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Joined 2 years ago
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Cake day: June 23rd, 2023

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  • You would do well to go read up on the 1990 AT&T long distance network collapse. A single line of changed code, rolled out months earlier, ultimately triggered what you might call these days a DDoS attack that took down all 114 long distance telephone switches in their global network. Over 50 million long distance calls were blocked in the 9 hours it took them to identify the cause and roll out a fix.

    AT&T prided itself on the thoroughness of their testing & rollout strategy for any code changes. The bug that took them down was both timing-dependent and load-dependent, making it extremely difficult to test for, and required fairly specific real world conditions to trigger. That’s how it went unnoticed for months before it triggered.








  • The article doesn’t make it clear (it could be better written) but my guess is that the card was actually found intact in the wreckage that they recovered back when the sub went down.

    The various documentaries by Netflix, Nat Geo, etc. only came out a few months ago as the USCG investigation wrapped up. Those revealed new details, like that they had recovered personal belongings from the pockets of one or two of the victims. I don’t think those details were publicly known (or at least reported on) until the documentaries came out. This is likely just a similar case of more evidence coming to light.



  • Biometrics are not usernames. They are physical identifiers and unlike usernames you can’t change them.

    I used to work in a datacenter that required you to go through a mantrap to access. It required three things:

    1. Something you have (a card key)
    2. Something you know (a PIN)
    3. Something you are (biometrics)

    To get to the datacenter floor you use a card key to open the door to the mantrap. It’s a small vestibule about the size of a phone booth. Once inside the door closes. You then enter your PIN on a keypad and place your hand on a biometric scanner. Once your hand is recognized the inner door opens and lets you into the datacenter. I was told the mantrap also weighed you and compared that with previous trips through to make sure somebody else didn’t sneak through with you.