Scavenging
A Texan ripped off oil companies through computerized scavenging.
He used a computer time-sharing service bureau, the same one as the oil companies. This thief read scratch tapes—temporary storage tapes without the safeguards protecting the main ones—by phone off the service’s computer. He was stealing secret seismic information to sell to the oilmen’s competitors.
Finally, however, the service bureau caught on.
A worker there had grown curious. Why did a red “read” light glow at bizarre times? How come the customer was prowling through the tapes before entering his own data? Parker says a “simple investigation” ended the electronic scam.
Scavenging can be physical, too—nothing more complicated than rummaging through old trash barrels for printouts.