The Hacker's Encyclopedia 1998

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==Phrack Inc.== Volume Two, Issue 22, File 3 of 12 <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> <> <> <> The Judas Contract <> <> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ <> <> Part Two Of The Vicious Circle Trilogy <> <> <> <> An Exploration of The Quisling Syndrome <> <> and <> <> A Look At The Insurrection Of Security Into The Community <> <> <> <> Presented by Knight Lightning <> <> August 7, 1988 <> <> <> <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> The Quisling Syndrome ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Definition: Quisling - (Kwiz/lin) (1) n. Vidkun Quisling (1887 - 1945), Norwegian politician who betrayed his country to the Nazis and became its puppet ruler. (2) n. A traitor. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - The "Quisling" Syndrome is rapidly becoming a common occurrence in the less than legal realms of the modem community. In general it starts out with a phreaker or hacker that is either very foolish or inexperienced. He somehow manages to get caught or busted for something and is scared beyond belief about the consequences of his actions. At this point, the law enforcement agency(s) realize that this one bust alone is worthless, especially since the person busted is probably someone who does not know much to begin with and would be a much better asset if he could assist them in grabbing other more experienced and dangerous hackers and phreaks. In exchange for these services the Judas will have his charges dropped or reduced and considering the more than likely parential pressure these Judases will receive, the contract will be fulfilled. Example; Taken from Phrack World News Issue XV; [This exceprt has been edited for this presentation. -KL] - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Mad Hatter; Informant? July 31, 1987 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ We at Phrack Inc. have uncovered a significant amount of information that has led us to the belief that Mad Hatter is an informant for some law enforcement organization. MH had also brought down several disks for the purpose of copying Phantasie Realm. Please note; PR was an IBM program and MH has an apple. Control C told us that when he went to pick MH up at the bus terminal, he watched the bus pull in and saw everyone who disembarked. Suddenly Mad Hatter was there, but not from the bus he was supposed to have come in on. In addition to this, he had baking soda wraped in a five dollar bill that he tried to pass off as cocaine. Perhaps to make us think he was cool or something. MH constantly tried to get left behind at ^C's apartment for unknown reasons. He also was seen at a neighbor's apartment making unauthorized calls into the city of Chicago. When asked who he called, his reply was "Don't worry about it." MH had absolutely no money with him during PartyCon (and incidentally ate everything in ^C's refrigerator) and yet he insisted that although he had taken the bus down and had return trip tickets for the bus, that he would fly back home. How was this going to be achieved? He had no money and even if he could get a refund for the bus tickets, he would still be over $200 short. When asked how he was going to do this, his reply was "Don't worry about it." On Saturday night while on the way to the Hard Rock Cafe, Mad Hatter asked Control C for the location of his computer system and other items 4 times. This is information that Hatter did not need to know, but perhaps a SS agent or someone could use very nicely. When Phrack Inc. discovered that Dan The Operator was an FBI informant and made the news public, several people were criticizing him on Free World II Private. Mad Hatter on the other hand, stood up for Noah and said that he was still his friend despite what had happened. Then later when he realized that people were questioning his legitimacy, his original posts were deleted and he started saying how much he wanted to kill Dan The Operator and that he hated him. Mad Hatter already has admitted to knowing that Dan The Operator was an FBI informant prior to SummerCon '87. He says the reason he didn't tell anyone is because he assumed we already knew. A few things to add; ^*^ Some time ago, Mad Hatter was contacted by AT&T because of an illegal Alliance Teleconference that he was responsible for. There was no bust. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Could this AT&T investigation have been the starting point for Mad Hatter's treason against the phreak/hack community? Is there more to it than that? We may never know the full truth behind this, however we do know that Mad Hatter was not the only one to know Dan The Operator's secret prior to SummerCon '87. The Executioner (who had close ties to TMC Security employees in Omaha, Nebraska) was fully aware of Dan The Operator's motives and intentions in the modem world. There does not always have to be a bust involved for a phreak/hacker to turn Judas, sometimes fear and panic can be a more powerful motivator to become a Quisling. Example; Taken From Phrack World News Issue XV; [This exceprt has been edited for this presentation. -KL] - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Crisis On Infinite Hackers July 27, 1987 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ It all started on Tuesday, July 21, 1987. Among 30-40 others, Bill From RNOC, Eric NYC, Solid State, Oryan QUEST, Mark Gerardo, The Rebel, and Delta-Master have been busted by the United States Secret Service. There are rumored to be several more members of the more "elite" community busted as well, but since we can neither disprove or prove the validity of these rumors, I have chosen not to name them at this time. One of the offshoots of this investigation is the end of The Lost City of Atlantis and The Lineman's treason against the community he once helped to bring about. In Pennsylvainia, 9 people were busted for credit card fraud. When asked where they learned how to perform the art in which they had been caught, they all responded with the reply of text files from The Lost City Of Atlantis. So, the Secret Service decided to give The Lineman a visit. Lineman, age 16 (a minor) had no charges against him, but he panicked anyway and turned over the bulletin board, all g-philes, and the complete userlog to the Secret Service. This included information from the "Club Board." The final outcome of this action is still on its way. In the meantime, many hackers are preparing for the worst. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - The results and consequences from The Lineman's actions were far more severe than they originally appeared. It is highly speculated that The Lineman was in possesion on a very large directory of phreaks/hackers/pirates that he had recently acquired. That list is now in the hands of the government and the Communications Fraud Control Association (as well as in the files of all of the individual security departments of CFCA members). I've seen it and more. The Lineman was able to acquire this list because one phreak stole it from another and then began to trade it to his friends and to others for information and passwords, etc. and what happened from there is such an over exposure and lack of CONTROL that it fell into the wrong and dangerous hands. Acts such as this will with out a doubt eventually lead all of us towards entropy. Captain Caveman, also known as Shawn of Phreakers Quest, began work to help TMC after he was set up by Scan Man during the summer of 1986. However, being busted or feeling panic are still not the only motivations for becoming a Judas. John Maxfield, one of today's best known security consultants, was once a hacker under the handle(s) of Cable Pair and Uncle Tom. He was a member of the Detroit based Corrupt Computing and the original Inner Circle until he was contacted by the FBI and decided that it would be more fun to bust hackers than be one. The following is an excerpt from Phrack World News Issue V; [This article has been edited for this presentation. -KL] - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Computer Kids, Or Criminals? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ John Maxfield is a computer security consultant who lives in a downriver suburb. Maxfield spends most of his working hours scanning BBSs, and is known by computer crime experts as a hacker tracker. His investigative work scanning boards has resulted in more prosecutions of computer hackers than anyone else in the field, say sources familiar with his work. Maxfield, who accepts death threats and other scare tactics as part of the job, says the trick is knowing the enemy. Next to his monstrous, homemade computer system, Maxfield boasts the only file on computer hackers that exists. [Not true any longer -KL] It contains several thousand aliases used by hackers, many followed by their real names and home phone numbers. All of it is the result of four years of steady hacker-tracking, says Maxfield. "I've achieved what most hackers would dearly love to achieve," said Maxfield. "Hacking the hacker is the ultimate hack." Maxfield estimates there are currently 50,000 hackers operating in the computer underground and close to 1,000 underground bulletin boards. Of these, he estimates about 200 bulletin boards are "nasty," posting credit card numbers, phone numbers of Fortune 500 corporations, regional phone companies, banks, and even authored tutorials on how to make bombs and explosives. One growing camp of serious hackers is college students, who typically started hacking at 14 and are now into drug trafficking, mainly LSD and cocaine, said Maxfield. Maxfield's operation is called BoardScan. He is paid by major corporations and institutions to gather and provide them with pertinent intelligence about the computer underground. Maxfield also relies on reformed hackers. Letters of thanks from VISA and McDonald's decorate a wall in his office along with an autographed photo of Scottie, the engineer on Star Trek's Starship Enterprise. Often he contacts potential clients about business. "More often I call them and say, I've detected a hacker in your system," said Maxfield. "At that point, they're firmly entrenched. Once the hackers get into your computer, you're in trouble. It's analogous to having roaches or mice in the walls of your house. They don't make their presence known at first. But one day you open the refrigerator door and a handful of roaches drop out." Prior to tracking hackers, Maxfield worked for 20-odd years in the hardware end of the business, installing and repairing computers and phone systems. When the FBI recruited him a few years back to work undercover as a hacker and phone phreak, Maxfield concluded fighting hacker crime must be his mission in life. "So I became the hacker I was always afraid I would become," he said. Maxfield believes the hacker problem is growing more serious. He estimates there were just 400 to 500 hackers in 1982. Every two years, he says, the numbers increase by a factor of 10. Another worrisome trend to emerge recently is the presence of adult computer hackers. Some adults in the computer underground pose as Fagans, a character from a Charles Dickens novel who ran a crime ring of young boys, luring young hackers to their underground crime rings. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - John Freeman Maxfield's BoardScan is also known as the Semco Computer Club and Universial Export, the latter coming from the company name used by the British government in Ian Flemming's James Bond novels and subsequent motion pictures. Another Judas hacker who went on to become a security consultant is the infamous Ian Arthur Murphy of I.A.M. Security. Perhaps he is better known as Captain Zap. The following excerpt is from The Wall Street Journal; [This article has been edited for this presentation. -KL] - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - It Takes A Hacker To Catch A Hacker As Well As A Thief November 3, 1987 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ by Dennis Kneale (Staff Reporter Of The Wall Street Journal) "Computer Hacker Ian [Arthur] Murphy Prowls A Night Beat Tracking Down Other Hackers Who Pirate Data" Capt. Zap actually Ian A. Murphy, is well-known as one of the first convicted computer-hacker thieves. He has since reformed -- he swears it -- and has been resurrected as a consultant, working the other side of the law. CRIME CREDENTIALS Other consultants, many of them graying military vets, try to flush out illicit hackers. But few boast the distinction of being a real hacker -- and one with a felony among his credentials. Capt. Zap is more comfortable at the screen than in a conversation. Asked to name his closest friend, he shakes his head and throws up his hands. He has none. "I don't like people," he says. "They're dreadful." "He's legendary in the hacking world and has access to what's going on. That's a very valuable commodity to us," says Robert P. Campbell of Advanced Information Management in Woodbridge, Va., Mr. Murphy's mentor, who has hired him for consulting jobs. The 30-year-old Mr. Murphy is well-connected into his nocturnal netherworld. Every night till 4 a.m., he walks a beat through some of the hundreds of electronic bulletin boards where hackers swap tales and techniques of computer break-ins. It is very busy these nights. On the Stonehenge bulletin board, "The Marauder" has put up a phone number for Citibank's checking and credit-card records, advising, "Give it a call." On another board, Mr. Murphy finds a primer for rookie "hacklings," written by "The Knights Of Shadow." On yet another he sifts out network codes for the Defense Department's research agency. He watches the boards for clients and warns when a system is under attack. For a fee of $800 a day and up, his firm, IAM/Secure Data Systems Inc., will test the security of a data base by trying to break in, investigate how the security was breached, eavesdrop on anyone you want, and do anything else that strikes his fancy as nerd vs. spy. He says his clients have included Monsanto Co., United Airlines, General Foods Corp., and Peat Marwick. Some probably don't know he worked for them. His felony rap -- not to mention his caustic style -- forces him to work often under a more established consultant. "Ian hasn't grown up yet, but he's technically a brilliant kid," says Lindsey L. Baird, an Army veteran whose firm, Info-Systems Safeguards in Morristown, New Jersey has hired Capt. Zap. Mr. Murphy's electronic voyeurism started early, At age 14, he would sneak into the backyard to tap into the phone switch box and listen to neighbor's calls. (He still eavesdrops now and then.) He quit highschool at age 17. By 19 he was impersonating a student and sneaking into the computer center Temple University to play computer games. EASY TRANSITION From there it was an easy transition to Capt. Zap's role of breaking in and peeking at academic records, credit ratings, a Pentagon list of the sites of missiles aimed at the U.S., and other verboten verbiage. He even left his resume inside Bell of Pennsylvania's computer, asking for a job. The electronic tinkering got him into trouble in 1981. Federal agents swarmed around his parent's home in the wealthy suburb of Gladwyne, Pa. They seized a computer and left an arrest warrant. Capt. Zap was in a ring of eight hackers who ran up $212,000 in long-distance calls by using a "blue box" that mimics phone-company gear. They also ordered $200,000 in hardware by charging it to stolen credit-card numbers and using false mail drops and bogus purchase orders. Mr. Murphy was the leader because "I had the most contempt" for authority, he says. In 1982, he pleaded guilty to receiving stolen goods and was sentenced to 1,000 hours of community service and 2 1/2 years of probation. "It wasn't illegal. It was electronically unethical," he says, unrepentant. "Do you know who likes the phone company?" Who would have a problem with ripping them off?" Mr. Murphy, who had installed commercial air conditioning in an earlier job, was unable to find work after his arrest and conviction. So the hacker became a hack. One day in his cab he picked up a Dun & Bradstreet Corp. manager while he was carrying a printout of hacker instructions for tapping Dun's systems. Thus, he solicited his first consulting assignment: "I think you need to talk to me." He got the job. As a consultant, Mr. Murphy gets to do, legally, the shenanigans that got him into trouble in the first place. "When I was a kid, hacking was fun. Now I can make money at it and still have a lot of fun." - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Now because of all the publicity surrounding our well known friends like Ian Murphy or John Maxfield, some so-called hackers have decided to cash in on news coverage themselves. Perhaps the most well known personality that "sold out" is Bill Landreth aka The Cracker, who is the author of "Out Of The Inner Circle," published by Microsoft Press. The book was definitely more fiction than fact as it tried to make everyone believe that not only did The Cracker form the Inner Circle, but that it was the first group ever created. However, for starters, The Cracker was a second-rate member of Inner Circle II. The publicity from the book may have served to bring him some dollars, but it ultimately focused more negative attention on the community adding to an already intense situation. The Cracker's final story had a little sadder ending... Taken from Phrack World News Issue X; [This article has been edited for this presentation. -KL] - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - The Cracker Cracks Up? December 21, 1986 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Computer 'Cracker' Is Missing -- Is He Dead Or Is He Alive" ESCONDIDO, Calif. -- Early one morning in late September, computer hacker Bill Landreth pushed himself away from his IBM-PC computer -- its screen glowing with an uncompleted sentence -- and walked out the front door of a friend's home here. He has not been seen or heard from since. The authorities want him because he is the "Cracker", convicted in 1984 of breaking into some of the most secure computer systems in the United States, including GTE Telemail's electronic mail network, where he peeped at NASA Department of Defense computer correspondence. His literary agent wants him because he is Bill Landreth the author, who already has cashed in on the successful publication of one book on computer hacking and who is overdue with the manuscript of a second computer book. The Institute of Internal Auditors wants him because he is Bill Landreth the public speaker who was going to tell the group in a few months how to make their computer systems safer from people like him. The letter, typed into his computer, then printed out and left in his room for someone to discover, touched on the evolution of mankind, prospects for man's immortality and the defeat of the aging process, nuclear war, communism versus capitalism, society's greed, the purpose of life, computers becoming more creative than man and finally -- suicide. The last page reads: "As I am writing this as of the moment, I am obviously not dead. I do, however, plan on being dead before any other humans read this. The idea is that I will commit suicide sometime around my 22nd birthday..." The note explained: "I was bored in school, bored traveling around the country, bored getting raided by the FBI, bored in prison, bored writing books, bored being bored. I will probably be bored dead, but this is my risk to take." But then the note said: "Since writing the above, my plans have changed slightly.... But the point is, that I am going to take the money I have left in the bank (my liquid assets) and make a final attempt at making life worthy. It will be a short attempt, and I do suspect that if it works out that none of my current friends will know me then. If it doesn't work out, the news of my death will probably get around. (I won't try to hide it.)" Landreth's birthday is December 26 and his best friend is not counting on seeing him again. "We used to joke about what you could learn about life, especially since if you don't believe in a God, then there's not much point to life," said Tom Anderson, 16, a senior at San Pasqual High School in Escondido, about 30 miles north of San Diego. Anderson also has been convicted of computer hacking and placed on probation. Anderson was the last person to see Landreth. It was around September 25 -- he does not remember exactly. Landreth had spent a week living in Anderson's home so the two could share Landreth's computer. Anderson's IBM-PC had been confiscated by authorities, and he wanted to complete his own book. Anderson said he and Landreth were also working on a proposal for a movie about their exploits. Apparently Landreth took only his house key, a passport, and the clothes on his back. But concern grew by October 1, when Landreth failed to keep a speaking engagement with a group of auditors in Ohio, for which he would have received $1,000 plus expenses. Landreth may have kept a messy room and poor financial records, but he was reliable enough to keep a speaking engagement, said his friends and literary agent, Bill Gladstone, noting that Landreth's second manuscript was due in August and had not yet been delivered. But, the manuscript never came and Landreth has not reappeared. Steve Burnap, another close friend, said that during the summer Landreth had grown lackadaisical toward life. "He just didn't seem to care much about anything anymore." - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Landreth eventually turned up in Seattle, Washington around the third week of July 1987. Because of his breaking probation, he is back in jail finishing his sentence. Another individual who wanted to publicize himself is Oryan QUEST. Ever since the "Crisis On Infinite Hackers" that occurred on July 21, 1987, QUEST has been "pumping" information to John Markoff -- a reporter for the San Francisco Examiner who now has moved up to the New York Times. Almost t everything Oryan QUEST has told John Markoff are utter and complete lies and false boasts about the powerful things OQ liked to think he could do with a computer. This in itself is harmless, but when it gets printed in newspapers like the New York Times, the general public get a misleading look at the hacker community which can only do us harm. John Markoff has gone on to receive great fame as a news reporter and is now considered a hacker expert -- utterly ridiculous. _______________________________________________________________________________ Infiltration ~~~~~~~~~~~~ One way in which the hacking community is constantly being infiltrated happens on some of today's best known bulletin boards. Boards like Pirate-80 sysoped by Scan Man (who was also working for Telemarketing Company; a telecommunications reseller in Charleston, West Virginia) can be a major problem. On P-80 anyone can get an account if you pay a nominal fee and from there a security consultant just has to start posted supplied information to begin to draw attention and fame as being a super hacker. Eventually he will be asked to join ill-formed groups and start to appear on boards with higher levels of information and blend into the community. After a while he will be beyond suspicion and as such he has successfully entered the phreak/hack world. Dan The Operator was one such agent who acted in this way and would have gone on being undiscovered if not for the events of SummerCon '87 whereafter he was exposed by Knight Lightning and Phrack Inc. :Knight Lightning "The Future Is Forever" =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= =========================================================================