The Hacker Chronicles - A…the Computer Underground/The Hacker Chronicles - A Tour of the Computer Underground (P-80 Systems).iso/cud2/cud218d.txt

Text File | 1992-09-26 | 17KB | 315 lines

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                  >C O M P U T E R   U N D E R G R O U N D<
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              ***  Volume 2, Issue #2.18 (December 28, 1990)   **
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From: "Martin Huber" <[e-mail]>
Subject: CU Resources in Germany
Date: Fri, 14 Dec 90 04:29:59 +0100

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***  CuD #2.18: File 4 of 5: CU Resources in Germany             ***
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%Moderators' note: We in the U.S. tend to be rather insular and often think
of the CU world as limited to the 48 contiguous states. We are constantly
reminded by cybernauts elsewhere that we should be more aggressive in
recognizing that cyberspace is non-territorial. There are numerous articles
and newsbits out there that we don't often see because of language
barriers. We *STRONGLY ENCOURAGE* readers fluent in other languages to
either send over translations or send summaries of various news stories.
In addition to their general interest, we are finding that scholars, law
students, and others find this information quite helpful. Thanks to Martin
for sending the following over.  When we spoke with him, he indicated that
there is considerable activity in Europe that we neglect here in the U.S.,
and he uses a comment in Pat Townson's Telecom Digest to segue into the
discussion%.

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In article <[e-mail]> (of Telecom Digest the
moderator writes):
>
>Len Rose is beginning to prepare for his defense in Baltimore in
>February. He is looking for Unix experts/gurus who would be willing to
>provide general technical testimony about Unix.  If anybody is willing
>to consider it, or can provide the names of others who might be
>willing, call Len at: (708) 527-xxxx.
>
>
>Jim Thomas
>Computer Underground Digest
>
>
>[Moderator's Note: Poor Len. He's a great subject-candidate for the
>old negro spiritual song, "Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen".   PAT]

I'll side with PAT and Len (although i didn't notice what he did, but today
a seemingly funny hack can become a ghostly nightmare real fast).  Please
understand that i do not side my criminal activities, but IMHO mostly the
wrong people get caught. The real criminals nearly get away with it.

Me, i can't give him help (other than moral one). But there are some guys
here in Germany who should be able to help with real expertise on any kinds
of hacks (phone, modem, nets, UNIX boxes, other). They are called CCC
(Chaos Computer Club). Their head has been charged with breaking into some
kind of NATO network (can't remember details, ask them how it went out). I
think they won or got a vote of confidence and a slight punishment because
of having alerted security people about the possibility of the hack. Again,
to state my opinion:  They don't inquire into secrets in order to steal
something/rob some bank/whatever, but merely want to enwiden their
knowledge and try to pass information to others. (See below).  Oh sh..... .
Can't find any of their documents in my bureau. Let me try to squeeze my
brain:

       Organization: "Chaos Computer Club"
       Contact:      ??????? - they all have lots of nicknames
       City:         "DW-2000 Hamburg"
       Country:      "Germany"

Check like 1-3 year old infos on the famous NATO hack. Names should appear
there. I'll be searching back home and try to come up with more info ASAP.

Maybe a secondary contact in Hannover will help: This is a german computer
magazine called "c't". It is a full-fledged computer magazine for mostly
small computers and UNIX systems. The spectrum of articles ranges from
problems in information theory over product reviews, hard- und software
tests, source code listings in different languages to science-fiction
stories. They regularly feature editorials on hacking, law problems and
such and are at the approximate level of expertise as BYTE is in the US (in
fact, the magazines cooperate).  [Of course, professional level in germany
is in general not as high as in the US (the states are much larger and thus
have more experts), but in science Germany is competitive.] In their
January 1991 issue (no kidding, it appears in the mid of December!) they
published a report on a sociological study on computer freaks which was
carried out by a german university (Univ. of Trier).  In the following,
i'll give some quotations (transliterated to English):
[Note that this is done with no regard to copyright issues, i don't know
what position c't has regarding such matters, but i think it is perfectly
o.k. to translate something while crediting it to the original author. As
for publishing, you have my allowance to publish the english summary as
long as c't or the author is not affected by this move]

ARTICLE: "c't, Jan. 1990, p.44-46"
AUTHOR: "Claudia Schmidt" [Can't find her listed on the
  publisher staff, seems to be an invited article, i bet she is
  from the research group]
TITLE: Viele Vorurteile - Computerfreaks im Licht der Soziologie
[ premonitions abound - computer freaks seen from a sociologist's
 point of view ]

The article starts:
 "In a study sponsored by the Department of the Interior of the FRG
  a group of scientists from the University of Trier tried to find
  access to the world of computer freaks. The sociologists wanted
  to gain a fundamental platform for the assessment of computer
  technology und to unemotionalize the discussion on it.
     Wherever computing centers are, young alert people with rugged
  hair and deep-set eyes can be seen in front of computer consoles;
  their arms are bent und their hands seem to be waiting for hitting
  the buttons of their keyboards which they watch with the same inten-
  sity a gambler watches the rooling dices. Seemingly more relaxed
  they sit at desks loaded with computer listings and meditate like
  scientists over cabalistic treats ....
     This statement dating back to 1977 clearly demonstrates the
  premonitions which usually are ascribed to computer freaks[1].
  'Pseudo-empirical criticism on culture, mythos-conserving hearsay!'
  it is termed by the authors of a 300-page report of the University
  of Trier[2]. People are adopting fancy images [of freaks] all too
  eagerly: most of the statements suffer from a pseudo-scientific
  method of 'associative reasoning', the scientists claim ...
           The sociologists visited the Chaos Communication Congress 1989
  in Hamburg, ..., 'in order to get a lasting impression of the
  productivity aspects of computer social life' and tested personal
  attitudes of [computer] freaks in meetings with several [computer]
  clubs. After field work, 62 interviews of 1 - 2 hours duration
  complimented by 15 interviews gained from interviews on a BBS
  were to be evaluated.

  [A description of a typical freak's school and college time follows
   (boring classrooms for under-rated geniuses), including the treat-
   ment of the early attraction of a typical freak towards technology.
   An interesting bynote states that women tend to exclude the computer
   of their private live and they are said to 'be afraid to destroy
   something'.
      The next paragraph follows the growth of a juvenile freak to
   a competent and professional specialist: ]
      Evolution:
      ... [freaks], according to the scientists can be separated into
   the classes of 'hackers', 'players', 'programmers', 'crackers' and
   'crashers'.
      Freaks want to use all capabilities of their machines. A high
   degree of professionalism and competence, in general specialist's
   knowledge, gives the benefits of good standing, being recognized
   and admired among fellow professionals.
      The research group noticed that the rapid evolution of technology
   posed a problem. Social sciences always lag behind in assessment
   of new technologies and hust helplessly see a new wave of technology
   coming just as they finished evaluating it's predecessors.
      Lots of questions:
      The only solution to this problem is to tend towards dampening
   critical opinions: Of course the freak is working all alone ...
   in front of his computer, but - does he not communicate with
   fellow freaks over [computer] nets?
      A computer demands clear and concise commands, it cannot handle
   ambiguous statements found in everyday's speech. Under the assumption
   that a broad knowledge of speech is correlated with intellectual
   capabilities, a person who has to adopt his syntactical capability
   to abbreviations fitting a machine is in danger! ... the programming
   paradigm could influence life style towards thinking in rational
   terms only.
      Lone guys:
      On the other hand, there is a thesis that computerization is
   not the reason but the effect of a culture adoring reasoning, and
   that the computer is only fulfilling the wishes of men leaning
   towards a technical zivilisation. ...
      With the impact of lots of new media at home and at work, can
   we see an 'impersonalization of learning', will the real world
   be substituted by a made-up world, which is a secure place to flee
   to? ... Or is this world of synthetic images the expression of a
   desire to create new and singular scenarios, stimulating creativity
   and emotionality in the freaks? Is not today's world by a much
   higher degree plagued by rationalism and lack of emotions compared
   to the computerist's world?
      Summa summarum:
      For public discussion, the scientists drew the following
   conclusions: Since the computer is a well-known part of today's
   work, it is useful for several different specialisations. To the
   freak, it has become a natural part of his live and he spends a
   substantial amount of time and money on it.
      Only people with adequate knowledge can use a computer. A
   broad knowledge of information science is indispensable for a
   freak. His main method of learning is autodidactic. ... The
   'process of auto-professionalisation' is found across all
   social and professional levels.
      Those activities do not tend to neglect leisure-time acti-
   vities. Electronic media are very important, whereas books
   are not so important (with the exception of cs books). Data
   nets created a renaissance of the art of writing letters.
      Computer freaks are not biased towards technology. From
   their intimate knowledge of systems and their limitations,
   their [the freaks] opinions are well balanced and often two-
   sided. Dangers are seen mainly in big uncontrollable systems.
   Contours of the information age of tomorrow are seen as changing
   and not subject to forecast or planning in a deterministic way.
      Methods of learning und practical work show a high degree
   of personal autonomy. New forms of self-controlled and self-
   confident use of communication medias are evolving hand in hand
   with a culture which does not need federal regulations
   (e.g. in form of laws). [because they are self-regulating, i
   can't resist to make my point here]
      The authors close with a proposal to the ministry of the
   interior to inquire into the usefulness of computerclubs and
   groups of hackers as critics of media, similar to the
   function of ecologist's associations in environment.
     [ The article closes with the perfectly natural observation
   that the degree of weirdness and fanaticism does not vary
   between philanthropists, hobby astrologicians and computer
   freaks ]

[1] J. Weizenbaum, Die Macht der Computer und die Ohnmacht der Vernunft,
                            Frankfurt/a.M., 1977, p.160
   [The power of computers and the impotence of common sense]

[2] R. Eckert et al., Im Schatten der Computer-Mythen. Zur kulturellen
               Praxis und den Spezialkulturen von Hackern, Programmierern,
               Crackern und Spielern. Eine ethnografische Untersuchung, Trier,
   [In the twilight of computer myths. On the cultural praxis and the
    specialized cultures of hackers, programmers, crackers and players.
    An ethnografical study]

In the following some more citations from "c't", quoted from the
indices:
- c't,October 1990,Rechtliche Rahmenbedingungen fuer die Mailbox
                      [ Juristical Framework for BBS ]

- c't,February 1990,Es geht um Milliarden - Niederlage der Post in einem
                   Modem-Prozess
         [ billions on stake - telco looses lawsuit concerning modems ]

- c't,May 1989,Hackordnung - Wann wird das Strafrecht fuer Datenreisende
                   zur Falle?
    [ hacker's laws - when do hackers get trapped in penal law? ]
    * This is written by a lawyer and treates the relationship       *
    * between german penal law and hacker's activities. - excellent. *

- c't,July 1988,Latente Bedrohung - Ueber die Verletzlichkeit der
               Informationsgesellschaft
 [ sleeping danger - about the vulnerability of information culture ]
 * This is an interview with Prof. Dr. Klaus Brunnstein, Univ. of
 * Hamburg, Inst. for applied computer science. He is specialising
 * in the field of computer crimes and the security of computer systems
 * Maybe a candidate for expert opinion?

The publishing company is:
  "Verlag Heinz Heise GmbH"
  "Postfach 610407"
  "DW-3000 Hannover 61"
  Tel. ++49/511/54747-10 (PBX with direct)
  Fax  ++49/511/54747-33 (call extensions)
The editor is:
  "Christian Persson"  extension -10
The vice editors are:
  "Andreas Burgwitz"   extension -12
  "Detlef Grell", MSEE extension -13
They are reachable on "CosmoNet":
  T. ++49/511/555398  300 Baud [ In fact, i think it is *their* BBS
  T. ++49/511/555392  300 Baud   ask PAT or other netlanders for
  T. ++49/511/555686 1200 Baud   more info. CosmoNet is well used in
  T. ++49/511/555630 1200 Baud   Germany, maybe even Europe ]
  T. ++49/511/555302 2400 Baud
  Datex-P NUA: 45511090835     [ This is the german packet switching
                                 network. I have no idea of how to
access it from overseas, but a friend of mine working in CA, USA
should know it. If you need an european mail feed for this, i have
access (in principle) to internet, bitnet, uucp and thus should be
able to reach every german host. However, the transition from
%internet,bitnet,uucp% to e.g. CosmoNet is newland for me. ]

I'll stop here. I have all of the cited articles in my bookshelf.
I have a FAX and a copier around. So if Len wants to have some, he
should phone / FAX / mail me. Of course, translations are better to
be done by somebody which is a native english speaker. I can help
with nasty german sentences, no problem (with lightspeed communication?
- never!). Anyway, i'll help what i can, sticking to the old prin-
ciple: in dubio pro reo.
--
                              /---------------------------------
Martin                        /      Martin Huber               %
%----------------------------/       Univ. of Saarland          %
%email: [e-mail]            Dept. of Electr. Eng.      %
%Tel: ++49/681/302-3574              D-66 Saarbruecken 11       %
%FAX: ++49/681/302-2678              Germany                    %

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