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- ___________________________________________________________
-
- GUIDE TO (mostly) HARMLESS HACKING
-
- BeginnersÆ Series #2, Section 3.
-
- Hacking from Windows 3.x, 95 and NT
- ____________________________________________________________
-
- This lesson will tell you how, armed with even the lamest of on-line
- services such as America Online and the Windows 95 operating system, you can
- do some fairly serious Internet hacking -- today!
-
- In this lesson we will learn how to:
-
- ╖ Use secret Windows 95 DOS commands to track down and port surf computers
- used by famous on-line service providers.
- ╖ Telnet to computers that will let you use the invaluable hacker tools of
- whois, nslookup, and dig.
- ╖ Download hacker tools such as port scanners and password crackers designed
- for use with Windows.
- ╖ Use Internet Explorer to evade restrictions on what programs you can run
- on your school or work computers.
-
- Yes, I can hear jericho and Rogue Agent and all the other Super Duper
- hackers on this list laughing. IÆll bet already they have quit reading this
- and are furiously emailing me flames and making phun of me in 2600 meetings.
- Windows hacking? Pooh!
-
- Tell seasoned hackers that you use Windows and they will laugh at you.
- TheyÆll tell you to go away and donÆt come back until youÆre armed with a
- shell account or some sort of Unix on your PC. Actually, I have long shared
- their opinion. Shoot, most of the time hacking from Windoze is like using a
- 1969 Volkswagon to race against a dragster using one of VP RacingÆs
- high-tech fuels.
-
- But there actually is a good reason to learn to hack from Windows. Some of
- your best tools for probing and manipulating Windows networks are found only
- on Windows NT. Furthermore, with Win 95 you can practice the Registry
- hacking that is central to working your will on Win NT servers and the
- networks they administer.
-
- In fact, if you want to become a serious hacker, you eventually will have to
- learn Windows. This is because Windows NT is fast taking over the Internet
- from Unix. An IDC report projects that the Unix-based Web server market
- share will fall from the 65% of 1995 to only 25% by the year 2000. The
- Windows NT share is projected to grow to 32%. This weak future for Unix Web
- servers is reinforced by an IDC report reporting that market share of all
- Unix systems is now falling at a compound annual rate of decline of -17% for
- the foreseeable future, while Windows NT is growing in market share by 20%
- per year. (Mark Winther, ôThe Global Market for Public and Private Internet
- Server Software,ö IDC #11202, April 1996, 10, 11.)
-
- So if you want to keep up your hacking skills, youÆre going to have to get
- wise to Windows. One of these days weÆre going to be sniggering at all those
- Unix-only hackers.
-
- Besides, even poor, pitiful Windows 95 now can take advantage of lots of
- free hacker tools that give it much of the power of Unix.
-
- Since this is a beginnersÆ lesson, weÆll go straight to the Big Question:
- ôAll I got is AOL and a Win 95 box. Can I still learn how to hack?ö
-
- Yes, yes, yes!
-
- The secret to hacking from AOL/Win 95 -- or from any on-line service that
- gives you access to the World Wide Web -- is hidden in Win 95Æs MS-DOS (DOS
- 7.0).
-
- DOS 7.0 offers several Internet tools, none of which are documented in
- either the standard Windows or DOS help features. But youÆre getting the
- chance to learn these hidden features today.
-
- So to get going with todayÆs lesson, use AOL or whatever lame on-line
- service you may have and make the kind of connection you use to get on the
- Web (this will be a PPP or SLIP connection). Then minimize your Web browser
- and prepare to hack! Next, bring up your DOS window by clicking Start, then
- Programs, then MS-DOS.
-
- For best hacking IÆve found it easier to use DOS in a window with a task bar
- which allows me to cut and paste commands and easily switch between Windows
- and DOS programs. If your DOS comes up as a full screen, hold down the Alt
- key while hitting enter, and it will go into a window. Then if you are
- missing the task bar, click the system menu on the left side of the DOS
- window caption and select Toolbar.
-
- Now you have the option of eight TCP/IP utilities to play with: telnet,
- arp, ftp, nbtstat, netstat, ping, route, and tracert.
-
- Telnet is the biggie. You can also access the telnet program directly from
- Windows. But while hacking you may need the other utilities that can only be
- used from DOS, so I like to call telnet from DOS.
-
- With the DOS telnet you can actually port surf almost as well as from a Unix
- telnet program. But there are several tricks you need to learn in order to
- make this work.
-
- First, weÆll try out logging on to a strange computer somewhere. This is a
- phun thing to show your friends who donÆt have a clue because it can scare
- the heck out them. Honest, I just tried this out on a neighbor. He got so
- worried that when he got home he called my husband and begged him to keep me
- from hacking his work computer!
-
- To do this (I mean log on to a strange computer, not scare your neighbors)
- go to the DOS prompt C:\WINDOWS> and give the command ôtelnet.ö This brings
- up a telnet screen. Click on Connect, then click Remote System.
-
- This brings up a box that asks you for ôHost Name.ö Type
- ôwhois.internic.netö into this box. Below that it asks for ôPortö and has
- the default value of ôtelnet.ö Leave in ôtelnetö for the port selection.
- Below that is a box for ôTermType.ö I recommend picking VT100 because,
- well, just because I like it best.
-
- The first thing you can do to frighten your neighbors and impress your
- friends is a ôwhois.ö Click on Connect and you will soon get a prompt that
- looks like this:
-
- [vt100]InterNIC>
-
- Then ask your friend or neighbor his or her email address. Then at this
- InterNIC prompt, type in the last two parts of your friendÆs email address.
- For example, if the address is ôluser@aol.com,ö type in ôaol.com.ö
-
- Now IÆm picking AOL for this lesson because it is really hard to hack.
- Almost any other on-line service will be easier.
-
- For AOL we get the answer:
-
- [vt100] InterNIC > whois aol.com
- Connecting to the rs Database . . . . . .
- Connected to the rs Database
- America Online (AOL-DOM)
- 12100 Sunrise Valley Drive
- Reston, Virginia 22091
- USA
-
- Domain Name: AOL.COM
-
- Administrative Contact:
- O'Donnell, David B (DBO3) PMDAtropos@AOL.COM
- 703/453-4255 (FAX) 703/453-4102
- Technical Contact, Zone Contact:
- America Online (AOL-NOC) trouble@aol.net
- 703-453-5862
- Billing Contact:
- Barrett, Joe (JB4302) BarrettJG@AOL.COM
- 703-453-4160 (FAX) 703-453-4001
-
- Record last updated on 13-Mar-97.
- Record created on 22-Jun-95.
-
- Domain servers in listed order:
-
- DNS-01.AOL.COM 152.163.199.42
- DNS-02.AOL.COM 152.163.199.56
- DNS-AOL.ANS.NET 198.83.210.28
-
- These last three lines give the names of some computers that work for
- America Online (AOL). If we want to hack AOL, these are a good place to start.
-
- *********************************
- Newbie note: We just got info on three ôdomain name serversö for AOL.
- ôAol.comö is the domain name for AOL, and the domain servers are the
- computers that hold information that tells the rest of the Internet how to
- send messages to AOL computers and email addresses.
- *********************************
- *********************************
- Evil genius tip: Using your Win 95 and an Internet connection, you can run a
- whois query from many other computers, as well. Telnet to your target
- computerÆs port 43 and if it lets you get on it, give your query.
- Example: telnet to nic.ddn.mil, port 43. Once connected type ôwhois
- DNS-01.AOL.COM,ö or whatever name you want to check out. However, this only
- works on computers that are running the whois service on port 43.
- Warning: show this trick to your neighbors and they will really be
- terrified. They just saw you accessing a US military computer! But itÆs OK,
- nic.ddn.mil is open to the public on many of its ports. Check out its Web
- site www.nic.ddn.mil and its ftp site, too -- they are a mother lode of
- information that is good for hacking.
- *********************************
-
- Next I tried a little port surfing on DNS-01.AOL.COM but couldnÆt find any
- ports open. So itÆs a safe bet this computer is behind the AOL firewall.
-
- **********************************
- Newbie note: port surfing means to attempt to access a computer through
- several different ports. A port is any way you get information into or out
- of a computer. For example, port 23 is the one you usually use to log into a
- shell account. Port 25 is used to send email. Port 80 is for the Web. There
- are thousands of designated ports, but any particular computer may be
- running only three or four ports. On your home computer your ports include
- the monitor, keyboard, and modem.
- **********************************
-
- So what do we do next? We close the telnet program and go back to the DOS
- window. At the DOS prompt we give the command ôtracert 152.163.199.42.ö Or
- we could give the command ôtracert DNS-01.AOL.COM.ö Either way weÆll get the
- same result. This command will trace the route that a message takes, hopping
- from one computer to another, as it travels from my computer to this AOL
- domain server computer. HereÆs what we get:
-
- C:\WINDOWS>tracert 152.163.199.42
-
- Tracing route to dns-01.aol.com [152.163.199.42]
- over a maximum of 30 hops:
-
- 1 * * * Request timed out.
- 2 150 ms 144 ms 138 ms 204.134.78.201
- 3 375 ms 299 ms 196 ms glory-cyberport.nm.westnet.net [204.134.78.33]
- 4 271 ms * 201 ms enss365.nm.org [129.121.1.3]
- 5 229 ms 216 ms 213 ms h4-0.cnss116.Albuquerque.t3.ans.net
- [192.103.74.45]
- 6 223 ms 236 ms 229 ms f2.t112-0.Albuquerque.t3.ans.net
- [140.222.112.221]
- 7 248 ms 269 ms 257 ms h14.t64-0.Houston.t3.ans.net [140.223.65.9]
- 8 178 ms 212 ms 196 ms h14.t80-1.St-Louis.t3.ans.net [140.223.65.14]
- 9 316 ms * 298 ms h12.t60-0.Reston.t3.ans.net [140.223.61.9]
- 10 315 ms 333 ms 331 ms 207.25.134.189
- 11 * * * Request timed out.
- 12 * * * Request timed out.
- 13 207.25.134.189 reports: Destination net unreachable.
-
- What the heck is all this stuff? The number to the left is the number of
- computers the route has been traced through. The ô150 msö stuff is how long,
- in thousandths of a second, it takes to send a message to and from that
- computer. Since a message can take a different length of time every time you
- send it, tracert times the trip three times. The ô*ö means the trip was
- taking too long so tracert said ôforget it.ö After the timing info comes the
- name of the computer the message reached, first in a form that is easy for a
- human to remember, then in a form -- numbers -- that a computer prefers.
-
- ôDestination net unreachableö probably means tracert hit a firewall.
-
- LetÆs try the second AOL domain server.
-
- C:\WINDOWS>tracert 152.163.199.56
-
- Tracing route to dns-02.aol.com [152.163.199.56]
- over a maximum of 30 hops:
-
- 1 * * * Request timed out.
- 2 142 ms 140 ms 137 ms 204.134.78.201
- 3 246 ms 194 ms 241 ms glory-cyberport.nm.westnet.net [204.134.78.33]
- 4 154 ms 185 ms 247 ms enss365.nm.org [129.121.1.3]
- 5 475 ms 278 ms 325 ms h4-0.cnss116.Albuquerque.t3.ans.net [192.103.74.
- 45]
- 6 181 ms 187 ms 290 ms f2.t112-0.Albuquerque.t3.ans.net [140.222.112.22
- 1]
- 7 162 ms 217 ms 199 ms h14.t64-0.Houston.t3.ans.net [140.223.65.9]
- 8 210 ms 212 ms 248 ms h14.t80-1.St-Louis.t3.ans.net [140.223.65.14]
- 9 207 ms * 208 ms h12.t60-0.Reston.t3.ans.net [140.223.61.9]
- 10 338 ms 518 ms 381 ms 207.25.134.189
- 11 * * * Request timed out.
- 12 * * * Request timed out.
- 13 207.25.134.189 reports: Destination net unreachable.
-
- Note that both tracerts ended at the same computer named
- h12.t60-0.Reston.t3.ans.net. Since AOL is headquartered in Reston, Virginia,
- itÆs a good bet this is a computer that directly feeds stuff into AOL. But
- we notice that h12.t60-0.Reston.t3.ans.net , h14.t80-1.St-Louis.t3.ans.net,
- h14.t64-0.Houston.t3.ans.net and Albuquerque.t3.ans.net all have numerical
- names beginning with 140, and names that end with ôans.net.ö So itÆs a good
- guess that they all belong to the same company. Also, that ôt3ö in each name
- suggests these computers are routers on a T3 communications backbone for the
- Internet.
-
- Next letÆs check out that final AOL domain server:
-
- C:\WINDOWS>tracert 198.83.210.28
-
- Tracing route to dns-aol.ans.net [198.83.210.28]
- over a maximum of 30 hops:
-
- 1 * * * Request timed out.
- 2 138 ms 145 ms 135 ms 204.134.78.201
- 3 212 ms 191 ms 181 ms glory-cyberport.nm.westnet.net [204.134.78.33]
- 4 166 ms 228 ms 189 ms enss365.nm.org [129.121.1.3]
- 5 148 ms 138 ms 177 ms h4-0.cnss116.Albuquerque.t3.ans.net [192.103.74.
- 45]
- 6 284 ms 296 ms 178 ms f2.t112-0.Albuquerque.t3.ans.net [140.222.112.22
- 1]
- 7 298 ms 279 ms 277 ms h14.t64-0.Houston.t3.ans.net [140.223.65.9]
- 8 238 ms 234 ms 263 ms h14.t104-0.Atlanta.t3.ans.net [140.223.65.18]
- 9 301 ms 257 ms 250 ms dns-aol.ans.net [198.83.210.28]
-
- Trace complete.
-
- Hey, we finally got all the way through to something we can be pretty
- certain is an AOL box, and it looks like itÆs outside the firewall! But look
- at how the tracert took a different path this time, going through Atlanta
- instead of St. Louis and Reston. But we are still looking at ans.net
- addresses with T3s, so this last nameserver is using the same network as the
- others.
-
- Now what can we do next to get luser@aol.com really wondering if you could
- actually break into his account? WeÆre going to do some port surfing on this
- last AOL domain name server! But to do this we need to change our telnet
- settings a bit.
-
- Click on Terminal, then Preferences. In the preferences box you need to
- check ôLocal echo.ö You must do this, or else you wonÆt be able to see
- everything that you get while port surfing. For some reason, some of the
- messages a remote computer sends to you wonÆt show up on your Win 95 telnet
- screen unless you choose the local echo option. However, be warned, in some
- situations everything you type in will be doubled. For example, if you type
- in ôhelloö the telnet screen may show you ôheh lelllo o. This doesnÆt mean
- you mistyped, it just means your typing is getting echoed back at various
- intervals.
-
- Now click on Connect, then Remote System. Then enter the name of that last
- AOL domain server, dns-aol.ans.net. Below it, for Port choose Daytime. It
- will send back to you the day of the week, date and time of day in its time
- zone.
-
- Aha! We now know that dns-aol.ans.net is exposed to the world, with at least
- one open port, heh, heh. It is definitely a prospect for further port
- surfing. And now your friend is wondering, how did you get something out of
- that computer?
-
- ******************************
- Clueless newbie alert: If everyone who reads this telnets to the daytime
- port of this computer, the sysadmin will say ôWhoa, IÆm under heavy attack
- by hackers!!! There must be some evil exploit for the daytime service! IÆm
- going to close this port pronto!ö Then youÆll all email me complaining the
- hack doesnÆt work. Please, try this hack out on different computers and
- donÆt all beat up on AOL.
- ******************************
-
- Now letÆs check out that Reston computer. I select Remote Host again and
- enter the name h12.t60-0.Reston.t3.ans.net. I try some port surfing without
- success. This is a seriously locked down box! What do we do next?
-
- So first we remove that ôlocal echoö feature, then we telnet back to
- whois.internic. We ask about this ans.net outfit that offers links to AOL:
-
- [vt100] InterNIC > whois ans.net
-
- Connecting to the rs Database . . . . . .
- Connected to the rs Database
- ANS CO+RE Systems, Inc. (ANS-DOM)
- 100 Clearbrook Road
- Elmsford, NY 10523
-
- Domain Name: ANS.NET
-
- Administrative Contact:
- Hershman, Ittai (IH4) ittai@ANS.NET
- (914) 789-5337
- Technical Contact:
- ANS Network Operations Center (ANS-NOC) noc@ans.net
- 1-800-456-6300
- Zone Contact:
- ANS Hostmaster (AH-ORG) hostmaster@ANS.NET
- (800)456-6300 fax: (914)789-5310
-
-
- Record last updated on 03-Jan-97.
- Record created on 27-Sep-90.
-
- Domain servers in listed order:
-
- NS.ANS.NET 192.103.63.100
- NIS.ANS.NET 147.225.1.2
-
- Now if you wanted to be a really evil hacker you could call that 800 number
- and try to social engineer a password out of somebody who works for this
- network. But that wouldnÆt be nice and there is nothing legal you can do
- with ans.net passwords. So IÆm not telling you how to social engineer those
- passwords.
-
- Anyhow, you get the idea of how you can hack around gathering info that
- leads to the computer that handles anyoneÆs email.
-
- So what else can you do with your on-line connection and Win 95?
-
- Well... should I tell you about killer ping? ItÆs a good way to lose your
- job and end up in jail. You do it from your Windows DOS prompt. Find the
- gory details in the GTMHH Vol.2 Number 3, which is kept in one of our
- archives listed at the end of this lesson. Fortunately most systems
- administrators have patched things nowadays so that killer ping wonÆt work.
- But just in case your ISP or LAN at work or school isnÆt protected, donÆt
- test it without your sysadminÆs approval!
-
- Then thereÆs ordinary ping, also done from DOS. ItÆs sort of like tracert,
- but all it does is time how long a message takes from one computer to
- another, without telling you anything about the computers between yours and
- the one you ping.
-
- Other TCP/IP commands hidden in DOS include:
-
- ╖ Arp IP-to-physical address translation tables
- ╖ Ftp File transfer protocol. This one is really lame. DonÆt use it. Get a
- shareware Ftp program from one of the download sites listed below.
- ╖ Nbtstat Displays current network info -- super to use on your own ISP
- ╖ Netstat Similar to Nbstat
- ╖ Route Controls router tables -- router hacking is considered extra elite.
-
- Since these are semi-secret commands, you canÆt get any details on how to
- use them from the DOS help menu. But there are help files hidden away for
- these commands.
-
- ╖ For arp, nbtstat, ping and route, to get help just type in the command
- and hit enter.
- ╖ For netstat you have to give the command ônetstat ?ö to get help.
- ╖ Telnet has a help option on the tool bar.
-
- I havenÆt been able to figure out a trick to get help for the ftp command.
-
- Now suppose you are at the point where you want to do serious hacking that
- requires commands other than these we just covered, but you donÆt want to
- use Unix. Shame on you! But, heck, even though I usually have one or two
- Unix shell accounts plus Walnut Creek Slackware on my home computer, I still
- like to hack from Windows. This is because IÆm ornery. So you can be ornery,
- too.
-
- So what is your next option for doing serious hacking from Windows?
-
- How would you like to crack Win NT server passwords? Download the free Win
- 95 program NTLocksmith, an add-on program to NTRecover that allows for the
- changing of passwords on systems where the administrative password has been
- lost. It is reputed to work 100% of the time. Get both NTLocksmith and
- NTRecover -- and lots more free hacker tools -- from http://www.ntinternals.com.
-
- **********************************
- You can go to jail warning: If you use NTRecover to break into someone
- elseÆs system, you are just asking to get busted.
- **********************************
-
- How would you like to trick your friends into thinking their NT box has
- crashed when it really hasnÆt? This prank program can be downloaded from
- http://www.osr.com/insider/insdrcod.htm.
-
- *********************************
- You can get punched in the nose warning: need I say more?
- *********************************
-
- But by far the deadliest hacking tool that runs on Windows can be downloaded
- from, guess what?
-
- http://home.microsoft.com
-
- That deadly program is Internet Explorer 3.0. Unfortunately, this program is
- even better for letting other hackers break into your home computer and do
- stuff like make your home banking program (e.g. Quicken) transfer your life
- savings to someone in Afghanistan.
-
- But if youÆre arenÆt brave enough to run Internet Explorer to surf the Web,
- you can still use it to hack your own computer, or other computers on your
- LAN. You see, Internet Explorer is really an alternate Windows shell which
- operates much like the Program Manager and Windows Explorer that come with
- the Win 94 and Win NT operating systems.
-
- Yes, from Internet Explorer you can run any program on your own computer. Or
- any program to which you have access on your LAN.
-
- ***********************************
- Newbie note: A shell is a program that mediates between you and the
- operating system. The big deal about Internet Explorer being a Windows shell
- is that Microsoft never told anyone that it was in fact a shell. The
- security problems that are plaguing Internet Explorer are mostly a
- consequence of it turning out to be a shell. By contrast, the Netscape and
- Mosaic Web browsers are not shells. They also are much safer to use.
- ***********************************
-
- To use Internet Explorer as a Windows shell, bring it up just like you would
- if you were going to surf the Web. Kill the programÆs attempt to establish
- an Internet connection -- we donÆt want to do anything crazy, do we?
-
- Then in the space where you would normally type in the URL you want to surf,
- instead type in c:.
-
- Whoa, look at all those file folders that come up on the screen. Look
- familiar? ItÆs the same stuff your Windows Explorer would show you. Now for
- fun, click ôProgram Filesö then click ôAccessoriesö then click ôMSPaint.ö
- All of a sudden MSPaint is running. Now paint your friends who are watching
- this hack very surprised.
-
- Next close all that stuff and get back to Internet Explorer. Click on the
- Windows folder, then click on Regedit.exe to start it up. Export the
- password file (itÆs in HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT). Open it in Word Pad. Remember,
- the ability to control the Registry of a server is the key to controlling
- the network it serves. Show this to your next door neighbor and tell her
- that youÆre going to use Internet Explorer to surf her password files. In a
- few hours the Secret Service will be fighting with the FBI on your front
- lawn over who gets to try to bust you. OK, only kidding here.
-
- So how can you use Internet Explorer as a hacking tool? One way is if you
- are using a computer that restricts your ability to run other programs on
- your computer or LAN. Next time you get frustrated at your school or library
- computer, check to see if it offers Internet Explorer. If it does, run it
- and try entering disk drive names. While C: is a common drive on your home
- computer, on a LAN you might get results by putting in R: or Z: or any other
- letter of the alphabet.
-
- Next cool hack: try automated port surfing from Windows! Since there are
- thousands of possible ports that may be open on any computer, it could take
- days to fully explore even just one computer by hand. A good answer to this
- problem is the NetCop automated port surfer, which can be found at
- http://www.netcop.com/.
-
- Now suppose you want to be able to access the NTFS file system that Windows
- NT uses from a Win 95 or even DOS platform? This can be useful if you are
- wanting to use Win 95 as a platform to hack an NT system.
- http://www.ntinternals.com/ntfsdos.htm offers a program that allows Win 95
- and DOS to recognize and mount NTFS drives for transparent access.
-
- Hey, we are hardly beginning to explore all the wonderful Windows hacking
- tools out there. It would take megabytes to write even one sentence about
- each and every one of them. But youÆre a hacker, so youÆll enjoy exploring
- dozens more of these nifty programs yourself. Following is a list of sites
- where you can download lots of free and more or less harmless programs that
- will help you in your hacker career:
-
- ftp://ftp.cdrom.com
- ft