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Ok just a quick note, this is a very early version of the book and
was later banned. We've done our best in converting it to ASCII.
It's taken us some time to put it together because of the
reformatting, so I hope it's appreciated. We have kept to the
original page numbering for so that the index will be correct.
Compliments Electronic Images - Gizmo
Century Communications
- T H E -
- H A C K E R ' S -
- H A N D B O O K -
Copyright (c) Hugo Cornwall
All rights reserved
First published in Great Britain in 1985 by Century Communications Ltd
Portland House, 12-13 Greek Street, London W1V 5LE.
Reprinted 1985 (four times)
ISBN 0 7126 0650 5
Printed and bound in Great Britain by Billing & Sons Limited, Worcester.
CONTENTS
Introduction vii
First Principles
2 Computer-to-computer communications 7
3 Hackers' Equipment 15
4 Targets: What you can find on mainframes 30
5 Hackers' Intelligence 42
6 Hackers' Techniques 57
7 Networks 69
8 Viewdata systems 86
9 Radio computer data 99
10 Hacking: the future 108
Appendices
I troubleshooting 112
II Glossary 117
III CCITT and related standards 130
IV Standard computer alphabets 132
V Modems 141
VI Radio Spectrum 144
VII Port-finder flow chart 148
INTRODUCTION
The word 'hacker' is used in two different but associated
ways: for some, a hacker is merely a computer enthusiast of any kind,
who loves working with the beasties for their own sake, as opposed to
operating them in order to enrich a company or research project --or
to play games.
This book uses the word in a more restricted sense: hacking is a
recreational and educational sport. It consists of attempting to make
unauthorised entry into computers and to explore what is there. The
sport's aims and purposes have been widely misunderstood; most
hackers are not interested in perpetrating massive frauds, modifying
their personal banking, taxation and employee records, or inducing
one world super-power into inadvertently commencing Armageddon in the
mistaken belief that another super-power is about to attack it. Every
hacker I have ever come across has been quite clear about where the
fun lies: it is in developing an understanding of a system and
finally producing the skills and tools to defeat it. In the vast
majority of cases, the process of 'getting in' is much more
satisfying than what is discovered in the protected computer files.
In this respect, the hacker is the direct descendant of the phone
phreaks of fifteen years ago. Phone phreaking became interesting as
intra-nation and international subscriber trunk dialling was
introduced, but when the London-based phreak finally chained his way
through to Hawaii, he usually had no one there to speak to except the
local weather service or American Express office, to confirm that the
desired target had indeed been hit. One of the earliest of the
present generation of hackers, Susan Headley, only 17 when she began
her exploits in California in 1977, chose as her target the local
phone company and, with the information extracted from her hacks, ran
all over the telephone network. She 'retired' four years later, when
friends started developing schemes to shut down part of the phone
system.
There is also a strong affinity with program copy-protection
crunchers. Most commercial software for micros is sold in a form to
prevent obvious casual copying, say by loading a cassette, cartridge
or disk into memory and then executing a 'save' on to a
blank cassette or disk. Copy-protection devices vary greatly in
their methodology and sophistication and there are those who, without
any commercial motive, enjoy nothing so much as defeating them. Every
computer buff has met at least one cruncher with a vast store of
commercial programs, all of which have somehow had the protection
removed--and perhaps the main title subtly altered to show the
cruncher's technical skills--but which are then never actually used
at all.
Perhaps I should tell you what you can reasonably expect from this
handbook. Hacking is an activity like few others: it is semi-legal,
seldom encouraged, and in its full extent so vast that no individual
or group, short of an organisation like GCHQ or NSA, could hope to
grasp a fraction of the possibilities. So this is not one of those
books with titles like Games Programming with the 6502 where, if the
book is any good and if you are any good, you will emerge with some
mastery of the subject-matter. The aim of this book is merely to give
you some grasp of methodology, help you develop the appropriate
attitudes and skills, provide essential background and some
referencing material--and point you in the right directions for more
knowledge. Up to a point, each chapter may be read by itself; I have
compiled extensive appendices, containing material which will be of
use long after the main body of the text has been absorbed.
It is one of the characteristics of hacking anecdotes, like those
relating to espionage exploits, that almost no one closely involved
has much stake in the truth; victims want to describe damage as
minimal, and perpetrators like to paint themselves as heroes while
carefully disguising sources and methods. In addition, journalists
who cover such stories are not always sufficiently competent to write
accurately, or even to know when they are being hoodwink- ed. (A note
for journalists: any hacker who offers to break into a system on
demand is conning you--the most you can expect is a repeat
performance for your benefit of what a hacker has previously
succeeded in doing. Getting to the 'front page' of a service or
network need not imply that everything within that service can be
accessed. Being able to retrieve confidential information, perhaps
credit ratings, does not mean that the hacker would also be able to
alter that data. Remember the first rule of good reporting: be
sceptical.) So far as possible, I have tried to verify each story
that appears in these pages, but hackers work in isolated groups and
my sources on some of the important hacks of recent years are more
remote than I would have liked. In these
cases, my accounts are of events and methods which, in all the
circumstances, I believe are true. I welcome notes of correction.
Experienced hackers may identify one or two curious gaps in the
range of coverage, or less than full explanations; you can chose any
combination of the following explanations without causing me any
worry: first, I may be ignorant and incompetent; second, much of the
fun of hacking is making your own discoveries and I wouldn't want to
spoil that; third, maybe there are a few areas which are really best
left alone.
Nearly all of the material is applicable to readers in all
countries; however, the author is British and so are most of his
experiences.
The pleasures of hacking are possible at almost any level of
computer competence beyond rank beginner and with quite minimal
equipment. It is quite difficult to describe the joy of using the
world's cheapest micro, some clever firmware, a home-brew acoustic
coupler and find that, courtesy of a friendly remote PDP11/70, you
can be playing with Unix, the fashionable multitasking operating
system.
The assumptions I have made about you as a reader are that you own a
modest personal computer, a modem and some communications software
which you know, roughly, how to use. (If you are not confident yet,
practise logging on to a few hobbyist bulletin boards.) For more
advanced hacking, better equipment helps; but, just as very tasty
photographs can be taken with snap-shot cameras, the computer
equivalent of a Hasselblad with a trolley- load of accessories is not
essential.
Since you may at this point be suspicious that I have vast
technical resources at my disposal, let me describe the kit that has
been used for most of my network adventures. At the centre is a
battered old Apple II+, its lid off most of the time to draw away the
heat from the many boards cramming the expansion slots. I use an
industry standard dot matrix printer, famous equally for the variety
of type founts possible, and for the paper-handling path, which
regularly skews off. I have two large boxes crammed full of software,
as I collect comms software in particular like a deranged
philatelist, but I use one package almost exclusively. As for
modems--well, at this point the set-up does become unconventional; by
the phone point are jack sockets for BT 95A, BT 96A, BT 600 and a
North American modular jack. I have two acoustic couplers, devices
for plunging telephone handsets into so that the computer can talk
down the line, at operating speeds of 300/300 and 75/1200. I also
have three heavy, mushroom coloured 'shoe-boxes', representing modem
technology of 4 or 5 years ago and operating at various speeds and
combinations of duplex/half- duplex. Whereas the acoustic coupler
connects my computer to the line by audio, the modem links up at the
electrical level and is more accurate and free from error. I have
access to other equipment in my work and through friends, but this is
what I use most of the time.
Behind me is my other important bit of kit: a filing cabinet.
Hacking is not an activity confined to sitting at keyboards and
watching screens. All good hackers retain formidable collections of
articles, promotional material and documentation; read on, and you
will see why.
Finally, to those who would argue that a hacker's handbook must be
giving guidance to potential criminals, I have two things to say:
First, few people object to the sports of clay-pigeon shooting or
archery, although rifles, pistols and crossbows have no 'real'
purpose other than to kill things--and hackers have their own code of
responsibility, too. Second, real hacking is not as it is shown in
the movies and on tv, a situation which the publication of this book
may do something to correct. The sport of hacking itself may involve
breach of aspects of the law, notably theft of electricity, theft of
computer time and unlicensed usage of copyright material; every
hacker must decide individually each instance as it arises.
Various people helped me on various aspects of this book; they
must all remain unnamed--they know who they are and that they have my
thanks.
CHAPTER 1
First Principles
The first hack I ever did was executed at an exhibition stand run
by BT's then rather new Prestel service. Earlier, in an adjacent
conference hall, an enthusiastic speaker had demonstrated view-
data's potential world-wide spread by logging on to Viditel, the
infant Dutch service. He had had, as so often happens in the these
circumstances, difficulty in logging on first time. He was using one
of those sets that displays auto-dialled telephone numbers; that was
how I found the number to call. By the time he had finished his third
unsuccessful log-on attempt I (and presumably several others) had all
the pass numbers. While the BT staff were busy with other visitors to
their stand, I picked out for myself a relatively neglected viewdata
set. I knew that it was possible to by-pass the auto-dialler with its
pre-programmed phone numbers in this particular model, simply by
picking up the the phone adjacent to it, dialling my preferred
number, waiting for the whistle, and then hitting the keyboard button
labelled 'viewdata'. I dialled Holland, performed my little by-pass
trick and watched Viditel write itself on the screen. The pass
numbers were accepted first time and, courtesy of...no, I'll spare
them embarrassment...I had only lack of fluency in Dutch to restrain
my explorations. Fortunately, the first BT executive to spot what I
had done was amused as well.
Most hackers seem to have started in a similar way. Essentially
you rely on the foolishness and inadequate sense of security of
computer salesmen, operators, programmers and designers.
In the introduction to this book I described hacking as a sport;
and like most sports, it is both relatively pointless and filled with
rules, written or otherwise, which have to be obeyed if there is to
be any meaningfulness to it. Just as rugby football is not only about
forcing a ball down one end of a field, so hacking is not just about
using any means to secure access to a computer.
On this basis, opening private correspondence to secure a password
on a public access service like Prestel and then running around the
system building up someone's bill, is not what hackers call hacking.
The critical element must be the use of skill in some shape or form.
Hacking is not a new pursuit. It started in the early 1960s when
the first "serious" time-share computers began to appear at
university sites. Very early on, 'unofficial' areas of the memory
started to appear, first as mere notice boards and scratch pads for
private programming experiments, then, as locations for games.
(Where, and how do you think the early Space Invaders, Lunar Landers
and Adventure Games were created?) Perhaps tech-hacking-- the
mischievous manipulation of technology--goes back even further. One
of the old favourites of US campus life was to rewire the control
panels of elevators (lifts) in high-rise buildings, so that a request
for the third floor resulted in the occupants being whizzed to the
twenty-third.
Towards the end of the 60s, when the first experimental networks
arrived on the scene (particularly when the legendary
ARPAnet--Advanced Research Projects Agency network-- opened up), the
computer hackers skipped out of their own local computers, along the
packet-switched high grade communications lines, and into the other
machines on the net. But all these hackers were privileged
individuals. They were at a university or research resource, and they
were able to borrow terminals to work with.
What has changed now, of course, is the wide availability of home
computers and the modems to go with them, the growth of public-access
networking of computers, and the enormous quantity and variety of
computers that can be accessed.
Hackers vary considerably in their native computer skills; a basic
knowledge of how data is held on computers and can be transferred
from one to another is essential. Determination, alertness,
opportunism, the ability to analyse and synthesise, the collection of
relevant helpful data and luck--the pre-requisites of any
intelligence officer--are all equally important. If you can write
quick effective programs in either a high level language or machine
code, well, it helps. A knowledge of on-line query procedures is
helpful, and the ability to work in one or more popular mainframe and
mini operating systems could put you in the big league.
The materials and information you need to hack are all around
you--only they are seldom marked as such. Remember that a large
proportion of what is passed off as 'secret intelligence' is openly
available, if only you know where to look and how to appreciate what
you find. At one time or another, hacking will test everything you
know about computers and communications. You will discover your
abilities increase in fits and starts, and you must
be prepared for long periods when nothing new appears to happen.
Popular films and tv series have built up a mythology of what
hackers can do and with what degree of ease. My personal delight in
such Dream Factory output is in compiling a list of all the mistakes
in each episode. Anyone who has ever tried to move a graphics game
from one micro to an almost-similar competitor will already know that
the chances of getting a home micro to display the North Atlantic
Strategic Situation as it would be viewed from the President's
Command Post would be slim even if appropriate telephone numbers and
passwords were available. Less immediately obvious is the fact that
most home micros talk to the outside world through limited but
convenient asynchronous protocols, effectively denying direct access
to the mainframe products of the world's undisputed leading computer
manufacturer, which favours synchronous protocols. And home micro
displays are memory-mapped, not vector-traced... Nevertheless, it is
astonishingly easy to get remarkable results. And thanks to the
protocol transformation facilities of PADs in PSS networks (of which
much more later), you can get into large IBM devices....
The cheapest hacking kit I have ever used consisted of a ZX81, 16K
RAMpack, a clever firmware accessory and an acoustic coupler. Total
cost, just over ?100. The ZX81's touch-membrane keyboard was one
liability; another was the uncertainty of the various connectors.
Much of the cleverness of the firmware was devoted to overcoming the
native drawbacks of the ZX81's inner configuration--the fact that it
didn't readily send and receive characters in the industry-standard
ASCII code, and that the output port was designed more for instant
access to the Z80's main logic rather than to use industry-standard
serial port protocols and to rectify the limited screen display.
Yet this kit was capable of adjusting to most bulletin boards;
could get into most dial-up 300/300 asynchronous ports,
re-configuring for word-length and parity if needed; could have
accessed a PSS PAD and hence got into a huge range of computers not
normally available to micro-owners; and, with another modem, could
have got into viewdata services. You could print out pages on the ZX
'tin-foil' printer. The disadvantages of this kit were all in
convenience, not in facilities. Chapter 3 describes the sort of kit
most hackers use.
It is even possible to hack with no equipment at all. All major
banks now have a network of 'hole in the wall' cash machines-- ATMs
or Automatic Telling Machines, as they are officially
known. Major building societies have their own network. These
machines have had faults in software design, and the hackers who
played around with them used no more equipment than their fingers and
brains. More about this later.
Though I have no intention of writing at length about hacking
etiquette, it is worth one paragraph: lovers of fresh-air walks obey
the Country Code; they close gates behind them, and avoid damage to
crops and livestock. Something very similar ought to guide your
rambles into other people's computers: don't manipulate files unless
you are sure a back-up exists; don't crash operating systems; don't
lock legitimate users out from access; watch who you give information
to; if you really discover something confidential, keep it to
yourself. Hackers should not be interested in fraud. Finally, just
as any rambler who ventured past barbed wire and notices warning
about the Official Secrets Acts would deserve whatever happened
thereafter, there are a few hacking projects which should never be
attempted.
On the converse side, I and many hackers I know are convinced of one
thing: we receive more than a little help from the system managers of
the computers we attack. In the case of computers owned by
universities and polys, there is little doubt that a number of them
are viewed like academic libraries--strictly speaking they are for
the student population, but if an outsider seriously thirsty for
knowledge shows up, they aren't turned away. As for other computers,
a number of us are almost sure we have been used as a cheap means to
test a system's defences...someone releases a phone number and
low-level password to hackers (there are plenty of ways) and watches
what happens over the next few weeks while the computer files
themselves are empty of sensitive data. Then, when the results have
been noted, the phone numbers and passwords are changed, the security
improved etc etc....much easier on dp budgets than employing
programmers at ?150/man/ day or more. Certainly the Pentagon has been
known to form 'Tiger Units' of US Army computer specialists to
pin-point weaknesses in systems security.
Two spectacular hacks of recent years have captured the public
imagination: the first, the Great Prince Philip Prestel Hack, is
described in detail in chapter 8, which deals with viewdata. The
second was spectacular because it was carried out on live national
television. It occurred on October 2nd 1983 during a follow-up to the
BBC's successful Computer Literacy series. It's worth reporting here,
because it neatly illustrates the essence of hacking as a sport...
skill with systems, careful research, maximum impact
with minimum real harm, and humour.
The tv presenter, John Coll, was trying to show off the Telecom
Gold electronic mail service. Coll had hitherto never liked long
passwords and, in the context of the tight timing and pressures of
live tv, a two letter password seemed a good idea at the time. On
Telecom Gold, it is only the password that is truly confidential;
system and account numbers, as well as phone numbers to log on to the
system, are easily obtainable. The BBC's account number, extensively
publicised, was OWL001, the owl being the 'logo' for the tv series as
well as the BBC computer.
The hacker, who appeared on a subsequent programme as a 'former
hacker' and who talked about his activities in general, but did not
openly acknowledge his responsibility for the BBC act, managed to
seize control of Coll's mailbox and superimpose a message of his own:
Computer Security Error. Illegal access. I hope your television
PROGRAMME runs as smoothly as my PROGRAM worked out your passwords!
Nothing is secure!
Hackers' Song
"Put another password in,
Bomb it out and try again
Try to get past logging in,
We're hacking, hacking, hacking
Try his first wife's maiden name,
This is more than just a game,
It's real fun, but just the same,
It's hacking, hacking, hacking"
The Nutcracker (Hackers UK)
HI THERE, OWLETS, FROM OZ AND YUG
(OLIVER AND GUY)
After the hack a number of stories about how it had been carried
out, and by whom, circulated; it was suggested that the hackers had
crashed through to the operating system of the Prime computers upon
which the Dialcom electronic mail software
resided--it was also suggested that the BBC had arranged the whole
thing as a stunt, or alternatively, that some BBC employees had fixed
it up without telling their colleagues. Getting to the truth of a
legend in such cases is almost always impossible. No one involved has
a stake in the truth. British Telecom, with a strong commitment to
get Gold accepted in the business community, was anxious to suggest
that only the dirtiest of dirty tricks could remove the inherent
confidentiality of their electronic mail service. Naturally, the
British Broadcasting Corporation rejected any possibility that it
would connive in an irresponsible cheap stunt. But the hacker had no
great stake in the truth either--he had sources and contacts to
protect, and his image in the hacker community to bolster. Never
expect any hacking anecdote to be completely truthful.
CHAPTER 2
Computer-to-Computer
Communications
Services intended for access by microcomputers are nowadays
usually presented in a very user-friendly fashion: pop in your
software disc or firmware, check the connections, dial the telephone
number, listen for the tone...and there you are. Hackers, interested
in venturing where they are not invited, enjoy no such luxury. They
may want to access older services which preceded the modern 'human
interface'; they are very likely to travel along paths intended, not
for ordinary customers, but for engineers or salesmen; they could be
utilising facilities that were part of a computer's commissioning
process and have been hardly used since.
So the hacker needs a greater knowledge of datacomms technology than
does a more passive computer user, and some feeling for the history
of the technology is pretty essential, because of its growth pattern
and because of the fact that many interesting installations still use
yesterday's solutions.
Getting one computer to talk to another some distance away means
accepting a number of limiting factors:
* Although computers can send out several bits of information at
once, the ribbon cable necessary to do this is not economical at any
great length, particularly if the information is to be sent out over
a network--each wire in the ribbon would need switching separately,
thus making ex- changes prohibitively expensive. So bits must be
transmitted one at a time, or serially.
* Since you will be using, in the first instance, wires and networks
already installed--in the form of the telephone and telex
networks--you must accept that the limited bandwidth of these
facilities will restrict the rate at which data can be sent. The data
will pass through long lengths of wire, frequently being
re-amplified, and undergoing de- gradation as it passes through dirty
switches and relays in a multiplicity of exchanges.
* Data must be easily capable of accurate recovery at the far end.
* Sending and receiving computers must be synchronised in their
working.
* The mode in which data is transmitted must be one understood by
all computers; accepting a standard protocol may mean adopting the
speed and efficiency of the slowest.
* The present 'universal' standard for data transmission used by
microcomputers and many other services uses agreed tones to signify
binary 0 and binary 1, the ASCII character set (also known as
International Alphabet No 5), and an asynchronous protocol, whereby
the transmitting and receiving computers are locked in step every
time a character is sent, not just at the beginning of a transmission
stream. Like nearly all standards, it is highly arbitrary in its
decisions and derives its importance simply from the fact of being
generally accepted. Like many standards, too, there are a number of
subtle and important variations.
To see how the standard works, how it came about and the reasons
for the variations, we need to look back a little into history.
The Growth of Telegraphy
The essential techniques of sending data along wires has a history
of 150 years, and some of the common terminology of modern data
transmission goes right back to the first experiments.
The earliest form of telegraphy, itself the earliest form of
electrical message sending, used the remote actuation of electrical
relays to leave marks on a strip of paper. The letters of the
alphabet were defined by the patterns of 'mark' and 'space'.
The terms have come through to the present, to signify binary
conditions of '1' and '0' respectively. The first reliable machine
for sending letters and figures by this method dates from 1840; the
direct successor of that machine, using remarkably unchanged
electromechanical technology and a 5-bit alphabetic code, is still
widely used today, as the telex/teleprinter/teletype. The mark and
space have been replaced by holes punched in paper-tape: larger holes
for mark, smaller ones for space. Synchronisation between sending and
receiving stations is carried out by beginning each letter with a
'start' bit (a space) and concluding it with a 'stop' bit (mark). The
'idle' state of a circuit is thus 'mark'. In effect, therefore, each
letter requires the transmission of 7 bits:
. * * . . . * (letter A: . = space; * = mark)
of which the first . is the start bit, the last * is the stop bit and
- * . .. is the code for A.
This is the principle means for sending text messages around the
world, and the way in which news reports are distributed globally.
And, until third-world countries are rich enough to afford more
advanced devices, the technology will survive.
Early computer communications
When, 110 years after the first such machines came on line, the
need arose to address computers remotely, telegraphy was the obvious
way to do so. No one expected computers in the early 1950s to give
instant results; jobs were assembled in batches, often fed in by
means of paper-tape (another borrowing from telex, still in use) and
then run. The instant calculation and collation of data was then
considered quite miraculous. So the first use of data communications
was almost exclusively to ensure that the machine was fed with
up-to-date information, not for the machine to send the results out
to those who might want it; they could wait for the 'print-out' in
due course, borne to them with considerable solemnity by the computer
experts. Typical communications speeds were 50 or 75 baud. (The baud
is the measure of speed of data transmission: specifically, it refers
to the number of signal level changes per second and is thus not the
same as bits-per-second.)
These early computers were, of course, in today's jargon,
single-user/single-task; programs were fed by direct machine coding.
Gradually, over the next 15 years, computers spawned multi-user
capabilities by means of time-sharing techniques, and their human
interface became more 'user-friendly'.
With these facilities grew the demand for remote access to
computers, and modern data communications began.
Even at the very end of the 1960s when I had my own very first
encounter with a computer, the links with telegraphy were still
obvious. As a result of happenstance, I was in a Government-run
research facility to the south-west of London, and the program I was
to use was located on a computer just to the north of Central London;
I was sat down in front of a battered teletype--capitals and figures
only, and requiring not inconsiderable physical force from my
smallish fingers to actuate the keys of my choice. As it was a
teletype outputting on to a paper roll, mistakes could not as readily
be erased as on a VDU, and since the sole form of error reporting
consisted of a solitary ?, the episode was more frustrating than
thrilling. VDUs and good keyboards were then far too expensive for
'ordinary' use.
The telephone network
But by that time all sorts of changes in datacomms were taking
place. The telex and telegraphy network, originally so important, had
long been overtaken by voice-grade telephone circuits (Bell's
invention dates from 1876). For computer communication, mark and
space could be indicated by different audio tones, rather than by
different voltage conditions. Data traffic on a telex line can
operate in only one direction at a time, but, by selecting different
pairs of tones, both 'transmitter' and 'receiver' could speak
simultaneously--so that in fact, one has to talk about 'originate'
and 'answer' instead.
Improved electrical circuit design meant that higher speeds than
50 or 75 baud became possible; there was a move to 110 baud, then 300
and, so far as ordinary telephone circuits are concerned, 1200 baud
is now regarded as the top limit.
The 'start' and 'stop' method of synchronising the near and far
end of a communications circuit at the beginning of each individual
letter has been retained, but the common use of the 5-bit Baudot code
has been replaced by a 7-bit extended code which allows for many more
characters, 128 in fact.
Lastly, to reduce errors in transmission due to noise in the
telephone line and circuitry, each letter can be checked by the use
of a further bit (the parity bit), which adds up all the bits in the
main character and then, depending on whether the result is odd or
even, adds a binary 0 or binary 1.
The full modern transmission of a letter in this system, in this
case, K, therefore, looks like this:
START-STOP TRANSMISSION OF A DATA CHARACTER
TIME
INTERVAL_____________9___0___1___2___3___4___5___6___7___8___9___
NUMBER
1 1 1 1 1 1
Mark +---+ +---+ +---+ +---+---+ +---+
LINE | | 0 | | 0 0 | | 0 | | 0 | |
CONDITION Space-+ +---+ +---+---+ +---+ +---+ +-
^ ^
| |
BINARY STOP-+ START 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 0
DIGIT
The first 0 is the start bit; then follows 7 bits of the actual
letter code (1001011); then the parity bit; then the final 1 is the
stop code.
This system, asynchronous start-stop ASCII (the common name for
the alphabetic code), is the basis for nearly all micro-based
communications. The key variations relate to:
bit-length; you can have 7 or 8 databits (*)
parity; (it can be even or odd, or entirely absent),
Tones - The tones used to signify binary 0 and binary 1, and which
computer is in 'originate' and which in 'answer', can vary according
to the speed of the transmission and also to whether the service is
used in North America or the rest of the world. (Briefly, most of
the world uses tones and standards laid down by the Geneva-based
organisation, CCITT, a specialised agency of the International
Telecommunications Union; whereas in the United States and most parts
of Canada, tones determined by the telephone utility, colloquially
known as Ma Bell, are adopted.) The following table gives the
standards and tones in common use.
(*) There are no 'obvious explanations' for the variations commonly
found: most electronic mail services and viewdata transmit 7 data
bits, even parity and I stop Bit; Telecom Gold and most hobbyist
bulletin boards transmit 8 data bits, odd parity and 1 stop bit.
Terminal emulator software--see chapter 3--allows users to adjust for
these differing requirements.
Service Speed Duplex Transmit Receive Answer
Designator 0 1 0 1
V21 orig 300(*) full 1180 980 1850 1650 -
V21 ans 300(*) full 1850 1650 1180 980 2100
V23 (1) 600 half 1700 1300 1700 1300 2100
V23 (2) 1200 f/h(**) 2100 1300 2100 1300 2100
V23 back 75 f/h(**) 450 390 450 390 -
Bell 103 orig 300(*) full 1070 1270 2025 2225 -
Bell 103 ans 300(*) full 2025 2225 1070 1270 2225
Bell 202 1200 half 2200 1200 2200 1200 2025
(*)any speed up to 300 baud, can also include 75 and 110 baud
services
(**)service can either be half-duplex at 1200 baud or asymmetrical
full duplex, with 75 baud originate and 1200 baud receive (commonly
used as viewdata user) or 1200 transmit and 75 receive (viewdata
host)
Higher Speeds
1200 baud is usually regarded as the fastest speed possible on an
ordinary voice-grade telephone line. Beyond this, noise on the line
due to the switching circuits at the various telephone exchanges,
poor cabling, etc. make accurate transmission difficult. Indeed, at
higher speeds it becomes increasingly important to use transmission
protocols that include error correction.
Error correction techniques usually consist of dividing the
transmission stream into a series of blocks which can be checked, one
at a time, by the receiving computer. The 'parity' system mentioned
above is one example, but obviously a crude one. The difficulty is
that the more secure an error-correction protocol becomes, the
greater becomes the overhead in terms of numbers of bits transmitted
to send just one character from one computer to another. Thus, in the
typical 300 bit situation, the actual letter is defined by 7 bits,
'start' and 'stop' account for another two, and the check takes a
further one--ten in all. After a while, what you gain in the speed
with which each actual bit is transmitted, you lose, because so many
bits have to be sent to ensure that a single character is accurately
received!
Although some people risk using 2400 baud on ordinary telephone
lines--the jargon is the PTSN (Public Telephone Switched
Network)--this means using expensive modems. Where higher speeds are
essential, leased circuits, not available via dial-up. become
essential. The leased circuit is paid for on a fixed charge, not a
charge based on time-connected. Such circuits can be conditioned',
for example by using special amplifiers, to support the higher data
rate.
For really high speed transmissions, however, pairs of copper
cable are inadequate. Medium speed is obtainable by the use of
coaxial cable (a little like that used for tv antenna hook-ups) which
have a very broad bandwidth. Imposing several different channels on
one cable-length is called multiplexing and, depending on the
application, the various channels can either carry several different
computer conversations simultaneously or can send several bits of one
computer conversation in parallel, just as though there were a ribbon
cable between the two participating computers. Either way, what
happens is that each binary 0 or binary 1 is given, not an audio
tone, but a radio frequency tone.
Synchronous Protocols
In the asynchronous protocols so far described, transmitting and
receiving computers are kept in step with each other every time a
character is sent, via the 'start' and 'stop' bits. In synchronous
comms, the locking together is done merely at the start of each block
of transmission by the sending of a special code (often SYN). The SYN
code starts a clock (a timed train of pulses) in the receiver and it
is this that ensures that binary 0s and 1s originating at the
transmitter are correctly interpreted by the receiver; clearly, the
displacement of even one binary digit can cause havoc.
A variety of synchronous protocols exist, such as the length of
block sent each time, the form of checking that takes place, the form
of acknowledgement, and so on. A synchronous protocol is not only a
function of the modem, which has to have a suitable clock, but also
of the software and firmware in the computers. Because asynchronous
protocols transmit so many 'extra' bits in order to avoid error,
savings in transmission time under synchronous systems often exceed
20-30%. The disadvantage of synchronous protocols lie in increased
hardware costs.
One other complication exists: most asynchronous protocols use the
ASCII code to define characters. IBM ('Big Blue'), the biggest
enthusiast of synchronous comms, has its own binary code to define
characters. In Appendix IV, you will find an explanation and a
comparison with ASCII.
The hacker, wishing to come to terms with synchronous comms, has
two choices: the more expensive is to purchase a protocol convertor
board. These are principally available for the IBM PC, which has been
increasingly marketed for the 'executive workstation' audience, where
the ability to interface to a company's existing (IBM) mainframe is a
key feature. The alternative is to see whether the target mainframe
has a port on to a packet- switched service; in that event, the
hacker can use ordinary asynchronous equipment and protocols--the
local PAD (Packet Assembler/Disassembler) will carry out the
necessary transformations.
Networks
Which brings us neatly to the world of high-speed digital networks
using packet-switching. All the computer communications so far
described have taken place either on the phone (voice-grade) network
or on the telex network.
In Chapter 7 we will look at packet-switching and the
opportunities offered by international data networks. We must now
specify hackers' equipment in more detail.
CHAPTER 3
Hackers' Equipment
You can hack with almost any microcomputer capable of talking to
the outside world via a serial port and a modem. In fact, you don't
even need a micro; my first hack was with a perfectly ordinary
viewdata terminal.
What follows in this chapter, therefore, is a description of the
elements of a system I like to think of as optimum for
straight-forward asynchronous ASCII and Baudot communications. What
is at issue is convenience as much as anything. With kit like this,
you will be able to get through most dial-up ports and into
packet-switching through a PAD -- a packet assembler/ disassembler
port. (It will not get you into IBM networks, because these use
different and incompatible protocols; we will return to the matter of
the IBM world in chapter 10.) In other words, given a bit of money, a
bit of knowledge, a bit of help from friends and a bit of luck, what
is described here is the sort of equipment most hackers have at their
command.
You will find few products on the market labelled 'for hackers';
you must select those items that appear to have 'legitimate' but
interesting functions and see if they can be bent to the hacker's
purposes. The various sections within this chapter highlight the sort
of facilities you need; before lashing out on some new software or
hardware, try to get hold of as much publicity and documentation
material as possible to see how adaptable the products are. In a few
cases, it is worth looking at the second-hand market, particularly
for modems, cables and test equipment.
Although it is by no means essential, an ability to solder a few
connections and scrabble among the circuit diagrams of 'official'
products often yield unexpectedly rewarding results.
The computer
Almost any popular microcomputer will do; hacking does not call
upon enormous reserves of computer power. Nearly everything you hack
will come to you in alphanumeric form, not graphics. The computer
you already have will almost certainly have the essential qualities.
However the very cheapest micros, like the ZX81, whilst usable,
require much more work on the part of the operator/hacker, and give
him far less in the way of instant facilities.
(In fact, as the ZX81 doesn't use ASCII internally, but a
Sinclair-developed variant; you will need a software or firmware fix
for that, before you even think of hooking it up to a modem.)
Most professional data services assume the user is viewing on an
80-column screen; ideally the hacker's computer should be capable of
doing that as well, otherwise the display will be full of awkward
line breaks. Terminal emulator software (see below) can some- times
provide a 'fix'.
One or two disc drives are pretty helpful, because you will want
to be able to save the results of your network adventures as quickly
and efficiently as possible. Most terminal emulators use the
computer's free memory (i.e. all that is not required to support the
operating system and the emulator software itself) as store for the
received data, but once the buffer is full, you will begin to lose
the earliest items. You can, of course, try to save to cassette, but
normally that is a slow and tedious process.
An alternative storage method is to save to a printer, printing
the received data stream not only to the computer screen, but also on
a dot matrix printer. However, most of the more popular (and cheaper)
printers do not work sufficiently fast. You may find you lose
characters at the beginning of each line. Moreover, if you print
everything in real-time, you'll include all your mistakes, false
starts etc., and in the process use masses of paper. So, if you can
save to disc regularly, you can review each hack afterwards at your
leisure and, using a screen editor or word processor, save or print
out only those items of real interest.
Serial ports
The computer must have a serial port, either called that or marked
RS232C (or its slight variant RS423), or V24, which is the official
designator of RS232C used outside the USA, though not often seen on
micros.
The very cheapest micros, like the ZX81, Spectrum, VIC20, do not
have RS232C ports, though add-on boards are available. Some of the
older personal computers, like the Apple or the original Pet, were
also originally sold without serial ports, though standard boards are
available for all of these.
You are probably aware that the RS232C standard has a large number
of variants, and that not all computers (or add-on boards) that claim
to have a RS232C port can actually talk into a modem.
Historically, RS232C/V24 is supposed to cover all aspects of
serial communication, including printers and dumb terminals as well
as computers. The RS232C standard specifies electrical and physical
requirements.
Everything is pumped through a 25-pin D-shaped connector, each pin
of which has some function in some implementation. But in most cases,
nearly all the pins are not used. In practice, only three connections
are essential for computer to modem communication:
Pin 7 signal ground
Pin 2 characters leaving the computer
Pin 3 characters arriving at the computer
The remaining connections are for such purposes as feeding power
to an external device, switching the external advice on or off,
exchanging status and timing signals, monitoring the state of the
line, and so forth. Some computers and their associated firmware
require one or other of these status signals to go 'high' or 'low' in
particular circumstances, or the program hangs. Check your
documentation if you have trouble.
Some RS232C implementations on microcomputers or add-on boards are
there simply to support printers with serial interfaces, but they can
often be modified to talk into modems. The critical two lines are
those serving Pins 2 and 3.
A computer serving a modem needs a cable in which Pin 2 on the
computer is linked to Pin 2 on the modem.
A computer serving a printer, etc, needs a cable in which Pin 3 on
the: computer is linked to Pin 2 on the printer and Pin 3 on the
printer is linked to Pin 2 on the computer.
If two computers are linked together directly, without a modem,
then Pin 2 on computer A must be linked to Pin 3 on computer B and
Pin 3 on computer B linked to Pin 2 on computer A: this arrangement
is sometimes called a 'null modem' or a 'null modem cable'.
There are historic explanations for these arrangements, depending
on who you think is sending and who is receiving--forget about them,
they are confusing. The above three cases are all you need to know
about in practice.
One difficulty that frequently arises with newer or portable
computers is that some manufacturers have abandoned the traditional
25-way D-connector, largely on the grounds of bulk, cost and
redundancy. Some European computer and peripheral companies favour
connectors based on the DIN series (invented in Germany), while
others use D-connectors with fewer pin-outs.
There is no standardisation. Even if you see two physically
similar connectors on two devices, regard them with suspicion. In
each case, you must determine the equivalents of:
Characters leaving computer (Pin 2)
Characters arriving at computer (Pin 3)
Signal ground (Pin 7)
You can usually set the speed of the port from the computer's
operating system and/or from Basic. There is no standard way of doing
this; you must check your handbook and manuals. Most RS232C ports can
handle the following speeds:
75, 110, 300, 600, 1200, 2400, 4800, 9600
and sometimes 50 and 19200 baud as well. These speeds are selectable
in hardware by appropriate wiring of a chip called a baud-rate
generator. Many modern computers let you select speed in hardware by
means of a DIL switch. The higher speeds are used either for driving
printers or for direct computer-to-computer or computer-to-peripheral
connections. The normal maximum speed for transmitting along phone
lines is 1200 baud.
Depending on how your computer has been set up, you may be able to
control the speed from the keyboard--a bit of firmware in the
computer will accept micro-instructions to flip transistor switches
controlling the wiring of the baud-rate generator. Alternatively,
the speeds may be set in pure software, the micro deciding at what
speed to feed information into the serial port.
In most popular micro implementations the RS232C cannot support
split-speed working (different speeds for receive and transmit). If
you set the port up for 1200 baud, it has to be 1200 receive and
transmit. This is a nuisance in Europe, where 75/1200 is in common
use both for viewdata systems and for some on-line services. The
usual way round is to have special terminal emulator software, which
requires the RS232C hardware to operate at 1200 /1200 and then slows
down (usually the micro's transmit path) to 75 baud in software by
means of a timing loop. An alternative method relies on a special
modem, which accepts data from the computer at 1200/1200 and then
performs the slowing-down to 75 baud in its own internal firmware.
Terminal emulators
We all need a quest in life. Sometimes I think mine is to search
for the perfect software package to make micros talk to the outside
world.
As in all such quests, the goal is occasionally approached but
never reached, if only because the process of the quest causes one to
redefine what one is looking for.
These items of software are sometimes called communications
packages, or asynchronous comms packages, and sometimes terminal
emulators, on the grounds that the software can make the micro appear
to be a variety of different computer terminals. Until recently, most
on-line computer services assumed that they were being examined
through 'dumb' terminals--simply a keyboard and a screen, with no
attendant processing or storage power (except perhaps a printer).
With the arrival of PCs all this is slowly changing, so that the
remote computer has to do no more than provide relatively raw data
and all the formatting and on-screen presentation is done by the
user's own computer. Terminal emulator software is a sort of
half-way house between 'dumb' terminals and PCs with considerable
local processing power.
Given the habit of manufacturers of mainframe and mini- computers
to make their products as incompatible with those of their
competitors as possible (to maximise their profits), many slight
variants on the 'dumb' computer terminal exist--hence the
availability of terminal emulators to provide, in one software
package, a way of mimicking all the popular types.
Basic software to get a computer to talk through its RS232C port,
and to take in data sent to it, is trivial. What the hacker needs is
software that will make his computer assume a number of different
personalities upon command, store data as it is collected, and print
it out.
Two philosophies of presenting such software to the user exist:
first, one which gives the naive user a simple menu which says, in
effect, 'press a key to connect to database' and then performs
everything smoothly, without distracting menus. Such programs need an
'install' procedure, which requires some knowledge, but most
'ordinary' users never see this. Normally, this is a philosophy of
software writing I very much admire: however, as a hacker you will
want the precise opposite. The second approach to terminal emulator
software allows you to re configure your computer as you go on--there
is plenty of on-screen help in the form of menus allowing you to turn
on and off local echo, set parity bits, show non-visible control
codes and so on. In a typical hack, you may have only vague
information about the target computer, and much of the fun is seeing
how quickly you can work out what the remote computer wants to 'see'
- and how to make your machine respond.
Given the numbers of popular computers on the market, and the
numbers of terminal emulators for each one, it is difficult to make a
series of specific recommendations. What follows there- fore, is a
list of the sort of facilities you should look for:
On-line help You must be able to change the software
characteristics while on-line--no separate 'install' routine. You
should be able to call up 'help' menus instantly, with simple
commands --while holding on to the line.
Text buffer - The received data should be capable of going into the
computer's free memory automatically so that you can view it later
off-line. The size of the buffer will depend on the amount of memory
left after the computer has used up the space required for its
operating system and the terminal software. If the terminal software
includes special graphics, as in Apple Visiterm or some of the ROM
packs used with the BBC, the buffer space may be relatively small.
The software should tell you how much buffer space you have used and
how much is left, at any time. A useful adjunct is an auto-save
facility which, when the buffer becomes full, stops the stream of
text from the host computer and automatically saves the buffer text
to disc. A number of associated software commands should let you turn
on and off the buffer store, clear it or, when off-line, view the
buffer. You should also be able to print the buffer to a 'line'
printer (dot-matrix or daisy wheel or thermal image). Some terminal
emulators even include a simple line editor, so that you can delete
or adjust the buffer before printing. (I use a terminal emulator
which saves text files in a form which can be accessed by my
word-processor and use that before printing out.)
Half/full Duplex (Echo On/Off) - Most remote services use an echoing
protocol: this means that when the user sends a character to the host
computer, the host immediately sends back the same character to the
user's computer, by way of confirmation. What the user sees on his
computer screen, therefore, has been generated, not locally by his
direct action on the keyboard, but remotely by the host computer.
(One effect of this is that there may sometimes be a perceptible
delay between keystroke and display of a letter, particularly if you
are using a packet-switched connection--if the telephone line is
noisy, the display may appear corrupt). This echoing protocol is
known as full duplex, because both the user's computer and the host
are in communication simultaneously.
However, use of full duplex/echo is not universal, and all
terminal emulators allow you to switch on and off the facility. If,
for example, you are talking into a half-duplex system (i.e. no
echo), your screen would appear totally blank. In these
circumstances, it is best if your software reproduces on the screen
your keystrokes.
However, if you have your computer set for half-duplex and the host
computer is actually operating in full duplex. each letter will
appear twice--once from the keyboard and once, echoing from the host,
ggiiwiinngg tthhiiss ssoorrtt ooff eeffffeecctt. Your terminal
emulator needs to able to toggle between the two states.
Data Format/Parity Setting - In a typical asynchronous protocol, each
character is surrounded by bits to show when it starts, when it ends,
and to signify whether a checksum performed on its binary equivalent
comes out even or odd. The character itself is described, typically,
in 7 bits and the other bits, start, stop and parity, bringing the
number up to 10. (See chapter 2.) However, this is merely one very
common form, and many systems use subtle variants -- the ideal
terminal emulator software will let you try out these variants while
you are still on line. Typical variants should include:
Word length Parity No stop bits
7 Even 2
7 Odd 2
7 Even 1
7 Odd 1
8 None 2
8 None 1
8 Even 1
8 Odd 1
(NB although the ASCII character set is 7 bit, 8 bits are sometimes
transmitted with a ~padding~ bit; machine code instructions for 8-bit
and 16-bit machines obviously need 8-bit transmissions.)
Show Control Characters - This is a software switch to display
characters not normally part of the text that is meant to be read but
which nevertheless are sent by the host computer to carry out display
functions, operate protocols, etc. With the switch on, you will see
line feeds displayed as ^J, a back-space as ^H and so on; see
Appendix IV for the usual equivalents.
Using this device properly you will be able, if you are unable to
get the text stream to display properly on your screen, to work out
what exactly is being sent from the host, and modify your local
software accordingly.
Control-Show is also useful for spotting 'funnies' in passwords and
log-on procedures--a common trick is to include ^H (backspace) in the
middle of a log-on so that part of the full password is overwritten.
(For normal reading of text, you have Control-Show switched off, as
it makes normal reading difficult.)
Macros - This is the US term, now rapidly being adopted in the UK,
for the preformatting of a log-on procedure, passwords etc. Typical
connecting procedures to US services like The Source, CompuServe, Dow
Jones etc are relatively complicated, compared with using a local
hobbyist bulletin board or calling up Prestel. Typically, the user
must first connect to a packet- switched service like Telenet or
Tymnet (the US commercial equivalents of BT's PSS), specify an
'address' for the host required (a long string of letters and
numbers) and then, when the desired service or 'host' is on line,
enter password(s) to be fully admitted. The password itself may be in
several parts.
The value of the 'macro' is that you can type all this junk in
once and then send off the entire stream any time you wish by means
of a simple command. Most terminal emulators that have this feature
allow you to preformat several such macros.
From the hacker's point of view, the best type of macro facility
is one that can be itself addressed and altered in software:
supposing you have only part of a password: write a little routine
which successively tries all the unknowns; you can then let the
computer attempt penetration automatically. (You'll have to read the
emulator's manual carefully to see if it has software-addressable
macros: the only people who need them are hackers, and, as we have
often observed, very few out-and-out hacker products exist!)
Auto-dial - Some modems contain programmable auto-diallers so that
frequently-called services can be dialled from a single keyboard
command.
Again the advantage to the hacker is obvious--a partly- known
telephone number can be located by writing some simple software
routine to test the variables.
However, not all auto-dial facilities are equally useful. Some
included in US-originated communications software and terminal
emulators are for specific 'smart' modems not available
elsewhere--and there is no way of altering the software to work with
other equipment. In general, each modem that contains an auto-dialler
has its own way of requiring instructions to be sent to it. If an
auto-dialling facility is important to you, check that your software
is configurable to your choice of auto-dial modem.
Another hazard is that certain auto-diallers only operate on the
multi-frequency tones method ('touch-tone') of dialling used in large
parts of the United States and only very slowly being introduced in
other countries. The system widely used in the UK is called 'pulse'
dialling. Touch-tone dialling is much more rapid than pulse dialling,
of course.
Finally, on the subject of US-originated software, some packages
will only accept phone numbers in the standard North American format
of: 3-digit area code, 3-digit local code, 4-digit subscriber code.
In the UK and Europe the phone number formats vary quite
considerably. Make sure that any auto-dial facility you use actually
operates on your phone system.
Format Screen - Most professional on-line and time-share services
assume an 80-column screen. The 'format screen' option in terminal
emulators may allow you to change the regular text display on your
micro to show 80 characters across by means of a graphics 'fiddle';
alternatively, it may give you a more readable display of the stream
from the host by forcing line feeds at convenient intervals, just
before the stream reaches the right- hand margin of the micro's
'natural' screen width.
Related to this are settings to handle the presentation of the
cursor and to determine cursor movement about the screen-- normally
you won't need to use these facilities, but they may help you when
on-line to some odd-ball, non-standard service. Certain specific
'dumb' terminals like the VT52 (which has become something of a
mainframe industry standard) use special sequences to move the cursor
about the screen--useful when the operator is filling in standard
forms of information.
Other settings within this category may allow you to view
characters on your screen which are not part of the normal character
set. The early Apples, for example, lacked lower case, presenting
everything in capitals (as does the ZX81), so various ingenious
'fixes' were needed to cope. Even quite advanced home computers may
lack some of the full ASCII character set, such oddities as the tilde
~ or backslash \ or curly bracket { }, for example.
Re-assign - keyboard A related problem is that home micro keyboards
may not be able to generate all the required characters the remote
service wishes to see. The normal way to generate an ASCII character
not available from the keyboard is from Basic, by using a Print
CHR$(n) type command. This may not be possible when on-line to a
remote computer, where everything is needed in immediate mode. Hence
the requirement for a software facility to re-assign any little-used
key to send the desired 'missing' feature. Typical requirements are
BREAK~ ESC, RETURN (when part of a string as opposed to being the end
of a command) etc. When re-assigning a series of keys, you must make
sure you don't interfere with the essential functioning of the
terminal emulator.
For example, if you designate the sequence ctrl-S to mean 'send a DC1
character to the host', the chances are you will stop the host from
sending anything to you, because ctrl-S is a common command (some-
times called XOF) to call for a pause--incidentally, you can end the
pause by hitting ctrl-Q. Appendix IV gives a list of the full ASCII
implementation and the usual 'special' codes as they apply to
computer-to-computer communications.
File Protocols - When computers are sending large files to each
other, a further layer of protocol, beyond that defining individual
letters, is necessary. For example, if your computer is automatically
saving to disk at regular intervals as the buffer fills up, it is
necessary to be able to tell the host to stop sending for a period,
until the save is complete. On older time-share services, where the
typical terminal is a teletypewriter, the terminal is in constant
danger of being unable mechanically to keep up with the host
computer's output. For this reason, many host computers use one of
two well-known protocols which require the regular exchange of
special control characters for host and user to tell each other all
is well. The two protocols are:
Stop/Start - The receiving computer can at any time send to the host
a Stop (ctrl-S) signal, followed by, when it is ready a Start,
(ctrl-Q).
EOB/ACK - The sending computer divides its file into a blocks (of any
convenient length); after each block is sent, an EOB (End of Block)
character is sent (see ASCII table, Appendix IV). The user's computer
must then respond with a ACK (Acknowledge) character.
These protocols can be used individually, together or not at all.
You may be able to use the 'Show Control Codes' option to check
whether either of the protocols are in use. Alternatively, if you
have hooked on to a service which for no apparent reason, seems to
stop in its tracks, you could try ending an ACK or Start (ctrl-F or
ctrl-S) and see if you can get things moving.
File transmission - All terminal emulators assume you will want to
send, as well as receive, text files. Thus, in addition to the
protocol settings already mentioned, there may be additional ones for
that purpose, e.g. the XMODEM protocol very popular on bulletin
boards. Hackers, of course, usually don't want to place files on
remote computers.....
Specific terminal emulation - Some software has pre-formatted sets of
characteristics to mimic popular commercial 'dumb' terminals. For
example, with a ROM costing under ?60 fitted to a BBC micro, you can
obtain almost all of the features of DEC's VT100 terminal, which
until recently was regarded as something of an industry-standard and
costing just under ?1000.
Other popular terminals are the VT52 and some Tektronix models, the
latter for graphics display. ANSI have produced a 'standard'
specification.
Baudot characters - The Baudot code, or International Telegraphic
Code No 2, is the 5-bit code used in telex and telegraphy -- and in
many wire-based news services. A few terminal emulators include it as
an option, and it is useful if you are attempting to hack such
services. Most software intended for use on radio link-ups (see
Chapter 10) operates primarily in Baudot, with ASCII as an option.
Viewdata emulation - This gives you the full, or almost full,
graphics and text characters of UK-standard viewdata. Viewdata tv
sets and adapters use a special character-generator chip and a few,
mostly British-manufactured, micros use that chip also-- the Acorn
Atom was one example. The BBC has a teletext mode which adopts the
same display. But for most micros, viewdata emulation is a matter of
using hi-res graphics to mimic the qualities of the real thing, or to
strip out most of the graphics. Viewdata works on a screen 40
characters by 24 rows, and as some popular home micros have 'native'
displays smaller than that, some considerable fiddling is necessary
to get them to handle viewdata at all.
In some emulators, the option is referred to as Prestel or
Micronet--they are all the same thing. Micronet-type software usually
has additional facilities for fetching down telesoftware programs
(see Chapter 10).
Viewdata emulators must attend not only to the graphics
presentation, but also to split-speed operation: the usual speeds are
1200 receive from host, 75 transmit to host. USA users of such
services may get them via a packet-switched network, in which case
they will receive it either at 1200/1200 full duplex or at 300/300.
Integrated terminal emulators offering both 'ordinary'
asynchronous emulation and viewdata emulation are rare: I have to use
completely different and non-compatible bits of software on my own
home set-up.
Modems
Every account of what a modem is and does begins with the classic
explanation of the derivation of the term: let this be no exception.
Modem is a contraction of modulator-demodulator.
A modem taking instructions from a computer (pin 2 on RS232C)
converts the binary 0's and 1's into specific single tones, according
to which 'standard' is being used. In RS232C/V24, binary 0 (ON)
appears as positive volts and binary 1 (OFF) appears as negative
volts.
The tones are then fed, either acoustically via the telephone
mouth-piece into the telephone line, or electrically, by generating
the electrical equivalent direct onto the line. This is the
modulating process.
In the demodulating stage, the equipment sits on the phone line
listening for occurrences of pre-selected tones (again according to
whichever 'standard' is in operation) and, when it hears one,
delivers a binary 0 or binary 1 in the form of positive or negative
voltage pulses into pin 3 of the computer's serial port.
This explanation holds true for modems operating at up to 1200
baud; above this speed, the modem must be able to originate tones,
and detect them according to phase as well, but since higher-speed
working is unusual in dial-up ports--the hacker's special interest,
we can leave this matter to one side.
The modem is a relatively simple bit of kit: on the transmit side
it consists of a series of oscillators acting as tone generators, and
on receive has a series of narrow band-pass filters. Designers of
modems must ensure that unwanted tones do not leak into the telephone
line (exchanges and amplifiers used by telephone companies are
sometimes remotely controlled by the injection of specific tones) and
also that, on the receive side, only the distinct tones used for
communications are 'interpreted' into binary 0s or 1s. The other
engineering requirements are that unwanted electrical currents do not
wander down the telephone cable (to the possible risk of phone
company employees) or back into the user's computer.
Until relatively recently, the only UK source of low-speed modems
was British Telecom. The situation is much easier now, but
de-regulation of 'telephone line attachments', which include modems,
is still so recent that the ordinary customer can easily become
confused. Moreover, modems offering exactly the same service can vary
in price by over 300%. Strictly speaking, all modems connected to
the phone line should be officially approved by BT or other
appropriate regulatory authority.
At 300 baud, you have the option of using direct-connect modems
which are hard-wired into the telephone line, an easy enough
exercise, or using an acoustic coupler in which you place the
telephone hand-set. Acoustic couplers are inherently prone to
interference from room-noise, but are useful for quick lash-ups and
portable operation. Many acoustic couplers operate only in
'originate' mode, not in' answer'. Newer commercial direct- connect
modems are cheaper than acoustic couplers.
At higher speeds acoustic coupling is not recommended, though a
75/1200 acoustic coupler produced in association with the Prestel
Micronet service is not too bad, and is now exchanged on the
second-hand market very cheaply indeed.
I prefer modems that have proper status lights--power on, line
seized, transmit and receive indicators. Hackers need to know what is
going on more than most users.
The table below shows all but two of the types of service you are
likely to come across; V-designators are the world-wide 'official'
names given by the CCITT; Bell-designators are the US names:
Service Speed Duplex Transmit Receive Answer
Designator 0 1 0 1
V21 orig 300(*) full 1180 980 1850 1650 -
V21 ans 300(*) full 1850 1650 1180 980 2100
V23 (1) 600 half 1700 1300 1700 1300 2100
V23 (2) 1200 f/h(**) 2100 1300 2100 1300 2100
V23 back 75 f/h(**) 450 390 450 390 -
Bell 103 orig 300(*) full 1070 1270 2025 2225 -
Bell 103 ans 300(*) full 2025 2225 1070 1270 2225
Bell 202 1200 half 2200 1200 2200 1200 2025
(*)any speed up to 300 baud, can also include 75 and 110 baud
services
(**)service can either be half-duplex at 1200 baud or asymmetrical
full duplex, with 75 baud originate and 1200 baud receive (commonly
used as viewdata user) or 1200 transmit and 75 receive (viewdata
host)
The two exceptions are:
V22 1200 baud full duplex, two wire
Bell 212A The US equivalent
These services use phase modulation as well as tone.
British Telecom markets the UK services under the name of
Datel--details are given in Appendix V.
BT's methods of connecting modems to the line are either to
hard-wire the junction box (the two outer-wires are the ones you
usually need)--a 4-ring plug and associated socket (type 95A) for
most modems, a 5-ring plug and associated socket (type 96A) for
Prestel applications (note that the fifth ring isn't used)--and, for
all new equipment, a modular jack called type 600. The US also has a
modular jack, but of course it is not compatible.
Modern modem design is greatly aided by a wonder chip called the
AMD 7910. This contains nearly all the facilities to modulate and
demodulate the tones associated with the popular speed services, both
in the CCITT and Bell standards. The only omission--not always made
clear in the advertisements--are services using 1200/1200
full-duplex, ie V22 and Bell 212A.
Building a modem is now largely a question of adding a few
peripheral components, some switches and indicator lights, and a box.
In deciding which 'world standard' modem to purchase, hackers should
consider the following features:
Status lights you need to be able to see what is happening on the
line.
Hardware/software switching - cheaper versions merely give you a
switch on the front enabling you to change speeds, originate or
answer mode and CClTT or Bell tones. More expensive ones feature
firmware which allows your computer to send specially formatted
instructions to change speed under program control. However, to make
full use of this facility, you may need to write (or modify) your
terminal emulator.
Auto-dial - a pulse dialler and associated firmware are included in
some more expensive models. You should ascertain whether the
auto-dialer operates on the telephone system you intend to hook the
modem up to--some of the US 'smart' modems present difficulties
outside the States. You will of course need software in your micro to
address the firmware in the modem --and the software has to be part
of your terminal emulator, otherwise you gain nothing in convenience.
However, with appropriate software, you can get your computer to try
a whole bank of numbers one after the other.
D25 connector - this is the official 'approved' RS232CN24 physical
connection--useful from the point-of-view of easy hook-up. A number
of lower-cost models substitute alternative DIN connectors. You must
be prepared to solder up your own cables to be sure of connecting up
properly.
Documentation I always prefer items to be accompanied by proper
instructions. Since hackers tend to want to use equipment in
unorthodox ways, they should look for good documentation too.
Finally, a word on build-your-own modems. A number of popular
electronics magazines and mail-order houses have offered modem
designs. Such modems are not likely to be approved for direct
connection to the public telephone network. However, most of them
work. If you are uncertain of your kit-constructing skills, though.
remember badly-built modems can be dangerous both to your computer
and to the telephone network.
Test Equipment
Various items of useful test equipment occasionally appear on the
second-hand market--via mail-order, in computer junk shops, in the
flea-market section of exhibitions and via computer clubs.
It's worth searching out a cable 'break-out' box. This lets you
restrap a RS232C cable without using a soldering iron--the various
lines are brought out on to an accessible matrix and you use small
connectors to make (or break) the links you require. It's useful if
you have an 'unknown' modem, or an unusually configured computer.
Related, but much more expensive, is a RS232C/V24 analyser --this
gives LED status lights for each of the important lines, so you can
see what is happening.
Lastly, if you are a very rich and enthusiastic hacker, you can
buy a protocol analyser. This is usually a portable device with a
VDU, full keyboard, and some very clever firmware which examines the
telephone line or RS232C port and carries out tests to see which of
several popular datacomms protocols is in use. Hewlett Packard do a
nice range. Protocol analysers will handle synchronous transmissions
as well as synchronous. Cost: ?1500 and up...and up.
CHAPTER 4
Targets
Wherever hackers gather, talk soon moves from past achievements
and adventures to speculation about what new territory might be
explored. It says much about the compartmentalisation of computer
specialities in general and the isolation of micro- owners from
mainstream activities in particular that a great deal of this
discussion is like that of navigators in the days before Columbus:
the charts are unreliable, full of blank spaces and confounded with
myth.
In this chapter I am attempting to provide a series of notes on
the main types of services potentially available on dial-up, and to
give some idea of the sorts of protocols and conventions employed.
The idea is to give voyagers an outline atlas of what is interesting
and possible, and what is not.
On-line hosts
On-line services were the first form of electronic publishing: a
series of big storage computers--and on occasion, associated
dedicated networks -- act as hosts to a group of individual databases
by providing not only mass data storage and the appropriate 'search
language' to access it, but also the means for registering, logging
and billing users. Typically, users access the on-line hosts via a
phone number which links into a a public data network using packet
switching (there's more on these networks in chapter 7).
The on-line business began almost by accident; large corporations
and institutions involved in complicated technological developments
found that their libraries simply couldn't keep track of the
publication of relevant new scientific papers, and decided to
maintain indices of the papers by name, author, subject-matter, and
so on, on computer. One of the first of these was the armaments and
aircraft company, Lockheed Corporation.
In time the scope of these indices expanded and developed and
outsiders -- sub-contractors, research agencies, universities,
government employees, etc were granted access. Other organisations
with similar information-handling requirements asked if space could
be found on the computer for their needs.
Eventually Lockheed and others recognised the beginnings of a quite
separate business; in Lockheed's case it lead to the foundation of
Dialogue, which today acts as host and marketing agent for almost 300
separate databases. Other on-line hosts include BRS (Bibliographic
Retrieval Services), Comshare (used for sophisticated financial
modelling), DataStar, Blaise (British Library) I P Sharp, and
Euronet-Diane.
On-line services, particularly the older ones, are not especially
user-friendly by modern standards. They were set up at a time when
both core and storage memory was expensive, and the search languages
tend to be abbreviated and formal. Typically they are used, not by
the eventual customer for the information, but by professional
intermediaries--librarians and the like-- who have undertaken special
courses. Originally on-line hosts were accessed by dumb terminals,
usually teletypewriters like the Texas Whisperwriter portable with
built-in acoustic modem, rather than by VDUs. Today the trend is to
use 'front-end' intelligent software on an IBM PC which allows the
naive user to pose his/her questions informally while offline; the
software then redefines the information request into the formal
language of the on-line host (the user does not witness this process)
and then goes on-line via an auto-dial modem to extract the
information as swiftly and efficiently as possible.
On-line services require the use of a whole series of passwords:
the usual NUI and NUA for PSS (see chapter 7), another to reach the
host, yet another for the specific information service required.
Charges are either for connect-time or per record retrieved, or
sometimes a combination.
The categories of on-line service include bibliographic, which
merely indexes the existence of an article or book--you must then
find a physical copy to read; and source, which contains the article
or extract thereof. Full-text services not only contain the complete
article or book but will, if required, search the entire text (as
opposed to mere keywords) to locate the desired information. An
example of this is LEXIS, a vast legal database which contains nearly
all important US and English law judgements, as well as statutes.
News Services
The vast majority of news services, even today, are not, in the
strictest sense, computer-based, although computers play an important
role in assembling the information and, depending on the nature of
the newspaper or radio or tv station receiving it, its subsequent
handling.
The world's big press agencies--United Press, Associated Press,
Reuters, Agence France Presse, TASS, Xinhua, PAP, VoA -- use telex
techniques to broadcast their stories. Permanent leased telegraphy
lines exist between agencies and customers, and the technology is
pure telex: the 5-bit Baudot code (rather than ASCII) is adopted,
giving capital letters only, and 'mark' and space' are sent by
changing voltage conditions on the line rather than audio tones.
Speeds are 50 or 75 baud.
The user cannot interrogate the agency in any way. The stories
come in a single stream which is collected on rolls of paper and then
used as per the contract between agency and subscriber. To hack a
news agency line you will need to get physically near the appropriate
leased line, tap in by means of an inductive loop, and convert the
changing voltage levels (+80 volts on the line) into something your
RS232C port can handle. You will then need software to translate the
Baudot code into the ASCII which your computer can handle internally,
and display on screen or print to a file. The Baudot code is given in
Appendix IV.
None of this is easy and will probably involve breaches of several
laws, including theft of copyright material! However a number of news
agencies also transmit services by radio, in which case the signals
can be hijacked with a short-wave receiver. Chapter 9 explains.
Historic news, as opposed to the current stuff from agencies, is
now becoming available on-line. The New York Times, for example, has
long held its stories in an electronic 'morgue' or clippings library.
Initially this was for internal use, but for the last several years
it has been sold to outsiders, chiefly broadcasting stations and
large corporations. You can search for information by a combination
of keyword and date-range. The New York Times Information Bank is
available through several on-line hosts.
As the world's great newspapers increasingly move to electronic
means of production--journalists working at VDUs, sub-editors
assembling pages and direct-input into photo-typesetters--the
additional cost to each newspaper of creating its own morgue is
relatively slight and we can expect to see many more commercial
services.
In the meantime, other publishing organisations have sought to
make available articles, extract or complete, from leading magazines
also. Two UK examples are Finsbury Data Services' Textline and
Datasolve's d Reporter, the latter including material from the BBC's
monitoring service, Associated Press, the Economist and the Guardian.
Textline is an abstract service, but World Reporter gives the full
text. In October 1984 it already held 500 million English words.
In the US there is NEXIS, which shares resources with LEXIS; NEXIS
held 16 million full text articles at that same date. All these
services are expensive for casual use and are accessed by dial-up
using ordinary asynchronous protocols.
Many electronic newsrooms also have dial-in ports for reporters
out on the job; depending on the system these ports not only allow
the reporter to transmit his or her story from a portable computer,
but may also (like Basys Newsfury used by Channel Four News) let them
see news agency tapes, read headlines and send electronic mail. Such
systems have been the subject of considerable hacker speculation.
Financial Services
The financial world can afford more computer aids than any other
non-governmental sector. The vast potential profits that can be made
by trading huge blocks of currency, securities or commodities--and
the extraordinary advantages that a slight 'edge' in information can
bring--have meant that the City, Wall Street and the equivalents in
Hong Kong, Japan and major European capitals have been in the
forefront of getting the most from high-speed comms.
Ten years ago the sole form of instant financial information was
the ticker tape--telegraphy technology delivering the latest share
price movements in a highly abbreviated form. As with its news
equivalents, these were broadcast services (and still are, for the
services still exist) sent along leased telegraph lines. The user
could only watch, and 'interrogation' consisted of back-tracking
along a tape of paper. Extel (Exchange Telegraph) continues to use
this technique, though it is gradually upgrading by using viewdata
and intelligent terminals.
However, just over ten years ago Reuters put together the first
packages which gave some intelligence and 'questioning power' to the
end user. Each Reuters' Monitor is intelligent, containing (usually)
a DEC PDP-8 series mini and some firmware which accepts and selects
the stream of data from the host at the far end of the leased line,
marshalls interrogation requests and takes care of the local display.
Information is formatted in 'pages' rather like viewdata frames, but
without the colour. There is little point in eavesdropping into a
Reuters line unless you know what the terminal firmware does. Reuters
now face an aggressive rival in Telerate, and the fight is on to
deliver not only fast comprehensive prices services but international
screen-based dealing as well. The growth of Reuters and its rivals is
an illustration of technology creating markets--especially in
international currency--where none existed before.
The first sophisticated Stock Exchange prices 'screens' used
modified closed circuit television technology. London had a system
called Market Price Display Service--MPDS--which consisted of a
number of tv displays of current prices services on different
'channels' which could be selected by the user. But London now uses
TOPIC, a leased line variant on viewdata technology, though with its
magazine-like arrangement and auto-screen refresh, it has as much in
common with teletext as Prestel. TOPIC carries about 2,500 of the
total 7,500 shares traded in London, plus selected analytical
material from brokers. Datastream represents a much higher level of
sophistication: using its ?40,000 plus pa terminals you can compare
historic data-- price movements, movements against sector indices
etc--and chart the results.
The hacker's reward for getting into such systems is that you can
see share and other prices on the move. None of these prices is
confidential; all could be obtained by ringing a stockbroker.
However, this situation is likely to change; as the City makes the
change from the traditional broker/jobber method of dealing towards
specialist market making, there will then be electronic prices
services giving privileged information to specialist share dealers.
All these services are only available via leased lines; City
professionals would not tolerate the delays and uncertainties of
dial-up facilities. However dial-up ports exist for demonstrations,
exhibitions, engineering and as back-up--and a lot of hacking effort
has gone into tracking them down.
In the United States, in addition to Reuters, Telerate and local
equivalents of official streams of stock exchange and over-the-
counter data, there is Dow Jones, best known internationally for its
market indices similar to those produced by the Financial Times in
London. Dow Jones is in fact the owner of the Wall Street Journal and
some influential business magazines. Its Dow Jones News/Retrieval
Service is aimed at businesses and private investors. It features
current share prices, deliberately delayed by 15 minutes, historic
price data, which can be charted by the user's own computer
(typically an Apple or IBM PC) and historic 'morgue' type company
news and analysis. Extensions of the service enable customers to
examine accounts of companies in which they are interested. The bulk
of the information is US-based, but can be obtained world-wide via
packet-switching networks. All you need are the passwords and special
software.
Business Information
Business information is usually about the credit-worthiness of
companies, company annual reports, trading opportunities and market
research. The biggest electronic credit data resource is owned by the
international company Dun & Bradstreet: during 1985-86 it is due to
spend ?25m on making its data available all over Europe, including
the UK. The service, which covers more than 250,000 UK businesses, is
called DunsPrint and access is both on-line and via a viewdata
front-end processor. Another credit agency, CNN Services, extensively
used already by the big clearing banks, and with 3000 customers
accessing information via viewdata sets, has recently also announced
an extended electronic retrieval service for its own called Guardian
Business Information A third UK credit service available
electronically is called InfoLink.
In addition, all UK companies quoted on the London Stock Exchange
and many others of any size who are not, have a report and analysis
available from ICC (InterCompany Comparisons) who can be accessed via
on--line dial--up, through a viewdata interface and also by
Datastream customers. Dun & Bradstreet also have an on--line service
called KBE covering 20,000 key British enterprises.
Prodigious quantities of credit and background data on US
companies can be found on several of the major on--line hosts. A
valid phone number, passwords and extracts from the operations manual
of one of the largest US services, TRW--it has credit histories on 90
million people--sat on some hackers' bulletin boards (of which much
more later) for over twelve months during 1983 and 1984 before the
company found out. No one knows how many times hackers accessed the
service. According to the Washington Post, the password and manual
had been obtained from a Sears Roebuck national chain store in
Sacramento; some hackers claimed they were able to alter credit
records, but TRW maintain that telephone access to their systems is
designed for read-only operations alone, updating of files taking
place solely on magnetic tape.
US market research and risk analysis comes from Frost Sullivan.
Risk analysis tells international businessmen which countries are
politically or economically unstable, or likely t become so, and so
unsafe to do business with. I once found myself accessing a
viewdata-based international assessment service run b a company
called Control Risks, which reputedly has strong link to the Special
Air Service. As so often happens when hacker think they are about to
uncover secret knowledge, the actual data files seemed relatively
trivial, the sort of judgements that could be made by a bright sixth
former who read posh newspapers and thoughtful weekly magazines.
University facilities
In complete contrast to computers that are used to store and
present data are those where the value is to deliver processing power
to the outside world. Paramount among these are those installed in
universities and research institutes.
Although hackers frequently acquire phone numbers to enter such
machines, what you can do once you are there varies enormously. There
are usually tiers and banks of passwords, each allowing only limited
access to the range of services. It takes considerable knowledge of
the machine's operating system to break through from one to another
and indeed, in some cases, the operating system is so thoroughly
embedded in the mainframe's hardware architecture that the
substantial modifications necessary to permit a hacker to roam free
can only be done from a few designated terminals, or by having
physical access to the machine. However, the hobbyist bulletin board
system quite often provides passwords giving access to games and the
ability to write and run programs in exotic languages--my own first
hands--on experience of Unix came in exactly this way. There are
bulletin boards on mainframes and even, in some cases, boards for
hackers!
Given the nature of hacking, it is not surprising that some of the
earliest japes occurred on computers owned by universities. Way back
in the 1970s, MIT was the location of the famous 'Cookie Monster',
inspired by a character in the then-popular Rowan & Martin Laugh-in
television show. As someone worked away at their terminal, the word
'cookie' would appear across their screen, at first slowly wiping out
the user's work. Unless the user moved quickly, things started to
speed up and the machine would flash urgently: "Cookie, cookie, give
me a cookie". The whole screen would pulse with this message until,
after a while, the hacking program relented and the 'Monster' would
clear the screen, leaving the message: "I didn't want a cookie
anyway." It would then disappear into the computer until it snared
another unsuspecting user. You could save yourself from the Monster
by typing the word "Cookie", to which it replied "Thank you" and then
vanished.
In another US case, this time in 1980, two kids in Chicago,
calling themselves System Cruncher and Vladimir, entered the computer
at DePaul University and caused a system crash which cost $22,000 to
fix. They were prosecuted, given probation and were then made a movie
offer.
In the UK, many important university and research institution
computers have been linked together on a special data network called
SERCNET. SERC is the Science and Engineering Research Council.
Although most of the computers are individually accessible via PSS,
SERCNET makes it possible to enter one computer and pass through to
others. During early 1984, SERCNET was the target of much hacker
attention; a fuller account appears in chapter 7, but to anticipate a
little, a local entry node was discovered via one of the London
University college computers with a demonstration facility which, if
asked nicely, disgorged an operating manual and list of 'addresses'.
One of the minor joys of this list was an entry labelled "Gateway to
the Universe", pure Hitch-hiker material, concealing an extensive
long-term multi-function communications project. Eventually some
hackers based at a home counties university managed to discover ways
of roaming free around the network....
Banking
Prominent among public fantasies about hackers is the one where
banks are entered electronically, accounts examined and some money
moved from one to another. The fantasies, bolstered by
under-researched low-budget movies and tv features, arise from
confusing the details of several actual happenings.
Most 'remote stealing' from banks or illicit obtaining of account
details touch computers only incidentally and involve straight-
forward fraud, conning or bribery of bank employees. In fact, when
you think about the effort involved, human methods would be much more
cost-effective for the criminal. For hackers, however, the very
considerable effort that has been made to provide security makes the
systems a great challenge in them- selves.
In the United Kingdom, the banking scene is dominated by a handful
of large companies with many branches. Cheque clearing and account
maintenance are conducted under conditions of high security with
considerable isolation of key elements; inter-bank transactions in
the UK go through a scheme called CHAPS, Clearing House Automatic
Payments System, which uses the X.25 packet switching protocols (see
chapter 7). The network is based on Tandem machines; half of each
machine is common to the network and half unique to the bank. The
encryption standard used is the US Data Encryption Standard. Certain
parts of the network, relating to the en- and de-cryption of
messages, apparently auto-destruct if tampered with.
The service started early in 1984. The international equivalent
is SWIFT (Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Transactions);
this is also X.25- based and it handles about half-a-million messages
a day. If you want to learn someone's balance, the easiest and most
reliable way to obtain it is with a plausible call to the local
branch. If you want some easy money, steal a cheque book and cheque
card and practise signature imitation. Or, on a grander scale, follow
the example of the ?780,000 kruggerand fraud in the City. Thieves
intercepted a telephone call from a solicitor or bank manager to
'authenticate' forged drafts; the gold coins were then delivered to a
bogus company.
In the United States, where federal law limits the size of an
individual bank's operations and in international banking, direct
attacks on banks has been much easier because the technology adopted
is much cruder and more use is made of public phone and telex lines.
One of the favourite techniques has been to send fake authorisations
for money transfers. This was the approach used against the Security
National Pacific Bank by Stanley Rifkin and a Russian diamond dealer
in Geneva. $10.2m moved from bank to bank across the United States
and beyond. Rifkin obtained code numbers used in the bilateral Test
Keys. The trick is to spot weaknesses in the cryptographic systems
used in such authorisations. The specifications for the systems
themselves are openly published; one computer security expert, Leslie
Goldberg, was recently able to take apart one scheme--proposed but
not actually implemented--and show that much of the 'key' that was
supposed to give high level cryptographic security was technically
redundant, and could be virtually ignored. A surprisingly full
account of his 'perfect' fraud appears in a 1980 issue of the journal
Computer Fraud and Security Bulletin.
There are, however, a few areas where banking is becoming
vulnerable to the less mathematically literate hacker. A number of
international banks are offering their big corporation customers
special facilities so that their Treasury Departments (which ensure,
among other things, that any spare million dollars are not left doing
nothing over night but are earning short-term interest) can have
direct access to their account details via a PC on dial-up. Again,
telebanking is now available via Prestel and some of its overseas
imitators. Although such services use several layers of passwords to
validate transactions, if those passwords are mis-acquired, since no
signatures are involved, the bank account becomes vulnerable.
Finally, the network of ATMs (hole-in-the-wall cash machines) is
expanding greatly. As mentioned early in this book, hackers have
identified a number of bugs in the machines. None of them,
incidentally, lead directly to fraud. These machines allow card-
holders to extract cash up to a finite limit each week (usually
?100). The magnetic stripe contains the account number, validation
details of the owner's PIN (Personal Identity Number), usually 4
digits, and a record of how much cash has been drawn that week. The
ATM is usually off-line to the bank's main computer and only goes
on-line in two circumstances--first, during business hours, to
respond to a customer's 'balance request'; and second, outside
regular hours, to take into local memory lists of invalid cards which
should not be returned to the customer, and to dump out cheque book
and printed statement requests.
Hackers have found ways of getting more than their cash limit each
week. The ATMs belonging to one clearing bank could be 'cheated' in
this way: you asked for your maximum amount and then, when the
transaction was almost completed, the ATM asked you 'Do you want
another transaction, Yes/No?' If you responded 'yes' you could then
ask for--and get--your credit limit again, and again, and again. The
weakness in the system was that the magnetic stripe was not
overwritten to show you had had a transaction till it was physically
ejected from the machine. This bug has now been fixed.
A related but more bizarre bug resided for a while on the ATMs
used by that first bank's most obvious High Street rivals. In that
case, you had to first exhaust your week's limit. You then asked for
a further sum, say ?75. The machine refused but asked if you wanted a
further transaction. Then, you slowly decremented the amounts you
were asking for by ?5...70, 65, 60...and so on, down to ?10. You then
told the ATM to cancel the last ?5 transaction...and the machine gave
you the full ?75. Some hackers firmly believe the bug was placed
there by the original software writer. This bug too has now been
fixed.
Neither of these quirks resulted in hackers 'winning' money from
the banks involved; the accounts were in every case, properly
debited. The only victory was to beat the system. For the future, I
note that the cost of magnetic stripe reader/writers which interface
to PCs is dropping to very low levels. I await the first inevitable
news reports.
Electronic Mail
Electronic mail services work by storing messages created by some
users until they are retrieved by their intended recipients.
The ingredients of a typical system are: registration/logging on
facilities, storage, search and retrieval, networking, timing and
billing. Electronic mail is an easy add-on to most mainframe
installations, but in recent years various organisations have sought
to market services to individuals, companies and industries where
electronic mail was the main purpose of the system, not an add-on.
The system software in widest use is that of ITI-Dialcom; it's the
one that runs Telecom Gold. Another successful package is that used
in the UK and USA by Easylink, which is supported by Cable & Wireless
and Western Union.
In the Dialcom/Telecom Gold service, the assumption is made that
most users will want to concentrate on a relatively narrow range of
correspondents. Accordingly, the way it is sold is as a series of
systems, each run by a 'manager': someone within a company. The
'manager' is the only person who has direct contact with the
electronic mail owner and he in turn is responsible for bringing
individual users on to his 'system' -- he can issue 'mailboxes'
direct, determine tariff levels, put up general messages. In most
other services, every user has a direct relationship with the
electronic mail company.
The services vary according to their tariff structures and levels;
and also in the additional facilities: some offer bi-directional
interfaces to telex; and some contain electronic magazines, a little
like videotex.
The basic systems tend to be quite robust and hacking is mainly
concentrated on second-guessing users IDs. Many of the systems have
now sought to increase security by insisting on passwords of a
certain length--and by giving users only three or four attempts at
logging on before closing down the line. But increasingly their
customers are using PCs and special software to automate logging-in.
The software packages of course have the IDs nicely pre-stored....
Government computers
Among hackers themselves the richest source of fantasising
revolves around official computers like those used by the tax and
national insurance authorities, the police, armed forces and
intelligence agencies.
The Pentagon was hacked in 1983 by a 19-year-old Los Angeles
student, Ronald Austin. Because of the techniques he used, a full
account is given in the operating systems section of chapter 6. NASA,
the Space Agency, has also acknowledged that its e-mail system has
been breached and that messages and pictures of Kilroy were left as
graffiti.
This leaves only one outstanding mega-target, Platform, the global
data network of 52 separate systems focused on the headquarters of
the US's electronic spooks, the National Security Agency at Fort
Meade, Maryland. The network includes at least one Cray-1, the worlds
most powerful number-cruncher, and facilities provided by GCHQ at
Cheltenham.
Although I know UK phone freaks who claim to have managed to
appear on the internal exchanges used by Century House (M16) and
Curzon Street House (M15) and have wandered along AUTOVON, the US
secure military phone network, I am not aware of anyone bold or
clever enough to have penetrated the UK's most secure computers.
It must be acknowledged that in general it is far easier to obtain
the information held on these machines--and lesser ones like the DVLC
(vehicle licensing) and PNC (Police National Computer)-- by criminal
means than by hacking -- bribery, trickery or blackmail, for example.
Nevertheless, there is an interesting hacker's exercise in
demonstrating how far it is possible to produce details from open
sources of these systems, even when the details are supposed to be
secret. But this relates to one of the hacker's own secret
weapons--thorough research, the subject of the next chapter.
CHAPTER 5
Hackers' Intelligence
Of all the features of hacking that mystify outsiders, the first
is how the hackers get the phone numbers that give access to the
computer systems, and the passwords that open the data. Of all the
ways in which hacking is portrayed in films, books and tv, the most
misleading is the concentration on the image of the solitary genius
bashing away at a keyboard trying to 'break in'.
It is now time to reveal one of the dirty secrets of hacking:
there are really two sorts of hacker. For this purpose I will call
them the trivial and the dedicated. Anyone can become a trivial
hacker: you acquire, from someone else, a phone number and a password
to a system; you dial up, wait for the whistle, tap out the password,
browse around for a few minutes and log off. You've had some fun,
perhaps, but you haven't really done anything except follow a
well-marked path. Most unauthorised computer invasions are actually
of this sort.
The dedicated hacker, by contrast, makes his or her own
discoveries, or builds on those of other pioneers. The motto of
dedicated hackers is modified directly from a celebrated split
infinitive: to boldly pass where no man has hacked before.
Successful hacking depends on good research. The materials of
research are all around: as well as direct hacker-oriented material
of the sort found on bulletin board systems and heard in quiet
corners during refreshment breaks at computer clubs, huge quantities
of useful literature are published daily by the marketing departments
of computer companies and given away to all comers: sheaves of
stationery and lorry loads of internal documentation containing
important clues are left around to be picked up. It is up to the
hacker to recognise this treasure for what it is, and to assemble it
in a form in which it can be used.
Anyone who has ever done any intelligence work, not necessarily
for a government, but for a company, or who has worked as an
investigative journalist, will tell you that easily 90% of the
information you want is freely available and that the difficult part
is recognising and analysing it. Of the remaining 10%, well over
half can usually be inferred from the material you already have,
because, given a desired objective, there are usually only a limited
number of sensible solutions.
You can go further: it is often possible to test your inferences and,
having done that, develop further hypotheses. So the dedicated
hacker, far from spending all the time staring at a VDU and 'trying
things' on the keyboard, is often to be found wandering around
exhibitions, attending demonstrations, picking up literature, talking
on the phone (voice-mode!) and scavenging in refuse bins.
But for both trivial operator, and the dedicated hacker who wishes
to consult with his colleagues, the bulletin board movement has been
the single greatest source of intelligence.
Bulletin Boards
Since 1980, when good software enabling solitary micro-computers
to offer a welcome to all callers first became widely available, the
bulletin board movement has grown by leaps and bounds. If you haven t
logged on to at least one already, now is the time to try. At the
very least it will test out your computer, modem and software --and
your skills in handling them. Current phone numbers, together with
system hours and comms protocol requirements, are regularly published
in computer mags; once you have got into one, you will usually find
current details of most of the others.
Somewhere on most boards you will find a series of Special
Interest Group (SIG) sections and among these, often, will be a
Hacker's Club. Entrance to each SIG will be at the discretion of the
Sysop, the Bulletin Board owner. Since the BBS software allows the
Sysop to conceal from users the list of possible SIGs, it may not be
immediately obvious whether a Hacker's section exists on a particular
board. Often the Sysop will be anxious to form a view of a new
entrant before admitting him or her to a 'sensitive' area. It has
even been known for bulletin boards to carry two hacker sections:
one, admission to which can be fairly easily obtained; and a second,
the very existence of which is a tightly-controlled secret, where
mutually trusting initiates swap information.
The first timer, reading through a hacker's bulletin board, will
find that it seems to consist of a series of discursive conversations
between friends. Occasionally, someone may write up a summary for
more universal consumption. You will see questions being posed. if
you feel you can contribute, do so, because the whole idea is that a
BBS is an information exchange. It is considered crass to appear on a
board and simply ask 'Got any good numbers?; if you do, you will not
get any answers. Any questions you ask should be highly specific,
show that you have already done some ground-work, and make clear that
any results derived from the help you receive will be reported back
to the board.
Confidential notes to individuals, not for general consumption,
can be sent using the E-Mail option on the bulletin board, but
remember, nothing is hidden from the Sysop.
A flavour of the type of material that can be seen on bulletin
boards appears from this slightly doctored excerpt (I have removed
some of the menu sequences in which the system asks what you want to
do next and have deleted the identities of individuals):
Msg#: 3538 *Modem Spot*
01/30/84 12:34:54 (Read 39 Times)
From: xxxxxxxxxx
To: ALL
Subj: BBC/MAPLIN MODEMS
RE THE CONNECTIONS ON THE BBC/MAPLIN MODEM SETUP. THE crs PIN IS USED TO
HANDSHAKE WITH THE RTS PIN E.G. ONE UNIT SENDS RTS (READY TO SEND) AND
SECOND UNIT REPLIES CTS (CLEAR TO SEND). USUALLY DONE BY TAKING PIN HIGH. IF
YOU STRAP IT HIGH I WOULD SUGGEST VIA A 4K7 RESISTOR TO THE VCC/+VE RAIL (5V).
IN THE EVENT OF A BUFFER OVERFLOW THESE RTS/CTS PINS ARE TAKEN LOW AND THIS
STOPS THE DATA TRANSFER. ON A 25WAY D TYPE CONNECTOR TX DATA IS PIN 2
RX DATA IS PIN 3
RTS IS PIN 4
CTS IS PIN 5
GROUND IS PIN 7
ALL THE BEST -- ANY COMMTO XXXXXXXXX
(DATA COMMS ENGINEER)
Msg#: 3570 *Modem Spot*
01/31/84 23:43:08 (Read 31 Times)
From: XXXXXXXXXX
To: XXXXXXXXXXX
Subj: REPLY TO MSG# 3538 (BBC/MAPLIN MODEMS)
ON THE BBC COMPUTER IT IS EASIER TO CONNECT THE RTS (READY TO SEND) PIN HE
CTS (CLEAR TO SEND) PIN. THIS OVERCOMES THE PROBLEM OF HANDSHAKING.
SINCE THE MAPLIN MODEM DOES NOT HAVE HANDSHAKING.I HAVE PUT MY RTS CTS JUMPER
INSIDE THE MODEM. MY CABLES ARE THEN STANDARD AND CAN BE USED WITH HANDSHAKERS.
REGARDS
Hsg#: 3662 *HACKER'S CLUB*
02/04/84 23:37:11 (Read 41 Times)
From: XXXXXXXXXX
To: ALL
Subj: PUBLIC DATA NET
Does anyone know what the Public Data Net is? I appear to have access to it, &
I daren't ask what it is!
Also, can anyone tell me more about the Primenet systems... Again I seem to
have the means,but no info. For instance, I have a relative who logs on to
another Prime Both of our systems are on Primenet, is there any way we can
communicate?
More info to those who want it...
<N>ext msg, <R>eply, or <S>top?
Msg has replies, read now(Y/N)? y
Reply has been deleted
<N>ext msg, <R>eply, or <S>top?
Msg#: 3739 *HACKER'S CLUB*
02/06/84 22:39:06 (Read 15 Times)
From: xxxxxxxxxx
To: xxxxxxxxxx
Subj: REPLY TO MSG# 3716 (PRIMENET COMMS)
Ahh, but what is the significance of the Address-does it mean a PSS number. or
some thing like that? Meanwhile, I'II get on-line (via voice-link on the phone!)
to my cousin, and see what he has on it....
Msg#: 3766 *HACKER'S CLUB*
02/07/84 13:37:54 (Read 13 Times)
From: xxxxxxxxxxx
To: xxxxxxxxxxx
Subj: REPLY TO MSG# 3751 (PUBLIC DATA NET)
Primenet is a local network. I know of one in Poole, An BTGold use
one between their systems too. It Is only an internal network, I
suggest using PSS to communicate between different primes. Cheers.
<N>ext msg, <R>eply, or <S>top?
Msg#: 3799 *BBC*
02/07/84 22:09:05 (Read 4 Times)
From: xxxxxxxxxxx
To: xxxxxxxxxxx
Subj: REPLY TO MSG# 3751 (RGB VIDEO)
The normal video output BNC can be made to produce colour video by
making a link near to the bnc socket on the pcb. details are in the
advanced user guide under the chapter on what the various links do.
If you require more I will try to help, as I have done this mod and
it works fine
Msg#: 935 *EREWHON*
09/25/83 01:23:00 (Read 90 Times)
From: xxxxxxxxxx
To: ALL
Subj: US PHONE FREAKING
USA Phone Freaking is done with a 2 out of 5 Code. The tones must be
with 30Hz, and have less than 1% Distortion.
Master Tone Frequency = 2600 Hz.
>1 = 700 & 900 Hz
>2 = 700 & 1100 Hz
>3 = 900 & 1100 HZ
>4 = 700 & 1300 Hz
>5 = 900 & 1300 Hz
>6 = 1100 & 1300 Hz
>7 = 700 & 1500 HZ
>8 = 900 & 1500 Hz
>9 = 1100 & 1500 Hz
>0 = 1300 & 1500 Hz
>Start Key Signal = 1100 & 1700 Hz
>End Key Signal = 1300 & 1700 Hz
> Military Priority Keys 11=700 & 1700 ; 12=900 & 1700 - I don't
recommend using these. ( The method of use will be explained in a
separate note. DO NOT DISCLOSE WHERE YOU GOT THESE FREQUENCIES TO
ANYONE!
Msg#: 936 *EREWHON*
09/20/83 01:34:43 (Read 89 Times)
From: xxxxxxxxxxxx
To: ALL
Subj: UK PHONE FREAKING
The UK System also uses a 2 out of 5 tone pattern.
The Master Frequency is 2280 Hz
>I = 1380 & 1500 Hz
>2 = 1380 & 1620 Hz
>3 = 1500 & 1620 Hz
>4 = 1380 & 1740 Hz
>5 = 1500 & 1740 Hz
>6 = 1620 & 1740 Hz
>7 = 1380 & I860 Hz
>8 = 1500 & 1860 Hz
>9 = 1620 & 1860 Hz
>0 = 1740 & 1860 Hz
>Start Key = 1740 & 1980 ; End Keying = 1860 & 1980 Hz
>Unused I think 11 = 1380 & 1980 ; 12 = 1500 & 1980 Hz
This is from the CCITT White Book Vol. 6 and is known as SSMF No. 3
to some B.T. Personnel.
The 2280 Hz tone is being filtered out at many exchanges so you may
need quite high level for it to work.
Msg#: 951 *EREWHON*
09/21/83 17:44:28 (Read 79 Times)
From: xxxxxxxxxx
To: PHONE FREAK's
Subj: NEED YOU ASK ?
In two other messages you will find the frequencies listed for the
Internal phone system controls. This note is intended to explain how
the system could be operated. The central feature to realise is that
( especially in the (USA) the routing information in a call is not in
the Dialled Code. The normal sequence of a call is that the Area Code
is received while the Subscriber No. Is stored for a short period.
The Local Exchange reads the area code and selects the best route at
that time for the call. The call together with a new "INTERNAL"
dialling code Is then sent on to the next exchange together with the
subscriber number. This is repeated from area to area and group to
group. The system this way provides many routes and corrects itself
for failures.
The Technique. make a Long Distance call to a number which does not
answer. Send down the Master Tone. (2600 or 22080 Hz) This will
clear the line back, but leave you in the system. You may now send
the "Start key Pulse" followed by the Routing Code and the Subscriber
No. Finish with the "End keying Pulse". The system sees you as being
a distant exchange requesting a route for a call.
Meanwhile back at the home base. Your local exchange will be logging
you in as still ringing on the first call. There are further problems
in this in both the USA and the UK as the techniques are understood
and disapproved of by those in authority. You may need to have a
fairly strong signal into the system to get past filters present on
the line. Warning newer exchanges may link these filters to alarms.
Try from a phone box or a Public Place and see what happens or who
comes.
Example:- To call from within USA to Uk:
> Ring Toll Free 800 Number
> Send 2600 Hz Key Pulse
> When line goes dead you are in trunk level
> Start Pulse 182 End Pulse = White Plains N.Y. Gateway continued in
next message
Hsg#: 952 *EREWHON*
09/21/83 18:03:12 (Read 73 Times)
From: xxxxxxxxxx
To: PHONE FREAKS
Subj: HOW TO DO IT PT 2
> Start Pulse 044 = United Kingdom
> 1 = London ( Note no leading O please )
> 730 1234 = Harrods Department Store.
Any info on internal address codes would be appreciated from any
callers.
Msg#: 1028 *EREWHON*
09/25/83 23:02:35 (Read 94 Times)
From: xxxxxxxxxxxx
To: ALL
Subj: FREEFONE PART I
The following info comes from a leaflet entitled 'FREEFONE':
"British Telecom's recent record profits and continuing appalling
service have prompted the circulation of this information. It
comprises a method of making telephone calls free of charge."
Circuit Diagram:
O---o------- -------o----O
: ! ! :
: ! ! :
L o-------- --------o P
I ! ! H
N ! ! O
E o-- ------ ----o N
: ! ! E
I ! ! :
N o------- -------o :
: :
: :
: :
O---------------------------O
S1 = XXX
C1 = XXX
D1 = XXX
D2 = XXX
R1 = XXX
Continued...
MSG#: 1029 *EREWHON*
09/25/83 23:19:17 (Read 87 Times)
From xxxxxxxxxxx
To: ALL
Subj: FREEFONE PART 2
Circuit Operation:
The circuit inhibits the charging for incoming calls only. When a
phone is answered, there is normally approx. IOOmA DC loop current
but only 8mA or so is necessary to polarise the mic In the handset.
Drawing only this small amount is sufficient to fool BT's ancient
"Electric Meccano".
It's extremely simple. When ringing, the polarity of the line
reverses so D1 effectively answers the call when the handset is
lifted. When the call is established, the line polarity reverts and
R1 limits the loop current while D2 is a LED to indicate the circuit
is in operation. C1 ensures speech is unaffected. S1 returns the
telephone to normal.
Local calls of unlimited length can be made free of charge. Long
distance calls using this circuit are prone to automatic
disconnection this varies from area to area but you will get at least
3 minutes before the line is closed down. Further experimentation
should bear fruit in this respect.
Sith the phone on the hook this circuit is completely undetectable.
The switch should be cLosed if a call is received from an operator,
for example, or to make an outgoing call. It has proved extremely
useful, particularly for friends phoning from pay phones with jammed
coin slots.
- Please DO NOT tell ANYONE where yoU found this information*
Msg#: 1194 *EREWHON*
10/07/83 04:50:34 (Read 81 Times)
From: xxxxxxxxxxxx
To: ALL
Subj: FREE TEST NUMBERS
Free Test Numbers
Here are some no's that have been found to work:
Dial 174 <last 4 figs of your no>: this gives unobtainable then when
you replace handset the phone rings.
Dial 175 <last 4 figs of your no: this gives 'start test...start
test...', then when you hang-up the phone rings. Pick it up and you
either get dial tone which indicates OK or you will get a recording
i.e 'poor insulation B line' telling you what's wrong. If you get
dial tone you can immediately dial 1305 to do a further test which
might say 'faulty dial pulses'. Other numbers to try are 182, 184 or
185. I have discovered my exchange (Pontybodkin) gives a test ring
for 1267. These numbers all depend on you local exchange so It pays
to experiment, try numbers starting with 1 as these are all local
functions. Then when you discover something of interest let me know
on this SIG.
Msg: 2241 *EREWHON*
12/04/83 20:48:49 (Read 65 Times)
From: SYSOP
To: SERIOUS FREAKS
Subj: USA INFO
There is a company (?) in the USA called Loopmaniacs Unlimited,
PO Box 1197, Port Townsend. WA, 98368, who publish a line of books on
telephone hacking. Some have circuits even. Write to M. Hoy there.
One of their publications is "Steal This Book" at S5.95 plus about $4
post. Its Worth stealing, but don't show it to the customs!
Msg#: 3266 *EREWHON*
01/22/84 06:25:01 (Read 53 Times)
From: xxxxxxxxxx
To: ALL
Subj: UNIVERSITY COMPUTERS
As already described getting onto the UCL PAD allows various calls.
Via this network you can access many many university/research
computers To get a full list use CALL 40 then HELP, select GUIDE.
Typing '32' at the VIEW prompt will start listing the addresses. Host
of these can be used at the pad by 'CALL addr' where addr is the
address. For passwords you try DEMO HELP etc. If you find anything
interesting report it here.
HINT: To aviod the PAD hanging up at the end of each call use the
LOGON command - use anything for name and pwd. This seems to do the
trick.
Another number: Tel: (0235) 834531. This is another data
exchange. This one's a bit harder to wake up. You must send a 'break
level' to start. This can be done using software but with a maplin
just momentarily pull out the RS232 com. Then send RETURNs. To get a
list of 'classes' you could use say Manchesters HELP:- CALL 1020300,
user:DEMO pwd:DEMO en when you're on HELP PACX.
Msg#: 3687 *HACKER'S CLUB*
02/05/84 14:41:43 (Read 416 Times)
From: xxxxxxxxxxxx
To: ALL
Subj: HACKERS NUMBERS
The following are some of the numbers collected in the Hackers SIG:
Commodore BBS (Finland) 358 61 116223
Gateway test 01 600 1261
PRESTEST (1200/75) 01 583 9412
Some useful PRESTEL nodes - 640..Res.D (Martlesham's experiments in
Dynamic Prestel DRCS, CEPT standards, Picture Prestel, 601
(Mailbox,Telemessaging, Telex Link - and maybe Telecom Gold), 651
(Scratchpad -always changing). Occasionally parts of 650 (IP News)
are not properly CUGed off. 190 sometimes is interesting well.
These boards all specialised in lonely hearts services !
The boards with an asterisk all use BELL Tones
- Fairbanks, AK, 907-479-0315
- Burbank, CA, 213-840-8252
- Burbank, CA, 213-842-9452
- Clovis, CA, 209-298-1328
- Glendale, CA, 213-242-l882
- La Palma, CA, 714-220-0239
- Hollywood, CA, 213-764-8000
- San Francisco CA, 415-467-2588
- Santa Monica CA, 213-390-3239
- Sherman Oaks CA, 213-990-6830
- Tar~ana , CA, 213-345-1047
- Crystal Rivers FL,904-795-8850
- Atlanta, GA, 912-233-0863
- Hammond, IN, 219-845-4200
- Cleveland, OH, 216-932-9845
- Lynnefield, MA, 6l7-334-6369
- Omaha, NE, 402-571-8942
- Freehold, NJ, 201-462-0435
- New York, NY, 212-541-5975
- Cary, NC, 919-362-0676
- Newport News,VA 804-838-3973
- Vancouver, WA, 200-250-6624
Marseilles, France 33-91-91-0060
Both USA nos. prefix (0101)
a) Daily X-rated Doke Service 516-922-9463
b) Auto-Biographies of young ladies who normally work in
unpublishable magazines on 212-976-2727.
c)Dial a wank 0101,212,976,2626; 0101,212,976,2727
Msg#: 3688 *HACKER'S CLUB*
02/05/84 14:44:51 (Read 393 Times)
From: xxxxxxxxxxx
To: ALL
Subj: HACKERS NUMBERS CONT...
Hertford PDP 11/70 Hackers BBS:
Call 0707-263577 with 110 baud selected.
type: SET SPEED 300'CR'
After hitting CR switch to 300 baud.
Then type: HELLO 124,4'CR
!Password: HAE4 <CR>
When logged on type: COMMAND HACKER <CR>
Use: BYE to log out
EUCLID 388-2333
TYPE A COUPLE OF <CR> THEN PAD <CR>
ONCE LOGGED ON TO PAD TYPE CALL 40 <CR> TRY DEMO AS A USERID WHY NOT
TRY A FEW DIFFER DIFFERENT CALLS THIS WILL LET U LOG ON TO A WHOLE
NETWORK SYSTEM ALL OVER EUROPE!
YOU CAN ALSO USE 01-278-4355.
unknown 300 Baud 01-854 2411
01-854 2499
Honeywell:From London dial the 75, else 0753(SLOUGH)
75 74199 75 76930
Type- TSS
User id: D01003
password: Unknown (up to 10 chars long)
Type: EXPL GAMES LIST to list games
To run a game type: FRN GAMES(NAME) E for a fotran game.
Replace FRN with BRN for BASIC games.
Central London Poly 01 637 7732/3/4/5
PSS (300) 0753 6141
Comshare (300) 01 351 2311
'Money Box' 01 828 9090
Imperial College 01 581 1366
01 581 1444
These are most of the interesting numbers that have come up over the
last bit. If I have omitted any, please leave them in a message.
Cheers, xxxxx.
Msg#: 5156 *HACKER'S CLUB*
04/15/84 08:01:11 (Read 221 Times)
From: xxxxxxxxxx
To: ALL
Subj: FINANCIAL DATABASES
You can get into Datastream on dial-up at 300/300 on 251 6180 - no I
don't have any passwords....you can get into Inter Company
Comparisons (ICC) company database of 60,000 companies via their
1200/75 viewdata front-end processor on 253 8788. Type ***# when
asked for your company code to see a demo...
Msg#: 5195 *HACKER'S CLUB*
04/17/84 02:28:10 (Read 229 Times)
From: xxxxxxxxxx
To: ALL
Subj: PSS TELEX
THIS IS PROBOBLY OLD HAT BY NOW BUT IF YOU USE PSS THEN A92348******
WHERE **=UK TELEX NO. USE CTRL/P CLR TO BET OUT AFTER MESSAGE. YOU
WILL BE CHARGED FOR USE I GUESS
Msg#: 7468 *EREWHON*
06/29/84 23:30:24 (Read 27 Times)
From: xxxxxxxxxx
To: PHREAKS
Subj: NEW(OLD..) INFO
TODAY I WAS LUCKY ENOUGH TO DISCOVER A PREVIOUSLY UNKNOWN CACHE OF
AMERICAN MAGAZINE KNOWN AS TAP. ALTHOUGH THEYRE RATHER OUT OF DATE
(1974-1981) OR SO THEY ARE PRETTY FUNNY AND HAVE A FEW INTERESTING
BITS OF INFORMATION, ESPECIALLY IF U WANT TO SEE THE CIRCUIT DIAGRAMS
OF UNTOLD AMOUNTS OF BLUE/RED/BLACK/??? BOXES THERE ARE EVEN A FEW
SECTIONS ON THE UK (BUT AS I SAID ITS COMPLETELY OUT OF DATE). IN THE
FUTURE I WILL POST SOME OF THE GOOD STUFF FROM TAP ON THIS BOARD
(WHEN AND IF I CAN GET ON THIS BLOODY SYSTEM''). ALSO I MANAGED TO
FIND A HUGE BOOK PUBLISHED BY AT&T ON DISTANCE DIALING (DATED 1975).
DUNNO, IF ANYBODY'S INTERESTED THEN LEAVE A NOTE REQUESTING ANY INFO
YOU'RE ARE CHEERS PS ANYBODY KNOW DEPRAVO THE RAT?? DOES HE STILL
LIVE?
Msg#: 7852 t*ACKER'S CLUB*
08/17/84 00:39:05 (Read 93 Times)
From: xxxxxxxxxx
To: ALL USERS
Subj: NKABBS
NKABBS IS NOW ONLINE. FOR ATARI & OTHER MICRO USERS. OPERATING ON 300
BAUD VIA RINGBACK SYSTEM. TIMES 2130HRS-2400HRS DAILY. TEL :0795
842324. SYSTEM UP THESE TIMES ONLY UNTIL RESPONSE GROWS. ALL USERS
ARE WELCOME TO ON. EVENTUALLY WE WILL BE SERVING BBC,COMMODORE VIC
20/64 OWNERS.+NEWS ETC.
Msg#:8154 *EREWHON*
08/02/84 21:46:11 (Read 13 Times)
From: ANON
To: ALL
Subj: REPLY TO MSG# :1150 (PHREAK BOARDS)
PHREAK BOARD NUMBERS
ACROSS THE U.S.
IF YOU KNOW OF A BOARD THAT IS NOT LISTED HERE, PLEASE LET ME KNOW
ABOUT IT.
JOLLY ROGER 713-468-0174
PIRATE'S CHEST 617-981-1349
PIRATE'S DATA CENTER 213-341-3962
PIRATE'S SPACE STATION 617-244-8244
PIRATE'S OUTHOUSE 301-299-3953
PIRATE'S HANDLE 314-434-6187
PIRATE'S DREAM 713-997-5067
PIRATE'S TRADE 213-932-8294
PIRATE'S TREK 914-634-1268
PIRATE'S TREK III 914-835-3627
PIRATE-80 305-225-8059
SANCTUARY 201-891-9567
SECRET SERVICE ][ 215-855-7913
SKELETON ISLAND 804-285-0041
BOCA HARBOR 305-392-5924
PIRATES OF PUGET SOUND 206-783-9798
THE INSANITARIUM 609-234-6106
HAUNTED MANSION 516-367-8172
WASTELANDS 513-761-8250
PIRATE'S HARBOR 617-720-3600
SKULL ISLAND 203-972-1685
THE TEMPLE 305-798-1615
SIR LANCELOT'S CASTLE 914-381-2124
PIRATE'8 CITY 703-780-0610
PIRATE-S GALLEY 213-796-6602
THE PAWN SHOPPE 213-859-2735
HISSION CONTROL 301-983-8293
BIG BLUE MONSTER 305-781-1683
THE I.C.'S SOCKET 213-541-5607
THE MAGIC REALM 212-767-9046
PIRATE'S BAY 415-775-2384
BEYOND BELIEF 213-377-6568
PIRATE's TROVE 703-644-1665
CHEYANNE MOUNTAIN 303-753 1554
ALAHO CITY 512-623-6123
CROWS NEST 617-862-7037
PIRATE'S PUB ][ 617-891-5793
PIRATE'S I/0 201-543-6139
SOUNDCHASER 804-788-0774
SPLIT INFINITY 408-867-4455
CAPTAIN'S LOG 612-377-7747
THE SILHARILLION 714-535-7527
TWILIGHT PHONE 313-775-1649
THE UNDERGROUND 707-996-2427
THE INTERFACE 213-477-4605
THE DOC BOARD 713-471-4131
SYSTEM SEVEN 415-232-7200
SHADOW WORLD 713-777-8608
OUTER LIMITS 213-784-0204
METRO 313-855-6321
MAGUS 703-471-0611
GHOST SHIP 111 - PENTAGON 312-627-5138
GHOST SHIP - TARDIS 312-528-1611
DATA THIEVES 312-392-2403
DANGER ISLAND 409-846-2900
CORRUPT COMPUTING 313-453-9183
THE ORACLE 305-475-9062
PIRATE'S PLANET 901-756-0026
CAESER S PALACE 305-253-9869
CRASHER BBS 415-461-8215
PIRATE'S BEACH 305-865-5432
PIRATE'S COVE 516-698-4008
PIRATE'S WAREHOUSE 415-924-8338
PIRATE'S PORT 512-345-3752
PIRATE'S NEWSTAND ][ 213-373-3318
PIRATE'S GOLDMINE 617-443-7428
PIRATE'S SHIP 312-445-3883
PIRATE'S MOUNTAIN 213-472-4287
PIRATE'S TREK ][ 914-967-2917
PIRATE'S TREK IV 714-932-1124
PORT OR THIEVES 305-798-1051
SECRET SERVICE 213-932-8294
SHERWOOD FOREST 212-896-6063
GALAXY ONE 215-224-0864
R.A.G.T.I.H.E. 217-429-6310
KINGDOM OF SEVEN 206-767-7777
THE STAR SYSTEM 516-698-7345
ALPHANET 203-227-2987
HACKER HEAVEN 516-796-6454
PHANTOM ACCESS 814-868-1884
THE CONNECTION 516-487-1774
THE TAVERN 516-623-9004
PIRATE'S HIDEAWAY 617-449-2808
PIRATE'S PILLAGE 317-743-5789
THE PARADISE ON-LINE 512-477-2672
MAD BOARD FROM MARS 213-470-5912
NERVOUS SYSTEM 305-554-9332
DEVO 305-652-9422
TORTURE CHAMBER 213-375-6137
HELL 914-835-4919
CRASHER BBS 415-461-8215
ALCATRAZ 301-881-0846
THE TRADING POST 504-291-4970
DEATH STAR 312-627-5138
THE CPU 313-547-7903
TRADER'S INN 618-856-3321
PIRATE'S PUB 617-894-7266
BLUEBEARDS GALLEY 213-842-0227
MIDDLE EARTH 213-334-4323
EXIDY 2000 713-442-7644
SHERWOOD FOREST ][ 914-352-6543
WARLOCK~S CASTLE 618-345-6638
TRON 312-675-1819
THE SAFEHOUSE 612-724-7066
THE GRAPE VINE 612-454-6209
THE ARK 701-343-6426
SPACE VOYAGE 713-530-5249
OXGATE 804-898-7493
MINES OF MORIA ][ 408-688-9629
MERLIN'S TOWER 914-381-2374
GREENTREE 919-282-4205
GHOST SHIP ][ - ARAGORNS 312-644-5165
GENERAL HOSPITAL 201-992-9893
DARK REALM 713-333-2309
COSMIC VOYAGE 713-530-5249
CAMELOT 312-357-8075
PIRATE'S GUILD 312-279-4399
HKGES 305-676-5312
MINES OF MORIA 713-871-8577
A.S.C.I.I. 301-984-3772
If Anybody is mad enough to actually dial up one (or more') of these
BBs please log everything so thAt others may benefit from your
efforts. IE- WE only have to register once, and we find out if this
board suits our interest. Good luck and have fun! Cheers,
Msg#: 8163 *HACKER'S CLUB*
08/30/84 18:55:27 (Read 78 Times)
From: XXXXXXXXXX
To- ALL
Subj: XXXXXX
NBBS East is a relatively new bulletin board running from lOpm to
1230am on 0692 630610. There are now special facilities for BBC users
with colour, graphics etc. If you call it then please try to leave
some messages as more messages mean more callers, which in turn means
more messages Thanks a lot, Jon
Msg#: 8601 *HACKER'S CLUB*
09/17/84 10:52:43 (Read 57 Times!
From: xxxxxxxxxx
To: xxxxxxxxx
Subj: REPLY TO Msg# 8563 (HONEYWELL)
The thing is I still ( sort of I work for XXX so I don't think they
would be too pleased if I gave out numbers or anything else. and I
would rather keep my job Surely you don't mean MFI furniture ??
Msg#: 8683 *HACKER'S CLUB*
09/19/84 19:54:05 (Read 63 Times)
From: xxxxxxxxx
To: ALL
Subj: DATA NODE
To those who have difficulty finding interesting numbers. try the UCL
Data Node on 01-388 2333 (300 baud).When you get the Which Service?
prompt. type PAD and a couple of CRs. Then, when the PAD> prompt
appears type CALL XOOXOOX, where is any(number orrange of numbers.
Indeed you can try several formats and numbers until you find
something interesting. The Merlin Cern computer is 9002003 And it's
difficult to trace You through aq data exchange! If anyone finds any
interesting numbers, let me know on this board, or Pretsel mailbox
012495225.
Msg has replies, read now(Y/N)' Y
Msg#: 9457 *HACKER'S CLUB*
10/11/84 01:52:56 (Read 15 Times)
From: xxxxxxxxxxx
To: xxxxxxxxxxx
Subj: REPLY TO MSG# 8683 (DATA NODE)
IF YOU WANT TO KNOW MORE ABOUT THIS xxxxx PHONE PHONE xxxx xxxxxx
ON 000 0000
Msg#: 8785 *HACKER'S CLUB*
09/21/B4 20-28-59 (Read 40 Times)
From xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subj: NEW Number
NEW Computer ON LINE TRY RINGING 960 7868 SORRY THAT'S 01 (IN LONDON) IN FRONT.
good LUCK!
Please note that none of these hints, rumours, phone numbers and
passwords are likely to work by the time you are reading this...
However, in the case of the US credit agency TRW, described in the
previous chapter, valid phone numbers and passwords appear to have
sat openly on a number of bulletin boards for up to a year before the
agency realised it. Some university mainframes have hacker's boards
hidden on them as well.
It is probably bad taste to mention it, but of course people try
to hack bulletin boards as well. An early version of one of the most
popular packages could be hacked simply by sending two semi-colons
(;;) when asked for your name. The system allowed you to become the
Sysop, even though you were sitting at a different computer; you
could access the user file, complete with all passwords, validate or
devalidate whomever you liked, destroy mail, write general notices,
and create whole new areas...
Research Sources
The computer industry has found it necessary to spend vast sums on
marketing its products and whilst some of that effort is devoted to
'image' and 'concept' type advertising--to making senior management
comfortable with the idea of the XXX Corporation's hardware because
it has 'hear