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DIGITAL FREE PRESS
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Volume 1.0 Issue 2.0
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* A Publication of The Underground Computing Foundation (UCF) *
* Send Submissions to: hackers%underg@uunet.uu.net *
* Editor: Max Cray (max%underg@uunet.uu.net) *
* BBS: The Underground (401) 847-2603 (v.32) *
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Statement of Purpose and Disclaimer
The Digital Free Press is an uncensored forum to document current
activities in and of the world of modern technology. It is published under the
premise that it is better to know, rather than not know, so no attempt is made
to hide any information no matter how dangerous it may be. Information is a
double edged sword. It is neither good nor bad, and can be used for either
good or bad. Warning: Some information in this document could be used for
illegal activities. Use at your own risk. Articles are the opinion of the
authors listed, and not of the editor (unless of course the editor wrote
it).
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In this Issue:
1. Mail to Max
2. Editorial: Old 'Hackers' vs. New 'Hackers' - Max Cray
3. A Tour of The Underground Computing Foundation BBS - Max Cray
4. Protection of DOS Devices - GodNet Raider
5. Overwriting Trojan - The BBC
6. Breaches of Security - The Joker
7. Getting on Usenet - Max Cray
8. The BBC's Crash House (Fun with ANSI.SYS) - The BBC
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Mail to Max:
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Date: Tue, 31 Dec 91 23:49:32 -0500
From: <Irate Upstream Sysadmin>
X-Mailer: Mail User's Shell (7.2.2 4/12/91)
To: underg!ccn
Subject: digital free press
While investigating a problem with the mail and uucp queues on my system I
discovered a message from you entitled "DIGITAL FREE PRESS Volume 1 Issue 1".
The majority of this message gave details for activities that I consider to
be either illegal or primarily malicious in nature. As such, I refuse to
have my computer system be involved in any way in the distribution of this
material. I realize that some people, perhaps including yourself, might
construe this action as restricting the freedom of the press but rest
assured that this is not the case. I am in no way usurping your rights to
say anything that you want to say, I am only refusing to help pay for it.
I will phone your system one last time to deliver this letter and then I
will sever the uucp link. If you wish to discuss this matter with me you
may call me either at work during the day or at home in the evening.
If I do not hear from you within two weeks I will return the unused portion
of your $50.
--
<Irate Upstream Sysadmin>
%% Can I be excused, my brain is full. **
--
[Editor's note: Lesson here is be sure you know your upstream sysadmin's
policy on distribution of controversial material. I was able to get the uucp
connection back, but only after agreeing not to distribute DFP anymore
through his site.]
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Date: Thu, 2 Jan 92 20:39:09 CST
From: <Irate Pseudo Hacker>
To: max@underg
Subject: Re: DIGITAL FREE PRESS Volume 1 Issue 1
Newsgroups: alt.hackers
Organization: :noitazinagrO
You obviously have no idea about what alt.hackers is about, to refresh your
memory, enclosed is a copy of an article you should have read earlier, but
knowing your type, probably didn't. please note that it EXPLICITLY states
that this is not a forum for elitoid DOS pirate dumbshit WEENIES who like to
call themselves "hackers". go back to WWIVnet or Celeritynet or whatever
pirate-net it is that people like you use nowadays, asshole.
[alt.hackers FAQ deleted]
P.S. Please do not post this type of material here again.
--
<Irate Pseudo Hacker>
--
[Editor's note: How can this person hope to influence people by being so
confrontational? In fact the response I got from the first issue of DFP was
about 90% positive, and there were many requests to be put on the mailing
list. Thanks for your support, and please keep the mail coming!]
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| Article 2 of 8 | EDITORIAL
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Real Hackers?
There is a lot of talk these days about how the word 'hacker' has been
redefined by the press. The theory is that the old hackers, as portrayed in
Steven Levy's excellent book _Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution_,
were good and pure and this breed of hacker dramatized in the press is some
new evil non-hacker terrorist. This is nonsense.
According to the book, the hacker ethic(paraphrased) is as follows:
1. Access to computers should be unlimited and total.
2. All information should be free.
3. Mistrust Authority - Promote Decentralization.
4. Hackers should be judged by their hacking.
5. You can create art and beauty on a computer.
6. Computers can change your life for the better.
In pursuit of the hacker ethic these heroes performed various acts that
would not be looked upon favorably in today's anti-hacker society:
Used Equipment Without Authorization (Page 20)
----------------------------------------------
" So, without any authorization whatsoever, that is what Peter Sampson
set out to do, along with a few friends of his from an MIT organization
with a special interest in model railroading. It was a casual, unthinking
step into a science-fiction future, but that was typical of the way that
an odd subculture was pulling itself up by its bootstraps and growing to
underground prominence-to become a culture that would be the impolite,
unsanctioned soul of computerdom. It was among the first computer
hacker escapades of the Tech Model Railroad Club, or TMRC."
Phone Phreaked (Page 92)
------------------------
"He had programed some appropriate tones to come out of the speaker and
into the open receiver of the campus phone that sat in the Kluge room.
These tones made the phone system come to attention, so to speak, and
dance."
Modified Equipment Without Authorization (Page 96)
--------------------------------------------------
" Nelson thought that adding an 'add to memory' instruction would
improve the machine. It would take _months_, perhaps, to go through
channels to do it, and if he did it himself he would learn something
about the way the world worked. So one night Stewart Nelson spontaneously
convened the Midnight Computer Wiring Society."
Circumvented Password Systems (Page 417)
----------------------------------------
"Stallman broke the computer's encryption code and was able to get
to the protected file which held people's passwords. He started
sending people messages which would appear on screen when they
logged onto the system:
'I see you chose the password [such and such]. I suggest that
you switch to the password "carriage return." It's much
easier to type, and also it stands up to the principle that
there should be no passwords.'
'Eventually I got to the point where a fifth of all the users on
the machine had the Empty String password.' RMS later boasted.
Then the computer science laboratory installed a more sophisticated
password system on its other computer. This one was not so easy for
Stallman to crack. But Stallman was able to study the encryption
program, and as he later said, 'I discovered changing one word in
that program would cause it to print out your password on the system
console as part of the message that you were logging in.' Since
the 'system console' was visible to anyone walking by, and its
messages could easily be accessed by any terminal, or even printed
out in hard copy, Stallman's change allowed any password to be
routinely disseminated by anyone who cared to know it. He thought
the result 'amusing.'
Certainly these hackers were not anarchists who wanted only to destroy.
They had a personal code of ethics, the hacker ethic to base their behavior
on. In fact the modern hacker has his/her ethics intact. Compare the above
hacker ethic with the hacker ethic found in _Out of the Inner Circle_ by
Bill 'The Cracker' Landreth, a teenager arrested by the FBI (Page 18,60):
1. Never delete any information you can not easily restore.
2. Never leave any names on a computer.
3. Always try to obtain your own information.
The common denominator to these ethics systems are the respect for
technology, and the personal growth through free access and freedom of
information. Certainly the attitude towards private property is the same.
Accessing and using equipment that you do not own is okay as long as
you do not prevent those who own it from using it, or damage anything.
With respect to the hacker ethic the hackers mentioned in _Cyberpunk:
Outlaws and Hackers on the Computer Frontier_ by Katie Hafner and John
Markoff were in fact good hackers. If free access, and free information
were the law of the land would Kevin Mitnick have gone to jail? I do not
think so. Sure he got the source code for VMS, but is there any evidence
that he used this information for personal gain, or did he simply use the
information to improve his understanding of the VMS operating system?
Robert T. Morris's worm program was a clever hack. Of course he 'gronked'
it by programming the replication rate much too fast, but still there is no
evidence that he had any intention of doing harm to the system. It was simply
a computer experiment. Who owns the Internet? Is it some mysterious 'them'
or is it our net? If it is out net, then we should be able to try some stuff
on it, and to heck with 'them' if they can't take a joke.
Of course the German hackers are a different story. What they got in
trouble for was espionage, and not hacking, which is a breach of faith,
and is hacking for personal gain. However selling Minix to the KGB almost
makes it forgivable...
It is my contention that hackers did not change. Society changed, and it
changed for the worse. The environment the early hackers were working in
correctly viewed these activities as the desire to utilize technology in a
personal way. By definition hackers believe in the free access to computers
and to the freedom of information. If you do not believe in these principles
you are not a hacker, no matter how technologically capable you are. You
are probable just a tool for the greed society. Current bad mouthing of
hackers is simply snobbery. Rather than cracking down on the modern hacker, we
should reinforce the hacker ethic, a code of conduct not based upon greed and
lust for the almighty dollar, but instead for personal growth through the free
access of computers and information, and a respect for technology.
It is the humane thing to do.
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| Article 3 of 8 |
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A Tour of the Underground Computing Foundation BBS
by Max Cray
I have noticed a lot of people call The UCF BBS and are unable to find
the good stuff, so let me take the opportunity to point out a few of the
high spots. First of all it is connected to the Usenet. Your international
e-mail address would be <username>%underg@uunet.uu.net. With this address
you can subscribe to all the good stuff like Phrack and NIA. There is also
a mailing list: hackers%underg@uunet.uu.net. E-mail me if you want to be
included on the list.
You can participate in the Usenet newsgroups, of which alt-cud-digest
is a must. alt.dcom.telecom is an outstanding resource for those interested
in the telephone network. There is vast amounts of very technical information
that passes through on a daily basis. Far too much to read it all. Type
USENET at the prompt to see all the newsgroups. Type in the name of the group
you want, and then type the READ command. Type the number of the first
message you want to read. If you call often you will want to configure your
NEW message scan using the JOIN command. Type ? at the prompt to get help.
There is a more local network set up, which has a newsgroup called ri.cug.
This is the Rhode Island Computer Underground, and it contains info on the
local scene around here.
If you are interested in journals type INFO. I try to keep the latest
issues of NIA, PHRACK, CUD, EFFector, and other journals here. If you are
interested in back issues go into the files section and LOG into the directory
/public/text. You can view or download text philes here. There is also some
stuff of interest in the /public/hacks directory. The /public/comm directory
contains subdirectories for the WAFFLE philes, and UUPC philes that you may
need to connect to the UUCP network.
Sorry there are no codez as it is an information board and not a pirate
board.
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| Article 4 of 8 |
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-=[ Protection of DOS devices ]=-
-or-
/*******************************************/
/* Unarc, Unzip, Lha extract, and be merry */
/* for tomorrow we may lock. */
/*******************************************/
- written by -
GodNet Raider
- of -
The CyberUnderground
-=[ "Information is the greatest weapon of power to the modern wizard." ]=-
]----------------------------------------------------------------------------[
Introduction:
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This phile is written in response to the practice of misusing using
MS-DOS devices (ie.. to make archive bombs). The following will explain the
problem and some of the possible solutions. Also included is an ASM source
that will remap the 'CLOCK