It took me a moment to realize why I was stuck in the internet revisionist mindset even though I know many of the early computer crime stories. It&#x27;s because the security game has played out generationally - the publically known techniques used to break into systems in 1995 were less sophisticated than those seen now. This a war that has quietly been fought since the first secret messages, on a battlefield that is now shifting with increasing speed and is tilted heavily in favor of offense. The common advice one had to take control of one&#x27;s information in the 90&#x27;s just isn&#x27;t any good now - there are critically failing holes in the infrastructure that make individual defense a Sisyphiean task.<p>But relative to now, gaining unauthorized access to a valuable system in the 80&#x27;s or 90&#x27;s would still be challenging, as the bag of tricks would be different, less widely known, and you might need more expensive equipment.