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		      * THE BASICS OF HACKING:	INTRO **

THE FIRST OF A SET OF ARTICLES:  AN INTRODUCTION TO THE WORLD OF THE HACKER.
BASICS TO KNOW BEFORE DOING ANYTHING, ESSENTIAL TO YOUR CONTINUING CAREER AS
ONE OF THE ELITE IN * * THE COUNTRY...	THIS ARTICLE, "THE INTRODUCTION TO THE
WORLD OF HACKING" IS MEANT TO HELP YOU BY TELLING YOU HOW NOT TO GET CAUGHT,
WHAT NOT TO DO ON A COMPUTER SYSTEM, WHAT TYPE OF EQUIPMENT SHOULD I KNOW ABOUT
NOW, AND JUST A LITTLE ON THE HISTORY, PAST PRESENT FUTURE, OF THE HACKER.
WELCOME TO THE WORLD OF HACKING!  WE, THE PEOPLE WHO LIVE OUTSIDE OF THE NORMAL
RULES, AND HAVE BEEN SCORNED AND EVEN ARRESTED BY THOSE FROM THE 'CIVILIZED
WORLD', ARE BECOMMING SCARCER EVERY DAY.  THIS IS DUE TO THE GREATER FEAR OF
WHAT A GOOD HACKER (SKILL WISE, NO MORAL JUDGEMENTS HERE) CAN DO NOWADAYS, THUS
CAUSING ANTI-HACKER SENTIMENT IN THE MASSES.  ALSO, FEW HACKERS SEEM TO
ACTUALLY KNOW ABOUT THE COMPUTER SYSTEMS THEY HACK, OR WHAT EQUIPMENT THEY WILL
RUN INTO ON THE FRONT END, OR WHAT THEY COULD DO WRONG ON A SYSTEM TO ALERT THE
'HIGHER' AUTHORITIES WHO MONITOR THE SYSTEM.  THIS ARTICLE IS INTENDED TO TELL
YOU ABOUT SOME THINGS NOT TO DO, EVEN BEFORE YOU GET ON THE SYSTEM.  WE WILL
TELL YOU ABOUT THE NEW WAVE OF FRONT END SECURITY DEVICES THAT ARE BEGINNING TO
BE USED ON COMPUTERS.  WE WILL ATTEMPT TO INSTILL IN YOU A SECOND IDENTITY, TO
BE BROUGHT UP AT TIME OF GREAT NEED, TO PULL YOU OUT OF TROUBLE.  AND, BY THE
WAY, WE TAKE NO, REPEAT, NO, RESPONSIBILITY FOR WHAT WE SAY IN THIS AND THE
FORTHCOMING ARTICLES.  ENOUGH OF THE BULLSHIT, ON TO THE FUN:  AFTER LOGGING ON
YOUR FAVORITE BBS, YO U SEE ON THE HIGH ACCESS BOARD A PHONE NUMBER!  IT SAYS
IT'S A GREAT SYSTEM TO "FUCK AROUND WITH!" THIS MAY BE TRUE, BUT HOW MANY OTHER
PEOPLE ARE GOING TO CALL THE SAME NUMBER?  SO:	TRY TO AVOID CALLING A NUMBER
GIVEN TO THE PUBLIC.  THIS IS BECAUSE THERE ARE AT LEAST EVERY OTHER USER
CALLING, AND HOW MANY OTHER BOARDS WILL THAT NUMBER SPREAD TO?	IF YOU CALL A
NUMBER FAR, FAR AWAY, AND YOU PLAN ON GOING THRU AN EXTENDER OR A RE- SELLER,
DON'T KEEP CALLING THE SAME ACCESS NUMBER (I.E.  AS YOU WOULD IF YOU HAD A
HACKER RUNNING), THIS LOOKS VERY SUSPICIOUS AND CAN MAKE LIFE MISERABLE WHEN
THE PHONE BILL COMES IN THE MAIL.  MOST CITIES HAVE A VARIETY OF ACCESS NU
MBERS AND SERVICES, SO USE AS MANY AS YOU CAN.	NEVER TRUST A CHANGE IN THE SY
STEM...  THE 414'S, THE ASSHOLES, WERE CAUGHT FOR THIS REASON:  WHEN ONE OF TH
EM CONNECTED TO THE SYSTEM, THERE WAS NOTHING GOOD THERE.  THE NEXT TIME, THE
RE WAS A TREK GAME STUCK RIGHT IN THEIR WAY!  THEY PROCEDED TO PLAY SAID GAME F
OR TWO, SAY TWO AND A HALF HOURS, WHILE TELENET WAS TRACING THEM!  NICE JOB, DO
N'T YOU THINK?  IF ANYTHING LOOKS SUSPICIOUS, DROP THE LINE IMMEDIATELY !!  AS
IN, YESTERDAY!!  THE POINT WE'RE TRYING TO GET ACROSS IS:  IF YOU USE A LITTLE
COMMON SENSE, YOU WON'T GET BUSTED.  LET THE LITTLE KIDS WHO AREN'T SMART
ENOUGH TO RECOGNIZE A TRAP GET BUSTED, IT WILL TAKE THE HEAT OFF OF THE REAL
HACKERS.  NOW, LET'S SAY YOU GET ON A COMPUTER SYSTEM...  IT LOOKS GREAT ,
CHECKS OUT, EVERYTHING SEEMS FINE.  OK, NOW IS WHEN IT GETS MORE DANGEROUS.
YOU HAVE TO KNOW THE COMPUTER SYSTEM (SEE FUTURE ISSUES OF THIS ARTICLE FOR
INFO ON SPECIFIC SYSTEMS) TO KNOW WHAT NOT TO DO.  BASICALLY, KEEP AWAY FROM A
NY COMMAND WHICH LOOKS LIKE IT MIGHT DELETE SOMETHING, COPY A NEW FILE INTO THE
ACCOUNT, OR WHATEVER!  ALWAYS LEAVE THE ACCOUNT IN THE SAME STATUS YOU LOGG ED
IN WITH.  CHANGE *NOTHING*...  IF IT ISN'T AN ACCOUNT WITH PRIV'S, THEN DON' T
TRY ANY COMMANDS THAT REQUIRE THEM!  ALL, YES ALL, SYSTEMS ARE GOING TO BE K
EEPING LOG FILES OF WHAT USERS ARE DOING, AND THAT WILL SHOW UP.  IT IS JUST
LIKE DROPPING A TROUBLE-CARD IN AN ESS SYSTEM, AFTER SENDING THAT NICE OPE
RATOR A PRETTY TONE.  SPEND NO EXCESSIVE AMOUNTS OF TIME ON THE ACCOUNT IN ONE
STRETCH.  KEEP YOUR CALLING TO THE VERY LATE NIGHT IF POSSIBLE, OR DURING
BUSINESS HOURS (BELIEVE IT OR NOT!).  IT SO HAPPENS THAT THERE ARE MORE USERS
ON DURING BUSINESS HOURS, AND IT IS VERY DIFFICULT TO READ A LOG FILE WITH 60
USERS DOING MANY COMMNDS EVERY MINUTE.	TRY TO AVOID SYSTEMS WHERE EVERYONE
KNOWS EACH OTHER, DON'T TRY TO BLUFF.  AND ABOVE ALL:  NEVER ACT LIKE YOU OWN
THE SYSTEM, OR ARE THE BEST THERE IS.  THEY ALWAYS GRAB THE PEOPLE WHO'S HEADS
SWELL...  THERE IS SOME VERY INTERESTING FRONT END EQUIPMENT AROUND NOWADAYS,
BUT FIRST LET'S DEFINE TERMS...  BY FRONT END, WE MEAN ANY DEVICE THAT YOU MUST
PASS THRU TO GET AT THE REAL COMPUTER.	THERE ARE DEVICES THAT ARE MADE TO
DEFEAT HACKER PROGRAMS, AND JUST PLAIN OLD MULTIPLEXERS.  TO DEFEAT HACKER
PROGRAMS , THERE ARE NOW DEVICES THAT PICK UP THE PHONE AND JUST SIT THERE...
THIS MEANS THAT YOUR DEVICE GETS NO CARRIER, THUS YOU THINK THERE ISN'T A
COMPUTER ON THE OTHER END.  THE ONLY WAY AROUND IT IS TO DETECT WHEN IT WAS
PICKED UP.  IF IT PICKES UP AFTER THE SAME NUMBER RING, THEN YOU KNOW IT IS A
HACKER- DEFEATER.  THESE DEVICES TAKE A MULTI- DIGIT CODE TO LET YOU INTO THE
SYSTEM.  SOME ARE, IN FACT, QUITE SOPHISTICATED TO THE POINT WHERE IT WILL ALSO
LIMIT THE USER NAME' S DOWN, SO ONLY ONE NAME OR SET OF NAMES CAN BE VALID
LOGINS AFTER THEY INPUT THE CODE...  OTHER DEVICES INPUT A NUMBER CODE, AND
THEN THEY DIAL BACK A PRE-PROGRAMMED NUMBER FOR THAT CODE.  THESE SYSTEMS ARE
BEST TO LEAVE ALONE, BECAUSE THEY KNOW SOMEONE IS PLAYING WITH THEIR PHONE.
YOU MAY THINK "BUT I'LL JUST REPROGRAM THE DIAL-BACK." THINK AGAIN, HOW STUPID
THAT IS...  THEN THEY HAVE YOUR NUMBER, OR A TEST LOOP IF YOU WERE JUST A
LITTLE SMARTER.  IF IT'S YOUR NUMBER, THEY HAVE YOUR BALLS (IF MALE...), IF ITS
A LOOP, THEN YOU ARE SCREWED AGAIN, SINCE THOSE LOOPS ARE *MONITORED*.	AS FOR
MULTIPLEXERS...  WHAT A PLEXER IS SUPPOSED TO DO IS THIS:  THE SYSTEM CAN
ACCEPT MULTIPLE USERS.	WE HAVE TO TIME SHARE, SO WE'LL LET THE FRONT- END
PROCESSOR DO IT...  WELL, THIS IS WHAT A MULTIPLEXER DOES.  USUALLY THEY WILL
ASK FOR SOMETHING LIKE "ENTER CLASS" OR "LINE:".  USUALLY IT IS PROGRAMMED FOR
A DOUBLE DIGIT NUMBER, OR A FOUR TO FIVE LETTER WORD.  THERE ARE USUALLY A FEW
SETS OF NUMBERS IT ACCEPTS, BUT THOSE NUMBERS ALSO SET YOUR 300/1200 BAUD DATA
TYPE.  THESE MULTIPLEXERS ARE INCONVENIENT AT BEST, SO NOT TO WORRY.  A LITTLE
ABOUT THE HISTORY OF HACKING:  HACKING, BY OUR DEFINITION, MEANS A GREAT
KNOWLEDGE OF SOME SPECIAL AREA.  DOCTORS AND LAWYERS ARE HACKERS OF A SORT, BY
THIS DEFINITION.  BUT MOST OFTEN, IT IS BEING USED IN THE COMPUTER CONTEXT, AND
THUS WE HAVE A DEFINITION OF "ANYONE WHO HAS A GREAT AMOUNT OF COMPUTER OR
TELECOMMUNICATIONS KNOWLEDGE." YOU ARE NOT A HACKER BECAUSE YOU HAVE A LIST OF
CODES...  HACKING, BY OUR DEFINITION, HAS THEN BEEN AROUND ONLY ABOUT 15 YEARS.
IT STARTED , WHERE ELSE BUT, MIT AND COLLEGES WHERE THEY HAD COMPUTER SCIENCE
OR ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENTS.	HACKERS HAVE CREATED SOME OF THE BEST
COMPUTER LANGUAGES, THE MOST AWESOME OPERATING SYSTEMS, AND EVEN GONE ON TO
MAKE MILLIONS.	HACKING USED TO HAVE A GOOD NAME, WHEN WE COULD HONESTLY SAY
"WE KNOW WHAT WE ARE DOING".  NOW IT MEANS (IN THE PUBLIC EYE):  THE 414'S, RON
AUSTIN, THE NASA HACKERS, THE ARPANET HACKERS...  ALL THE PEOPLE WHO HAVE BEEN
CAUGHT, HAVE DONE DAMAGE, AND ARE NOW GOING TO HAVE TO FACE FINES AND
SENTANCES.  THUS WE COME PAST THE MORALISTIC CRAP, AND TO OUR PURPOSE:	EDUCATE
THE HACKER COMMUNITY, RETURN TO THE DAYS WHEN PEOPLE ACTUALLY KNEW SOMETHING...
PROGRAM GUIDE:	THREE MORE ARTICLES WILL BE WRIT TEN IN THIS SERIES, AT THE
PRESENT TIME.  BASICS OF HACKING I:  DEC'S BASICS OF H ACKING II:  VAX'S (UNIX)
BASICS OF HACKING III:	DATA GENERAL IT IS IMPOSS IBLE TO WRITE AN ARTICLE ON
IBM, SINCE THERE ARE SO MANY SYSTEMS AND WE ONLY H AVE INFO ON A FEW...  THIS
ARTICLE HAS BEEN WRITTEN BY:  THE KNIGHTS OF SHADOW
********************************* [END] 1984 *****************************