4 lines
1015 B
Plaintext
4 lines
1015 B
Plaintext
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dumpster diving
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/dump'ster di:ving/ , n. 1. The practice of sifting refuse from an office or technical installation to extract confidential data, especially security-compromising information ( dumpster is an Americanism for what is elsewhere called a skip ). Back in AT T's monopoly days, before paper shredders became common office equipment, phone phreaks (see phreaking ) used to organize regular dumpster runs against phone company plants and offices. Discarded and damaged copies of AT T internal manuals taught them much. The technique is still rumored to be a favorite of crackers operating against careless targets. 2. The practice of raiding the dumpsters behind buildings where producers and/or consumers of high-tech equipment are located, with the expectation (usually justified) of finding discarded but still-valuable equipment to be nursed back to health in some hacker's den. Experienced dumpster-divers not infrequently accumulate basements full of moldering (but still potentially useful) cruft.
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