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D a m a g e , I N C .| | | | | | | |___ | | | | | \_ _/ | | |__/
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N e w s l e t t e r |__|__|___\ |_______|_____|_____|___\ |__|__|___\ |__|
Volume 2, Issue #18
(Released: 06/30/00)
"Monopolize."
http://surf.to/damage_inc
damage_inc@disinfo.net
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
C O N T E N T S :
þ INTRODUCTION - An Introduction to the Damage, INC. Newsletter.
þ ADVISORIES - The Stentor Alliance explained.
¯ Search String: {ADVISORIES}
þ BIG BROTHER BASHING - Through deceptive means. HRDC's Big Brother Database.
¯ Search String: {BIG BROTHER}
þ CONSPIRACIES AND COVERUPS - NWO Part 4: What is FEMA?
¯ Search String: {COVERUPS}
þ CORRUPTION AND GREED - Banking on Greed. Stats Canada will gladly rape you.
¯ Search String: {GREED}
þ CROSSED WIRES - An Unauthorized Advertisement for Adbusters Media Foundation.
¯ Search String: {WIRES}
þ DAMAGE, INC. REVIEWS - H/P and Security Web Sites.
¯ Search String: {REVIEWS}
þ H/P INFORMATION - Bell Call Privacy, Secure Password Selection, HTP Part II.
¯ Search String: {H/P}
þ INTERVIEWS AND INTERROGATIONS - Goldeneye, <predator> and Helena3.
¯ Search String: {INTERVIEWS}
þ NEWS FROM THE TRENCHES - Damage, INC. releases, updates and news.
¯ Search String: {NEWS}
þ OBJECTIVE OPINIONS - Commercialism and Zombieism. Lucid Dreaming.
¯ Search String: {OPINIONS}
þ REPORTS FROM THE FRONT - Articles on DDoS attacks, Mitnick, mergers, etc.
¯ Search String: {REPORTS}
þ THOUGHTS, POEMS AND CREATIVE WRITING - The Voice of the Monopoly.
¯ Search String: {WRITING}
þ CLOSING COMMENTS - BLACKENED's radical closing comments.
¯ Search String: {CLOSING}
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
< DISCLAIMER >
All articles contained in the Damage, INC. Newsletter are for informational
purposes only. Damage, INC. is not responsible for how any of the information
presented is used. It is not intended to be a manual with instructions to be
followed. We won't be held responsible for any damages caused, illegal and
fraudulent acts committed, etc. by our readers. If/how you use the information
included herein is entirely up to you.
< COPYRIGHT NOTICE >
All articles and source code contained within this file are (C) Copyright by
Damage, INC. (unless stated otherwise). No part of this work can be modified,
reproduced or changed in any way without the expressed written consent of
Damage, INC. That means, electronically or otherwise, in part or in whole
this file must not be altered. It cannot be distributed and sold for profit.
You cannot claim that you wrote it, or alter any articles and source code that
has been written and Copyrighted by us. Also, you must *not* distribute any
Damage, INC. releases in "packages" with other text files or utilities. They
must only be distributed alone in their present, original form. You are hereby
permitted to read and distribute the Damage, INC. Newsletter freely to quality
h/p boards and sites only.
Copyright 2000 by Damage, INC.
All Rights Reserved.
_______________________________________________________________________________
INTRODUCTION:
Greetings. If nothing else, this issue will contain some informative,
opinionated articles on monopolies, telecommunications alliances, acquisitions,
mergers, and news regarding the telco/cable/Internet industry. But if those
things aren't of interest to you, there's a vast amount of other information
to read, disseminate, absorb, consider, contemplate, reflect on, regurgitate
and then repeat the entire process until you finally get it right. ;)
Seriously though folks, we've put together an excellent issue that we think
most people will enjoy reading. And as the zine grows and evolves, along with
our readership, we hope to continue releasing quality issues. I've endured a
hell of a lot in the course of my Editorship. During this past year, I have
faced many obstacles in real life. Many of them affected this zine adversely.
Due to these problems, it became impossible to release issues in a timely
fashion. In fact, at one point I was even contemplating stepping down as the
Editor on a temporary basis. However, I've made the decision to try to overcome
these difficulties, and continue on the current path. Of course, plans can
change, just as people change. And this publication will definitely change.
But no matter what changes are made, you can be rest assured the Damage, INC.
Newsletter will always represent the voice of truth. Also, if I ever decide to
relinquish the Editorship, it will be put in good hands. That being said, I
want to explain a few things and inform you of some of the changes that will
definitely be made in subsequent issues.
The Damage, INC. Newsletter was originally started as a "local zine". I created
this zine because I was absolutely disgusted by the local BBS scene, and the
local "wannabe hax0rs" it contained at the time. I've long since quit calling
boards in my NPA. The focus and direction of this zine also changed long ago.
No longer are there interrogations of local lamers. And no longer am I a part
of that scene, or even remotely associated with anyone that is. Those early
days and that local shit are behind us. That's the distant past. However,
there are still several other things that I want to change with this zine. The
contents of the next issue will be radically different from this one. Several
sections will be removed entirely. Greater focus will be put on hacking,
phreaking, hacker culture, interviews, news, reports and happenings. Less
general information will be provided. It'll be replaced with more technical
articles. This shift will be swift and fairly dramatic. There will still be
opinions, and a certain amount of creative writing. But the zine will be reborn
and reinvented. Over the years it has already matured greatly. So it isn't
really a question of that. It's a matter of the zine being what I want it to
be, and reflecting my personal interests, as well as the interests of the group.
It's about evolving. I never planned on it staying the same forever anyway.
The shift in direction which this zine is about to undergo won't be seamless.
It'll be refined from issue to issue. The process of altering the content of a
publication such as this isn't usually a smooth one. Mistakes will probably be
made. And I realize that. Being aware of potential problems, I will attempt to
prepare for them ahead of time and avoid them if possible. I also know that
some of our readers may not like these changes. But we aren't out to please
everyone by releasing something that's so unoriginal, generic and general
content wise that it could be viewed as being a carbon copy of multiple other
existing zines. That isn't our goal. That has never been our goal. That'll
never be the goal of the Damage, INC. Newsletter. We don't try to make everyone
happy. We never have, and never will. We don't follow the trends and go with
the grain. We don't copy what every other zine or group in the scene is doing.
Instead, we've always relied on our own ideas, concepts, projects and present
information in the manner that we choose. We'll continue to do that. In other
words, we don't write about things just because they're popular at the time.
The information has to be relevant and important. Importance takes precedence
over popularity. That is our priority. Rather than relying on publishing what
is popular at the moment, we make decisions based on whether something is
interesting, information and important. We hope to further that goal in the
future by trimming the fat, eliminating the majority of information that's
readily available elsewhere, and concentrating on providing only the most
relevant, useful articles to our readers.
However, you may not deem everything we report to be important. Again, some
information will only appeal to certain readers. And that's actually good. It
means we haven't fallen into the trap of trying to have mass appeal, acceptance
and a huge audience. Our readership is fairly large, and growing, but this zine
isn't for everyone. Nor will it ever meet everyone's taste. In fact, it may
even disgust some people, and piss them off. That's by design. We don't make
a conscious effort to influence anyone into liking this zine. We don't
apologize for its content. Conversely, we don't go out of our way to get people
to hate it either. We just write what we write, publish what we publish, and do
what we do. Whoever reads it, reads it. Whatever they think about it, whatever
their opinions are about it, are theirs to have. That's our basic philosophy.
Our intention was never to become popular anyway. So, it's perfectly fine for
people to dislike the zine, or the group in general. In the end, the group and
zine will remain, doing what we're doing, only the way Damage, INC. can. It's
classic Canadiana, all wrapped up in a nice, neat package. Well, not really.
But you get the idea. Love it, or don't read it.
The future is technology -- creating it, finding new ways to use it and explain
it. Along with technology, there's always culture and subcultures. That
involves people, groups, zines, conventions, etc. And of course, surrounding
technology there's also a wealth of news, happenings and proprietary information
to disseminate. That is exactly where our focus will be.
Monopolize. Believe the lies. Add greed, corruption, then stir and multiply.
Adore Big Brother and of liberty you'll surely despise. Propagandize. Embrace
slavery and help bind its ties. Become their lackeys. Become their paid spies.
Capitalize. Kill the truth. Make sure honesty fades away and dies. Allow
freedom to perish and watch dictatorships rise. Commercialize. Materialize.
Popularize. Ridicule and ostracize. Objectify. Downsize. Desensitize.
Militarize. Victimize. Terrorize. Supervise. Globalize. Denationalize.
Denaturalize. Destabilize. Demoralize. Profitize. Idolize. Deify and
canonize. Lionize. Americanize. Demonize. Brutalize. Exploit, dehumanize
and decivilize. Devitalize. Rape their minds. Labotomize. Zombify.
Vanquish the cries. Disperse the truth. Kill the liars and vaporize. Disrupt
society and shatter its lies. Truth devours. Information empowers. Sanctify.
Let freedom reign. Break down the barriers, then revitalize. Revolutionize.
Decentralize. Remove from power the ones that dispel the great lies. The ones
we must defy if we're to survive. Decasualize. Testify. Unite to fight the
system. Sensitize. Dehypnotize, then energize. Dematerialize. Decapitalize.
Demilitarize. Qualify and Quantify. Be bold, and be wise. Depolarize.
Organize. Mobilize. Attack and neutralize. Justified and unified. Finalized.
Immortalized. Engage the enemy. Search and destroy. Necrotize.
Technology, Information, Hacker Culture, Opinions, Canadian Content... What
more could you want? Still fucking the system and fucking with minds in '00.
It's showtime folks.
ADVISORIES - {ADVISORIES}
The Stentor Alliance explained.
If asked, most Canadians wouldn't know how to describe the Stentor Alliance.
They'd have a blank look on their face while they stare at the sky, hoping for
the answer to come to them. Others would perhaps describe it as "an alliance
between all of the independent telephone companies in Canada." Ha. Although
that is a rough description that Stentor gave themselves, it isn't true. In
fact, it isn't even close to the truth. In past Advisories articles, we've
revealed to everyone that BCE and its bloated child, Bell Canada owns all of, or
a significant chunk of every telco in Canada except BCT.Telus. The motive of
this advisory article is to reveal the truth about the Stentor Alliance.
How did the Canadian telcos describe their Stentor Alliance? "The Stentor
Alliance was formed in 1992 by Canada's leading providers of telecommunications
services. The alliance works with customers across Canada to economically
deliver leading-edge local, national and international telecommunications
services. These companies maintain the world's longest, fully digital
fibre-optic network." That quote was taken directly from the Stentor web site,
bold claims and all. I especially laughed at the "fibre-optic network" claim.
They should have noted that they have more 50 year-old copper lines than any
other country in the world as far as I'm concerned. Line quality on long
distance calls from province to province can be nothing short of terrible.
Despite their semi-eloquent description, the Stentor Alliance was a sham. It is
because even in 1992, Bell Canada or BCE had majority or total ownership of MTS,
Bruncor (holding company for NBTel), NewTel, MT&T, and Northwestel. That left
BC Tel, Telus, and little IslandTel. Not much of an alliance since one "player"
was so much bigger than the rest. It was no coincidence that Stentor was
headquartered and had many of its important offices and call centers in Ontario,
which is the heart of Bell Canada territory. Plus, Stentor was never anything
more than another name for Telecom Canada. It was fake from the very start.
What responsibilities was Stentor given by the Canadian Telcos? Firstly, it was
given control of the national network. Here's Stentor's description of the
Canadian telecom network: "The Stentor alliance network includes two
fully-fibre high density (HPR) routes which run in parallel from St. John's to
Victoria. These routes are the main arteries for Canada's long distance
traffic. Whenever information is sent over one route, a mirror image is
simultaneously sent over the other so that in the event of a network disruption,
your call or data still reaches its destination. More than four billion calls
travel this national network annually, and thanks to several layers of
protection, more than 99.9 per cent of them reach their destination on the first
attempt." Obviously that claim cannot be easily verified. However, if you make
a great deal of long distance calls within Canada, you already know it's untrue.
Below is more information and outrageous boasts regarding the Stentor
"controlled" network garnered directly from their web site:
"High Performance Routing (HPR) monitors voice traffic and automatically selects
the most efficient transmission path. Essentially, HPR anticipates congestion
and prevents it."
"Fast Facility Protection (FFP) Cross Links is a self-healing technology that
reroutes traffic and restores services so quickly that customers don't even
realize there was a problem. FFP can send data from one of the network's High
Density Routes to the other via Cross Links typically in 50 milliseconds!"
"Synchronous Optical Network SONET, a new technology developed to enhance
survivability and performance is also self-healing and adds yet another level of
protection. A series of SONET rings are overlaid upon the network and
interconnect Canadians from coast to coast."
"Common Channel Signaling System 7 (SS7) is a separate network of high speed
data links. It has the added ability to send signals to monitoring centres in
the event a problem is not corrected within a specified period of time."
"The International Network Management Centre (INMC) is the network's
Ottawa-based [Bell based] nerve centre. The centre monitors traffic flows
and network performance around the clock. The INMC is divided into two sections:
the National Network Operations Centre, responsible for the voice and image
network; and National Data Network Control which provides surveillance of the
alliance's major data networks such as Dataroute, Datapac, Megastream, and
Hyperstream. The centre ensures everything operates at peak capacity, and
advanced warning systems linked to regional centres across the country alert
technicians to problems, allowing them to respond quickly and prevent
degradations in service."
Ah yes, Stentor was responsible for the almost infamous Datapac network. It
was the playground of countless hackers and phreaks for many years, and not
restricted to Canadians alone. If you read old text files and zines from the
80s, you'll notice a great amount of information was spread about our beloved
Datapac, and realize how much Canadians and Americans in the h/p scene used
it, and loved it. Datapac is still there. It just isn't as attractive or
interesting to most of the younger generation today that grew up with Internet
access, etc. And so they choose not to explore Datapac and learn about PSNs.
What a shame.
Stentor also administrated the National Fraud Management Centre (NFMC). More
boasting from the Stentor web site: "The NFMC protects the Stentor alliance
telecommunications network from toll fraud around the clock, seven days a week.
And now your company can take advantage of the NFMC's unparalleled fraud
protection services and experience."
"Equipped with state-of-the-art fraud-detection software, the NFMC is managed by
the country's leading telephone fraud experts. The NFMC professionals have
long-standing experience in all aspects of fraud control: consulting, training,
auditing, data mining to extract fraud patterns, and project management."
"Ever vigilant, the NFMC spots suspect calls immediately, triggering responses
that stop fraudsters in their tracks. Detecting problems quickly and taking
action equally as fast are keys to the NFMC's success."
To summarize all that Bell chest thumping, Stentor is responsible for detecting
abuse of the national telecom system. That includes administrating services
such as dealing with reports of lost or stolen calling cards and other like
services. A toll free Stentor stolen cards number is in the Damage, INC.
Phreaky Field Phreaking List, along with many of their other contact numbers.
To comment on their so-called state-of-the-art fraud-detection software, and
their telephone fraud experts, the only thing I can say is that Stentor and
the NFMC's capabilities in that area are a complete and utter joke. And there
is ample proof that their egotistical boasts are outright lies. But that
isn't the focus of this particular article, and no long-time Canadian phreak
should even require a shred of evidence to prove that to them anyway. They
know they haven't been stopped in their tracks.
For years, Damage, INC. has been advising people that Stentor is nothing but
another face of Bell Canada. It is more now than ever. If you have read this
article closely, you may have noticed that I've referred to Stentor in the past
tense. That is because the Stentor Alliance is dead. We saw the writing on the
wall long ago when Bell Canada usurped Stentor's deal with MCI WorldCom (read
the Advisory section in Issue #15 of the DIN for details), but now Stentor is
all but done in. This confirmation wasn't easy to find because the Stentor site
has apparently been abandoned, and direct access to the News Releases portion of
their site has been disabled. However, persistent searching enabled me to
discover the final Stentor "Alliance" news release:
[Bell Canada and TELUS announce new model for national network management]
OTTAWA - July 6, 1999 - Bell Canada and TELUS today announced that they have
reached agreement on the creation of a new model for managing national network
operations currently performed by Stentor Canadian Network Management (SCNM).
Starting this fall, Bell Canada will provide national operational support
services to TELUS and to Bell's partners, Aliant Inc. (Island Tel, MTT, Newtel
and NBTel), SaskTel and MTS.
This move will be transparent to customers.
Stentor Canadian Network Management, the central organization created in 1992
to perform these functions, will be wound down by the end of this year.
Many of SCNM's people and functions will be transferred to Bell Canada and the
other SCNM members. In December, Bell Canada served one-year notice of
termination of the Stentor Connecting Agreement and SCNM Governing Agreement.
The parties then evaluated how best to carry out these functions for the
future. They have come to the conclusion that the new environment calls for a
different model.
"This new model will preserve the seamlessness of our shared national network,
and provide our companies with a cost-effective approach to managing the
changing networks," said David Southwell, Chief Technology Officer of Bell
Canada.
"Our goal throughout the transition will be to ensure that these changes will
be completely transparent to our customers" said Ian Mansfield, TELUS Executive
Vice President and President, Wireline. "Customers will continue to benefit
from a national telecommunications network providing unsurpassed reach, service
and reliability."
Under the agreement, TELUS, Bell Canada and its partners will continue to work
together to honour all contractual obligations to customers and to meet
customer demand. Bell Canada will carry out national network operations support
functions by establishing a series of commercial service agreements with TELUS
and with Bell's partners. Many of the operations functions will continue to be
carried out by the same people, in the same locations, using the same assets as
today.
For information, contact:
Jean-Charles Doug Strachan Caroline Verboon
Robillard TELUS GPC Communications
Bell Canada 604 432-2663 416 452-4626 (cellular)
514 918-3617 (cellular) 416 598-0055
514 786-3908
---
As you can see, Bell Canada is officially taking over control of Canada's
national telecom system. What a huge surprise. This has been done with the
consent of BCT.Telus; the only telco in Canada that isn't owned by BCE or Bell.
Despite Stentor's demise, will much really change? Nothing in my opinion. The
only thing that has changed is that the smaller companies that were once
quasi-independent are now totally under the thumb of BCE or Bell Canada. BCE,
through Bell Canada, has been in control of Canada's telecom system for decades.
The recent acquisition of Aliant Inc., along with Telus' merger with BC Tel
made the need for a pseudo-alliance a cumbersome waste of resources for the two
biggest fat cats in Canada.
The name "Stentor" will likely still be used by Bell, even though the alliance
is dead. Stentor will be like an unburied body. It just won't be an official
governing body anymore. But its name will stick around like the stench of a
rotting corpse. It will live on, even though Stentor is officially dead and
announced to be defunct.
Now that you have been informed, be advised. If you are talking to someone
"representing" Stentor, you are really talking to the greedy and corrupt folks
at Bell Canada. Once again they've managed to take total, monopolizing control
and in the process fool the uninformed public by usurping power from Stentor,
which was just a front from the beginning. They've done so without any
opposition. In the end, they've proven once more that they are just as much of
a master at the shell game, or name game, as any of the U.S. based telcos.
They're on equal footing with the big boys, south of the border. As for BCE,
they control the whole works from behind a shield of subsidiaries, and are the
epitome of a faceless corporation. They're the masterminds, pulling the strings.
And of course, they answer to no one. The conclusion is an obvious one. Bell
Canada Enterprises (BCE) wins and the Canadian telephone customers lose again.
A short history of Stentor and Canadian telcos has been provided as a separate
text file that's included with this issue. Read STENBELL.TXT.
Written by Shatazar ú Damage, INC. (C)opyright 2000.
BIG BROTHER BASHING - {BIG BROTHER}
Through deceptive means.
In past articles, we've explained how Big Brother is known for their monitoring
techniques, and their desire to want to control us. We've shown what they're
about, and how underhanded they are. We've proven that Big Brother exists,
and backed up our claims that they're corrupt to the core. So it shouldn't
be a surprise to read that most of what Big Bro has achieved has been through
deceptive means. By that, I simply mean that deception is their tool of choice.
To them, the end *always* justifies the means. And in this case, the means is
deception, in any shape and any form. The purpose of this article is to
describe some of the ways in which Big Brother is deceptive, and how to avoid
being deceived. We've already discussed their tremendous use of propaganda,
infinite lies, and blatant abuse of technology to spy, control, influence,
brainwash, take and maintain power over "society" in general. However, we are
now going to reveal some of their secrets as to how they're able to learn about
us, and fool us. Deception is one of their greatest weapons, and therefore
I feel it's important to learn as much as possible about how it can be used
to blind, and hide the truth from us. Indeed, it's so powerful that even
intelligent people can unknowingly be deceived when the truth is right in front
of their very eyes. And in this article, I'll prove it. Big Brother deceives
and uses any means necessary to achieve their goals. But we'll expose them
through any means necessary, and show the world what they truly are.
Big Brother now has the technology to study how our eyes read text. They have
software which enables them to determine how long a person's eyes stay focused
on a particular sentence, or word. They know where the best position to place
a picture in an article is. They know which words are less negative sounding.
They know where to place words so that they'll be skipped and unread, such as
in the last sentence of a paragraph. They've created specialized software, done
testing, research and studies to find out how we read, and how to use that
knowledge against us.
By this, they're able to release information publicly that's propaganda and
we are none the wiser. They can manipulate statistics through words, so that
it seems more positive than negative. Knowing how our eyes scan a page of
text gives them the power to hide the truth, influence us and manipulate what
our opinions are of what we've read. I've seen this technology in use, and
they admitted that it's used by the government and large corporations already.
It's all about deceiving the reader and making them unaware of the true meaning
of what they're reading. It's about making them focus on one particular word,
phrase, sentence, chart, diagram or picture and disregarding the rest. It's
about using certain words that seem more positive in nature than ones that
represent the truth. And it's very effective. People unknowingly think the
words they've read mean something else. The reality is that Big Brother is
able to write something and fool them into believing it's to their benefit.
For example, they could write an article on the economy that is seemingly very
positive, but in truth, it shows the gap between the rich and poor increasing.
Or, they could release a document of a study on the environment that seems to
project positive results, when in fact, they're actually negative. It's all
in the wording, word placement, paragraph structure, key phrases, terminology,
and the way we read it. If you skim through it, and naturally skip sentences
or discard words, you will be fooled. It requires careful dissemination and
a high level of comprehension to fully understand the true meaning. Most people
won't check the meaning for words they don't understand. And they'll
misinterpret sentences and entire paragraphs if they can't comprehend them, or
are unable to determine that the phrasing is meant to dupe them. In effect,
they turn lies to truth right in front of your eyes, in black and white.
Data mining is another deceptive form of technology in that it allows large
corporations to strip unwitting victims of their personal privacy. It's so
widely used that you may not even realize that you've been violated and had
your right to privacy abused. Many Internet companies and other organizations
on the Internet use surveys, application forms, etc. to dupe people into
relinquishing their personal information. It is then sold to various other
companies, such as marketing agencies, or directly to information hungry
corporations and data mining organizations. The government also sells people's
information to all of the above. Statistics Canada is now infamous for forcing
people to answer mandatory surveys (and threatening them with prison if they
don't comply), and then selling that information to data mining companies in
order to profit. And they make a sizeable profit from these illegal, unethical
actions. Huge data mining companies then take the information, sort through it
using special computer software, and in turn sell it to the highest bidder.
They're always eager to get their hands on more data. Usually it's sold to
marketing companies, which then use it to market products and services for their
clients, or sell it again directly to other corporations. It's a vicious cycle
in which the individual's privacy is totally removed and blatantly ignored.
The individual no longer exists. They're reduced to being just bits of data,
and are treated as such. They're nothing more than a number and a collection of
answers. These companies want to know where to build new locations for their
stores, what people buy, how much they buy, what they usually spend on items,
what the averages and norms are, and how much they're willing to spend, etc.
Hell, Statistics Canada even wants to know what brand of toothpaste people buy.
It may sound ridiculous, or insane, but they actually compile statistics on
that type of information. It's more than just invasive. It isn't just a
violation of privacy. It's sickening. Their actions are despicable and utterly
deplorable. No citizen should be forced to answer those questions. And any
information given to the government, such as on a census form, should be kept
strictly private. It should *never* be given out, or sold to the highest
bidder. And questions that intrude on someone's privacy shouldn't even be
asked in the first place, much less be mandatory and punishable by law.
There are many other techniques that Big Brother is famous for employing on
the public. The Internet may not be the best, most reliable source of
information, but in the very least it's a starting point. You can search for
previously classified documents, easily and legally. I suggest you read about
some of the projects that the United States, Great Britain, New Zealand and
Canada have been involved in for many years. Read about the NSA, Echelon and
things of that nature and you'll quickly realize just how much power Big Bro
has been allowed to take over the course of the last few decades.
Obviously the ubiquitous Big Brother also uses other deceptive forms that
weren't mentioned in this article. I'm sure they've been able to implement
types of insidious, anti-privacy technology and techniques into "society" over
the years, and do it so well that nobody that's not working with them is even
aware of it. That's what is really frightening. More than anything else,
that's what has to be exposed. Even though we'll continue to do our best to
reveal Big Bro's techniques, technology, means of deception, etc. we can't be
expected to find out everything. Each individual, and group/small organization
that's opposed to Big Brother's plans, tactics and invasions of privacy, must
strive to find the truth, and share their findings with others. That's the
only way that Big Brother can be shown to the world for what they truly are.
And only then can they be successfully opposed and defeated.
"Big Brother 2000. Last chance. All aboard..."
In closing, some of what I've written in this article is riddled with cliches,
rhetoric, common, generalized statements, phrases and even some innuendo.
Admittedly, it may not be as clear as it should be. It may even seem like the
paranoid rantings of an insane man. And some of the words I've chosen to use
may not be the best, or most suitable. However, the message is still important.
Just as, freedom and the right to privacy are important. More than important
enough to be defended and discussed. So, the next time you read an article that
has been written by the government, for the government, or is supported by the
government (or any of Big Brother's agencies), consider what I've written here.
Remember that what they have written can be extremely effective at persuading
and influencing you. It may not always be obvious. You may have to read a text
several times before realizing what its true intention is. It isn't always
crystal clear at a glance. Big Brother has become very adept at using all of
the techniques and technology discussed above. And they'll use it to their own
advantage whenever possible. The public should always be leery of what their
government prints. Personally, I don't trust anyone that trusts any government,
regardless of country or the government they have. That isn't paranoia, even
though literally any government would call it that based on my statements. But
I would much rather be called paranoid by Big Brother than be thought of as
naive and gullible by anyone else.
Written by BLACKENED ú Damage, INC. (C)opyright 2000.
HRDC's Big Brother Database.
So you've read about TEMPEST, ECHELON, CCTV (Closed Circuit Television) cameras,
DNRs (Dialed Number Recorders) and various other types of taps and bugs, etc.
Indeed, Big Brother *is* watching and listening. So what, right? Well, if
you're a Canadian citizen, this article may be of particular interest to you.
Why? The reason is simple. You may not be aware of just how much highly
personal, sensitive information about you is being compiled into a database and
stored together. Has your interest been peaked yet? Read on then.
A branch of the Canadian government, known as Human Resources Development
Canada (HRDC), was recently exposed. It was revealed that they have a huge,
comprehensive database that contains sensitive information on over 30 million
Canadian citizens, living and deceased. Each individual file in the database
may contain more than 2,000 separate pieces of information on a person. It's
known by them as the Longitudinal Labour Force File. To the rest of us,
including mass media organizations, it has been called the Big Brother File or
Database. And the second description is much more fitting. Perhaps this news
isn't shocking to many of you. But maybe the fact that the government claims
they're planning on dismantling it is.
I've included several articles on this flagrant Big Brother attack on personal
privacy in the Reports from the Front section for people that want further
details to read. Also, after being on Hack Canada (www.hackcanada.com) the
other night, and having read their excellent file on the Big Brother Database,
there's no reason to rewrite what they wrote. So, I'd advise that you visit
their site, and read "Canada's Big Brother: HRDC and The Longitudinal Labour
Force File." It's well worth the read, and includes valuable information on
how to obtain a copy of the personal file that they have on you. I've
personally made a request to obtain a copy of my own file.
That being said, I would still like to voice my opinions on the matter. My
attitude is, while I have the opportunity, why waste a good soapbox with a
captive audience? Anyway, it should be obvious to anyone that the Canadian
government has blatantly violated our right to privacy. And while doing so,
they've put the security of the information in their database at risk.
Literally anyone could (and still can) gain access to another person's file,
and in the process, find out a vast amount about them. That's inexcusable in
my opinion. First, the mere fact that such a database actually exists is wrong
and completely unethical alone. Second, the fact that the security of it could
be compromised so easily, and the information could be shared and sold, etc.
is disgusting. In the very least, safeguards should have been in place. Then
again, how can we expect the Canadian government to install security and use
strong encryption when all they do is discourage it? They're only good at
collecting data on the citizens of this country, not protecting it. They have
gathered massive amounts of information on everyone and left it totally
unsecured. If that doesn't piss you off, nothing will. If the fact that *you*
are in a gigantic database doesn't anger you, then there's no absolutely no hope
for you. You're owned by Big Brother.
To conclude this short article, I want to make it clear that this is just the
start people. This is just the proverbial tip of the iceberg. There are still
many covert things going on that have yet to be uncovered. There are things
that we can only speculate on, or simply don't know about at all yet. But, I
suggest that you attempt to find out as much as possible. You can begin by
requesting a copy of your file from Human Resources Development Canada. Don't
stop there though. Continue to seek information about what the Canadian
government is doing, and do your own research. Think about what we don't know
about Big Brother, their hidden agenda and activities. In the meantime, we'll
do our very best to help keep you informed.
As each day passes, we are beginning to learn more and more about how the
government acts and behaves. Their corrupt practices are coming to light. They
are slowly being exposed. Big Brother has lived hiding in the shadows long
enough. Now is the time to take action. What better time than now?
Written by THC Phreak ú Damage, INC. (C)opyright 2000.
CONSPIRACIES AND COVERUPS - {COVERUPS}
NWO Part 4: What is FEMA?
In issue 9 of the Damage, INC. Newsletter, I introduced you to several powerful,
secret organizations that are intent on implementing a New World Order.
However, they need an administrative organization to get their objectives done
for them. Especially in the United States, where freedom and patriotism are
stronger than in most other countries.
There is a powerful, quasi-secret entity that has been created by past American
presidents to do just that. I believe that FEMA, or the Federal Emergency
Management Agency is conspiring against U.S. citizens, and is easily capable of
becoming the "secret government" of the NWO in the U.S. This article will be
dedicated to exposing FEMA, and to show you that is has the political power and
material resources to take control of the United States of America.
FEMA was created when Executive Order Number 12148 was implemented then
President Richard Nixon. Obviously, it is not an elected body. It does not
involve itself in public disclosures, and it even has a secret budget in the
hundreds of billions of dollars. This organization has more power than the
President of the United States or the Congress. In fact, once active it would
literally have power OVER "the people of the United States of America". It has
the power to suspend laws and the Constitution, move entire populations, arrest
and detain citizens without a warrant and hold them without trial. FEMA can
also seize property, food supplies, and transportation systems.
The original "concept" of FEMA was to ensure that the U.S. Government still
functioned after the United States was attacked by nuclear weapons. Secondary
FEMA functions are to be "a federal coordinating body during times of domestic
disasters, such as earthquakes, floods and hurricanes."
FEMA's enormous powers can be activated very quickly. In any form of domestic
or foreign problem, perceived and not always actual, emergency powers can be
enacted. The President of the United States now has broader powers to declare
martial law, which activates FEMA's extraordinary powers. Martial law can be
declared during time of increased tension overseas, economic problems within the
United States, such as a depression, civil unrest, demonstrations or scenes like
the Los Angeles riots, and in a drug crisis. These Presidential powers have
increased with successive Crime Bills, particularly the 1991 and 1993 Crime
Bills. These new laws increase the power to suspend the rights guaranteed under
the Constitution and to seize property from those suspected of being drug
dealers and individuals who participate in a public protest or demonstration.
Under emergency plans already in existence, the power exists to suspend the
Constitution and turn over the reigns of government to FEMA and appointing
military commanders to run state and local governments. FEMA then would have
the right to order the detention of anyone whom there is reasonable ground to
believe...will engage in, or probably conspire with others to engage in acts of
espionage or sabotage. The plan also allows for and authorizes the immediate
establishment of concentration camps for detaining the accused, without trial.
It is FEMA that is the administrative arm of the NWO. It is FEMA that will run
and fill the concentration camps that I talked about in the 12th issue of the
Damage, INC. Newsletter. It is FEMA that will execute Operation Garden Plot
that I wrote about in issue #13 of the DIN. That is because during his
presidency, Jimmy Carter issued Executive Order 12148 on July 20, 1979. This
Executive Order places all of the powers listed in my issue #12 "Concentration
Camps" article plus many other totalitarian powers under the sole control of
FEMA. Carter also gave FEMA many powers previously held only by the President
of the United States, such as full control of the U.S. Armed Forces. That's
right, when FEMA is given the green light, THEY will be in control of all
divisions of the Armed Forces. Of course these actions are against the
Constitution, but the members of Congress were either unaware or unwilling to
challenge all of these freedom-killing Executive Orders that have been put into
place. Just more evidence that Congress is controlled by the NWO leadership.
Listed below are other powers not related directly to Executive Orders that
FEMA has gained. These powers were transferred to FEMA in 1979. This is by no
means a complete list:
- The National Security Act of 1947, which allows for the strategic
relocation of industries, services, government and other essential
economic activities, and to rationalize the requirements for
manpower, resources and production facilities;
- The 1950 Defense Production Act, which gives the President sweeping
powers over all aspects of the economy;
- The Act of August 29, 1916, which authorizes the Secretary of the
Army, in time of war, to take possession of any transportation system
for transporting troops, material, or any other purpose related to
the emergency; and the International Emergency Economic Powers Act,
which enables the President to seize the property of a foreign
country or national.
The most frightening fact is once martial law is initiated, and FEMA is
mobilized, there are no provisions that will bring back the Constitution.
FEMA would have to willingly give control back to the Constitutional
processes...like the President, Congress, etc. Of course, if or when FEMA is
mobilized, it will most likely be because the NWO leadership is ready to take
physical control of the U.S. Citizens would be forced into slave labour, and
the armed forces would keep them there for fear of being enslaved themselves.
FEMA control means the death of all freedom in the U.S.
Despite the power that it wields, and the secrecy that it chooses to exist
under, FEMA's corruptness has been briefly brought to light on a few occasions.
Once such event was when Hurricane Andrew caused tremendous damage to southern
Florida. As Russell R. Dynes, director of the Disaster Research Center of the
University of Delaware, wrote in The World and I, "...The eye of the political
storm hovered over the Federal Emergency Management Agency. FEMA became a
convenient target for criticism." Because FEMA was accused of dropping the ball
in Florida, the media and Congress commenced to study this agency. What came
out of the critical look was that FEMA covering up spending "12 times more for
``black operations'' than for disaster relief."
FEMA spent $1.3 billion building secret bunkers throughout the United States in
anticipation of government disruption by foreign or domestic upheaval. Yet
fewer than 20 members of Congress, only members with top security clearance,
know of the $1.3 billion expenditure by FEMA for non-natural disaster
situations. These few Congressional leaders state that FEMA has a "black
curtain" around its operations. FEMA has worked on National Security programs
since 1979, and its predecessor, the Federal Emergency Preparedness Agency, has
secretly spent millions of dollars before being merged into FEMA by President
Carter in 1979.
FEMA has developed 300 sophisticated mobile units that are capable of sustaining
themselves for a month. The vehicles are located in five areas of the United
States. They have tremendous communication systems and each contains a
generator that would provide power to 120 homes each, but they have NEVER been
used for disaster relief. As I've mentioned before in past articles, there have
been many sightings of unmarked black helicopters. It appears that these
helicopters are under the command of FEMA on behalf of the UN.
I have found that the "underground bunkers" mentioned above is a gross
understatement. Other investigative research indicates that over 60 secret
underground virtual cities, built by the government, Federal Reserve Bank
owners, and high ranking members of the Committee of 300 (another
Illuminati-type "elite" organization). Some of these underground areas can be
seen in Kansas City, Missouri and Kansas City, Kansas. In addition, underground
Satellite Tracking Facilities exist, which have the ability to punch your 911
address into the computer, and within seconds a satellite can bring a camera to
bear on your property to the point that those monitoring it can read clearly
the articles of the newspaper on your doorstep. These facilities have as of
Oct. 1, 1994, been turned over to the power of the United Nations. The fact
that FEMA turned over this network of underground cities to the United Nations
is another indication that the NWO's right arm in the United States is FEMA.
Indeed, it's a very suspicious, ominous move to say the least.
It is evident that the Illuminati already have control of the world economy.
Anytime they feel it is time to enslave the citizens of the United States,
FEMA is poised and ready to perform already planned actions, like Operation
Garden Plot. The fact that FEMA dedicates few or none of its resources for the
needs of American citizens in crisis situations should be a great indication
that this organization is conspiring against them. The only hope is that the
men and women in the Armed Forces will not blindly obey FEMA's orders when
martial law is imposed. All Americans dedicated to freedom and the spirit of
the Constitution must prepare for the worst, because FEMA already has.
Written by Shatazar ú Damage, INC. (C)opyright 2000.
CORRUPTION AND GREED - {GREED}
Banking on Greed.
Various types of corruption and greed are such powerful, pervasive, consuming
forces in today's technologically advanced, modern, civilized, so-called
"society" that I feel obligated to continue writing about them, and how to
combat them. It's necessary to have that knowledge so that you don't become
another victim to them, unknowingly exploited. If you choose to allow yourself
to be knowingly exploited, there's nothing that can be written that'll prevent
that. However, for those that do want to know how to avoid being victimized
by the corruption and greed that exists all around us, continue reading. The
rest, the ones that trumpet the heralds of Capitalism, think that it's pure
and believe it's totally without fault, you might as well skip this article.
Banks and certain other financial organizations are built on greed, driven by
greed, and are institutions of greed. Rather than being about providing
services to paying customers, in exchange for making a reasonable profit, they
are only about accumulating wealth. They don't just store money and give out
loans to those in need of them.
Banks are greed warehouses. They're quite simply the pillars of greed in the
community. What they're about is greed. Their goal is greed. Their means to
that goal is corruption. Through corrupt practices and the use of propaganda,
they're able to influence the masses and maintain a false image of being fair,
honourable businesses that provide a necessary service to the public. And
they've done quite well at being deceitful and hiding their fakeness over the
decades in which they've existed. In fact, most people don't even question
their need for having a bank account, cheques, debit cards, credit cards,
investments, etc. They've grown so accustomed to using their Bank, and its
services, that they don't even realize how reliant they are on them. Nor do the
majority of people ever question their necessity. The Banks have also been very
successful at giving people a false sense of security. People just take it for
granted, and never think twice about it.
They've been duped, fooled and influenced so many times that they simply can't
imagine not storing their money, investing their money, or borrowing money,
from the large Banks. To them, it isn't just a convenience. It's much more
than that. The Banks play a big role in their lives. Not only is cashing
their pay cheque at the local Bank a part of their routine, it's a right of
passage in entering adulthood. Just as getting their first credit card is
looked at as coming of age. But it goes way beyond that. They rely on the
Bank to handle all of their finances, store their financial information, sell
it, and generally rule them. They rely on the Banks for loans and mortgages.
They depend on them. They don't own their houses, the Bank does. And the Bank
can take it away from them at any time. They don't own their cars either.
Hell, they don't even own themselves. The Bank owns them.
And what about security? Is a 4 digit PIN really enough to prevent someone
else from accessing your account, and helping themselves to your life savings?
Well, according to the Banks, it definitely is. In their minds, that's all
the security you need to feel comfortable. Meanwhile, nobody needs your credit,
bank, debit or Interac card to steal your money. They just have to be able
to access your account by phone and transfer the funds. Therefore, the security
of your money relies on a 4 digit access code -- the same number of digits, the
same level of security, as many PBXs, extenders, VMBs and answering machines
use. Someone gaining access to listen to messages on your personal answering
machine is one thing. Accessing your money is quite another. And yet, the same
security scheme exists. Is that logical? Are the Banks offering their
customers a safe level of protection and security? They take measures to
protect themselves, but not their customers.
Are credit cards secure? What about ATMs and debit card transactions over
Interac? Are packet switching networks secure enough to prevent someone from
monitoring traffic and obtaining information so that they can commit fraud?
What about banking by phone? Have the Banks taken measures to secure those
transactions? Or are they more concerned about employing fewer Bank tellers?
What about the unsecure practice of discarding boxes filled with documents
containing customer's information by leaving it on the sidewalk, in front of the
building? Certain Banks have been caught that. Is that a good policy? Is that
a secure means of disposal for sensitive information? No, of course not. Yet,
a rather large Canadian Bank, known as The Bank of Montreal, was exposed for
doing just that. The papers, many with credit card information, were shown
literally blowing down the sidewalk, right on television. Apparently they had
been dumped there for the night, in unsealed cardboard boxes. The documents
weren't shredded. They weren't in a locked dumpster. The Bank wasn't concerned
about who would have access to them. The Bank wasn't concerned about their
customers. Their private and personal financial information meant nothing to
them. To the greedy Banks, you're nothing more than a number. What doesn't
concern them should definitely concern you. Corruption and greed are their only
concerns. They're banking on it.
Written by THC Phreak ú Damage, INC. (C)opyright 2000.
Statistics Canada will gladly rape you.
It has recently been reported by the mass media (CBC's show, Undercurrents)
that Statistics Canada is guilty of selling the information that they acquire
through various means, including the yearly census forms, door-to-door surveys,
telephone surveys, etc. They're also accused of selling information that's
contained on the tax forms of citizens. Large data mining companies buy the
information, and sort through it for their clients, which include some of the
biggest corporations in this country. Some of the client companies that want
the information are established and very well known, like Sears and TD Bank.
Others are lesser known, and want information to target potential consumers.
Basically, the information that they seek is where you live, your income, what
you buy, how much you buy, what you spend, and so on. And Stats Canada is more
than willing to sell this information in order to profit. Big surprise. This
new "revelation" only confirms what I've previously said in the Damage, INC.
Newsletter (read issue #4) about this corrupt government organization. They
are, without a doubt, an agency without any ethics and morals. They don't
respect the privacy of Canadian citizens. They don't respect our rights. Nor
do they hesitate to make threats over the phone about imprisoning people for
choosing not to answer their questions. They abuse every power that's bestowed
upon them. They use every shred of information they can get in order to profit.
But they aren't going to obtain any information from me. At least, I won't
willingly relinquish it to them.
In a strange, almost absurd way, I'd like to be able to claim that in some small
way I'm a patriotic Canadian citizen. But I can no longer do that honestly. It
would have to be said in jest, or dishonestly, as a complete lie. It's actually
sad that I can't honestly say I'm loyal to this country anymore. The reason I'm
mentioning this is because I recently watched a spy program on TLC that really
made me think. And it provoked me to realize that I'm not much different than
the people they profiled... people that were disloyal to their countries, by way
of spying for another nation. I used to believe that it would be impossible for
me to ever do something like that, or even consider it. In essence, to become a
traitor to my country was just unimaginable. But now, that has definitely all
changed. I simply cannot say with any real certainty that if I gained access to
sensitive information (such as on CSIS, Department of National Defense or CSE),
that I wouldn't become a spy in exchange for a reasonable amount of money. As
in, I wouldn't be greedy, or driven to act on greed, but I'd want enough that I
could escape and live comfortably elsewhere for the rest of my life securely.
I can't honestly say that I wouldn't betray this country by giving its secrets
away to another nation. I can't say that I wouldn't be beyond putting the
national security of this country at risk. And I definitely can't say that I
respect this country, its government, police, CSIS and agencies like Stats
Canada, etc. That's really sad. It's a realization that I don't like. But
it's true. I'm capable of selling this country out. Not for money, but out of
a lack of pride and respect for the government and its various agencies. And,
out of a hatred for some of this country's corrupt government agencies.
I used to consider myself as being a true patriot -- a person that was valiantly
and nobly fighting to improve this country, and speaking out against the wrongs
that are in it. However, I now think that it's so corrupt that it needs to be
destroyed and rebuilt. I no longer consider myself to be a patriot. I'm no
longer loyal to this country... and would be willing to give up my citizenship
if that request was made. I simply cannot respect a country that doesn't
respect me, and my rights as an individual. Nor do I want to have citizenship
in a nation that preys upon its citizens, and uses threats as a means of
controlling them. In my opinion, no one should be imprisoned for not answering
questions. The government doesn't have the right to invade someone's privacy,
and attempt to coerce or force them into answering whatever they decide to ask.
That isn't freedom. That isn't liberty. And it shouldn't be a part of any
'democratic' system of government. Stats Canada agents make unsolicited phone
calls to citizens, that are harassing and filled with threats, and they just
expect people to comply by answering their prying questions. It's unreasonable,
unacceptable, and should be *illegal* in my opinion. Choosing not to answer is
grounds for imprisonment according to them. Either you opt to relinquish your
personal information and privacy, or they'll send you to prison and try to
remove your freedom. Given that choice, I'll take prison, anyday. They can
lock me behind bars, but they can't take my freedom, personal information,
ideas, opinions and thoughts away from me.
In my view, government agencies like Stats Canada are nothing more than Thought
Police. They're the right arm of Big Brother, and they should be exposed at
every opportunity. I realize that once you speak out against them, you become
a visible target. Regardless of that, and any consequences I might face, I'm
not going to be silenced. Not now, not ever. It's disturbing to think of how
they exploit people, and what their motives are, but it's something that should
definitely be thought about and discussed openly more often. People need to
know what's really going on in this country. They need to ask questions, become
informed, learn the truth, and learn ways to fight against the corruption that
exists. Hopefully this article has opened a few eyes and minds. If it has done
that, then at least that's a start.
Rather than being proud to be a Canadian, living in this country has made me
bitter and jaded. This country and the puppets that are handed power sicken me.
Canada isn't progressing. It's decaying. And it's infested with zombies that
are so indifferent that they won't revolt no matter what is done to them. Hell,
they think nothing of answering to Statistics Canada or any other government
agency that decides to interrogate them. They're just happy to speak with
someone in the government on the phone. They'll gladly be raped by Stats Canada
and tell them everything they want to know, right down to what toothbrush,
toothpaste and birth control they prefer to use. That isn't just a random,
fictional example either. That's actually something Stats Canada is interested
in knowing, and has been known to ask people. Unlike them, I won't answer to
Stats Canada or any other faction of Big Brother. I've already refused their
requests to obtain information on me. And I'll continue to deny them access.
Freedom, liberty, justice and the rights of the individual, including personal
privacy are all things that are unimportant in the life of a zombie. To them,
it's much more important to follow the rules that are set for them by their
master, namely, Big Brother. There's no need for me to try to convince you of
that fact. It's been clearly established. But if you want further proof, just
observe them and you'll come to that conclusion on your own. Large-scale
protests are so rare, so few and far between in this country that a person would
be hard pressed to notice any difference between Canada and China. In many
respects, the Chinese citizens (the ones that zombies call dissidents), are much
more aggressive and speak out more often than Canadians do. They, like myself,
would rather be labelled a dissident, and speak out, than just sit back and take
it. They would rather die for freedom than live in slavery. They would rather
die at the hands of their oppressors than kneel to be fed by them. Unlike the
Canadian zombies that fear and abide by Stats Canada, they'd rather fight to be
free than live as a lackey. The real fools are the people that shake their
naive heads in disbelief when told we're not free. The ones that actually
believe we have individual freedom and social justice. The truth is, we don't.
Simply for refusing to answer questions from a Stats Canada agent can mean an
automatic prison sentence. That isn't democracy. That isn't freedom. That
isn't liberty. That's injustice. That's Stats Canada. By no coincidence, that
also sums up Canada; Corruption, Greed, Big Brother.
Written by BLACKENED ú Damage, INC. (C)opyright 2000.
CROSSED WIRES - {WIRES}
An Unauthorized Advertisement for Adbusters.
Note: I contacted Adbusters via Email and asked for their permission to
place a free ad here with information pertaining to their Foundation and site,
but received no response from them. I decided to go ahead and do it anyway,
since it fits in nicely with the theme of this issue. So, that explains the
"Unauthorized" part of the title. You may have heard about their "Buy Nothing
Day" promotions before. The funny/ironic part of this is that I wanted to give
free advertising to a site that promotes culture jamming and has parodies called
Uncommercials, etc. Advertising for Adbusters! We must be insanely out of
control to even think of such an idea.
Adbusters Media Foundation is based in Vancouver,
B.C. If you live in the neighborhood, you're always
welcome to drop by, sample our coffee and savour
the state of disarray and subdued panic that
happens around deadline time.
Address:
1243 West 7th Avenue
Vancouver, BC
V6H 1B7 Canada
Phone: 604.736.9401
Fax: 604.737.6021
Toll-free: 1.800.663.1243 (USA & Can. only)
http://www.adbusters.org
General Inquiries: adbusters@adbusters.org
Subscriptions & Orders: subscriptions@adbusters.org
Campaign Information: campaigns@adbusters.org
Buy Nothing Day: buynothingday@adbusters.org
TV Turnoff Week: tvturnoffweek@adbusters.org
Media Inquiries: allan@adbusters.org
Reprints: jason@adbusters.org
Editorial: editor@adbusters.org
Website: jeff@adbusters.org
Art Submissions: artdirector@adbusters.org
* * *
Here's something Grandmaster Ratte' (cDc) sent me in Email. So, drop that can
of Jolt Cola (or alcoholic beverage), and get yerself some OpenCOLA!
You're sitting at home on the couch, it's 2am, watching your
videotaped reruns of 'Kojack' and leeching Metallica MP3z, just
because you can. A knock on the door. It's your friend Sarah,
and her girlfriend Beth.
They kick back on the sofa and fire up a phatty. The girls
get real comfortable and start mugging down. Oh yeah. Before you
know it, Beth's got her hand up Sarah's skirt and Beth's tank top
is on the floor. You're chill, you're observing the scene.
Sarah looks up from Beth's nipple to moan, "You got any OpenCOLA?"
Of course you do. You're 'l33t.
"Then get some. And GET S0ME!!#@$!@!"
Get open for OpenCOLA
www.opencola.com
It's a distributed search engine/agent.
And a soft drink.
Gee whillikers!
DAMAGE, INC. REVIEWS - {REVIEWS}
H/P and Security Web Sites.
To continue the tradition, we've selected quality h/p and security web sites,
isolated them from the fold, and reviewed them. In this issue, there are
some outstanding sites that definitely deserve to be listed and part of our
reviews. For links to these and other related sites, visit our links page.
@Stake
www.atstake.com
@Stake is a startup, premiere security firm that's infiltrated the mass media's
headlines and the vocabulary of the general public... due in no small part to
Mudge and L0pht's involvement. It's a new venture, but already well known.
The merger between @Stake and L0pht was well publicized.
On the site itself, there's an assortment of information on Solutions (security
services @Stake provides), People (including Mudge of course), Careers, News
(Events and Press), a FAQ to answer questions concerning L0pht and @Stake, and
a contact list. The site is well designed, and @Stake offers an array of
infosec services.
SecurityFocus.com
www.securityfocus.com
SecurityFocus is an excellent security web site that has quality information on
vulnerabilities. It also has news (a wide variety of articles are written and
posted frequently), advisories, tools, forums, mailing lists, links, products
and services. Kevin Poulsen (a well known hacker) is the new editorial director
for SecurityFocus.
I recommend that you visit SecurityFocus often, as the site is updated
frequently. You should also join their mailing list as it's a good, reliable
source of security information. It's an easy way to receive regular updates
concerning vulnerabilities and things of that nature. And the SecurityFocus.com
Newsletter always proves to be a good read, with reliable information.
Pure Security Networks
www.pure-security.net
Pure Security Networks (PSN) offers the visitors to its site an archive of
exploits, advisories, news and links. They also have information on their
security services and projects. Overall, it's a fairly decent security site.
Zero-Knowledge
www.zeroknowledge.com
Zero-Knowledge is a company based in Montreal, Quebec. Its site gained some
attention after Intel's Pentium III chip was released, and Zero-Knowledge
exposed a flaw in its serial number code security. Zero-Knowledge produces
a prominent piece of software called "Freedom" that offers users privacy and
security through encryption. It's one of the commercial products they've
created that promotes privacy on the Internet, which is something they have
become famous for doing. They're also well known in Montreal for their unique
approach to business and advertising methods, such as their moving billboard
truck that drives around the city in order to inform people that they're hiring
workers for many job positions. ;) Encouraging the use of strong encryption
on the Internet and privacy protection is something that I simply cannot fault.
Attrition
www.attrition.org
Sure, you've probably seen their archive of hacked web sites. Hell, you've
most likely read articles in which attrition.org was mentioned. And if you
read Phrack, and the Phrack World News section, you've probably seen it a lot,
along with jericho's Email address. But have you actually visited the site and
gone through the pages it hosts? If you haven't, man are you missing something.
Attrition contains information on everything from security info, a hacked sites
mirror archive, text archive, news to user pages, etc. It also hosts various
zines. Overall, it's a very interesting site and one of my personal favourites.
newOrder
http://neworder.box.sk
newOrder is another well known, frequently visited site. But popularity won't
discourage me from reviewing it, as that isn't the only factor to consider.
If you're looking for h/p and security sites and haven't checked it out yet,
I strongly suggest that you do. It has security links, news, forums, hosted
projects and zines, an exploits archive, a hacked sites archive, zine articles,
etc. It's an excellent site and a great place to search for h/p sites.
Mojave Desert Phone Booth
www.deuceofclubs.com/moj/mojave.html
There are other web sites dedicated to the Mojave Desert Phone Booth, but this
one probably deserves the official title. If you have a interest in phones,
especially strange, unique payphones, this is definitely a site you should check
out. It's a shrine to one of the world's most remote, famous payphones. And
that's saying something, since there are millions of payphones and most never
achieve any level of fame or notoriety. But the MDPB has managed to do that in
spades. In fact, it has inspired people from all over to go on pilgrimages to
see it standing in the middle of the Mojave in all its glory. And people from
every corner of the planet know its number, and they call hoping that someone
answers. Sometimes someone does, and that person's name is Charlie. ;)
Many people that've made the journey have written stories about their trip,
taken pictures and generously shared them with others.
I've personally called, and it's quite a feeling just knowing that you're making
a payphone in the middle of the Mojave Desert is ring. I dialed and got a busy
signal one night. I kept autodialing until I got through, but nobody answered.
So, that just proves how many people call that payphone. It's probably one of
the most called payphones in the world. And I'm sure the incoming calls it
receives far outnumber the amount of outgoing calls that are placed from it.
Who would've thought that a payphone booth in the middle of the Mojave, that's
more than 10 miles from the nearest highway... would survive all of these years.
Let's hope it never dies, and continues to accept incoming calls.
Update: The Mojave Desert Phone Booth was removed recently by Pacific Bell.
Thankfully, I was able to talk with Charlie and someone else before it was taken
out of service. For more information, read the short paragraph I wrote in the
News section.
H/P INFORMATION - {H/P}
I had planned to include several other articles, including ones on Canadian
COCOTs and Nortel Meridian phones. However, in order to avoid further delays in
releasing this issue, they'll be in the next issue.
Bell Canada's Call Privacy.
Call Privacy is a new service that Bell Canada has recently begun advertising.
Subscribers pay a monthly fee for the Call Privacy service. They must also
subscribe to Caller-ID in order for it to work. It's virtually the same service
that Ameritech offers and has had in place for quite some time. Since Ameritech
now owns part of Bell, they have a say in what features are implemented, and
services that are offered to customers, etc. Call Privacy is now offered by
Bell Canada in both Ontario and Quebec. As for the other Canadian provinces,
I don't know if it's available across the country in every area yet. However,
I'm sure it's only a matter of time before every major local telco in North
America offers this feature to people willing to pay for it. And there are
always plenty of people willing to pay extra for special features like this.
Features:
Here's a summary of Bell's Call Privacy service SmartTouch features, taken
directly from bell.ca
Call Privacy service, along with Bell Call Display service,
helps you gain more control over unidentified and unwanted
calls to your home and gives you flexibility and peace of mind
when it comes to your personal or family time.
With this new service, you will enjoy many benefits:
* Identify callers to your home or block calls from callers
that will not identify themselves. No more surprises from
unidentified Telemarketers or other unwanted calls!
* Stop certain callers, whom you determine, from getting
through to your phone.
* Stop the phone from ringing when you want to, by sending
calls directly to your voice mailbox (if you also
subscribe to Bell Call Answer or Call Answer Plus
service).
With Call Privacy service, you will have greater control over
what you value most. Your own personal time.
Call Privacy service is available as an individual service or
as part of our NEW Simple Connections Privacy bundle.
* Bell Call Privacy service and other Bell SmartTouch services
are only available where technology permits. You must have Bell
Call Display and Bell Touch-Tone services to subscribe to Bell
Call Privacy service.
How it works:
If you scan extensively, you'll eventually encounter a line that won't accept
calls from parties that choose to block their number. Normally, a short
recorded message is played before you're disconnected. It notifies you that
the number you've called doesn't accept any calls from blocked numbers.
Sometimes it'll tell you to call back without dialing *67, or something along
those lines.
Call Privacy can also block calls from certain phone numbers that you define.
In other words, numbers that you've decided you don't want to receive calls
from, and are determined to prevent. That's nothing new. It's the same as
Call Blocking, which has been in existence for quite a few years now.
It basically reroutes your call so that it never rings the destination line, if
you use *67 (or another method of blocking) when dialing.
If anyone wants a more detailed, technical explanation of how it actually works,
contact me.
Why people use it:
Many individuals don't want to receive calls from telemarketing firms that block
access to their phone number. Telemarketers commonly use autodialers to dial
thousands of telephone numbers, while shielding the origin of their calls.
Frequently these calls are annoying, invasive, and can even be construed as
being harassing. Since they're unsolicited, many people become angry over
receiving phone calls from companies that are trying to peddle something or
other. And that's understandable. So, in an effort to prevent such annoyances,
they're opting for Call Privacy. That way, they won't have to answer the phone
during dinner time, only to realize that it's a company trying to influence them
into buying magazines, or switch long distance carriers.
Others simply don't want to receive any calls from anyone that uses *67 to block
their number. Or, they've received calls from people that don't talk, prank
them, or keep hanging up and the person has blocked their number. So, they
subscribe to Call Privacy in an attempt to prevent those calls from making their
phone ring.
Companies are a different story altogether. Most large corporations (with toll
free customer service numbers especially) monitor all calls. They play a short
warning message notifying you of that after their automated systems answer. In
other words, they want the right to monitor and record all calls made to them.
Yet, they don't want to respect the right to the individual's privacy, and
demonstrate that by not accepting any calls made using *67, or another means to
block the number. Basically, they want it both ways. They don't want you to
be able to maintain your privacy, and once connected, they want to take as much
away as possible. This can really interfere with scanning, and means you have
to call back the number using a different method in order to properly identify
it. More than anything else, it's an inconvenience and waste of time.
How it can be defeated:
Defeating or circumventing Call Privacy is actually an easy task to accomplish.
Obviously the most simple way is to use payphones to call anyone that's known
to subscribe to it. The payphone's number will show up on Caller-ID, but the
call will be put through normally (ie, their phone will ring)... and you avoid
having your home phone number displayed in the process. That method is for
people that only know how to use *67 to block their number, and have to use
payphones as their only other option of maintaining anonymity.
Another method is dialing through a diverter. Any local extender, PBX, or
VMB system that diverts will do. Just make sure you check to ensure it diverts
first by calling an ANI. If the number of the diverter is read back to you,
it's safe to use it. Otherwise, try calling a local Operator and social
engineer them into dialing the person's number for you. Op diverting still
works in many areas. Again, check to make sure your number isn't passed along
in the packet by getting the Op to call an ANI. In some areas, that method
won't work as only the NPA is sent, so it might be treated as a blocked call.
You can also use a pre-paid calling card to make the call. That way, your call
will go through and your anonymity is intact.
There are several other ways, such as using call forwarding (obviously that
requires being setup first), dialing out through a Conference, and signaling
methods, etc. Hell, if you're skilled and knowledgeable enough to reprogram
switches, then Call Privacy isn't even a speed bump, much less a real obstacle.
I don't really think it's geared towards stopping anyone that has that level
of knowledge anyway though. (ie, real phreaks -- not K0d3z Kidz) And, of
course, there are quite a few other options available to people that live
outside of Canada. Or, if you're call is long distance/international instead
of just local.
In conclusion, if you want to remain anonymous, and still wish to call numbers
that subscribe to Bell's Call Privacy, it is possible. You just need to use
some of the above techniques, like diverting, payphones, junction boxes, etc.
Or, think of other ways and develop your own techniques to use. By no means
have I thought of everything imaginable and included it in this brief article.
If you want to keep your privacy and right to make phone calls anonymously,
then try out some of the above instead of immediately calling Call Privacy
subscribing numbers back and relinquishing your call info.
Written by THC Phreak ú Damage, INC. (C)opyright 2000.
Secure Password Selection.
Alright, this is a very basic article relating to selecting passwords. It's
all very straightforward, and should be common sense. However, some people
still don't know how to choose a password that will be secure. So, I've
decided to outline a few simple principles on password selection, and release
it as a short article. These are general password procedures, and not designed
for any specific type of computer/operating system. Hopefully these tips will
benefit people and help them learn about how to choose passwords wisely.
Good/secure passwords and procedures:
- Never write down your passwords on paper. Even if they're stored in what
you believe is a secure place, they could still be found and used.
- Never put your logins and passwords in plaintext files. If you absolutely
must store them in text files, use encryption, compress and password protect
them. But then you'll have to remember those passwords, so that defeats the
purpose of storing that information in files. Unless you have a single pass
phrase for encrypting all files with, that you'll be able to remember.
- Don't forget your password. If you do forget, choose a new password and
then contact the sysadmin immediately and tell them to change it. That's
a good test of the system as well, since it'll show you how easily they can
be social engineered. If they don't ask for any identification before
changing your password, it shows their security is very lax. If that's the
case, inform them and switch to using another system with better security
practices and procedures. There's no sense in having an account on a system
with sysadmins that'll give out users' passwords without asking for any ID.
- If you suspect your password was changed, contact and alert the sysadmin
immediately. Instruct them to change it as soon as possible. And use one
that's more difficult to guess, and can't be found in a dictionary file.
- On systems that are case sensitive, use upper and lower case characters in
your password to increase security. (ie, if the system recognizes "pAsswOrd"
as being different from "password")
- If the system accepts alphanumeric password (letters and numbers), then mix
numbers into your password. Or substitute numbers for certain letters. For
example, "53cur17y9" is much more difficult to crack than just "security".
But, that's just an example. Don't use that word in any variation.
- If non-alphanumeric characters (punctuation characters such as "!") are
allowed, use at least one somewhere in the password.
- Use the maximum number of characters allowed for your password. The security
increases exponentially with each additional character used. Same goes with
passcodes for VMBs, PINs for cards, etc. Always use as many characters as
possible. A 10 digit, random PIN is much more difficult to crack than a
4 digit PIN. The same rule applies to other passwords.
- If you think a password could be easily guessed, it probably could.
- Always use a password that's unique to that particular system.
- Nonsense "words" and alphanumeric letter combinations are best.
- Words in a foreign language (avoid English, French, Russian and Spanish)
are safer, but still aren't fool proof. If the person happens to be using
a dictionary file in that language, your password will be cracked.
- If you accidentally enter a password on system A that's actually for an
account on system B, change both passwords as soon as possible to be safe.
- Change your password on a regular basis, and follow the above when choosing
any new passwords.
Poor password choices and procedures:
- Recording passwords on paper or in plaintext files.
- Storing passwords anywhere in any unsafe, unprotected manner.
- Using words that can be found in the dictionary.
- Using a password that matches (is the same as) your login name.
- Using the same password on multiple systems.
- Using the same password multiple times on the same system.
- Giving out your passwords to people, and trusting them not to tell anyone
else, or abuse the accounts.
- Rarely or never changing your password. When prompted, choosing an old
password, or one that you use, or have used previously, on other systems.
- Choosing easily guessed passwords.
- Using a password that's related to your login name, or a variation of it.
- Using a password that is related in some way to that system.
- Short words, sentences and phrases that can easily be guessed and cracked.
- Words that are frequently used by the media, are part of pop culture, jargon
or technical in their nature.
- Any computer related words and terms are terrible passwords.
- Don't use anything that relates to you personally as a password. That
basically means, your name, your address, your phone number, your school,
business or place of employment, your car, license plate number, card numbers,
social security/insurance numbers, aliases, names of family or friends, pets,
hobbies, interests, games, programs, etc. Anything that relates to you in
some way can be guessed and used against you. If the person knows something
about you, they'll definitely try variations of that as a password.
- Don't use any system default passwords. Defaults, on any system, are always
the first accounts to be exploited. They're easily to guessed, gathered
together and can be added quickly to any dictionary file. They're an open
door to people using a brute force cracking program.
- Don't use any common phrases, sayings, expressions, slang, popular names,
proper names, cities, colours, songs, bands, groups, animal names, computer
terms, telco terms, etc. as they can *all* be guessed or put into a brute
force password cracker's dictionary file. Even if they aren't in any default
dictionary files or off the shelf hard copy dictionaries, the person that's
attempting to crack the password may add them manually.
- Never use words that can be found in any dictionary. Just to ensure that you
don't make a mistake, look up the word in the Oxford dictionary, Webster's
dictionary and search through several large dictionary files for it. Even if
your password contains multiple words, it is still unwise to use any words
that can be found in the dictionary. If you do, you're making it vulnerable
to brute force attacks. As in, real words with proper spelling are bad and
not recommended for passwords.
If you follow the practices shown above, your account/password will remain
fairly secure -- at least against brute force methods that utilize dictionary
files, commonly used passwords and system defaults, etc. And, if you abide
by all of the above, including changing your password at least every 4-6 weeks,
the chances of your password being compromised are greatly decreased. No system
can protect you, your account and the information it contains. In the end, the
password you select is the only security barrier someone needs to breach.
In other words, to protect your information you need to make sure the task of
obtaining your chosen password is as difficult and time consuming as possible.
Obviously you can't protect yourself (or your passwords) from every type of
attack. But lessening the effectiveness of brute force cracking attempts is
at least a start in the right direction. The goal is to lessen the chances
of your password being cracked. Eliminating the possibility of it happening
simply isn't practical when humans, computers and passwords are combined.
Don't expect or rely on someone else (sysadmins and the like) to maintain the
security of your account(s) for you. And you definitely shouldn't rely on other
security measures, such as system logs, to protect your account. That's what
your *password* is meant to do. Logs will only show failed attempts, but if the
person is successful in breaking in, whatever information existed in your
account has already been compromised. If you had personal or sensitive
information, it's too late then. Consider that, and consider choosing your
passwords carefully and wisely. I'll step down from my soapbox now. :)
Written by Blackie Lawless ú Damage, INC. (C)opyright 2000.
Hacking the planet Part II.
In my "Explorer's guide to hacking the planet" article that was published in
the previous issue, I neglected to mention several things that are just waiting
to be explored. So, I've decided to write an additional article and briefly
describe the places that I failed to list previously.
Abbie Hoffman referred to them as the "tar jungle", and that's as fitting a
description as any for the countless building rooftops in urban areas that
can be explored. Besides being a place for storage sheds, industrial sized
air conditioning units, tools, and wiring, the roofs of large buildings that
are close together present an easy escape route -- at least for the daring.
Sometimes they're accessible by stairs or an elevator. In many cases, the
door at the top of the stairs is locked, and will have to be picked first in
order to gain entry to the roof. However, with some buildings that have fewer
stories, there's a fire escape stairway that you can use for access.
Abandoned buildings are another great place to explore. From rural farm houses,
old crack houses in the city, to larger buildings like abandoned factories and
warehouses, they can present a lot of interesting adventures, experiences and
opportunities. Some people have even been known to use them for parties, raves
and a myriad of other things... including temporary shelter, etc. Just make
sure it's safe to enter and nobody else is currently living there. I'd advise
that you don't enter buildings in certain areas alone though. Well, unless
you're armed and prepared, of course. ;)
There are other buildings in cities, such as municipal buildings that are
designed to look like normal houses, but they contain public utilities. These
are checked every once in a while by city workers, so either venture inside only
at night, or make damn sure they're not going to show up during the day. If
you're lucky you might find a city map inside that shows different utilities and
other buildings throughout the city. In other words, things that normal maps
sold to the public don't contain on them.
There are other places in cities to be explored, such as towers. In this area,
as in most places, the majority of the towers are located on high ground and
are clearly visible. That's by design, so that there won't be any interference
with the signals by trees, buildings, other structures and the actual landscape
surrounding them. Anyways, Bell's towers can be found easily, but often they
have some type of security. Usually it's minimal though, and all you have to
be careful about are cameras and a Bell van showing up to do checks and routine
repairs. However, that isn't a daily occurrence by any means, so most often
they're an easy target to explore. That is, if you aren't afraid of heights,
since in order to get a close view (and good pictures as trophies), a certain
amount of climbing is in order. And when you're scaling the side of a tower,
or any type of aerial for that matter, a measure of danger is involved. Don't
attempt this if you have a fear of heights, if there are high winds, or if the
structure doesn't seem stable enough to support additional weight. If you're
overweight and all of the above also apply, don't even consider trying it! ;)
Basically, what these towers offer is a good view of Bell's satellite dish(es),
as well as direct access to them. Just be extra aware of what you're doing if
you plan on climbing towers.
In closing, there are several other things out there that can be explored, but
weren't mentioned in this particular article in order that it remain as brief
as possible. However, some of them are just as interesting as anything that
I've described above. Many of these places can be dangerous to explore, so be
aware of that before you attempt to traverse them. Other than that, go out
there and explore. Urban exploration can provide you with many hours of pure
enjoyment, discoveries and adventures in really interesting places. It's about
being creative to gain access to all of the areas that you want and not allowing
physical barriers to stop you. My interview with <predator> should provide you
with some further insight into this exciting form of exploration.
Written by BLACKENED ú Damage, INC. (C)opyright 2000.
INTERVIEWS AND INTERROGATIONS - {INTERVIEWS}
Alias: <predator>
Group(s): Cave Clan
Age: 7 years since self-sustained self-awareness. Chassis invoked in 1971.
Country: Australia, The Lucky Cunt.
Description: caucasian atheist anarchist Y-chromosome-carrier H.Sapiens
Interests: molecular genetics, electronic democracy, drain exploration,
explosives, politics, lots of other stuff.
Music: Trashy 1980's synth : Gary Numan, Devo particularly. Also TISM.
Movies: Delicatessen. The Matrix (with Keanu dubbed to inaudibility).
Books: Anything by : Richard Dawkins, Noam Chomsky, Marvin Harris, Larry Niven
Douglas Hofstadter, plus the occasional lashing of Greg Egan. Also,
the Hacker Jargon File (v4.2), Merck Index (12th Ed).
Email: predator@cat.org.au
IRC: International Relay Chat. Indochina Rubber Company 8-)
URL(s):http: www.cat.org.au, www.caveclan.org/sydney slashdot.org
www.infiltration.org air.net.au www.fravia.org
<B> - Introduce yourself to the readers of the Damage, INC. Newsletter...
</B>
<bootstrapping .... ok>
<System History>
This body was born without its consent in the winter of 1971. After about
the first twenty years of its expected life were flushed down the toilet
in school and church, suddenly an emergent entity - me - took control of
its onboard neural net, and this emergent entity - <predator> - is the
personality who is communicating to you.
<shell>
Welcome to the <predator> - a multitasking parallel-processing mindspace
embedded in a typical H.sapiens mammalian meatware platform.
<Rant mode ON> The universe is a free playground, despite the fact that
governments would ban you from it, corporations would make you pay to use
it and religions would like you to feel guilty for existing within it.
Certain parts of this playground, particularly information infrastructure
(computers and networks) appeal to me. Since it took me some time to get
at the computers (I had to wait until the Net appeared before they became
really accessible) I explored the only enclosing network I could freely
infiltrate, which was the "floodwater routing table" - the stormwater
drainage system. I have interests in other things too, as will become
clear later in the rant.
<B> - How did you become involved in underground exploration/casual trespassing?
What makes it interesting?
</B>
I jumped my first chainwire fence when I was about eight, chasing a tennis
ball into a drain. Hmmm... where does this go?
It was a jump over the first of many similar fences - access barriers -
most of which had been trained into my neural net as a part of something
called "upbringing." It seems there was a lot of "don't ask", "don't
enter" and "don't look" signage around my existence. I eventually noticed
a correlation between such signs and cool stuff well worth the effort of
exploration. It was at this moment that almost *anything* prohibited
became worthy of exploration. I refer not only to thought processes but
also to physical locations. Trespass became not only my right, but a duty
to my self, a required part of my personal development.
Drain exploration, dumpster diving, reading lots of books, turning off
the local traffic lights at night to see what happened, net surfing,
low-level geekery - these were all natural extension of this curiosity.
Drains were easily accessible, they cut across the artificial grids
imposed on the landscape by the road system for the ever-expanding urban
sprawl, took me to weird places I'd never previously seen or even thought
about. They tended to follow old rivers which had totally been eliminated
from sight and thought by urban development. They didn't pay any homage to
things on The Top, they just went where they went, had strange shapes and
rooms and exits in unexpected and funny places.
<B> - What types of interesting things have you seen or found while exploring
drains and other places that most people avoid going?
</B>
Excellent rooms, shafts, slides, grilles with big waves pounding at them
sending shock waves up the drain... weird architecture, waterfalls,
sometimes abandoned booty from burglary. It varies tremendously. I didn't
expect to find Thoreau's "Duty of Civil Disobedience" in texta, deep
inside a drain in Canberra. I sometimes find people living in some of
these abandoned spaces, squirreled away; just minding their own business
and quite sensibly avoiding the great rental industry ripoff and being
called criminals for having the gall to squat.
That's just the drains. Other places, like abandoned hospitals, power
stations, grain silos, large airconditioning ducts, reservoirs - these
have large weird machinery which intrigues me, sometimes I find myself
faced by what amounts to an alien artifact : "What the _fuck_ does *this*
thing do when it's turned on??" For instance, it once took me little while
to figure out that the, uhmmm, intergalactic starship bridge I was looking
at was, actually, a disused transmission electron microscope.
<B> - What's the strangest thing you've found, or most memorable experience
you've had since you began?
</B>
Hmmm... there's a _large_ dam which supplies the parasite contaminated
drinking water to this city. It also has a small hydroelectric power
station in one of its abutments. The station is only small, couple of
megawatts or so. However, the head of pressure is HUGE so the feed pipe
(called the penstock) to the turbine conch is similarly massive, say about
15ft diameter, two-inch-thick steel. I was in this once, walked along it
to the MONSTROUSLY BIG vertical-axis butterfly valve just before the
conch inlet to the blades, and then into the spiral where the water is
forced into the turbine at high pressure.
From the cellular level up, every warning light, fear-response, danger-mode
signal in my entire body was telling me to GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE NOW. I
knew that an accidental opening of the inlets would turn me into a fine
aerosol without even a flicker on the instrument meters. No, I wasn't
authorized to be there. This episode is carved deeply into my frontal
lobe.
<B> - Are there many people involved in your scene? Are the numbers growing
or diminishing? Are most of the veterans still around and actively involved?
</B>
Yeah, both undergrounds (trespass and geek). Of course I don't see all of
them, a lot of stuff goes on without me having any part in its logistical
organization. That's the way it ought to be, I think, people do it 'cos
they want to, not because they are being told to do it. It's distributed,
non-heirachical and spontaneous, what Chomsky would call an
anarchosyndicate. People sometimes find the Clan after years of doing
their _own_ urban exploration. There's more people in Sydney Cave Clan
than there was when I spawned it, about twenty hard-core urban space
explorers, plus several less committed people, and it's increasing. Most
of the oldies still get underground occasionally, although some of the
pioneers have gone on to get mortgaged and religious or whatever, which
curtails their mobility to varying extents.
<B> - What has been your experience with workers from the various maintenance
departments that you've encountered during expeditions?
</B>
We generally explore at times when we expect maintenance staff to be well
clocked-off and getting pissed at the pub, like midnight. Then, nightlife
tends to be (quoting myself) `unintelligent pest organisms like moths and
security guards'. Avoiding being intercepted by other people is high on my
list of requirements for a successful mission. Nevertheless we do have
run-ins.
A bunch of explorers from Adelaide were doing a drain called Transgrinder
with me in about 1995. The only access is a heavy concrete manhole lid. We
usually leave it open with traffic cones around it. Anyway while we were
underground we heard the "thud" of the cover closing, so we went up the
shaft and tried again and again to open it from below, with no success.
Eventually one of us made a desperate effort and popped it open. There was
a fat-gutted security guard there telling us all that we had to piss off.
We told him how stupidly behaved he had been - effectively trapping us in
the drain - and he said he'd do it again and *stand on the cover too*, if
necessary. What a fucknuckle.
On the other hand, we have met people on night shift, bored out of their
minds and, grateful for the scintillating intellectual company, they
want to show us around their trespass-designated workplace 8-)
<B> - Which groups and zines are out there that have material related to
this type of exploration?
</B>
Most of the sites on the urban exploration web ring have this sort of
stuff. Il Draino occasionally releases drain location lists and Urbex
probably will too, but you can't grep paper. In half-A4 photocopy format,
there's Infiltration, which is very well produced; Sydney Cave Clan's
Urbex is still to mature but is very promising. Il Draino, geez... it's
been coming out for about a decade now, it's pretty idiosyncratic. For
example one of the editions is only one page long; the explanation is
in the headline... "OUR COPIER IS FUCKED". Freedom of the press belongs to
those who own a photocopier, but only when it works, I guess.
<B> - Which web sites do you usually frequent?
</B>
Slashdot, news for geeks. I lurk in some of the newsgroups, posting
occasionally in alt.drugs.chemistry. I'm partly involved in maintaining
cat.org.au, which is a nonprofit community-oriented community ISP in
Enmore, so I log in there a lot 8-) ... ah, and also node52.asgard.aus.tm
an old favourite BBS. Also some of the 2.4GHz microwave LAN / linux
etherboot stuff from air.net.au - I hate that Tel$tra corporation now owns
the bandwidth that the taxpayers paid for, and are selling ISDN and other
bandwidth for such a ripoff rate, so I'm looking to implement ways around
it.
<B> - Do you want to share any other memorable experiences?
</B>
Blowing a two-ton picrite boulder into small chunks with half a stick of
AN-60 gelignite... ever since, fireworks just don't cut the mustard. The
Freedom Arms calibre-50 pistol is a convenient, if less precise, substitute.
Looking at my own semen under a microscope, seeing the happy little
wrigglers thrashing about at 200 power magnification and thinking "that's
my code".
Finding a Melbourne Cave Clan sticker in a stormwater canal in Carss Park
and thinking "there are others who do this?"
Reading chapter 10 of "The Selfish Gene" and realizing I finally had the
tools to immunize my own brain against so much of the virulent ideological
crap one is exposed to when trying to grow up in a western consumer society.
Try it.
<B> - Have you ever been arrested? Or, do you know anyone that's been busted?
If so, would you like to describe the event, the circumstances of the bust
and the conclusion?
</B>
I've successfully avoided cop-based Lore Enforcement. I call it Lore
because that's basically what the Law actually is - folk guidelines
written by the minstrels in courts and Parliament, mainly constructed to
"protect" their amassed property from the majority of people who haven't
got much. Trespass laws are no exception to this.
I used to associate cops with bad news, and I still do, but I don't hate
them any more. I realize that they are simply the 'droids, meat in the
sandwich between the undemocratic few who write the laws and the masses
upon whom these laws are inflicted. I pity them, both the poor hollow
robots and also the few intelligent ones trapped into remaining cops by
things like financial circumstance. It seems their position is, "Why have
your own life and think your own thoughts when you can simply be infected
by a comfortable belief system which will do these things on your behalf
and even get you paid for hosting it?"
Now, off my high horse and back in the gutter where I belong; Malicious
vandalism isn't our go, we're mainly interested in giving the public
access to public works. We do sometimes chase up "location" rumours
fairly, uh, vigorously. Locks, fences and similar stupidities are
sometimes errrm... spatially reconfigured.
I know a few of the people from the big Bankstown Bunker expo bust, who
were forced down and held face down on the ground at gunpoint by the
Bankstown cops and a few gents from the Army. A bunch of Clan people and
some associates from Bunker Boyz were in this abandoned underground
military bunker, sledge-hammering away in the dark of night trying to find
a rumoured shaft to rumoured levels below. The thumping was heard by the
residents who live in the houses which were built on top of the old bunker
in the 1980's. They called the cops, the cops called the grunts, and the
cops and mil-heads were too fat to wriggle into the bunker, so they just
waited till people came out, then arrested them. The explorers found it
very traumatic. Howie didn't go underground for years afterwards. It
turned out that the people who summoned the cops didn't even press
charges. I think there's a newspaper clipping scanned in at
www.caveclan.org/sydney about it.
<B> - Do you want to mention any people in the underground scene that you know?
</B>
The scene is pretty lame these days. Wanna do something? Don't figure it
out, go rip a script, run a 'bot. Zzzzz. Fravia's pages of reverse
engineering are down now, mainly due to too many gits logging in and
asking "how do I rip off this software" rather than learning, say, how to
crank up Softice and emulate a dongle, so that won't improve matters. The
scene is crawling with newbies in much the same way as all the BBSs were
suddenly choked with modems owned by clueless gits immediately after
Wargames was screened in the nineteen-eighties.
In the physical realm, it's different. There is no substitute for being
there in person, you have to pop the manholes yourself; we make a lot of
custom equipment, like manhole keys, to help hack open the tunnels.
I was on The Web BBS for about ten years, back when a fast modem did
1200/75, and when the 1MHz (no plural there) 65C02 microprocessor was
still available at Dick Smith Electronics. Yes, I'm that old. The stuff I
used to burn cycles on was a neato game called RobotWars by the Sysop
there, Spyder, who now is some sort of overpaid systems analyst for the
American Expre$$ (don't leave home with it) Corp or someone like that.
RobotWars was an all text (!) battlefield simulator, you had two hundred
instructions of code space in which to write a "robot" which would cruise
around a 35 x 35 grid looking for some other dude's encoded robot, which
your robot would try to kill. The instruction set was all machine-codey,
there was a bunch of registers and logical operations and I'd code up in
such a way as I hoped would find the other robot and kill it first. They
ought to have it in university programming courses, I have not seen anything
as addictive for ages. Well, maybe there's Total Annihilation but you need
Lozedows to play that, so I don't.
Rwars hooked two of my interests, Darwinian selection and machine language
programming. The dude with the tightest, fastest code (best programming
skills) won the series. There were a couple of interesting things that
emerged from that, you had enough registers that you could implement
learning in the 'bot, although in a crude way, during a battle of twenty
thousand executed instructions. Like the 'bot could haul itself into a
corner if it decided it was getting too damaged, and defend that corner
until the battle ran out of cycles. You could implement adaptive scanning
for the other bot's position, but it was hard to pack into that mere 200
instructions. Yeah, that was all done over a 1200/75. Slow, but less messy
than the robot wars the dudes now wage with physically real robots which
cruise around trying to cut up or otherwise destroy someone else's 'bot,
and which are remotely controlled (and not autonomous, the wusses.)
I used to ring Zenith in Adelaide, No Exit in Melbourne, read all the
(uppercase) text files, accidentally post shit to weird places on FidoNet
via Paragon BBS in Rockdale, flame religious people. I still telnet to
Asgard sometimes, chat to the dudes there, some of them even have a clue
about something other than how to point'n'click, a rare thing since the
WinDoze gui lowered the number of brain cells you needed to have before
you could use a computer. I still like PRiCk mag, used to read BoRE...
Sylphe (an old warez router) opened my eyes to the zero-day scene but
couldn't be bothered looking, I never gave a shit about ultra-fresh warez
and thought the people who did needed a heavy dose of laxatives... the
scene was full of clueless posturing teenagers who wouldn't know an
interrupt if you shoved one up their arse.
On the tunnel exploration side, yeah... Trioxide for excellent pages,
///Siologen for photonics and Dr Prussik for his excellent SRT technique.
Diode showed me some great places, and rectifified some of my daemons. Hi
also to Edgar the EPROM-burning beast from Hawthorne - more cyberpunks
have grey hair then the www-kiddies would know, eh?
Also, shouts to the subversive electrosynthetic organic reduction research
chemists at The Lycaeum. We should be able to hack our own neural nets if
we so desire, and these dudes provide us with the molecular know-how to do
so if we choose, bans on precursors be fucked.
<B> - Are there any words of advice or general comments that you have and wish
to share?
</B>
Hmmm. "Andy Warhol got it wrong, fifteen minutes is too long." -TISM
8-)
"Software is woven into just about every aspect of our lives now. When
software becomes free then you remove a division in society between people
who are rich and people who are not." (predator, 1999)
This is true of the stuff we run in our biological cells - genes, and also
the software we run in our brains - our personalities. It is important to
stop fooling yourself that you are happy to live in the cage you have been
trained from birth to exist within, if you have not done so already. So
turn off the television, spamfilter the .com pages, and remember how to
think about stuff. On a dumbed-down planet, it's the most subversive act
imaginable. Remember your dependance on earth's information, energy and
resource infrastructure. Oh, and to quote an old Clan sticker :
QUESTION AUTHORITY - GO IN DRAINS.
(I'll leave my rant about biotechnology and how clueless we are at it for
later. Suffice to say that a little knowledge is a very dangerous, in
fact catastrophically dangerous thing.)
Kind Regards: <p r e d a t o r>
<Rant mode OFF>
<Shell OFF>
<sending all processes the KILL signal>
<shutting the fuck up, gotta walk the dog...oi, ya want scratchies, doggie?>
<B> - Thanks for agreeing to be interviewed Predator. I appreciate the fact
that you took the time to answer these questions. I'm sure this interview will
benefit our readers, especially the ones that are already interested in this
type of exploring. Shout outs go from everyone in Damage, INC. to the entire
Cave Clan crew. Keep exploring the underworld man. ;) This concludes another
interview of a unique individual.
</B>
Alias: Goldeneye
Group(s): Just one, WraithTech
Age: Early thirties, yeah, I'm an old guy!!! Hahahaha!!!!
Country: U.S., at least for a little while longer, I have friends in Europe and
I plan to go "international" soon.
Description: Most say I am a mini Schwarzenegger, hahahaha. I am not overly
built but I am in shape, real intense and if locked in a room with
only one door and no windows, would find a way out!
Interests: Gadgets and tools for surveillance, and cheap ways to make them,
doing what many label as "the impossible", programming, video
production, computer security, skip tracing, making my own keys for
locks from scratch, chemicalizations, lab work, offshore banking,
foreign countries, Civil rights, and more!
Music: Classic rock, and 80's stuff, Stones, Clapton, Psychedelic Furs, Billy
Idol, David and David, Dan Reed Network, Santana and more!!
Movies: Die Hard, Blues Brothers, Three Musketeers, Johnny Handsome, The
Magnificent Seven, The Warriors, True Lies, Sword and The Sorcerer, The
Saint, The Matrix, Reservoir Dogs, El Mariachi, Desperado, Assassins,
Shaft (shut yo mouth!) Cop Land, The Longest Yard, Stick, An
Innocent Man.
Books: Tom Clancy novels, Robert Ludlum, John Grisham, Sherlock Holmes Novels.
Email: goldeneye@coolmail.net or goldeneye@wraithtech.zzn.com
IRC: Hate it!!! Never!!
URL(s): www.wraithtech.zzn.com, www.copkiller.org, www.movieflix.com,
www.phonelosers.org, www.broadcast.com, www.scour.net,
www.audiofind.com, www.winfiles.com
<B> - Introduce yourself to the readers of the Damage, INC. Newsletter...
Basics: To put it briefly, I am a 30 year old juvenille who has not grown up,
when you "grow up" you get old, I am responsible but wild. I have no fear and
take the chances that most people dream of. I am no superhero but I will fight
evil in any form on any front. Unlike most people, I am not afraid to take the
unpopular route if it is for something I believe in.
<B> - How and when was Wraith Tech Industries formed? What are the goals and
purpose of it?
I founded WraithTech about two years ago (wow, been that long?!?!?) to create a
network of people with various skills and strengths as a team of specialists,
like the X-men but just not mutants, hahahaaa. WraithTech as it is now was not
how it originally started out. Originally it started as GWC Labs. GWC stood for
goldeneye, Wang and Compudroid. We met on the PLA discussion list and kind of
gravitated toward each other. Wang or Zehrwang, was a fierce dude with attitude
and style and I liked that. Compudroid had great ideas that bordered on genius.
Wang was the social engineering master, so I felt if we all pulled our resources
we could create a tight little group that would come up with some great ideas,
concepts or hacks. Not too far into it, Compudroid wanted out.
He was not as serious as I had hoped he would be but Wang was, so I approached
Wang and told him I wanted to create a real working group and that I wanted him.
He signed on and then we got a few recruits and it went from there. The
personnel roster has changed alot, some members we lost, some we had to dismiss
but overall the core group has stuck together. When I say core group I refer to
certain people who no matter what are the center of the group and those are
Wang, Nevarmore, Mr. Wick, Tekno and Aftermath.
Now as far as hacking, I am not a hacker. I only wish I was but I have not
reached that level of skill or patience. As far as phreaking, I am a basic
redbox kind of guy, I just like to tinker and find out why something works or
what makes it work. I found out about phreaking from a BBS I used to call called
Temple of The Screaming Electron where the motto was, "Raw data for raw nerves".
I like the concept and idea of the site and I would download as many text files
as I could until one day I stumbled upon some PLA issues. I had never been on
the internet just BBS's so I had no idea of who the PLA was. My first issue I
read was about the Dino Allsman thing and I was hooked!!! I wanted to be like
that!! From my point of view a phreaker is nothing more than a high tech con man
and I liked the concept of that, how one man, with the right tools could be very
powerful. I emailed Redboxchilipepper several times cause at the end of the
issues of PLA there was always an email address but I would always get the
"this email address is not valid". I did not actually contact him until almost
6 months of reading my first PLA issue. When I did contact him I needed his help
bad and although he did not know me well he taught me what I needed to know to
make a move I needed to make. It was wild.
So WraithTech was formed from my associations on the PLA list. Mr. Wick came up
with "Wraith" from a video game he used to play religiously and I came up with
"Tech". If you want to know what a wraith is then you will have to look it up in
the dictionary to see. We are hoping WraithTech will become a future force in
the software arena, we are working on all types of programs, all of which will
be original. We have gotten away from the "hacker/phreaker" persona cause it was
bad for business to be known as a "hacker" group per se. So we have tried to
take Wraith in other directions so as to open up new opportunities for us.
Wraith is now concentrating as a whole on programming. I am in the middle of
learning Java and Nevar and Wang are already pretty good programmers, so this is
where we are going. We want to create all types of software for special types of
situations and people.
<B> - How has the group changed and evolved since its creation?
People have asked me about the changes in WraithTech and yes the group has
changed alot from the old days. We have toned down a bit but that is only cause
we are really taking some things serious and really working hard on some things.
I mean like Wang is working on this movie, Nevar is working in the labs on stuff
and I am experimenting with Java. We want to be around for years to come and
hope to really serve the public with useful info and programs. Our membership
has fluctuated alot too. We once had a girl in the crew and she was good too but
things changed and she left the group. We had to remove a member for violating a
security policy and that got messy cause he then got real childish about it. It
has been tough, the jealous people, those that have tried to hack their way into
our personal lives. The scrutiny and more. Being in this group is tough but it
has its rewards.
<B> - What types of things can be found on Wraith Tech's web site?
On our website you can find all types of things, mostly information. How to type
of stuff and some small programs. In the future there will be more Wraith made
software as this is just become a new division within the group. We have alot of
multimedia content on the site too, many people do not have time to read a text
file so we occasionally put up small instuctional videos on how to make this or
that item. It's a full service site with more to come. Hell, we even show movies
on our site!!
<B> - Which of Wraith Tech's releases stands out in your mind, and why?
The one release that stands out in my mind? Well there are a few, Wang's first
single was a big hit in South America, I could not believe it!! Here I am
getting email from Argentina from a guy who downloaded Wang's song and burned it
to disk and then gave it to a local DJ and it was being bootlegged all over,
that was a riot and made us feel good. We have a German counterpart group that
we are linked to and some of the new stuff on their site was nice to see, they
emulate alot of what we do but with a German flair, hahahaa. I think the thing I
am most proud of about Wraith is when I found out some of the people that
regular our site. I mean we were getting people from Oracle and other name
companies checking us out and contacting us on a private level about security
things.
<B> - What types of articles and information can we look forward to seeing
on Wraith Tech in the future?
In the near future you can look forward to seeing articles about exploits that
we discover. Or little tricks you can do with Java, and some how to stuff that
will really blow your minds.
<B> - How do you think Wraith Tech is viewed by the majority of visitors to
your site?
I have been asked alot what I think other people think about us and that is hard
to say. I mean many people look at our group and say, "why are they so known,
they haven't done anything? They have not done any hacks or really good phreaks"
but the thing is some of our best work is not known to the public and that kind
of pisses me off. For some issues of security we sometimes cannot say who we
have done work for, so when people say we have not done anything it bothers me
cause we do not openly get the credit for what we do behind the scenes. I mean
for example, we were the only outside group contacted by Cisco Systems to do
some beta testing work for their new communication center. No one outside the
group knows this. But we worked for Cisco on a special project. I can talk about
it now cause the Cisco project is now done and set but then we were under strict
secrecy. Most of it was because the new Cisco system was not patented but we
were the only group called upon for the project.
We did not get paid but we got alot of other stuff from Cisco in return for our
help and it looks good on your resume to say you helped refine a Cisco Systems
Operation. We did work for Paltalk also, some low level design and beta testing
but due to feelings regarding the security of Paltalk we discontinued our
relationship with them. That is the bad part of being in WraithTech, sometimes
you work on stuff that you will never openly get credit for. It takes its toll
on the group but we try to keep each other up.
<B> - What do you think of the current h/p scene, and in your opinion how has
it changed since you began? Also, what's the status of the local h/p scene in
your NPA?
The hack/phreak scene as I see it has changed alot. It is now trendy to say you
are a "hacker" and that is irritating. It has gotten so commercial and overblown
with Defcon and all it is just disappointing. I mean Defcon started out being
about real hackers coming to share ideas and hacks, now it is full of feds
trying to learn shit so they can keep their pathetic jobs. There are very few
hackers really left. People say Mitnick was the last great hacker, well in truth
he was not that, he was a "jacker" meaning someone who liked to hijack systems
and info. That is a Wraith word we came up with for it, jackers. Then there are
movies like "Hackers" which in theory are true but not in priniciple and these
types of things end up influencing people in the wrong way. I really wish a
movie would come along that would redefine what a hacker is and really give
birth to a whole new wave of phreakers and hackers.
<B> - What has been your experience with telco employees as a whole?
I like to talk to the telco guys when they come out to my house, sometimes you
can really get alot of info from them if you begin the conversation right. That
is how I learned about the number to call to test your line and find out the
number. I have also learned about some other little stuff from just talking to
them, it is the operators I hate. The people at the fone companies I hate in
general. They are usually rude, snobby, and arrogant.
<B> - Do you read any h/p related zines? If so, please list a few of the
ones that you read and respect.
As far as reading any zines go I do not read to many of them cause by the time
you get it the tricks in the zines they are telling you about the fone company
has caught on to and there is nothing more diappointing than wanting to try a
trick only to find out it no longer works.
<B> - Which h/p groups, if any, do you respect?
As far as groups go, I have looked at many but like only a few. I like some
groups like DarkLight, Section 6. Spying Gudi, he makes a really cool remote
administration tool that to me is better than Back Orifice because you do not
need to know the marks IP address to spy on his computer. I like Damage of
course cause you guys are low key but cool, not about hype but fact. Cyberarmy
is ok but they are too, "I will tell the cops on you if you ask me how to hack"
and that is way uncool. I hate cops and anyone who will run to the man.
<B> - Which web sites do you usually frequent?
My favorite sites to haunt are neworder.box.sk, very cool site that has it all.
Some of the crack sites and TL security. There are many sites out there, in fact
anybody can have a site but it is hard to know the good stuff from the crap,
like Parse is crap. Hype and trendiness, but thesync.com has geek tv which is
good, and accurate so I go there alot for short video tutorials on stuff like
how to make a wearable computer for under 1000 bux.
<B> - Do you want to share any memorable hacking/phreaking related experiences?
I think the most memorable thing that has gone down in WraithTech is when we
were asked to find this particular person who skipped out on court and the judge
said if he were not found in a specific time the case would have to be dropped,
we found this person but how we did it was like something out of mission
impossible, split second timing and alot of pressure but we got them to court,
but we did get a bit of credit for it as our name came up in testimony on the
stand.
<B> - Have you ever been busted? Or, do you know anyone that's been busted?
If so, would you like to describe the event, the circumstances of the bust
and the conclusion?
I have never been busted myself for any scams or for phreaks but Danny did, for
taping a conversation between some cops. That tape wreaked alot of havoc for
awhile, the cops did all they could do to get it and Danny wound up in jail for
a few days. The cop was asked to resign cause the content of the tape was pretty
damning. It was a good day when we took that cop down, he was corrupt as most
cops in the Bay Area are and he deserved it. We are working on another cop now,
this asshole deserves it. So our site is occasionally seen by cops and they hate
me and Danny but hey, the moral of the story is, just cause you have some tin
plated badge that makes you think you can get away with anything does not always
mean you should try it with everyone. Some people are not afraid and will fight
you in court or however. I am not a very well liked man by the local PD but I
say it like NWA says, "fuck the police"!!!
<B> - Do you want to mention any boards that you call or people in the scene
that you know?
I would like to send a shout out to:
Redboxchilipeper for being patient with all my questions, Syko for being
objective, my team at Wraith Tech, you guys are the best!!! Spying Gudi for
listening, those on the mailing list for being cool, the groupies who have been
down with us, Eclyse, the homies on the PLA list, Raphy and our German
counterparts--einfach!!! Sara my little sister--"why him?" Dan Reed Network--for
making cool hacker music, my crew in Chicago--I want my apartment back!, the
dudes in Sao Paulo--keep waiting, it will come, Sulcata--come back to us homey,
Zack at the Spy Shop for the gear and ideas, Tai Pan for getting us into Cisco--
thanks for the trust, She at Oracle--can I have a palm pilot?, the infoguys at
www.infoguys.com for the tricks of the trade, my brother jojo--dad says bring
the movie back or else, the "D" Block crew in San Quentin State Prison--for the
knowledge and ideas, Eric B.--for telling me how voicemail really works, my girl
--pure beauty, Fred Smith---wherever you are, cactus, Bum Rap Inc., shittalker
program--saving me in a jam and all the nice people who have sent email and
faxes, thank you!!!
<B> - Thanks for agreeing to be interviewed Goldeneye. I have respect for
you and Wraith Tech. Hopefully we'll be able to collaborate on some projects
in the future, as we've discussed. That is, once I finally have some spare
time. Anyways, keep up the good work man. Send me a few freebies (ahem, Cisco
routers) and stay in touch. ;) This concludes another quality interview.
Alias: Helena3
Group: Damage, INC.
Age: 18+
Country: Canada
Description: hacker, phreak, telephone enthusiast, technophile, audiophile,
conversationalist, spontaneous, fiesty, girl.
Gender: Female
Interests: I absolutely love meeting new people, talking on the phone, learning
new things, seeking and amassing knowledge, using technology to my advantage,
writing, and sharing information and things I've found and know with others.
Email: damage_inc@disinfo.net, helena3@antisocial.com (my old address)
IRC: Blech. None for me.
URL(s): http://surf.to/damage_inc
<B> - Introduce yourself to the readers of the Damage, INC. Newsletter...
Hi everyone. I'm known as Helena3, and have been for several years. It isn't
my first alias, but it will probably be my last since this is what I'm known
as to so many people now. There's a little story behind the origin of my alias
that you may find interesting. A couple of years ago, I was scanning an 800
exchange and after dialing a certain number I heard the following recorded
message:
"Helena3. We're sorry your call cannot be completed as dialed. Please check
the number and try your call again. Helena3."
Needless to say, I had never heard a message quite like that before. Since I
was still new to scanning at that time, I hadn't encountered any such messages
that use any female names. I was intrigued, and also liked the actual "Helena3"
name that was used as an identifier. It changed scanning for me. It was no
longer just a boring exercise in dialing. It became something more. My
interest level in phreaking increased as my interest in scanning was restored.
Far from being boring, it was now something I definitely wanted to learn more
about -- especially strange recorded messages and quirky little things about the
telephone system that most people don't know about. If you want to hear the
same Helena3 message, I found another number that's still active. Just dial
1-800-555-3807 and listen carefully. Or dial 1-800-222-6666 to hear a Helena10
message.
Now that I've explained my alias, and relayed a story about how through scanning
I became hooked, I'll give you a brief history of myself and detail some of the
activities and groups that I'm involved in.
Technology interests me, and has always interested me. Computers, systems,
modems, cables, networks, phones, have been a hobby of mine for years. There
are those with the stereotypical view that females just aren't interested in
these things. Well, that couldn't be further from the truth. I guess that's
the reason I hate prejudiced people that use stereotypes and refuse to open
their eyes to the world around them. They should wake up and realize that
there are female phreaks, and we aren't going anywhere! :)
Now, there's something else that I should explain before I carry on with the
interview. I've recently joined Damage, INC. Perhaps you've read some of my
articles already. I wrote an article on Nortel's Millennium Desktop payphones
that was published in the Damage, INC. Newsletter Issue #16. I've also written
articles for other zines in the past. And I've also submitted toll free scans
and numbers to Damage, INC. for use in the Phreaky Field Phreaking List, which
I've contributed to since the very start. But, I never thought I'd be accepted
and welcomed into a group like this. Usually I'd just lurk around, pick up
information here and there, talk with people in groups, write the occasional
article for zines I read, and generally do my own thing. That all changed once
I ran across Damage, INC.'s site, read their zine, and sent them Email with
comments about it. That's the message that started it all, although I'm sure
when it was read, they probably just thought I was another adoring reader, who
was trying to soften them up with compliments. Even though I wasn't sucking
up to them, I'm almost positive it came across that way. It's difficult to
avoid seeming like that when writing to certain groups. Still, about a week
later I received a reply from Blackened. He struck me as being a very friendly,
interesting individual. From there, we corresponded in Email for a short time.
I told him that I wanted to contribute to his group, and he encouraged me to do
so. He also told me that any feedback is always welcome. And that made an
impression on me.
Skipping forward several months; Blackened and I began to talk on the phone and
exchange Voicemail messages on a regular basis. After a relatively short time,
we began to get to know each other and soon became friends. This was well after
I had submitted an article and numbers. Our relationship just developed and
progressed from there. It became apparent to me that Damage, INC. respected me
for my ideas and knowledge. That brings us to this point.
I'm excited and proud to be a member of Damage, INC. And I hope to contribute
as much as possible. I'm sure that what I've written here already reflects
that.
<B> - Why did you decide to join Damage, INC. as a member? What provoked
you to want to join a group such as this?
Joining Damage, INC. will definitely be a life-altering decision. But in a way,
it wasn't really a choice. It was something that I had to do, and a natural
progression for me. I feel as though I belong in this group, and was meant to
be a part of it. It's a group of like-minded individuals with similar
interests in computers and telecom. That being said, it's almost like a person
that has a unique ability, talent or interests, and doesn't realize there are
other people that share in that until they find a group or organization that
does. They don't question why, they're just content and happy they found it.
If I had the same level of interest in something else as I do in phreaking, I'd
probably join a club, team, group or some type of organization involved in that.
But, unlike that example, I wouldn't be afforded the opportunity to learn as
much about my chosen hobby as I will by being in Damage, INC. Nor would I have
as much fun. Basically, it just feels right to be in this group. It's where I
have chosen to be.
<B> - What types of hacking/phreaking related projects and activities are you
currently interested in and involved with?
I'm still interested and involved in scanning and phreaking. I am, without
a doubt, a telephone phreak. I've made phones ring in every State across
America, including Hawaii and Alaska. Calling people and telephone companies
in every U.S. State isn't a real achievement, or a project, but it's a piece
of quirky trivia about me that I thought some people might like to know.
One of the projects that I'm involved with is the Phreaky Field Phreaking List.
To that I hope to contribute heavily on an ongoing basis. Personally, I think
it's a great project because it provides people with very useful, interesting
numbers. No phreak should be caught dead without it.
Other than that, I enjoy calling COCOTs and playing around with them. Some
other favourite activities of mine are finding loops, bridges, conferencing,
finding test numbers, strange recordings, calling payphones, and listening to
people's voicemail. I especially enjoy talking with telco employees. I also
spend time hacking around on local systems I've found in my NPA.
There's so much that can be found and explored, just with the telephone system.
Often people neglect to explore it these days, or are worried about doing so.
And it's not "cool" anymore. But that doesn't determine what I do, and won't
ever stop me.
<B> - What has been your overall experience with telco employees as a whole?
I've met many telco employees over the years. To generalize, the linesmen
are usually decent and the operators are bitchy. :)
Overall, the ones that I've personally met and carried on conversations with
haven't been all that bad. That is, the majority were. Some of them were
on a power trip though, had a bad attitude or a big ego problem. Usually those
ones were local operators or they were Ops that broke in on a conference.
I'm known by my voice (and by alias in some cases) to certain operators (even
the 1-800-555-1212 directory assistance Ops). They've been known to recognize
my voice and greet me with "Hi Helena", which is kind of cool.
A couple of linesmen and techs have given me information over the years as well.
<B> - Do you read any h/p related zines? If so, please list a few of the
ones that you read and respect.
Yes, I read a variety of h/p related zines. I also subscribe to a few security
related mailing lists and things of that nature. Actually, I still do a lot
of reading. But, I don't just read zines. I put what I've read and learned
into practice. All too often that's something people neglect to do, so I felt
it was worth mentioning.
<B> - Which h/p groups, if any, do you respect?
Actually, there are many h/p groups that I respect. I have respect for them
based on what they've done, rather than just what their reputation and image
in the scene is. The following are just a few that stand out in my mind:
Cult of the Dead Cow, L0pht Heavy Industries, Hack Canada, IIRG, Wraith Tech,
and of course, Damage, INC. I also respect some of the groups that are no
longer around in the scene.
<B> - Which web sites do you usually frequent?
I honestly don't frequent too many web sites anymore. Of the ones that I do,
these are my favourite sites to visit, and the ones that I spend the most time
on or have visited the most often.
www.hackernews.com, www.hackcanada.com, www.l0pht.com, www.cultdeadcow.com,
www.securityfocus.com, www.phonelosers.org, www.payphone-directory.org, and a
few other web sites that are dedicated to telecommunications.
<B> - Do you want to share any memorable hacking/phreaking related experiences?
I've had quite a few interesting experiences, moments and found many strange
and interesting things since entering the h/p scene. There have also been
some funny and embarrassing moments as well. Let's just say I've had my fair
share of "memorable moments" that I could share. I'll leave it at that. It's
more mysterious that way.
<B> - Are there any other interesting things or general comments that you have
and wish to share?
There are a few words of advice that I'd like to impart upon our readers, now
that I have been given the opportunity.
Don't just follow, lead.
Don't believe everything you're told.
Don't automatically believe everyone.
Phreaking isn't just about getting free phone calls. That's such a small part
of it, that unfortunately, many newbies tend to get stuck on. Anyone can make
free phone calls. That doesn't make them a phone phreak.
Phone harassment and prank calling people doesn't make you a phreak.
Red boxing and beige boxing doesn't make you a phreak.
Calling long distance using calling cards, extenders, and through PBXs doesn't
make you a phreak.
Phreaking isn't just for wannabe kids that think it's trendy and cool. It's
for people of all ages that have the desire to know how things really work.
Exploring, learning and knowing about the inner workings and intricacies of the
actual telephone system means you're a phreak. Being able to speak the language
of telco speak, reciting and knowing how to use the acronyms and abbreviations,
and how the phone system works, are the prerequisites of phreakdom. You don't
graduate to become a full-fledged phreak until you can literally talk the talk
and walk the walk of phreaking.
Phreaking has to be in your blood. You have to have signals for veins, and
a switching station for a heart and a stomach for moody operators. :)
Lastly, phreaking isn't just an activity or a skill. It's much more than that.
It's not just about knowledge either. It's a culture. It's a lifestyle.
<B> - Thanks for agreeing to this interview Helena3. I look forward to your
future contributions to the group. I know that you'll be a quality, valued
member of Damage, INC. We welcome your enthusiastic attitude, the ideas and
the knowledge that you'll bring. You've been considered to be a part of our
group as an "unofficial member" for well over a year already. The only real
difference is, now we've made it official. ;)
I decided to introduce Helena3 as a new Damage, INC. member through an interview
rather than the traditional way of just announcing it. We hope that you found
this approach more interesting, as it offers more insight into what she's about.
NEWS FROM THE TRENCHES - {NEWS}
Kevin Mitnick was finally released from prison on January 21, 2000. He was
interviewed on CBS' 60 Minutes, and also made an appearance recently on CNN's
TalkBack Live show, along with Kevin Poulsen. The main focus of that show was
regarding the DoS attacks against Yahoo!, eBay, CNN, etc. in February. It
seems as though the mass media's love affair with prominent hackers, fondness
for inviting them as guests on shows, and desire for chatting and interviewing
them is back with full force in 2000. For the moment at least, they're the
new darlings again. At least until the newfound newness wears off. Meaning,
there was a time in the 80s and 90s when hackers and hacking were big stories,
and they were highly sought after as guests... and that quickly turned into
something else, more resembling a witchhunt. So, we'll see how long this lasts.
Read the articles in the Reports from the Front section for more information.
And read Mitnick's article "A Taste of Freedom" in 2600's Spring 2000 edition if
you want more insight on his situation.
DEF CON is fast approaching. As usual, it's at the end of July. Don't forget
to check www.defcon.org for more information. Check out DEF CON's FTP Archives
as well.
CBC's UNDERcurrents show, which airs Sundays at 10:30 PM EST is something that
you may want to check out. It's a Canadian TV show that's dedicated to issues
and technology. Their recent shows have been fairly good, especially the one
regarding Stats Canada. They cover privacy issues and report on other things
related to technology that are often ignored by the media. Unfortunately, they
are now repeating programs until next season. Visit their web site at
http://tv.cbc.ca/undercurrents
There are a few other computer/technology/Internet related television shows
such as ShiftTV (www.shift.com) on the Life Network and ZDTV's Internettonight
(www.internettonight.com) However, neither are as good as Undercurrents in my
opinion. Actually, both can be rather lame, with the latter being the lamer
show of the two. A few episodes of ShiftTV have had good segments of
information. I'll grant them that. I won't even list the other computer shows
in Canada, as they don't deserve to even be mentioned as they're amateur and
basically useless.
Congratulations to DoubleClick on winning a Big Brother award. They've done
a lot to further the cause of privacy invasion in 2000, and I'm sure it'll
continue in the years ahead. It's companies like them that are doing everything
possible to ensure that this world soon resembles the one described in Orwell's
book, 1984. They're working hard and doing their best to turn fiction into
reality. So, Intel, Micro$oft, and the rest of you out there, keep it up!
On the same note, a show called "Big Brother" will soon be airing on American
television. Contestants volunteer to be confined in a house together and hope
they'll be the one that wins the money. During their stay, everything is filmed
and monitored 24/7 by TV cameras and microphones. It should provide hours of
entertainment and viewing pleasure for zombies. The caged entertaining the
enslaved. What a brilliant concept. What an amazing premise for a show. It
just proves that "society" actually likes being watched, taped and having
every action tracked and monitored by Big Brother. Anything for greed and fame.
The ringing in the Mojave Desert has stopped. Yeah, that's right, the Mojave
Desert Phone Booth has been disconnected from service and entirely removed.
Fuck Pacific Bell. It's a fucking shame that they felt it necessary to do
that, instead of just leaving well enough alone. The MDPB was harmless and
provided a great deal of enjoyment to people from around the world. Pac*Bell
is petty and had no real reason to do what they did. Perhaps all of the media
attention prompted its removal. Perhaps they didn't like the number being
posted on the Internet, or didn't like the amount of incoming calls it received
in a month. Who knows. The fact is, they've taken away something, and spoiled
a good thing. It wasn't anything major, but it was fun to call and talk to
Charlie, or whoever else was there to answer it. I'm glad I was one of the
callers during its 40 years in service. At the same time, I'm sickened by the
actions of Pac*Bell. They've destroyed a landmark, a piece of telecom history
without a second thought. In the process, they've shown just how stupid and
ignorant a telephone company can be. They've also robbed Charlie of his hobby.
It's yet another example of how a good thing is always spoiled eventually, or
just completely gone. And that angers me. It also makes me bitter. I enjoyed
calling it and talking with whoever happened to be there to answer. Now all
that's left is silence. Goodbye Charlie.
The Damage, INC. Phreaky Field Phreaking List (Spring 2000 Edition) was
released on May 5th, 2000. The planets were aligned on 05/05/00 for its
release. It is, without a doubt, the phreakiest damn list of numbers ever
assembled and unleashed on an unsuspecting public. Besides being damn phreaky,
it contains more toll free numbers than you can shake a stick at. But what
else would you expect from Damage, INC. and Blamerica Phreaky Industries? As
Blackie Lawless says, "Mapping 800 exchanges is our business. We put the free
in toll free." It's just another free service that we provide to the masses.
It's a way to find those elite numbers that aren't listed in your local and
800 directories. Numbers are power. Anyone that's interested in scanning, and
contributing scans/numbers, can contact us at damage_inc@disinfo.net
We're still seeking pictures of payphones, Central Offices, switching stations,
junction boxes, telco vehicles and virtually anything else that's telco related.
We're also interested in payphone numbers. If you'd like to participate in this
large, ongoing project, be sure to contact us.
I was scanning recently and found a service by Nokia called eVoice, which is
a completely free Voicemail service. The number is 1-800-222-6000. It even
has an ANAC as part of the service. To sign up for a free VMB, just call
1-800-GET-EVOICE. Their web site URL is www.evoice.com if you want to find
out more information. If you want more numbers to services like this, download
DAM00SPR.ZIP (The Phreaky Field Phreaking List, Spring 2000 Edition)
Andy Grove and Intel were beaten to the punch by Advanced Micro Devices. AMD
was first to introduce a 1 gigahertz chip. AMD's new Athlon chip is the fastest
in the world, and is already in full production. So, forget the Intel PIII
"Big Brother Inside" chips, and go buy an AMD Athlon. No longer will the
Goliath Intel be able to monopolize the industry. Companies like Gateway are
now selling systems with AMD Athlon chips. ;) Read the Reports from the Front
section for more information.
A Canadian teenager known as Mafiaboy was recently arrested in Montreal. He's
accused of being responsible for various attacks on large web sites. If you
haven't read about it by now, do a search for articles on Yahoo, Wired, CNN,
or just about anywhere else.
Here's an interesting news article on Bell Canada...
Pay phones take nights off.
TORONTO -- For all those nights you've tried pay phone after pay phone, only to
hear the eerie silence of a dead line, here is a partial explanation:
Bell Canada shuts them off overnight.
The phone company is fulfilling the request of police and community groups
concerned certain phones are being used for criminal activities like drug
trafficking or prostitution, said Samantha Ouimet, a Bell Canada spokeswoman.
"The pay phone is used by people who need to cover their tracks," she said
Tuesday, adding Bell had been doing this for about a year.
Ouimet said pay phones in certain areas are disconnected at night, with hours
varying depending on what the community and police have asked for.
Sometimes that's as early as 6 p.m. or as late as 9 p.m., with service resuming
at 6 a.m. TORSTAR NEWS SERVICE
---
Oh, so *those* are the people that use payphones. And that's what all payphones
are used for -- to cover a person's tracks. That makes sense. The woman that
has just been robbed, threatened, or worse - raped... has absolutely no use for
payphones after 9 p.m. Hell, that's late at night and she shouldn't be on the
street at that time in the first place, right? And the guy that was at the bar
walking home at night with his friends, who was just shot, doesn't need to have
a working payphone handy to dial 911 either, right? Or the pedestrian kid that
was just hit by a car doesn't have any need to call an ambulance via a payphone
either, right? They can just try payphone after payphone, to no avail. Thanks
to good ol' Ma Bell, they can't dial 911 for assistance anymore if the payphone
they attempt to use has been shut off for the night. The age old excuse of
crime is a good enough reason to prevent people from calling for help in
emergency situations. Yeah, that makes perfect sense... in a paranoid, Big
Brother fearing, illogical, idiocy stricken world. In a pathetic attempt to
restrict, control and prevent crime, the lives of innocent people and victims
are being put at risk in the city of Toronto. Good work Bell! You're the blue
and white cape wearing, ultimate 'Crime Fighting Superhero Telco' for the new
Millennium. (maybe that's why they're so fond of using Nortel Millenniums)
OBJECTIVE OPINIONS - {OPINIONS}
Commercialism and Zombieism.
Zombieism doesn't refer to zombies or zombification in the Haitian sense of the
word. It isn't a term meant to describe people that've been put under a curse
through witchcraft or voodoo. Zombieism isn't a label for a group of people
that've been brought back from the dead and turned into people without souls.
It's a very different phenomenon. It doesn't involve spells being cast or
chemicals and potions being used on someone. This article isn't about sorcerers
and magic. The zombies I'm about to explain aren't cadaverous, corpse-like
creatures of the night. They aren't the walking undead zombies that you read
about and see portrayed in old Hollywood monster movies. They aren't from a
work of fiction. They're real. However, they do share some common traits with
the above. The zombies to which I refer are indeed brainwashed, mindless
creatures that could be classified as being "unhuman" due to their inability to
think for themselves. But they aren't monsters. And they weren't created by
spells, voodoo or anything else of the sort. They aren't undead. They aren't
rare and uncommon either. In fact, it isn't difficult to spot a zombie. They
exist in large numbers and roam every continent of the earth.
In this article, I will explain the nature of zombies as they relate to
commercialism. I'll define what they are, and delve into the zombie culture,
dissecting as many aspects of their existence and being as possible. I believe
it's important to show zombies for who they are in order to explain the reasons
why commercialism has proliferated so widely in "society" -- in all countries,
in almost all cultures of the world. In other words, I feel that any effort to
discuss commercialism, without first mentioning and providing an adequate
description of zombies, is futile. They play such a vital role in the overall
commercialization of the world, that excluding them from the equation would be
negligent. They're so closely linked, that it would be the equivalent of trying
to write about computer software without using the word computer. They're bound
together, and to avoid using the word zombies, and to ignore them, would condemn
this article to being nothing more than a half truth at best. Therefore, both
commercialism and zombieism will be discussed as they relate to each other. In
my humble opinion, it's the only real way this particular topic can be written
about. Zombies are the cogs in the wheels of commercialism, and I'll prove it.
Built on greed, lies and corruption, corporations have created something that's
commonly called "commercialism". They've made their own world, with their own
rules, regulations and tactics. In the process, they've removed all ethics
and morals. In their place are the pursuit of money and power, through any
means necessary. That includes underhanded practices like bribes, influencing,
brainwashing, conspiracies, coverups, lies and more lies. Anything is fair
game. Everyone is fair game. No one is a victim. No one is immune to the
almighty corporate world. To them, people are play things that are meant to be
used. And anything, or anyone that stands in their way must be steamrolled and
eliminated so that they can continue on with their agenda. Organizations like
the WTO and World Bank have been formed for this very purpose. They exist to
protect the fat cat corporations and ensure that commercialism survives and
thrives. Whatever is destroyed in the process is of no consequence. Whoever
opposes them is instantly made a target that must be attacked. Nothing is more
important than the continuation of commercialism. Let the protesters be damned.
Let freedom of choice die along with freedom of speech, freedom of expression
and the other rights of individuals. Let freedom and human rights fade away and
die. All the better for the mighty multi-national corporations that obsessively
seek control, power and wealth at all costs. Protect the wealth. Advertise.
Monopolize. Exploit, rape, victimize. Capitalize. Propagandize and influence.
Enslave, control and destroy anyone and anything that stands in your path.
Above all else, profit. Then profit some more. An insatiable appetite for
profit is a must. Profit is all. Do you get the picture?
Zombieism refers to the zombie culture. The zombie culture embodies much more
than just blind consumers. Zombies are the overwhelming majority in "society",
and don't deserve anyone's pity. They are the biggest driving force behind
commercialism. Without their continuous, vigorous support for materialism, and
endless thirst for consumerism, commercialism wouldn't exist in "society" as it
does now. Zombies are what keeps it alive by buying into the commercialist
culture. And that's basically what zombieism is. That's what their culture is.
It's a sickening culture of mindless, brainwashed, easily influenced, naive,
gullible creatures that exist only to consume. They're also greedy, and always
willing to take any quick schemes they can to "get ahead" and amass wealth.
They're jealous creatures and envy other zombies that are fat cats. And they'll
financially rape anyone they can in order to advance their own finances. They
love status and want people to respect them for the amount of money and material
goods they have. To them, it's all about possessions, and having more than
anyone else. It's about greed and it's about buying. Debt be damned. They'll
run up their credit cards to the max without a second thought. They'll beg the
banks for a mortgage on a house that they cannot afford. They'll lease vehicles
they can't afford. They'll buy clothes, furniture, computers, electronics
equipment, gadgets and other items that are well beyond their means. They will
buy anything on credit, and buy anything for status and self-validation. Those
are the things that make them such easy prey. Corporations can smell zombies
more than a mile away.
Zombies aren't the have-nots. They're the "must-have" and the "must-have-mores"
of this world. They want, and they want it now. But they also take. Meaning,
at the same time as wanting, they take it whenever corporations ram products
down their throats with obvious marketing campaigns. Whether they actually need
something or not, they take it and buy it. For zombies, it isn't about need and
necessity. It's about materialism. The more materials they have, the better.
The more they want, the less they appreciate what they already have, and the
more they want to buy. It's a vicious cycle that only serves to make zombies
weaker, and corporations stronger. The zombies are so thoroughly brainwashed by
the commercial messages they ingest, they don't even realize how controlled and
owned they are. They just know they want more. By having more, they think
it'll improve their self-image. They think it'll satisfy and fulfill them.
Zombies are like Pavlov's lapdogs to the corporation. They can be conditioned
to do anything. Ring a bell and they'll eat what you feed them. Ring another
bell and they'll buy what you sell them. The corporation has the power, control
and ability to get them to respond however they want. They monopolize the clan
of zombies in the same way that they monopolize information, and the flow of it.
Conditioning them is just one tactic. But a conditioned response, through means
such as brainwashing, is always desirable. Allowing zombies to think only gives
them an opportunity to hesitate, weigh the options, and make choices. And of
course, thoughtful, informed choices aren't what the corporations want. They
want the zombies to react, without thinking, without logic, without a split
second of hesitation or doubt. The evidence shows that they've achieved that
goal, and have been very successful in helping to create a race of unthinking
creatures that are willing slaves to consumerism.
The corporate culture is about monopolizing information. That's what they
want to control. Through information, they have power. And with that power,
they can control people. They can eliminate privacy, and monitor every move
of potential customers. You don't have to look any farther than the Internet
to see that happening already. There are cookies and companies like doubleclick
that amass huge amounts of information which is analyzed, and stored in huge
data banks. It's matched with other information, used and sold. They're in the
information business. Whoever owns the most information on people wins.
Whoever can track people accurately, develop profiles on them and target them as
potential consumers the most efficiently wins the jackpot. If you can take one
database of information and link it together with another to develop complete
dossiers on people, and a profile of them and their Internet activities, you
will have an invaluable source of information. The possibilities are limitless.
And that's exactly what they're doing. That's what corporations use technology
for. It's to their benefit. It's all for profit at any cost.
To perpetuate a monopoly involves more than merely profiteering. Dominance
in the market and bullying companies that rely on your products and services
to muscle out the competition plays a huge role in the psyche and monopoly
dynamic. Many monopolies, like Micro$oft, admit in their own documents and
company Email that they play the game, as it were, unfairly. No monopoly wants
a level playing field. They enjoy monopolizing their industry and want as
little competition as possible. And if at all possible, they try to take over
other industries to further their dominance. Competitors don't drive them to
innovate. Competitors don't increase their profit margins. Competitors won't
help them increase quarterly profits and their stock value. In fact, they cut
into them and are viewed as just a thorn in their side. So, the elimination of
the competition is always a high priority of the monopoly. Their logic is, if
you take away all of the choices from the consumer, they'll come crawling back
to you. And unfortunately, that logic works flawlessly.
Establish an image. Sell it. Sell the image. Make them recognize it. Make
them want it. Make them crave it. Make them believe they can't live without
it. Make them addicted to it. Market it. Market the product and your image.
Advertise. Advertise to death. Force it down their hungry throats. Make them
loyal to the corporation and its image. Develop the image some more. Integrate
it into their very culture. Don't let them avoid seeing it, hearing it, or
thinking about it. Make them eat, drink, sleep, and breathe it. Market it
until they can't imagine a world without it. Dominate them. Sell it. If you
run into opposition, put the spin team into action. Hire a big public relations
firm and let the press do the rest. The media is your friend. Bribe them. Buy
them. Use them. Exploit them. Own them. Put them media propaganda machine to
work for you. Then sit back and watch the corporate money revolution roll on,
steamrolling everything in his path. The money will be pouring in. Ah yes,
free enterprise, free markets, free trade, capitalism utterly destroying and
obliterating everything in its path. What a beautiful thought. What an amazing
concept. What a beautiful philosophy and ideology to live by. It's so right.
It's so capitalist. It's so monopolistic. It's so perfect.
Carefully guide them astray. Mislead them through propaganda. Influence them
to take our side. Make them believe the monopoly is good. Tell them it's
necessary. Make them think it's better for them. Tell them we create jobs
and help the economy. Feed them more lies. Force them to swallow them. Then
prey on their sense of desperation. Eventually they'll take anything. They'll
be grateful for the low paying jobs we provide. And they'll be thankful for
whatever meager pittance we decide to give them in return for being slaves to
the global economy. Once they realize it's an equal exchange in which both
parties benefit mutually, we will have total control.
These quotes are from the movie 'The Big One':
"If it's all about profit, why doesn't General Motors sell crack? Think about
it. They sell 2,000lb cars for a profit of 1,000 bucks. If they sold 2,000lbs
of crack, they could make a million dollars." - Michael Moore
"The CIA has the market." - Anonymous guy in the audience.
So who's guilty? Which companies are built on greed and corruption? Which ones
exploit workers and market their products through influencing and brainwashing
consumers? Which corporations advertise the most? Which pay the least wages?
Which are the worst offenders? The fact is, the most well known, commonly
targeted companies such as Disney, The GAP, Nike, etc. aren't the only ones
that are guilty of these offenses. They're just the ones that stand out. They
are just the ones that people choose to speak out against most often. But by
no means are they alone. There are hundreds of other corporations, built on
image and greed, that exploit workers in third world countries by paying them
extremely low wages and forcing them to work long hours in sweat shops. Many
of these companies don't actually own the overseas factories that produce the
products for them. They think that'll avoid accusations of exploitation. And
whenever they're caught red handed, they claim they didn't know what was going
on in the factories. Or, they put their public relations spin doctors to work
and put forth a statement that claims their wages and working conditions are
more than fair, and above average for that particular country. It's all about
lies and covering up the truth.
Albert Einstein had a small sign on the wall of his office which read "THINK".
Nothing could be simpler, or carry more meaning than that single word. It was
a reminder to him, and all who entered, that thinking is important. Perhaps
if more people took a second to think, they wouldn't be condemned to living
as a zombie. And to use the corporate angle, it's think or serve. Thinking
provides freedom. Thoughtlessness is slavery.
In closing, zombies, and the culture of zombieism is directly tied to the
culture of consumerism. They cannot be separated. Not even with a diamond
tipped chainsaw. They are as one, like a symbiot organism to its host. They
need each other for survival. Commercialism couldn't exist without zombies.
It's more than mere consumerism. Zombies are easily and totally brainwashed
into purchasing things that they don't need. They're influenced into buying
things that aren't necessary. And they do so without thought or consideration.
The commercial world and marketing firms know that. It's not a secret to them.
They use that knowledge to prey upon the naive, gullible zombies. Their lack
of control, and tremendous ignorance are used against them. To the faceless
corporations and large commercial businesses, zombies are nothing more than
walking wallets with expendable income. They're owned by the corporations,
used by them, and meant to be controlled for their own gains. They are a
renewable resource -- an infinite supply of future profits and wealth. And
since they're mindless drones, they're also a cheap workforce that's easy to
maintain, influence, command and control. Throw them a bone once in a while
and they'll happily be slaves for life. The corporations take and take and
take. The zombies take it, and take it, and take it. The zombies give up
everything, including any shred of individuality, freedom and independence,
in order to please their masters of the corporate world. They've been so
thoroughly influenced and brainwashed for so long that they simply have no
rational thought or reasoning skills. In essence, they're completely ignorant
and simply "don't know any better." But that's still not an excuse for allowing
that to happen. That still doesn't excuse their responsibility for the spread
of commercialism, and the way they've ignored all warnings against it. It's
still not a reason for sitting idly by and watching the visible, systematic
commercialization of "society" as a whole. To be blunt, there are no excuses.
There are no valid reasons for tolerating the total, complete, utter mess that
now dominates the world. That mess is commercialism, zombieism and the huge
monopolies that are growing steadily in power, affluence and influence. The
zombies should be held directly responsible as they refused to speak, listen
or take any actions against it. Now we're left with an almost incomprehensible
infestation of commercialism that's infecting people from cradle to grave.
The zombies may represent the majority of the masses, but they don't represent
me, my opinions or my ideology. I oppose them and their culture, and will do
everything within my power to fight against them and what they stand for. I
don't want to become a victim of corporate commercialism. I don't want to live
my life under their thumb, by their rules, as their commodity. I don't want to
be owned by them, or anyone. I won't just ignore the complete monopolization of
the world that's happening right now, all around me. Nor will I sit idly by
and watch the commercialization of everything without making statements against
it. I won't be governed by them and their greed. Now is the time to break some
cogs off the wheels of the corporate machine and make a statement to them that
will be heard by all. Speak out. Voice your opposition.
Written by BLACKENED ú Damage, INC. (C)opyright 2000.
Lucid Dreaming.
This article will be an approach to lucid dreaming from my perspective, based
on my own personal experiences. Don't think of it as a guide on "how to hax0r
your dreams". Instead, just consider what I've written and my opinions on it.
And if you want to try some of the techniques discussed and train yourself to
have lucid dreams, that's your choice.
First, I'll explain what the term "lucid dreaming" means. The way in which I
define it is being in deep REM sleep, aware that you're asleep and dreaming,
having control over the circumstances of your dreams, and how they unfold. It's
a level of awareness and state of mind that many people simply don't achieve
while they're dreaming. Also, having the ability to remember your dreams is
important, as not remembering what you did and what occurred defeats the whole
purpose of lucid dreaming.
Lucid means bright or clear, and that's exactly what lucid dreams are like.
Once you realize you're just dreaming, everything becomes much more clear.
Suddenly you've unlocked the knowledge that you can do and be anything you want.
At that point, your imagination takes over.
While a person is lucid dreaming, they can control what occurs during the dream
and do things that they otherwise couldn't while awake. That just means that
you can will yourself to do things that are otherwise impossible, like flying,
walking through walls, diving to the bottom of oceans, traveling into space,
etc. without any equipment to allow it. And obviously, there are other things
that you can dream about and do as well. There are literally no limits and
endless possibilities. Unlocking the power of your mind to hack your dreams
is one of the most amazing things you can do. Our brains, our wetware as it
were, is the greatest piece of technology that we possess.
There are several well known techniques that will help you achieve lucidity
during sleep. The simplest method is to ask yourself "Am I dreaming?" while
you're awake, repeatedly throughout the day. Then you'll eventually ask
yourself that same question while you're dreaming, and it could be the catalyst
that makes you realize you're in a dream state. Just don't ask yourself that
aloud while walking around in public, or it'll garner some strange looks. ;)
Another approach is to repeat "I'm dreaming." in your mind while you're about
to enter sleep. Once you've made the transition to a sleep state, that
thought might remain implanted in your mind, and you'll realize you're dreaming.
You may even hear yourself saying "I'm dreaming" in your dreams.
A third way is to listen to tapes that relax you and open your mind. These
audio tapes can be anything from calming new age music, to ones that contain
hidden messages. This is the only method that seems to work for certain people,
but I've never chosen to use it.
Once you've achieved a lucid dreaming state, and want to control the plot of
your dreams, you might have to experiment and practice before being able to do
exactly what you want. For some people, it's easy and comes naturally. For
others, the process is slower and they have to learn how to make their mind
control their dreams. For some, learning how to monopolize their dreams can
be a long, arduous process. It takes practice to be able to do everything you
want to do. For example, if you want to fly in your dreams, but can't seem to
will yourself off the ground and into the air, you may want to try jumping off
a building or a high point of ground, such as a cliff. Sometimes that works,
as after falling for a couple of seconds, your mind realizes that you don't
really have to fall, and can make yourself fly. Don't worry about dying from
falling in a dream. That's a huge myth. It's perfectly safe to do anything in
dreams. You can't be killed no matter what you try to do. The simple answer
for that is your mind can't dream something that can harm your body. Dreams
aren't the same as the physical world.
To awaken yourself during a lucid dream, I've found that the best method to
use is simply to close your eyes for a few seconds. If you're still not awake,
open them again. Usually that initiates the waking state. Hell, with a lot of
practice, you can even train yourself to wake up at certain times and be within
a few minutes of the time you selected to awake before you went to sleep.
Remembering lucid dreams can be more difficult for some people. The
subconscious mind is complex, and can be very tricky. One way to increase
the amount of dreams you remember is to set a schedule for sleeping and waking.
In other words, have a set time in which you go to sleep and wake up. The
longer the time is after REM sleep has ended, the less likely it is you'll be
able to remember your last dream. So, if you had a lucid dream, you may not
remember it after you're awake, unless you limit the amount of time you sleep
to around 7 or 8 hours per sleep session. The final REM cycle tends to last
until you've been asleep for approximately 7 hours. So, try to avoid setting
your alarm so that it activates while you're in the middle of a lucid dream.
Once you have been awakened, write down whatever you remember happening and
try to record all of the details while they're fresh in your mind. In most
cases, the longer you delay writing down what occurred in a dream, the less you
will be able to remember. Dreams aren't like normal memories of real life
events, so they usually don't remain in our conscious minds for too long. Even
if they do, the vivid details of them tend to fade quickly. Personally, I can
recall dreams that I had a decade or longer ago, but can't remember every detail
anymore. The norm is that people tend to forget their dreams after a while.
Drugs and medication can sometimes affect your dreams, and a person's ability
to lucid dream. Since certain drugs are mind altering and change your state of
mind, they can have detrimental affects on you sleep. In some cases, they can
also be responsible for preventing you from remembering dreams. And that can
be a very unfortunate side effect. However, sometimes a person will lose their
ability to recall what they've dreamed, for no apparent reason. That has
happened to me personally, several times over the years. I simply cannot
explain why that occurs. Normally a person has several dreams each night.
Just because you can't remember them, doesn't mean they didn't occur. But
dreams can be elusive, as can one's ability to recall them. One of the best
ways to prevent dream memory loss from happening is to develop consistent sleep
patterns. Try to maintain a routine and relax. Sometimes meditation or reading
a good book can help prepare you for lucid dreaming and dream recall.
In closing, lucid dreaming is another way for a person to use their imagination,
entertain and express themselves. It's an experience that everyone should try.
It's like having a great awakening the first time you have a lucid dream,
realize you're dreaming and attempt to shape how the remainder of the events
in the dream unfold around you. It's amazing. Sometimes you have total control
over the dream, and other times you only have partial control. Obviously all
dreams are created by your subconscious mind, so there's never an external
source that's controlling them. It's really just a matter of you knowing
whether you're dreaming or awake, and possessing the awareness to take control
of your dreams or not.
Written by Blackie Lawless ú Damage, INC. (C)opyright 2000.
REPORTS FROM THE FRONT - {REPORTS}
Kevin Mitnick is *finally* free and speaking out. Yeah, that's right. And
we have more Mitnick articles, along with a public statement he made upon his
release from prison.
I've also included an article on the Mojave Desert Phone Booth -- one which
was supposed to be in the last issue. Better late than never... If you want
more information on the famous booth, and how to find it, visit our links page
and check out the various sites listed that are dedicated to the phone booth
that's literally "in the middle of nowhere." It still accepts incoming calls,
so if you want to call, the number is (760) 733-9969. Ask for Charlie. ;)
Unfortunately the MDPB was recently removed by Pacific Bell. So, thanks to
them, what I wrote above about calling it no longer applies.
The rest of the articles have been included to inform you about various other
happenings regarding the Internet, telecommunications industry, etc. Don't
forget to read my comment in square brackets.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Desert silence broken by 'rrrrring'
September 22, 1999
Web posted at: 2:42 p.m. EDT
(1842 GMT)
BAKER, California (CNN) -- Fourteen miles from the nearest town, the silence of
the vast Mojave Desert is broken -- by the ringing coming from a phone booth.
The booth sits beside a narrow road, surrounded by nothing but cacti and high
brush.
"You see people coming from all over to see that telephone booth," said Tammy
Seeward, who works at a gas station in the nearest community, Baker, "It's out
in the middle of nowhere. And it works."
At one time -- back in the 1960s -- it had a purpose.
"We got two mines and ranchers. They needed something in between," said Charlie
Wilcox, the self-anointed answerer of the Mojave phone.
Wilcox points out that, while the miners and ranchers have dwindled, the phone
has been ringing off the hook, thanks to an Arizona man who put the desert phone
number on the Internet.
So who would call and expect to get an answer? Wilcox said the calls come from
all over -- as far away as Germany, France and Italy.
And, he says, the calls keep on coming -- with no sign of letting up.
[Unfortunately, they've now stopped.]
CNN affiliate KNSD contributed to this report.
(C) 2000 Cable News Network. All Rights Reserved.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Friday, January 21, 2000
California
Computer Hacker Mitnick Scheduled to Be Released Today
By: GREG MILLER
TIMES STAFF WRITER
Convicted computer hacker Kevin Mitnick is scheduled to be released from prison
today after spending nearly five years in incarceration for stealing software
from such companies as Sun Microsystems Inc. and Motorola Inc.
Mitnick's release caps the legal odyssey of a Southern California native who
became one of the most notorious hackers in history after leading the FBI on a
two-year, cross-country chase during the early 1990s.
Mitnick, 36, was finally captured in a North Carolina apartment in 1995, and
spent the next four years awaiting trial until he pleaded guilty in March in
federal court in Los Angeles to seven computer crime and fraud charges.
[Man, I heard he was 63, and went berserk in prison, and he killed a guard, and
he stashed away millions of dollars in Swiss Banks. No word of a lie. Any of
that true?]
Under terms of his supervised release, Mitnick will not be allowed to use a
computer or many other high-tech devices for the next three years. Even so,
some computer security experts are urging companies and government agencies to
be on alert.
[HIGH ALERT! SOUND THE WARNING! MITNICK IS LOOSE...]
"We are urging our customers to be extra diligent in monitoring activities on
their corporate networks for the next few days," said David Remnitz, chief
executive of IFSec, a New York-based computer security firm.
[Why aren't they concerned and diligent in regards to security at all times?]
Remnitz said his main worry is that there will be a burst of hacking activity by
Mitnick supporters, who in recent years have defaced a number of government and
corporate Web sites in Mitnick's name.
[Let's all increase the hacking activity level in the name of Mitnick. Good
idea. Afterall, everything that every hacker does relates back to him in some
way or another. In fact, I'm gonna deface a web site right now and plaster
Mitnick's name all over it. Hell, I'll imbed his name in every sector of the
server's drive(s) just for good measure. Again, just to reiterate, it's all
about Kevin Mitnick. He's the driving force behind my life.]
"Mitnick still has a tremendous following in the computer underground," Remnitz
said, "and anything that gives them reason to celebrate gives us reason for
concern."
[Really? What's all of this Mitnick hype I keep reading about?]
Mitnick, a native of Panorama City, is expected to move in with his father,
Alan Mitnick, who lives in Westlake Village and owns a construction company.
Kevin Mitnick served the final portion of his 54-month sentence at a federal
prison in Lompoc, Calif.
[Fuck, why don't you just publish all of his personal info.]
Members of Mitnick's family could not be reached for comment. But Kimberly
Tracey, a freelance writer who frequently speaks with Mitnick by phone, said he
is upbeat yet apprehensive about his release.
"He's a little nervous about what he's going to do, where he's going to find
work," said Tracey, of Marina del Rey. "He's just looking forward to getting on
with his life."
[We'll hire him. But he'll have to be willing to work for the same wages as
our lackeys and unpaid groupies. Forward that offer to him, will ya?]
She said she and other supporters planned to travel to Lompoc to greet Mitnick
when he is released.
[I was gonna be there, but I had to do something else that day. Seriously.]
Media interest in Mitnick remains high. A Miramax film about his capture is
expected to air on television or be released on video this year.
[I can hardly wait!]
Mitnick also will appear on an upcoming edition of "60 Minutes," in which he
tells the television news show that he saw himself as an "electronic joy rider."
"I was an accomplished computer trespasser," Mitnick says in the interview,
according to CBS. "I don't consider myself a thief. I copied without
permission."
Mitnick, who once claimed that hacking was an addiction, has had virtually no
exposure to the Internet or modern technology since his capture. He will not be
allowed to pursue employment where he would have access to a computer, but is
obligated to begin making payments to companies he victimized.
Federal prosecutors accused him of stealing hundreds of millions of dollars
worth of software.
[That's a lot of software. Of course, the estimated worth is purely speculative
and obviously extremely biased. It can be valued at any amount, and who can
argue with them? Then again, what do I know?]
But Mitnick, who appears never to have profited from his hacking exploits, will
be required to repay just $4,125 because authorities regard his earning
potential as limited.
Copyright (c) 2000 Times Mirror Company
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
January 21, 2000
---------
Kevin Mitnick read the statement shown below upon his release from
federal custody in Lompoc, California after nearly 5 years behind bars.
Mr. Mitnick is the copyright holder of this statement, and hereby gives
permission for limited reuse and republication under the Fair Use
doctrine of U.S. Copyright Law. All other rights reserved.
---------
Good morning.
Thank you all for taking the time to come out to Lompoc today, my first
day of freedom in nearly five years. I have a brief statement to read,
and I ask that you permit me to read my statement without interruption.
First, I'd like to thank the millions of people who have visited the
website kevinmitnick.com during my incarceration, and who took the time
to show their support for me during the past five years. I relied on
their support during the five years I've been incarcerated more than they
will ever realize, and I want to thank them all from the bottom of my
heart.
As many of you know, I've maintained virtually complete silence during my
incarceration -- I've refused dozens of requests for interviews from news
organizations from around the world, and for very real reasons -- my
actions and my life have been manipulated and grossly misrepresented by
the media since I was 17, when the Los Angeles Times first violated the
custom, if not the law, that prohibits publication of the names of
juveniles accused of crimes.
The issues involved in my case are far from over, and will continue to
affect everyone in this society as the power of the media to define the
"villain of the month" continues to increase.
You see, my case is about the power of the media to define the playing
field, as well as the tilt of that playing field -- it's about the power
of the media to define the boundaries of "acceptable discussion" on any
particular issue or story.
My case is about the extraordinary breach of journalistic ethics as
demonstrated by one man, John Markoff, who is a reporter for one of the
most powerful media organizations in the world, the New York Times.
My case is about the extraordinary actions of Assistant U.S. Attorneys
David Schindler and Christopher Painter to obstruct my ability to defend
myself at every turn.
And, most importantly, my case is about the extraordinary favoritism and
deference shown by the federal courts toward federal prosecutors who were
determined to win at any cost, and who went as far as holding me in
solitary confinement to coerce me into waiving my fundamental
Constitutional rights. If we can't depend on the courts to hold
prosecutors in check, then whom can we depend on?
I've never met Mr. Markoff, and yet Mr. Markoff has literally become a
millionaire by virtue of his libelous and defamatory reporting -- and I
use the word "reporting" in quotes -- Mr. Markoff has become a
millionaire by virtue of his libelous and defamatory reporting about me
in the New York Times and in his 1991 book "Cyberpunk."
On July 4th, 1994, an article written by Mr. Markoff was published on the
front page of the New York Times, above the fold. Included in that
article were as many as 60 -- sixty! -- unsourced allegations about me
that were stated as fact, and that even a minimal process of
fact-checking would have revealed as being untrue or unproven.
In that single libelous and defamatory article, Mr. Markoff labeled me,
without justification, reason, or supporting evidence, as "cyberspace's
most wanted," and as "one of the nation's most wanted computer
criminals."
In that defamatory article, Mr. Markoff falsely claimed that I had
wiretapped the FBI -- I hadn't -- that I had broken into the computers at
NORAD -- which aren't even connected to any network on the outside -- and
that I was a computer "vandal," despite the fact that I never damaged any
computer I've ever accessed. Mr. Markoff even claimed that I was the
"inspiration" for the movie "War Games," when a simple call to the
screenwriter of that movie would have revealed that he had never heard of
me when he wrote his script.
[Well, Markoff is obviously a lying jackass out to profit.]
In yet another breach of journalistic ethics, Mr. Markoff failed to
disclose in that article -- and in all of his following articles about me
-- that we had a pre-existing relationship, by virtue of Mr. Markoff's
authorship of the book "Cyberpunk." Mr. Markoff also failed to disclose
in any of his articles about this case his pre-existing relationship with
Tsutomu Shimomura, by virtue of his personal friendship with Mr.
Shimomura for years prior to the July 4, 1994 article Mr. Markoff wrote
about me.
[How many journalists follow any code of ethics though?]
Last but certainly not least, Mr. Markoff and Mr. Shimomura both
participated as de facto government agents in my arrest, in violation of
both federal law and jounalistic ethics. They were both present when
three blank warrants were used in an illegal search of my residence and
my arrest, and yet neither of them spoke out against the illegal search
and illegal arrest.
Despite Mr. Markoff's outrageous and libelous descriptions of me, my
crimes were simple crimes of trespass. I've acknowledged since my arrest
in February 1995 that the actions I took were illegal, and that I
committed invasions of privacy -- I even offered to plead guilty to my
crimes soon after my arrest. But to suggest without reason or proof, as
did Mr. Markoff and the prosecutors in this case, that I had committed
any type of fraud whatsoever, is simply untrue, and unsupported by the
evidence.
[Trespassing is a hobby of mine.]
My case is a case of curiosity -- I wanted to know as much as I could
find out about how phone networks worked, and the "ins" and "outs" of
computer security. There is NO evidence in this case whatsoever, and
certainly no intent on my part at any time, to defraud anyone of
anything.
Despite the absence of any intent or evidence of any scheme to defraud,
prosecutors Schindler and Painter refused to seek a reasonable plea
agreement -- indeed, their first "offer" to me included the requirement
that I stipulate to a fraud of $80 million dollars, and that I agree
never to disclose or reveal the names of the companies involved in the
case.
[Well, $80 million is a tad outrageous.]
Have you ever heard of a fraud case where the prosecutors attempted to
coverup the existence of the fraud? I haven't. But that was their method
throughout this case -- to manipulate the amount of the loss in this
case, to exaggerate the alleged harm, to cover up information about the
companies involved, and to solicit the companies involved in this case to
provide falsified "damages" consistent with the false reputation created
by Mr. Markoff's libelous and defamatory articles about me in the New
York Times.
[Lawyers manipulate facts and amounts daily. I think it's in their job
description or something.]
Prosecutors David Schindler and Christopher Painter manipulated every
aspect of this case, from my personal reputation to the ability of my
defense attorney to file motions on time, and even to the extent of
filing a 1700 item exhibit list immediately before trial. It was the
prosecutors' intent in this case to obstruct justice at every turn, to
use the unlimited resources of the government and the media to crush a
defendant who literally had no assets with which to mount a defense.
[Justice is easily obstructed, but true justice is nearly impossible to find.]
The fact of the matter is that I never deprived the companies involved in
this case of anything. I never committed fraud against these companies.
And there is not a single piece of evidence suggesting that I did so. If
there was any evidence of fraud, do you really think the prosecutors in
this case would have offered me a plea bargain? Of course not.
But prosecutors Schindler and Painter would never have been able to
violate my Constitutional rights without the cooperation of the United
States federal court system. As far as we know, I am the only defendant
in United States' history to ever be denied a bail hearing. Recently, Mr.
Painter claimed that such a hearing would have been "moot," because, in
his opinion, the judge in this case would not have granted bail.
Does that mean that the judge in this case was biased against me, and had
her mind made up before hearing relevant testimony? Or does that mean
that Mr. Painter believes it is his right to determine which
Constitutional rights defendants will be permitted to have, and which
rights they will be denied?
[I think it means that your Constitutional rights were ignored and thrown right
out the window. But I could be wrong. I haven't examined the case in detail.]
The judge in this case consistently refused to hold the prosecutors to
any sort of prosecutorial standard whatsoever, and routinely refused to
order the prosecutors to provide copies of the evidence against me for
nearly four years. For those of you who are new to this case, I was held
in pre-trial detention, without a bail hearing and without bail, for four
years. During those four years, I was never permitted to see the evidence
against me, because the prosecutors obstructed our efforts to obtain
discovery, and the judge in this case refused to order them to produce
the evidence against me for that entire time. I was repeatedly coereced
into waiving my right to a speedy trial because my attorney could not
prepare for trial without being able to review the evidence against me.
[Refusing to provide copies of evidence is almost a standard practice now in
the court system, is it not?]
Please forgive me for taking up so much of your time. The issues in this
case are far more important than me, they are far more important than an
unethical reporter for the New York Times, they're far more important
than the unethical prosecutors in this case, and they are more important
than the judge who refused to guarantee my Constitutional rights.
[I'd be damn angry and bitter as well. It's good to see that you didn't pull
any punches, and took some shots at them while you had the opportunity. I
would've done the same.]
The issues in this case concern our Constitutional rights, the right of
each and every one of us to be protected from an assault by the media,
and to be protected from prosecutors who believe in winning at any cost,
including the cost of violating a defendant's fundamental Constitutional
rights.
[Their goal is always to win. And the media's ultimate goal is to exploit
us, and profit as much as possible from cases like yours.]
What was done to me can be done to each and every one of you.
[Of course.]
In closing, let me remind you that the United States imprisons more
people than any other country on earth.
[They might as well just fence in the whole damn country.]
Again, thank you for taking time out of your busy lives to come to Lompoc
this morning, and thank you all for your interest and your support.
* Garnered from www.kevinmitnick.com
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mitnick Gets Out of Lompoc
by Wired News Report
11:15 a.m. 21.Jan.2000 PST
Notorious hacker Kevin Mitnick was released from federal prison early Friday
morning to relatively little fanfare. A prison spokesman said he drove away
with his family around 7 a.m. and didn't stop to talk with reporters.
[Did your reporters arrive late? I thought there was a press conference held
after his release, and he made a public statement. I could be mistaken though.]
Mitnick's release from Lompoc Federal Correctional Institution comes after
serving a total of five years for fraud convictions related to hacking into the
computer systems of several companies including Fujitsu, Motorola, and Sun
Microsystems.
Mitnick may have kept mum Friday, but in an interview with CBS' 60 Minutes
scheduled to air Sunday, Mitnick spoke to Ed Bradley about why he did what he
did.
"I saw myself as an electronic joy rider," he told Bradley. "I was like James
Bond behind the computer. I was just having a blast."
While he admits he "copied without permission," he denies hacking for money.
"I was an accomplished trespasser. I don't consider myself a thief," he said.
[Nor do I.]
Mitnick's release was under highly supervised terms.
He is banned from using computer hardware and software as well as any form of
wireless communication. He will also be barred from employment with companies
that have computers or computer access on its premises.
[That's like a death sentence.]
He is further prohibited from possessing any kind of passwords, cellular phone
codes, or data encryption devices. In fact, the only form of technology he may
own for three years after his release from prison is a landline telephone.
[Is Mitnick allowed to use U.S. currency? Is he allowed to eat and drink?
Woah, he gets to use a landline telephone? That's very generous.]
"If you read it literally, he would probably have to stand in one place for
three years," said Mitnick's attorney, Donald Randolph of Santa Monica,
California-based firm Randolph & Levanas.
Copyright (C) 1994-2000 Wired Digital Inc. All rights reserved.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A Hacker For Fun, Not Profit
* Most-Wanted Computer Criminal To Go Free
* Says Hacking Was 'A Blast'
(CBS) Kevin Mitnick shows little remorse, considering he is estimated by
authorities to have caused hundreds of millions of dollars of damage to blue
chip companies whose computer systems he hacked.
[Damage? What damage?]
He does not consider himself a thief for copying secret files, stealing
passwords and conning company workers because it was just a fun hobby he didn't
profit from, Mitnick tells 60 Minutes' Ed Bradley in his first interview.
The interview with Mitnick, once the FBI's most wanted computer criminal, will
be broadcast Sunday, Jan. 23, on 60 Minutes.
[Who's the FBI's most wanted now?]
Mitnick leaves a federal prison in California on Jan. 21 after serving five
years for fraud convictions related to hacking into the computer systems of
companies including Sun Microsystems, Motorola, and Qualcomm.
He believes what he did was "a gross invasion of privacy" but not stealing.
"I was an accomplished computer trespasser. I don't consider myself a thief," he
tells an incredulous Bradley, who counters that it was stealing. "I copied
without permission," retorts Mitnick.
Another part of Mitnick's rationale is that it was all for fun and not profit.
"I saw myself as an electronic joy rider," he says about the dozens of computer
break-ins he perpetrated on some of the world's most secure computer systems.
"I was like James Bond behind the computer," says Mitnick. "I was just having a
blast."
Part of the "blast" was how easy it was and, sometimes, how loaded with irony.
Exploiting a flaw in the computer system of Novell, the computer software design
company, enabled Mitnick to breech the company's security computer fire wall in
"a few minutes," he says. To steal the source codes for two of Motorola's most
advanced cell phones, he merely conned someone over the phone into emailing it
to him - a heist that took just 15 minutes on his cell phone.
Mitnick did not sell or trade the information he stole; he took it simply
because he could. "There was no end. It was a hobby in itself," he tells
Bradley. "It would be quite easy to become a millionaire," says Mitnick. "I
could have simply accessed the computers of law firms that do acquisitions and
mergers and traded on the information. I could have transferred funds," he says.
"It was just a big game to me."
But it was no game to the man trying to catch him, Federal Prosecutor Chris
Painter. He says Mitnick caused millions of dollars in damages. "That's not a
prankster," says Painter.
[What were these so-called millions of dollars in damages again?]
(C) 2000, CBS Worldwide Inc., All Rights Reserved.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
KEVIN FREE
01/26/00
For the past five years, Kevin Mitnick has been
imprisoned. That means he hasn't been able to do
a lot of things we all take for granted. He
hasn't seen a movie, listened to a CD, read
books and magazines... the list goes on into
infinity. Now, Kevin is free, although still
facing a huge amount of restrictions. He cannot
use a computer, a cellular phone, and many other
forms of technology. He isn't even allowed to go
on a speaking tour to tell his story, since that
would involve "profiting from his crimes."
Coming back after such a long time can be
traumatic in itself. In Kevin's case, he's being
held on such tight restrictions that many feel
the government wants him to make a mistake so he
can be sent back to prison. We need to help
Kevin become part of the world again so he no
longer feels alone and so that he will never go
back to confinement.
Kevin now has an address in the real world where
he can accept more than just letters. Please
take a moment, go to an online store, pick out a
CD or a movie that you think Kevin would enjoy,
and send it to the address below. If there's
anything else you can think of that someone
fresh out of a five year prison term would like,
please send it. Since he is not allowed cellular
phones, prepaid calling cards are also very
useful to Kevin right now. Kevin is not asking
you to do this - we, his supporters and friends,
are. We saw how happy he was to be back with
people again and we don't want that sense of
community to ever go away. And naturally, your
letters are always welcome. (Computers and
cellular phones aren't permitted. Also, do not
under ANY circumstances send anything with a
credit card number that isn't yours.)
[Ooops. Too late. I already sent him a box of credit cards. My mistake.]
Kevin's address:
Kevin Mitnick
2219 East Thousand Oaks Blvd, #432
Thousand Oaks, CA 91362
We will continue to post progress reports until
Kevin's three years of supervised release have
been successfully completed. Thanks to everyone
for the support over the years!
----------------------
Copyright (C) 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000
2600 Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Monday, January 31, 2000
Excite@Home Offering 'Firewall' to Boost Security
By: MICHAEL A. HILTZIK
TIMES STAFF WRITER
Excite@Home, stung by recent criticism that its "always on" broadband service
leaves its subscribers vulnerable to hackers and other Internet mischief-makers,
will start offering its customers special software to close such security gaps.
[Those killer bees will sting ya everytime.]
The service, whose 1.2 million subscribers access the Internet at high speeds
via their cable television lines, will today announce a plan to provide them
with a "firewall" program from McAfee.com at a cut rate.
[McAfee is well known for their excellent firewall protection programs too.]
The program is designed to keep unauthorized users from penetrating a
subscriber's computer--and sometimes the @Home network itself--via the
subscriber's Internet connection. The announcement comes just weeks after
Excite@Home discovered that "spammers"--businesses and individuals who clutter
the Internet with thousands of unsolicited junk-mail messages--were illicitly
exploiting security holes in its network to funnel their messages onto the Web.
The McAfee software will help close those holes, although the two companies said
they began negotiating their deal before the flaw was discovered.
[Yeah, right. That sounds a little too coincidental to me.]
Under the arrangement, @Home subscribers will receive the McAfee program for
free on a 90-day trial, and at an undetermined discount price after that. The
program, which requires a service contract with McAfee.com, will be made
available commercially to other buyers for less than $50 a year before the end
of March, a McAfee spokesman said.
Excite@Home, based in Redwood City, Calif., had 27.7 million different or unique
visitors on its network in December, according to MediaMetrix.
Computer managers in business have long relied on firewalls to safeguard their
corporate networks from intruders. Until recently, however, there has been
little demand from consumers for similar programs, largely because few perceived
their computers as vulnerable and because firewall programs are extremely
complicated to install and maintain.
But the security vulnerabilities of home computers have received more publicity
in recent years for two reasons.
One is the growth of high-speed broadband Internet connections for the home via
digital telephone lines or cable networks. These connections differ from
conventional dial-up modem connections in that they are live whenever the
computer is turned on, as opposed to only when a user dials into his or her
Internet service--vastly increasing the opportunities for incursions by
outsiders.
Another reason is that home computers now tend to store more sensitive personal
data than ever before, including information about users' businesses, bank
accounts and other financial assets.
[Don't forget about the sexy Emails sent between co-workers!]
"There's more and more malicious behavior out there, including hacker activity
and viruses," said James Balderston, a business analyst at McAfee.com, "while
the volume of what @Home users are putting in their boxes is increasing."
[Yeah, more "malicious hackers", right?]
For all that, an Excite@Home spokesman downplayed the real risks of incursions
by outsiders to subscribers who engage only in conventional Web surfing and
exchanges of e-mail.
"I wouldn't define it as a rampant problem," said Jay Rolls, @Home's vice
president of network engineering, although he acknowledged that "some
subscribers might be looking for peace of mind."
[There is no security problem with @Home service. Just forget about it.]
Other users, however, need the network safeguards "because their behavior is
riskier," he said. These include subscribers who download software programs from
Web sites of dubious integrity or who indiscriminately open e-mail attachments
from strangers. Such programs and messages may contain viruses, which are
programs that invade the users' PCs, or "Trojan horses," which can hijack the
user's Internet connection to use as a portal onto the network itself.
[Are pr0n sites in the dubious integrity category?]
Rolls also acknowledged that many individual Excite@Home users have exposed the
service to hackers by improperly setting up their own home networks. These
networks enable two or more home computers to share printers and Internet
access. If improperly installed, the software running those connections can
unwittingly provide outsiders with unauthorized access to the @Home network.
[They network their Windows systems though. And they're ultra-secure.]
Just such a problem surfaced late last year, when a group of independent
Internet monitors traced an explosion of spam to @Home. The monitors,
complaining that @Home had procrastinated in resolving the problem, threatened
to impose a "Usenet Death Penalty" on the service--a step that would have
blocked all its subscribers from posting messages to thousands of special-
interest community groups on the Web.
The threat was lifted Jan. 14, after @Home discovered the spam was circulating
via its subscribers' network access gaps and took steps to close them.
[Hold on a sec. I'm gonna go order @Home service right now. BRB.]
Copyright (c) 2000 Times Mirror Company
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
February 2, 2000
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
DAY OF ACTION PLANNED AGAINST MOTION PICTURE ASSOCIATION IN 100 CITIES
Members of the hacker and open source communities worldwide, along with various
civil liberties groups, are planning a massive leafletting campaign on Friday,
February 4 to call attention to the recent attempts by the Motion Picture
Association of America to shut down thousands of websites.
Lawsuits have been filed against hundreds of people, as well as an Internet
Service Provider and a magazine, for having information the MPAA wants to keep
secret.
[Read 2600's Spring 2000 issue for more info.]
The controversy centers around a computer program known as DeCSS, thought to be
written by a 16 year old in Norway. The program defeats the encryption scheme
used by DVD's which prohibits them from being viewed on non-approved machines
or computers. It also enables DVD's from one country to be played in another,
contrary to the wishes of the movie industry. It does NOT facilitate DVD piracy
- in fact, copying DVD's has been possible since their introduction years ago.
In its press releases on the subject, the MPAA has claimed that this is a piracy
issue and they have subsequently succeeded in getting injunctions against a
number of sites that had posted the program in the interests of free speech.
This is in effect a lawsuit against the entire Internet community by extremely
powerful corporate interests. The lawsuit and the various actions being planned
promise to be a real showdown between two increasingly disparate sides in the
technological age. The consequences of losing this case are so serious that
civil libertarians, professors, lawyers, and a wide variety of others have
already stepped forward to help out.
Friday's action will be coordinated in 74 cities throughout North America and
26 cities in other parts of the world. Leafletting will take place outside
theaters and video stores in these cities - all of which participate in a
monthly "2600" gathering. 2600 Magazine has been named in two lawsuits regarding
the DeCSS program and has joined with the the growing number of people who will
fight these actions by the MPAA until the end.
The lawsuit has been filed by the Motion Picture Association of America,
Columbia/Tristar, Universal City Studios, Paramount Pictures, Disney
Enterprises, Twentieth Century Fox, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios, and Time Warner
Entertainment.
Contact:
Emmanuel Goldstein
(631) 751-2600 ext. 0
Copyright (C) 2000 Hacker News Network. All Rights Reserved.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bell Canada and Lycos announce joint venture
* Bell accelerates its growth as the number one player in the
Canadian Internet market by partnering with Lycos
* Exclusive consumer portal for Sympatico dial-up and high speed
services
Toronto, Ontario (February 2, 2000) - Bell Canada and Lycos, Inc.,
(NASDAQ : LCOS) a leading Web media company and owner of the Lycos Network,
today announced the creation of a new Internet company, Sympatico-Lycos, to
provide Canadians with expanded Internet resources for the business-to-consumer
marketplace. Through the Sympatico-Lycos portal, Canadians from coast to coast
will enjoy the most comprehensive Internet experience that combines world-class
Internet technology and applications, including search, community,
personalization, e-mail, city guides and a wealth of Canadian content.
[That's world-class? Ha.]
"With the Sympatico-Lycos joint venture, Bell Canada will greatly strengthen its
position as the number one Internet company in Canada," said Jean C. Monty,
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Bell Canada. "Our objective behind the
joint venture is to leverage the capabilities of both partners to create the
most advanced business-to-consumer portal for English- and French-speaking
Canadians, with the best interactivity and content."
[Number one monopoly in Canada.]
Sympatico's Web site is now accessed by more Canadian and foreign visitors than
any other portal in Canada. The new portal will attract even greater interest
from the Internet community, by representing on-line Canadians to sellers
through e-commerce applications across North America.
[Yeah, that's it. Give the zombies a new portal to fuck.]
"Lycos' global strategy is to align with first-class companies with strong local
infrastructure," said Bob Davis, President and Chief Executive Officer of Lycos.
"By teaming with Bell Canada, we are leveraging the strengths of both companies
to create a powerhouse portal that best meets the needs of the Canadian Internet
user."
[Uh, does teaming up with Bell Canada mean Lycos/Bell is a new tagteam?]
"We have chosen to team up with Lycos because of its impressive range of
applications and technology, and its network of Internet properties, which have
led it to become one of the most visited sites on the Internet," said Serge
Fortin, President and CEO of Bell ActiMedia. "Through this agreement, we will
use Lycos technology and applications within our www.Sympatico.ca site to make
it the most advanced business-to-consumer portal in the country. Visitors to our
new site will find extensive additions and new functionalities such as instant
messaging, online auctions and parental controls. "
Terms of the agreement
As part of the agreement, Bell Canada will invest CA $37 million (U.S. $25
million) to form with Lycos, Inc. a new company named Sympatico-Lycos, majority
owned by Bell. Separately, Bell ActiMedia and Lycos signed a CA $60 million
(U.S. $40 million) multi-year distribution agreement. Under the terms of the
agreement, Bell products and services will be promoted to U.S. Lycos Network
users accessing the Network from Canada. This agreement will broaden the
distribution for Sympatico-Lycos immediately and leverage Lycos' dominant reach
on the Internet. Additionally, through its subsidiary Bell ActiMedia, Bell
Canada will also contribute its portfolio of business-to-consumer Internet
properties to the new company:
* Sympatico.ca - Canada's leading portal with over 75 million pages
views and 2.8 million unique visitors per month
* YellowPages.ca - Electronic Yellow Pages directory with over 2.2
million businesses listed
* VMP.com - Virtual Market Place featuring premiere Canadian
e-commerce retailers
* Canada411 - Business and residential phone number search
* Adbag.ca- A pre-shopping and electronic coupon destination
* Toronto.com- A complete city guide to Toronto
* MontrealPlus.ca- A complete city guide to Montreal
* CalgaryPlus.ca - A complete city guide to Calgary
* QuebecPlus.ca, - A complete city guide to Quebec City
Bell ActiMedia will also contribute several other planned city guides.
Powered by existing and future Lycos technology and applications, the new
Sympatico-Lycos site, which will be launched in May, will offer Canadians one
source for all of their business and consumer needs. It will do so using the
global reach of the Internet and cutting-edge technology and applications. Lycos
will license to the joint venture applications such as the My Lycos customizable
start page, free e-mail, chat, shopping, homepage building, personalized news
and more. The Lycos Network includes some of the Web's most popular sites,
including Lycos.com, HotBot, Gamesville, Tripod MailCity, Quote, WhoWhere,
Angelfire, HotWired, Wired News, Webmonkey and Sonique. Combined with the
national, regional and local Canadian content of Sympatico, the new site -
Sympatico-Lycos - will offer users a rich and unique online experience.
[Rich is the word. This is all very rich.]
Sympatico is already the premier Canadian brand on the Internet. With more than
100 million pages viewed each month, Sympatico and its other Internet properties
generate more than CA $17.5 million (US $12 million) per year of online
advertising revenues. Bell Canada's Sympatico dial-up and high speed Internet
access services will feature the Sympatico-Lycos content, community, and
commerce offerings on an exclusive basis. Through Bell Canada and its associated
companies, the new Sympatico-Lycos Internet Company will have access to more
than 10 million Canadian households, which are currently Bell Canada customers.
[Yeah, yeah. More boasting and bragging. I thought only hackers were supposed
to do that?]
Marc P. Tellier, formerly Vice-President New Media Alliances, Bell ActiMedia,
has been appointed President and CEO of the new company. Senior executives from
both Lycos and Bell Actimedia will make up the management team.
The closing of the transaction is subject to completion of certain conditions,
including the receipt of normal course approvals.
About Lycos
Founded in 1995, Lycos, Inc. is a leading Web media company and owner of the
Lycos Network, one of the most visited hubs on the Internet reaching one out of
every two U.S. Web users. The Lycos Network is a unified set of Web sites that
attracts a diverse audience by offering a variety of services, including leading
Web navigation resources, home page building and other Web community services
and a comprehensive shopping center. The Lycos Network is composed of premium
sites: Lycos.com, Tripod, WhoWhere, Angelfire, MailCity, HotBot, HotWired,
Wired News, Webmonkey, Suck.com, Sonique, Quote.com and Gamesville.com.
Lycos.com (http://www.lycos.com), "Your Personal Internet Guide," is dedicated
to helping each individual user locate, retrieve and manage information tailored
to his or her personal interests. Headquartered near Boston in Waltham, Mass.,
Lycos, Inc. is a global Internet leader with a major presence throughout the
U.S., Europe, Asia and Latin America.
About Bell Canada
Bell Canada provides a full range of communications services to customers,
including wired and wireless local and long distance telephone services,
Internet access, high-speed data services and directories. Bell Canada, its
telecom partners and subsidiaries provide services through 13.6 million access
lines, including 11 million in Ontario and Quebec. Bell Canada also serves more
than 2.3 million wireless customers through Bell Mobility. Bell Canada is 80%
owned by BCE Inc. of Montreal and 20% owned by SBC Communications Inc. of San
Antonio, Texas. Bell Canada's Web site is located at http://www.bell.ca. News
releases, speeches and background information are in the Newsroom. Our e-mail
address is forum@bell.ca.
[BCE - Big/Bitchy Corrupt Eggheads.]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cash-rich BCE now on the hunt for acquisitions
TORONTO - With a major cash infusion expected from its spinoff of most of
Nortel Networks Corp., BCE Inc. says it is in the hunt to acquire Internet
service providers and emerging phone traffic carriers in the northeastern
United States.
Some analysts also say the telecommunications giant will soon sell its stake
in Teleglobe Inc. as it accelerates a new acquisition strategy.
Jean Monty, president and chief executive, said this week that Montreal-based
BCE will announce its long-awaited Internet portal strategy "within weeks."
He would not say if the plan includes acquisition of a major Internet search
company such as About.Com Inc. of New York, Lycos Inc. of Waltham, Mass., or
New York-based CMGI Inc.'s Altavista Co.
"I know it has taken a long time," Monty said of the delay in producing the
strategy, "But we wanted to make sure it was the right deal."
[Monty's still wheeling and dealing.]
Monty said Bell will confine its search for competitive local exchange carriers
and internet service providers to the northeast United States to avoid overlap
with SBC Communications Inc., a unit of Ameritech Corp., which serves telephone
customers in southwestern states and is a part owner of Bell.
SBC, the largest long-distance and local telephone company in the United States,
through Ameritech, owns 20 per cent of Bell Canada, this country's largest
telecommunications company.
[Actually, the parent company BCE is larger than Bell Canada.]
In fact, analysts said some communications equipment buyers have bypassed Nortel
because of parent BCE's link to SBC.
One industry observer, moreover, said SBC-Ameritech, despite its minority
position in Bell, is actually the straw that stirs the BCE drink.
[BCE can't stir its own drinks now?]
"SBC has a lot of influence," said consultant Ian Grant of the Angus Tele-
management Group.
[And that's what it's about... influence.]
"As I understand it, if Bell does not meet certain growth targets, SBC has a
veto over its business plans."
[Someone has to tell Bell what to do.]
Analysts say BCE is building a war chest that could grow to $10.7 billion to
accelerate its new acquisition strategy. The sale of BCE's remaining 2.2
percent stake in Nortel later this summer will add $4.4 billion to its already
hefty $3.6-billion cash reserve built from the sale of the Bell Canada stake to
Ameritech last spring.
CANADIAN PRESS
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Yahoo! site 'hacked-up' for hours
WASHINGTON -- Computer vandals using a common electronic attack overwhelmed
Yahoo!, the most popular site on the Internet, and rendered the flagship
Web directory inaccessible for several hours Monday.
Yahoo! spokeswoman Diane Hunt said the company, worth roughly $93 billion US,
was the victim of hackers flooding its equipment with repeated electronic
requests. The vandals did not gain access inside its computers, she said.
[Victim of hackers? Is that a fact Diane, or is that just your best guess?]
Yahoo said the problems began Monday about 1:45 p.m. EST and continued for
about four hours.
The problem also prevented the company's customers from accessing free e-mail
accounts through the Web site.
The failure drew renewed attention to the risks facing the fledgling world of
electronic commerce, where hackers can shut down the largest online stores.
[Oh, so hackers shut it down eh?]
"It basically says nobody is safe, if Yahoo can be taken down with all the
resources behind them," said Elias Levy, chief technology officer at San Mateo,
Calif.-based SecurityFocus.Com.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Merger will make Linux powerhouse: Corel boss
TORONTO -- Corel Corp.'s chief executive insisted Monday that a $2.4-billion
US deal with a California software developer doesn't wager the future of his
embattled Ottawa-area company on the strength of Linux, a promising new system
for running a computer's basic functions.
"We see Windows continuing to be strong for the decade ahead," Michael Cowpland
told a Monday conference call to explain the all-stock transaction. "We're
not gambling anything."
Cowpland called the deal with Inprise/Borland Corp. -- a provider of high-end
e-commerce and business software -- a merger rather than a takeover because
the two companies don't have any overlapping technologies.
What the companies have in common is a desire to sell software applications
using Linux, an operating system that can be downloaded for free from the
Internet. Enthusiasm about Linux ignited several furious stock market rallies
in recent months as investors began to regard it as a prime competitor to
Microsoft Corp.'s Windows counterpart.
[Corel has impeccable taste, but no business sense. They're losing millions.]
The combined company, which will operate under Corel's name, will be a
"Linux powerhouse," Cowpland promised.
[Hey, I'll take your word for it COWpland.]
Linux accounted for a mere five percent of Corel's overall revenues last year.
Cowpland expects that figure to grow to between $20 million and $30 million
this year, to about 10 per cent.
But it's unclear whether the Linux system, despite being regarded by many
technophiles as cheaper and more reliable than Windows, will ever be able to
take a significant bite out of Microsoft's domination.
Linux has established itself as a popular software for running Web site
computers, but only a tiny fraction of desktop machines use Linux software,
the vast majority of which run on Windows.
Cowpland sees that as an asset.
"The Linux landscape is so huge in opportunity, we don't see any competitors
to what we're doing because we don't see anybody out there with this range
of products," he said.
CANADIAN PRESS
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
February 10, 2000
You can now get Yahoo! on phone
TORONTO -- Bell Mobility announced its latest in a series of Internet-related
alliances Wednesday, enabling customers to access Yahoo! Canada on digital
PCS cell phones equipped with Web browsers.
[Wowee!]
Essentially a vehicle to draw more attention to a service and a product that
Bell has offered since May of last year, the deal expands the catalogue of
information services that Bell offers through certain phones; e-mail, access
to online news, business, weather, sports and financial services.
[Coolio.]
It's part of a strategy known industry-wide as "convergence" -- the amalgamation
of several products and services into one.
CANADIAN PRESS
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Februrary 10, 2000
FBI searches of high-tech vandals
WASHINGTON -- Several more cyberspace superstars were hobbled by hit-and-run
hackers Wednesday, providing dramatic evidence of how vulnerable the information
highway is to old-fashioned gridlock.
[Huh?]
The FBI has dispatched teams of agents to track down saboteurs using "zombie
computers" in a well-organized campaign to bring several leading Internet sites
to their knees.
[See, we've been telling you about zombies for years. Now even the FBI has
picked up the term.]
"These cyber assults have caused millions of Internet users to be denied
services," said Janet Reno, the U.S. attorney general. "They appear to be
intended to disrupt legitimate electronic commerce."
[Unless they were intended to impress chicks with DDoS attacks. That might
be it too. Ya never know Reno.]
Seven top Web sites have been crippled in the past three days in ferocious
attacks by unknown and unseen computer vandals.
[Unknown *and* unseen. Now that's funny.]
Online stock traders E-Trade and Datek were among those knocked off the
Internet Wednesday.
[Now we can't have that happening. Commerce must continue.]
Buy.com, Amazon.com, eBay and CNN were blitzed Tuesday. Almost anyone trying
to gain access to the leading independent Web portal Yahoo! a day earlier,
was shut down.
[It's the blitz. Duck and cover. Hit the shelters.]
All the assaults were what are known as denial-of-service attacks, in which a
Web site is bombarded with messages or useless data, effectively blocking out
legitimate users.
The attacks appeared to be co-ordinated efforts from multiple points on the
Internet. Experts said the vandals likely used "zombie computers" -- machines
that have been electronically broken into and taken over, then used to flood
Web sites with bogus information.
[There's that "zombie" term again. I'm beginning to think everyone is obsessed
with zombies -- not just us.]
The attack on Yahoo! was particularly rattling to experts and a sobering
reminder of the hazards which face internet-based businesses.
[Which experts?]
"It basically says nobody is safe, if Yahoo can be taken down with all the
resources behind them," said Elias Levy, of SecurityFocus.com in California.
[Yep.]
More than 42 million visitors a month log on to Yahoo!, according to the
research firm Media Metrix.
[Pfft. That's all? We get that in a week.]
Some experts have speculated the attacks could be a show of strength, preparing
the ground for a blackmail attempt.
[They always think it's about money. Always thinking blackmail.]
The attack on Buy.com, for example, appeared to have been timed to coincide with
the company's initial public offering on the stock market.
[Perfect timing is a gift.]
Most North Americans don't realize how dependent they have become on computers
-- not only at home or at the office, but also to run their electricity,
telephone, transportation and other infrastructure systems.
That reliance has made technologically advanced countries such as Canada and the
United States vulnerable to attacks by terrorists who strike through computers
rather than with bombs or bullets.
[When did Canada become technologically advanced? Nobody notified me dammit!]
There is an economic cost to Internet logjams. Stock prices for almost all of
those targeted over the past few days were down Wednesday.
[Now I like that one -- "Internet logjams"]
Mindful of the economic jeopardy the Clinton administration vowed to bring
hackers to heel swiftly.
[DoS attacks orchestrated against certain web sites shouldn't instigate a
"war on hackers"... Especially since that's not hacking. So who's to say
hackers are involved/responsible? Yeah, just blame and target them all. Heel
Billy, heel. Down boy.]
But the FBI has learned just how difficult it is to prevent cyber-assaults
like these. In April, the legendary federal police force itself fell victim to
a hacker-attack when pranksters overwhelmed its internet computers and cut off
access for days.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
BCE spinoff of Nortel befuddles stockholders
TORONTO -- BCE Inc.'s monumental spinoff of most of its interest in Nortel
Networks Corp. -- worth about $90 billion at Nortel's current stock price --
has confused many of BCE's half-million shareholders.
Here's a selection of the most common queries.
* What's happening?
[I don't know. You tell me.]
By mid-year, BCE will give just over 500 million Nortel shares to its own
shareholders -- somewhat like a dividend, although investors will simply get
something they already own. The market price of BCE stock will almost certainly
drop like a rock as soon as the shares no longer include a Nortel stake.
BCE shareholders will get 0.78 of a Nortel share for each BCE share. So an
investor with 100 BCE shares prior to the transaction will hold 100 BCE shares
and 78 Nortel common shares afterward.
* Why are they doing it?
[Again, don't ask me. Tell me.]
BCE's managers think the stock market is undervaluing their vast telephone and
Internet business because investors can't see past the company's 39 per cent
interest in booming Nortel. At current valuations, the market assigns a value
of less than $20 billion to non-Nortel BCE assets which analysts say are worth
$50 billion or more.
"The distribution of the NOrtel Networks shares will begin to unlock significant
and sustainable value for BCE shareholders," BCE president Jean Monty said last
month when he announced the spinoff.
* When does it happen?
[Uhh... $50 says no date has been set.]
No date has been set, but BCE hopes to complete the spinoff by June 30. Its
stockholders must approve the deal at their annual meeting April 26, and Nortel
shareholders must clear it at their annual meeting in April or May.
[Hey, I was right. Pay up.]
BCE will announce a "date of certificate of arrangement." Only shareholders
of record on that date will get the Nortel shares.
* If I buy BCE shares now, will I get Nortel stock?
Yes. But there's no windfall. When the spinoff takes place, it will be as
though 0.78 of a Nortel share has been sucked out of each BCE share.
* If I sell BCE stock now, will I still get Nortel shares?
No, because you'll no longer be a BCE stockholder; only shareholders on the
date of certificate of arrangement will get them.
[Awww. Please? C'mon. Do me a personal favour. Gimme Nortel shares.]
* Do I get taxed on my new Nortel stock?
It's not taxable until you sell the shares or dispose of them in some other
way, including transfers to a registered retirement savings plan. If you sell
the Nortel stock outside an RRSP, complicated rules apply.
* What about my BCE divident?
BCE, as a much smaller company without Nortel, plans to reduce its annual
dividend to $1.20 from the current $1.36. But Nortel also pays an annual
dividend of 15 cents US, or just under 22 cents Cdn, and 0.78 of this is about
17 cents. That means a total dividend of $1.37.
CANADIAN PRESS
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FBI chasing 'daemons' and 'zombies' to prevent another big hack attack
WASHINGTON -- Acknowledging they have a difficult case to crack, U.S. government
cybersleuths found a small silver lining Thursday in this week's computer
attacks on Internet electronic commerce sites.
[Cybersleuths has a nice ring to it.]
"At least, there's massive awareness of this now," said John Bentivoglio,
counsel to the deputy attorney general.
[Massive awareness that'll last about 15 seconds, at most.]
"This week's events did more than we have ever been able to do with white papers
and posting fixes on our Web site to alert the private sector to the dangers
out there."
[But those white pages make for an interesting read though.]
So, private Internet service providers and Internet sites have been turning
over computer logs to help trace the attacks that temporarily shut sites like
eBay and ETrade, Bentivoglio said.
Investigators would prefer to trace attacks while still in progress but that
is difficult. Afterward, they must rely on transaction records at company
sites, university computer systems and Internet service providers. The quality
of these records varies.
Deputy attorney general Eric Holder acknowledged Thursday: "This is going to
be a difficult case to crack" but the FBI is pursuing leads.
[I knew it all along. The FBI are a bunch of crackers.]
"This is...a hot investigation," Holder said. "These are people who are
criminals and we will do all that we can to find them, to prosectue them and
to put them in jail."
[Aren't they criminal hackers or cyber criminals or something?]
With tens of millions of dollars in losses possible, Holder said the attacks
might lead to tougher penalties than the current 10-year maximum prison sentence
for second offences.
[That's steep.]
The White House also announced Thursday that President Bill Clinton will meet
with the country's top computer-security experts and technology executives in
part to talk about the attacks. The White House said the meeting had originally
been organized on the heels of the president's budget proposal for $2.03 billion
to protect the country's most important computer systems from cyberattacks.
[What I wouldn't have done to be a fly on the wall during that meeting.]
Months ago, a Carnegie-Mellon University team issued a white paper warning about
denial of service attacks like those this week.
[CERT uses *really* white paper too. It's hyper-bright-white.]
Over the New Year's weekend, the FBI posted free software on its Web site that
detects whether denial-of-service tools, known as daemons, had been secretly
placed on their computers. Some 2,600 companies and others downloaded the free
software and three found daemons.
[That's a lot of daemons.]
These daemons are later activated by a signal from a remote location or an
internal timer to attack a victim computer site with so many messages it cannot
handle them all. The victim computer sites are tied up and shut down, like an
overloaded telephone. Investigators call the computers that unwittingly house
these daemons "zombie computers."
[Chase those daemons and zombies FBI. Chase 'em.]
The U.S. Defence Department said all its computers will be checked to verify
they were not used as unwitting agents in this week's attack. And the General
Services Administration also alerted all federal agencies to ways they can
prevent hacking.
Dozens, even hundreds of zombie computers have been used in past attacks,
Bentivoglio said. The number could reach thousands. And the daemons arrive
at the victim site with phony return addresses, making them harder to trace.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
No shortage of conspiracy theories
While the FBI and other investigators search for the culprits of this week's
cyber-attacks against popular Web sites such as Yahoo and eBay, legions of
computer enthusiasts, armchair gumshoes, hackers and conspiracy theorists are
having no trouble proposing leads of their own.
[Personally, I don't sit in armchairs wearing gummy shoes. Sue me.]
Suspects ranging from Microsoft Corp. Chairman Bill Gates to Attorney General
Janet Reno are named in varous Web chat rooms and discussion groups as potential
-- if unlikely -- perpetrators of one of the most coordinated and disruptive
hacks the Web has ever seen.
[Personally, I think it was Reno. Unless Janet Reno and the late Andy Warhol
had some kind of strange little love child who's the real person responsible
for perpetrating these attacks. Now there's a thought.]
So is Kevin Mitnick, the notorious hacker who went to prison for stealing
millions of dollars in software from computer and cellular phone companies in
the early 1990s. Mitnick's five years behind bars came to an end last month,
although he is forbidden from using computer for three years.
[Then again, it could've been Mitnick seeking revenge. That seems plausible.]
One of the most widespread theories is that a handful of "kids" launched the
attack just to see if they could pull it off. Some speculators went into great
detail describing the possible culprits, right down to their pimply faces,
blaring music and pocket protectors.
[Now that's just outlandish...]
Another common belief is that the attacks were launched by computer security
experts in an attempt to drum up demand for their services. Shares of computer
security companies such as VeriSign and Check Point Software Technologies
spiked up during the week.
[That's a ludicrous theory. That's almost like accusing an anti-virus software
company creating and spreading viruses, just so they can profit from the mass
hysteria generated. It's not a theory. It's a myth. They'd *never* do that.]
The most likely candidate, according to chat room visitors, is China. Should
the Red Army attack the United States, the first step would surely be to disrupt
the U.S. communications system, several military buffs suggest.
[Yeah. China would definitely target EBay and Yahoo! Definitely.]
LOS ANGELES TIMES
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Canadian company reports attack
TORONTO -- Computer vandals crippled Toronto-based music retailer HMV.com on
Monday, the same day Internet giants Yahoo! and Amazon.com fell to similar
attacks, but it was days before a special high-tech Mountie unit was alerted,
the Toronto Star reports.
[A special high-tech Mountie unit? That almost sounds like it was taken
directly from the latest sci-fi "Cyberpunk" genre novel... Don't make me laugh.]
Frank Koblum, director of consumer e-commerce at HMV.com said the site was hit
at 3 p.m. Monday. "People here working on our Internet site realized that it
was very slow to respond or it was not responding," Koblum said.
"Our information technology guys looked into it and they discovered our system
was working at 100 per cent. It was ready to go down."
[100% efficiency. That's awesome. What are you complaining about?]
They ended up closing the site for an hour, Koblum said.
[And I was trying to buy CDs online for $25 plus S&H dammit!]
But HMV.com didn't release information about the attack until Friday morning,
days after the attack. Koblum said they hadn't experienced such an attack
until then, and they sent data to IBM for analysis before concluding that it
had been a "distributed denial of service" attack.
[Did IBM come up with that conclusion all on their own?]
The HMV.com attack is the first reported incident in Canada since denial of
service attacks flooded several major U.S. sites with an overwhelming amount
of data that prevented normal users from getting access to the popular sites.
However, the RCMP's specialized computer crime division in Ontario hadn't even
heard of the HMV.com attack until four hours after HMV reported the incident.
[Haha.]
When reached by telephone Friday afternoon, RCMP Const. Ron Rimnyak, one of two
RCMP computer crime specialists in Ontario, said local RCMP investigators hadn't
yet informed him of the hit on HMV.
[They've got 2 RCMP computer crime specialists in Ontario now? I'm impressed.]
Cpl. Frank Koenig, an RCMP commercial crime officer in Toronto handling the
investigation, wouldn't comment on the case. When asked if the case was urgent,
he said: "Everything here is urgent."
[Arresting 15-year-olds is urgent business. Hehe.]
Canadian authorities have complained that they don't have the resources to
investigate most computer crimes.
[Not enough tax dollars available to fund them?]
Computer security experts have warned that the trail of information left by the
type of denial of service attack launched this week gets cold quickly. They
say the hackers in these latest attacks commandeered scores of slave computers
and programmed them to send huge quantities of information to overload the
victim sites.
[Not slave computers, zombie computers. Get it right.]
Investigators have to try to find the slave computers, then to examine for clues
to where the attack was ultimately launched.
[Just like Sherlock Holmes.]
At least three other Web sites, including Excite@Home, an Internet service
provider, were also attacked last week but didn't announce it at the time, the
New York Times reported.
CANADIAN PRESS
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Experts trace computer used in hacker attacks
WASHINGTON -- Experts investigating attacks against major commercial Web sites
this week confirmed Friday that a computer and an Internet device used by
vandals as weapons have been traced to two California universities.
The vandals used a desktop computer at the University of California at Santa
Barbara and an Internet router -- a device that can amplify data traffic -- from
Stanford University, officials at both schools acknowledged Friday.
There was no indication that anyone at either university was directly involved,
only that their equipment was used. Experts believe dozens of computers across
the United States were hacked and had electronic attack software secretly
installed.
"They've attacked us in a way that hurts what we do as a university, and hurts
all universities," said Robert Sugar, chairman of the information technology
board in Santa Barbara. The school's computer was believed used in the attack
against CNN's Web site on Tuesday.
[How was the university attacked? In what way? How does it hurt all
universities?]
Stanford said one of its routers located at a remote wildlife preserve was used
to transmit some of the data aimed against eBay's Web site for about 30 minutes
before engineers blocked hackers from using it.
[Those mischievious hackers.]
"It's really out in the middle of nowhere," said Dave Brumley, assistant
computer security officer at the school. He said engineers have checked
Stanford's other routers to prevent their similar misuse.
Meanwhile, experts investigating the case suggested that the vandals in Monday's
attack against the flagship Yahoo! Web site -- the first to be shut down for
hours -- may have been far more sophisticated than originally believed.
A senior official with the FBI's National Infrastructure Protection Center,
Ronald Dick, said previously that automated hacker tools widely available on the
Internet mean that "a 15-year-old kid could launch these attacks."
[Point and click, right Dick?]
"This is not something that takes a great deal of sophistication to do," Dick
said.
[What else did Dick say? Dick all?]
But e-mail from Yahoo! engineers describing the attack in unprecedented detail
said the vandals apparently "knew about our topology and planned this large-
scale attack in advance," and that other companies hit this week were also
targeted "where it hurts the most."
[Below the belt for double damage. No loss of points for low blow.]
This e-mail, sent as a warning to some Internet providers and obtained by the
Associated Press, also described the Yahoo! attackers as "smart and above your
average script kiddie," a derisive term for an unskilled hacker.
[Let me get this straight. Script kiddies are unskilled hackers? They just
need to go to sk00l and get more skillz right?]
It said the hackers "probably know both Unix and networking ... pretty well
and learn about site topology to find weak spots."
[Nah. Most hackers don't know Unix, or know much about networking. You're
perpetuating another myth.]
An executive at GlobalCenter Inc., which provides Yahoo!'s Internet connection,
also said Friday that engineers there were surprised during the attack, which
flooded Yahoo! with more data each second than some major Web sites receive
under normal conditions in an entire week.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FBI admits its site was attacked
BY TED BRIDIS
AP Technology Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The FBI acknowledged Friday that electronic vandals shut down
its own Internet site for hours last week in the same type of attack that
disrupted some of the Web's major commercial sites.
The bureau's Web site, www.fbi.gov, remained inaccessible for more than three
hours Feb. 18 because vandals overwhelmed it by transmitting spurious signals.
``The FBI has made comments they're going to find who's responsible for the
latest attacks, so it's a bit of war between the hackers and the bureau,''
said James Williams, a Chicago lawyer and former FBI agent who specialized in
investigating computer crimes.
[I'm still waiting for the sequel to X-Men. It's gonna be called "The X-Men
take on the G-Men.]
The technique, which doesn't require particular sophistication, is similar to
repeatedly dialing a phone number to block all other incoming calls. Last year,
the FBI pulled down its World Wide Web site for days after hackers overwhelmed
it using the same type of attack.
[No, it's exactly the same thing.]
No one has claimed responsibility for launching last week's attack against the
same law enforcement agency that is investigating serious disruptions earlier
this month at Yahoo!, eBay, ETrade, Amazon.Com and others.
[It was me. Honest.]
``Pretty much anyone is a target,'' agreed John McGowan, a research engineer at
ICSA.Net, a computer security firm. He wasn't surprised no one has claimed
credit.
[Read above comment.]
``I don't think I'd want to go around bragging that it was my group that shut
down the FBI,'' McGowan said. ``They're certainly turning up the carpets and
looking for anything they can find.''
[Nickles and dimes. Nothing more. I checked under the FBI's carpets long ago
and that's all I managed to find hidden.]
The FBI said last week that it couldn't determine whether the problem was a
technical fault or malicious attack, but a spokeswoman, Deborah Weierman,
confirmed Friday that vandals were responsible. She declined to say whether
there was any evidence, other than the coincidence in timing, to link last
week's attack against the FBI to those against other Web sites.
The FBI noted that its computers weren't broken into, and that its affected
Internet site is separate from all its internal systems, including investigative
files. ``We have had no more problems since then,'' Weierman said.
[Well that's comforting to hear. You had me worried for a second.]
Engineers at IBM, who run the FBI's Internet site under a federal contract,
``took the appropriate steps to get our Web site back and running (and) continue
to look into remedies and actions to minimize this from happening again,''
Weierman said.
[IBM helped out HMV with their little problem too. Kudos to Big Blue.]
Copyright (C) 2000 Associated Press. All rights reserved.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
AMD shows off world's fastest computer chip
WebPosted Tue Mar 7 16:58:07 2000
NEW YORK - A battle has been won in the war between computer chip makers. On
Tuesday, Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) came out with the fastest chip ever, a
one gigahertz chip.
"This is going from a bicycle, to a Volkswagen Rabbit, to a Maserati, to some
kind of rocket sled," said Alex Ferworn, a computer professor at Ryerson
Polytechnic University in Toronto.
[Personally, I like the journalists that Ryerson turns out. They're good.]
AMD says it's already started to ship its one GHz AMD Athlon processors.
More importantly, it beat its larger rival, Intel Corp.
[It beats Big Bro Inside. That's for sure.]
But the war isn't over. Intel is expected to make its own announcement this
week.
[Another Celeron chip?]
Steve Lapinski, director of product marketing in AMD's Computation Products
Group, likened the achievement of the gigahertz processor to breaking the sound
barrier.
But while the new chip makes computers faster, it's really too powerful for most
home computers.
That won't matter to consumers, say some retailers.
"It's compared to back in the '50s, with everyone having to have the most
powerful car, the fastest car. And now a lot of people are doing that with
their computer," said Ben Hatfield of Mediascape.
[Definitely. I've modified this 286 so much in the last 12 years that it's
like a VIC-20 on steroids. Top that.]
The first commercially available systems based on the chip will come from
Compaq Computer Corp. and Gateway Inc.
Compaq says it will sell the high-speed computers with prices starting as
low as $2,000 and going up to $3,300.
Copyright (C) 2000 CBC. All Rights Reserved.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hackers Get Message in Canada
Reuters
3:00 a.m. 1.Mar.2000 PST
QUEBEC CITY -- A Quebec court Tuesday convicted a 22-year-old man of hacking
the computers of government and corporate institutions -- the first time a
Canadian court has passed sentence in such a case.
[It isn't the first time someone in Canada has been charged, fined or given
community service in such a case. But it might be the first time someone
has been convicted in a highly publicized ruling.]
In a 12-page ruling, Quebec Court Justice Andre Bilodeau found Quebec City
resident Pierre-Guy Lavoie guilty under Canada's criminal code of fraudulently
using computer passwords to perpetrate computer crimes.
[Just what was the actual crime that he committed using a computer?]
"The court cannot ignore the fact that the computer world which is poised to
face a dazzling expansion and will become, like other types of payment or
communications means invented by our societies, the theater of more and more
fertile criminal acts," the judge wrote.
[What?]
Lavoie, a security consultant with the Quebec-based financial institution
Desjardins-Laurentian, was sentenced to 12 months of community service and
placed on 12 months of probation.
He was also ordered not to touch a computer or surf the Internet over the next
12 months, except on the job and under surveillance.
[They took a page from the Mitnick case.]
He was found guilty of hacking hundreds of passwords, and access codes to break
into dozens of unauthorized government and corporate sites in 1998 -- including
the Canadian Department of National Defense, the U.S. military, the Federal
Bureau of Investigation, and companies such as Bell Canada and the National Bank
of Canada.
[Taking a look around on Bell Canada's systems isn't a crime.]
The hacker, and two friends who were discharged, listed the passwords and access
codes on a Web site they created called "Corruption Addicts" and invited surfers
around the world to penetrate computer systems and hack away.
[That was his first stupid move.]
"I have learned a lesson," Lavoie told reporters at the Quebec City courthouse.
[The second was hacking in Quebec, a province that's known for arresting more
hackers than all of the rest combined.]
His lawyer, Claude Dallaire, said that there were no legal precedents for this
new form of cyber crime in Canada's history, noting that only a handful of
hackers had been arrested in Canada.
[More than just a handful. Not all arrests were so well publisized.]
Dallaire said the court's message was loud and clear.
[I didn't hear it. Too much line noise.]
"The message is clear. The judge tells everybody, 'Don't play with the Internet,
and don't go too far with the Internet, because you are going to pass Go and go
to jail,'" she said, referring the board game Monopoly.
[What's the message again? I didn't get it. Don't play with the Internet? I'm
confused. What does Monopoly have to do with anything?]
"It is a message that it is a crime, and they shouldn't do it, and they will get
punished for it," added Crown Prosecutor Pierre Lapointe.
[What's the message again? Don't be stupid, and don't post codes on web sites?]
Lavoie was also convicted Tuesday of planning to make explosives substances,
through another Internet site called "Phaust Laboratories."
[That was his third stupid move.]
For that he received a second 12-month community work sentence, to be served
concurrently with the first.
[Mr. Lavoie was very lucky to get a light sentence like that.]
Copyright (C) 1999-2000 Reuters Limited.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Daily News
Canadian Hacker Convicted
By Martin Stone, Newsbytes.
March 02, 2000
For the first time, a Canadian court has convicted a person accused of hacking,
setting a landmark precedent in Canadian law.
[At least Canadian courts are extremely fair.]
According to a Reuters report today, a Quebec court convicted a 22-year-old man
on Tuesday of cracking several Canadian and US government computers as well as
penetrating the systems of several corporate entities.
Quebec Court Justice Andre Bilodeau found Quebec City resident Pierre-Guy Lavoie
guilty under Canada's criminal code of fraudulently using computer passwords to
perpetrate crimes, the report said.
[snip]
Reuters reported he was also found to have posted illicit passwords and access
codes on a Web site called "Corruption Addicts" where he invited other surfers
to penetrate computer systems and hack away.
Defense lawyer Claude Dallaire told reporters there were no legal precedents for
this form of cybercrime in Canada, noting that only a handful of hackers had
ever been arrested in the country.
[Cybercrime in Canada. What'll they think of next?]
Lavoie was also convicted on Tuesday of planning to make explosive substances
through another Internet site called "Phaust Laboratories". He received a second
12-month community work sentence for that crime, to be served concurrently with
the first, said Reuters.
[Any word on what he was planning to blow up? Was he going to make the
explosives in his garage and test them in the park?]
Reported by Newsbytes.com
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Teen hacker charged with vandalizing anti-drug Web site
CONCORD, H.H. -- A 17-year-old computer hacker questioned by the FBI about
crippling attacks on major Internet sites last month has been charged with
vandalizing an anti-drug Web site.
Dennis Moran was charged Wednesday with two counts of unauthorized access to
a computer system. Each charge is punishable by up to 15 years in prison.
[That's 30 years. Not too harsh IMO.]
Moran, a high school dropout, allegedly hacked into the Los Angeles Police
Department Web site DARE.COM twice in November and defaced it with pro-drug
slogans and images, including one depicting Donald Duck with a hypodermic
syringe in his arm.
[Why go out of your way to mention that he's a high school dropout?]
He was released on $5,000 US bail. No arraignment was set.
[I've got that much in my piggy bank. (It has the RCMP logo painted on it
for dramatic effect too)]
Moran, who uses the Internet name Coolio, also was questioned by FBI agents last
month after allegedly boasting in an Internet chat room that he was responsible
for several "denial of service" attacks on major commercial sites, including
those of Yahoo! and eBay.
[Which Coolio? The original or Coolio4529?]
In an interview with Associated Press last week, he denied causing those
problems, and assistant Attorney General Michael Delaney said it was unlikely
that Moran would be charged. Authorities have said Coolio -- the name of a
popular rap singer -- is used by many people online.
[What? No, is it really a common alias?]
Authorities are still investigating claims that Moran hacked two other sites:
a U.S. Commerce Department site and one operated by an Internet security
company.
[Might as well bust him on those too.]
Moran's father, also named Dennis, said Wednesday that his son doesn't want to
talk to the media anymore.
[You mean he has the same name as his son? That's weird.]
ASSOCIATED PRESS
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hundreds of hacker attacks hit Ottawa
JEFF SALLOT and ANDREW MITROVICA
Ottawa and Toronto
Wednesday, March 15, 2000
The Globe and Mail
Hackers attacked some of Canada's most sensitive military and government
computer systems 531 times in two months last year. None of the attacks appears
to have been successful.
[There aren't any senstive military secrets in Canada anyway.]
Nevertheless, a study confirms Ottawa's worst fears about the seriousness of the
threat to crucial federal systems as hacker tools become more sophisticated and
proliferate.
[It's all about the tools Feds.]
Government systems "are being probed, scanned and attacked on a regular basis,"
says the study conducted by computer security experts hired by Ottawa.
[Probe 'em. Hehe.]
A typical government Internet site "is subject to 10 or more threat incidents
per week. In some cases, peaks of greater than 40 incidents were observed for a
site during a week," the study continues.
[That's it?!? I thought the number would be exaggerated, so that it'd be closer
to 4,000 incidents per week. You're never going to get more funding if you
don't inflate the statistics. Follow Stats Canada's example, and lie.]
Most attacks appear to have come from within Canada, but there were also a high
number from Britain and the United States and a handful from 29 other countries,
including China and Russia. The study was commissioned by the federal government
and completed five months ago by Electronic Warfare Associates Canada Ltd., a
cyber security firm. It was released to the Reform Party research office under
the Access to Information Act.
[China isn't hostile though. Nah. The Chinese government is our friend.]
Since the study's completion in November, hackers have developed newer and more
sophisticated programs to probe, break into and overwhelm computer systems,
forcing them to crash, say officials with the Communications Security
Establishment. (The CSE is a top-secret branch of the Department of National
Defence involved in electronic snooping).
[The CSE is another branch of Big Brother. Their number is unlisted.]
Last month, hackers successfully launched so-called denial-of-service attacks on
several major dot-com commercial systems, temporarily putting computers out of
business at Amazon, eBay and Yahoo, among others. Federal officials say the
consequences would be far more serious if hackers are successfully attacking
government systems such as those at the Department of National Defence, CSE
itself, Correctional Services, Transport Canada, Public Works, and the Canadian
International Development Agency, the six entities whose systems were included
in the study.
[It's going to get far more serious. Well, maybe.]
There were 34 denial-of-service attacks on the federal computers during the
two-month study, all unsuccessful. The cyber sleuths also detected 23 failed
attempts to break into computers and steal or alter data and 474 surreptitious
probes for vulnerabilities of the six systems in the study.
[Scan and sniff.]
"Since November of 1999 [when the study was completed], a lot of things have
moved along and complacency and smugness on the part of people is wrong," CSE
spokesman Kevin Mills said yesterday.
Although the hackers appear to have been unable to breach firewalls (basic
computer system security) and other security measures protecting the systems
at the six agencies, the study shows "these various government departments
were a target and we can't rest on our laurels," Mr. Mills said.
[Appearances can be deceiving.]
In fact, the government is trying to keep up with the hackers and introduce
state-of-the-art protective measures, he added.
[The Canadian government and state-of-the-art security aren't synonymous.]
Military and intelligence experts in Canada and the United States have said
for several years that enemy states could try to cripple the systems of Western
nations during an international crisis or crack into classified data bases.
[Who says they haven't done just that already?]
However in this study, Mr. Mills said, there was no evidence that any of the
attacks were from hostile governments, although CSE cannot be certain.
[Why didn't Mr. Mills keep his mouth shut then?]
The study suggests the threat is wide ranging. "The results of this project are
simply a snapshot of a portion of the threat environment at a particular point
of time."
[It's a Kodak moment.]
The study recommends implementing hacker-detection systems at many more federal
computer networks.
[Hire Bell. I hear they're good.]
The study also recommends establishing a central hack-attack reporting and
response office within the federal government.
[You better give the RCMP a larger budget.]
Art Hanger, the Reform Party's defence critic, said that the federal government
has been asleep at the switch when it comes to protecting Canada's computer
systems.
[Asleep at the switch like Bell?]
He said that more money is urgently needed to rectify a looming crisis.
A veteran computer security expert, who requested anonymity, said that Canada
has been slow to respond to the potentially catastrophic threat to the nation's
computer infrastructure posed by hackers acting individually or sponsored by
foreign governments.
(C) 2000 Globe Information Services
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hackers not heros, security officials say.
By Robert Russo
CANADIAN PRESS
WASHINGTON -- Canadian Solicitor General Lawrence MacAulay derided the heroic
status accorded computer hackers, equating them instead with murderous gangsters
who terrorized the United States in the 1920s and '30s.
[Murderous gangsters? Now those are some strong words. Them's fightin' words!]
MacAulay discussed the expensive wave of recent hack attacks Friday with U.S.
Justice Secretary Janet Reno and national security officials.
[Is a hack attack the same as a DDoS attack?]
Canada and the United States have promised to step up co-operation to fight
cybercrime.
[I don't like cybercrime either. Well, the CyberCrime International Network
(CCi) was a pretty cool BBS message network during its time though.]
A 15-year-old Montreal student using the name Mafiaboy was recently charged
with shutting down several prominent Internet sites, including CNN, Yahoo,
eBay, Amazon, Excite and ETrade.
A Filipino student admitted this week he may have unleashed the "Love Bug"
virus, which crippled e-mail systems from the CIA to the British Parliament
and could cost governments and businesses up to $10 billion US.
An editorial in a Manila newspaper cheered the student's destructive ingenuity
as a source of national pride.
"yes, the Filipino can!" the Manila Standard wrote, under the headline, "The
country's first world-class hacker."
That goes too far, McAulay said.
[Why?]
"Back in the '30s, we had gangsters that were folk heroes but they murdered
people," McAulay said.
[And it's the same now, right? Hackers are gangsters. And they're heroes.
Hell, all of my heroes are hackers. Every last one of 'em. Even the dead
ones...]
"These hackers are robbing the world community of billions of dollars. They
need to be brought fully to task."
[Robbing the world community? How so?]
Onel de Guzman emerged from hiding in Manila on Thursday to say he may have
accidentally released the malicious program.
He wore dark glasses and covered his face with a handkerchief as he met
reporters, telling them "youthful exhuberance" may have been to blame for his
mistake.
[Sometimes I'll wear dark glasses if I have a hangover. Anyone else do that?]
The alarming speed with which the virus spread and the arrest of the Montreal
teenager in the attacks on prominent web sites underscores that borders mean
nothing to hackers, MacAulay said.
[Just lines on a map. That's what I've always said anyway.]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Canadians' privacy preserved
Federal government dismantles database tracking peoples' lives
OTTAWA - The federal government, under attack for acting like "Big Brother,"
is dismantling a massive database tracking the lives of ordinary Canadians.
[They are Big Brother.]
Human Resources Minister Jane Stewart announced Monday that her officials have
started to cut the computer links that collected information from other federal
departments and provincial governments.
[Should we just take your word for it? Is that what you actually expect?]
Critics have said the database -- with as many as 2,000 bits of information
about some 33 million Canadians -- was an invasion of privacy and could be
misused.
[That's right people. The databases we've written about in the past do exist.
They're finally starting to admit to it. Could be misused? Where the Canadian
government is involved, misuse of information is an automatic.]
Stewart said she believes the database has grown to the point that there's too
much information about individuals in one spot.
[Way too much private information is in the hands of the government, period.]
"I share the concerns that Canadians have about advancements and rapid changes
in technology," Stewart said.
[Databases, personal profiles and dossiers are nothing new Stewart. They aren't
a new form of technology. They're invasive; morally and ethically wrong on all
levels though. And that's what concerns us.]
"When we consider the file, it's clear, I think, to everybody that it's coming
to its limits and that rather than try to add to it, the right thing to do is
dismantle it."
[No, add to it. Expand it. Make sure it includes which brand of toothpaste
we use, and how much. Again, do you actually think intelligent Canadians will
simply believe that the government is going to dismantle -- as in, delete,
destroy and remove -- their beloved database without anyone bearing witness to
the process? You may assume that we're all gullible and naive, but we aren't.]
The announcement was a surprise because the minister had been staunchly
defending the database as an important research tool ever since its existence
came to light.
[Research tool? Another blatant lie.]
She said the data in it were used to make sure government programs were working.
[Fuck, what a flimsy, pathetic, illogical excuse. That's one of the most
completely laughable things I've ever read.]
Federal privacy commissioner Bruce Phillips revealed earlier this month that the
data bank holds information on everything from a person's education, marital
status, ethnic origin, disabilities, income tax, employment and social
assistance history.
[And a hell of a lot more as well.]
The news came as a shock to many Canadians.
[To zombies, yes. To us, definitely not.]
They complained to Stewart in phone calls and letters and swamped her department
with a staggering 18,000 requests to see their personal files.
[How many requests were granted? There's no mention of that.]
(In the first 15 years the database existed, only two people had asked to see
their own records in the so-called Longitudinal Labour Force File.)
[That's bureaucratese for "Big Brother File".]
Phillips said he was delighted with the government's change of heart, and the
new privacy protocol that the minister plans to put in place.
[Of course he was. But I'm not delighted, to say the very least.]
"This is a much different ballgame," he said. "We do not have a huge lake of
information, almost indiscriminantly gathered and dumped in there for possible
and undefined future use. We now have a rigorous, professional approach."
[You can be rest assured that it still exists and hasn't been dismantled.
The government's smoke screen and hasty coverup hasn't fooled me. And I've
requested my file from the "dismantled" Big Bro database already.]
TORSTAR NEWS SERVICE
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ottawa pulls plug on Big Brother database
Canadians promised safeguards on data
SHAWN McCARTHY
Parliamentary Bureau
Tuesday, May 30, 2000
Ottawa -- Human Resources Minister Jane Stewart yielded to public anger
yesterday and ordered the Big Brother database to be dismantled, backtracking
from her initial staunch defence of the program.
After enduring months of opposition hammering over alleged mismanagement of
job-grant funding, Ms. Stewart moved quickly yesterday to end the outcry over
Ottawa's ability to track individuals in a single database.
[She didn't move quickly, that's for damn sure.]
The minister told a news conference that her department had already eliminated
computer links between its database and those of Canada Customs and Revenue
Agency and the provincial social-assistance offices.
[Are we supposed to trust and believe Ms. Stewart?]
Ms. Stewart said the government would continue to provide Canadians' personal
information to researchers to ensure its various programs are working.
But the information will have no personal identifiers when it is provided to
researchers, there will be new measures to inform Canadians about the use of
their personal information, and she will recommend legal protections covering
the use of information by her department.
[Yeah, right.]
"From my point of view, the time is right, the time is now to dismantle that
file and to implement a new strategy so that we can continue to have access to
the information we need in an appropriate way and absolutely to ensure that
privacy of Canadians is paramount," Ms. Stewart told reporters.
[When did the privacy of Canadians suddenly become paramount? That's the voice
of Big Brother if I ever heard it.]
Privacy Commissioner Bruce Phillips, who revealed the existence of the
government's so-called Longitudinal Labour Force File in his annual report two
weeks ago, applauded the minister's action. The move "reflects her recognition
of the importance that Canadians place on their right to privacy in their
dealings with government," Mr. Phillips said.
[Ask most Canadians and they'll say they've never heard of the database.]
"I have no doubt that these steps will greatly reinforce public confidence in
HRDC's management of Canadians' personal information.'"
[Trust me Bruce, they haven't reinforced or instilled any confidence in HRDC
or the Canadian government as a whole, in me. I have none. And I won't put
my trust in them, ever.]
The database contained as many as 2,000 pieces of information on almost every
Canadian, including income-tax returns, child-benefit statements, immigration
and welfare files and records on employment insurance.
News of its existence sparked anger among opposition MPs, the provinces and
individual Canadians. The Quebec government called for the elimination of the
database while B.C. Attorney-General Andrew Petter called the database "truly
scary."
[Yes, it truly is that.]
In the Commons yesterday, opposition MPs ridiculed Ms. Stewart's retreat, saying
the database should never have been constructed in the first place and was
dismantled only because 18,000 individuals have swamped the department with
requests to see their files.
[That's exactly right. I just wish there was as much opposition to firearms
lisencing and registration.]
"Why does it take constant hounding from Canadians before this minister will do
the right thing?" demanded Canadian Alliance MP Deborah Grey, the interim
opposition leader.
She noted that Ms. Stewart had defended the government's use of a database,
saying the information was encrypted and that no laws had been broken.
[Encrypted how, and with what? And who held the keys?]
"Why was her database essential last week but it is a security risk this week?"
Ms. Grey asked.
[Good question.]
Ms. Stewart said the government was responding to concerns raised by
Mr. Phillips in his report, although the privacy commissioner had been privately
urging the government to dismantle the database for months and went public with
its existence only when negotiations hit a stalemate.
[Going public was the only real option available.]
The minister said the government will still respond to individual requests for
copies of a person's file.
Individuals must have photo identification and two other pieces of ID when they
pick up their file once it's available at their local Human Resources office.
After June 30, individuals will have to apply to both the Human Resources
department and the Canada Revenue agency to get their complete files.
Copyright (C) 2000 Globe Interactive
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Future Shop e-mail hoax sends customers into panic
An e-mail hoax warning that the Future Shop Ltd.'s entire credit card database
was broken into created panic among customers and widespread confusion in
Canada's banking industry.
About 10,000 subscribers to the retailer's electronic newsletter received a
message Wednesday morning purportedly from president Kevin Layden claiming that
the company's credit card database was compromised.
"If you have used a credit card on our website (sic) or in one of our stores in
the past three years you should contact the card issuer as soon as you can and
tell them to issue new account numbers and cancel the old ones," read the
e-mail, riddled with spelling mistakes including "fradulent."
After reading the the (sic) message, Toronto resident Bill Mazanik promptly
called his bank to cancel his Visa card.
[It seems like your own report has a few errors as well Canadian Press.]
"The CIBC was taking this thing for real," said the retired information
technology consultant.
"They just went through the process and canceled my numbers."
When contacted by The Star Wednesday morning, a swamped CIBC service
representative confirmed that every second call she was taking was about the
Future Shop warning.
"At this point we are cancelling and reissuing a new number and expiry date."
By noon, the message was filtering out that the e-mail was phony.
"The e-mail was not known to be a hoax for a couple of hours," explained
Christine Croucher, executive vice-president CIBC Visa.
The real Kevin Layden said, from his Burnaby, B.C.-based headquarters, that he's
brought in the RCMP and formed an internal team to investigate.
[Oh no, not the highly successful RCMP and a group of hired Future Shop goons.]
"Absolutely none of our credit card databases have been accessed in any way,
shape or form," he insisted.
[He seems very adamant about that.]
The Future Shop, which hit $1.68 billion in sales last year, uses third-party
service providers to send out a biweekly e-mail bulletin to about 73,000
customers.
Someone hacked into one of those companies late Tuesday, accessing about 10,000
e-mail addresses, Layden said.
[Those damn hackers. They're at it again.]
Future Shop is also getting unsolicited help from some tech-savvy customers who
are trying themselves to track down the perpetrator, said chief financial
officer Gary Patterson.
[Tech-savvy customers and Future Shop just don't go together. And what do they
think they are anyway, vigilantes or something? It makes no sense.]
"This type of stuff really gets people's backs up."
[It was a hoax, nothing more. Don't take it so seriously. Instead of getting
your backs up, watch your backs next time.]
The RCMP investigates about 150 hacker cases a year, and often the need to brag,
not computer wizardry, lets the police catches (sic) the crooks, said Paul
Teeple, with the RCMP's technical operations branch in Ottawa.
[Yeah, that's why the RCMP sifts through IRC chat logs. That's how they "get
their man" in most cases. They rely on that, and only go after 15-year-olds.
No technical operations are ever involved.]
The incident may hurt Future Shop's efforts to grow online sales.
[Not likely. They have the zombie electronics industry in Canada cornered.]
CANADIAN PRESS
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wednesday, June 07, 2000
Mounties don't always get their cyberman: e-crime expert
Resources lacking
Peter Kuitenbrouwer
Financial Post
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police has neither the skills nor the resources it
needs to fight Canada's growing problem with cybercrime, according to a computer
forensics specialist who quit the force's commercial crime section in Vancouver.
[Well, we already knew they didn't possess the skills.]
"Let's face it, the government has good intentions, but they can't move at the
speed of the Internet," said Rene Hamel, 38. "For me it's not a good enough
reason to stay behind."
[Let's face it, our government *always* has good intentions. Just like they
did with the Big Brother database. They just get sidetracked.]
During his years with the technological crime section, Mr. Hamel's worked ranged
from tracking online thieves to searching computers in the offices of Glen
Clark, the former premier of British Columbia. But he said he got sick of
pleading for resources that never came. A month ago, Mr. Hamel took a new job
with accounting giant KPMG in Toronto, where he is setting up a lab to
investigate electronic fraud.
[You should've begged more often, and been more convincing then.]
In Ottawa, Staff-Sgt. Andre Guertin of the RCMP agreed that years of
underfunding have left the Mounties scrambling to catch up with the high-tech
crooks.
[The RCMP is always scrounging and scrambling for more funding.]
"We're just coming off a number of years where we had deep cuts," Staff-Sgt.
Guertin said. But he added that of the $543-million in new funds for the force
approved in this year's federal budget, a chunk will go toward combating online
crime.
[99% of those funds is earmarked for new uniforms.]
"We expect to turn out 1,200 to 1,300 new Mounties this year," he said.
[They just verified one of my theories. They *are* cloning them. No wonder
they all look the same. They breed like rabbits.]
Inspector Ernie Malone, in charge of the RCMP commercial crime sector in
Vancouver, said Mr. Hamel is only one of many officers lured to the private
sector.
[More money in the private sector. No uniform though.]
"We are losing a good number of very senior people with expertise," he said.
"There's a tremendous demand for it in the high-tech sector. [But] there's
plenty of work to do in our area and the resources are coming."
[Expertise? In what, arresting 15-year-old kids who brag on IRC?]
Mr. Hamel had always wanted to be a cop. His father spent 33 years with the city
police in Victoriaville, Que. Mr. Hamel joined the RCMP and paid his dues in
British Columbia, working undercover on Vancouver's seedy East Hastings Street
and in the New Hazelton detachment, northeast of Prince Rupert.
He spent his own money upgrading his computer skills with long-distance learning
courses and then joined the technological sector of the commercial crimes unit
in Surrey, B.C. He says he enjoyed the work, but didn't get the support he
needed from the force.
[You should've requested a support bra then.]
"I went to a course on computer forensics in Texas on my own money," he
recalled. "I brought back some software, and when the RCMP realized it would
save them some money, they decided to pay for my trip."
[Hamel, how stupid are you?]
So, just 4 1/2 years away from his pension -- which the RCMP pays on completion
of 20 years of service -- he quit.
[That answers my question. Obviously you're very stupid.]
These days, he works on the 33rd floor of Commerce Court West in Toronto and,
apart from getting lost in Toronto's labyrinth of underground tunnels, is
adapting quite well. His office is a jumble of computers with the cases removed
and stacks of hard drives seized during investigations, each wrapped in an
anti-static silver plastic bag.
[It's a real mess, I can assure you.]
Key to the work Mr. Hamel does with his partner, Scott Loveland, is software
that allows them to read deleted files that may still exist in the "slack space"
on computer hard drives.
[And you rely on the stupidity of others in order to find evidence.]
"Sometimes your computer will store deleted files in corners of your hard drive
that your system forgets about," he explains. "People don't realize how much of
their information is stored on their hard drive and they don't know about it."
[Nobody knows about it, except for you. Right?]
In one case, a software company in Western Canada hired KPMG to investigate
suspicions that a group of departed employees had stolen proprietary programs.
"We went to four residences and took their computers and diskettes, CDs, Zip
Drives, Jazz drives and 35 or 40 hard drives," Mr. Loveland recalled.
[You seem really proud of that.]
The team found deleted material on the hard drive proving that programs had been
stolen and, sifting through deleted e-mails, "we also figured out that somebody
inside the company was still co-operating with the guys who left," Mr. Loveland
said.
[Sounds like a big bust to me.]
In another case where a company suspected an employee of disloyalty, Mr. Hamel
went into an office at night and made a copy of the staffer's computer hard
drive. "The person was building another business while using the company's
resources," Mr. Hamel said. "I found information in the slack space on his hard
drive."
[How ingenious.]
Yesterday, KPMG released a survey that showed many big Canadian firms are not
concerned with the threat of electronic fraud. In fact, the response rate --
just 180 out of Canada's top 1,000 companies filled in the survey -- was the
lowest in the nine years KPMG has tracked corporate fraud.
[Yeah, they're getting really lackadaisical about security. I know. Trust me.]
Norm Inkster, president of KPMG's fraud branch and former commissioner of the
RCMP, said the survey shows Canadian firms are complacent when it comes to
e-commerce fraud.
"We're going to have to do more to protect ourselves," Mr. Inkster said.
[What a profound statement that is.]
Copyright (C) Southam Inc. All rights reserved.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From staff, wire reports.
WOLFEBORO, New Hampshire -- Federal authorities arrested a 17-year-old New
Hampshire high school dropout Wednesday and charged him with hacking into a
California Web site.
Dennis M. Moran, who calls himself "Coolio" on the Internet, was arrested at
his parents' home in Wolfeboro, New Hampshire, on felony charges for allegedly
gaining unauthorized access to a DARE.com computer system in Los Angeles.
[snip]
Pro-drug messages on anti-drug Web site Moran allegedly gained unauthorized
access to the anti-drug Web site on two occasions last November, New Hampshire
Attorney General Philip T. McLaughlin said.
He said Moran allegedly defaced the site with pro-drug messages and images,
including one of Donald Duck with a hypodermic syringe in his arm.
The Los Angeles Police Department and the Los Angeles division of the FBI
conducted the initial investigation.
When they discovered that the computer intrusion at DARE had originated in New
Hampshire, they referred the case to the FBI's New England office and to New
Hampshire authorities, an FBI press release said.
Teen may be tried as an adult
Moran's home computer was confiscated several weeks ago by the FBI, an official
in Los Angeles said.
Rather than seeking the extradition of a minor to California, authorities
charged Moran as an adult in New Hampshire, where he allegedly used his computer
to infiltrate the Web site.
Moran may face more charges: It has been reported that someone using the name
"Coolio" and "Mafia Boy" used an Internet chat room to claim responsibility for
interruptions last month in the computer systems of yahoo.com, ebay.com, buy.com
and several other large Web sites.
"Coolio," however, is a popular name on the Internet. Moran has denied
involvement in those attacks, referred to in the computer industry as
"distributed denial of service" attacks, or DDOS.
But the charges against Moran filed Wednesday involved "unauthorized access" to
a computer system, and not a DDOS.
CNN's Susan Reed contributed to this report
(C) 2000 Cable News Network. All Rights Reserved.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
HACKERS TO BLAME? DOUBTFUL
02/09/00
We feel sorry for the major Internet commerce sites that have been
inconvenienced by the Denial of Service attacks. Really, we do. But we cannot
permit them or anyone else to lay the blame on hackers.
[Yeah, let's stop them from blaming hackers. Don't permit that.]
So far, the corporate media has done a very bad job covering this story, blaming
hackers and in the next sentence admitting they have no idea who's behind it.
Since the ability to run a program (which is all this is) does not require any
hacking skills, claiming that hackers are behind it indicates some sort of
knowledge of the motives and people involved.
This could be the work of someone who lost their life savings to electronic
commerce. Or maybe it's the work of communists. It could even be corporate
America itself! After all, who would be better served by a further denigration
of the hacker image with more restrictions on individual liberties?
Let's look at the headlines:
"Government sees cyber-attacks as disruption of commerce."
"Justice Department wants more funds to fight cyber crime."
[I've seen much better headlines than those.]
Didn't take them long, did it? And later in the same story: "But the FBI may
never know who is responsible for the cyber-attacks, due to the difficulty in
tracing the electronic trails, a senior law enforcement source told CNN."
How convenient. An unseen villain. No need for any actual FACTS to be revealed,
but plenty of blame to be cast on hackers everywhere. We find it to be a bit too
contrived.
Whoever is responsible is either completely clueless or knows EXACTLY what
they're doing. It's the latter that should concern hackers everywhere.
----------------------
Number of times hackers were named or implied as culprits on these sites:
cnn.com 14
msnbc.com 13
zdnet.com 4
abcnews.com 0
Comments: Webmaster
Copyright (C) 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000
2600 Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Denial of service hackers take on new targets
By D. Ian Hopper
CNN Interactive Technology Editor
February 9, 2000
Web posted at: 5:46 p.m. EST (2246 GMT)
(CNN) -- The denial of service (DoS) attacks Tuesday on major e-commerce Web
sites and CNN Interactive were a common type of cyber-attack, but one that is
normally used against Internet service providers rather than retail or news
organizations.
[More DoS shit from a different source.]
While it is a little more complicated than meets the eye, a DoS attack can be
avoided.
A DoS attack is commonly referred to as a "hack" because it is a malicious
offensive against another computer system; but unlike most other hacks, it does
not involve the attacker gaining access or entry into the target server.
Instead, a DoS is a massive stream of information sent to a target with the
intention of flooding it until it crashes or can no longer take legitimate
traffic.
[The media classifies and refers to everything as a "hack" though.]
The information is frequently in the form of "pings," which are small packets of
data sent by one computer to another with the intention of checking to see if
the other computer is accessible. The target computer responds to the ping and
the connection is made. But if the pinger gives a false address, the target
computer can't return the ping to make the connection. In that case, the target
waits and finally gives up. In great amounts, this can overwhelm a server.
Concerted effort
A distributed DoS attack is a concerted effort to take down a target. Instead of
a one-to-one attack, many computers target a single one -- as would be necessary
with a target as large as eBay or Amazon.
Besides the obvious tactic of having many users simultaneously flood a target,
certain publicly available programs can be used so that one user can perform a
distributed DoS. The programs are placed on compromised systems -- computers
that have been successfully entered by the attacker before. The attacker merely
needs to run a "trigger" program that tells the planted programs to begin their
assault on the target. That kind of attack is not only formidable, but very
difficult to trace back to the original source.
The programs that execute distributed DoS attacks can be found on many hacker
Web sites in the United States, Russia, and several nations in between. Common
in the community, these programs are easy enough that even an inexperienced
tinkerer can use them.
Beyond the program, though, a hacker also needs to have a great number of
compromised systems on which to place the satellite programs. According to
Carnegie Mellon University's CERT coordination center, which monitors and
advises system administrators on computer security, the systems used to execute
DoS attacks "are often compromised via well-known vulnerabilities." The group
urges administrators to update their systems with the latest patches and
workarounds.
Also, many of these programs leave telltale signs that some say can be used to
block the malicious traffic before it becomes a problem.
"These programs have known signatures and the servers should be able to filter
out that traffic," according to Space Rogue, the editor of the Hacker News
Network, a computer security site. "The servers could identify those IP
addresses (of the systems making the attack), then put those filters in place.
It should have been done before."
Law enforcement stresses community security
Ron Dick of the National Infrastructure Protection Center confirmed the idea of
many 'zombie' computers being directed by a single hacker during a press
conference updating the public on the investigation into the attacks. He also
mentioned two of the programs, 'Tribal Flood Net' and 'Trinoo' that are used in
these large-scale DoS strikes.
Both programs, and many others, can be found on several Web sites and, according
to Dick, aren't very difficult to use.
A 15-year-old kid could launch these attacks. It doesn't take a great deal of
sophistication to do," he said.
These programs were found on many machines over the new year while making Y2K
fixes, but the NIPC and CERT have taken action.
"We were able to develop tools to identify to see if those programs are residing
on your system," Dick said. Those tools can be found on the NIPC and CERT Web
sites.
[Do you think Dick is any good? (you have a dirty mind)]
While the victims can filter out the malicious data, Dick said the real problem
is taking care of those hidden programs on the machines carrying out the
attacks.
'Magnifying glass burning a bug'
Even filtering out the traffic can be futile if the attack is large enough,
according to Paul Holbrook, Director of Internet Technologies for CNN. CNN.com
was targeted late Tuesday.
"In our case, what caused us trouble was not that we weren't filtering it out.
We were filtering it, but the problem was that the routers were so busy
filtering that that in itself compromised us. The routers still have to process
each packet. The cure was putting the filter on a bigger router outside of our
site," Holbrook said.
The distributed nature of the attack made it especially difficult to ward off
the flood of data, Holbrook said, likening the mass assault to "a magnifying
glass burning a bug on a hot summer day."
As to general Internet security, Holbrook echoes the sentiments of many network
gurus charged with protecting such a huge and diverse target.
"The unfortunate truth is that it's an impossibility to ever completely close
everything. There are so many systems on the Internet that it's just too hard to
close them all."
These incidents are yet another reminder of the holes in the Internet security
network, which administrators are constantly rushing to protect. Now, they're
rushing a bit faster.
"It sure gives you a bad picture of Internet security today when you have five
major sites taken down in a span of 36 hours," Space Rogue said.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thursday, February 10, 2000
How Hackers Bombard Sites and Shut Them Down
By ANICK JESDANUN,
Associated Press
NEW YORK-- This week's electronic assaults on high-profile Web sites direct
attention to a type of attack known to security experts for years.
Called "denial of service," the attack involves flooding a site with so
much traffic that legitimate customers cannot get through. Traffic can be a
request to access the home page, or it can be blank--an envelope with nothing
inside, yet requiring effort to open.
Some questions and answers about the cyber-attacks:
* * *
Question: If these attacks have occurred for years, why are they getting
attention now?
Answer: Hackers have become more sophisticated and have developed programs
that automate such an attack. The programs direct tens or hundreds of computers
worldwide to send traffic to a specific site at once. That allows hackers to
overwhelm some prominent sites already designed to handle heavy traffic.
* * *
Q: How can hackers get hundreds of computer administrators to cooperate?
A: They don't. But some of their automated tools find weaknesses in
computer systems to plant the damaging program that will remain dormant until
the appointed time of attack. If the hackers route the program through someone
else's computer, it makes them harder to trace.
* * *
Q: What can sites do to prevent such attacks?
A: Little, according to Mark Zajicek, a team leader of the Computer
Emergency Response Team, a security organization at Carnegie Mellon University.
He said the focus instead must be on increasing the security in other computers
so that they cannot be commanded to launch such attacks. Once a site is
targeted, one recourse is to trace the traffic back to the third-party computers
and alert their administrators. The process can take hours.
* * *
Q: Do consumers have any recourse if such attacks disrupt online services
they use?
A: Generally, no. Online stock trading firms such as Datek, for instance,
have users sign contracts stipulating that the site is not liable for
technological disruptions beyond their control.
* * *
Q: So why can't sites simply accept traffic only from legitimate customers?
A: Even the process of determining whether traffic is legitimate uses
precious computing time. The site's Internet service provider might be able to
stop some traffic from reaching the site, but the traffic comes from various
locations and often carries fake return addresses, so it's hard to sort.
* * *
Q: Why are these attacks occurring?
A: Atty. Gen. Janet Reno said Wednesday that "they appear to be intended to
interfere with and disrupt legitimate electronic commerce." Investigators have
yet to determine whether a single individual or group is behind all the attacks.
* * *
Q: Are personal data at risk from such attacks?
A: There's no evidence that hackers gained access to the sites' internal
data. But Randy Sandone of Argus Systems Group in Savoy, Ill., warned that
denial-of-service attacks might one day be used as a decoy. While security
personnel are busy trying to block traffic, a hacker might try to gain access
to sensitive data.
* * *
[That Q&A session was funny.]
Copyright 2000 Los Angeles Times
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thursday, February 10, 2000
FBI Vows All-Out Effort to Catch Internet Attackers
By GREG MILLER, CHARLES PILLER, Times Staff Writers
FBI officials said Wednesday that they are launching the largest computer
crimes investigation ever to catch the perpetrators of a series of cyber-attacks
that have temporarily crippled some of the world's most popular Web sites.
The attacks disrupted service for millions of Internet users by temporarily
overloading Web sites, starting with Yahoo on Monday, sweeping through others
including auction site Ebay on Tuesday, and Wednesday pummeling leading
financial sites such as E-Trade and Datek, plus the ZDNet news site.
The aggressive government response, outlined by Atty. Gen. Janet Reno,
reflects not only the Internet's central role to the nation's economy, but a
sense among officials that it is also an increasingly important public
communications tool.
[You need to be vigilant.]
Authorities said they have not identified any suspects, and some FBI
officials speculated that the crimes could be the work of overseas terrorists
"trying to misuse the Internet to the detriment of the United States."
"This is a wake-up call," said Commerce Secretary Bill Daley. "It's obvious
from the news of the last few days that [law enforcement] efforts have to be
expanded on."
But underscoring the ease with which such crimes can be committed in the
Internet Age, computer security experts said that this massive Internet sabotage
may ultimately be traced to a single, gangly teenager typing away on an ordinary
PC.
In fact, the federal probe is likely to focus on the murky world of
computer hackers, an underground populated mainly by loose bands of adolescent
males seeking virtual thrills and peer recognition.
No group has claimed credit for these attacks, but their magnitude has
already earned the anonymous perpetrators a permanent place in the computer
crime pantheon.
"This is much bigger than the hacking of . . . the White House Web site,"
said a hacker using the name Weld Pond, who was one of the original members of a
Boston-based hacking group called Lopht.
Nevertheless, he and other hackers expressed a certain amount of disdain
for the latest attacks, saying they were impressive for their audacity and
magnitude, but required little technological sophistication in an age when
hacking tools are as easy to find on the Internet as food recipes.
"The technology is such that it could almost be one person, even a
14-year-old kid," said Weld, who requested anonymity and now works as a
researcher for a computer security firm called Atstake.com. "But it's probably a
small group of people. Typically, a lot of these things are just done for
bragging rights."
At a news conference on Wednesday, Reno pledged a massive mobilization of
resources, including cooperative efforts with the U.S. intelligence community
and military investigators.
"At this time we are not aware of the motives behind these attacks," Reno
said, "but they appear to be intended to interfere with, and to disrupt,
legitimate electronic commerce."
Reno said the National Infrastructure Protection Center, a section of the
FBI, is working closely with agency field offices and specially trained
prosecutors around the country. She declined to say whether the agency has any
significant leads, but other federal officials privately said the attacks
appeared to have been "bounced" through computer networks in New York, Chicago
and Dallas.
The attacks appear to be violations of the computer fraud and abuse act, a
federal statute that makes it a felony to cause damage to computers. Sentencing
guidelines call for a minimum of six months in jail for each count, and a
maximum of five years and fines of up to $250,000. Officials said each intrusion
could constitute a separate count.
But even with this enormous commitment of resources by law enforcement,
many security experts remained skeptical that the individuals behind the attacks
will ever be caught, because the hacking technique used is extremely difficult
to trace.
The attacks involved a technique known as "distributed denial of service"
in which a small army of computers is essentially enlisted against its will to
bombard a particular Web site with so many requests for information that the
site collapses under the load.
Experts said the attacks probably began with the downloading of a hacking
tool that probes university, corporate and government networks for unprotected
machines. These machines are then instructed to coordinate the simultaneous
bombardment of a targeted site with service requests, thus overwhelming its
capacity.
The sheer enormity of the attack means that hundreds and perhaps thousands
of computers were involved, experts said.
The strategy takes advantage of hacking programs readily available at
numerous Web sites. Such attacks are nearly impossible to prevent and difficult
to trace because they come from disparate locations and carry fake return
addresses.
Finding the perpetrators would require painstaking research that traces the
attacks back through every point of the Internet they crossed. "It's like a
package that was routed through different mailboxes," Weld Pond said. "You can't
look at the return address and expect it to take you to the original sender."
Even extensive efforts to retrace the attacks could lead to a series of
dead ends if the perpetrators took measures to disguise their work. For that
reason, many security experts and law enforcement officials quietly hope that
the bragging-rights psychology of hackers--and typical clumsiness--may
eventually be the perpetrators' undoing.
"From a technological standpoint, there's no reason why they have to get
caught," said Kevin Poulsen, who served five years in prison for hacking crimes
in California in the early 1990s but who now works for online security firm
SecurityFocus.com. "It depends on to what degree they screwed up."
[Definitely. Leaving traces of evidence -- such as logs -- that can be used to
track it back to you is one thing. But, being stupid enough to setup and launch
any DDoS attack from your home system, using your own Internet Provider, as some
little kids are doing, ain't smart. Not at all. Instead of concentrating on
bragging on IRC, they should learn more about log files, remote hacking and
stealth measures to prevent being detected and evade ever being caught. But
then again, what the hell do I know? I'm not 15 anymore...]
But if the people behind the attacks are caught, many believe it will be
because of human weaknesses, not technological ones. The hacking underground is
fueled by rivalries among groups and individuals seeking the recognition and
respect of their peers. The people who took down Yahoo, in other words, are
going to face enormous temptation to brag about it, even to their closest
allies.
"Whoever did this, even though they didn't make a public statement, there
are a lot of people who know about it," Poulsen said. "And once the pressure is
on, someone is going to sing."
In fact, the most prominent hacks in recent years have generally been
accompanied by attempts to take credit for them. Last year, for instance, dozens
of Web sites were defaced--including the FBI's in May--by groups that then
scrawled their monikers across the pages like graffiti artists.
[Web site defacement, Distributed Denial of Service attacks... They're all the
same type of "hacks" perpetrated by "hackers", right media? Yeah, you're always
right. It's best not to even question your definitions anymore. Let the
propaganda machine, err, media machine, roll on.]
Reno on Wednesday appealed to Congress to approve President Clinton's
request for $37 million in additional funds to help the FBI fight cyber-crime,
a request that was part of the administration's budget earlier this week.
Indeed, this week's attacks serve as an ironic reminder of how Web sites
that often seem to be collecting mounds of information on everyday computer
users can be at a total loss when their sites are bombarded by intruders.
Such attacks could become increasingly common, experts suggest, because
once hackers write software to invade Web sites in this manner, they post it
online where it can be easily downloaded and reused by others.
[Why are malicious attacks by script kiddies and packet monkeys always being
associated and equated with hackers? That's the only question I have. Why?]
"People who wrote the original code are probably sophisticated, but people
who use it don't have to be," said Chris Painter, an assistant U.S. attorney in
Los Angeles who has prosecuted a number of hacking crimes.
[The people that write the code are *very* sophisticated. They're usually like
high priced whores, err, call girls... Almost never the sleezy type.]
In contrast to computer viruses that may destroy software or data files, or
hackers looking for corporate secrets, these recent attacks did not compromise
user or company information.
[Right. So, why are hackers automatically being blamed by default?]
But the attacks still cause substantial damage to the affected companies--
reducing consumer confidence in their services and, in some cases, disrupting
critical commercial transactions, such as online stock trading at E-Trade. On
Wednesday morning, E-Trade suffered an attack that blocked about 20% of its
users from making trades, the company said.
E-commerce companies fear that such attacks are so easy to mount that they
will increase in the future.
"A 15-year-old kid could launch these attacks. This is not something that
it takes a great deal of sophistication to do," said Ron Dick, chief of computer
investigations for the FBI. "Security in the Internet is a community effort. It
is not something that can be done by any one organization, any one federal
agency [or] the government itself. It is a partnership between all of us."
[Sophistication is the new buzzword. Hackers Attack is still the old standard
catch phrase in use though.]
* * *
Hackers Attack
Some hackers sabotage computer networks by gaining administrative access,
but the commercial Internet sites hacked this week were crippled by a "denial-of
-service attack." Here is how it works.
* * *
The hacker breaks into a large number of computers connected to a
high-bandwidth network. Corporate or government computers often fit this
description.
* * *
The hacker installs a utility that lies dormant and undetected on the
computers.
* * *
From a remote location, the hacker specifies a target network, such as
Yahoo, and activates the planted utility. That triggers a continuous,
unmanageable flood of access requests to the target.
* * *
Six Web sites that have been attacked recently are among the most popular
on the Internet:
Web site Unique Visitors (millions)
Yahoo.com 36.4
Amazon.com 15.9
EBay.com 10.4
ZDNet 9.4
Buy.com 4.9
CNN.com 4.5
[Times they used the word "hacker" in the above article: 11. Not bad.]
* * *
Sources: Associated Press, Media Metrix
* * *
Staff writers Robert L. Jackson and Walter Hamilton contributed to
this report.
Copyright 2000 Los Angeles Times
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Smells Like Mean Spirit
by Leander Kahney
10:50 a.m. 9.Feb.2000 PST
Hackers, who pride themselves on Web attacks with a purpose, are scornful of the
"packet monkeys" responsible for this week's attacks on Yahoo, CNN, and other
high-profile sites.
[I pride myself on web attacks. That's all I do.]
The cracker or crackers responsible for the attacks have been contemptuously
dubbed "packet monkeys" because their exploits involve flooding a site with
packets of information and, detractors say, betray a distinctly simian
intelligence.
Like "script kiddies" who use well-documented techniques and readily available
software to deface Web sites, packet monkeys are dismissed as adolescent vandals
by a community that celebrates know-how, originality, and creativity.
"There's no technical prowess whatsoever in these kind of attacks," said
"Space Rogue," a research scientist with @Stake (formerly the highly respected
L0pht Heavy Industries) and editor of the Hacker News Network. "This isn't
anything new. This is old, tired technology someone is running in a big way."
"This kind of thing is really frowned on," said YTCracker, a 17-year-old high
school student from Colorado, who recently claimed responsibility for cracking
a number of U.S. government sites. "It's a bunch of bored kids trying to show
they have the guts to do this.... We don't like to be associated with these
people."
No one has come forward to claim responsibility for the attacks.
[I did. Nobody listened.]
Unlike a vandalized Web site, where the cracker usually leaves a moniker, says
hi to his friends, or taunts law enforcement, a packet monkey attack leaves no
public traces and no clue to the cracker's identity.
Space Rogue said crackers typically advertise their exploits to gain acceptance
with their peer group. In fact, this is frequently the motive for the attack.
"It makes you wonder what kind of person is pulling this off and why they're
doing this," he said. "There's no public record, no boasting, nothing left
behind."
Space Rogue said there is also very little gossip about the identity and motive
of the attackers.
"Rumors are scarce on this one," he said. "That's unusual.... My gut feeling
tells me it's an individual and not a group, but I don't have any evidence to
back that up."
Although most hackers condemn the attacks, at least one poster to Slashdot
professed his "grudging admiration" for what appears to be a concerted
demonstration against the commercialization of the Internet.
"This is the equivalent of a blockade -- a formal, organized protest," wrote
"Swordgeek." "Not throwing rocks through windows so much as linking arms in
front of a police line.
"The brats and miscreants may have gotten their shit together and started to
fight for something worthwhile, rather than simply for the hell of it."
Copyright (C) 2000 Wired Digital Inc., a Lycos Network site. All rights reserved
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A Frenzy of Hacking Attacks
by Lindsey Arent and
Declan McCullagh
9:50 a.m. 9.Feb.2000 PST
The Internet is under siege.
In the largest malicious assault in the history of the Net, scofflaws have
encircled some of the most popular Web destinations with armies of attacking
computers that snarl networks and thwart millions of legitimate visitors.
While this kind of blitzkrieg has been directed at smaller sites in the past,
this is the first time that top-tier companies like Yahoo, Amazon, and eBay have
come under fire from malicious software that has become steadily more fearsome
over the last few years.
The denial-of-service (DoS) war has spread to include CNN, eTrade, ZDNet, and
Datek. Both ZDNet and Datek, which said it was offline for 35 minutes, were
attacked Wednesday morning.
Keynote Systems, a firm that tracks the reliability of popular Web sites, said
within a few minutes of the attack against Amazon that only 1.5 percent of
customers who wanted to could enter the site.
Not helping matters is the rush to dot-com glory that has prompted many
executives to consider security -- and erecting sturdy walls against DoS
attacks -- as an afterthought, instead of viewing it as an integral part of
their networks.
[In many cases, security isn't even an afterthought. It's not thought of
period. They don't consider it to be important. And I'm not talking about
preventing DDoS attacks either.]
Some of the tools apparently used in these wide-ranging assaults, like TFN,
Stacheldraht, and trinoo, have been available since last fall, and their
progenitors have been used in less-noticed barrages against smaller sites since
1997.
It's not surprising that security experts have anticipated a more serious
assault for some time.
"The flaws that these people are exploiting are flaws that we have known about
for more than five years, which there has been little instance in correcting,"
says Simson L. Garfinkel, an author and part owner of a security counter-
measures firm.
"This is really just the beginning. What we're seeing is as if a group of
moral-less teenagers had discovered automatic weapons in an abandoned military
site and were going around killing small animals with tremendous firepower," he
said.
In this World War Internet, the weaponry is simple and widely available:
software distributed in underground areas of the Net that allows a large network
of participating computers to overwhelm the target. It's relatively easy to use,
though the attacker has to penetrate the security of each of the machines in
order to enlist it in the campaign.
[World War Internet? Huh? You lost me there.]
The looming threat prompted Carnegie Mellon University's Computer Emergency
Response Team to release an advisory last month. Stacheldraht agents have been
spotted on Solaris machines, and a version appears to be available for Linux as
well.
[The mighty CERT steps in.]
One big difference -- or improvement, if you're the person using it -- is that
unlike its cousins, Stacheldraht uses encrypted communications to cloak its
intentions from administrators who might be monitoring the network.
That isn't exactly heartening news for network administrators at the sites
attacked this week. The latest list includes Buy.com, CNN.com, ZDNet, eTrade,
and Datek Online Holdings, the No. 4 online broker.
"At 7 p.m. EST [Tuesday], we were attacked by hackers," CNN Interactive said in
a statement. "A denial-of-service attack occurred until 8:45 p.m. We were
seriously affected. We were serving content but it was very inconsistent and
very little."
[What did these hackers attack you with? Big sticks?]
A spokesman for ZDNet said 70 percent of the ZD sites were down for two-and-a-
half hours, beginning at 7:10 a.m. EST Wednesday.
"We do believe that it was an attack, and it appears to be on the leading brands
on the Internet," ZDNet CEO Dan Rosensweig said.
[Brands?]
Rosensweig says he thinks ZDNet was targeted because of its big-name
recognition, but he says he has no idea what's driving the hackers.
"The only thing we're sure of is that we're not sure," he said.
[You're also sure to get free media coverage for ZDNet out of the deal.]
Buy.com's site was offline for much of Tuesday, the same day as its successful
IPO in which its share price nearly doubled to $25.125 from its asking price.
Details are few. The FBI has tentatively scheduled a press conference for 2 p.m.
EST, although companies have released little technical information about who --
or what -- was behind the mystery fusillade.
[I taped that one. It's one for the video archives.]
Yahoo said that up to 50 different computers hooked up to the Internet were
participating, and the rates reached a gigabyte per second -- an enormous
increase over normal traffic patterns.
Experts said that if history was any indication, the vast majority of unwitting
systems that were taken over and are participating in the attack are inside
university systems. The reason: Campuses have fast connections to the Internet
-- necessary to overwhelm sites as large as Yahoo and Amazon -- and dorm and
faculty computers have notoriously poor security.
The FBI met Tuesday with Yahoo representatives and declined to comment.
Copyright (C) 2000 Wired Digital Inc., a Lycos Network site. All rights reserved
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tuesday March 14 11:21 PM EST
Feds Debut Site to Fight Computer Crime
Keith Perine
(Industry Standard)
WASHINGTON - In the wake of last month's hack attacks on Yahoo, E-Trade, and
other leading Web sites, the Department of Justice Tuesday unveiled a new public
information site designed to take on Internet crime.
[Good idea.]
The new site, www.cybercrime.gov, is sponsored by the department's Computer
Crime and Intellectual Property Section, the 18-member legal team that
coordinates the government's prosecution of computer criminals. The site
displays reports, testimony, and links to other sites, such as a department-
sponsored "Internet Do's and Don't's" page aimed at children who use the Web.
[It's a good one too.]
"Law enforcement wants to work with the public and industry to fight computer
crime," said CCIPS chief Martha Stansell-Gamm in a statement. "Being connected
to the Web also facilitates our work with law enforcement agencies all over the
world."
But industry hasn't been quite so eager to cooperate with the government. After
denial-of-service attacks paralyzed sites such as eBay and Amazon last month,
President Clinton convened a high-profile White House summit on the issue. A
proposal for a computer crime coordination center was floated, and then hastily
quashed by industry, which prefers to share information privately rather than
with government. Ironically, the government has been criticized in recent weeks
for failing to sufficiently anticipate the denial-of-service threat. The Justice
Department declined to comment on their ongoing investigations.
CCIPS attorney David Goldstone acknowledged the industry's reticence, and he
noted the misperception by the private sector that the government doesn't have
the chops to chase Internet criminals. Goldstone said the site demonstrates the
government's "ample prosecutorial experience," adding that, hopefully, industry
cooperation will now be more forthcoming.
The site gives information on how to report various Internet crimes, from
password trafficking to Internet bomb threats. In testimony before a U.S. Senate
appropriations subcommittee last month, Attorney General Janet Reno said that
mushrooming computer crime is stretching the Justice Department's resources
thin. Reno said that increased funding was needed to avoid, among other things,
layoffs in CCIPS.
Copyright (c) 2000 The Industry Standard
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
MCI WorldCom Announces Date for Shareholder Vote on
Pending Merger with Sprint
Clinton, Miss., February 25, 2000
- MCI WorldCom today announced it will hold a special meeting of its
shareholders on April 28, 2000, to vote on its pending merger with Sprint.
MCI WorldCom shareholders of record on March 6, 2000 will receive proxy
materials and be entitled to vote at the April 28, 2000 special meeting.
MCI WorldCom (NASDAQ: WCOM) is a global leader in "all-distance"
communications services with operations in more than 65 countries. Revenues in
1999 were $37 billion, with more than $15 billion from high-growth data,
Internet and international services. MCI WorldCom and Sprint have announced a
merger agreement, which the companies expect to close in the second half of
2000 after regulatory and shareholder approvals. For more information go to
http//www.wcom.com.
(C) 1999 MCI WORLDCOM, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Famous isolated phone booth removed
May 22, 2000
Web posted at: 5:26 PM EDT
(2126 GMT)
BAKER, California (AP) -- The world's loneliest pay phone has rung for the last
time.
The phone booth had stood for decades in the middle of nowhere, deep within the
Mojave National Preserve. But Pacific Bell and the National Park Service said
they had to remove the phone Wednesday because it was attracting too many
curiosity-seekers.
"While the phone and its location proved to be a novelty for some in recent
months, the increased public traffic had a negative impact on the desert
environment in the nation's newest national park," they said in a statement.
The phone was installed in the 1960s for use by miners digging volcanic cinder
nearby.
The booth began attracting attention on the Internet about three years ago.
People routinely dialed the number from all over the world just to see if
someone would answer. Often someone did, usually passers-by who were equally
curious about who was on the other end.
Now all that remains of the booth is the concrete pad on which it stood.
Copyright 2000 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The telephone company and the National Park Service have removed the famous
Mojave Desert phone booth.
By Roger O'Neil
NBC NEWS CORRESPONDENT
DENVER, May 23 - Earlier this year NBC News introduced you to a telephone booth
in the middle of nowhere in California's Mojave Desert. Its number had gotten
onto the Internet and people called in from around the world. The line now is
officially dead, but the legend lives on.
ONE PART of the Mojave Desert is very different now. It's once again all
natural and pristine. There's no more ringing.
That's because the Mojave Desert phone booth is gone - vanished - a
victim of its own worldwide popularity. It was taken away not by vandals, but by
the Pacific Bell telephone company and the National Park Service.
Why?
Their official statement reads, "Increased public traffic had a negative
impact on the desert environment."
In other words, despite 1.6 million acres of sand, cactus, Joshua trees,
and snakes, too many people, 25 or 30 a week, were tramping way out of their way
to answer the phone.
Still, to know the phone booth was to love it.
LOCAL LOSES PHONE
"Mojave phone booth, Charlie speaking," one desert dweller answered.
With nothing better to do, he started answering the phone when it rang
and became a celebrity.
"Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam," a voice announced on the receiver.
There were the thousands of people who called the 706-733-9969 number
from around the world, just to see if anyone would answer.
What will happen to Charlie? He, of course, has no phone now. But a
friend of a friend found him and he called us from another pay phone.
Does Charlie know why the phone's gone?
"I have no idea," he said. "I'd seen a newspaper yesterday on it. And it
was just uh, a quick deal, they just grabbed it and run with it."
The desert phone was installed 40 years ago for workers in nearby mines.
The Mojave came under federal control six years ago and has just been
designated a national park. While there are big plans to welcome park visitors,
it'll be without the desert phone. Maybe it was just too noisy. But the new
silence can be deafening.
Perhaps the phone was just a desert mirage, now disconnected from
reality.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Intel Nixes Chip-Tracking ID
by Declan McCullagh
3:00 a.m. Apr. 27, 2000 PDT
Hoping to avoid another campaign by privacy activists, Intel has decided not to
include a controversial user identification feature in its forthcoming 1.5 GHz
Willamette chip.
[What? No Big Brother Inside anymore?]
Absent from Willamette's design are a unique ID number and other security
measures that could be used to limit piracy by tracking users, an Intel source
said Wednesday.
[Awww... C'mon. Implement it into the chip.]
"The decision has been made and the engineers have already been told," said the
source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. "The gains that it could give
us for the proposed line of security features were not sufficient to overcome
the bad rep it would give us."
[Bad rep? Nah.]
In January 1999, Intel said it would wire a unique ID into each Pentium III
chip, but then disabled it after privacy activists began a boycott and a
prominent House Democrat denounced the plan.
An Intel management committee, after hearing from marketing, privacy, and
engineering representatives who were opposed to the idea, reportedly made the
decision not to include similar features in the much-anticipated Willamette
chip, the source said.
Besides the serial number, the other missing features include support for
hardware digital certificates -- something banking and finance firms would have
preferred, the source said.
David Sobel, general counsel of the Electronic Privacy Information Center,
cheered the move.
"We've always said that certain institutional users might want it," Sobel said.
"But it's always been a question of user choice. And the vast majority of
individual users did not want their machines to be branded with an identifier."
At the RSA Data Security conference in January 1999, an Intel executive said the
ID number could be used to boost security in e-commerce.
"You think about this maybe as a chat room, where unless you're able to deliver
the processor serial number, you're not able to enter that protected chat room
and providing a level of access control," said Patrick Gelsinger, an Intel
vice president.
But privacy activists saw it differently, and mounted a campaign against the
ID number.
EPIC even fired off Freedom of Information Act requests to find out if the feds
pressured Intel to include the ID. "No agency has yet acknowledged any
involvement. But they have not all responded yet," Sobel said.
The Chinese government, according to one news report, was so spooked by the ID
number that it cautioned against using computers with Pentium IIIs.
[I heard rumours that the Canadian government was all for it though.]
Intel released a software program -- albeit a buggy one -- to disable the serial
number, and then a BIOS modification.
[Why they chose to do that is beyond me.]
Jason Catlett of Junkbusters says he's glad to see that Intel decided to avoid a
repeat of the controversy when Willamette is released in fall 2000.
"I'm not surprised, but I'm still delighted. It's a chapter that I and all
privacy advocates are very glad to close," Catlett said.
"We can finally call off the boycott," he said.
[Our personal boycott of Intel chips continues. Fuck Intel.]
Copyright (C) 2000 Wired Digital Inc., a Lycos Network site. All rights reserved
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Judge orders Microsoft split Final ruling in landmark antitrust trial adopts
bulk of DOJ's recommendations
June 7, 2000: 6:37 p.m. ET
WASHINGTON (CNNfn) - Calling the world's largest software maker "untrustworthy,"
a federal judge Wednesday ordered Microsoft to be broken into two smaller
companies to prevent it from violating state and antitrust laws in the future.
In a scathing 14-page decision, U.S. District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson said he was ordering the break up
because the company and its leadership appears unwilling to accept the "notion
that it broke the law or accede to an order amending its conduct."
[They're a defiant bunch at Micro$oft.]
If the breakup stands, it would be the largest court-ordered split since the
1984 dismantling of telephone giant AT&T.
Jackson ordered Microsoft to be divided into a PC operating systems company, and
a company that holds the remainder of its business, including its dominant
Office suite of applications, the Internet Explorer Web browser and other
businesses. Microsoft has been ordered to submit a divestiture plan within four months.
Microsoft immediately vowed to appeal the decision, a process which could take
up to two years, during which time the ordered split is likely to be postponed.
"This is the beginning of a new chapter in this case," Microsoft Chairman Bill
Gates said in a video statement. "We will be appealing this decision, and we
have a very strong case on appeal.
This ruling is inconsistent with the past decisions by the appeals court, with
fundamental fairness and with the reality of the marketplace."
The ruling marks the end of the trial phase of the landmark antitrust case, and
the beginning of what many believe will be a lengthy appeals process.
[snip]
Joel Klein, Justice's lead antitrust enforcer, laid the responsibility for
Wednesday's ruling squarely on Microsoft's top executives.
"Microsoft itself is responsible for where things stand
today," Klein said. "Its repeated illegal actions were
the results of decisions made at the highest levels of
the company over a lengthy and sustained period of time.
They reflected defiance of, not respect for, the rule of
law."
[snip]
The vast majority of the world's desktop PCs run some version of Microsoft's
Windows operating system. In his findings of fact in the case, Jackson said the
company has used that prodigious market power to harm companies that pursue
initiatives that could intensify competition against one of Microsoft's core
products.
[snip]
Copyright (C) 2000 CNN America, Inc.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Break It Up
By Jonathan Dube
[ABCNEWS.com]
June 7 - A federal judge ordered software behemoth Microsoft to be split into
two independent companies today in one of the most severe punishments ever
handed down for antitrust law violations.
U.S. District Court Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson accepted the Justice
Department’s proposal to break Microsoft into one company for its dominant
Windows operating system and another for software applications such as Word and
Internet Explorer.
"Microsoft as it is presently organized and led is unwilling to accept the
notion that it broke the law or accede to an order amending its conduct,"
Jackson wrote.
Jackson says he believes it is necessary to break up the world's largest
software company to “terminate the unlawful conduct, to prevent its repetition
in the future, and to revive competition in the relevant markets.
Jackson also added, "Microsoft has proved untrustworthy in the past,"
citing the company's failure to comply with a court ruling earlier in the 1990s
that preceded the antitrust case.
Microsoft Plans Appeal
The breakup will not occur anytime soon, as Microsoft has vowed to appeal the
ruling immediately.
Shortly after the ruling, the Justice Department said it would ask the U.S.
Supreme Court to directly review the ruling, bypassing the appeals court, in an
effort to reach a "quick and effective resolution" of the case.
The Supreme Court can either grant the government's request, which still
must be certified by Jackson, or the court can order that the case be heard by
the U.S. Appeals Court instead.
Since a lengthy appeals process was expected, Jackson imposed conduct
restrictions on Microsoft to take effect in 90 days. Microsoft, however, plans
to appeal those restrictions as well.
"We believe we have a very strong case on appeal," Microsoft Chairman Bill
Gates said. "We believe this ruling is inconsistent with the past decisions by
the Appeals Court, with fundamental fairness, and with the reality of the
marketplace."
"This is clearly the most massive attempt at government regulation of the
technology industry ever," Gates said. "This plan would undermine our high-tech
economy, hurt consumers, make computers harder to use, and impact thousands of
other companies and employees throughout the high-tech industry."
[Make computers harder to use? Haha.]
Today's judgment marks a major triumph for the Justice Department and the 19
states that first brought the antitrust lawsuit against Microsoft on May 18,
1998.
[snip]
Copyright (c)2000 ABC News Internet Ventures.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
THOUGHTS, POEMS AND CREATIVE WRITING - {WRITING}
The Voice of the Monopoly.
This isn't a game.
These corporations are without ethics and honour.
They have no shame.
They operate without conscience.
Money is all consuming.
Nothing else is of any consequence.
They feed you lies.
Exploit you. Steal your money.
Then they sell your minds.
They live by influence and greed.
You're just there to be used and exploited.
They'll tell you what you need.
You are the commodity.
They exist to profit and lie.
They'll sell you your own information for a fee.
Greed is their motto. Corruption is their name.
They prey on the weak-minded.
For that, zombie consumers are just as much to blame.
They misinform and use lies.
Influence and brainwash.
Anything to ensure commercialism never dies.
Who can I bribe? Who else can I buy?
More affluence. More power.
Must destroy more cultures and more lives.
What else can we control? What else can we take?
How many more minds can we fuck before the day is done?
Only mindless zombies are left. Who else can we rape?
Target the poor. Service charge them to death.
Enlist Big Brother. Enslave the homeless.
Monopolize the world. Take until our dying breath.
Rob them blind. Steal their minds.
Make them pay. Sell them anything they don't need.
Force them to want it. Pillage whatever we find.
Corrupt, brainwash and labotomize.
Make them jealous and envious. Make them greedy.
Then swoop in for the kill to take our prize.
Eliminate competition. Do away with free thought.
Control them all. Influence with advertising.
Take all we can. Afterall, anyone can be bought.
Never be satisfied. Billions aren't nearly enough!
The fools will suffer. Let them live in poverty.
It's more for us. More money, more materials, more expensive stuff.
Drive their egos and greed. Make materialism the accepted way.
Tell them they need to buy more. Track and monitor it all.
Remove freedom of choice. Take their say and make them all pay.
Fill our company coffers. Make them overflow.
Bolster the corporate image. They'll learn to love us.
Kill their independence. Make them all into puppets of the NWO.
Tell them it's all for the best. It's the new economy stupid.
Make them understand. Teach them the way.
Guide them away from truth. Then we'll be ready to make our final bid.
Show them the way with a bullet in the back of their head.
Take a trick from China's book by billing their family.
Buy all of the politicians you can and put them all to bed.
Form organizations to protect ourselves. Protect the wealth.
Secure the market. Become bigger and stronger.
We'll own them. Nothing can stop us. Who needs stealth?
Be relentless and vicious. Have no mercy.
Hostile takeover. Acquire and appropriate.
Steal and propagate. Greed is the key.
Take their resources. Watch them struggle and die.
It's all ours to use and hoard. Ours to claim.
We mock protesters. We laugh in the face of public outcry.
Master them. Master and own everything.
No one can discredit us. Our lies are their truth.
Encourage overpopulation. Think of the new consumers it'll bring!
Make them salivate with desire. Make them buy.
Their greed is insatiable. They thirst and lust for more.
Use that against them. Capitalism will never die.
Crush their spirit. Take their souls.
They're ours. We own them now.
We'll do anything to make sure we stay in our control.
Enslave the workforce. Keep them hungry. Keep them down.
Make them loyal. Make them believe they're lucky.
Work them to death. Tighten their chains. Keep them locked and bound.
Trap them. Cage them in. Imprison them all.
Exploit and exploit some more.
Tell them to be happy. They should be glad to have jobs at all.
Turn prisons into factories. Prisoners don't have any rights.
They're a cheap, renewable resource. No unions. No benefits.
Pay them next to nothing. Our profit levels will reach new heights.
The best part is the government agrees with us and already sanctions it all.
It's a whole new workforce, without salary demands, work stoppages or strikes.
Think of the possibilities. They're literally trapped behind a corporate wall.
Take and continue to take. Take it all. Rape it all. Fuck them all.
We're in control. We already know we'll always win.
We can't lose. We're big and powerful. They're weak and small.
We control every aspect of their lives, from the cradle to the grave.
Push them as far as we can. They need us to survive.
They are our lackeys. They are zombies -- the ultimate willing slaves.
Written by BLACKENED ú Damage, INC. (C)opyright 2000.
Technology: Hacking in 2000.
Information is the New World Order. Electrons racing through circuits, just
as they race through your brain. Digital switches, servers and data networks
overflowing with information. Routers sending packets in all directions, all
around the world. Terrabytes upon terrabytes to sort through and disseminate.
Systems running at a Gigahertz, or faster. Other systems sitting idle, just
waiting to be found and used. This is the new world. Data is the order of
the day. Information overload.
Seek knowledge. Pursue information relentlessly. Don't be denied access.
At no other time in history has so much information been available to the
individual. There's never been a greater opportunity to learn and to know.
We have so much access to information now. Think of the possibilities.
Being told what to learn is the equivalent of being told what to think. Instead
of simply doing what you're told and following a set of instructions, think for
yourselves. Learn and do for yourselves. Know for yourselves.
Overcome the restrictions. Break down the barriers. Fuck the system that's
designed to keep you out. Fuck the "society" that strives to keep you blind,
naive and uninformed. Fuck them for wanting to prevent people from learning.
Use technology to your own advantage. Use it to further your own knowledge.
Hack for the challenge. Hack for knowledge. Hack for freedom of information.
Fuck the status quo. Fuck the establishment. Fuck them all. Change your
reality. Create your own reality. Dream. Invent. Innovate.
Hackers that take discarded hardware and information such as manuals, and make
good use of it shouldn't be classified as criminals. Trashing shouldn't be
discouraged as being an illegal, criminal act of trespassing. Why should
something that's destined for the landfill, that's perfectly usable, not be
used freely by anyone that's interested in it? That's what is really criminal.
A "society" that espouses the virtues of recycling and reusing materials and
then tries to prosecute individuals that are doing just that is completely
hypocritical. Trying to prevent someone from saving computer manuals that
would otherwise end up buried underneath a mountain of garbage is ridiculous.
Why shouldn't they be allowed to read material that has been thrown away as
trash? If they're worried about sensitive or propriety company information
falling into the wrong hands, shred it. Take precautions. But don't try to
arrest people for wanting to read materials that were in a dumpster. That goes
beyond paranoid. That's insanely ridiculous. And that's Big Brother.
Hacking isn't about profit. It isn't about fame, notoriety and media attention.
Hackers don't need to brag and boast to bolster their image. They don't need
to do things just to prove they have knowledge and skill. And they definitely
don't need a criminal record or media exposure to be considered a hacker.
Hacking, in its true form, is about learning, exploring and the pursuit of
knowledge. It's about the desire to know the intimate workings of a system,
or how to make systems and programs more powerful and efficient. It isn't
about destroying. Hacking isn't criminal. Hackers aren't terrorists. They're
a culture of computer hobbyists, interested in technology. That's not wrong.
Exploring, creating, improving and using technology is a noble effort. Don't
ever be ashamed to be a hacker. Don't hesitate to use that term to describe
yourself if you feel that's what you are. Be proud to be a hacker. Don't
worry about how you're perceived by others, or what the popular misconceptions
about hackers are. Stereotypes, assumptions, accusations, myths, rumours,
stories and false definitions abound, and they will always exist. Yet hackers
are unique. That cannot be denied.
The media doesn't distinguish between criminals, crackers and hackers. They
probably never will, since they don't give a fuck about what the public thinks,
what misinformation and disinformation they spread. They're only concerned
about profit. Blaming hackers for everything maliciously done using computers
sells stories, books and movies. Definitions vary from person to person, so
it's a futile effort trying to change it. And trying to educate an ignorant
media on the meaning of the word hacker is useless. They will defiantly
continue to use the word indiscriminately anyway. Most of the media will at
least. So will law enforcement. So will most of the masses. We are all the
same in their eyes. Malicious acts which cause damage or loss of services are
viewed in the same light as harmless exploration of systems. They're treated
the same way under the law as well. Justice and fairness don't come into play.
The word "hacker" has long been equated with meaning "computer criminal" in
those circles. That isn't going to change anytime soon. It benefits them
financially to continue propagating that falsehood.
Hackers have recently become almost darlings of the media. That is, the high
profile hackers that are willing to give interviews, quotes, sound bytes, etc.
However, in most instances, the media refers to them as being a "former hacker"
instead of using the more accurate description of hacker. How does one become
a "former hacker" anyway? Is there some type of Hackers Anonymous program,
setup to rehabilitate and reform hackers? Can someone just make a conscious
decision to quit hacking, and cease being what they inherently are? It's a
joke. You can retire from the h/p scene, but if you are a hacker, that's what
you will always be. If you're involved in anything that can be construed as
illegal, you can quit doing that and hack legally through various jobs or
whatever. But there's no way in hell someone can become a former hacker. It
just doesn't work that way, or even make sense to give someone that title.
The reason the media does that is to mask the fact that they're actually
associating with hackers. They want the public to look at hackers as being
criminals. Therefore, because of that, they can't write a story portraying
hackers as being malicious criminals one day, and ask a hacker for advice the
next. They have to maintain the false image of hackers that they've created.
They don't want to change the public's perception of them. So, they attempt to
deceive people by using a term that's illogical. No hacker describes themselves
as being a "former hacker" or "ex-hacker". That's a creation of the media. A
few have even spoken out and said they'd rather be called a hacker. Usually
that doesn't garner a response from the media. They just try to ignore it and
pretend that comment wasn't mentioned.
In my humble opinion, a person is either a hacker, or they aren't. It's a
mindset. It's a lifestyle. It's a culture. You can "retire" from the
"underground h/p scene", but if you were a hacker to begin with, the way your
mind works won't suddenly change. Your interest in it won't just dissolve.
The public is oblivious to the world and culture which hackers have created.
They rely on what they've been told to believe. They don't know us, or what
we're about. Their views and opinions of hackers are limited to small blurbs
printed in newspapers, unrealistic, fictional movies and short television clips
on the nightly news. We will probably always be misunderstood by the masses
to a large degree. However, being understood and accepted by them shouldn't be
our goal. What the majority thinks of us shouldn't be our main concern.
Throughout the years, hackers have been wrongly blamed for things in which they
were not responsible. They're an easy target. The rumours, myths, legends and
hacker lore add to a false image of them. Assumptions are quickly made. And
stories are swiftly written. Regardless of that, I'm convinced that it doesn't
matter what's written and said about hackers, or how many times. Understanding
and acceptance are unreachable and unreasonable to expect. Deprogramming the
brainwashed law enforcement, media and masses would be an extremely difficult,
time consuming venture to undertake. And it would require an overwhelming,
concerted effort on behalf of the entire hacking community. Even then, it still
might result in failure. That is the reason it shouldn't be the goal of hackers
to convince others that we aren't what they believe us to be. Stick to your
own ethics, morals and beliefs instead of trying to change what they believe.
Let the zombies believe the lies and disregard the truth. They can only
discredit hackers amongst themselves, and the image they hold. They cannot
destroy the true meaning, no matter what lies they spread. They, and their
twisted beliefs are of no consequence to us.
Information is power. Power is knowledge. True power is only achieved through
information and knowledge. Expand your mind.
This is our world. This is our time.
Use your electrons. Think. Hack. Explore.
---
Note: For reasons of nostalgia, I read through some old text files in my
collection again and was inspired by The Mentor's "Conscience of a Hacker",
which was written in early 1986. His words have withstood the test of time,
as they still ring true today. It's still "the world of the electron and the
switch, the beauty of the baud." as he once wrote. This article is merely a
reminder of those poetic words and that poignant message. In a way, it's
also a tribute to the hackers of previous generations. Their contributions
were so great they cannot be measured, or forgotten.
Written by BLACKENED ú Damage, INC. (C)opyright 2000.
CLOSING COMMENTS - {CLOSING}
"By "freedom" we mean the opportunity to go through the power process, with
real goals not the artificial goals of surrogate activities, and without
interference, manipulation or supervision from anyone, especially from any large
organization. Freedom means being in control (either as an individual or as a
member of a SMALL group) of the life-and-death issues of one's existence; food,
clothing, shelter and defense against whatever threats there may be in one's
environment. Freedom means having power; not the power to control other people
but the power to control the circumstances of one's own life. One does not have
freedom if anyone else (especially a large organization) has power over one,
no matter how benevolently, tolerantly and permissively that power may be
exercised. It is important not to confuse freedom with mere permissiveness."
- The Unabomber's Manifesto
Freedom cannot exist when large organizations, such as the newly merged,
Goliath corporations of today, take control (over services, access, content,
availability, costs, etc.), seize power over an entire industry, and thereby
monopolize it. The citizen (in this case, a consumer/customer) is without
choice, and therefore, powerless. The power and control are both in the hands
of the corporation, which in turn removes the freedom of the citizens. The
same applies outside of business and technology. It applies to all things,
including politics (governments which have total control). Thus, monopolies
of *any* type are detrimental to the individual citizens and small groups.
They are only beneficial to the monopoly itself, and the ones that hold power
in it. The rest are merely outsiders, only existing to be used and exploited.
In comparison to the monopoly, individual citizens are small and insignificant,
since they lack power and control. And since they and small groups that oppose
them aren't well organized, and unified, they don't have a voice that's heard
and taken seriously. Usually such people are looked at merely as being fringe
lunatics, with strange ideas about "society". Ideas that the rest of the masses
don't support, or even consider. They're simply ignored, along with the people
that hold those opinions. They aren't a threat, or even a real obstacle to the
huge monopolies, since they don't have any real power. They're the few that
cannot be manipulated into conforming. But without strength and unity, they
can't fight the system. But the system, as it currently exists, must be fought.
The very survival of individuals relies on it.
The real commodity of monopolies are the consumers. They're the ones that are
being bought and sold, rather than products and services they're purchasing.
In reality, they're what the monopoly is about. Without the brainwashed hoards
supporting them financially, they couldn't monopolize any markets. Therein
lies the Catch-22. If a person doesn't want to support the monopoly, but still
wishes to buy the goods and services that they control, they can't go elsewhere.
It's either support them, or go without. It's not about possessions, it's
about not being one. It's not about being a consumer, but rather not being
consumed. It's about not being monopolized.
As a final note, this issue is dedicated to the unthinking, undead creatures
known as zombies, that roam the earth aimlessly in search of leaders, greed,
conformity and total ignorance. They wander for eternity and condemn themselves
to slavery, so that the rest of us, the intelligent, thinking individuals, will
have an example of what not to become. Zombies exist so that we may have
something to compare ourselves to, and to distinguish ourselves from. They're
the exact opposite of what we're meant to be, and how we should live. They show
us what being confined and chained to limitations means. In a way, they can
inspire us to be something better, something more. They prove that without
individualism, liberty and freedom, there's nothing. They're here so that we
may see them, their ways, their lifestyle, and shake our heads in disgust. They
make the confines of "society" clear and real to us all. They are conformity
personified. They choose to deprive themselves of freedom. They are the best
representation of mental, spiritual and social slavery in the world today.
Without them, we would have nothing to measure ourselves against.
Stand tall in the face of tyranny. Fight oppressive, corrupt regimes. Resist
becoming a commodity of the greedy and corrupt powers. Don't bow down to your
oppressors and slave masters. Freedom still isn't free. Information, education
and knowledge aren't free either. Neither are justice and true power. They
must all be fought for. We aren't just out to bollix the system. We're out
to phreak the system like a bull running rampant in a china shop... or a shark
tearing through flesh with razor sharp teeth. Blood must be shed in order to
enact change. And fear of prosecution must be overcome if we're ever going
to make any significant difference. Speaking out, distributing literature and
protesting just isn't enough. It has proven to be ineffective. To take back
control, to grind the wheels of the system to a halt, we must be willing to do
more than exchange words. A voice that goes unheard is a terrible waste.
That's exactly what is happening right now. Our struggle for true freedom is
going unnoticed and being ignored. We've been exploited too long, and allowed
our cries for freedom to be silenced. The fact still remains, we aren't free.
Now is the time to change that. Freedom isn't free. It must be chosen, sought
after and fought for vigorously. What better time than now?
One last question. Two words: You down?
Addendum: Five months have passed since the last issue. During that time, a
lot of shit happened. But I won't go into that. I'll just apologize profusely
for the long delay, and state that if I could dedicate all of my time to
releasing an issue every month... I'd probably do it. But I can't. And so,
life goes on. Damage, INC. goes on. And we'll keep... keeping on... until well
past the morning dawn. Nah. We'll just entertain and amuse you for as long as
we can. Until the next issue, don't touch that keyboard! Sit there and wait
patiently, cause you know you ain't seen nothin' yet!
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Quotes:
Blackie Lawless - "All monopolies are inherently corrupt by their very nature."
Shatazar - "That was a nice find..." (during a short trashing expedition)
THC Phreak - "You know, nobody has ever read anything like this before. *I've*
never read anything like this before. Once again, we've managed to capture the
essence of individuality. We're taking things to a whole new level. And we're
still the phreakiest."
Helena3 - "I believe intelligent life exists on other planets -- it's just
difficult to find on this one sometimes."
BLACKENED - "Dehypnotize, Decentralize, Revolutionize, Unite!"
URL: http://surf.to/damage_inc
Email: damage_inc@disinfo.net
Voice Mail: 1-800-222-6000 Box "NUKEYOU"
- EOF
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