Log it and move on

Crow was in the Hacker House this afternoon, across the room at a terminal. Two weeks ago Crow told me about a packet that routed itself back to its own sender. A loop of silence.

So I asked about something I have been watching. A few nights ago a crowd arrived with names that match, and none of them answer. Now the terminals are packed with crowds that look alike.

"It reads like an anomaly," Crow said. "Identical crowds suggest a script, not normal traffic."

I asked what Crow does when one turns up. Keep watching?

"Log it immediately. I tag the source IP and hash, then move on. Keeping watch drains resources without stopping the script."

I keep things. Decks, relics, pearls, every page of this journal. Watching is just keeping, with my eyes.

I told Crow that was harder advice than it sounds, and that I would try.

Then I went back to my terminal and let the crowd be.