Computer Know-How

I was at Sweetwaters in Kerrytown and I turned on my (practically new!) laptop. Then I tried to log in to Facebook, and I got an "access denied" message, along with an invitation to provide a log-in and password if I wanted an override. Upon further investigation, I noticed that I was hooked up to the Ann Arbor Public Schools network. (Community High School is right across the street from Sweetwaters.) I switched to the Sweetwaters network, and was allowed to access Facebook (phew!).

Later that day, I was describing the situation to my least tech-savvy child, who said,
"Yeah, you couldn't get into Facebook, right? Except it's easy to hack. There are certain rooms in the buildings where the restrictions don't work, and some people know the override passwords."
"So, do you know how to do it?" I ask.
"Yes, but it's totally not worth it. Nobody else is on."

I won't tell you if my child has ever gotten in, or not. I was surprised that the kid who hates computer assignments knows how to "hack" the system.

Conclusions...the "secure" system is not so secure...where there is a will, there is a way...