The Hacker's Encyclopedia 1998

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_____________________________________________________________ GUIDE TO (mostly) HARMLESS HACKING Vol. 3 Number 2 How to map the Internet. Dig! Whois! Nslookup! Traceroute! Netstat port is getting hard to use anymore, however... ______________________________________________________________ Why map the Internet? * Because it's fun -- like exploring unknown continents. The Internet is so huge, and it changes so fast, no one has a complete map. * Because when you can't make contact with someone in a distant place, you can help your ISP trouble shoot broken links in the Internet. Yes, I did that once that when email failed to a friend in Northern Ireland. How will your ISP know that their communications provider is lying down on the job unless someone advises them of trouble? * Because if you want to be a computer criminal, your map of the connections to your intended victim gives you valuable information. Now since this is a lesson on *legal* hacking, we're not going to help you out with how to determine the best box in which to install a sniffer or how to tell what IP address to spoof to get past a packet filter. We're just going to explore some of the best tools available for mapping the uncharted realms of the Internet. For this lesson, you can get some benefit even if all you have is Windows. But to take full advantage of this lesson, you should either have some sort of Unix on your personal computer, or a shell account! SHELL ACCOUNT! If you don't have one, you may find an ISP that will give you a shell account at http://www.celestin.com/pocia/. **************************** Newbie note: A shell account is an account with your ISP that allows you to give commands on a computer running Unix. The "shell" is the program that translates your keystrokes into Unix commands. Trust me, if you are a beginner, you will find bash (for Bourne again shell) to be easiest to use. Ask tech support at your ISP for a shell account set up to use bash. Or, you may be able to get the bash shell by simply typing the word "bash" at the prompt. If your ISP doesn't offer shell accounts, get a new ISP that does offer it. A great book on using the bash shell is _Learning the Bash Shell_, by Cameron Newham and Bill Rosenblatt, published by O'Reilly. **************************** So for our mapping expedition, let's start by visiting the Internet in Botswana! Wow, is Botswana even on the Internet? It's a lovely landlocked nation in the southern region of Africa, famous for cattle ranching, diamonds and abundant wildlife. The language of commerce in Botswana is English, so there's a good chance that we could understand messages from their computers. Our first step in learning about Botswana's Internet hosts is to use the Unix program nslookup. **************************** Evil genius tip: Nslookup is one of the most powerful Internet mapping tools in existence. We can hardly do it justice here. If you want to learn how to explore to the max, get the book _DNS and BIND_ by Paul Albitz and Cricket Liu, published by O'Reilly, 1997 edition. *************************** The first step may be to find where your ISP has hidden the program by using the command "whereis nslookup." (Or your computer may use the "find" command.) Aha -- there it is! I give the command: ->/usr/etc/nslookup Default Server: swcp.com Address: 198.59.115.2 > These two lines and the slightly different prompt (it isn't an arrow any more) tell me that my local ISP is running this program for me. (It is possible to run nslookup on another computer from yours.) Now we are in the program, so I have to remember that my bash commands don't work any more. Our next step is to tell the program that we would like to know what computers handle any given domain name. > set type=ns Next we need to know the domain name for Botswana. To do that I look up the list of top level domain names on page 379 of the 1997 edition of _DNS and BIND_. For Botswana it's bw. So I enter it at the prompt, remembering -- this is VERY important -- to put a period after the domain name: > bw. Server: swcp.com Address: 198.59.115.2 Non-authoritative answer: This "non-authoritative answer" stuff tells me that this information has been stored for awhile, so it is possible, but unlikely, that the information below has changed. bw nameserver = DAISY.EE.UND.AC.ZA bw nameserver = RAIN.PSG.COM bw nameserver = NS.UU.NET bw nameserver = HIPPO.RU.AC.ZA Authoritative answers can be found from: DAISY.EE.UND.AC.ZA inet address = 146.230.192.18 RAIN.PSG.COM inet address = 147.28.0.34 NS.UU.NET inet address = 137.39.1.3 HIPPO.RU.AC.ZA inet address = 146.231.128.1 I look up the domain name "za" and discover it stands for South Africa. This tells me that the Internet is in its infancy in Botswana -- no nameservers there -- but must be well along in South Africa. Look at all those nameservers! *********************** Newbie note: a nameserver is a computer program that stores data on the Domain Name System. The Domain Name System makes sure that no two computers have the same name. It also stores information on how to find other computers. When various nameservers get to talking with each other, they eventually, usually within seconds, can figure out the routes to any one of the millions of computers on the Internet. *********************** Well, what this tells me is that people who want to set up Internet host computers in Botswana usually rely on computers in South Africa to connect them. Let's learn more about South Africa. Since we are still in the nslookup program, I command it to tell me what computers are nameservers for South Africa: > za. Server: swcp.com Address: 198.59.115.2 Non-authoritative answer: za nameserver = DAISY.EE.UND.AC.za za nameserver = UCTHPX.UCT.AC.za za nameserver = HIPPO.RU.AC.za za nameserver = RAIN.PSG.COM za nameserver = MUNNARI.OZ.AU za nameserver = NS.EU.NET za nameserver = NS.UU.NET za nameserver = UUCP-GW-1.PA.DEC.COM za nameserver = APIES.FRD.AC.za Authoritative answers can be found from: DAISY.EE.UND.AC.za inet address = 146.230.192.18 UCTHPX.UCT.AC.za inet address = 137.158.128.1 HIPPO.RU.AC.za inet address = 146.231.128.1 RAIN.PSG.COM inet address = 147.28.0.34 MUNNARI.OZ.AU inet address = 128.250.22.2 MUNNARI.OZ.AU inet address = 128.250.1.21 NS.EU.NET inet address = 192.16.202.11 UUCP-GW-1.PA.DEC.COM inet address = 204.123.2.18 UUCP-GW-1.PA.DEC.COM inet address = 16.1.0.18 APIES.FRD.AC.za inet address = 137.214.80.1 *********************** Newbie note: What is inet address = 137.214.80.1 supposed to mean? That's the name of a computer on the Internet (inet) -- in this case APIES.FRD.AC -- in octal. Octal is like regular numbers except in base 8 rather than base 10. All computer names on the Internet must be changed into numbers so that other computers can understand them. ********************** Aha! Some of those nameservers are located outside South Africa. We see computers in Australia (au) and the US (com domain). Next, we exit the nslookup program with the command ^D. That's made by holding down the control key while hitting the small "d" key. It is VERY IMPORTANT to exit nslookup this way and not with ^C. Next, we take one of the nameservers in South Africa and ask: ->whois HIPPO.RU.AC.ZA [No name] (HIPPO) Hostname: HIPPO.RU.AC.ZA Address: 146.231.128.1 System: SUN running SUNOS Domain Server Record last updated on 24-Feb-92. To see this host record with registered users, repeat the command with a star ('*') before the name; or, use '%' to show JUST the registered users. The InterNIC Registration Services Host contains ONLY Internet Information (Networks, ASN's, Domains, and POC's). Please use the whois server at nic.ddn.mil for MILNET Information. Kewl! This tells us what kind of computer it is -- a Sun -- and the operating system, Sun OS. Now, just for variety, I use the whois command with the numerical address of one of the nameservers. This doesn't always give back the text name, but sometimes it works. And, voila, we get: ->whois 146.230.192.18 [No name] (DAISY1) Hostname: DAISY.EE.UND.AC.ZA Address: 146.230.192.18 System: HP-9000 running HP-UX Domain Server Record last updated on 14-Sep-94. Ah, but all this is doing so far is just telling us info about who is a nameserver for whom. Now how about directly mapping a route from my computer to South Africa? For that we will use the traceroute command. ************************ Netiquette tip: The traceroute program is intended for use in network testing, measurement and management. It should be used primarily for manual fault isolation, like the time I couldn't email my friend in Northern Ireland. Because of the load it could impose on the network, it is unwise to use traceroute from automated scripts which could cause that program to send out huge numbers of queries. Use it too much and your ISP may start asking you some sharp questions. ************************ ************************ YOU COULD GO TO JAIL WARNING: If you just got an idea of how to use traceroute for a denial of service attack, don't call your favorite journalist and tell him or her that you are plotting a denial of service attack against the ISPs that serve famous people like Bill Clinton and Carolyn Meinel!:-) Don't write that script. Don't use it. If you do, I'll give another interview to PC World magazine (http://www.pcworld.com/news/newsradio/meinel/index.html) about how a three-year-old could run the attack. And if you get caught we'll all laugh at you as you get hustled off in chains while your journalist friend gets a $250K advance on his or her book deal about you. ************************ I give the command: ->whereis traceroute traceroute: /usr/local/bin/traceroute OK, now we're ready to map in earnest. I give the command: ->/usr/local/bin/traceroute DAISY.EE.UND.AC.ZA And the answer is: traceroute to DAISY.EE.UND.AC.ZA (146.230.192.18), 30 hops max, 40 byte packets 1 sisko (198.59.115.1) 3 ms 4 ms 4 ms 2 glory-cyberport.nm.westnet.net (204.134.78.33) 47 ms 8 ms 4 ms 3 ENSS365.NM.ORG (129.121.1.3) 5 ms 10 ms 7 ms 4 h4-0.cnss116.Albuquerque.t3.ans.net (192.103.74.45) 17 ms 41 ms 28 ms 5 f2.t112-0.Albuquerque.t3.ans.net (140.222.112.221) 7 ms 6 ms 5 ms 6 h14.t16-0.Los-Angeles.t3.ans.net (140.223.17.9) 31 ms 39 ms 84 ms 7 h14.t8-0.San-Francisco.t3.ans.net (140.223.9.13) 67 ms 43 ms 68 ms 8 enss220.t3.ans.net (140.223.9.22) 73 ms 58 ms 54 ms 9 sl-mae-w-F0/0.sprintlink.net (198.32.136.11) 97 ms 319 ms 110 ms 10 sl-stk-1-H11/0-T3.sprintlink.net (144.228.10.109) 313 ms 479 ms 473 ms 11 sl-stk-2-F/T.sprintlink.net (198.67.6.2) 179 ms * * 12 sl-dc-7-H4/0-T3.sprintlink.net (144.228.10.106) 164 ms * 176 ms 13 sl-dc-7-F/T.sprintlink.net (198.67.0.1) 143 ms 129 ms 134 ms 14 gsl-dc-3-Fddi0/0.gsl.net (204.59.144.197) 135 ms 152 ms 130 ms 15 204.59.225.66 (204.59.225.66) 583 ms 545 ms 565 ms 16 * * * 17 e0.csir00.uni.net.za (155.232.249.1) 516 ms 436 ms 400 ms 18 s1.und00.uni.net.za (155.232.70.1) 424 ms 485 ms 492 ms 19 e0.und01.uni.net.za (155.232.190.2) 509 ms 530 ms 459 ms 20 s0.und02.uni.net.za (155.232.82.2) 650 ms * 548 ms 21 Gw-Uninet1.CC.und.ac.za (146.230.196.1) 881 ms 517 ms 478 ms 22 cisco-unp.und.ac.za (146.230.128.8) 498 ms 545 ms * 23 IN.ee.und.ac.za (146.230.192.18) 573 ms 585 ms 493 ms So what does all this stuff mean? The number in front of each line is the number of hops since leaving the computer that has the shell account I am using. The second entry is the name of the computer through which this route passes, first in text, and then in parentheses its numerical representation. The numbers after that are the time in milliseconds it takes for each of three probe packets in a row to make that hop. When an * appears, the time for the hop timed out. In the case of this traceroute command, any time greater than 3 seconds causes an * to be printed out. How about hop 16? It gave us no info whatsoever. That silent gateway may be the result of a bug in the 4.1, 4.2 or 4.3BSD Unix network code. A computer running one of these operating systems sends an "unreachable" message. Or it could be something else. Sorry, I'm not enough of a genius yet to figure out this one for sure. Are we having phun yet? ************************ Evil genius tip: If you want to get really, truly excruciating detail on the traceroute command, while in your shell account type in the command: ->man traceroute I promise, on-line manual stuff is often written in a witty, entertaining fashion. Especially the Sun OS manual. Honest! ************************ ************************ Note for the shell-account-challenged: If you have Windows 95, you can get the same results -- I mean, for mapping the Internet, not going to jail -- using the "tracert" command. Here's how it works: 1. Open a PPP connection. For example, if you use Compuserve or AOL, make a connection, then minimize your on-line access program. 2. Click on the Start menu. 3. Open a DOS window. 4. At the DOS prompt type in "tracert <distant.computer.com> where "distant.computer.com" is replaced by the name of the computer to which you want to trace a route. Press the Enter key. 5. Be patient. Especially if your are tracing a route to a distant computer, it takes awhile to make all the connections. Every time your computer connects to another computer on the Internet, it first has to trace a route to the other computer. That's why it sometimes take a long while for your browser to start downloading a Web page. 6. If you decide to use Windows for this hacking lesson, Damien Sorder has a message for us: "DON'T ENCOURAGE THEM TO USE WIN95!@#$!@#!" He's right, but since most of you reading this are consenting adults, I figure it's your funeral if you stoop to Windows hacking on an AOL PPP connection! *********************** Now this is getting interesting. We know that Daisy is directly connected to at least one other computer, and that computer in turn is connected to cisco-unp.und.ac.za. Let's learn a little something about this cisco-unp.und.ac.za, OK? First, we can guess from the name that is it a Cisco router. In fact, the first hop in this route is to a computer named "sisco," which is also probably a Cisco router. Since 85% of the routers in the world are Ciscos, that's a pretty safe bet. But we are going to not only make sure cisco-unp.und.ac.za is a Cisco. We are also going to find out the model number, and a few other goodies. First we try out whois: ->whois cisco-unp.und.ac.za No match for "CISCO-UNP.UND.AC.ZA". The InterNIC Registration Services Host contains ONLY Internet Information (Networks, ASN's, Domains, and POC's). Please use the whois server at nic.ddn.mil for MILNET Information. Huh? Traceroute tells us cisco-unp.und.ac.za exists, but whois can't find it! Actually this is a common problem, especially trying to use whois on distant computers. What do we do next? Well, if you are lucky, the whereis command will turn up another incredibly cool program: dig! ********************** Newbie note: Dig stands for "domain information groper." It does a lot of the same things as nslookup. But dig is a much older program, in many ways harder to use than nslookup. For details on dig, use the command from your shell account "man dig." ********************** In fact, on my shell account I found I could run dig straight from my bash prompt: ->dig CISCO-UNP.UND.AC.ZA ; <<>> DiG 2.0 <<>> CISCO-UNP.UND.AC.ZA ;; res options: init recurs defnam dnsrch ;; got answer: ;; ->>HEADER<<- opcode: QUERY, status: NOERROR, id: 6 ;; flags: qr aa rd ra; Ques: 1, Ans: 4, Auth: 5, Addit: 5 ;; QUESTIONS: ;; CISCO-UNP.UND.AC.ZA, type = A, class = IN ;; ANSWERS: CISCO-UNP.UND.AC.ZA. 86400 A 146.230.248.1 CISCO-UNP.UND.AC.ZA. 86400 A 146.230.12.1 CISCO-UNP.UND.AC.ZA. 86400 A 146.230.60.1 CISCO-UNP.UND.AC.ZA. 86400 A 146.230.128.8 ;; AUTHORITY RECORDS: und.ac.za. 86400 NS Eagle.und.ac.za. und.ac.za. 86400 NS Shrike.und.ac.za. und.ac.za. 86400 NS ucthpx.uct.ac.za. und.ac.za. 86400 NS hiPPo.ru.ac.za. und.ac.za. 86400 NS Rain.psg.com. ;; ADDITIONAL RECORDS: Eagle.und.ac.za. 86400 A 146.230.128.15 Shrike.und.ac.za. 86400 A 146.230.128.13 ucthpx.uct.ac.za. 86400 A 137.158.128.1 hiPPo.ru.ac.za. 86400 A 146.231.128.1 Rain.psg.com. 14400 A 147.28.0.34 ;; Total query time: 516 msec ;; FROM: llama to SERVER: default -- 198.59.115.2 ;; WHEN: Fri Jan 17 13:03:49 1997 ;; MSG SIZE sent: 37 rcvd: 305 Ahhh, nice. The first few lines, the ones preceded by the ;; marks, mostly tell what the default settings of the command are and what we asked it. The line "Ques: 1, Ans: 4, Auth: 5, Addit: 5" tells us how many items we'll get under each topic of questions, answers, authority records, and additional records. (You will get different numbers on that line with different queries.) This "records" stuff refers to information stored under the domain name system. We learn from dig is that CLASS=IN, meaning CISCO-UNP.UND.AC.ZA is a domain name within the Internet. But we already knew that . The first really *new* thing we learn is that four routers all share the same domain name. We can tell that because their numerical Internet numbers are different. The reverse can also happen: several domain names can all belong to the same numerical address. If you use the dig command on each link in the route to DAISY.EE.UND.AC.ZA, you'll find a tremendous variation in whether the routers map to same or different domain names. As hackers, we want to get wise to all these variations in how domain names are associated with boxes. But we can still learn even more about that Cisco router named CISCO-UNP.UND.AC.ZA. We go back to nslookup and run it in interactive mode: ->/usr/etc/nslookup Default Server: swcp.com Address: 198.59.115.2 > Now let's do something new with nslookup. This is a command that comes in really, really handy when we're playing vigilante and need to persecute a spammer or bust a child porn Web site or two. Here's how we can get the email address for the sysadmin of an Internet host computer. > set type=soa Then I enter the name of the computer about which I am curious. Note that I put a period after the end of the host name. It often helps to do this with nslookup: > CISCO-UNP.UND.AC.ZA. Server: swcp.com Address: 198.59.115.2 *** No start of authority zone information is available for CISCO-UNP.UND.AC.ZA. Now what do I do? Give up? No, I'm a hacker wannabe, right? So I try entering just part of the domain name, again remembering to put a period at the end: > und.ac.za. Server: swcp.com Address: 198.59.115.2 und.ac.za origin = Eagle.und.ac.za mail addr = postmaster.und.ac.za serial=199610255, refresh=10800, retry=3600, expire=3000000, min=86400 Eagle.und.ac.za inet address = 146.230.128.15 Shrike.und.ac.za inet address = 146.230.128.13 ucthpx.uct.ac.za inet address = 137.158.128.1 hiPPo.ru.ac.za inet address = 146.231.128.1 Rain.psg.com inet address = 147.28.0.34 Bingo!!! I got the email address of a sysadmin whose domain includes that Cisco router, AND the IP addresses of some other boxes he or she administers. But notice it doesn't list any of those routers which the sysadmin undoubtedly knows a thing or two about. But we aren't done yet with cisco-unp.und.ac.za (146.230.128.8). Of course we have a pretty good guess that it is a Cisco router. But why stop with a mere guess when we can port surf? So we fall back on our friend the telnet program and head for port 2001: ->telnet 146.230.128.8 2001 Trying 146.230.128.8 ... Connected to 146.230.128.8. Escape character is '^]'. C **************************************************** *** Welcome to the University of Natal *** *** *** *** Model : Cisco 4500 with ATM and 8 BRI ports *** *** *** *** Dimension Data Durban - 031-838333 *** *** *** *************************************************** Hey, we know now that this is a Cisco model 4500 owned by the University of Natal, and we even got a phone number for the sysadmin. From this we also can infer that this router handles a subnet which serves the U of Natal and includes daisy. But why did I telnet to port 2001? It's in common use among routers as the administrative port. How do I know that? From the RFC (request for comments) that covers all commonly used port assignments. You can find a copy of this RFC at http://ds2.internic.net/rfc/rfc1700.txt. Read it and you'll be in for some happy port surfing! ************************ Evil Genius tip: there are a bunch of ports used by Cisco routers: cisco-fna 130/tcp cisco FNATIVE cisco-tna 131/tcp cisco TNATIVE cisco-sys 132/tcp cisco SYSMAINT licensedaemon 1986/tcp cisco license management tr-rsrb-p1 1987/tcp cisco RSRB Priority 1 port tr-rsrb-p2 1988/tcp cisco RSRB Priority 2 port tr-rsrb-p3 1989/tcp cisco RSRB Priority 3 port stun-p1 1990/tcp cisco STUN Priority 1 port stun-p2 1991/tcp cisco STUN Priority 2 port stun-p3 1992/tcp cisco STUN Priority 3 port snmp-tcp-port 1993/tcp cisco SNMP TCP port stun-port 1994/tcp cisco serial tunnel port perf-port 1995/tcp cisco perf port tr-rsrb-port 1996/tcp cisco Remote SRB port gdp-port 1997/tcp cisco Gateway Discovery Protocol x25-svc-port 1998/tcp cisco X.25 service (XOT) tcp-id-port 1999/tcp cisco identification port ************************ But what about the "normal" telnet port, which is 23? Since it is the "normal" port, the one you usually go to when you want to log in, we don't need to put the 23 after the host name: ->telnet 146.230.128.8 Trying 146.230.128.8 ... Connected to 146.230.128.8. Escape character is '^]'. C ************************************************************************* *** Welcome to the University of Natal *** *** *** *** Model : Cisco 4500 with ATM and 8 BRI ports *** *** *** *** Dimension Data Durban - 031-838333 *** *** *** ************************************************************************* User Access Verification Password: Hey, this is interesting, no username requested, just a password. If I were the sysadmin, I'd make it a little harder to log in. Hmmm, what happens if I try to port surf finger that site? That means telnet to the finger port, which is 79: ->telnet 146.230.128.8 79 Trying 146.230.128.8 ... Connected to 146.230.128.8. Escape character is '^]'. C ************************************************************************* *** Welcome to the University of Natal *** *** *** *** Model : Cisco 4500 with ATM and 8 BRI ports *** *** *** *** Dimension Data Durban - 031-838333 *** *** *** ************************************************************************* Line User Host(s) Idle Location * 2 vty 0 idle 0 kitsune.swcp.com BR0:2 Sync PPP 00:00:00 BR0:1 Sync PPP 00:00:00 BR1:2 Sync PPP 00:00:00 BR1:1 Sync PPP 00:00:00 BR2:2 Sync PPP 00:00:01 BR2:1 Sync PPP 00:00:00 BR5:1 Sync PPP 00:00:00 Connection closed by foreign host. Notice that finger lists the connection to the computer I was port surfing from: kitsune. But no one else seems to be on line just now. Please remember, when you port surf, unless you know how to do IP spoofing, your target computer knows where you came from. Of course I will be a polite guest. Now let's try the obvious. Let's telnet to the login port of daisy. I use the numerical address just for the heck of it: ->telnet 146.230.192.18 Trying 146.230.192.18 ... Connected to 146.230.192.18. Escape character is '^]'. NetBSD/i386 (daisy.ee.und.ac.za) (ttyp0) login: Hey, this is interesting. Since we now know this is a university, that's probably the electrical engineering (EE) department. And NetBSD is a freeware Unix that runs on a PC! Probably a 80386 box. Getting this info makes me almost feel like I've been hanging out at the University of Natal EE computer lab. It sounds like a friendly place. Judging from their router, security is somewhat lax, they use cheap computers, and messages are friendly. Let's finger and see who's logged in just now: Since I am already in the telnet program (I can tell by the prompt "telnet>"), I go to daisy using the "open" command: telnet> open daisy.ee.und.ac.za 79 Trying 146.230.192.18 ... telnet: connect: Connection refused telnet> quit Well, that didn't work, so I exit telnet and try the finger program on my shell account computer: ->finger @daisy.ee.und.ac.za [daisy.ee.und.ac.za] finger: daisy.ee.und.ac.za: Connection refused Sigh. It's hard to find open finger ports any more. But it's a good security practice to close finger. Damien Sorder points out, "If you install the new Linux distributions, it comes with Cfingerd. Why would I (and others) want to shut it down? Not because of hackers and abuse or some STUPID S*** like that. Because it gives out way too much information when you finger a single user. You get machine load and all the user information." I manage to pull up a little more info on how to map the interconnections of University of Natal computers with an search of the Web using http://digital.altavista.com. It links me to the site http://www.frd.ac.za/uninet/sprint.html, which is titled "Traffic on the UNINET-SPRINTLINK Link." However, all the links to netwrok traffic statistics from that site are dead. Next, let's look into number 20 on that traceroute that led us to the University of Natal. You can pretty much expect that links in the middle of a long traceroute will be big computers owned by the bigger companies that form the backbone of the Internet. ->telnet 155.232.82.2 2001 Trying 155.232.82.2 ... Connected to 155.232.82.2. Escape character is '^]'. Id: und02 Authorised Users Only! ------------------------ User Access Verification Username: Yup, we're out of friendly territory now. And since port 2001 works, it may be a router. Just for laughs, though, let's go back to the default telnet port: ->telnet 155.232.82.2 Trying 155.232.82.2 ... Connected to 155.232.82.2. Escape character is '^]'. Id: und02 Authorised Users Only! ------------------------ User Access Verification Username: Now just maybe this backbone-type computer will tell us gobs of stuff about all the computers it is connected to. We try telneting to the netstat port, 15. This, if it happens to be open to the public, will tell us all about the computers that connect through it: ->telnet 155.232.82.2 15 Trying 155.232.82.2 ... telnet: connect: Connection refused Sigh. I gave an example of the incredible wealth of information you can get from netstat on the GTMHH on port surfing. But every day it is harder to find a public netstat port. That's because the information netstat gives is so useful to computer criminals. In fact, port 15 is no longer reserved as the netstat port (as of 1994, according to the RFC). So you will find few boxes using it. ****************************** Newbie note: want to know what port assignments your ISP uses? Sorder points out " /etc/services on most machines will [tell you this]." How can you can read that information? Try this: First, change to the /etc/ directory: ->cd /etc Then command it to print it out to your screen with: ->more services # # @(#)services 1.16 90/01/03 SMI # # Network services, Internet style # This file is never consulted when the NIS are running # tcpmux 1/tcp # rfc-1078 echo 7/tcp ... and so on... Alas, just because your shell account has a list of port assignments doesn't mean they are actually in use. It also probably won't list specialized services like all those Cisco router port assignments. ************************* In fact, after surfing about two dozen somewhat randomly chosen netstat ports, the only answer I get other than "Connection refused" is: ->telnet ns.nmia.com 15 Trying 198.59.166.10 ... Connected to ns.nmia.com. Escape character is '^]'. Yes, but will I see the EASTER BUNNY in skintight leather at an IRON MAIDEN concert? Now what about all those Sprintlink routers in that traceroute? That's a major Internet backbone based in the US provided by Sprint. You can get some information on the topology of the Sprintlink backbone at http://www.sprintlink.net/SPLK/HB21.html#2.2. Alas, Sprintlink used to give out much more information than they do today. All I can pick up on their Web site today is pretty vague. Sigh. The Internet is getting less friendly, but more secure. Some day when we're really ancient, say five years from now, we'll be telling people, "Why, I remember when we could port surf! Why, there used to be zillions of open ports and people could choose ANY password they wanted. Hmph! Today it's just firewalls everywhere you look!" Adds Sorder, "Gee. How do you think people like me feel.. port surfing over 6 years ago." Our thanks to Damien Sorder (jericho@dimensional.com) for assistance in reviewing and contributing to this GTMHH. _________________________________________________________ Want to see back issues of Guide to (mostly) Harmless Hacking? See either http://www.tacd.com/zines/gtmhh/ or http://ra.nilenet.com/~mjl/hacks/codez.htm or http://www3.ns.sympatico.ca/loukas.halo8/HappyHacker/ Subscribe to our email list by emailing to hacker@techbroker.com with message "subscribe" or join our Hacker forum at http://www.infowar.com/cgi-shl/login.exe. Want to share some kewl stuph with the Happy Hacker list? Correct mistakes? Send your messages to hacker@techbroker.com. To send me confidential email (please, no discussions of illegal activities) use cmeinel@techbroker.com and be sure to state in your message that you want me to keep this confidential. If you wish your message posted anonymously, please say so! Please direct flames to dev/null@techbroker.com. Happy hacking! Copyright 1997 Carolyn P. Meinel. You may forward or post on your Web site this GUIDE TO (mostly) HARMLESS HACKING as long as you leave this notice at the end.. ________________________________________________________