190 lines
10 KiB
Plaintext
190 lines
10 KiB
Plaintext
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= F.U.C.K. - Fucked Up College Kids - Born Jan. 24th, 1993 - F.U.C.K. =
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STRANGERS IN A STRANGE LAND
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There are over ten thousand ways to acquire root access on a server.
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I know less than five hundred.
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I need only one.
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Within the realm of the United States corporate, educational and
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government agencies, the above words are an anathema. In a way, I
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understand why; and that is why I detest their collective reaction all the
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more. Rather than face up to their ignorance, corporate America, our
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"institutions of higher learning" and our government prefer instead to
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idly malign and otherwise regard as maladjusted anyone who can readily
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breach their illusory security.
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Rather than dwell on the surfeit of media accounts in which the authentic
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hacking community is inaccurately portrayed, I intend to devote this
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article to a study of how and why we -- the hacking community -- are so
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often the target of fear and loathing. Since I have the fortune of
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working in a relatively high technology extension of the
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military-industrial complex, I am often treated to a view from both sides
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of the battle lines.
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Yes, battle lines. Make no mistake about it: we are at war.
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In wartime, one of the first things that must be accomplished by any
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opposing faction is the relegation of the enemy to sub-human status. In
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this respect alone, it is more than apparent that the computer underground
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is indeed enmeshed in a war. On a daily basis, we are reminded of our
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status. We have been labeled "digital terrorists," "electronic
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corporate raiders," and, of course, "fucked up college kids." Even the
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simple term "hacker" has become synonymous with malevolent intent.
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These terms and connotations are not merely antagonistic wordplay. Their
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very design serves to prevent the government, university and business
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worlds from comprehending our humanity. And just as the governors of the
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South in the 1960s saw no reason to listen to "no upstart nigger," so the
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leaders of the largest sectors of American existence see no reason to
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listen to any "punk hackers."
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Of course, once the enemy has been stripped of its humanity, a wholesale
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erosion of that group's liberties inevitably follows. We all know how
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Nazi Germany willingly, and by writ of law, denied "der Juden" of their
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right to own property, engage in commerce, and travel freely. Even more
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chilling is the United States' history of doing precisely the same to
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Japanese-Americans for the duration of World War II. In both cases, these
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inhumane measures were taken not only after a period of fervent
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propaganda, but in the name of National Security.
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And here we are in 1998. We have witnessed a crackdown on the hacking
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community precipitated not by "digital Pearl Harbor[1]," but by ignorance
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of the American government and a simple error in a piece of AT&T code[2].
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Kevin Mitnick still awaits trial three years after his arrest on charges
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of "possession of unauthorized access devices, computer fraud, causing
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damage to computers, wire fraud, and interception of wire or electronic
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communications[3]," denied even so much as the use of a stand-alone laptop
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by which he can coordinate his own defense. Attorney General Janet Reno
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seeks $64 million dollars to start a "cybercrime center" under the
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jurisdiction of the FBI[4].
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None of this should come as a surprise. Even in ancient times, the
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stranger was always perceived as greatest threat to any community[5]. In
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this sense, we are perceived as particularly threatening strangers since
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we have demonstrated time and again that we can better navigate the very
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territory that the agencies of government, industry and education
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constructed for their own use.
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The above is not an idle boast, nor is it made with malice or vanity. The
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fact of the matter is that we, a relatively disorganized collective of
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outsiders, can and have mastered a highly complex network of systems
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designed, created and implemented by some of the greatest technical minds
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this century has seen. How could that *not* be unnerving to the
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institutions that consider themselves to be the be-all and end-all of
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technological innovation?
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So where do we go from here? Surely it would seem that America's
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government, universities and industry must understand that their notions
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of computer security are sorely lacking. Even so, we cannot expect them
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to embrace our efforts. We are in their disfavor entirely because we, in
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no uncertain or delicate terms, mercilessly expose their weaknesses. As a
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result, they respond in kind by legislating against the very tools on
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which we rely to safeguard our way of life. In the arena of cryptography
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alone, laws have been written on the presumption that every person is
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guilty until proven innocent. "After all," the government reasons, "why
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would someone need unbreakable cryptography unless they had something to
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hide?"
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Judging from history, this conflict could continue in perpetuity: a
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constant struggle with no resolution, and no decisive victory for either
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side. Yet there is a precedent on which an armistice could be reached.
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Through no accident, that precedent is what brought us all together in the
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first place.
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The precedent is the Internet.
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Those who have been around long enough will remember that the Internet was
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not borne of mutual admiration, but mutual distrust. (Let us remember
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that the 1960s were not a time when universities were particularly fond of
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the military and the military was not particularly willing to open up to
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anyone.) Even so, all participants agreed to set aside their
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long-standing suspicions for the moment in order to pursue a higher goal.
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In doing so, we -- the hacker community -- have been afforded the
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opportunity to learn more than we would have been otherwise able. We
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cannot ignore this basic fact.
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This is not to say that the hacker community should be obliged to extend
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the olive branch. We have done nothing more than followed our respective
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curiosities as the human animal is obligated by its own intellect. We
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were presented with a new technology and, just as we began to explore it,
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were shackled with nonsensical arbitrary rules which were impossible to
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follow in the face of a compelling mystery. And in our disobedience, we
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have literally been the embodiment of the convictions that brought forth
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the Declaration of Independence over 220 years ago.
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Now more than ever, it is obvious that the United States' government,
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industry and universities could richly benefit from an alliance with us.
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An open, nonjudgmental dialogue via the Internet would be a most fitting
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start to such an alliance. Relaxation and eventual eradication of the
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stranglehold that the government presently has on cryptography (along with
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the abandonment of key escrow and cryptography backdoors) would certainly
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be welcomed as a sign of good faith as well. From there, the
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possibilities could well be endless.
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Now is the time for the private and public sectors of the United States to
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look beyond their own shortcomings; specifically, their arrogance about
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their own idea of security and their misgivings about those who can so
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easily defeat it. Ultimately, they must understand that this approach is
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the only one by which truly succeed in improving their security and our
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technological way of life.
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Yet if they continue cling to their outdated notions of security through
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obscurity; if they continue to criminalize the same unorthodox approaches
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that historically made the United States a global superpower; if they
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unthinkingly continue on their folly that they should be the de facto
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authority on technology, I need only remind them of this:
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There are over ten thousand ways to acquire root access on a server.
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I know less than five hundred.
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I need only one.
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Cancer Omega <comega@sekurity.org>
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---------------------------------------------------------------------
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NOTES:
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[1] This phrase, to the best of my knowledge, was originally coined
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by Winn Schwartau in his book, "Information Warfare."
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[2] The January 1990 failure of AT&T long distance systems was
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originally believed by many to be the product of an attack
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carried out by malicious hackers.
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[3] Information courtesy of http://www.kevinmitnick.com.
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[4] The Nando Times, February 27, 1998 (http://www.nando.net).
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[5] Schmookler, Andrew B., "The Parable of the Tribes: The Problem
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of Power in Social Evolution," Berkeley, 1984.
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=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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= Questions, Comments, Bitches, Ideas, Rants, Death Threats, Submissions =
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= Mail: jericho@dimensional.com (Mail is welcomed) =
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= To receive new issues through mail, mail jericho@dimensional.com with =
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= "subscribe fuck". If you do not have FTP access and would like back =
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= issues, send a list of any missing issues and they will be mailed. =
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=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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= AnonFTP FTP.DIMENSIONAL.COM/users/jericho/FUCK =
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= FTP.SEKURITY.ORG/pub/zines/fucked.up.college.kids =
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= FTP.DTO.NET /pub/zines/fuck =
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= FTP.ETEXT.ORG/pub/Zines/FUCK =
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= WWW http://www.dimensional.com/~jericho =
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= http://www.reps.net/~krypt/fuck.html =
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= http://www.simunye.com/fuck =
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= http://www.dis.org/se7en/fuck =
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= (c) Copyright. All files copyright by the original author. =
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