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RGENTS UNLERSHED
R Public Domain Look at Rgent
Technology
Peter UJayner
AP PROFESSIONAL
Boston San Diego New York
London Sydney Tokyo Toronto
This book is printed on acid-free paper. ©
Copyright © 1995 by Academic Press, Inc.
Software agent copyright © 1995 by Peter Wayner
All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced or
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AP PROFESSIONAL
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An Imprint of ACADEMIC PRESS, INC.
A Division of HARCOURT BRACE & COMPANY
United Kingdom Edition published by
ACADEMIC PRESS LIMITED
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Wayner, Peter, 1964-
Agents unleashed : a public domain look at agent technology / Peter
Wayner.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN0-12-738765-X
1. Computer software. I. Title.
QA76.754.W39 1995
005.3-dc20 95-109
CIP
Printed in the United States of America
95 96 97 98 IP 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Preface
When I was writing this book, I relied upon the help of many people. BYTE
magazine started this effort by sending me to write about software agents
and they continued to support the effort by assigning more pieces for them.
The editors at the magazine continue to surprise me with their depth of
knowledge, force of intellectual curiosity and their command of the techno-
logical wave that grows taller and broader each day.
The strongest influence on the content of the book were the contributors
to the cypherpunk mailing list (cypherpunks-requestQtoad.com). They
became interested in the details of building a secure agent realm long before
I did. The discussions on the list probed many of the topics with careful
attention to detail. They taught me plenty and there are too many of them
to thank by name.
There were also many people who opened up their minds to me. The rep-
resentatives from the various companies described in here provided detailed
information. Thank you.
Bruce Schneier deserves thanks for sharing an electronic copy of his bib-
liography with me. This saved me the trouble of typing it in myself.
Chuck Glaser, Mary Treseler and Mike Williams at AP Professional
helped me through many details and provided the support that writers need.
The only person left to thank was my wife, Diana, who endured the long
hours I spent on this book with good humor and devotion.
Peter Wayner
Baltimore, MD
January 1995
pcwQaccess.digex.com
http : //access. digex. net : /~pcw/pcwpage. html
Book Notes
The copy for this book was typeset using the BT^Ktypesetting software. Sev-
eral important breaks were made with standard conventions in order to re-
move some ambiguities. The period mark is normally included inside the
quotation marks like this "That's my answer. No. Period." This can cause
ambiguities when computer terms are included in quotation marks because
computers often use period marks to convey some meaning. For this reason,
my electronic mail address is "[email protected]". The periods are left
outside.
Hyphens also cause problems when they're used for different tasks. LISP
programmers often use hyphens to join words together into a single name like
this Do-Not-Call-This-Procedure. Unfortunately, this causes grief when
these longer words occur at the end of a line. In these cases, there will be
an extra hyphen included to specify that there was an original hyphen in the
word. This isn't hyper-compatible with the standard rules that don't include
the extra hyphen. But these rules are for readers who know that self-help is
a word that should be hyphenated. No one knows what to think about A—
Much-Too-Long-Procedure-That-Should-Be-Shortened-For-Everyone.
Chapter 1
Off the Coast of Cannes
The SWAT trucks roll into position. The helicopters thump overhead. The
news media trucks screech to a halt and start to extend their satellite an-
tennas to the sky. The SWAT police scramble to surround the building.
Newscaster:
Police are gathering outside of Washington's largest and most
prestigious McDonalds—the one that bears the distinction of be-
ing the Big Mac supplier to the President. We've received reports
that major terrorists are inside, threatening the customers and
making unknown demands.
In the White House, two aides walk briskly down a hallway and enter
the President's Cabinet meeting. They whisper in his ear.
President:
We can put aside the rest of the agenda until the next meeting.
Something pressing demands my attention.
More squad cars arrive. A helicopter buzzes low over the building. A
terrorist looks out the window and recognizes the news media is filming.
Suddenly, the front window of the McDonalds shatters as the terrorists dis-
charge a hail of bullets to let the world know they are serious.
1
2 CHAPTER 1. OFF THE COAST OF CANNES
The President reaches the Oval Office.
President:
So we don't know who they are or what they want?
Aide:
No sir.
President:
Dammit. What can we do?
Aide:
The DC police have their special weapons squad there now, sir.
The Secret Service always maintains two agents there to act as
tasters, but we're not sure if they're still alive or being held as
hostages. They might be able to act from inside, sir. The Army
has its Delta Force on standby awaiting your command.
President:
No. I want someone who can sneak in there and get the job done
without destroying the place. The Army and the police will go
in with their guns blazing. The restaurant must be saved whole.
Aide
What other choices are there?
President:
Get me MI5 in Britain. I want that Bondo. 007. 1 He can get
the job done.
Object-Oriented Seven
CHAPTER 1. OFF THE COAST OF CANNES 3
Aide:
Yes sir.
South of France. Bondo is relaxing in Cannes racing a speedboat. At
this point, his boat is just off of the leader. There is only one more lap to
go. Bondo has to make a move if he's going to win. Suddenly, a cellular
wrist watch rings. Bondo answers.
Bondo:
Bondo here.
Bondo nods several times. Shuts off his watch. Then turns to the
Brunette and offers the wheel.
Bondo:
Take the wheel. Duty calls.
Bondo hauls out a waterproof portable computer and begins typing. He
pauses and hits Return. Then he returns to the wheel.
A digital software agent leaves the computer on the boat and calls for
airtime with the Slotted Aloha protocol controlling the local wireless net-
work. When it reaches land, it hits the European phone network and then
heads across the bottom of the Atlantic on a fiber optic channel running
SONET. At the other end, it speeds through the DC net until it reaches the
McDonald's central computer.
The central computer accepts the software agent, finds that Bondo pro-
grammed it with the correct access codes, and initializes it. The agent begins
to send commands to the different appliances in the restaurant. Suddenly,
the atmosphere in the restaurant starts to heat up. The grills and ovens have
mysteriously turned themselves on to high. The terrorists stare in disbelief
and try to shut it down. No amount of clicking on the controls makes a
difference. The ovens and grills are locked in to a crazy, demented effort to
create hell.
A message starts to flash on the computer monitors that normally keep
track of the pending orders: IF YOU CAN'T STAND THE HEAT, GET
OUT OF THE KITCHEN.
4 CHAPTER 1. OFF THE COAST OF CANNES
Back on the boat, Bondo's computer beeps. He has guided his boat into
a narrow opening on the inside of the turn. He's practically running neck
and neck with the leader.
Bondo:
Excellent. Take the wheel again and hold it steady through this
turn. We'll pass them on the last corner.
Bondo returns to his computer. The software agent he sent to the MI5
computers has just returned with important information about the terrorist.
Bondo had asked the agent to search for all known terrorists operating in the
Washington, DC area. The agent then cross-checked the list with airport
arrival information from the U.S. Customs computers. This narrowed the list
to a few. A final pass through the alumni computers of Oxford found a direct
hit. One of the men spent the same years at Oxford with the President. A
psychological profile showed a strong animus for the man. Bingo.
The software agent's final task was accessing the national health comput-
ers for the medical records of the alumnus. Bondo scans this and whistles.
Bondo clacks the keys some more. Then he returns to the wheel of the boat
as they enter the final turn. The other boat had gained ground while Bondo
typed and now Bondo's boat is being squeezed into the inside.
In Washington, the police helicopters swarm lower. The DC police begin
to unload a tank from a special flatbed truck. They're taking no chances.
In the meantime, Bondo's latest agent screams through the fiber optic
channels until it comes knocking on the door of the McDonald's computer.
Again, it gains access and begins to issue commands to the machines. Sud-
denly the light bulbs start to flicker at about 3 flashes per second.
A terrorist begins to crumple. Bondo guessed right. The terrorist still
suffers from epilepsy. The flashing of the lights was set to the right frequency
to start a seizure. As the terrorist falls, one of the Secret Service agents grabs
his gun and shoots the other two henchmen. The Big Mac is saved.
Off of Cannes, Bondo revs the motor and tries to elude the other boat
that is cutting him off. Bondo scans the waves ahead and notes that the
pattern will dramatically shift. The other pilot doesn't notice this because
he is too busy grinning and waving to Bondo. The boats hit the waves
CHAPTER 1. OFF THE COAST OF CANNES 5
seconds apart and the rogue wave almost knocks the leader upside down.
Bondo is prepared and sails through to victory!
