I'm not on some pro UNC PR bit, but I work for or closely with
the only two groups that would have any idea about this (Security and
Networking) and no one has ever traced a machine back to anywhere behind a
wall, and of course we have the capability to do so.  
We contacted Novell not long after they put up that urban legend on
the site but they did not respond.  It's been up for two years, so it's
not worth dealing with anymore.

Jeff

On Thu, 3 Oct 2002, Thunder Bear wrote:

> Hmmm this doesn't sound very authoritative.  It just claims this is a  
> myth.
> 
> I'm more inclined to think that this is real, given the more reputable  
> sources that claim it is true.  Though I am still largely skeptical  
> because you would think that there would be some reference to it within  
> the unc.edu hierarchy, and that all the IT people there would know  
> about it (since it supposedly happened only within the last two years).  
>   I know UNC is a large institution but a story like that would have to  
> get around.
> 
> On the flip side, UNC *is* a state run institution.  If it were  
> possible for this to happen, this is precisely where it *should* happen.
> 
> Still on the fence, but leaning towards believing it.
> 
> On Thursday, October 3, 2002, at 06:18 PM, Jeremy Portzer wrote:
> 
> > Works just fine for me.
> > Resolves to 195.92.193.158 .
> >
> > Maybe try Google's cache?
> > http://216.239.39.100/ 
> > search?q=cache:S73ZeZ9jubAC:www.shartwell.freeserve.co.uk/humor-site/ 
> > mythellany.html+&hl=en&ie=UTF-8
> >
> > I'm not sure I'd place a lot of faith in that page, however.  There's  
> > no
> > evidence of any research done to prove which are legends and which have
> > some truth.  I couldn't find this particular incident on a better web
> > site such as snopes.com.  Maybe we'll have to submit it ...
> >
> > --Jeremy
> >
> >
> > On Thu, 2002-10-03 at 17:51, Thunder Bear wrote:
> >> Nope.  No good.  Bad hostname.
> >>
> >> On Thursday, October 3, 2002, at 04:38 PM, Greg Brown wrote:
> >>
> >>>
> >>> Maybe it was wrong (I typed it into the e-mail).  Here's a copy and
> >>> paste
> >>> link (by the way, the "it did not" happen story is buried in the  
> >>> page,
> >>> search
> >>> for "novell"):
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> http://www.shartwell.freeserve.co.uk/humor-site/mythellany.html
> >>>
> >
> > [snipped huge amount of cruft for the benefit of those reading the
> > digest]
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > TriLUG mailing list
> >     http://www.trilug.org/mailman/listinfo/trilug
> > TriLUG Organizational FAQ:
> >     http://www.trilug.org/~lovelace/faq/TriLUG-faq.html
> >
> >
> Thunder Bear
> Tribal Shaman
> The Great Upchuckee Nation
> 
> IMPORTANT: This email is intended for the use of the individual  
> addressee(s) named above and may contain information that is  
> confidential, privileged or unsuitable for overly sensitive persons  
> with low self-esteem, no sense of humour or irrational religious  
> beliefs. If you are not the intended recipient, any dissemination,  
> distribution or copying of this email is not authorised (either  
> explicitly or implicitly) and constitutes an irritating social faux pas.
> 
> Unless the word absquatulation has been used in its correct context  
> somewhere other than in this warning, it does not have any legal or no  
> grammatical use and may be ignored. No animals were harmed in the  
> transmission of this email, although the kelpie next door is living on  
> borrowed time, let me tell you. Those of you with an overwhelming fear  
> of the unknown will be gratified to learn that there is no hidden  
> message revealed by reading this warning backwards, so just ignore that  
> Alert Notice from Microsoft.
> 
> However, by pouring a complete circle of salt around yourself and your  
> computer you can ensure that no harm befalls you and your pets. If you  
> have received this email in error, please add some nutmeg and egg  
> whites, whisk and place in a warm oven for 40 minutes.
> 
> _______________________________________________
> TriLUG mailing list
>     http://www.trilug.org/mailman/listinfo/trilug
> TriLUG Organizational FAQ:
>     http://www.trilug.org/~lovelace/faq/TriLUG-faq.html
> 

Jeff Bollinger
University of North Carolina
IT Security Analyst
105 Abernethy Hall
mailto: jeff_bollinger at unc dot edu




More information about the TriLUG mailing list