236 lines
10 KiB
Plaintext
236 lines
10 KiB
Plaintext
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# <Tolmes News Service> #
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# ''''''''''''''''''''' #
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# > Written by Dr. Hugo P. Tolmes < #
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#######################################
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Issue Number: 27
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Release Date: February 25, 1988
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TNS Issue #27 will deal with the changes at 2600 and:
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- the results of it
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- the reaction to it
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$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
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<Changes at 2600 Magazine>
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--------------------------
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TNS Issue #23 gave some information on the changes at 2600. Right now I am
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going to reprint the announcement as it appeared in the December-1987 issue:
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------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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IMPORTANT NEWS
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A number of circumstances have forced us to make some changes in the
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way 2600 is published. As of 1988, we will become a quarterly publication.
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We've been printing 2600 under the "new" format for a year now. And one
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thing we can't help but notice is that it's frightfully expensive. We adopted
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this format so that we could present longer articles and also become a
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little more visible. And now we have succeeded in both of these ambitions.
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However, if we were to continue at this pace, we would run out of funds
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entirely. The $15 we charge for an individual subscription is actually
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less than what it costs to produce one issue for a year. This is why we charge
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more to those that can afford more, namely large corporations and large
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organizations where the magazine is passed around to many people. And this
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is why we continue to sell back issues. By providing alternative sources of
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income, we are able to continue to keep the magazine going at a lost cost.
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By raising the price to cover the costs of printing, mailing, and running
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an office, we could easily put the magazine out of the reach of most of
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our subscribers. We've seen publications smaller and less
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informative than ours with annual prices of over $100! We don't want to
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take that road.
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By reducing the amount of times we publish during the year (at the same
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time increasing the size of each issue slightly), we can keep the price down,
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keep ourselves out of financial problems, and hopefully give ourselves
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more time to make each issue mean a little more.
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This brings us to the time factor. We put a great deal of time into
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putting out the magazine. But 2600 is more than just a magazine. We're
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constantly trying to educate the populace on the uses and abuses of
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technology. We're told that as a result of our campaign to abolish the touch
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tone fee in New York, a bill may be introduced in the state legislature
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proposing just that. Our growing bulletin board network will do much to
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ensure freedom of speech for all computer users. And, of course, we want
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to maand hear about this magazine and our
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organization, either by getting maximum exposure in the media or by getting
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international distribution. At our current frenzied pace, we just don't
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have the time to adequately pursue these goals. At a more relaxed pace, we
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feel we'll be better able to put out a quality publication and make it more
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memorable overall.
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Naturally, we don't expect everyone to agree with out conclusions. If
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you feel strongly about this change or anything else, we'll certainly give you
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a refund for the balance of your subscription. We hope, though, that you'll
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stick it out at least to the first issue of our quarterly format to see if
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we live up to your expectations.
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Our spring issue will be mailed on or around March 15, 1988. Subsequent
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mailing dates are scheduled for June 15, September 15, and December 15. Your
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expiration date will be adjusted in the following manner: January, February,
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and March will end with the spring issue; April, May, and June- summer;
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July, August, and September-fall; and October, November, and December-winter.
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A number of subscribers have complained about their issues arriving late
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or sometimes not at all. It appears we must become militant in convincing he
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post office to do their job. If you do not get an issue within a week of when
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we send it out, you should call us and call you post office. Usually it is the
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post office on the receiving end that is at fault.
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As always, we welcome your feedback on what we're doing. We hope this
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change results in a better publication and a stronger Twenty Six Hundred.
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------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Some On What They Have Done:
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----------------------------
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"We've seen publications smaller and less informative than ours with
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annual prices of over $100!"-
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I can't imagine what that type of publication would be but I suppose there
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might be one or two like that
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- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
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"Our growing bulletin board network will do much to ensure freedom
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of speech for all computer users."-
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Actually, I don't know how the 2600 boards help ensure freedom of speech.
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This hints that later there will most likely be more 2600 boards. The current
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2600 boards right now are limited because they are both in the same NPA and
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that limits the number of people who can call.
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For those who don't know the 2600 boards, they are:
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OSUNY (2600 BBS #1).... 914-725-4060
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Central Office (#2).... 914-234-3260
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Feel free to call them.
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- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
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"Naturally, we don't expect everyone to agree with out conclusions."-
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This is of course correct.. as explained later.
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- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
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"A number of subscribers have complained about their issues arriving
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late or sometimes not at all."-
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I've CERTAINLY experienced this. Out of 11 issues, I have received 7. For those
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who can't count, that met received FIVE. I also ordered all of the
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back issues (at $75) and didn't receive ANYTHING. I wrote two letters and
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called twice. Nothing ever came of it. Don't let this influence anyone.. but
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I won't be renewing my subscription. After losing over $75, I don't plan to
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subscribe anything else.
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- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
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"It appears we must become militant in convincing he post office to do
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their job."-
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Who is WE? (no disrespect to 2600 intended.. althought I'm still angry about
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losing my $75 and five issues).
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- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
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I hope that I haven't stopped anyone from subscribing to 2600 Magazine. It is
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a quality newsletter which give good updates on the phreak/hack world.
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Call their bulletin boards for more information on 2600.
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$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
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Here is a report from Computer Security Digest.
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Volume V, No. 11. February 1988
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I. News Briefs
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A. Computer Virus Incidents Increase
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1. A few years ago on a business trip to Europe, I was suprised at how
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alarmed European computer security authorities were about implanted
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viruses in their systems. At the time, such events were rare in the
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U.S. I would like to say that is still true, but I'm afraid I can't.
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Despite the fact that we have better defenses against virus attacks
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today, the reported incidents seem to be growing; to say nothing
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about incidents that have been intentionally suppressed by the victims
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("No victim, no crime," as policemen are wont to say.)
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Let's therefore talk about a few recent virus reports. Hebrew Univ.
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in Jerusalem was the victim of a recent attack that "threatens to
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destroy thousands of files and wipe out years of research," says an
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article in the 1/8/88 issue of the Detroit Free Press.
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2. Lehigh University also discovered it had been victimized by a planted
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virus in its college computing system. Kenneth R. Van wyk of Lehugh's
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University Computing Center offers these insights:
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[Take note PC owners]
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The virus is contained within the stack space of COMMAND.COM. When a PC
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is booted from an infected disk, all a user need to do to spread the virus
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is to access another disk via TYPE, COPY, DIR, etc. If the other disk contains
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COMMAND.COM, the virus code is copied to the other disk. Then, a counter is
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incremented on the parent. When this counter reaches a value of 4, any and
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every disk in the PC is erased thoroughly. The boot tracks are nulled, as are
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the FAT tables, etc. This affects both floppy and hard disks.
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Meanwhile, the four SRildren that were created go on to tell four friends,
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and then they tell four friends, and so on, and so on.
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DETECTION!
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While this virus appears to be very well written, the autho2'diTDmea7Y behind
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a couple of footprints. First, the write data of the COMMAND.COM changes.
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Second, if there's a writb on a uninfected disk, you will get a
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WRITE PROTECT ERROR . . . SO, boot up from a suspected virus'd disk and access
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a write protected disk--If an error comes up, then you're sure. Note that the
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length of COMMAND.COM does not get altered.
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I urge anyone who comes in contact with public software to periodically check
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their own disks. Also, exercise safe computing--always wear a write protect
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tab.
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- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
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This was typed up by Ax Murderer. It is basically more on the incidents
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covered by recent issue of TNS. More of this will be covered in TNS #28.
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$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
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