The Hacker's Encyclopedia 1998

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==Phrack Magazine== Volume Four, Issue Forty-Four, File 27 of 27 PWN PWN PNW PNW PNW PNW PNW PNW PNW PNW PNW PWN PWN PWN PWN PWN Phrack World News PWN PWN PWN PWN Compiled by Datastream Cowboy PWN PWN PWN PWN PWN PWN PWN PWN PWN PWN PWN PWN PWN PWN PWN PWN Feds Pull The Plug On Phiber Optik November 4, 1993 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ by Joshua Quitner (Newsday) (Page 57) The biggest case of computer intrusion in US history drew to a close yesterday when a young Elmhurst, Queens, man was sentenced to a year and a day in jail for his part in an electronic gang that, for years, roamed the nation's largest telephone and data networks. Mark Abene, 21, renowned in the digital underground as Phiber Optik, was the last of five young New York City men to plead guilty in federal court to one felony count of conspiracy for being in a hacker group known as MOD. Abene apologized for his deeds yesterday. "I'm just sorry they were misconstrued as malicious in any way," he said in Manhattan's federal district court. Prosecutors claimed that the young men rumbled on computer networks, disconnecting other hackers' phone service and posting embarrassing information culled from confidential credit networks like TRW on underground bulletin boards. They also used their power skills to get telephone numbers or credit reports for celebrities, including Julia Roberts, John Gotti, Geraldo Rivera, Christina Applegate and Mad Magazine founder William Gaines. John Lee, 22, a co-defendant is now serving a one year sentence in a "shock incarceration" boot camp in Lewisburg, PA. Lee and Julio Fernandez, 18, were the only gang members who made money from the two years of break-ins. In addition to Lee and Fernandez, Paul Stira, 23, of Cambria Heights, Queens, and Elias Ladopoulos, 24, of Jamaica, Queens, are serving six-month sentences in federal prisons in Pennsylvania. Fernandez has been cooperating with authorities and is not expected to be jailed. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Computer Caper Is Unpluged ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ October 1, 1993 by Tim Bryant (St. Louis Dispatch) (Page A1) Investigators said 18-year-old computer hacker Paul J. Gray of Creve Coeur, MO, was arrested on a state charge of tampering with computer data, a misdemeanor. The college freshman reportedly used his home computer to spy electronically on files of a federal appeals court and charge long-distance telephone calls to Mercantile Bank ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Teen Hacker Admits Having Illegal Credit Information June 17, 1993 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ by James McClear (Detroit News) (Page B7) Ander Monson, 18, of Houghton, MI, whose electronic misadventures uploaded him into the high-tech world of computer fraud, pleaded guilty in Oakland County Probate Court to illegal possession of credit card information. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- In The Jungle Of MUD September 13, 1993 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ by Ellen Germain (Time) (Page 61) Virtual worlds you can hook into--and get hooked on--are the latest rage on the computer networks. [Ah, yes, Virtual Reality as perceived through the minds of the computer illiterate. But wait, it's electronic crack! Keep an eye out for your children!] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NCIC Abuse - Is Legislation The Answer October, 1993 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ by Brian Miller Confidential information is being illegally released from the National Crime Information Center network. But abuse of the system is difficult to detect, and those caught are seldom punished. A former law enforcement officer tracked town his ex-girlfriend with information from an FBI-run law enforcement information system. Then he killed her. A terminal operator in Pennsylvania used the same system to conduct background searches for her drug dealing boyfriend to see if his customers were undercover agents. It is hard to trace abuse to a single user because many agencies don't require personal access codes which would keep track of who made specific inquiries on the system and when they occurred. The General Accounting Office polled all the states and found that 17 don't require a personal code to access the NCIC. Most of these had an identifier only for the terminal or agency accessing the system. And if someone is caught abusing the system, they are seldom charged with a crime. The GAO found that the most common penalty was a reprimand, with some suspensions and firings. Of the 56 cases of abuse found by the GAO, only seven people were prosecuted. The FBI cannot force the states to adopt certain security measures because compliance with the guidelines is voluntary. The reason for this is that the guts of the NCIC come from the states, and the FBI simply maintains the network. "The main thing that can be done today is to enforce the law, and create stronger penalties for abusing the system," said Marc Rotenbertg of Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility, an advocacy group based in Palo Alto, California. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Live Wires September 6, 1993 ~~~~~~~~~~ by Barbara Kantrowitz et.al. (Time) (Page 63) & Technoid Circus ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ by Rex Weiner (Spin) (Page 72) September, 1993 [K-K00l cYbUR P|_|n|< aRt1Cl3zzzz Jump On The Cyber Bandwagon! More Journalists ride that old info highway straight to HELL!] ** BUT WAIT! A "Cyber" article we can all dig! ** Speciale Cyber Settembre, 1993 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ di Sergio Stingo (King) (P. 131) Il cyberpunk: tutti ne parlano, ma pochi sanno cosa sia veramente. Libri elettronici? Scenari inquietanti del futuro prossimo venturo? Conferenze telematiche? Nuovi tipi di abbigliamento usa-e-getta? La piu' grande rivoluzione democratica dei nostri anni? Una rivoluzione strisciante e silenziosa? Ia nostro stingo, sempre curioso del <<nuovo>>, S'e' messo a girare l'italia per iundagare il fenomeno. E' stato come scoperchiare una pentola in ebollizione. Piu' incontrava <<cyber>> e piu' scopriva che c'era da scoprire. Dal teorico della <<brain machine>>, che sperimenta l'oggetto misterioso tra discoteche e universita', alla prima galleria dove sono esposte opere di hacker art. Dalle riviste-bandiera del cyber, come <<decoder>>, alle band che stanno inventando una nuova musica. Per non parlare del sesso, che grazie alla tecnologia cerca di ampliare la gamma delle sensazioni possibili. Insomma, il viaggio oltre i confini di questo mondo e' stato talmente ricco e avventuroso, che abbiamo dovuto suddividere il reportage in due puntate. In questo numero presentiamo la prima. E, come si dice tra cybernauti, buona navigazione. [I don't know what that says, but its in another language, so it has to be cooler than the American CyberCrap] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Security Products Abound, But Is Toll Fraud Too Tough? August 30, 1993 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ by Dan O'Shea (Telephony) (Page 7) Telecommunications toll fraud is an increasingly popular crime that collectively costs its victims billions of dollars each year. Although carriers have responded with a wave of security products and services, the problem might be much bigger than was once thought. Some carriers claim that industry wide toll fraud losses amount to between $2 billion and $5 billion a year, but the true figure is closer to $8 billion, according to Bernie Milligan, president of CTF Specialists Inc., a consulting group that studies toll fraud and markets security services to large corporate telecommunications users. [ed: remember HoHo Con? Yes...THAT Bernie] Toll fraud involving calls coming into AT&T's 800 network dropped 75% since the introduction of NetProtect, while Sprint estimates a 95% decrease from last year (since the introduction of their fraud detection service). Average losses across the industry have plummeted from $120,000 per incident to $45,000. Despite the offensive against telecom fraud, the problem persists and is becoming more frequent, and new technologies will only represent potential new adventures for hackers, CFT's Milligan said. Hacker activity is growing at an annual rate of 35%. Some 65% to 80% of toll fraud involves international calling, and fraud occurs on a much wider scale than just inbound 800 calls, Milligan said. So, while losses of this type of fraud drop, collective fraud losses are increasing by 25% each year. Customers are still liable financially in toll fraud cases, and the carriers continue to get paid. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Misfit Millionaires December, 1993 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ by Steve Fishman (Details) (Page 158) [Author profiles several of the early Microsoft programmers, namely Richard Brodie, Jabe Blumenthal, Kevin DeGraaf, Neil Konzen and Doug Klunder] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Intercourse With Lisa Palac 1993 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ by Melissa Plotsky (Axcess) (Page 62) & Turned On By Technology In The World Of Cybersex August 30, 1993 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ by Marco R. della Cava (USA Today) (Page 4D) [An interview and an overview dealing with online nastiness. Lisa Palac editor of Future Sex and producer of Cyborgasm talks about all kinds of stuff. As a regular peruser of Future Sex (for the articles of course) I can't help but wonder why we haven't seen HER naked yet. Email her at futursex@well.sf.ca.us and demand some gifs.] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Don't Try This At Home ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ August, 1993 (Compute) (Page 62) Welcome to desktop forgery. Susan Morton, senior forensic document examiner with the US Postal Service in San Francisco, has seen gangs travelling the country packing computers, scanners, and laser printers. Arriving in town, their first move is to rob a mailbox to acquire some checks that were mailed to, say, a local utility company. They will copy the account and routing code off some citizen's check and decide what branch bank that person probably uses. Then they forge a large corporate or government check to that person, using information from other checks they found in the mail. Packing a forged ID, a gang member will then go to a branch across town where presumably nobody knows the citizen and deposit part of that forged check. The check may be for $5000, of which the forger takes $2000 as cash, smiles and leaves. One check forging gang was chased across Texas for about six months in the late 1980s, recalls Robert Ansley, corporate security manager for Dell Computer in Austin, Texas, then with the Austin police department. Armed with a stolen Macintosh and an ID maker stolen from a highway patrol substation, they passed more than $100,000 in bogus checks in Austin alone. Sources say other gangs have used laser printers to forge security ID badges to get into office buildings and steal the computers, nodding at the friendly security guard at the front desk while trudging out with their arms full. "We have been urging corporations to move forward with EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) for more and more of their business transactions and avoid paper, since it will become so vulnerable," says Donn Parker, computer crime expert with SRI International in Menlo Park, California. In 1991, the Secret Service busted 66 traditional counterfeiting operations, while seizing 52 office machines that had been used for counterfeiting ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Subduing Software Pirates October, 1993 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ by Suzanne Weisband and Seymour Goodman (Technology Review) (Page 30) [The software manufacturers claim they lose between 9 and 12 billion annually. Thank GOD for the SPA and the BSA. Like they are go to Singapore or Hong Kong with guns and get the REAL culprits. Noooo. Let's raid BBSes and businesses. Their people at COMDEX told me they really weren't interested in taking my money to help me combat Phrack Piracy. I think we all know where THEIR interests lie.] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mindvox: Urban Attitude Online November, 1993 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ by Charles Platt (Wired) (Page 56) [Another of those cute Mindvox RULES articles. "Fancher looked too neat, clean, and classy to be a hacker, but he enjoyed the cut-and-thrust of online jousting as much as anyone." But wait, there's a little name dropping too: Wil Wheaton, Kurt Larson, Billy Idol, THE LEGION OF DOOM! Don't get me wrong, I love Vox. And I really like the author of this story's last book "The Silicon Man," I just get kinda edgy about stuff in Wired. Favorite quote: "Unix is arcane," says Bruce, "and it's weird, and most users don't want to deal with it." I know I don't. Not.] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Intel To Protect Chips October 22, 1993 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ (Newswire Sources) One of the nation's largest manufacturers of computer chips said Friday it will start to put serial numbers on its products in an effort to stem the rising tide of robberies. Intel Corp. said it was taking its actions after a flurry of armed takeover robberies at warehouses in California's Silicon Valley over the last six months. What the robbers are after is microprocessors -- the brains that power personal computers. Among their favorite targets has been Intel's 486 microprocessor. Julius Finkelstein, head of Santa Clara's High Tech Crime Task Force, called chip robberies "the gang crime of the 1990s." "They are just as valuable as cocaine," he said. "But they are easier to get rid of and if you are caught the penalties aren't as severe." The gangs, Finkelstein said, are Asian, well organized and very knowledgable about computer components. They generally drive up to a warehouse door as if coming for a shipment, but once inside pull out their weapons and force the employees to the floor. Last month, a takeover robbery at the Wylie Laboratories Electronic Marketing Group in Santa Clara netted thieves an estimated $1 million in chips. Finkelstein said that robbery took only about 15 minutes. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chip Robberies Continue November 5, 1993 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ (Newswire Sources) Authorities said a gang of Vietnamese-speaking bandits staged a violent takeover robbery of a San Jose computer parts company Thursday, wounding one man and escaping with an undisclosed amount of electronic equipment. Lt. Rob Davis said the robbery began at 1:01 a.m. when as many as five gunmen forced their way into the Top Line Electronics Co., a computer board manufacturer. The bandits rounded up the employees and beat them in an attempt to find where the computer parts were stored. One employee was shot in the hip as he tried to escape. Davis said the man was treated at a local hospital and was listed in stable condition. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hacker Revelled In Spotlight, Court Told August 23, 1993 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ (The Age) A hacker who broke into a computer at NASA in the United States, and contemplated sending it a message not to launch a space shuttle, was delighted with the effect he was having, the County Court was told yesterday. The prosecutor, Mr Richard Maidment, said that in a three-way conversation between Nahshon Even-Chaim, David John Woodcock and another computer hacker, Woodcock discussed sending a message to a computer at NASA to stop the launch of a space shuttle, after Woodcock talked about the shuttle Challenger, which blew up several years before, and said "I have got to do something about NASA." Even-Chaim, 22, formerly of Narong Road, Caulfield, yesterday pleaded guilty to 15 charges relating to unauthorized obtaining, altering, inserting, and erasing of data stored in a computer, and the interfering and obstruction of the lawful use of a computer. Woodcock, 25, formerly of Ashleigh Avenue, Frankston, pleaded guilty to two counts of being knowingly concerned in the obtaining of unauthorized access by Even-Chaim to data stored in a computer. The court was told that a co-offender, Richard Martin Jones was earlier sentenced to six months jail, but was released on a $500, six-month good behavior bond. The court was told that Even-Chaim obtained free use of telephone lines for many hours to connect his home computer to other systems in the United States. Mr. Maidment said that Even-Chaim, Woodcock, and Jones, who collectively called themselves "The Realm", were arrested in April 1990 by the Australia Federal Police after an investigation that began with information received from the United States Secret Service. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Last Hacker September 26, 1993 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ by Jonathan Littman (LA Times) [This is the bet article I've seen yet about Kevin Poulsen. Please go find it and read it. It covers Poulsen from beginning to end. All the crazy stunts, the life on the run, the show down with the feds. Everything. Here is a small excerpt.] KIIS-Fm called it a "Win a Porsche by Friday": eight Porsches - about $400,000 worth of steel, leather and status - given away, one a week. You could hardly live or work in Los Angeles without being caught up in the frenzy. It seems that the gleaming, candy-red convertibles were plastered on nearly every billboard and bus in town. Listeners were glued to KIIS, hoping to make the 102nd call after Dees spun the third song in the magical series. Housewives, businessmen, students and contest freaks jammed the lines with their car phones and auto-dialers. They all had hopes, but one 24-year-old high school dropout had a plan. America's most wanted hacker and his associates sat by their computers and waited. On the morning of June 1, 1990 KIIS played 'Escapade,' 'Love Shack; and then, yes, "Kiss." "We blew out the phone lines," every line was ringing says Karen Tobin, the stations promotional director. "We picked up the calls and counted." The hacker was counting too. At the precise moment Price's "Kiss" hit the air he seized control of the station's 25 phone liens, blocking out all calls but his own. Then the man, who identified himself as Michael B. Peters, calmly dialed the 102nd call and won a Porsche 944 S2. It was child's play. Especially for Kevin Lee Poulsen. Computer hacking had once seemed an innocent obsession to Poulsen, a native of Pasadena, but now it was his life, and it had taken him over the line. This October, Poulsen will face the first of two trials, one in San Jose and another in Los Angeles, that federal prosecutors say are critical to the government. Because of the seriousness of his alleged breaches of national security, they intend to use the case as an example to the hacker underground. As a teen-ager, Poulsen had burrowed deep into the giant switching networks of Pacific Bell, exploring and exploiting nearly every element of its powerful computers, from the common systems responsible for creating, changing and maintaining phone service to the shadow systems that guard the secrets of national security, according to accusations in a federal indictment. The U.S. attorney in San Jose says that Poulsen had wiretapped the intimate phone calls of a Hollywood starlet, allegedly conspired to steal classified military orders, and reportedly uncovered unpublished telephone numbers for the Soviet Consulate in San Francisco. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------