BKINTRPT.RVW   950315
 
%A   Toni Dwiggins
%C   175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY  10010
%D   1993
%G   0-812-52037-8
%I   TOR/Tom Doherty Associates, Inc.
%O   U$4.99/C$5.99
%P   319
%T   "Interrupt"
"Interrupt", Toni Dwiggins, 1993, 0-812-52037-8, U$4.99/C$5.99
 
The telephone system is a favourite target for thriller writers.  Recent phone
outages have made the public slightly more aware of the dependence we have in
the reliability and ubiquity of voice communications.  Most books about attacks
on the system have little bearing on reality.  Dwiggins, though, has put some
research into this.
 
The attack scenario is technically plausible.  It is an inside job, requiring
insider access and knowledge.  Social engineering is dealt with, albeit
briefly.  These remain the two primary computer security problems.  One of the
early attacks is put down to a virus:  that idea is squelched on very solid
grounds.  The central concept of the attack is one posited by no less a
luminary than Ken Thompson.
 
Dwiggins' inexperience does show in places.  I almost missed the Thompson
reference, as it was introduced by postulating something "deeper" than object
or machine code.  (To a nerd, this implies microcode.)  Then, the discussion
turns to the "interpreter", which is logically similar to, but operationally
distinct from, a compiler.  Also, as in "For the Sake of Elena" (cf.
BKSELENA.RVW), the plot hinges on the inability of an experienced TDD
(Telecommunications Device for the Deaf) user to identify a (well) known
correspondent in a live chat.
 
copyright Robert M. Slade, 1995   BKINTRPT.RVW   950315

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