physical security is the weak link

[Marc Horowitz <marc@MIT.EDU>]

These articles are reposted with permission from the ClariNet
newsgroup clari.tw.computers.  Copyright 1993 by UPI.  For more info,
send mail to info@clarinet.com.

--begin repost

From: clarinews@clarinet.com (UPI)
Subject: Gang hits computer supply firm
Keywords: legal investigations, legal, violent crime, computers,
	manufacturing, corporate products & services, corporate finance
Message-ID: <chiptheftUR419_3S9@clarinet.com>
Date: Thu, 9 Sep 93 20:06:54 EDT

	SANTA CLARA, Calif. (UPI) -- Authorities said a gang of armed men
stormed into a Silicon Valley electronic supply company Thursday,
stealing a large number of valuable computer microprocessors before
fleeing in a van.
	Sgt. Mark Kirby, of the Santa Clara Police Department, said the
business takeover was the second of its kind in a week and took just
five minutes.
	``It's was well planned, they knew exactly what they were looking
for,'' he said. ``Unfortunately, this has become a trend in the Silicon
Valley. We have about one a month.''
	Kirby said the six men rolled up to a loading dock at Wyle Laboratory
Inc. about 9:07 a.m. PDT as if they were going to make a legitimate
pickup. Two armed men then jumped out of the van and ordered the
employees to the floor while four others made their way to a storage
room.
	The police spokesman said a 4-foot-long athletic bag was stuffed with
Intel Corp.'s microprocessors -- the ``brains'' that power most personal
computers -- and then the robbers fled. No shots were fired and no one
was injured. The value of the stolen items was not released.
	The van was recovered empty a short time later. Kirby said it has
since been traced to a Lynwood, Calif., U-Haul dealer and was signed out
on Sept. 4. However, the thieves used a fraudulent driver's license to
rent the vehicle.
	Kirby said the thieves likely were filling an order for the lucrative
black market in computer components.


From: clarinews@clarinet.com (WILLIAM D. MURRAY)
Subject: Violent computer chip takeovers worry officials
Keywords: lawyers, court proceedings, computers, manufacturing,
	corporate products & services, corporate finance
Message-ID: <chipcrimeURa71_3SB@clarinet.com>
Date: Fri, 10 Sep 93 19:33:57 PDT

	SAN JOSE, California (UPI) -- The lucrative trade in computer chips
has captured the attention of the state's street gangs, luring them to
California's Silicon Valley where the armed takeover of supply
warehouses has become a common occurrence, authorities said Friday.
	Julius Finkelstein, deputy district attorney in charge of the Santa
Clara, California, High Tech Crime unit, called the takeovers and the
trade in stolen computer parts ``the gang crime of the 1990s.
	``We see a trend developing here that concerns us,'' he said. ``These
are very violent attacks. Generally, the gang is well armed. It's just a
matter of time before someone get hurt. We consider ourselves lucky that
it hasn't already happened.''
	Finkelstein said gangs were turning their attention to dealing in the
impossible to trace stolen chips.
	``We are seeing a movement away from drugs and into computer chips by
some gangs,'' Finkelstein said. ``This is the coke of the 90's. The
chips have become as valuable pound for pound as cocaine and if you get
caught, the punishment is much less severe.''
	Once the chips are stolen, the district attorney said, they can
change hands as many as 3 or 4 times in 24 hours. Finally, the computer
parts make their way to what is called ``the gray market.
	``It's not really a black market, it's a gray market,'' Finkelstein
said. ``That's because it's really not illegal. It made up of suppliers
who legitimately buy their chips and those that get them from the gangs.
''
	The whole system is powered by the marketplace itself. Computer chip
manufacturers like Intel Corp. cannot keep pace with the demand for
their microprocessors -- the ``brains'' that power most personal
computers.
	So they place companies on an allotment system, forcing those
computer manufacturers to turn to the gray market to fill their orders.
	The chips are also almost impossible to trace. There is no encoding
on them to identify them individually. There is a system that shows who
manufactured the chips and what day they were manufactured.
	``The only way we can generally catch these thieves is to be tipped
off,'' Finkelstein said. ``We do prosecute some of these cases, but they
are extremely difficult. There is really no way to trace these products.
''
	The latest takeover robbery occurred Thursday when six masked gunmen
stormed into Wyle Laboratory Inc. in Santa Clara and in a matter of five
minutes had stolen thousands of dollars worth of Intel CPU
microprocessors.
	Sgt. Mark Kirby, of the Santa Clara Police Department, said the
robbery was the second of its kind in a week. He added that the area is
averaging at least one of these armed takeovers a month.
	``It was well planned, they knew exactly what they were looking for,''
he said. ``Unfortunately, this has become a trend in the Silicon Valley.
''
	However, Kirby said this one was different -- it was the first pulled
off a gang of black gunmen. The robbers abandoned van was discovered
later in the day Thursday and traced to Lynwood, California, a location
frequented by the Los Angeles gangs.

--end repost

If people are willing to go to these measures to steal Intel
microprocessors, which are generally available, imagine what people
will do in order to steal unprogrammed Skipjack chips.  In the volume
the Government would like to see them made, the physical security
which one might want to give to a classified production facility will
be difficult or impossible.

		Marc