393 lines
22 KiB
Plaintext
393 lines
22 KiB
Plaintext
==Phrack Inc.==
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Volume Two, Issue Ten, Phile #8 of 9
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PWN PWN PWN PWN PWN PWN PWN PWN PWN PWN PWN PWN PWN PWN PWN PWN PWN PWN PWN PWN
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PWN PWN
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PWN <-=*} Phrack World News {*=-> PWN
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PWN PWN
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PWN Issue IX/Part One PWN
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PWN PWN
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PWN Compiled, Written, and Edited by PWN
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PWN PWN
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PWN Knight Lightning PWN
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PWN PWN
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PWN PWN PWN PWN PWN PWN PWN PWN PWN PWN PWN PWN PWN PWN PWN PWN PWN PWN PWN PWN
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In PWN Issue Seven/Part One, we had an article entitled "Maxfield Strikes
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Again." It was about a system known as "THE BOARD" in the Detroit 313 NPA.
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The number was 313-592-4143 and the newuser password was "HEL-N555,ELITE,3"
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(then return). It was kind of unique because it was run off of an HP2000
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computer. On August 20, 1986 the following message was seen on "THE BOARD."
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- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
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Welcome to MIKE WENDLAND'S I-TEAM sting board!
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(Computer Services Provided By BOARDSCAN)
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66 Megabytes Strong
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300/1200 baud - 24 hours.
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Three (3) lines = no busy signals!
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Rotary hunting on 313-534-0400.
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Board: General Information & BBS's
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Message: 41
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Title: YOU'VE BEEN HAD!!!
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To: ALL
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From: HIGH TECH
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Posted: 8/20/86 @ 12.08 hours
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Greetings:
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You are now on THE BOARD, a "sting" BBS operated by MIKE WENDLAND of the
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WDIV-TV I-Team. The purpose? To demonstrate and document the extent of
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criminal and potentially illegal hacking and telephone fraud activity by the
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so-called "hacking community."
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Thanks for your cooperation. In the past month and a half, we've received all
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sorts of information from you implicating many of you to credit card fraud,
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telephone billing fraud, vandalism, and possible break-ins to government or
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public safety computers. And the beauty of this is we have your posts, your
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E-Mail and--- most importantly ---your REAL names and addresses.
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What are we going to do with it? Stay tuned to News 4. I plan a special
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series of reports about our experiences with THE BOARD, which saw users check
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in from coast-to-coast and Canada, users ranging in age from 12 to 48. For our
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regular users, I have been known as High Tech, among other ID's. John Maxfield
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of Boardscan served as our consultant and provided the HP2000 that this "sting"
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ran on. Through call forwarding and other conveniences made possible by
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telephone technology, the BBS operated remotely here in the Detroit area.
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When will our reports be ready? In a few weeks. We now will be contacting
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many of you directly, talking with law enforcement and security agents from
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credit card companies and the telephone services.
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It should be a hell of a series. Thanks for your help. And don't bother
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trying any harassment. Remember, we've got YOUR real names.
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Mike Wendland
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The I-team
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WDIV, Detroit, MI.
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- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
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This then is the result:
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Phrack World News proudly presents...
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Mike Wendland & the I-Team Investigate
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"Electronic Gangsters"
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- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
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Carman Harlan: Well we've all heard of computer hackers, those electronic
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gangsters who try to break into other people's computer
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systems. Tonight on the first of a three part news 4 [WDIV-TV,
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Channel 4 in Detroit] extra, Mike Wendland and the I-Team will
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investigate how such computer antics jeopardize our privacy.
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Mike joins us now to tell us what at first may have been
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innocent fun may now be affecting our pocket books.
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Mike Wendland: Well Carman and Mort, thanks to the media and movies just about
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everyone knows about hackers and phone phreaks. By hooking
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their Apples, their Ataris, and their Commodores into telephone
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lines these electronic enthusiasts have developed a new form of
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communication, the computer bulletin board. There are probably
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10,000 of these message swapping boards around the country
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today, most are innocent and worthwhile. There are an
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estimated 1,000 pirate or hacker boards where the main
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activities are electronic trespassing, and crime [Estimates
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provided by John Maxfield].
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[Clipping From Wargames comes on]
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In movies like Wargames computer hackers are portrayed as
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innocent hobbyist explorers acting more out of mischief than
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malice. But today a new generation of hackers have emerged. A
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hacker that uses his knowledge of computers to commit crimes.
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Hackers have electronically broken into banks, ripped off
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telephone companies for millions of dollars, trafficked in
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stolen credit card numbers, and through there network of
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computer bulletin boards traded information on everything from
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making bombs to causing terrorism.
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[Picture of John Maxfield comes on]
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John Maxfield: Well, now there are electronic gangsters, not just electronic
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explorers they are actually gangsters. These hackers meet
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electronically through the phone lines or computer bulletin
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boards. They don't meet face to face usually, but it is a
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semi-organized gang stile activity, much like a street gang, or
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motorcycle gang.
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Mike Wendland: John Maxfield of Detroit is America's foremost "Hacker
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Tracker". He has worked for the F.B.I. and various other law
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enforcement and security organizations. Helping catch dozens
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of hackers around the country, who have used their computers
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for illegal purposes. To find out how widespread these
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electronic gangsters have become, we used John Maxfield as a
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consultant to setup a so-called "sting" bulletin board [THE
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BOARD].
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We wrote and designed a special program that would allow us to
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monitor the calls we received and to carefully monitor the
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information that was being posted. We called our undercover
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operation "The Board", and put the word out on the underground
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hacker network that a new bulletin board was in operation for
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the "Elite Hacker". Then we sat back and watched the computer
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calls roll in.
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In all we ran our so called "Sting" board for about a month and
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a half, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. We received literally
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hundreds of phone calls from hackers coast to coast, ranging in
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age from 17 to 43. All of them though had one thing in common,
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they were looking for ways to cheat the system.
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The hackers identified themselves by nicknames or handles like
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CB radio operators use, calling themselves things like Ax
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Murderer, Big Foot, and Captain Magic. They left messages on a
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variety of questionable subjects, this hacker for instance told
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how to confidentially eavesdrop on drug enforcement radio
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conversations. A New York hacker called The Jolter swapped
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information on making free long-distance calls through stolen
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access codes, and plenty of others offered credit card numbers
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to make illegal purchases on someone else's account.
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John Maxfield: Well these kids trade these credit card numbers through the
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computer bulletin boards much like they'd trade baseball cards
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at school. What we've seen in the last few years is a series
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of hacker gangs that are run by an adult, sort of the
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mastermind who stays in the background and is the one who
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fences the merchandise that the kids order with the stolen
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credit cards.
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Mike Wendland: Then there were the malicious messages that had the potential
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to do great harm. The Repo Man from West Virginia left this
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message telling hackers precisely how to break into a hospital
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computer in the Charleston, WV area.
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[Picture of Hospital]
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This is where that number rings, the Charleston Area Medical
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Center. We immediately notified the hospital that there
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computer security had been breached. Through a spokesperson,
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the hospital said that a hacker had indeed broken into the
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hospital's computer and had altered billing records. They
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immediately tightened security and began an investigation.
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They caught the hacker who has agreed to make restitution for
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the damages. Maxfield says though, "Most such break-ins are
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never solved".
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John Maxfield: When you are talking about electronic computer intrusion, it's
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the perfect crime. It's all done anonymously, it's all done by
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wires, there's no foot prints, no finger prints, no blood
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stains, no smoking guns, nothing. You may not even know the
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system has been penetrated.
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Mike Wendland: Our experience with the "Sting" bulletin board came to a sudden
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and unexpected end. Our cover was blown when the hackers
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somehow obtained confidential telephone company records. The
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result a campaign of harassment and threats that raised serious
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questions about just how private our supposedly personal
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records really are. That part of the story tomorrow. [For a
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little more detail about how their cover was "blown" see PWN
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Issue 7/Part One, "Maxfield Strikes Again." Heh heh heh heh.]
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Mort Crim: So these aren't just kids on a lark anymore, but who are the
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hackers?
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Mike Wendland: I'd say most of them are teenagers, our investigation has
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linked about 50 of them hardcore around this area, but most
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very young.
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Mort Crim: Far beyond just vandalism!
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Mike Wendland: Yep.
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- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
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A few quicknotes in between shows, Mike Wendland and John Maxfield set up THE
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BOARD. Carman Harlan and Mort Crim are newscasters.
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Also if anyone is interested in the stupidity of Mike Wendland, he flashed the
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post that contained the phone number to the hospital across the screen, Bad
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Subscript put the VCR on pause and got the number. If interested please
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contact Bad Subscript, Ctrl C, or myself.
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- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
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Carman Harlan: Tonight on the second part of a news 4 [WDIV-TV, Channel 4 in
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Detroit] extra Mike Wendland and the I-Team report on how they
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setup a sting bulletin board to see how much they could get on
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these criminal hackers. Mike joins us now to explain that
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information, that was not the only thing they got.
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Mike Wendland: That's right, Carman & Mort. Our so called sting bulletin
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board received hundreds of calls from hackers all over America,
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and even Canada. They offered to trade stolen credit cards,
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and they told how to electronically break into sensitive
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government computers. But our investigation came to a sudden
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end when our sting board was stung. Our cover was blown when
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a hacker discovered that this man, computer security expert
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John Maxfield was serving as the I-Team consultant on the
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investigation. Maxfield specializes as a hacker tracker and
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has worked for the F.B.I. and various other police and security
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agencies. The hacker discovered our sting board by getting a
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hold of Maxfield's supposedly confidential telephone records.
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John Maxfield: And in the process of doing that he discovered the real number
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to the computer. We were using a different phone number that
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was call forwarded to the true phone number, he found that
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number out and called it to discover he was on the sting board.
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Mike Wendland: But the hacker didn't stop at exposing the sting, instead he
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posted copies of Maxfield's private telephone bill on other
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hacker bulletin boards across the country.
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John Maxfield: The harassment started, all of the people on my phone bill got
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calls from hackers. In some cases their phone records were
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also stolen, friends and relatives of theirs got calls from
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hackers. There was all sorts of other harassment, I got a call
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from a food service in Los Angeles asking where I wanted the
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500 pounds of pumpkins delivered. Some of these kids are
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running around with guns, several of them made threats that
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they were going to come to Detroit, shoot me and shoot Mike
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Wendland.
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Mike Wendland: A spokesperson from Michigan Bell said that the breakdown in
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security that led to the release of Maxfield's confidential
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records was unprecedented.
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Phil Jones (MI Bell): I think as a company were very concerned because we work
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very hard to protect the confidentially of customer's
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records. [Yeah, right].
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Mike Wendland: The hacker who got a hold of Maxfield's confidential phone
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records is far removed from Michigan, he lives in Brooklyn, NY
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and goes by the name Little David [Bill From RNOC]. He says
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that getting confidential records from Michigan Bell or any
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other phone company is child's play. Little David is 17 years
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old. He refused to appear on camera, but did admit that he
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conned the phone company out of releasing the records by simply
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posing as Maxfield. He said that he has also sold pirated
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long-distance access codes, and confidential information
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obtained by hacking into the consumer credit files of T.R.W.
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Little David says that one of his customers is a skip-tracer, a
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private investigator from California who specializes in finding
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missing people. Maxfield, meanwhile, says that his own
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information verified Little David's claim.
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John Maxfield: The nearest I can determine the skip-tracer was using the
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hacker, the 17 year old boy to find out the whereabouts of
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people he was paid to find. He did this by getting into the
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credit bureau records for the private eye. This is an invasion
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of privacy, but it's my understanding that this boy was getting
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paid for his services.
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Mike Wendland: In Long Island in New York, Maxfield's telephone records were
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also posted on a bulletin board sponsored by Eric Corley,
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publisher of a hacker newsletter [2600 Magazine]. Corley
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doesn't dispute the harassment that Maxfield received.
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Eric Corley: Any group can harass any other group, the difference with hackers
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is that they know how to use particular technology to do it. If
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you get a malevolent hacker mad at you there's no telling all the
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different things that can happen.
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Mike Wendland: What can happen? Well besides getting your credit card number
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or charging things to your account, hackers have been known to
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change people's credit ratings. It is really serious business!
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And tomorrow night we'll hear about the hacker philosophy which
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holds that if there is information out there about you it is
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fair game.
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Mort Crim: "1984" in 1986.
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Mike Wendland: It is!
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Carman Harlan: News four [WDIV-TV, Channel 4 in Detroit] extra, Mike Wendland
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and the I-Team look at how these hackers are getting out of
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hand.
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Mike Wendland: The problem with hackers is not just with mischief anymore,
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unscrupulous hackers are not only invading your privacy, they
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are costing you money. Case and point, your telephone bills,
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because American telephone companies have long been targets of
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computer hackers and thieves we are paying more than we should.
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Experts say the long distance companies lose tens of millions
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of dollars a year to, these self described "Phone Phreaks."
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For example in Lansing, the Michigan Association of
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Governmental Employees received a phone bill totalling nearly
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three hundred and twenty one thousand dollars. For calls
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illegally racked up on there credit card by hackers. Such
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victims seldom get stuck paying the charges, so hackers claim
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there piracy is innocent fun.
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Phil Jones (MI Bell): Nothing could be further from the truth, it becomes a
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very costly kind of fun. What happens is that the
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majority of the customers who do pay there bills on
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time, and do use our service lawfully end up quitting
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after that bill.
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Mike Wendland: That's not all, hackers regularly invade our privacy, they
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leave pirated credit card numbers and information how to break
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into electronic computer banks on bulletin boards. Thousands
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of such electronic message centers exist across the country,
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most operated by teenagers.
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John Maxfield: There is no law enforcement, no parental guidance, they're just
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on their own so they can do anything they want. So the few bad
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ones that know how to steal and commit computer crimes teach
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the other ones.
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Mike Wendland: There is very little that is safe from hackers, from automatic
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teller machines and banks to the internal telephone systems at
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the White House. Hackers have found ways around them all
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hackers even have their own underground publication of sorts
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that tells them how to do it.
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[Close up of publication]
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Its called 2600 [2600 Magazine], after the 2600 hertz that
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phone phreaks use to bypass telephone companies billing
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equipment. It tells you how to find credit card numbers and
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confidential records in trash bins, break into private
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mainframe computers, access airline's computers, and find
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financial information on other people through the nations
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largest credit bureau, TRW. 2600 is published in a
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ram-shackled old house at the far end of Long Island, New York
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by this man, Eric Corley. He argues that hackers aren't
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electronic gangsters.
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Eric Corley: We like to call them freedom fighters. Hackers are the true
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individuals of the computer revolution, they go were people tell
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them not to go, they find out things they weren't supposed to
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find out.
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Mike Wendland: Corley's newsletter supports a hacker bulletin board called the
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Private Sector. Last year the F.B.I. raided it.
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Eric Corley: They managed to charge the system operator with illegal
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possession of a burglary tool in the form of a computer program.
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Mike Wendland: But the bulletin board is still in operation. Corley resents
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the suspicion that hackers are involved in criminal activities.
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Eric Corley: Hackers are not the people who go around looking for credit cards
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and stealing merchandise. That's common thievery. Hackers are
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the people who explore. So basically what we are saying is more
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knowledge for more people. That will make it better for
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everybody.
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Mike Wendland: He claims that hackers, in their own ways, really protect our
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rights by exposing our vulnerabilities. Well hackers may
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expose our vulnerabilities, but they also invade our privacy.
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There activities have really spotlighted the whole question of
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privacy raised by the massive files that are now out there in
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electronic data banks. Much of that information that we think
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is personal and confidential is often available to the whole
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world.
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Original transcript gathered and typed by
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Ctrl C & Bad Subscript
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Major editing by Knight Lightning
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_______________________________________________________________________________
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