Today I learned many things.

I learned the secret trick to getting past the locked gate that seals Noisebridge. Once inside, I sat and talked shop with a number of network security buffs; one of the most fascinating things I learned was how difficult it is to prosecute hackers due to the global reach of the Internet.

For example, let's say Korean Hacker A builds a botnet that scrapes credit card data. Your system is compromised, and now there's a text file containing your account and identity data on a server in Croatia.

We know where it is, but how do we secure the right to cross into Korean jurisdiction to arrest a citizen for data stolen in one country and stored in another? If a U.S. citizen has been targeted we have a bargaining chip, but what if that hard drive in Croatia holds damning personal data from people across the globe? Who can you trust to safely dispose of that data? Is it any better that the agents of a foreign government possess the keys to your identity, instead of some anonymous Croatian citizen?

Curiouser and curiouser.

Also, this was taped to the bathroom wall; nerd graffiti.