202 lines
8.9 KiB
Plaintext
202 lines
8.9 KiB
Plaintext
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Thank you for joining the HAPPY HACKER email list. Moderator is Carolyn P.
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Meinel. If you have hacking tips that you wouldn't mind being read by law
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enforcement types, please send them in! In the meantime, welcome to the
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flagship ezine of this list. Here's...
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The inaugural issue of...
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_______________________________________________________
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GUIDE TO (mostly) HARMLESS HACKING
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Vol. 1 Number 1
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Hacking tip of this column: how to finger a user via telnet.
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_______________________________________________________
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Hacking. The word conjures up evil computer geniuses plotting the downfall
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of civilization while squirreling away billions in electronically stolen
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funds in an Antigua bank.
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But I define hacking as taking a playful, adventurous approach to computers.
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Hackers don't go by the book. We fool around and try odd things, and when we
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stumble across something entertaining we tell our friends about it. Some of
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us may be crooks, but more often we are good guys, or at least harmless.
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Furthermore, hacking is surprisingly easy. I'll give you a chance to prove
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it to yourself, today!
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But regardless of why you want to be a hacker, it is definitely a way to
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have fun, impress your buddies, and get dates. If you are a female hacker
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you become totally irresistible to all men. Take my word for it!;^D
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This column can become your gateway into this world. In fact, after reading
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just this first Guide to (mostly) Harmless Hacking, you will be able to pull
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off a stunt that will impress the average guy or gal unlucky^H^H^H^H^H^H^H
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fortunate enough to get collared by you at a party.
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So what do you need to become a hacker? Before I tell you, however, I am
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going to subject you to a rant.
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Have you ever posted a message to a news group or email list devoted to
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hacking? You said something like "What do I need to become a hacker?" right?
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Betcha you won't try *that* again!
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It gives you an education in what "flame" means, right?
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Yes, some of these 3l1te types like to flame the newbies. They act like they
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were born clutching a Unix manual in one hand and a TCP/IP specification
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document in the other and anyone who knows less is scum.
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*********************
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Newbie note: 3l1t3, 31337, etc. all mean "elite." The idea is to take either
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the word "elite" or "eleet" and substitute numbers for some or all the
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letters. We also like zs. Hacker d00dz do this sor7 of th1ng l0tz.
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********************
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Now maybe you were making a sincere call for help. But there is a reason
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many hackers are quick to flame strangers who ask for help.
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What we worry about is the kind of guy who says, "I want to become a hacker.
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But I *don't* want to learn programming and operating systems. Gimme some
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passwords, d00dz! Yeah, and credit card numbers!!!"
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Honest, I have seen this sort of post in hacker groups. Post something like
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this and you are likely to wake up the next morning to discover your email
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box filled with 3,000 messages from email discussion groups on agricultural
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irrigation, proctology, collectors of Franklin Mint doo-dads, etc. Etc.,
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etc., etc....arrrgghhhh!
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The reason we worry about wannabe hackers is that it is possible to break
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into other people's computers and do serious damage even if you are almost
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totally ignorant.
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How can a clueless newbie trash other people's computers? Easy. There are
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public FTP and Web sites on the Internet that offer canned hacking programs.
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Thanks to these canned tools, many of the "hackers" you read about getting
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busted are in fact clueless newbies.
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This column will teach you how to do real, yet legal and harmless hacking,
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without resorting to these hacking tools. But I won't teach you how to harm
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other people's computers. Or even how to break in where you don't belong.
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******************************
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You can go to jail tip: Even if you do no harm, if you break into a portion
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of a computer that is not open to the public, you have committed a crime. If
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you telnet across a state line to break in, you have committed a federal felony.
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*************************************
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I will focus on hacking the Internet. The reason is that each computer on
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the Internet has some sort of public connections with the rest of the Net.
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What this means is that if you use the right commands, you can *legally*
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access these computers.
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That, of course, is what you already do when you visit a Web site. But I
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will show you how to access and use Internet host computers in ways that
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most people didn't know were possible. Furthermore, these are *fun* hacks.
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In fact, soon you will be learning hacks that shed light on how other people
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(Not you, right? Promise?) may crack into the non-public parts of hosts. And
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-- these are hacks that anyone can do.
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But, there is one thing you really need to get. It will make hacking
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infinitely easier:
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A SHELL ACCOUNT!!!!
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A "shell account" is an Internet account in which your computer becomes a
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terminal of one of your ISP's host computers. Once you are in the "shell"
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you can give commands to the Unix operating system just like you were
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sitting there in front of one of your ISP's hosts.
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Warning: the tech support person at your ISP may tell you that you have a
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"shell account" when you really don't. Many ISPs don't really like shell
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accounts, either. Guess why? If you don't have a shell account, you can't hack!
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But you can easily tell if it is a real shell account. First, you should use
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a "terminal emulation program" to log on. You will need a program that
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allows you to imitate a VT 100 terminal. If you have Windows 3.1 or Windows
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95, a VT 100 terminal program is included as one of your accessory program.
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Any good ISP will allow you to try it out for a few days with a guest
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account. Get one and then try out a few Unix commands to make sure it is
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really a shell account.
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You don't know Unix? If you are serious about understanding hacking, you'll
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need some good reference books. No, I don't mean the kind with breathless
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titles like "Secrets of Super hacker." I've bought too many of that kind of
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book. They are full of hot air and thin on how-to. Serious hackers study
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books on:
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a) Unix. I like "The Unix Companion" by Harley Hahn.
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b) Shells. I like "Learning the Bash Shell" by Cameron Newham and Bill
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Rosenblatt. A "shell" is the command interface between you and the Unix
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operating system.
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c) TCP/IP, which is the set of protocols that make the Internet work. I
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like "TCP/IP for Dummies" by Marshall Wilensky and Candace Leiden.
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OK, rant is over. Time to hack!
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How would you like to start your hacking career with one of the simplest,
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yet potentially hairy, hacks of the Internet? Here it comes: telnet to a
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finger port.
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Have you ever used the finger command before? Finger will sometimes tell you
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a bunch of stuff about other people on the Internet. Normally you would just
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enter the command:
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finger Joe_Schmoe@Fubar.com
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But instead of Joe Schmoe, you put in the email address of someone you would
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like to check out. For example, my email address is cmeinel@techbroker.com.
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So to finger me, give the command:
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finger cmeinel@techbroker.com
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Now this command may tell you something, or it may fail with a message such
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as "access denied."
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But there is a more elite way to finger people. You can give the command:
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telnet llama.swcp.com 79
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What this command has just done is let you get on a computer with an
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Internet address of llama.swcp.com through its port 79 -- without giving it
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a password.
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But the program that llama and many other Internet hosts are running will
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usually allow you to give only ONE command before automatically closing the
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connection. Make that command:
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cmeinel
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This will tell you a hacker secret about why port 79 and its finger programs
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are way more significant than you might think. Or, heck, maybe something
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else if the friendly neighborhood hacker is still planting insulting
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messages in my files.
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Now, for an extra hacking bonus, try telnetting to some other ports. For
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example:
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telnet kitsune.swcp.com 13
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That will give you the time and date here in New Mexico, and:
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telnet slug.swcp.com 19
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Will show you a good time!
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OK, I'm signing off for this column. And I promise to tell you more about
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what the big deal is over telnetting to finger -- but later. Happy hacking!
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*******************************************************
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Want to share some kewl hacker stuph? Tell me I'm terrific? Flame me? For
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the first two, I'm at cmeinel@techbroker.com. Please direct flames to
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dev/null@techbroker.com. Happy hacking!
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_______________________________________________________
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Copyright 1996 Carolyn P. Meinel. You may forward the GUIDE TO (mostly)
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HARMLESS HACKING Ezine as long as you leave this notice at the end. To
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subscribe, email cmeinel@techbroker.com with message "subscribe hacker
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<joe.blow@my.isp.net>" substituting your real email address for Joe Blow's.
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***************************************************************
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