"My Son Is a Hacker" A Spike Adams Mystery When I opened the door to my office, the one that reads so eloquently "SPIKE ADAMS, INTERNET DETECTIVE," I heard a groan of despair and sounds of sobbing. "Oh, Mr. Adams," said my cleaning lady, "something terrible has happened." "What is it, Mrs. McMurty?" "I think my son is a hacker." "What makes you think that?" "He's doing all kinds of strange things on the computer." I gave her a fish-eyed look. "I do all kinds of strange things on the computer too, Mrs. McMurty." She tore a handkerchief from her apron and began to weep. -- I could see where this was leading me. Why hadn't I taken a late lunch, or trotted off to the movies? I felt doomed to offer a free consultation. "Tell me. What's going on?" I said finally. "Oh, Mr. Adams, he's using emulation software. Isn't that a hacker's tool?" "No," I said reassuringly, "it's perfectly legal. Emulation software is a program that mimics how another computer works, allowing you to work one computer at the place of another." "But, why ?" "Well, maybe your other computer is broken, or maybe you want to use an old program on your new computer. Believe me, Mrs. McMurty, it's perfectly legal in most cases." As she listened, her eyes began to glaze over. I started explaining, hoping, praying that Mrs. McMurty would follow. "You see, each computer uses its own set of instructions, called an operating system. It's like a language, French, German, whatever. If you go to another computer and try to make it talk that language, something needs to translate the original language. So think of the emulation software as a program that interprets one language into another." "Why?" "That's a good question. I think all computer manufacturers decided to have their computers talk different languages to begin with. The Microsoft-type computers talk the Windows language; the Apple, the Mac language; and the UNIX, the UNIX language. So now software programs don't carry from one machine to another." She blew her nose loudly. "We only have one computer." "Okay, okay," I drew a deep breath, "here's where it gets complicated. Your boy probably wants to play arcade games. So he downloads copies of software programs from sites that distribute the games for free, and then he runs an emulator to start them up." "Could he be breaking the law?" "In some cases, he could. If he didn't get the games legally, or if he's downloaded software he doesn't own and it's copyrighted. In any event, he isn't a hacker." "That's good to know, Mr. Adams. . . . I'd better go home and have a talk with him." Before I knew it, she was gone, leaving behind theoverflowing waste-paper basket, the mud-streaked floor, and the dusty Venetian blinds -- exactly as they were when I lugged into the office earlier in the day. I sat down on my swivel chair and began doing strange things on the computer. February 17, 1999