NetNews Usenet Archive 1992 #27/NN_1992_27.iso/spool/comp/os/vms/18054

Internet Message Format | 1992-11-17 | 1.6 KB

Path: sparky!uunet!usc!wupost!spool.mu.edu!agate!ucbvax!galaxy.dnet!gleeve
From: [e-mail]
Newsgroups: comp.os.vms
Subject: DECnet object abusers
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Date: 16 Nov 92 18:21:19 GMT
Sender: [e-mail]
Distribution: world
Organization: The Internet
Lines: 23

RE: Brendan Welch's problems with abusers of the mail and phone
DECnet objects...
   These objects by default run some images. You can trivially get
them to run command processes instead and log who is using them.
Do this with "mcr ncp def obj xxx file something.com" and
similarly with "mcr ncp set...". The command file can be whatever
you like, but getting it to print the translation of SYS$NET is
a very good first step. It will tell you where the connection is
coming from. Once you have the username involved, handling abuse of
mail or phone is a personnel problem. The protocols are quite old
and were not designed to give a secure return address, and mail
faking programs are fairly common. However, it is also quite easy
to set up monitoring; once it becomes known that you can catch and
draw-'n'-quarter the miscreants, you will have fewer miscreants...
   You also need to require more than a return address before you
assume someone is responsible for sending a message; these problems
exist on non-vms systems also. Neither the return addresses, nor
any of the message should be trusted without further authentication.
USUALLY they are all right, but there are too many ways these can
be tampered with to regard them as authoritative.
Glenn
[e-mail]