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-
-
- ****************************************************************************
- >C O M P U T E R U N D E R G R O U N D<
- >D I G E S T<
- *** Volume 1, Issue #1.27 (Aug 9, 1990) **
- ****************************************************************************
-
- MODERATORS: Jim Thomas / Gordon Meyer (TK0JUT2@NIU.bitnet)
- ARCHIVISTS: Bob Krause / Alex Smith
- USENET readers can currently receive CuD as alt.society.cu-digest.
-
- COMPUTER UNDERGROUND DIGEST is an open forum dedicated to sharing
- information among computerists and to the presentation and debate of
- diverse views. CuD material may be reprinted as long as the source is
- cited. It is assumed that non-personal mail to the moderators may be
- reprinted, unless otherwise specified. Readers are encouraged to submit
- reasoned articles relating to the Computer Underground.
- ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
- DISCLAIMER: The views represented herein do not necessarily represent the
- views of the moderators. Contributors assume all responsibility
- for assuring that articles submitted do not violate copyright
- protections.
- ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
-
-
- CONTENTS:
- File 1: Moderators' Corner
- File 2: From the Mailbag (Response to Neidorf article)
- File 3: Dr. Ripco Speaks Out
- File 4: SJG Gurps Cyberpunk
- ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
-
- ----------------------------------------------------------------------
-
- ********************************************************************
- *** CuD #1.27, File 1 of 4: Moderators' Comments ***
- ********************************************************************
-
- Date: 9 August, 1990
- From: Moderators
- Subject: Moderators' Corner
-
- ++++++++++
- In this file:
- 1) TAP Address
- 2) Berserker BBS update
- 3) Len Rose Update
-
- +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
- TAP ADDRESS
- +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
-
- The TAP article in CuD 1.26 did not include an address. For those wishing
- to subscribe, the address is:
-
- TAP
- PO Box 20264
- Louisville, KY 40250
-
- +++++++++++++++++++++
- Berserker BBS Update
- +++++++++++++++++++++
-
- In a recent issue of CuD, we inquired about the status of Berserker BBS. We
- are informed that Berserker still operates, but the number was changed.
- Good news for Berserker fans.
-
- +++++++++++++++++
- Len Rose Update
- +++++++++++++++++
-
- We talked with Len Rose last night, and he indicates that his trial,
- scheduled for this month, will most likely be delayed until February, 1991.
- The counts against him resemble those of Craig Neidorf and the "Atlanta 3."
- We will provide a detailed summary of our conversation as well as a copy of
- the indictment in CuD 1.28 on Monday.
-
- ********************************************************************
- >> END OF THIS FILE <<
- ***************************************************************************
-
- ------------------------------
-
- Date: 9 August, 1990
- From: Moderators
- Subject: From the Mailbag (Response to Neidorf article)
-
- ********************************************************************
- *** CuD #1.27: File 2 of 4: From the Mailbag ***
- ********************************************************************
-
- Date: Thu, 9 Aug 90 10:01:01 -0500
- From: Michael J. Hennebry <hennebry@plains.NoDak.edu>
- Subject: Re: NEIDORF TRIAL OVER! GOVERNMENT DROPS ALL CHARGES!
-
-
- In article <10181@accuvax.nwu.edu> TK0JUT2%NIU.BITNET@uicvm.uic.edu writes:
-
- >Neidorf. Defense Attorney Sheldon Zenner said that Prosecutor Bill
- >Cook's decision was "in line with the highest standards of good
- >government and ethical conduct." ..
-
- The highest standard of good government and ethical conduct would not have
- allowed prosecution in the first place. If ethics had anything to do with
- the dismissal the other defendants would have had their "convictions"
- reversed.
-
- >.. Zenner said that the government could
- >have continued to the last and let the jury decide, but did the
- >honorable thing.
-
- Dropping charges is not the same as acquittal. Perhaps Cook is going to
- try again and will keep prosecuting and dropping charges until Neidorf
- runs out of money to defend himself.
-
- >Craig Neidorf was ecstatic about the decision, and feels vindicated.
- >He can now resume his studies, complete his degree, and seriously
- >consider law school. He *WILL NOT* resume publication of PHRACK!
-
- No doubt killing PHRACK was one of the prosecution's goals.
-
- >Zenner praised Bill Cook's decision to drop all charges, and added he
- >is not angry, but appreciative. Zenner also felt that the the efforts
-
- Zenner isn't Neidorf. Zenner isn't suffering from the effect of the
- prosecution.
-
- >There are those who have taken the Ed Meese line ..
-
- I'm one of them.
-
- >..and assumed that
- >Craig must have done *something* or the government wouldn't be
- >prosecuting him. ..
-
- I'm not one of them. What Meese said was that one who is not guilty is not
- a suspect. This is true. Neidorf is not guilty, therefore Neidorf was not a
- suspect, therefore Cook had no right to prosecute him, therefore Cook
- should be in prison for kidnapping. At the sentencing Neidorf should get
- to remind the judge that to commit his crime Cook used a deadly weapon, the
- federal criminal "justice" system.
-
- >it was claimed, couldn't respond because it had to protect Craig's
- >privacy and was required to sit in silence. One prosecutor even said
-
- Has government refusal to respond to defense supporters' questions
- about a prosecution *ever* been to the advantage of a defendant?
-
- >There is little cause for Craig's supporters to gloat, because the
- >emotional and financial toll on Craig and his family were substantial.
-
- That was part of the purpose of the prosecution.
-
- >Now, however, it is time to move on and address the lessons learned
- >from the experience. Some of the issues include how computerists can
- >be protected from overzealousness, ..
-
- They can't be protected. Nobody has any protection from overzealous or evil
- prosecutors. It's called prosecutorial immunity. Until we get rid of it we
- are at the mercy of folks like Cook, but prosecutorial immunity is forever.
- Neidorf won't get paid for what Cook has cost him. The only people
- involved in a persecution who get paid anything significant are those who
- participate voluntarily, and not all of them.
-
-
- ********************************************************************
- >> END OF THIS FILE <<
- ***************************************************************************
-
- ------------------------------
-
- Date: 7 August, 1990
- From: . Ripco (Bruce ?)
- Subject: Dr. Ripco Speaks Out
-
- ********************************************************************
- *** CuD #1.27: File 3 of 4: Dr. Ripco Speaks out ***
- ********************************************************************
-
- This document is being written to state my involvement with Operation
- Sundevil and the events that passed on May 8th of 1990. My name is Bruce
- Esquibel but most people in the modem world would know me better as Dr.
- Ripco, the sysop of the Ripco Bulletin Board in Chicago.
-
- Ripco operated since the winter of 1983 and preformed what I believe to be
- a good public service to the telecommunications world. Its label as a
- 'phreak and hacker' board was an incorrect statement which I lived with
- most of the time. Some content of the system was in fact dealing with that
- subject but I have always felt most of the information especially in the
- form of general files was nothing more than second hand news, traveling
- board to board. Neither the board or myself ever supported or was
- associated with formed hacker groups like the LOD or TKOS. In the years
- Ripco operated there were members from these groups at one time or another
- but only to establish accounts and rarely touched base or communicated with
- other users.
-
- The system was quite popular with it peaking at 701 users and averaging
- around 600 active at any one time. Daily it took in about 50 calls with
- this figure waxing and waning with the social seasonal changes of school
- schedules and holidays. The majority enjoyed the freedom of expression the
- system provided, not to figure out how to make a free phone call. Most of
- the activity was on the main message board which could be accessed by
- anyone, even those without validated accounts. The rest of the message
- bases Ripco had were more specialized in their subject matter but not too
- much more than what is found on other boards. Ripco's greatest claim to
- fame in my opinion was the general files. It seemed to attract new users
- like flies to honey. I don't think the reason for this was quality but in
- fact quantity. There was over 2500 of them, divided into 23 sections. Like
- the message bases only a minority of the files could be put into the
- hack/phreak class.
-
- Ripco operated with a bit of mystery to it. My personal involvement on the
- board was next to nill. Unlike other operators who rule their boards like a
- god, I decided long ago to let the people do what they wanted without
- getting in the way and give them the freedom to stand on their own two
- feet. This didn't mean the system was total anarchy, in fact many
- complimented on how well the system was structured. This unusual concept
- let some to believe the whole system was a setup and I was accused on
- several occasions of being a FBI sting board or associated with some kind
- of law enforcement. Adding to this was some argument over where the bbs
- was actually located. A few adventurous individuals attempted to track it
- down through the CNA bureau and ended up at a vacant storefront. The real
- explanation is a long story but it comes down to multiple screw-ups by
- Illinois Bell more than any deceptive practices on my part. This of course
- doesn't happen in real life thus the only people that can get a phone
- number for a fictitious address are 'feds'.
-
- At least now I can put that rumor to rest. On May 8th I was awakened at my
- home at 6:30a m by several Secret Service agents with a warrant for
- computers and telecommunications equipment. They also had a second warrant
- issued to the address where Ripco operated out of. Although there are
- better ways to start the day, this did not come as a real surprise to me.
- Since 1987 when Shadow Hawk made the papers with his $2.3 million software
- theft charges it occured to me that as more and more people are caught, if
- they even were remotly connected to Ripco, eventually something would turn
- up on my end. This could be considered the reasoning of a mad man but I
- have always felt that there was no illegal activity going on within the
- system and could defend it no matter how petty it was taken apart. To put
- it another way, Ripco's bark had a hell of a reputation but no bite.
-
- This was probably and still is true depending how you look at it. The
- warrants issued were only (!?!) seizure warrants issued to the addresses.
- There were no names on them and I was not arrested or charged by the Secret
- Service. This provided me some relief but since I didn't get to sleep till
- 4am that morning it was probably a lack of reasoning on my part.
-
- There were at least 5 agents that came to the house, but I think they had a
- few more around back in case of an escape attempt. Three of them stayed
- while two others drove me to the other location. The only question they
- asked before I left was it would be easier if I gave the location of any
- computers I had there to which the reply was 'none.' This later proved true
- since no items were taken, but they did spend about an hour looking through
- everything.
-
- I wish to point out that this was not a scene that would make good
- television. They didn't break down any doors, no one I observed had a gun
- drawn and overall they were pleasant in their mannerisms. This is not being
- said in defense of them but I always have been curious about the stories
- passed around where swat teams come down on a 16 year old for running a few
- MCI numbers. One interesting side note to you electronic phreaks out there
- is their radios, which probably use Motorolas digital voice protection
- circuitry trip every car alarm in the neighborhood when keyed. Several of
- the agents said this was normal and wished they didn't have this side
- effect.
-
- As I traveled with the agents to the other location I started to think what
- they were about to see and if anything was there that needed a fast
- explanation. The only thing that occured to me was three handguns I kept
- for personal protection. I informed the driver of this fact and he radioed
- ahead to let them know. He said matters like that isn't their concern but
- added they have to check with local law enforcement to see if I was in
- violation of city or state laws.
-
- When we arrived there was a sizable crowd waiting. Besides 5 or 6 more SS
- agents, there were a few others in suit and tie (the SS dresses casual) and
- at least one Chicago police car with a couple officers. The agents that
- escorted me there led me to a woman probably in her mid or late 20's. She
- apparently was the one in charge and gave me instructions on how we were
- going to enter the building. Before unlocking the front door she asked
- several times if any boobytraps were set either for them or the computers.
- I found this questioning amusing but was the only one smiling of the group.
- Unlocking the front door led to questions about where the guns were located
- and instructions on how to find them. I brought up the fact the alarm
- system had to be turned off and after a few attempts she managed to
- deactivate it. A different agent was sent in and recovered the weapons.
-
- As we entered the main room I was told not to touch anything but to point
- out the computer the board was run off of, which I did. The woman then
- introduced herself as Barbara and informed me of what I already knew, they
- were there to carry out a warrant and that it would probably take a while.
- She handed me a piece of paper which was the actual warrant and as I looked
- it over, a paragraph stated it was issued based on an attached affidavit,
- specifically pages 26-39 by a special agent Lawson. Asking where the
- attached affidavit was brought the reply "it was a closed document, I
- didn't have any rights to see it" and added 'its an on-going
- investigation'. I was then informed by her that I was not under arrest nor
- charged but they had to read the Miranda rights to me since any questions I
- answered could be used against me. Another agent said they did have
- questions but I did not have to answer them, could answer them with a
- lawyer present or even have a lawyer present and not answer them. He also
- pointed out that I could stop answering the questions at any time so I
- figured I'd agree to answer them since there wasn't all that much to hide
- anyway.
-
- Although an attempt was made to get comfortable within the building, the
- main area is full of junk collected over the years and the limited seating
- made things a bit crowded. We eventually ended up out back outside where
- the questioning took place. From this point on Barbara made few other
- comments and the bulk of the questions were handled by another young agent
- named Tim.
-
- The questions started with an apology by Tim saying there was someone who
- requested specific questions to be asked for a case study or something
- along those lines. He said they were fairly simple but was required to ask
- them. These questions were general in nature and read off a xerox sheet,
- mostly a list of phrases that were looking for definitions. What is a
- phreaker, hacker, know what a virus is, have you ever written or
- distributed one, etc.
-
- After this opening round of Q & A, he announced we were going on to more
- specific questions involving myself and the bulletin board. I don't really
- remember most of the questions but the subject dealt with my awareness that
- both credit card and long distance access codes were being passed through
- the system and what was on the hidden boards that normally wasn't part of
- standard access, and who had access to them. My answer to these led into
- the system maintenance and how I handled it.
-
- As far as the question about the codes went, I replied no I was not aware
- of that and he point out they had printouts proving they were. Of course it
- crossed my mind that if they already had soild proof, why bother to ask the
- questions. I wish to publicly state that this type of information was
- posted from time to time but I did not lie to the question. Regular users
- of the board were aware that long ago I made clear the system policy on
- this matter. Long distance codes along with credit card information was not
- allowed to exist on the system. I felt that any specific information left
- that could lead to direct fraud was not welcome and would be removed and
- persons who repeated violating this themselves would be removed from the
- system also.
-
- To clarify the phrase 'specific information' to the readers of this file I
- wish to explain my position on how I considered board policy on messages.
- It is no secret that many of the posts of board 5 (fone phun) either
- solicited for the need of or said they had and would share such
- information. I never considered this wrongful for a number of reasons. The
- primary one would be most people on there were blowing smoke as far as
- really knowing anything either fraudulent or important. Few people outside
- the bbs community realize that in many areas both status and ego are
- wrongfully important factors to others within the modem society. Many
- people who wish to raise their status will often come up with outlandish
- claims in an attempt to convince others he or she is an expert on one
- matter or another.
-
- Any attempt to suppress this act I felt would of damaged Ripco's open door
- policy since people do have to start somewhere and eventually learn their
- peers will catch on fast if someone is pulling a bluff. Thus this type of
- activity was tolerated but the line was crossed if anyone attempted to
- really do it. For example if a message contained something like 'just dial
- 1-800-555-1212 and punch in 123456 at the tone', the entire message was
- removed or in more cases re-edited especially if other parts were about
- non-related matters.
-
- Returning to the questioning, the above was explained as such but not as a
- whole. If in fact they did have printouts of such activity, I suggested an
- explanation which covered the maintenance aspect of the board. Basically
- Ripco operated itself with my chores limited to validating new users and
- updating the general files. Once every morning the messages left since my
- last check-in were read. The removal/re-edit if needed was applied at this
- time. Considering this occured daily around noon, a message posted let's
- say at 3:00pm the preceding day was in existence for nearly 21 hours
- before it got my approval or disapproval. Thus I pointed out that in theory
- they could have a printout of something but if checked the following day,
- it should have been removed.
-
- This was not second questioned by them and they seemed content with it. As
- far as the hidden boards went, there were two as most of the system users
- knew but were not really active. Board 9 to the best memory serves me was
- completely non-existant. Although it was used in the past for various
- things, after one of many hard drives crashes it bit the big one and was
- not in service. The message file required to use it was not there and I
- believe there was even a line in the program that reset the security bit of
- people that did have access in the past so they couldn't accidently enter
- causing a 'file not found' error. Board 10 was active but fewer than 6
- people could claim to access it. Originally it was set up when an attempt
- was made on my part to collect a few bucks to keep the system running back
- in 1985. It contained few messages and would only gain 5 or 6 more a year.
-
- Questioning from this point on was more broad in nature, jumping from
- subject to subject. Items like the anarchy files which were made up in part
- of bomb construction articles were deemed 'wrong' by them and I defended by
- saying such information could be gathered from numerous public sources.
- They still insisted it was 'wrong' and shouldn't have been made available.
-
- One fact that arose well into our chat is that it became obvious that
- besides Tim who seemed to know little besides a few buzzwords, none of
- those here really had an understanding of computers or much else as far as
- a technical background went. Another agent even admitted later that they
- were only here to serve the warrant, as far as what was really going on
- with the investigation and who or what was involved, they didn't know. Any
- questions I attempted to ask them were generally not answered and the
- ultimate question of 'why me?' was given the reply 'catch the evening news,
- this is happening right now all over the country, should make some good
- headlines.'
-
- Even the simple question of what's next, where does the stuff end up needed
- a short conference among them and they decided on the following: after its
- boxed up downtown, it's shipped to Washington to a department called
- 'diagnostics'. Tim appeared to be the only one with knowledge of this
- because one of the other agents asked him 'who runs that?'. Tim explained
- to him that it was part of the SS and was started a couple years ago. The
- other agent just shrugged his shoulders.
-
- To put some people fears to rest, there wasn't much else going on. I
- expected they were going to ask me about certain individuals or if I knew
- anything else going on, but they didn't. Even subjects like PHRACK and the
- LOD were only touched upon, no specific questions were asked or answered.
- They seemed pleased to find a catalog printout of the general file section
- with the PHRACK issues but considering anyone with a valid account had
- access to the actual files, this didn't seem to make sense to me.
-
- After a couple hours of this with many lulls in the questioning they asked
- if I would sign a statement saying basically everything I said was true and
- I did because it was. The only other thing they wanted in the statement was
- that I was in fact the operator and did make an attempt to keep the board
- clean on a daily basis. Makes me wonder now what that could be twisted into
- later down the line.
-
- In all they were here for about 6 hours. In that time I learned little on
- what was going on. One of the agents said there were 2 representatives from
- AT&T present but didn't know why, saying they just had instructions to pick
- them up this morning before they came and got me. My gut feeling was the
- code/credit card numbers that much of the conversation was based on.
-
- Drawing to the end they informed me the warrant was completed, led me back
- inside after taking a few snapshots of your truly and handed me a receipt
- of what they took. Annoying in the first place them being there, the first
- thing that caught my eye was both my personal Macintoshes were on the list
- along with the related hardware including a 940 meg worm drive and laser
- printer. Laser printer? Maybe if you could pick it up and throw it at
- someone it could be considered a lethal weapon but what else? Ripco
- operated on an Apple //e and had no connections to the macs besides being
- near them which apparently is the way they determined what stayed and what
- went.
-
- My guess is that after examining the rats nest of wiring that existed around
- the 3 computers, they figured anything plugged into the power strip must have
- been tied in with each other somehow. An IBM 386 clone and an Apple //gs
- sat on the floor only a couple feet away but were untouched. Other
- items taken included a 1955 Western Electric model D500 phone, any personal
- phone books including a copy of the Chicago White Pages and several
- pictures and cartoons I had hanging on the wall. This also included a
- picture of a hooker spread eagle from a bachelor party and a picture of
- Charles Manson clipped from some tabloid because it bore a resemblance to
- me. All disks if not in a sealed box (probably around 3000) were also
- taken along with paperwork found in various areas. These items were only
- listed as 'misc.' and not broken down on the receipt.
-
- I was cut loose only momentarily since an officer from the Chicago Police
- Department replaced the many people running in and out during the morning
- hours. He asked if the guns turned over to him were registered with the
- city, which they weren't because you can't, so I was charged with a
- misdemeanor, failure to register a firearm. A slight explanation about
- this: back when Jane Byrne was mayor, she wanted to outlaw handguns
- altogether. Some suburbs of Chicago tried this and met with resistance from
- the NRA and feared long court battles. So they offered an a grace period
- to get people who already had them to register them, but at a cut off date,
- handguns could no longer be registered. Thus anyone getting caught with a
- handgun after this did not face an illegal weapons charge, only the failure
- to register even though someone who registered prior is safe. It ends up
- going to court, having the weapons destroyed and getting 6 months
- supervision with no conviction on the books. This was the outcome of that
- situation.
-
- At least that story had an ending. As far as what is going between me
- and the Secret Service, I don't really know or have a clue. At this writing
- it has been nearly 3 months and I haven't heard a word from them. Everything
- is just speculation on my part since it seems the matter is being kept
- under wraps. Even the names of the others involved on that day were not
- released. I don't know if those other people were system operators or
- users. One agent said you'll probably hear from us in 6-8 months while
- another was not so optimistic and said it would probably take years adding
- later that it's a good chance I'll be in my 50's, married with children
- before I knew what happened.
-
- In the time shortly after the seizure I talked to several lawyers to at
- least get some opinions on what to do next. Without being charged it seems
- very little can be done. My only options are 1) sit back and relax, wait
- till they do something or 2) file a lawsuit to get the stuff back. All the
- attorneys brought up the suit idea but only one suggested it wasn't really
- a good way to go. Based on what they took as far as value goes, the
- preliminary costs would be about half with it approaching double if it has
- to go to court and heard in front of a jury. It appears the best outcome is
- to get the stuff back, you can't claim damages or get your court fees back
- when it comes to the federal government.
-
- One point I want to make clear is under a seizure warrant, all material
- taken is forfeited to the government. It doesn't seem like a situation
- where they have to give it back after examination. They have according to
- what little I could find on the subject, 5 years from the date of the
- warrant to set up an indictment. Even if no indictment is made, they don't
- necessarily have to return it. It can either be used for internal use or
- put up at auction. There was an article in Unix Today where an agent seemed
- to indicate the material is returned but I haven't found any support of
- this policy.
-
- My opinion on all of this is basic. The government came in, took my
- personal property to determine if there was any wrong doing somewhere. It
- seems like a case of being guilty and proving yourself innocent. Or in
- another light, them thinking there was wrong doing and getting the stuff to
- make sure. Either way its just not right. Although I have no desire to
- battle this in court on my own, it seems to be there should have been a
- charge for something, even if it was minor, with other stuff being added
- later if needed. At least it would beat this nazi/gestapo tactic of
- secrecy.
-
- Is Ripco's involvement with credit cards and access codes the real basis?
- Does the distribution of PHRACK play a part in it? What if they were
- investigating someone on the board and felt there was information that
- would help them? Did they ever think of knocking on the door first? If it
- was someone else they were after, should I be the one getting penalized?
- Does the first amendment come into play at all? Even though I am free to
- open another board at this time if I choose, why isn't a newspapers
- printing press taken when a reporter refuses to name his sources about a
- sensitive story?
-
- I don't have the answer to any of these questions. Even if I did, they
- might be the wrong questions in the first place. One opinion put forth by
- several people is that putting the board out of business could be all they
- wanted. Its possible if any one piece of information contained within
- Ripco was used in assisting someone to commit a crime, it could be all they
- needed. Maybe they looked at Ripco as a pain in the ass since the beginning
- but couldn't get rid of it any other way.
-
- In closing I'd like to point out that this is not a black and white issue
- reguardless of anyone's opinion. There were many who hated the board,
- thought it was trash and would of liked to see it removed for good. Well
- they got their wish but consider the circumstances of what happened. No
- reason given, none to offer. Think about that next time you sign on to your
- favorite system and see a message about someone selling a used computer or
- hard drive. If that item is by chance stolen merchandise, can the operator
- lose his computer because it aided someone to fence?
-
- Based on what happened to me up to this point, its only one step away. I am
- not a hacker, phreaker, have anything to do with credit cards or
- manufactured explosives. Until the weapons charge I never had been arrested
- and even my driving record has been clean since 1978.
-
- 1984 arrived a bit late but there is no doubt to me its here. Thanks again
- to everyone that supported the board and there is always the possibility
- another Ripco will appear.
-
- You just never know.
-
-
- ********************************************************************
- >> END OF THIS FILE <<
- ***************************************************************************
-
- ------------------------------
-
- Date: Sat, 4 Aug 90 17:08:34 CDT
- From: "J. Eric Townsend" <jet@karazm.math.uh.edu>
- Subject: SJG Gurps Cyberpunk
-
- ********************************************************************
- *** CuD #1.27: File 4 of 4: Another Gurps Review ***
- ********************************************************************
-
-
-
- Here is a text file I wrote when SJG Gurps Cyberpunk was first released.
-
- Well, I rushed out and bought GURPS Cyberpunk, in the hopes that my money
- will help SJG with legal fees. (Plus, I collect game stuff.)
-
- On the front cover, in the SJG Illuminatus logo, it says: "The book that
- was seized by the U.S. Secret Service! (see p. 4)"
-
- Anyway... (Assuming I know *nothing* about cracking/phreaking. I won't
- comment on my real knowledge.) The following is a summary of text from the
- GURPS Cyberpunk supplement, with a few direct quotes.
-
- How Much Hacking Can I Do Based on the C-word manual: (From the section
- entitled "Netrunning".)
-
- 0. People use handles to hide their real identity (p62).
-
- 1. You can use sensitive devices to listen in on the signals being sent to
- a computer monitor, and redisplay the image on your own screen (p62).
-
- 2. General info on ISDN. (p64-65)
-
- 3. Computer accounts can come in various levels, from specialty logins
- (uucp) to "superuser" who has access to everything. Some programs can give
- you a higher level of access, equivalent to a "better" account (p68).
-
- 4. General info on back doors (p69).
-
- 5. General info on chat systems (p69).
-
- 6. A list of network names from around the world. No clues as to which
- are real. For the US, the following are listed: WUT, UDTS 2, Datel I &
- II, Telenet, Tymnet, ARPAnet, Infomaster, GraphNet, TRT, FTCC, UniNet,
- Autonet, CompuServe, GENIE, AlaskaNet, JANET, Internet (p 71).
-
- 7. Passwords can be really obvious, or hard to remember random text
- strings (p 72).
-
- 8. A program could possibly cause physical damage (p 72).
-
- 9. General Phreaking Info:
- - Diverters: go through a bunch of systems so that tracing takes
- a long time;
- - Junction Boxing: Just go down to the local junction box and tie in
- (p 76).
-
- 10. Lots of networks use different protocols that are sometimes
- incompatible (p 77).
-
- 11. Ma Bell stuff:
- - Existence of CN/A, and that Ma Bell can look you up in any way;
- - Line Routing: "With access to the main phone switch computer,
- a hacker can control everything about a specific phone line.";
- - Monitoring: a person could monitor calls with the right access;
- - After Billing: A person could change bills;
- (p 82).
-
- 12. Trashing: Go through somebody's trash to find out all sorts of
- interesting info about their computing equipment (p 86,87).
-
- (13 and 14 are from the section "Attack and Defense Programs". The
- programs are obviously s-f software, but...):
-
- 13. Promote: "This program is executed from a normal user account on a
- system. If successful, the account is 'upgraded' to a superuser account."
-
- 14. Webster: "This is the standard icebreaker for use against Password
- programs (see p 93.). It acts as an extremely fast 'brute-force' hacker."
- (p 92).
-
- 15. Credcard Crime: A false balance could be entered in an account. A
- device could be used to access somebody else's card without having the
- correct password to get into the credcard (p 105). [note: a credcard is a
- self-contained debit card that can have anything from a password to retina
- scan protection.]
-
- And, um, that's about it. Now that you've read that, you know how to break
- into computer systems and do phone phreaking... 1/2 :-)
-
- --J. Eric Townsend -- University of Houston Dept. of Mathematics
- (713) 749-2120
-
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- **END OF CuD #1.27**
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