166 lines
9.5 KiB
Plaintext
166 lines
9.5 KiB
Plaintext
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"As you are surveying a dark and misty swamp you come across
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what appears to be a small cave. You light a torch and enter.
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You have walked several hundred feet when you stumble into a
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bright blue portal...with a sudden burst of light and a loud
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explosion you are swept into...DragonFire... Press any key,
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if you dare..."
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__________________
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| red menace |
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| -&- |
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| mephisto madware |
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| textfile systems |
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| present: |
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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[#][#][#][#][#][#][#][#][#][#][#][#][#][#][#]
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[#] [#]
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[#] "Night of the Hackers" [#]
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[#] by Richard Sandza [#]
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[#] From "Newsweek" November 12th, 1984 [#]
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[#] [#]
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[#][#][#][#][#][#][#][#][#][#][#][#][#][#][#]
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Edited from a badly-done version to this
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lovely one (HAH!) by the one, the only,
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Mr. Pez.
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(What a guy.)
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You have programmed your personal computer to dial into Dragonfire, a
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computer bulletin board in Gainsville, Texas. But before you get any
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information, Dragonfire demands your name, home city, and phone number. So,
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for tonight's tour of the electronic wilderness you become "Montana Wildhack"
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of San Francisco.
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Dragonfire, Sherwood Forrest(sic), Forbidden Zone, Blottoland,
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Plovernet, The Vault, Shadowland, PhBI, and scores of other computer bulletin
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boards are hangouts of a new generation of vandals. These precocious teen
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agers use their electronic skills to play hide and seek with computer and
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telephone security forces. Many computer bulletin boards are completely
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legitimate: they resemble electronic versions of the familiar cork boards in
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supermarkets and school corridors, listing services and providing imformation
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some one out there is bound to find useful. But this is a walk on the wild
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side, a trip into the world of underground computer bulletin boards dedicated
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to encouraging -- and making -- mischief. The phone numbers for these boards
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are closely guarded as a psychiatrist's home telephone number. Some numbers
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are posted on underground boards, others are exchanged over the telephone. A
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friendly hacker provided Dragonfire's number. Hook up and you see a choice
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of topics offered. For phone phreaks -- who delight in stealing service from
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AT&T and other phone networks -- Phreakenstein's Lair is a potpourri of phone
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numbers, access codes, and technical information. For computer hackers --
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who dial into other people's computers -- Ranger's Lodge is chock-full of
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numbers and passwords for government, university, and corporate computers.
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Moving through Dragonfire's offerings, you can only marvel at how
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conversant these teen-agers are with the technical esoterica of today's
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electronic age. Obviously,they have spent a great deal of time studying
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computers, though their grammar and spelling indicate they haven't been as
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diligent in other subjects. You are constantly reminded of how young they
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are. "Well, it's that time of year again. School is back in session so
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let's get those high school phone numbers rolling in. Time to get straight
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A's, have perfect attendance (except when you've been up all night hacking
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school passwords), and messing up your worst teacher's paycheck."
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Moving through Dragonfire's offerings, you can only marvel at how
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conversant these teen-agers are with the technical esoterica of today's
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electronic age. Obviously,they have spent a great deal of time studying
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computers, though their grammar and spelling indicate they haven't been as
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diligent in other subjects. You are constantly reminded of how young they
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are. "Well, it's that time of year again. School is back in session so
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let's get those high school phone numbers rolling in. Time to get straight
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A's, have perfect attendance (except when you've been up all night hacking
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school passwords), and messing up your worst teacher's paycheck."
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Forbidden Zone, in Detroit, is offering ammunition for a hacker civil war
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...tips on crashing the most popular bulletin board software. There are also
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plans for building red, black, and blue boxes to mimic operator tones and get
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free service. And here are the details for "the safest and best way to make
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and use nitroglycerin," compliments of Dr. Hex, who says he got it from "my
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chemistry teacher."
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Flip through the "pages." You have to wonder if this information is
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accurate. Can this really be the phone number and password to Taco Bell's
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computer? Do these kids really have the dialup numbers to dozens of
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universtiy computers? The temptation is too much. You sign off and have
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your computer dial the number to Yale University Computer. Bingo -- the
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words Yale University appear on your screen. You enter a password. A menu
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appears. You hang up in a sweat. You are now a hacker.
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Punch in another number and your modem zips off touch tones. Here comes
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the tedious side of all this. Bulletin boards are popular. No vacancy at
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Bates Motel (named for Anthony Perkins' creepy motel in the movie "Psycho");
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the line is busy. So are 221 B. Baker Street, PhBI, Shadowland, and The
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Vault. Caesar's Palace rings and connects. This is a different breed of
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board. Caesar's palace is a combination phreak board and computer store in
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Miami. This is the place to learn ways to mess up a department store's
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antishoplifting system, or make free calls on telephones with locks on the
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dials. Pure capitalism accompanies such anarchy. Caesar's Palace is
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offering good deals on disk drives, software, computers, and all sorts of
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hardware. Orders are taken through electronic mail messages.
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"Tele Trial": Bored by Caesar's Palace, you enter the number to
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Blottoland, the board operated by one of the nation's most notorious computer
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phreaks -- King Blotto. This one had been busy all night, but it is pretty
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late in Cleveland. The phone rings and you connect. To get past the blank
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screen, type the secondary password, "S-L-I-M-E." King Blotto obliges,
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listing his rules: you must leave your real name, telephone number, address,
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occupation and interests. He will call and disclose the primary password,
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"if you belong on this board." If admitted, do not reveal the phone number
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or the secondary password, lest you face "Tele-Trial," the King warns and
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dismisses you by hanging up.
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You expexted heavy security,but this teen-ager's security is, as they
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say, awesome. Computers at the defense department and hundreds of businesses
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let you know when you've reached them. Here you need a password just to find
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out what system answered the phone. Then King Blotto asks questions, and
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hangs up. Professional security experts could learn something from this kid.
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He knows that ever since the 414 computer hackers were arrested in August
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1982, law enforcement officers have been searching for leads on bulletin
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boards.
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"Do you have any ties to or connections with any law enforcement agency
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or any agency which would inform such a law inforcement agency of this
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bulletin board?"
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Such is the welcomig message to Plovernet, a Florida board known for its
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great hacker/phreak files. There amid a string of valid Visa/MasterCard
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numbers are dozens of computer phone numbers and passwords. Here, you also
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learn what Blotto means by tele trial. "As some of you may or may not know,
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a session of the conference court was held and The Wizard was found guilty of
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miscellaneous charges, and sentenced to four months off bulletin boards." If
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The Wizard calls, system operators like Blotto will disconnect him.
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Paging through the bulletin boards is a test of your patience. Each
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board has different commands to follow, leaving you to hunt and peck your way
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around. So far you haven't had the nerve to type "C" which summons the
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system operator for a live, computer to computer conversation.
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The time, however, has come for you to ask a few questions to the
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"sysop". You dial a computer in boston. It answers & you begin working
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through the menus. You scan through a handful of dial-up numbers, including
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one for Arpanet, the Defense Department's research computer. You bravely tap
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"C", and in seconds, the screeen blanks and your cursor dances across the
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screen.
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"Hello... What kind of computer do you have?"
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Contact. The sysop is here. You exchange amenities and get "talking." How
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much hacking does he do? Not much, too busy. Is he afraid of having his
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computer confiscated like the Los Angeles man facing criminal charges because
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his computer bulletin board contained a stolen telephone credit card number?
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"No," he replies. Finally, he asks the dreaded question, "How old are you?"
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"How old are you?" you reply, stalling. "15." he types. Once you confess
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that you are old enough to be his father, the conversation gets very serious.
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You fear each new question. He probably thinks you're a cop. But all he
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wants to know is your choice for President. The chat continues, until he
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asks you what time it is. Just past midnight, you reply. Expletive, "it's
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3:08 here," sysop types, "I must be going to sleep. I've got school
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tomorrow." The cursor dances. "*********** Thank you for calling." The
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screen goes blank.
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Richard Sandza
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The News Line] |