A Novice's Guide to Hacking- 1989 edition

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ | The LOD/H Presents | ++++++++++++++++ ++++++++++++++++ \ A Novice's Guide to Hacking- 1989 edition / \ ========================================= / \ by / \ The Mentor / \ Legion of Doom/Legion of Hackers / \ / \ December, 1988 / \ Merry Christmas Everyone! / \+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++/ ********************************************************************** | The author hereby grants permission to reproduce, redistribute, | | or include this file in your g-file section, electronic or print | | newletter, or any other form of transmission that you choose, as | | long as it is kept intact and whole, with no ommissions, delet- | | ions, or changes. (C) The Mentor- Phoenix Project Productions | | 1988,1989 XXX/XXX-XXXX | ********************************************************************** Introduction: The State of the Hack ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ After surveying a rather large g-file collection, my attention was drawn to the fact that there hasn't been a good introductory file written for absolute beginners since back when Mark Tabas was cranking them out (and almost *everyone* was a beginner!) The Arts of Hacking and Phreaking have changed radically since that time, and as the 90's approach, the hack/phreak community has recovered from the Summer '87 busts (just like it recovered from the Fall '85 busts, and like it will always recover from attempts to shut it down), and the progressive media (from Reality Hackers magazine to William Gibson and Bruce Sterling's cyberpunk fables of hackerdom) is starting to take notice of us for the first time in recent years in a positive light. Unfortunately, it has also gotten more dangerous since the early 80's. Phone cops have more resources, more awareness, and more intelligence that they exhibited in the past. It is becoming more and more difficult to survive as a hacker long enough to become skilled in the art. To this end this file is dedicated . If it can help someone get started, and help them survive to discover new systems and new information, it will have served it's purpose, and served as a partial repayment to all the people who helped me out when I was a beginner. Contents ~~~~~~~~ This file will be divided into four parts: Part 1: What is Hacking, A Hacker's Code of Ethics, Basic Hacking Safety Part 2: Packet Switching Networks: Telenet- How it Works, How to Use it, Outdials, Network Servers, Private PADs Part 3: Identifying a Computer, How to Hack In, Operating System Defaults Part 4: Conclusion- Final Thoughts, Books to Read, Boards to Call, Acknowledgements Part One: The Basics ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ As long as there have been computers, there have been hackers. In the 50's at the Massachusets Institute of Technology (MIT), students devoted much time and energy to ingenious exploration of the computers. Rules and the law were disregarded in their pursuit for the 'hack'. Just as they were enthralled with their pursuit of information, so are we. The thrill of the hack is not in breaking the law, it's in the pursuit and capture of knowledge. To this end, let me contribute my suggestions for guidelines to follow to ensure that not only you stay out of trouble, but you pursue your craft without damaging the computers you hack into or the companies who own them. I. Do not intentionally damage *any* system. II. Do not alter any system files other than ones needed to ensure your escape from detection and your future access (Trojan Horses, Altering Logs, and the like are all necessary to your survival for as long as possible.) III. Do not leave your (or anyone else's) real name, real handle, or real phone number on any system that you access illegally. They *can* and will track you down from your handle! IV. Be careful who you share information with. Feds are getting trickier. Generally, if you don't know their voice phone number, name, and occupation or haven't spoken with them voice on non-info trading conversations, be wary. V. Do not leave your real phone number to anyone you don't know. This includes logging on boards, no matter how k-rad they seem. If you don't know the sysop, leave a note telling some trustworthy people that will validate you. VI. Do not hack government computers. Yes, there are government systems that are safe to hack, but they are few and far between. And the government has inifitely more time and resources to track you down than a company who has to make a profit and justify expenses. VII. Don't use codes unless there is *NO* way around it (you don't have a local telenet or tymnet outdial and can't connect to anything 800...) You use codes long enough, you will get caught. Period. VIII. Don't be afraid to be paranoid. Remember, you *are* breaking the law. It doesn't hurt to store everything encrypted on your hard disk, or keep your notes buried in the backyard or in the trunk of your car. You may feel a little funny, but you'll feel a lot funnier when you when you meet Bruno, your transvestite cellmate who axed his family to death. IX. Watch what you post on boards. Most of the really great hackers in the country post *nothing* about the system they're currently working except in the broadest sense (I'm working on a UNIX, or a COSMOS, or something generic. Not "I'm hacking into General Electric's Voice Mail System" or something inane and revealing like that.) X. Don't be afraid to ask questions. That's what more experienced hackers are for. Don't expect *everything* you ask to be answered, though. There are some things (LMOS, for instance) that a begining hacker shouldn't mess with. You'll either get caught, or screw it up for others, or both. XI. Finally, you have to actually hack. You can hang out on boards all you want, and you can read all the text files in the world, but until you actually start doing it, you'll never know what it's all about. There's no thrill quite the same as getting into your first system (well, ok, I can think of a couple of bigger thrills, but you get the picture.) One of the safest places to start your hacking career is on a computer system belonging to a college. University computers have notoriously lax security, and are more used to hackers, as every college computer depart- ment has one or two, so are less likely to press charges if you should be detected. But the odds of them detecting you and having the personel to committ to tracking you down are slim as long as you aren't destructive. If you are already a college student, this is ideal, as you can legally explore your computer system to your heart's desire, then go out and look for similar systems that you can penetrate with confidence, as you're already familar with them. So if you just want to get your feet wet, call your local college. Many of them will provide accounts for local residents at a nominal (under $20) charge. Finally, if you get caught, stay quiet until you get a lawyer. Don't vol- unteer any information, no matter what kind of 'deals' they offer you. Nothing is binding unless you make the deal through your lawyer, so you might as well shut up and wait. Part Two: Networks ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The best place to begin hacking (other than a college) is on one of the bigger networks such as Telenet. Why? First, there is a wide variety of computers to choose from, from small Micro-Vaxen to huge Crays. Second, the networks are fairly well documented. It's easier to find someone who can help you with a problem off of Telenet than it is to find assistance concerning your local college computer or high school machine. Third, the networks are safer. Because of the enormous number of calls that are fielded every day by the big networks, it is not financially practical to keep track of where every call and connection are made from. It is also very easy to disguise your location using the network, which makes your hobby much more secure. Telenet has more computers hooked to it than any other system in the world once you consider that from Telenet you have access to Tymnet, ItaPAC, JANET, DATAPAC, SBDN, PandaNet, THEnet, and a whole host of other networks, all of which you can connect to from your terminal. The first step that you need to take is to identify your local dialup port. This is done by dialing 1-800-424-9494 (1200 7E1) and connecting. It will spout some garbage at you and then you'll get a prompt saying 'TERMINAL='. This is your terminal type. If you have vt100 emulation, type it in now. Or just hit return and it will default to dumb terminal mode. You'll now get a prompt that looks like a @. From here, type @c mail and then it will ask for a Username. Enter 'phones' for the username. When it asks for a password, enter 'phones' again. From this point, it is menu driven. Use this to locate your local dialup, and call it back locally. If you don't have a local dialup, then use whatever means you wish to connect to one long distance (more on this later.) When you call your local dialup, you will once again go through the TERMINAL= stuff, and once again you'll be presented with a @. This prompt lets you know you are connected to a Telenet PAD. PAD stands for either Packet Assembler/Disassembler (if you talk to an engineer), or Public Access Device (if you talk to Telenet's marketing people.) The first description is more correct. Telenet works by taking the data you enter in on the PAD you dialed into, bundling it into a 128 byte chunk (normally... this can be changed), and then transmitting it at speeds ranging from 9600 to 19,200 baud to another PAD, who then takes the data and hands it down to whatever computer or system it's connected to. Basically, the PAD allows two computers that have different baud rates or communication protocols to communicate with each other over a long distance. Sometimes you'll notice a time lag in the remote machines response. This is called PAD Delay, and is to be expected when you're sending data through several different links. What do you do with this PAD? You use it to connect to remote computer systems by typing 'C' for connect and then the Network User Address (NUA) of the system you want to go to. An NUA takes the form of 031103130002520 \___/\___/\___/ | | | | | |____ network address | |_________ area prefix |______________ DNIC This is a summary of DNIC's (taken from Blade Runner's file on ItaPAC) according to their country and network name. DNIC Network Name Country DNIC Network Name Country _______________________________________________________________________________ | 02041 Datanet 1 Netherlands | 03110 Telenet USA 02062 DCS Belgium | 03340 Telepac Mexico 02080 Transpac France | 03400 UDTS-Curacau Curacau 02284 Telepac Switzerland | 04251 Isranet Israel 02322 Datex-P Austria | 04401 DDX-P Japan 02329 Radaus Austria | 04408 Venus-P Japan 02342 PSS UK | 04501 Dacom-Net South Korea 02382 Datapak Denmark | 04542 Intelpak Singapore 02402 Datapak Sweden | 05052 Austpac Australia 02405 Telepak Sweden | 05053 Midas Australia 02442 Finpak Finland | 05252 Telepac Hong Kong 02624 Datex-P West Germany | 05301 Pacnet New Zealand 02704 Luxpac Luxembourg | 06550 Saponet South Africa 02724 Eirpak Ireland | 07240 Interdata Brazil 03020 Datapac Canada | 07241 Renpac Brazil 03028 Infogram Canada | 09000 Dialnet USA 03103 ITT/UDTS USA | 07421 Dompac French Guiana 03106 Tymnet USA | There are two ways to find interesting addresses to connect to. The first and easiest way is to obtain a copy of the LOD/H Telenet Directory from the LOD/H Technical Journal #4 or 2600 Magazine. Jester Sluggo also put out a good list of non-US addresses in Phrack Inc. Newsletter Issue 21. These files will tell you the NUA, whether it will accept collect calls or not, what type of computer system it is (if known) and who it belongs to (also if known.) The second method of locating interesting addresses is to scan for them manually. On Telenet, you do not have to enter the 03110 DNIC to connect to a Telenet host. So if you saw that 031104120006140 had a VAX on it you wanted to look at, you could type @c 412 614 (0's can be ignored most of the time.) If this node allows collect billed connections, it will say 412 614 CONNECTED and then you'll possibly get an identifying header or just a Username: prompt. If it doesn't allow collect connections, it will give you a message such as 412 614 REFUSED COLLECT CONNECTION with some error codes out to the right, and return you to the @ prompt. There are two primary ways to get around the REFUSED COLLECT message. The first is to use a Network User Id (NUI) to connect. An NUI is a username/pw combination that acts like a charge account on Telenet. To collect to node 412 614 with NUI junk4248, password 525332, I'd type the following: @c 412 614,junk4248,525332 <---- the 525332 will *not* be echoed to the screen. The problem with NUI's is that they're hard to come by unless you're a good social engineer with a thorough knowledge of Telenet (in which case you probably aren't reading this section), or you have someone who can provide you with them. The second way to connect is to use a private PAD, either through an X.25 PAD or through something like Netlink off of a Prime computer (more on these two below.) The prefix in a Telenet NUA oftentimes (not always) refers to the phone Area Code that the computer is located in (i.e. 713 xxx would be a computer in Houston, Texas.) If there's a particular area you're interested in, (say, New York City 914), you could begin by typing @c 914 001 . If it connects, you make a note of it and go on to 914 002. You do this until you've found some interesting systems to play with. Not all systems are on a simple xxx yyy address. Some go out to four or five digits (914 2354), and some have decimal or numeric extensions (422 121A = 422 121.01). You have to play with them, and you never know what you're going to find. To fully scan out a prefix would take ten million attempts per prefix. For example, if I want to scan 512 completely, I'd have to start with 512 00000.00 and go through 512 00000.99, then increment the address by 1 and try 512 00001.00 through 512 00001.99. A lot of scanning. There are plenty of neat computers to play with in a 3-digit scan, however, so don't go berserk with the extensions. Sometimes you'll attempt to connect and it will just be sitting there after one or two minutes. In this case, you want to abort the connect attempt by sending a hard break (this varies with different term programs, on Procomm, it's ALT-B), and then when you get the @ prompt back, type 'D' for disconnect. If you connect to a computer and wish to disconnect, you can type @ and you it should say TELENET and then give you the @ prompt. From there, type D to disconnect or CONT to re-connect and continue your session uninterrupted. Outdials, Network Servers, and PADs ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In addition to computers, an NUA may connect you to several other things. One of the most useful is the outdial. An outdial is nothing more than a modem you can get to over telenet- similar to the PC Pursuit concept, except that these don't have passwords on them most of the time. When you connect, you will get a message like 'Hayes 1200 baud outdial, Detroit, MI', or 'VEN-TEL 212 Modem', or possibly 'Session 1234 established on Modem 5588'. The best way to figure out the commands on these is to type ? or H or HELP- this will get you all the information that you need to use one. Safety tip here- when you are hacking *any* system through a phone dialup, always use an outdial or a diverter, especially if it is a local phone number to you. More people get popped hacking on local computers than you can imagine, Intra-LATA calls are the easiest things in the world to trace inexp- ensively. Another nice trick you can do with an outdial is use the redial or macro function that many of them have. First thing you do when you connect is to invoke the 'Redial Last Number' facility. This will dial the last number used, which will be the one the person using it before you typed. Write down the number, as no one would be calling a number without a computer on it. This is a good way to find new systems to hack. Also, on a VENTEL modem, type 'D' for Display and it will display the five numbers stored as macros in the modem's memory. There are also different types of servers for remote Local Area Networks (LAN) that have many machine all over the office or the nation connected to them. I'll discuss identifying these later in the computer ID section. And finally, you may connect to something that says 'X.25 Communication PAD' and then some more stuff, followed by a new @ prompt. This is a PAD just like the one you are on, except that all attempted connections are billed to the PAD, allowing you to connect to those nodes who earlier refused collect connections. This also has the added bonus of confusing where you are connecting from. When a packet is transmitted from PAD to PAD, it contains a header that has the location you're calling from. For instance, when you first connected to Telenet, it might have said 212 44A CONNECTED if you called from the 212 area code. This means you were calling PAD number 44A in the 212 area. That 21244A will be sent out in the header of all packets leaving the PAD. Once you connect to a private PAD, however, all the packets going out from *it* will have it's address on them, not yours. This can be a valuable buffer between yourself and detection. Phone Scanning ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Finally, there's the time-honored method of computer hunting that was made famous among the non-hacker crowd by that Oh-So-Technically-Accurate movie Wargames. You pick a three digit phone prefix in your area and dial every number from 0000 --> 9999 in that prefix, making a note of all the carriers you find. There is software available to do this for nearly every computer in the world, so you don't have to do it by hand. Part Three: I've Found a Computer, Now What? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This next section is applicable universally. It doesn't matter how you found this computer, it could be through a network, or it could be from carrier scanning your High School's phone prefix, you've got this prompt this prompt, what the hell is it? I'm *NOT* going to attempt to tell you what to do once you're inside of any of these operating systems. Each one is worth several G-files in its own right. I'm going to tell you how to identify and recognize certain OpSystems, how to approach hacking into them, and how to deal with something that you've never seen before and have know idea what it is. VMS- The VAX computer is made by Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC), and runs the VMS (Virtual Memory System) operating system. VMS is characterized by the 'Username:' prompt. It will not tell you if you've entered a valid username or not, and will disconnect you after three bad login attempts. It also keeps track of all failed login attempts and informs the owner of the account next time s/he logs in how many bad login attempts were made on the account. It is one of the most secure operating systems around from the outside, but once you're in there are many things that you can do to circumvent system security. The VAX also has the best set of help files in the world. Just type HELP and read to your heart's content. Common Accounts/Defaults: [username: password [[,password]] ] SYSTEM: OPERATOR or MANAGER or SYSTEM or SYSLIB OPERATOR: OPERATOR SYSTEST: UETP SYSMAINT: SYSMAINT or SERVICE or DIGITAL FIELD: FIELD or SERVICE GUEST: GUEST or unpassworded DEMO: DEMO or unpassworded DECNET: DECNET DEC-10- An earlier line of DEC computer equipment, running the TOPS-10 operating system. These machines are recognized by their '.' prompt. The DEC-10/20 series are remarkably hacker-friendly, allowing you to enter several important commands without ever logging into the system. Accounts are in the format [xxx,yyy] where xxx and yyy are integers. You can get a listing of the accounts and the process names of everyone on the system before logging in with the command .systat (for SYstem STATus). If you seen an account that reads [234,1001] BOB JONES, it might be wise to try BOB or JONES or both for a password on this account. To login, you type .login xxx,yyy and then type the password when prompted for it. The system will allow you unlimited tries at an account, and does not keep records of bad login attempts. It will also inform you if the UIC you're trying (UIC = User Identification Code, 1,2 for example) is bad. Common Accounts/Defaults: 1,2: SYSLIB or OPERATOR or MANAGER 2,7: MAINTAIN 5,30: GAMES UNIX- There are dozens of different machines out there that run UNIX. While some might argue it isn't the best operating system in the world, it is certainly the most widely used. A UNIX system will usually have a prompt like 'login:' in lower case. UNIX also will give you unlimited shots at logging in (in most cases), and there is usually no log kept of bad attempts. Common Accounts/Defaults: (note that some systems are case sensitive, so use lower case as a general rule. Also, many times the accounts will be unpassworded, you'll just drop right in!) root: root admin: admin sysadmin: sysadmin or admin unix: unix uucp: uucp rje: rje guest: guest demo: demo daemon: daemon sysbin: sysbin Prime- Prime computer company's mainframe running the Primos operating system. The are easy to spot, as the greet you with 'Primecon 18.23.05' or the like, depending on the version of the operating system you run into. There will usually be no prompt offered, it will just look like it's sitting there. At this point, type 'login '. If it is a pre-18.00.00 version of Primos, you can hit a bunch of ^C's for the password and you'll drop in. Unfortunately, most people are running versions 19+. Primos also comes with a good set of help files. One of the most useful features of a Prime on Telenet is a facility called NETLINK. Once you're inside, type NETLINK and follow the help files. This allows you to connect to NUA's all over the world using the 'nc' command. For example, to connect to NUA 026245890040004, you would type @nc :26245890040004 at the netlink prompt. Common Accounts/Defaults: PRIME PRIME or PRIMOS PRIMOS_CS PRIME or PRIMOS PRIMENET PRIMENET SYSTEM SYSTEM or PRIME NETLINK NETLINK TEST TEST GUEST GUEST GUEST1 GUEST HP-x000- This system is made by Hewlett-Packard. It is characterized by the ':' prompt. The HP has one of the more complicated login sequences around- you type 'HELLO SESSION NAME,USERNAME,ACCOUNTNAME,GROUP'. Fortunately, some of these fields can be left blank in many cases. Since any and all of these fields can be passworded, this is not the easiest system to get into, except for the fact that there are usually some unpassworded accounts around. In general, if the defaults don't work, you'll have to brute force it using the common password list (see below.) The HP-x000 runs the MPE operat- ing system, the prompt for it will be a ':', just like the logon prompt. Common Accounts/Defaults: MGR.TELESUP,PUB User: MGR Acct: HPONLY Grp: PUB MGR.HPOFFICE,PUB unpassworded MANAGER.ITF3000,PUB unpassworded FIELD.SUPPORT,PUB user: FLD, others unpassworded MAIL.TELESUP,PUB user: MAIL, others unpassworded MGR.RJE unpassworded FIELD.HPPl89 ,HPPl87,HPPl89,HPPl96 unpassworded MGR.TELESUP,PUB,HPONLY,HP3 unpassworded IRIS- IRIS stands for Interactive Real Time Information System. It orig- inally ran on PDP-11's, but now runs on many other minis. You can spot an IRIS by the 'Welcome to "IRIS" R9.1.4 Timesharing' banner, and the ACCOUNT ID? prompt. IRIS allows unlimited tries at hacking in, and keeps no logs of bad attempts. I don't know any default passwords, so just try the common ones from the password database below. Common Accounts: MANAGER BOSS SOFTWARE DEMO PDP8 PDP11 ACCOUNTING VM/CMS- The VM/CMS operating system runs in International Business Machines (IBM) mainframes. When you connect to one of these, you will get message similar to 'VM/370 ONLINE', and then give you a '.' prompt, just like TOPS-10 does. To login, you type 'LOGON '. Common Accounts/Defaults are: AUTOLOG1: AUTOLOG or AUTOLOG1 CMS: CMS CMSBATCH: CMS or CMSBATCH EREP: EREP MAINT: MAINT or MAINTAIN OPERATNS: OPERATNS or OPERATOR OPERATOR: OPERATOR RSCS: RSCS SMART: SMART SNA: SNA VMTEST: VMTEST VMUTIL: VMUTIL VTAM: VTAM NOS- NOS stands for Networking Operating System, and runs on the Cyber computer made by Control Data Corporation. NOS identifies itself quite readily, with a banner of 'WELCOME TO THE NOS SOFTWARE SYSTEM. COPYRIGHT CONTROL DATA 1978,1987'. The first prompt you will get will be FAMILY:. Just hit return here. Then you'll get a USER NAME: prompt. Usernames are typically 7 alpha-numerics characters long, and are *extremely* site dependent. Operator accounts begin with a digit, such as 7ETPDOC. Common Accounts/Defaults: $SYSTEM unknown SYSTEMV unknown Decserver- This is not truly a computer system, but is a network server that has many different machines available from it. A Decserver will say 'Enter Username>' when you first connect. This can be anything, it doesn't matter, it's just an identifier. Type 'c', as this is the least conspicuous thing to enter. It will then present you with a 'Local>' prompt. From here, you type 'c ' to connect to a system. To get a list of system names, type 'sh services' or 'sh nodes'. If you have any problems, online help is available with the 'help' command. Be sure and look for services named 'MODEM' or 'DIAL' or something similar, these are often outdial modems and can be useful! GS/1- Another type of network server. Unlike a Decserver, you can't predict what prompt a GS/1 gateway is going to give you. The default prompt it 'GS/1>', but this is redifinable by the system administrator. To test for a GS/1, do a 'sh d'. If that prints out a large list of defaults (terminal speed, prompt, parity, etc...), you are on a GS/1. You connect in the same manner as a Decserver, typing 'c '. To find out what systems are available, do a 'sh n' or a 'sh c'. Another trick is to do a 'sh m', which will sometimes show you a list of macros for logging onto a system. If there is a macro named VAX, for instance, type 'do VAX'. The above are the main system types in use today. There are hundreds of minor variants on the above, but this should be enough to get you started. Unresponsive Systems ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Occasionally you will connect to a system that will do nothing but sit there. This is a frustrating feeling, but a methodical approach to the system will yield a response if you take your time. The following list will usually make *something* happen. 1) Change your parity, data length, and stop bits. A system that won't re- spond at 8N1 may react at 7E1 or 8E2 or 7S2. If you don't have a term program that will let you set parity to EVEN, ODD, SPACE, MARK, and NONE, with data length of 7 or 8, and 1 or 2 stop bits, go out and buy one. While having a good term program isn't absolutely necessary, it sure is helpful. 2) Change baud rates. Again, if your term program will let you choose odd baud rates such as 600 or 1100, you will occasionally be able to penetrate some very interesting systems, as most systems that depend on a strange baud rate seem to think that this is all the security they need... 3) Send a series of 's. 4) Send a hard break followed by a . 5) Type a series of .'s (periods). The Canadian network Datapac responds to this. 6) If you're getting garbage, hit an 'i'. Tymnet responds to this, as does a MultiLink II. 7) Begin sending control characters, starting with ^A --> ^Z. 8) Change terminal emulations. What your vt100 emulation thinks is garbage may all of a sudden become crystal clear using ADM-5 emulation. This also relates to how good your term program is. 9) Type LOGIN, HELLO, LOG, ATTACH, CONNECT, START, RUN, BEGIN, LOGON, GO, JOIN, HELP, and anything else you can think of. 10) If it's a dialin, call the numbers around it and see if a company answers. If they do, try some social engineering. Brute Force Hacking ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ There will also be many occasions when the default passwords will not work on an account. At this point, you can either go onto the next system on your list, or you can try to 'brute-force' your way in by trying a large database of passwords on that one account. Be careful, though! This works fine on systems that don't keep track of invalid logins, but on a system like a VMS, someone is going to have a heart attack if they come back and see '600 Bad Login Attempts Since Last Session' on their account. There are also some operating systems that disconnect after 'x' number of invalid login attempts and refuse to allow any more attempts for one hour, or ten minutes, or some- times until the next day. The following list is taken from my own password database plus the data- base of passwords that was used in the Internet UNIX Worm that was running around in November of 1988. For a shorter group, try first names, computer terms, and obvious things like 'secret', 'password', 'open', and the name of the account. Also try the name of the company that owns the computer system (if known), the company initials, and things relating to the products the company makes or deals with. Password List ============= aaa daniel jester rascal academia danny johnny really ada dave joseph rebecca adrian deb joshua remote aerobics debbie judith rick airplane deborah juggle reagan albany december julia robot albatross desperate kathleen robotics albert develop kermit rolex alex diet kernel ronald alexander digital knight rosebud algebra discovery lambda rosemary alias disney larry roses alpha dog lazarus ruben alphabet drought lee rules ama duncan leroy ruth amy easy lewis sal analog eatme light saxon anchor edges lisa scheme andy edwin louis scott andrea egghead lynne scotty animal eileen mac secret answer einstein macintosh sensor anything elephant mack serenity arrow elizabeth maggot sex arthur ellen magic shark asshole emerald malcolm sharon athena engine mark shit atmosphere engineer markus shiva bacchus enterprise marty shuttle badass enzyme marvin simon bailey euclid master simple banana evelyn maurice singer bandit extension merlin single banks fairway mets smile bass felicia michael smiles batman fender michelle smooch beauty fermat mike smother beaver finite minimum snatch beethoven flower minsky snoopy beloved foolproof mogul soap benz football moose socrates beowulf format mozart spit berkeley forsythe nancy spring berlin fourier napoleon subway beta fred network success beverly friend newton summer bob frighten next super brenda fun olivia support brian gabriel oracle surfer bridget garfield orca suzanne broadway gauss orwell tangerine bumbling george osiris tape cardinal gertrude outlaw target carmen gibson oxford taylor carolina ginger pacific telephone caroline gnu painless temptation castle golf pam tiger cat golfer paper toggle celtics gorgeous password tomato change graham pat toyota charles gryphon patricia trivial charming guest penguin unhappy charon guitar pete unicorn chester hacker peter unknown cigar harmony philip urchin classic harold phoenix utility coffee harvey pierre vicky coke heinlein pizza virginia collins hello plover warren comrade help polynomial water computer herbert praise weenie condo honey prelude whatnot condom horse prince whitney cookie imperial protect will cooper include pumpkin william create ingres puppet willie creation innocuous rabbit winston creator irishman rachmaninoff wizard cretin isis rainbow wombat daemon japan raindrop yosemite dancer jessica random zap Part Four: Wrapping it up! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I hope this file has been of some help in getting started. If you're asking yourself the question 'Why hack?', then you've probably wasted a lot of time reading this, as you'll never understand. For those of you who have read this and found it useful, please send a tax-deductible donation of $5.00 (or more!) in the name of the Legion of Doom to: The American Cancer Society 90 Park Avenue New York, NY 10016 ****************************************************************************** References: 1) Introduction to ItaPAC by Blade Runner Telecom Security Bulletin #1 2) The IBM VM/CMS Operating System by Lex Luthor The LOD/H Technical Journal #2 3) Hacking the IRIS Operating System by The Leftist The LOD/H Technical Journal #3 4) Hacking CDC's Cyber by Phrozen Ghost Phrack Inc. Newsletter #18 5) USENET comp.risks digest (various authors, various issues) 6) USENET unix.wizards forum (various authors) 7) USENET info-vax forum (various authors) Recommended Reading: 1) Hackers by Steven Levy 2) Out of the Inner Circle by Bill Landreth 3) Turing's Man by J. David Bolter 4) Soul of a New Machine by Tracy Kidder 5) Neuromancer, Count Zero, Mona Lisa Overdrive, and Burning Chrome, all by William Gibson 6) Reality Hackers Magazine c/o High Frontiers, P.O. Box 40271, Berkeley, California, 94704, 415-995-2606 7) Any of the Phrack Inc. Newsletters & LOD/H Technical Journals you can find. Acknowledgements: Thanks to my wife for putting up with me. Thanks to Lone Wolf for the RSTS & TOPS assistance. Thanks to Android Pope for proofreading, suggestions, and beer. Thanks to The Urvile/Necron 99 for proofreading & Cyber info. Thanks to Eric Bloodaxe for wading through all the trash. Thanks to the users of Phoenix Project for their contributions. Thanks to Altos Computer Systems, Munich, for the chat system. Thanks to the various security personel who were willing to talk to me about how they operate.

Almost Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About Security

Almost Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About Security* *(but were afraid to ask!) This document is meant to answer some of the questions which regularly appear in the Usenet newsgroups "comp.security.misc" and "alt.security", and is meant to provide some background to the subject for newcomers to that newsgroup. This FAQ is maintained by Alec Muffett (aem@aber.ac.uk, uknet!aber!aem), with contributions from numerous others [perhaps]. The views expressed in the document are the personal views of the author(s), and it should not be inferred that they are necessarily shared by anyone with whom the author(s) are now, or ever may be, associated. Many thanks go to (in no particular order): Steve Bellovin, Matt Bishop, Mark Brader, Ed DeHart, Dave Hayes, Jeffrey Hutzelman, William LeFebvre, Wes Morgan, Rob Quinn, Chip Rosenthal, Wietse Venema, Gene Spafford, John Wack and Randall Atkinson. Disclaimer: Every attempt is made to ensure that the information contained in this FAQ is up to date and accurate, but no responsibility will be accepted for actions resulting from information gained herein. Questions which this document addresses: Q.1 What are alt.security and comp.security.misc for? Q.2 Whats the difference between a hacker and a cracker? Q.3 What is "security through obscurity" Q.4 What makes a system insecure? Q.5 What tools are there to aid security? Q.6 Isn't it dangerous to give cracking tools to everyone? Q.7 Where can I get these tools? Q.8 Why and how do systems get broken into? Q.9 Who can I contact if I get broken into? Q.10 What is a firewall? Q.11 Why shouldn't I use setuid shell scripts? Q.12 Why shouldn't I leave "root" permanently logged on the console? Q.13 Why shouldn't I create Unix accounts with null passwords? Q.14 What security holes are associated with X-windows (and other WMs)? Q.15 What security holes are associated with NFS? Q.16 How can I generate safe passwords? Q.17 Why are passwords so important? Q.18 How many possible passwords are there? Q.19 Where can I get more information? Q.20 How silly can people get? --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Q.1 What are alt.security and comp.security.misc for? Comp.security.misc is a forum for the discussion of computer security, especially those relating to Unix (and Unix like) operating systems. Alt.security used to be the main newsgroup covering this topic, as well as other issues such as car locks and alarm systems, but with the creation of comp.security.misc, this may change. This FAQ will concentrate wholly upon computer related security issues. The discussions posted range from the likes of "What's such-and-such system like?" and "What is the best software I can use to do so-and-so" to "How shall we fix this particular bug?", although there is often a low signal to noise ratio in the newsgroup (a problem which this FAQ hopes to address). The most common flamewars start when an apparent security novice posts a message saying "Can someone explain how the such-and-such security hole works?" and s/he is immediately leapt upon by a group of self appointed people who crucify the person for asking such an "unsound" question in a public place, and flame him/her for "obviously" being a cr/hacker. Please remember that grilling someone over a high flame on the grounds that they are "a possible cr/hacker" does nothing more than generate a lot of bad feeling. If computer security issues are to be dealt with in an effective manner, the campaigns must be brought (to a large extent) into the open. Implementing computer security can turn ordinary people into rampaging paranoiacs, unable to act reasonably when faced with a new situation. Such people take an adversarial attitude to the rest of the human race, and if someone like this is in charge of a system, users will rapidly find their machine becoming more restrictive and less friendly (fun?) to use. This can lead to embarrasing situations, eg: (in one university) banning a head of department from the college mainframe for using a network utility that he wasn't expected to. This apparently required a lot of explaining to an unsympathetic committee to get sorted out. A more sensible approach is to secure a system according to its needs, and if its needs are great enough, isolate it completely. Please, don't lose your sanity to the cause of computer security; it's not worth it. Q.2 What's the difference between a hacker and a cracker? Lets get this question out of the way right now: On USENET, calling someone a "cracker" is an unambiguous statement that some person persistently gets his/her kicks from breaking from into other peoples computer systems, for a variety of reasons. S/He may pose some weak justification for doing this, usually along the lines of "because it's possible", but most probably does it for the "buzz" of doing something which is illicit/illegal, and to gain status amongst a peer group. Particularly antisocial crackers have a vandalistic streak, and delete filestores, crash machines, and trash running processes in pursuit of their "kicks". The term is also widely used to describe a person who breaks copy protection software in microcomputer applications software in order to keep or distribute free copies. On USENET, calling someone a "hacker" is usually a statement that said person holds a great deal of knowledge and expertise in the field of computing, and is someone who is capable of exercising this expertise with great finesse. For a more detailed definition, readers are referred to the Jargon File [Raymond]. In the "real world", various media people have taken the word "hacker" and coerced it into meaning the same as "cracker" - this usage occasionally appears on USENET, with disastrous and confusing results. Posters to the security newsgroups should note that they currently risk a great deal of flamage if they use the word "hacker" in place of "cracker" in their articles. NB: nowhere in the above do I say that crackers cannot be true hackers. It's just that I don't say that they are... Q.3 What is "security through obscurity" Security Through Obscurity (STO) is the belief that a system of any sort can be secure so long as nobody outside of its implementation group is allowed to find out anything about its internal mechanisms. Hiding account passwords in binary files or scripts with the presumption that "nobody will ever find it" is a prime case of STO. STO is a philosophy favoured by many bureaucratic agencies (military, governmental, and industrial), and it used to be a major method of providing "pseudosecurity" in computing systems. Its usefulness has declined in the computing world with the rise of open systems, networking, greater understanding of programming techniques, as well as the increase in computing power available to the average person. The basis of STO has always been to run your system on a "need to know" basis. If a person doesn't know how to do something which could impact system security, then s/he isn't dangerous. Admittedly, this is sound in theory, but it can tie you into trusting a small group of people for as long as they live. If your employees get an offer of better pay from somewhere else, the knowledge goes with them, whether the knowledge is replaceable or not. Once the secret gets out, that is the end of your security. Nowadays there is also a greater need for the ordinary user to know details of how your system works than ever before, and STO falls down a as a result. Many users today have advanced knowledge of how their operating system works, and because of their experience will be able to guess at the bits of knowledge that they didn't "need to know". This bypasses the whole basis of STO, and makes your security useless. Hence there is now a need is to to create systems which attempt to be algorithmically secure (Kerberos, Secure RPC), rather than just philosophically secure. So long as your starting criteria can be met, your system is LOGICALLY secure. "Shadow Passwords" (below) are sometimes dismissed as STO, but this is incorrect, since (strictly) STO depends on restricting access to an algorithm or technique, whereas shadow passwords provide security by restricting access to vital data. Q.4 What makes a system insecure? Switching it on. The adage usually quoted runs along these lines: "The only system which is truly secure is one which is switched off and unplugged, locked in a titanium lined safe, buried in a concrete bunker, and is surrounded by nerve gas and very highly paid armed guards. Even then, I wouldn't stake my life on it." (the original version of this is attributed to Gene Spafford) A system is only as secure as the people who can get at it. It can be "totally" secure without any protection at all, so long as its continued good operation is important to everyone who can get at it, assuming all those people are responsible, and regular backups are made in case of hardware problems. Many laboratory PC's quite merrily tick away the hours like this. The problems arise when a need (such as confidentiality) has to be fulfilled. Once you start putting the locks on a system, it is fairly likely that you will never stop. Security holes manifest themselves in (broadly) four ways: 1) Physical Security Holes. - Where the potential problem is caused by giving unauthorised persons physical access to the machine, where this might allow them to perform things that they shouldn't be able to do. A good example of this would be a public workstation room where it would be trivial for a user to reboot a machine into single-user mode and muck around with the workstation filestore, if precautions are not taken. Another example of this is the need to restrict access to confidential backup tapes, which may (otherwise) be read by any user with access to the tapes and a tape drive, whether they are meant to have permission or not. 2) Software Security Holes - Where the problem is caused by badly written items of "privledged" software (daemons, cronjobs) which can be compromised into doing things which they shouldn't oughta. The most famous example of this is the "sendmail debug" hole (see bibliography) which would enable a cracker to bootstrap a "root" shell. This could be used to delete your filestore, create a new account, copy your password file, anything. (Contrary to popular opinion, crack attacks via sendmail were not just restricted to the infamous "Internet Worm" - any cracker could do this by using "telnet" to port 25 on the target machine. The story behind a similar hole (this time in EMACS) is described in [Stoll].) New holes like this appear all the time, and your best hopes are to: a: try to structure your system so that as little software as possible runs with root/daemon/bin privileges, and that which does is known to be robust. b: subscribe to a mailing list which can get details of problems and/or fixes out to you as quickly as possible, and then ACT when you receive information. 3) Incompatible Usage Security Holes - Where, through lack of experience, or no fault of his/her own, the System Manager assembles a combination of hardware and software which when used as a system is seriously flawed from a security point of view. It is the incompatibility of trying to do two unconnected but useful things which creates the security hole. Problems like this are a pain to find once a system is set up and running, so it is better to build your system with them in mind. It's never too late to have a rethink, though. Some examples are detailed below; let's not go into them here, it would only spoil the surprise. 4) Choosing a suitable security philosophy and maintaining it. >From: Gene Spafford >The fourth kind of security problem is one of perception and >understanding. Perfect software, protected hardware, and compatible >components don't work unless you have selected an appropriate security >policy and turned on the parts of your system that enforce it. Having >the best password mechanism in the world is worthless if your users >think that their login name backwards is a good password! Security is >relative to a policy (or set of policies) and the operation of a system >in conformance with that policy. Q.5 What tools are there to aid security? 1) "COPS" Managed by Dan Farmer, this is a long established suite of shell scripts which forms an extensive security testing system; There is a rudimentary password cracker, and routines to check the filestore for suspicious changes in setuid programs, others to check permissions of essential system and user files, and still more to see whether any system software behaves in a way which could cause problems. The software comes in two versions - one written in Perl and one (largely equivalent) written in shell scripts. The latest version is very up-to-date on Unix Security holes. 2) "Crack" (+ "UFC"). Written by Alec Muffett, this is a program written with one purpose in mind: to break insecure passwords. It is probably the most efficent and friendly password cracker that is publically available, with the ability to let the user to specify precisely how to form the words to use as guesses at users passwords. It also has an inbuilt networking capability, allowing the load of cracking to be spread over as many machines as are available on a network, and it is supplied with an optimised version of the Unix crypt() algorithm. An even faster version of the crypt() algorithm, "UFC" by Michael Glad, is freely available on the network, and the latest versions of UFC and Crack are compatible and can be easily hooked together. 3) NPasswd (Clyde Hoover) & Passwd+ (Matt Bishop) These programs are written to redress the balance in the password cracking war. They provide replacements for the standard "passwd" command, but prevent a user from selecting passwords which are easily compromised by programs like Crack. Several versions of these programs are available on the network, hacked about to varying degrees in order to provide compatibility for System V based systems, NIS/YP, shadow password schemes, etc. The usual term for this type of program is a 'fascist' password program. 4) "Shadow" - a Shadow Password Suite This program suite (by John F Haugh II) is a set of program and function replacements (compatible with most Unixes) which implements shadow passwords, ie: a system where the plaintext of the password file is hidden from all users except root, hopefully stopping all password cracking attempts at source. In combination with a fascist passwd frontend, it should provide a good degree of password file robustness. >From: jfh@rpp386.lonestar.org (John F. Haugh II) >Shadow does much more than hide passwords. It also provides for >terminal access control, user and group administration, and a few >other things which I've forgotten. There are a dozen or more >commands in the suite, plus a whole slew of library functions. 5) TCP Wrappers (Wietse Venema) These are programs which provide a front-end filter to many of the network services which Unix provides by default. If installed, they can curb otherwise unrestricted access to potential dangers like incoming FTP/TFTP, Telnet, etc, and can provide extra logging information, which may be of use if it appears that someone is trying to break in. 6) SecureLib >From: phil@pex.eecs.nwu.edu (William LeFebvre) >You may want to add a mention of securelib, a security enhancer >available for SunOS version 4.1 and higher. >Securelib contains replacement routines for three kernel calls: >accept(), recvfrom(), recvmsg(). These replacements are compatible with >the originals, with the additional functionality that they check the >Internet address of the machine initiating the connection to make sure >that it is "allowed" to connect. A configuration file defines what >hosts are allowed for a given program. Once these replacement routines >are compiled, they can be used when building a new shared libc library. >The resulting libc.so can then be put in a special place. Any program >that should be protected can then be started with an alternate >LD_LIBRARY_PATH. 7) SPI >From: Gene Spafford >Sites connected with the Department of Energy and some military >organizations may also have access to the SPI package. Interested (and >qualified) users should contact the CIAC at LLNL for details. >SPI is a screen-based administrator's tool that checks configuration >options, includes a file-change (integrity) checker to monitor for >backdoors and viruses, and various other security checks. Future >versions will probably integrate COPS into the package. It is not >available to the general public, but it is available to US Dept of >Energy contractors and sites and to some US military sites. A version >does or will exist for VMS, too. Further information on availabilty can >be had from the folks at the DoE CIAC. Q.6 Isn't it dangerous to give cracking tools to everyone? That depends on your point of view. Some people have complained that giving unrestricted public access to programs like COPS and Crack is irresponsible because the "baddies" can get at them easily. Alternatively, you may believe that the really bad "baddies" have had programs like this for years, and that it's really a stupendously good idea to give these programs to the good guys too, so that they may check the integrity of their system before the baddies get to them. So, who wins more from having these programs freely available? The good guys or the bad ? You decide, but remember that less honest tools than COPS and Crack tools were already out there, and most of the good guys didn't have anything to help. Q.7 Where can I get these tools? COPS: V1.04, available for FTP from cert.sei.cmu.edu in pub/cops and archive.cis.ohio-state.edu in pub/cops. Crack/UFC: Crack v4.1f and UFC Patchlevel 1. Available from any major USENET archive (eg: ftp.uu.net) in volume 28 of comp.sources.misc. NPasswd: Currently suffering from being hacked about by many different people. Version 2.0 is in the offing, but many versions exist in many different configurations. Will chase this up with authors - AEM Passwd+: "alpha version, update 3" - beta version due soon. Available from dartmouth.edu as pub/passwd+.tar.Z Shadow: This is available from the comp.sources.misc directory at any major USENET archive (see entry for Crack) TCP Wrappers: Available for anonymous FTP: cert.sei.cmu.edu: pub/network_tools/tcp_wrapper.shar ftp.win.tue.nl: pub/security/log_tcp.shar.Z Securelib: The latest version of securelib is available via anonymous FTP from the host "eecs.nwu.edu". It is stored in the file "pub/securelib.tar". Q.8 Why and how do systems get broken into? This is hard to answer definitively. Many systems which crackers break into are only used as a means of entry into yet more systems; by hopping between many machines before breaking into a new one, the cracker hopes to confuse any possible pursuers and put them off the scent. There is an advantage to be gained in breaking into as many different sites as possible, in order to "launder" your connections. Another reason may be psychological: some people love to play with computers and stretch them to the limits of their capabilities. Some crackers might think that it's "really neat" to hop over 6 Internet machines, 2 gateways and an X.25 network just to knock on the doors of some really famous company or institution (eg: NASA, CERN, AT+T, UCB). Think of it as inter-network sightseeing. This view is certainly appealing to some crackers, and certainly leads to both the addiction and self-perpetuation of cracking. As to the "How" of the question, this is again a very sketchy area. In universities, it is extremely common for computer account to be passed back and forth between undergraduates: "Mary gives her account password to her boyfriend Bert at another site, who has a friend Joe who "plays around on the networks". Joe finds other crackable accounts at Marys site, and passes them around amongst his friends..." pretty soon, a whole society of crackers is playing around on the machines that Mary uses. This sort of thing happens all the time, and not just in universities. One solution is in education. Do not let your users develop attitudes like this one: "It doesn't matter what password I use on _MY_ account, after all, I only use it for laserprinting..." - an Aberystwyth Law student, 1991 Teach them that use of the computer is a group responsibility. Make sure that they understand that a chain is only as strong as it's weak link. Finally, when you're certain that they understand your problems as a systems manager and that they totally sympathise with you, configure your system in such a way that they can't possibly get it wrong. Believe in user education, but don't trust to it alone. Q.9 Who can I contact if I get broken into? If you're connected to the Internet, you should certainly get in touch with CERT, the Computer Emergency Response Team. To quote the official blurb: >From: Ed DeHart > The Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT) was formed by the Defense > Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) in 1988 to serve as a focal > point for the computer security concerns of Internet users. The > Coordination Center for the CERT is located at the Software Engineering > Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA. > Internet E-mail: cert@cert.sei.cmu.edu > Telephone: 412-268-7090 24-hour hotline: > CERT/CC personnel answer 7:30a.m. to 6:00p.m. EST(GMT-5)/EDT(GMT-4), > and are on call for emergencies during other hours. ...and also, the umbrella group "FIRST", which mediates between the incident handling teams themselves... >From: John Wack >[...] FIRST is actually a very viable and growing >organization, of which CERT is a member. It's not actually true that, >if you're connected to the Internet, you should call CERT only - that >doesn't do justice to the many other response teams out there and in the >process of forming. >NIST is currently the FIRST secretariat; we maintain an anonymous ftp >server with a directory of FIRST information (csrc.ncsl.nist.gov: >~/pub/first). This directory contains a contact file that lists the >current members and their constituencies and contact information >(filename "first-contacts"). >While CERT is a great organization, other response teams who do handle >incidents on their parts of the Internet merit some mention as well - >perhaps mentioning the existence of this file would help to do that in a >limited space. The file mentioned is a comprehensive listing of contact points per network for security incidents. It is too large to reproduce here, I suggest that the reader obtains a copy for his/her self by the means given. Q.10 What is a firewall? A (Internet) firewall is a machine which is attached (usually) between your site and a wide area network. It provides controllable filtering of network traffic, allowing restricted access to certain internet port numbers (ie: services that your machine would otherwise provide to the network as a whole) and blocks access to pretty well everything else. Similar machines are available for other network types, too. Firewalls are an effective "all-or-nothing" approach to dealing with external access security, and they are becoming very popular, with the rise in Internet connectivity. For more information on these sort of topics, see the Gateway paper by [Cheswick], below. Q.11 Why shouldn't I use setuid shell scripts? You shouldn't use them for a variety of reasons, mostly involving bugs in the Unix kernel. Here are a few of the more well known problems, some of which are fixed on more recent operating systems. 1) If the script begins "#!/bin/sh" and a link (symbolic or otherwise) can be made to it with the name "-i", a setuid shell can be immediately obtained because the script will be invoked: "#!/bin/sh -i", ie: an interactive shell. 2) Many kernels suffer from a race condition which can allow you to exchange the shellscript for another executable of your choice between the times that the newly exec()ed process goes setuid, and when the command interpreter gets started up. If you are persistent enough, in theory you could get the kernel to run any program you want. 3) The IFS bug: the IFS shell variable contains a list of characters to be treated like whitespace by a shell when parsing command names. By changing the IFS variable to contain the "/" character, the command "/bin/true" becomes "bin true". All you need do is export the modified IFS variable, install a command called "bin" in your path, and run a setuid script which calls "/bin/true". Then "bin" will be executed whilst setuid. If you really must write scripts to be setuid, either a) Put a setuid wrapper in "C" around the script, being very careful to reset IFS and PATH to something sensible before exec()ing the script. If your system has runtime linked libraries, consider the values of the LD_LIBRARY_PATH also. b) Use a scripting language like Perl which has a safe setuid facility, and is proactively rabid about security. - but really, it's safest not to use setuid scripts at all. Q.12 Why shouldn't I leave "root" permanently logged on the console? Using a 'smart' terminal as console and leaving "/dev/console" world writable whilst "root" is logged in is a potential hole. The terminal may be vulnerable to remote control via escape sequences, and can be used to 'type' things into the root shell. The terminal type can usually be obtained via the "ps" command. Various solutions to this can be devised, usually by giving the console owner and group-write access only , and then using the setgid mechanism on any program which has need to output to the console (eg: "write"). Q.13 Why shouldn't I create Unix accounts with null passwords? Creating an unpassworded account to serve any purpose is potentially dangerous, not for any direct reason, but because it can give a cracker a toehold. For example, on many systems you will find a unpassworded user "sync", which allows the sysman to sync the disks without being logged in. This appears to be both safe and innocuous. The problem with this arises if your system is one of the many which doesn't do checks on a user before authorising them for (say) FTP. A cracker might be able to connect to your machine for one of a variety of FTP methods, pretending to be user "sync" with no password, and then copy your password file off for remote cracking. Although there are mechanisms to prevent this sort of thing happening in most modern vesions of Unix, to be totally secure requires an in-depth knowledge of every package on your system, and how it deals with the verification of users. If you can't be sure, it's probably better not to leave holes like this around. Another hole that having null-password accounts opens up is the possibility (on systems with runtime linked libraries) of spoofing system software into running your programs as the "sync" user, by changing the LD_LIBRARY_PATH variable to a library of your own devising, and running "login -p" or "su" to turn into that user. Q.14 What security holes are associated with X-windows (and other WMs)? Lots, some which affect use of X only, and some which impact the security of the entire host system. I would prefer not to go into too much detail here, and would refer any reader reader looking for detailed information to the other FAQ's in relevant newsgroups. (comp.windows.*) One point I will make is that X is one of those packages which often generates "Incompatible Usage" security problems, for instance the ability for crackers to run xsessions on hosts under accounts with no password (eg: sync), if it is improperly set up. Read the question about unpassworded accounts in this FAQ. Q.15 What security holes are associated with NFS? Lots, mostly to do with who you export your disks to, and how. The security of NFS relies heavily upon who is allowed to mount the files that a server exports, and whether they are exported read only or not. The exact format for specifying which hosts can mount an exported directory varies between Unix implementations, but generally the information is contained within the file "/etc/exports". This file contains a list of directories and for each one, it has a series of either specific "hosts" or "netgroups" which are allowed to NFS mount that directory. This list is called the "access list". The "hosts" are individual machines, whilst "netgroups" are combinations of hosts and usernames specified in "/etc/netgroup". These are meant to provide a method of finetuning access. Read the relevant manual page for more information about netgroups. The exports file also contains information about whether the directory is to be exported as read-only, read-write, and whether super-user access is to be allowed from clients which mount that directory. The important point to remember is that if the access list for a particular directory in /etc/exports contains: 1) Your directory can be mounted by anyone, anywhere. 2) Your directory can be mounted by anyone permitted to run the mount command at hostname. This might not be a trustworthy person; for instance, if the machine is a PC running NFS, it could be anyone. 3) If the netgroup: a) is empty, anyone can mount your directory, from anywhere. b) contains "(,,)", anyone can mount your directory, from anywhere. c) contains the name of a netgroup which is empty or contains "(,,)", anyone can mount your directory, from anywhere. d) contains "(hostname,,)", anyone on the named host who is permissioned to mount files can mount your directory. e) contains "(,username,)", the named user can mount your directory, from anywhere. 4) If you meant to export the directory to the host "athena" but actually type "ahtena", the word "ahtena" is taken as a netgroup name, is found to be an empty netgroup, and thus the directory can be mounted by anyone, anywhere. So, if you aren't careful about what you put into /etc/exports and /etc/netgroup you could find that a user with a PC could a) mount your mainframe filestore as a network disk b) edit your /etc/passwd or .rhosts or /etc/hosts.equiv ... c) log into your mainframe as another user, possibly "root" Disclaimer: The above information may not be true for all platforms which provide an NFS serving capability, but is true for all of the ones in my experience (AEM). It should be noted that the SAFE way to create an "empty" netgroup entry is: ngname (-,-,-) Which is a netgroup which matches no-one on no-host on no-NIS-domain. [ I am STILL working on PC NFS packages / ethics at the moment - AEM ] Q.16 How can I generate safe passwords? You can't. The key word here is GENERATE. Once an algorithm for creating passwords is specified using upon some systematic method, it merely becomes a matter of analysing your algorithm in order to find every password on your system. Unless the algorithm is very subtle, it will probably suffer from a very low period (ie: it will soon start to repeat itself) so that either: a) a cracker can try out every possible output of the password generator on every user of the system, or b) the cracker can analyse the output of the password program, determine the algorithm being used, and apply the algorithm to other users to determine their passwords. A beautiful example of this (where it was disastrously assumed that a random number generator could generate an infinite number of random passwords) is detailed in [Morris & Thompson]. The only way to get a reasonable amount of variety in your passwords (I'm afraid) is to make them up. Work out some flexible method of your own which is NOT based upon: 1) modifying any part of your name or name+initials 2) modifying a dictionary word 3) acronyms 4) any systematic, well-adhered-to algorithm whatsoever For instance, NEVER use passwords like: alec7 - it's based on the users name (& it's too short anyway) tteffum - based on the users name again gillian - girlfiends name (in a dictionary) naillig - ditto, backwards PORSCHE911 - it's in a dictionary 12345678 - it's in a dictionary (& people can watch you type it easily) qwertyui - ...ditto... abcxyz - ...ditto... 0ooooooo - ...ditto... Computer - just because it's capitalised doesn't make it safe wombat6 - ditto for appending some random character 6wombat - ditto for prepending some random character merde3 - even for french words... mr.spock - it's in a sci-fi dictionary zeolite - it's in a geological dictionary ze0lite - corrupted version of a word in a geological dictionary ze0l1te - ...ditto... Z30L1T3 - ...ditto... I hope that these examples emphasise that ANY password derived from ANY dictionary word (or personal information), modified in ANY way, constitutes a potentially guessable password. For more detailed information in the same vein, you should read the APPENDIX files which accompany Crack [Muffett]. Q.17 Why are passwords so important? Because they are the first line of defence against interactive attacks on your system. It can be stated simply: if a cracker cannot interact with your system(s), and he has no access to read or write the information contained in the password file, then he has almost no avenues of attack left open to break your system. This is also why, if a cracker can at least read your password file (and if you are on a vanilla modern Unix, you should assume this) it is so important that he is not able to break any of the passwords contained therein. If he can, then it is also fair to assume that he can (a) log on to your system and can then (b) break into "root" via an operating system hole. Q.18 How many possible passwords are there? Most people ask this at one time or another, worried that programs like Crack will eventually grow in power until they can do a completely exhaustive search of all possible passwords, to break into a specific users' account - usually root. If (to simplify the maths) we make the assumptions that: 1) Valid passwords are created from a set of 62 chars [A-Za-z0-9] 2) Valid passwords are to be between 5 and 8 chars long Then the size of the set of all valid passwords is: (in base 62) 100000 + 1000000 + 10000000 + 100000000 = --------- 111100000 (base 62) A figure which is far too large to usefully undertake an exhaustive search with current technologies. Don't forget, however, that passwords CAN be made up with even more characters then this; you can use , all the punctuation characters, and symbols (~<>|\#$%^&*) too. If you can use some of all the 95 non-control characters in passwords, this increases the search space for a cracker to cover even further. However, it's still MUCH more efficient for a cracker to get a copy of "Crack", break into ANY account on the system (you only need one), log onto the machine, and spoof his way up to root priviledges via operating systems holes. Take comfort from these figures. If you can slam the door in the face of a potential crackers with a robust password file, you have sealed most of the major avenues of attack immediately. Q.19 Where can I get more information? Books: [Kochan & Wood] Unix System Security A little dated for modern matters, but still a very good book on the basics of Unix security. [Spafford & Garfinkel] Practical Unix Security This wonderful book is a worthy successor to the above, and covers a wide variety of the topics which the Unix (and some non Unix) system manager of the 90's will come across. >From: Gene Spafford >Mention appendix E in "Practical Unix Security." Okay: Appendix E contains an extensive bibliography with even more pointers to security books than this FAQ contains. [Stoll] The Cuckoo's Egg A real life 1980's thriller detailing the tracing of a cracker from Berkeley across the USA and over the Atlantic to Germany. An excellent view from all points: a good read, informative about security, funny, and a good illustration of the cracker psyche. Contains an excellent recipie for chocolate chip cookies. A videotape of the "NOVA" (PBS's Science Program on TV) episode that explained/reenacted this story is available from PBS Home Video. They have a toll-free 800 number within North America. I believe that this program was aired on the BBC's "HORIZON" program, and thus will be available from BBC Enterprises, but I haven't checked this out yet - AEM [Raymond] (Ed.) The New Hackers Dictionary/Online Jargon File A mish-mash of history and dictionary definitions which explains why it is so wonderful to be a hacker, and why those crackers who aren't hackers want to be called "hackers". The Jargon File version is available online - check an archie database for retails. Latest revision: 2.99. [Gasser] Building a Secure Computer System. By Morrie Gasser, and van Nostrand Reinhold; explains what is required to build a secure computer system. [Rainbow Series] (Especially the "Orange Book") >From: epstein@trwacs.fp.trw.com (Jeremy Epstein) >The "Rainbow Series" consists of about 25 volumes. Some of the >more interesting ones are: > > The "Orange Book", or Trusted Computer Systems Evaluation > Criteria, which describes functional and assurance > requirements for computer systems > > Trusted Database Interpretation, which talks both about > trusted databases and building systems out of trusted > components > > Trusted Network Interpretation, which (obviously) talks > about networked systems > >A (possibly) complete list is: > -- Department of Defense Trusted Computer System Evaluation Criteria > (TCSEC), aka the "Orange Book" > -- Computer Security Subsystem Interpretation of the TCSEC > -- Trusted Data Base Management System Interpretation of the TCSEC > -- Trusted Network Interpretation of the TCSEC > -- Trusted Network Interpretation Environments Guideline -- Guidance > for Applying the Trusted Network Interpretation > -- Trusted Unix Working Group (TRUSIX) Rationale for Selecting > Access Control List Features for the Unix System > -- Trusted Product Evaulations -- A Guide for Vendors > -- Computer Security Requirements -- Guidance for Applying the DoD > TCSEC in Specific Environments > -- Technical Rationale Behind CSC-STD-003-85: Computer Security > Requirements > -- Trusted Product Evaluation Questionnaire > -- Rating Maintenance Phase -- Program Document > -- Guidelines for Formal Verification Systems > -- A Guide to Understanding Audit in Trusted Systems > -- A Guide to Understanding Trusted Facility Management > -- A Guide to Understanding Discretionary Access Control in Trusted > Systems > -- A Guide to Understanding Configuration Management in Trusted Systems > -- A Guide to Understanding Design Documentation in Trusted Systems > -- A Guide to Understanding Trusted Distribution in Trusted Systems > -- A Guide to Understanding Data Remanence in Automated Information > Systems > -- Department of Defense Password Management Guideline > -- Glossary of Computer Security Terms > -- Integrity in Automated Information Systems > >You can get your own copy (free) of any or all of the books by >writing or calling: > > INFOSEC Awareness Office > National Computer Security Centre > 9800 Savage Road > Fort George G. Meade, MD 20755-6000 > Tel +1 301 766-8729 > >If you ask to be put on the mailing list, you'll get a copy of each new >book as it comes out (typically a couple a year). >From: kleine@fzi.de (Karl Kleine) >I was told that this offer is only valid for US citizens ("We only send >this stuff to a US postal address"). Non-US people have to PAY to get >hold of these documents. They can be ordered from NTIS, the National >Technical Information Service: > NTIS, > 5285 Port Royal Rd, > Springfield VA 22151, > USA > order dept phone: +1-703-487-4650, fax +1-703-321-8547 >From: Ulf Kieber >just today I got my set of the Rainbow Series. > >There are three new books: > -- A Guide to Understanding Trusted Recovery in Trusted Systems > -- A Guide to Understanding Identification and Authentication in Trusted > Systems > -- A Guide to Writing the Security Features User's Guide for Trusted Systems > >They also shipped > -- Advisory Memorandum on Office Automation Security Guideline >issued by NTISS. Most of the books (except three or four) can also be >purchased from > > U.S. Government Printing Office > Superintendent of Documents > Washington, DC 20402 phone: (202) 783-3238 > >>-- Integrity in Automated Information Systems >THIS book was NOT shipped to me--I'm not sure if it is still in >the distribution. >From: epstein@trwacs.fp.trw.com (Jeremy Epstein) >... >The ITSEC (Information Technology Security Evaluation Criteria) is a >harmonized document developed by the British, German, French, and >Netherlands governments. It separates functional and assurance >requirements, and has many other differences from the TCSEC. > >You can get your copy (again, free/gratis) by writing: > > Commission of the European Communities > Directorate XIII/F > SOG-IS Secretariat > Rue de la Loi 200 > B-1049 BRUSSELS > Belgium Also note that NCSC periodically publish an "Evaluated Products List" which is the definitive statement of which products have been approved at what TCSEC level under which TCSEC interpretations. This is useful for separating the output of marketdroids from the truth. Papers: [Morris & Thompson] Password Security, A Case History A wonderful paper, first published in CACM in 1974, which is now often to found in the Unix Programmer Docs supplied with many systems. [Curry] Improving the Security of your Unix System. A marvellous paper detailing the basic security considerations every Unix systems manager should know. Available as "security-doc.tar.Z" from FTP sites (check an Archie database for your nearest site.) [Klein] Foiling the Cracker: A Survey of, and Improvements to, Password Security. A thorough and reasoned analysis of password cracking trends, and the reasoning behind techniques of password cracking. Your nearest copy should be easily found via Archie, searching for the keyword "Foiling". [Cheswick] The Design of a Secure Internet Gateway. Great stuff. It's research.att.com:/dist/Secure_Internet_Gateway.ps [Cheswick] An Evening With Berferd: in which a Cracker is Lured, Endured and Studied. Funny and very readable, somewhat in the style of [Stoll] but more condensed. research.att.com:/dist/berferd.ps [Bellovin89] Security Problems in the TCP/TP Protocol Suite. A description of security problems in many of the protocols widely used in the Internet. Not all of the discussed protocols are official Internet Protocols (i.e. blessed by the IAB), but all are widely used. The paper originally appeared in ACM Computer Communications Review, Vol 19, No 2, April 1989. research.att.com:/dist/ipext.ps.Z [Bellovin91] Limitations of the Kerberos Authentication System A discussion of the limitations and weaknesses of the Kerberos Authentication System. Specific problems and solutions are presented. Very worthwhile reading. Available on research.att.com via anonymous ftp, originally appeared in ACM Computer Communications Review but the revised version (identical to the online version, I think) appeared in the Winter 1991 USENIX Conference Proceedings. [Muffett] Crack documentation. The information which accompanies Crack contains a whimsical explanation of password cracking techniques and the optimisation thereof, as well as an incredibly long and silly diatribe on how to not choose a crackable password. A good read for anyone who needs convincing that password cracking is _really easy_. [Farmer] COPS Read the documentation provided with COPS. Lots of hints and philosophy. The where, why and how behind the piece of security software that started it all. [CERT] maillists/advisories/clippings CERT maintains archives of useful bits of information that it gets from USENET and other sources. Also archives of all the security "advisories" that it has posted (ie: little messages warning people that there is a hole in their operating system, and where to get a fix) [OpenSystemsSecurity] A notorious (but apparently quite good) document, which has been dogged by being in a weird postscript format. >From: amesml@monu1.cc.monash.edu.au (Mark L. Ames) >I've received many replies to my posting about Arlo Karila's paper, >including the news (that I and many others have missed) that a >manageable postscript file and text file are available via anonymous ftp >from ajk.tele.fi (131.177.5.20) in the directory PublicDocuments. These are all available for FTP browsing from "cert.sei.cmu.edu". [RFC-1244] Site Security Handbook RFC-1244 : JP Holbrook & JK Reynolds (Eds.) "The Site Security Handbook" covering incident handling and prevention. July 1991; 101 pages (Format: TXT=259129 bytes), also called "FYI 8" [USENET] comp.virus: for discussions of virii and other nasties, with a PC bent. comp.unix.admin: for general administration issues comp.unix.: for the hardware/software that YOU use. comp.protocols.tcp-ip: good for problems with NFS, etc. Q.20 How silly can people get? This section (which I hope to expand) is a forum for learning by example; if people have a chance to read about real life (preferably silly) security incidents, it will hopefully instill in readers some of the zen of computer security without the pain of experiencing it. If you have an experience that you wish to share, please send it to the editors. It'll boost your karma no end. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- aem@aber.ac.uk: The best story I have is of a student friend of mine (call him Bob) who spent his industrial year at a major computer manufacturing company. In his holidays, Bob would come back to college and play AberMUD on my system. Part of Bob's job at the company involved systems management, and the company was very hot on security, so all the passwords were random strings of letters, with no sensible order. It was imperative that the passwords were secure (this involved writing the random passwords down and locking them in big, heavy duty safes). One day, on a whim, I fed the MUD persona file passwords into Crack as a dictionary (the passwords were stored plaintext) and then ran Crack on our systems password file. A few student accounts came up, but nothing special. I told the students concerned to change their passwords - that was the end of it. Being the lazy guy I am, I forgot to remove the passwords from the Crack dictionary, and when I posted the next version to USENET, the words went too. It went to the comp.sources.misc moderator, came back over USENET, and eventually wound up at Bob's company. Round trip: ~10,000 miles. Being a cool kinda student sysadmin dude, Bob ran the new version of Crack when it arrived. When it immediately churned out the root password on his machine, he damn near fainted... The moral of this story is: never use the same password in two different places, and especially on untrusted systems (like MUDs). -- aem@aber.ac.uk aem@uk.ac.aber aem%aber@ukacrl.bitnet mcsun!uknet!aber!aem - send (cryptographic) comp.sources.misc material to: aem@aber.ac.uk -

23 hidden windows apps

23 hidden windows apps To run any of these apps go to Start > Run and type the executable name: 1) Character Map = charmap.exe (very useful for finding unusual characters) 2) Disk Cleanup = cleanmgr.exe 3) Clipboard Viewer = clipbrd.exe (views contents of Windows clipboard) 4) Dr Watson = drwtsn32.exe (Troubleshooting tool) 5) DirectX diagnosis = dxdiag.exe (Diagnose & test DirectX, video & sound cards) 6) Private character editor = eudcedit.exe (allows creation or modification of characters) 7) IExpress Wizard = iexpress.exe (Create self-extracting / self-installing package) 8 Mcft Synchronization Manager = mobsync.exe (appears to allow synchronization of files on the network for when working offline. Apparently undocumented). 9) Windows Media Player 5.1 = mplay32.exe (Retro version of Media Player, very basic). 10) ODBC Data Source Administrator = odbcad32.exe (something to do with databases) 11) Object Packager = packager.exe (to do with packaging objects for insertion in files, appears to have comprehensive help files). 12) System Monitor = perfmon.exe (very useful, highly configurable tool, tells you everything you ever wanted to know about any aspect of PC performance, for uber-geeks only ) 13) Program Manager = progman.exe (Legacy Windows 3.x desktop shell). 14) Remote Access phone book = rasphone.exe (documentation is virtually non-existant). 15) Registry Editor = regedt32.exe [also regedit.exe] (for hacking the Windows Registry). 16) Network shared folder wizard = shrpubw.exe (creates shared folders on network). 17) File siganture verification tool = sigverif.exe 18 Volume Contro = sndvol32.exe (I've included this for those people that lose it from the System Notification area). 19) System Configuration Editor = sysedit.exe (modify System.ini & Win.ini just like in Win98! ). 20) Syskey = syskey.exe (Secures XP Account database - use with care, it's virtually undocumented but it appears to encrypt all passwords, I'm not sure of the full implications). 21) Mcft Telnet Client = telnet.exe 22) Driver Verifier Manager = verifier.exe (seems to be a utility for monitoring the actions of drivers, might be useful for people having driver problems. Undocumented). 23) Windows for Workgroups Chat = winchat.exe (appears to be an old NT utility to allow chat sessions over a LAN, help files available). Note:- Some of them might not run in Windows XP Home edition

lock ur pc

lock ur pc.. open notepad copy and paste the script below and save it .VBS extention This wil create a shortcut.. run(click) it set WshShell = WScript.CreateObject("WScript.Shell") set oShellLink = WshShell.CreateShortcut(wshShell.SpecialFolders("D esktop") & "\LockWorkstation.lnk") oShellLink.TargetPath = "%windir%\system32\rundll32.exe" oShellLink.Arguments = "user32.dll,LockWorkStation" oShellLink.Save

paper hacking

1. You go to your computer and you find your hard disk is empty 2. You go to your computer and you find a file called "I was here" or similar. 3. You find on your web page another one 4. You find on your web page, which looks very familiar to you the phone number of the competior instead of yours. 5. You find that your password suddenly does not work 6. Your personal account does not allow you anymore to su, sudo 7. Everybody logging is member of the group 0, maybe they do not even need a password. You find also neew accounts, prefered as "shutup" (next to shutdown in the password file), somewhere a name like "toor" (which just tell you, that the hacker might come from a FreeBSD box). 8. You try to find out what is going on, by examin the log files, but they have only entries of the last minute. 9. You type ps -ax and you find a lots of people there. You kick them out, they are still here and delete the log files all the time. You turn off every service, but they are still there. You check the login binary and it has another length but still the same date/time. 10. Somebody tries to use talk to you and offered you to help you on your system, he even mention the price for this service, and emphesize that he has nothing to do with the case. You pull out the Router, the Ethernet cable, and make the only trust full action: format the harddisk and re-install the system. Almost all about happened to me in just 6 hours on 30th September 1997. The University in Estland, from where the hacker came, did not show any responisbility, even when you showed them the fragments of the logfile. Why?? because hacking is free, is not a crime, not covered by the law, .... What have I changed since then? 1. I look at each logfile very often 2. Installed tripwire 3. Installed modified shells, which log everything what root is doing extra in a hidden file, somewhere on the local harddisk, as well as on a extra machine, which is only for logging anymore. From there we save it to a one-time write able media. 4. No shells for anybody, except 2 people 5. Every service turned off that is not necessary 6. Upgraded to the newest version of software 7. subscribe to several security lists and study the messages carefully.