==Phrack Inc.== Volume Three, Issue Thirty-Three, File 11 of 13 PWN PWN PWN PWN PWN PWN PWN PWN PWN PWN PWN PWN PWN PWN PWN PWN Phrack World News PWN PWN PWN PWN Issue XXXIII / Part One PWN PWN PWN PWN Compiled by Crimson Death PWN PWN PWN PWN PWN PWN PWN PWN PWN PWN PWN PWN PWN PWN PWN PWN Sir Hackalot Raided By Georgia State Police ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "They were pretty pissed because they didn't find anything on me." Those were Sir Hackalot's remarks to Crimson Death shortly after his run in with the authorities. Sir Hackalot was raided by Georgia State Police in connection with Computer Fraud. The odd thing about it is that Sir Hackalot has been inactive for over a year and no real evidence was shown against him. They just came in and took his equipment. Although Sir Hackalot was not not arrested, he was questioned about three other locals bbs users who later found themselves receiving a visit the same day. Sir Hackalot is currently waiting for his equipment to be returned. Could this recent raid have anything to do with the infamous seizure of Jolnet Public Access Unix from Lockport, Illinois in connection with the Phrack E911 case? Sir Hackalot was a user on the system and in the mindset of today's law enforcement community, that may well be enough for them to justify their recent incursion of SH's civil rights. _______________________________________________________________________________ Square Deal for Cable Pirates ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ by David Hartshorn National Programming Service has signed an agreement with 12 programmers representing 18 channel for an early conversion package for consumers with illegally modified VideoCipher II modules. The deal will be offered only to customers who convert their modified VideoCipher II modules to VC II Plus Consumer Security Protection Program (CSPP) modules. The program will be an option to NPS' current five-service minimum purchase required for conversion customers. Participating programmers have agreed to offer complimentary programming through the end of 1991 for conversion customers. To qualify, customers must buy an annual subscription which will start on January 1, 1992 and run though December 31, 1992. Any additional programming customers want to buy will start on the day they convert and will run for 12 consecutive months. NPS president Mike Schroeder said the objective of the program is to get people paying legally for programming from the ranks of those who are not. If a customer keeps his modified unit, he will be spending at least $600 for a new module in late 1992, plus programming, when he will be forced to convert due to a loss of audio in his modified unit. If a customer converts now to a VC II Plus with MOM (Videopal), then the net effective cost to the customer will be only $289.55 (figuring a $105 programming credit from Videopal and about $90 complimentary programming). Included in the deal are ABC, A&E, Bravo, CBS, Discovery Channel, Family Channel, NBC, Lifetime, Prime Network, PrimeTime 24, TNN, USA Network, WPIX, WSBK, and WWOR. The package will retail for $179.99. Details: (800)444-3474 _______________________________________________________________________________ Clark Development Systems Gets Tough ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ by Crimson Death (Sysop of Free Speech BBS) Most of you have heard of PC-Board BBS software, but what you may not have heard is what Clark Development Systems are trying to do with people running illegal copies of his software. The Following messages appeared on Salt Air BBS, which is the support BBS for PC-Board registered owners. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Date: 08-19-91 (11:21) Number: 88016 of 88042 To: ALL Refer#: NONE >From: FRED CLARK Read: HAS REPLIES Subj: WARNING Status: PUBLIC MESSAGE Conf: SUPPORT (1) Read Type: GENERAL (A) (+) ********************************** WARNING ********************************** Due to the extent and nature of a number of pirate PCBoard systems which have been identified around the US and Canada, we are now working closely with several other software manufacturers through the SPA (Software Publisher's Association) in order to prosecute these people. Rather than attempting to prosecute them solely through our office and attorney here in Salt Lake, we will now be taking advantage of the extensive legal resources of the SPA to investigate and shut down these systems. Since a single copyright violation will be prosecuted to the full extent of $50,000 per infringement, a number of these pirates are in for a big surprise when the FBI comes knocking on their door. Please note that the SPA works closely with the FBI in the prosecution of these individuals since their crimes are involved with trafficking over state lines. The SPA is now working closely with us and the information we have concerning the illegal distribution of our and other software publisher's wares. Please do not allow yourself to become involved with these people as you may also be brought into any suits and judgements won against them. We are providing this information as reference only and are not pointing a finger at any one specific person or persons who are accessing this system. This message may be freely distributed. Fred Clark President Clark Development Company, Inc. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Date: 08-19-91 (08:28) Number: 47213 of 47308 To: AL LAWRENCE Refer#: NONE >From: DAVID TERRY Read: NO Subj: BETA CODE IS NOW OFFLINE Status: RECEIVER ONLY PLEASE NOTE! (This message is addressed to ALL!) The beta code is now offline and may be offline for a couple of days. After finding a program which cracks PCBoard's registration code I have taken the beta code offline so that I can finish up work on the other routines I've been working on which will not be cracked so easily. I'm sorry if the removal inconveniences anyone. However, it's quite obvious that SOMEONE HERE leaked the beta code to a hacker otherwise the hacker could not have worked on breaking the registration code. I'm sorry that the few inconsiderates have to make life difficult for the rest of you (and us). If that's the way the game is played, so be it. P.S. -- We've found a couple of large pirate boards (who we have not notified) who should expect to see the FBI show up on their doorstep in the not too distant future. Pass the word along. If people want to play rough then we'll up the ante a bit ... getting out of jail won't be cheap! -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- Seems to me they are trying to scare everyone. I think the FBI has better things to do than go around catching System Operators who didn't purchase PC-Board. At least I hope they do. First they put in a key that was needed to run the beta version of PCB and you could only get it by typing REGISTER on Salt Air, it would then encrypt your name and give you the key so you could register you beta. Expiration date were also implemented into the beta code of 14.5a, but the first day this was released on Salt Air, pirates already designed a program to make your own key with any name you wanted. It appears that with this "new" technique that Clark Systems are trying failed too. As it is cracked already also. Maybe they should be more concerned on how PC-Board functions as a BBS rather than how to make it crack-proof. As most pirate system don't run PC-Board anyway! _______________________________________________________________________________ Georgia's New Area Code ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Telephone use in Georgia has increased so rapidly -- caused by increased population and the use of services like fax machines and mobile telephones that they are running out of telephone numbers. Southern Bell will establish a new area code -- 706 -- in Georgia in May 1992. The territory currently designated by the 404 area code will be split. Customers in the Atlanta Metropolitan local calling area will continue to use the 404 area code. Customers outside the Atlanta Metropolitan toll free calling area will use the 706 area code. The 912 area code (South Georgia) will not be affected by this change. They realize the transition to a new area code will take some getting used to. So, between May 3, 1992 and August 2, 1992, you can dial EITHER 706 or 404 to reach numbers in the new area. After August 2, 1992, the use of the 706 area code is required. They announced the the new area code far in advance to allow customers to plan for the change. _______________________________________________________________________________ Unplug July 20, 1991 ~~~~~~ >From AT&T Newsbriefs (and contributing sources; the San Francisco Chronicle (7/20/91, A5) and the Dallas Times Herald (7/20/91, A20) A prankster who intercepted and rerouted confidential telephone messages from voice mail machines in City Hall prompted officials to pull the plug on the phone system. The city purchased the high-tech telephone system in 1986 for $28 million. But officials forget to require each worker to use a password that allows only that worker to retrieve or transfer voice messages from their "phone mailboxes," said AT&T spokesman Virgil Wildey. As a result, Wildey said, someone who understands the system can transfer messages around, creating chaos. _______________________________________________________________________________ The Bust For Red October ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ By Stickman, Luis Cipher, Orion, Haywire, Sledge, and Kafka Kierkegaard At 8:00 AM on August 7, 1991 in Walnut Creek, California the house of Steven Merenko, alias Captain Ramius, was raided by Novell attorneys occompanied by five federal marshals. All of his computer equipment was confiscated by the Novell attorneys; including disks, tape backups, and all hardware. Novell officials had filed an affidavit in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California. They charge Merenko had illegally distributing Novell NetWare files. A Novell investigator logged on to Merenko's BBS as a regular user 11 times over a period of a several months. He uploaded a piece of commercial software from another company, with the company's permission, in order to gain credibility and eventually download a file part of Novell NetWare 386 v3.11, which with a full-blown installation costs more than $10,000. Novell issued a Civil suit against The Red October BBS, and because of that Merenko will not go to jail if he is found guilty of letting other people download any copyrighted or commercial software. The maximum penalty in a civil case as this one is $100,000 per work infringed. The Red October BBS was THG/TSAN/NapE Site with four nodes, 4 gigabytes of hard drive space online and had been running for four years. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Novell's Anti-Piracy Rampage ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Novell's raid on the Red October BBS on August 7, 1991 is the latest in a two-year ongoing anti-piracy venture. In the same week as the Red October bust, the original Wishlist BBS in Redondo Beach, California was also raided. Last April (1991), Novell sued seven resellers in five states that were accused of illegally selling NetWare. In the fall of last year they seized the computer equipment of two men in Tennessee accused of reselling NetWare over BBSs. According to David Bradford, senior vice president and general counsel at Novell and chairman of the Copyright Protection Fund of the Software Publisher's Association, the crackdown on software piracy has paid off. _______________________________________________________________________________ Lottery May Use Nintendo As Another Way To Play September 1, 1991 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Taken from Minneapolis Star Tribune (Section B) "Several kinks have yet to be worked out." Minnesota gamblers soon could be winning jackpots as early as 1993 from the comfort of their own living rooms. The state will begin testing a new system next summer that will allow gamblers to pick numbers and buy tickets at home by using a Nintendo control deck. The system, to be created by the state and Control Data Corporation, would be somewhat similar to banking with an automated teller machine card. Gamblers would use a Nintendo control deck and a state lottery cartridge. The cartridge would be connected by phone to the lottery's computer system, allowing players to pick Lotto America, Daily 3 and Gopher 5 numbers, and play the instant cash games. Players would gain access to the system by punching in personal security codes or passwords. Incorrect passwords would be rejected. Only adults would be allowed to play. A number of kinks, including setting up a pay-in-advance system for players to draw on, computer security and adult registration, must be worked out. 32% of Minnesota households have Nintendo units. About half of those who use the units are older than 18. Those chosen to participate in the summer experiment will be given a Nintendo control deck, phone modem and lottery cartridge. _______________________________________________________________________________ 15,000 Cuckoo Letters September 8, 1991 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Reprinted from RISKS Digest >From: Cliff Stoll In 1989, I wrote, "The Cuckoo's Egg", the true story of how we tracked down a computer intruder. Figuring that a few people might wish to communicate with me, I included my e-mail address in the book's forward. To my astonishment, it became a bestseller and I've received a tidal wave of e-mail. In 2 years, about 15,000 letters have arrived over four networks (Internet, Genie, Compuserve, and AOL). This suggests that about 1 to 3 percent of readers send e-mail. I've been amazed at the diversity of the questions and comments: ranging from comments on my use of "hacker" to improved chocolate chip cookie recipes. Surprisingly, very few flames and insulting letters arrived - a few dozen or so. I've tried to answer each letter individually; lately I've created a few macros to answer the most common questions. About 5% of my replies bounce, I wonder how many people don't get through. I'm happy to hear from people; it's a gas to realize how far the book's reached (letters from Moscow, the South Pole, Finland, Japan, even Berkeley); but I'm going to spend more time doing astronomy and less time answering mail. Cheers, Cliff Stoll cliff@cfa.harvard.edu stoll@ocf.berkeley.edu _______________________________________________________________________________