| ==Phrack Inc.== |
|
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| Volume Three, Issue 29, File #12 of 12 |
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| PWN PWN PWN PWN PWN PWN PWN PWN PWN PWN PWN PWN PWN PWN |
| PWN PWN |
| PWN P h r a c k W o r l d N e w s PWN |
| PWN ~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~ PWN |
| PWN Issue XXIX/Part 3 PWN |
| PWN PWN |
| PWN November 17, 1989 PWN |
| PWN PWN |
| PWN Created, Written, and Edited PWN |
| PWN by Knight Lightning PWN |
| PWN PWN |
| PWN PWN PWN PWN PWN PWN PWN PWN PWN PWN PWN PWN PWN PWN |
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|
| The Cuckoo's Egg October 18, 1989 |
| ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ |
| by By Christopher Lehmann-Haupt (New York Times) |
|
|
| "Tracking a Spy Through the Maze of Computer Espionage" |
|
|
| It all begins with a 75-cent discrepancy in the computer complex's accounting |
| system. Clifford Stoll, the new man in the office, is assigned to reconcile |
| the shortfall. |
|
|
| Although an astronomer by training, Stoll has recently seen his grant money run |
| dry and so has been transferred from the Keck Observatory at the Lawrence |
| Berkeley Lab down to the computer center in the basement of the same building. |
| No wizard at computers, he thinks he can pick things up fast enough to get by. |
| So he sets out to look for the 75 cents. |
|
|
| He quickly discovers that no glitch in the accounting programs has occurred. |
| No, what seems to have happened is that an unfamiliar user named Hunter briefly |
| logged on to the system, burning up 75-cents worth of time. Since there is no |
| account record for Hunter, Stoll erases him from the system. The problem is |
| solved, or so it seems. |
|
|
| But almost immediately, an operator from Maryland on the same network that the |
| Lawrence Berkeley Lab uses complains that someone from Stoll's lab is trying to |
| break into his computer. When Stoll checks the time of the attempt, he |
| discovers that the account of someone named Joe Sventek, who is known to be in |
| England for the year, has been used. So he guesses that the user calling |
| himself Hunter has somehow activated Sventek's account. But who is this hacker |
| (as Stoll begins to refer to him), where is he operating from and how is he |
| getting into the system? |
|
|
| Next Stoll sets up systems to alert him every time the hacker comes on line and |
| monitor his activities without his being aware of it. He watches as the hacker |
| tries to lay cuckoo's eggs in the system's nest, by which of course he means |
| programs for other users to feed -- for instance, a program that could decoy |
| other users into giving the hacker their secret passwords. He watches as the |
| hacker invades other computer systems on the networks the Lawrence Berkeley Lab |
| employs, some of them belonging to military installations and contractors. |
|
|
| The mystery grows. Telephone traces gradually establish that the hacker is not |
| a local operator, is not on the West Coast and may not even be in North |
| America. But of the various three-letter organizations that Stoll appeals to |
| for help -- among them the FBI, the CIA and even the National Security Agency |
| -- none will investigate, at least in an official capacity. |
|
|
| By now a reader is so wrapped up in Stoll's breezily written account of his |
| true adventure in "The Cuckoo's Egg: Tracking a Spy Through the Maze of |
| Computer Espionage" that he is happy to overlook certain drawbacks in the |
| narrative -- most conspicuously the lack of consistently lucid technical talk |
| and the author's dithering over whether appealing for help to the likes of the |
| FBI and CIA is selling out to the enemy, a qualm left over from the 1960s |
| mentality that still afflicts him and his friends. |
|
|
| The only truly annoying aspect of the book is that an endpaper diagram gives |
| away the location of the computer spy. Readers are advised not to look at the |
| endpapers, which do little but spoil the suspense. |
|
|
| Unfortunately, the narrative, too, eventually helps dissipate the story's |
| tension. The officials who finally take over the hunt from Stoll are so |
| reluctant to tell him what is happening that all the suspense he has created |
| simply evaporates. Even Stoll seems to lose interest in the identity of his |
| mysterious antagonist, judging by the limp and haphazard way he finally does |
| give us the news. |
|
|
| Instead of building his story, he allows himself to be distracted by a banal |
| domestic drama centering on his decision to stop being afraid of emotional |
| commitment and marry the woman he has been living with for seven years. And he |
| continues limply to debate the need of the state to defend the security of |
| communications networks against wanton vandalism, as if there were room for |
| serious discussion of the question. |
|
|
| Still, nothing can expunge the excitement of the first two-thirds of "The |
| Cuckoo's Egg," particularly those moments when the author hears his portable |
| beeper going off and bicycles to his lab to read the latest printout of the |
| hacker's activities. |
|
|
| Nothing can relieve our discouragement at the bureaucratic runaround that Stoll |
| got. Had a million dollars worth of damage occurred? the FBI kept asking him. |
|
|
| "Well, not exactly," he would reply. Then there was nothing the FBI could do. |
|
|
| And so it dishearteningly went, although some points should be conceded. |
| Certain individuals in government agencies were extremely helpful to Stoll. |
|
|
| The entire issue of computer-network security was after all a new and |
| unexplored field. And the agencies that the author was asking for help |
| probably knew more about the security threat than they were willing to tell |
| him. |
|
|
| Finally, nothing can diminish the sense of the strange new world Stoll has |
| evoked in "The Cuckoo's Egg" -- a world in which trust and open communication |
| will determine the quality of the future. Whether such values will prevail |
| will prove a drama of momentous significance. Even if this book finally |
| dissipates that drama, its very presence makes these pages worth dipping into. |
| _______________________________________________________________________________ |
|
|
| Digital's Hip To The Standards Thing October 10, 1989 |
| ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ |
| NEW YORK -- During a creative session at a major public relations firm to |
| formulate a new corporate message for Digital Equipment Corporation that |
| reflects the company's new direction promoting and supporting computing |
| industry standards, the shopworn phrase "Digital has it now" was replaced by a |
| new tag line that is more contemporary and tied to DEC's adherence to |
| standards. |
|
|
| DECrap by Rapmaster Ken |
| "Digital's Hip to the Standards Thing" |
|
|
|
|
| I heard some news just the other day |
| It sounded kinda strange and I said, "No way!" |
| But I heard it again from another source |
| It mighta made sense and I said, "Of course!" |
|
|
| Now computer biz has a lotta confusion |
| 'Cause operating systems abound in profusion. |
| But there's a whole new wave in data processing |
| Now that Digital's hip to the standards thing. |
|
|
| (chorus) |
| Digital's hip to the standards thing! |
| Digital's hip to the standards thing! |
|
|
| Way back when a long time ago |
| IBM owned the whole show. |
| But other dudes saw this proprietary mess |
| And formed committees to find out what's best. |
|
|
| Some went their own way and built their own software |
| But users were perturbed, "It's just a different nightmare." |
| So they got together to look over the picks |
| Put down their money on good 'ol UNIX |
|
|
| (chorus) |
| Digital's hip to the standards thing! |
| Digital's hip to the standards thing! |
|
|
| Now Digital always kept their users in mind |
| And pushed VMS as the best of the kind. |
| A lotta folks agreed but kept askin' for |
| UNIX support, "We gotta have more!" |
|
|
| Soon DEC saw the light and decided to give |
| UNIX to the masses, (sorta live and let live). |
| So DEC's ridin' the wave ahead of the rest |
| On a backplane boogie board on top of the crest. |
|
|
| No doubt about it DEC's sprouted its wings |
| 'Cause Digital's hip to the standards thing. |
|
|
| (chorus) |
| Digital's hip to the standards thing! |
| Digital's hip to the standards thing! |
| _______________________________________________________________________________ |
|
|
| Hacker Publications November 12, 1989 |
| ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ |
| Here is a general overview of a pair of the more popular hardcopy hacker |
| magazines. |
|
|
| 2600 Magazine: The Hacker Quarterly |
| Volume Six, Number Three |
| Autumn, 1989 |
|
|
| The cover on this issue features a scene from the Galactic Hackers Convention |
| that took place in Amsterdam, Switzerland, last August. Although it is not |
| explicitly stated or implied, it would appear that the comic illustration |
| portrays the hacker "Shatter" being run over by a bus bearing the label "2600 |
| XPRESS." |
|
|
| The articles featured in this issue include: |
|
|
| The Nynex Strike |
| Grade "A" Hacking: What Is UAPC? by The Plague |
| Galactic Hacker Party (GHP) |
| British Telecom's Guilty Conscience |
| The Death Of COSMOS? |
| What's Going On |
| - Technological Marvels |
| o U.S. Sprint Billing Problems |
| o U.S. Sprint Voicecards |
| o Other Voiceprints |
| o Surveillance |
| - Hacker Spies (Chaos Computer Club, KGB Hackers discussed) |
| - Nynex Bigotry (Gay And Lesbian Organizations) |
| - Dial-It News (Pacific Bell 900 Services) |
| - Payphone Choices (AT&T, Sprint, MCI, AOS) |
| - Overseas Access (AT&T Calls To Vietnam) |
| - News From The U.K. |
| o Directory Assistance Operators |
| o British Telecom To Buy Tymnet From McDonnel Douglas |
| o Chat Lines Banned |
| - One Less Choice (The Source and Compuserve) |
| - Privacy? What's That? |
| o Bulletin Board User Information |
| o Illegal Aliens Database |
| o Scotland Yard Database |
| o Wiretapping |
| o Bell of Pennsylvania (giving out confidential information) |
| o Personal Smart Card |
| - Hackers In Trouble |
| o Kevin Mitnick |
| o Robert Morris |
| - Hacker Fun |
| o Friday The 13th Virus |
| o Speed Limit Alterations |
| o Delray Beach Probation Office |
| - Telco Literature (FON Line Newsletter) |
| - Calling Card Tutorials |
| - Another Telco Ripoff (C&P Telephone) |
| - Technology Marches Back |
| o French Computer Mixup |
| o New York Telephone Repairman Sent On Wild Goose Chases |
| - And Finally (Bejing Phone Calls) |
| The Secrets of 4TEL |
| Letters |
| - Moblie Telephone Info |
| - A Southern ANI |
| - ROLM Horrors |
| - A Nagging Question (by The Apple Worm) |
| - A Request |
| - Another Request (by THOR <claims the Disk Jockey story was a lie>) |
| - The Call-Waiting Phone Tap (Alternative Inphormation) |
| - Interesting Numbers (1-800-EAT-SHIT, 800, 900 numbers) |
| - UNIX Hacking (Unix security, hacking, TCP/IP) |
| - Intelligent Payphones |
| - Retarded Payphones |
| REMOBS by The Infidel |
| Gee... GTE Telcos by Silent Switchman and Mr. Ed |
| Voice Mail Hacking... by Aristotle |
| Punching Pay Phones by Micro Surgeon/West Coast Phreaks |
| Touch-Tone Frequencies |
| 2600 Marketplace |
| Carrier Access Codes |
| Lair of the INTERNET Worm by Dark OverLord |
| Timely Telephone Tips (from a Defense Department Phone Book) |
|
|
| There were also plenty of other interesting small articles, pictures, and |
| stories about hackers, telephones, computers and much more. All in all, this |
| is the best issue of 2600 Magazine I have read in several issues (despite the |
| fact that some of the material had appeared in Phrack Inc., LOD/H TJs, and/or |
| Telecom Digest previously). Let's hope they continue to be as good. |
|
|
| Are you interested in 2600 Magazine? |
|
|
| 2600 (ISSN 0749-3851) is published quarterly by 2600 Enterprises Inc., |
| 7 Strong's Lane, NY 11733. Second class postage permit paid at Setauket, New |
| York. |
|
|
| Copyright (c) 1989, 2600 Enterprises, Inc. |
| Yearly subscriptions: U.S. and Canada -- $18 individual, $45 corporate. |
| Overseas -- $30 individual, $65 corporate. |
| Back issues available for 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988 at $25 per year, $30 per |
| year overseas. |
|
|
| Address all subscription correspondence to: |
|
|
| 2600 Subscription Department |
| P.O. Box 752 |
| Middle Island, New York 11953-0752 |
|
|
| 2600 Office Line: 516-751-2600 |
| 2600 FAX Line: 516-751-2608 |
|
|
| - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - |
|
|
| TAP Magazine |
| Issue 94 |
| 1989 |
|
|
| The new TAP Magazine is a smaller publication in comparison to 2600. The |
| "outer" cover of this newsletter was a "warning" from The Predat0r concerning |
| the nature of the material inside. The true or "inner" cover of the newsletter |
| had the following: |
|
|
| The Information You've Requested Of TAP Publishing Society |
| A Unit Of The Technological Advancement Party |
|
|
| Presents... |
|
|
| "...a family of people dedicated to the advancement of home computer systems |
| and electronic technology, the study and duplication of related communication |
| networks and the subsequent utilization of one's own ingenuity in today's |
| fast-paced world of creative logic." |
|
|
| The articles in this issue of TAP included: |
|
|
| TAP RAP: News From The TAP Staff by Aristotle |
| Small Tags Protect Big Stores (continued from TAP 93) |
| Ozone (concerning American Telephone & Telegraph's plans for 1994) |
| Telephone Wires In New York In 1890 |
| Mercury Fulminate by Dark OverLord |
| How To Hack Stamps |
| Hoffman Worked To Help All Of Mankind |
| Police Raid 3 Jefferson Homes In Search For Computer Hackers by Calvin Miller |
| SummerCon '89 by Aristotle (includes a copy of the official SummerCon '89 |
| poster and button, although an error stating that the poster was |
| shown at 1/2 size when in reality, the original was 8 1/2" by |
| 14"). |
|
|
| There were a few other interesting "tid bits" of information scattered |
| throughout the four loose pages including the new TAP logo (that was made to |
| resemble CompuTel) and other pictures. |
|
|
| The staff at TAP also included a postcard that contained a reader's survey. It |
| asked all sorts of questions about how the reader liked certain aspects of the |
| publication... I found the idea to be potentially productive in improving the |
| quality of the newsletter all around. |
|
|
| The cost of TAP is rather cheap... it is free. For an issue send a self |
| addressed stamped envelope to: |
|
|
| T.A.P. |
| P.O. Box 20264 |
| Louisville, Kentucky 40220-0264 |
|
|
|
|
| :Knight Lightning |
| _______________________________________________________________________________ |
|
|
| Phrack World News QuickNotes |
| ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ |
| 1. 911 Improvement Surcharge in Chicago (October 16, 1989) -- Monday morning, |
| October 16, Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley announced that he would submit |
| to the city council a plan to increase city telephone taxes by 95 cents per |
| line per month, earmarked for improvements to 911 service. Currently there |
| is no such flat charge, simply a percentage tax rate on local telephone |
| service. |
|
|
| Daley's spokespeople commented that 911 service here has been a mess for |
| years, and that many of the suburbs charge $1.00 per line per month, so 95 |
| cents should not be unreasonable. There were no details about what is |
| currently wrong or about what specific improvements Daley has in mind. |
| - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - |
| 2. Hacker Caught by Caller-ID (October 9, 1989) -- MIS Week reported the |
| apprehension of a 15-year old hacker who used his Amiga personal computer |
| to tap into two minicomputers at Grumman. The youngster was from |
| Levittown, Long Island and stumbled into the computer by using a random |
| dialing device attached to his computer. Grumman security was able to |
| detect the intrusions, and the computer's recording of the boy's telephone |
| number led police to his home. |
| - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - |
| 3. 14-Year-Old Cracks TRW Credit For Major Fraud (October 18, 1989) -- A |
| 14-year-old Fresno, California boy obtained secret "access codes" to the |
| files of TRW Credit from a bboard and used them to pose as a company or |
| employer seeking a credit history on an individual whose name he picked |
| randomly from the phone book. From the histories, he obtained credit card |
| numbers which he then used to charge at least $11,000 in mail-order |
| merchandise (shipped to a rented storeroom) and make false applications for |
| additional cards. He also shared his findings on computer bulletin boards. |
|
|
| Police began investigating when TRW noticed an unusual number of credit |
| check requests coming from a single source, later found to be the youth's |
| home telephone number. The high school freshman, whose name was not |
| released, was arrested at his home last week and later released to his |
| parents. His computer was confiscated and he faces felony charges that |
| amount to theft through the fraudulent use of a computer. |
|
|
| "Here is a 14-year-old boy with a $200 computer in his bedroom and now he |
| has shared his data with countless other hackers all over the nation," said |
| Fresno Detective Frank Clark, who investigated the case. "The potential |
| (for abuse of the information) is incredible." Excerpts provided by |
| Jennifer Warren (Los Angeles Times) |
| - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - |
| 4. Computer Virus Countermeasures Article (October 25, 1989) -- Readers of |
| Phrack Inc. might be interested in an interesting article in the October |
| 1989 issue of DEFENSE ELECTRONICS, page 75, entitled "Computer Virus |
| Countermeasures -- A New Type Of Electronic Warfare," by Dr. Myron L. |
| Cramer and Stephen R. Pratt. |
| - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - |
| 5. Computer Viruses Attack China (November 6, 1989) -- The Ministry of Public |
| Safety of People's Republic of China found this summer that one tenth of |
| the computers in China had been contaminated by three types of computer |
| virus: "Small Ball," "Marijuana," and "Shell." The most serious damage |
| was found in the National Statistical System, in which "Small Ball" spread |
| in 21 provinces. In Wuhan University, viruses were found in *ALL* personal |
| computers. |
|
|
| In China, three hundred thousand computers (including personal computers) |
| are in operation. Due to a premature law system the reproduction of |
| software is not regulated, so that computer viruses can easily be |
| propagated. Ministry of Public Safety now provides "vaccines" against |
| them. Fortunately, those viruses did not give fatal damage to data. |
| - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - |
| 6. More Phone-Card Fraud (October 31, 1989) -- Two men were convicted by Tokyo |
| District Court on Monday, October 30, for tampering with Nippon Telephone |
| and Telegraph calling cards to increase the number of calls they could |
| make. The court ruled that they violated the Securities Transaction Law. |
|
|
| One man, Kawai, was sentenced to 30 months in prison, and another, Sakaki, |
| was given an 18-month suspended sentence. |
|
|
| Two presiding judges ruled that using falsified telephone cards in pay |
| phones is tantamount to using securities. |
|
|
| However, another judge ruled in a separate case last September that |
| tampering with a telephone card does not constitute use of a security, so |
| legal observers say it will be up to the Supreme Court. |
|
|
| According to this most recent s ruling, Kawai changed about 1,600 telephone |
| cards, each good for 500-yen worth of telephone calls, into cards worth |
| 20,000 yen. He sold the altered cards to acquaintances for as much as |
| 3,500 yen. |
|
|
| Sakaki also sold about 320 tampered cards for about 2 million yen. |
|
|
| One of the presiding judges ruled that using tampered telephone cards on |
| public telephones is the same as misleading Nippon Telegraph and |
| Telephone Corporation into believing the cards -- false securities -- were |
| genuine. Taken from The Japan Times |
| - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - |
| 7. Computer Virus Hits Japanese Quake Data (October 30, 1989) -- Tokyo; A |
| computer virus has destroyed information at the University of Tokyo's |
| seismological and ocean research institutes, a university official and |
| local reports said yesterday. |
|
|
| An official of the university's Ocean Reasearch Institute said the virus |
| was detected earlier this month in five of the center's 100 computers, |
| but was believed to have first infected the computers in September. |
|
|
| The virus was found only in personal computers being used by researchers |
| and not major computer systems, the official said, requesting anonymity. |
| He said the damage was not serious. |
|
|
| He declined to discuss further details, but a report by the Japan |
| Broadcasting Corporation said a virus had also been found in the computers |
| at the university's Earthquake Research Institute. Thanks to Associated |
| Press news services. (Related article follows) |
| - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - |
| 8. First Virus Attack On Macintoshes In Japan (November 7, 1989) -- Six Macs |
| in University of Tokyo, Japan, were found to have caught viruses. Since |
| Since this September, Professor K. Tamaki, Ocean Research Institute, |
| University of Tokyo, has noticed malfunctions on the screen. In October, |
| he applied vaccines "Interferon" and "Virus Clinic" to find his four |
| Macintoshes were contaminated by computer viruses, "N Virus" type A and |
| type B. He then found ten softwares were also infected by viruses. A |
| Macintosh of J. Kasahara, Earthquake Research Institute, University of |
| Tokyo, was also found to be contaminated by N Virus and Score Virus. These |
| are the first reports of real viruses in Japan. |
|
|
| Later it was reported that four Macintoshes in Geological Survey of Japan, |
| in Tsukuba, were infected by N Virus Type A. This virus was sent from |
| United States together with an editor. |
| - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - |
| 9. Hackers Can Tap Into Free Trip (October 1989) -- Attention Hackers: Here |
| is your chance to break into a computer system and walk away with a grand |
| prize. The "hacker challenge" dares any hacker to retrieve a secret |
| message stored in a KPMG Peat Marwick computer in Atlanta. |
|
|
| This challenge is being sponsored by LeeMah DataCom Security Corporation, a |
| Hayward, California, consulting firm that helps companies boost computer |
| security. The winner gets an all-expense paid trip for two to either |
| Tahiti or St. Moritz, Switzerland. |
|
|
| Hackers with modems must dial 1-404-827-9584. Then they must type this |
| password: 5336241. |
|
|
| From there, the hacker is on his own to figure out the various access codes |
| and commands needed to retrieve the secret message. |
|
|
| The winner was announced October 24, 1989 at the Federal Computer Show in |
| Washington. Taken from USA Today. |
| - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - |
| 10. Groaning Phone Network Survives Millions Of Calls (October 18, 1989) -- |
| The nation's telecommunications network was flooded Tuesday (October 17) |
| night by an estimated 20 million attempted telephone calls from people |
| around the nation concerned about friends and family after the earthquake |
| in the bay area. |
|
|
| Except for brief failures, the system did not break down under the record |
| load in the areas damaged by the earthquake. |
|
|
| AT&T officials said that as many as 140 million long-distance phone calls |
| were placed Wednesday (October 18), the highest number for a single day in |
| history. Excerpts thanks to John Markoff (New York Times) |
|
|
| >--------=====END=====--------< |
|
|
|
|