Joe HonickHardly a day goes by that we do not hear the whine of government, business and many of the nation’s other huge users of the Internet and other systems that have been “hacked."

Usually the target of their anger is some nasty outfit in China. Almost just as often, we also learn of some tinkering teenager who probably should be recruited by the whiners.

As with plagiarism for writers, hacking is pretty serious. The questions not raised and certainly not answered are at least these: "You mean to say WE are not doing any hacking," and, " Isn't the US government doing the same thing overseas?"

As a collector of old newsmagazines, I happened upon a May 20, 1966, issue of LIFE Magazine and a special titled "The Big Snoop." It told of electronic snooping and “insidious invasions of privacy”…in business, in the home, by law enforcers, the underworld and, bluntly, by anyone who’s “out to get you.”

Among the “anyone out to get you” was then and now the army of divorce lawyers.

As the article painstakingly detailed how and by whom the snooping was done, it became pretty clear and pretty quickly either people should not do what they would not want others to know or simply surrender when the truth became public.

The piece had a tag not included in the article. It was a small but fascinating small ad by an outfit named Advanced Electronic Security. The copy provided contact information with the warning: “Do not contact us from a suspect telephone or facility when inquiring about our bug sweeping services and surveys.”

Of course, since 1966, the legal and illegal methods of cryptography and other means of electronic snooping have reached much more successful places. But we are told you can still find that outfit Advanced Electronic Security Co. @ [email protected].

You just have to be sure no one is watching, listening or otherwise tuned in to your effort.

So back to today and the rising tide of whiners who have become almost mass markets for hackers.

Seems the government has its own problems, and it is really up to corporations and playboys and playgirls either to clean up their own acts or contact [email protected] to help find the hackers or cover their own tracks.

But they should not be bothering the rest of us to fix their problems. Then, of course, how do I know if I’ve been hacked for this article?

Hello, bugsweep……!

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Joe Honick is president of GMA International in Bainbridge Island, Wash.