Windows 95 operating system, you can do some fairly serious Internet hacking -- today!
In this lesson we will learn how to:
· Use secret Windows 95 DOS commands to track down and port surf computers used by famous on-line
service providers.
· Telnet to computers that will let you use the invaluable hacker tools of whois, nslookup, and dig.
· Download hacker tools such as port scanners and password crackers designed for use with Windows.
· Use Internet Explorer to evade restrictions on what programs you can run on your school or work
computers.
Yes, I can hear jericho and Rogue Agent and all the other Super Duper hackers on this list laughing. I'll bet
already they have quit reading this and are furiously emailing me flames and making phun of me in 2600
meetings. Windows hacking? Pooh!
Tell seasoned hackers that you use Windows and they will laugh at you. They'll tell you to go away and
don't come back until you're armed with a shell account or some sort of Unix on your PC. Actually, I have
long shared their opinion. Shoot, most of the time hacking from Windoze is like using a 1969 Volkswagon to
race against a dragster using one of VP Racing's high-tech fuels.
But there actually is a good reason to learn to hack from Windows. Some of your best tools for probing and
manipulating Windows networks are found only on Windows NT. Furthermore, with Win 95 you can
practice the Registry hacking that is central to working your will on Win NT servers and the networks they
administer.
In fact, if you want to become a serious hacker, you eventually will have to learn Windows. This is because
Windows NT is fast taking over the Internet from Unix. An IDC report projects that the Unix-based Web
server market share will fall from the 65% of 1995 to only 25% by the year 2000. The Windows NT share is
projected to grow to 32%. This weak future for Unix Web servers is reinforced by an IDC report reporting
that market share of all Unix systems is now falling at a compound annual rate of decline of -17% for the
foreseeable future, while Windows NT is growing in market share by 20% per year. (Mark Winther, "The
Global Market for Public and Private Internet Server Software," IDC #11202, April 1996, 10, 11.)
So if you want to keep up your hacking skills, you're going to have to get wise to Windows. On e of these
days we're going to be sniggering at all those Unix-only hackers.
Besides, even poor, pitiful Windows 95 now can take advantage of lots of free hacker tools that give it
much of the power of Unix.
Since this is a beginners' lesson, we'll go straight to the Big Question: "All I got is AOL and a Win 95 box.
Can I still learn how to hack?"
Yes, yes, yes!
The secret to hacking from AOL/Win 95 -- or from any on-line service that gives you access to the World
Wide Web -- is hidden in Win 95's MS-DOS (DOS 7.0).
DOS 7.0 offers several Internet tools, none of which are documented in either the standard Windows or DOS
help features. But you're getting the chance to learn these hidden features today.
So to get going with today's lesson, use AOL or whatever lame on-line service you may have and make the
kind of connection you use to get on the Web (this will be a PPP or SLIP connection). Then minimize your
Web browser and prepare to hack! Next, bring up your DOS window by clicking Start, then Programs, then
MS-DOS.
For best hacking I've found it easier to use DOS in a window with a task bar which allows me to cut and
paste commands and easily switch between Windows and DOS programs. If your DOS comes up as a full
screen, hold down the Alt key while hitting enter, and it will go into a window. Then if you are missing the
task bar, click the system menu on the left side of the DOS window caption and select Toolbar.
Now you have the option of eight TCP/IP utilities to play with: telnet, arp, ftp, nbtstat, netstat, ping, route,
and tracert.
Telnet is the biggie. You can also access the telnet program directly from Windows. But while hacking you
may need the other utilities that can only be used from DOS, so I like to call telnet from DOS.
With the DOS telnet you can actually port surf almost as well as from a Unix telnet program. But there are
several tricks you need to learn in order to make this work.
First, we'll try out logging on to a strange computer somewhere. This is a phun thing to show your friends
who don't have a clue because it can scare the heck out them. Honest, I just tried this out on a neighbor. He
got so worried that when he got home he called my husband and begged him to keep me from hacking his
work computer!
To do this (I mean log on to a strange computer, not scare your neighbors) go to the DOS prompt
C:\WINDOWS> and give the command "telnet." This brings up a telnet screen. Click on Connect, then click
Remote System.
This brings up a box that asks you for "Host Name." Type "whois.internic.net" into this box. Below that it
asks for "Port" and has the default value of "telnet." Leave in "telnet" for the port selection. Below that is a
box for "TermType." I recommend picking VT100 because, well, just because I like it best.
The first thing you can do to frighten your neighbors and impress your friends is a "whois." Click on
Connect and you will soon get a prompt that looks like this:
[vt100]InterNIC>
Then ask your friend or neighbor his or her email address. Then at this InterNIC prompt, type in the last two
parts of your friend's email address. For example, if the address is "luser@aol.com," type in "aol.com."
Now I'm picking AOL for this lesson because it is really hard to hack. Almost any other on-line service will
be easier.
For AOL we get the answer:
[vt100] InterNIC > whois aol.com
Connecting to the rs Database . . . . . .
Connected to the rs Database
America Online (AOL-DOM)
12100 Sunrise Valley Drive
Reston, Virginia 22091
USA
Domain Name: AOL.COM
Administrative Contact:
O'Donnell, David B (DBO3) PMDAtropos@AOL.COM
703/453-4255 (FAX) 703/453-4102
Technical Contact, Zone Contact:
America Online (AOL-NOC) trouble@aol.net
703-453-5862
Billing Co ntact:
Barrett, Joe (JB4302) BarrettJG@AOL.COM
703-453-4160 (FAX) 703-453-4001
Record last updated on 13-Mar-97.
Record created on 22-Jun-95.
Domain servers in listed order:
DNS-01.AOL.COM 152.163.199.42
DNS-02.AOL.COM 152.163.199.56
DNS-AOL.ANS.NET 198.83.210.28
These last three lines give the names of some computers that work for America Online (AOL). If we want to
hack AOL, these are a good place to start.
*********************************
Newbie note: We just got info on three "domain name servers" for AOL. "Aol.com" is the domain name for
AOL, and the domain servers are the computers that hold information that tells the rest of the Internet how
to send messages to AOL computers and email addresses.
*********************************
*********************************
Evil genius tip: Using your Win 95 and an Internet connection, you can run a whois query from many other
computers, as well. Telnet to your target computer's port 43 and if it lets you get on it, give your query.
Example: telnet to nic.ddn.mil, port 43. Once connected type "whois DNS-01.AOL.COM," or whatever name
you want to check out. However, this only works on computers that are running the whois service on port
43.
Warning: show this trick to your neighbors and they will really be terrified. They just saw you accessing a
US military computer! But it's OK, nic.ddn.mil is open to the public on many of its ports. Check out its Web
site www.nic.ddn.mil and its ftp site, too -- they are a mother lode of information that is good for hacking.
*********************************
Next I tried a little port surfing on DNS-01.AOL.COM but couldn't find any ports open. So it's a safe bet this
computer is behind the AOL firewall.
**********************************
Newbie note: port surfing means to attempt to access a computer through several different ports. A port is
any way you get information into or out of a computer. For example, port 23 is the one you usually use to
log into a shell account. Port 25 is used to send email. Port 80 is for the Web. There are thousands of
designated ports, but any particular computer may be running only three or four ports. On your home
computer your ports include the monitor, keyboard, and modem.
**********************************
So what do we do next? We close the telnet program and go back to the DOS window. At the DOS prompt
we give the command "tracert 152.163.199.42." Or we could give the command "tracert DNS-01.AOL.COM."
Either way we'll get the same result. This command will trace the route that a message takes, hopping from
one computer to another, as it travels from my computer to this AOL domain server computer. Here's what
we get:
C:\WINDOWS>tracert 152.163.199.42
Tracing route to dns-01.aol.com [152.163.199.42]
over a maximum of 30 hops:
1 * * * Request timed out.
2 150 ms 144 ms 138 ms 204.134.78.201
3 375 ms 299 ms 196 ms glory-cyberport.nm.westnet.net [204.134.78.33]
4 271 ms * 201 ms enss365.nm.org [129.121.1.3]
5 229 ms 216 ms 213 ms h4-0.cnss116.Albuquerque.t3.ans.net [192.103.74.45]
6 223 ms 236 ms 229 ms f2.t112-0.Albuquerque.t3.ans.net [140.222.112.221]
7 248 ms 269 ms 257 ms h14.t64-0.Houston.t3.ans.net [140.223.65.9]
8 178 ms 212 ms 196 ms h14.t80-1.St-Louis.t3.ans.net [140.223.65.14]
9 316 ms * 298 ms h12.t60-0.Reston.t3.ans.net [140.223.61.9]
10 315 ms 333 ms 331 ms 207.25.134.189
11 * * * Request timed out.
12 * * * Request timed out.
13 207.25.134.189 reports: Destination net unreachable.
What the heck is all this stuff? The number to the left is the number of computers the route has been traced
through. The "150 ms" stuff is how long, in thousandths of a second, it takes to send a message to and from
that computer. Since a message can take a different length of time every time you send it, tracert times the
trip three t imes. The "*" means the trip was taking too long so tracert said "forget it." After the timing info
comes the name of the computer the message reached, first in a form that is easy for a human to remember,
then in a form -- numbers -- that a computer prefers.
"Destination net unreachable" probably means tracert hit a firewall.
Let's try the second AOL domain server.
C:\WINDOWS>tracert 152.163.199.56
Tracing route to dns-02.aol.com [152.163.199.56]
over a maximum of 30 hops:
1 * * * Request timed out.
2 142 ms 140 ms 137 ms 204.134.78.201
3 246 ms 194 ms 241 ms glory-cyberport.nm.westnet.net [204.134.78.33]
4 154 ms 185 ms 247 ms enss365.nm.org [129.121.1.3]
5 475 ms 278 ms 325 ms h4-0.cnss116.Albuquerque.t3.ans.net [192.103.74.
45]
6 181 ms 187 ms 290 ms f2.t112-0.Albuquerque.t3.ans.net [140.222.112.22
1]
7 162 ms 217 ms 199 ms h14.t64-0.Houston.t3.ans.net [140.223.65.9]
8 210 ms 212 ms 248 ms h14.t80-1.St-Louis.t3.ans.net [140.223.65.14]
9 207 ms * 208 ms h12.t60-0.Reston.t3.ans.net [140.223.61.9]
10 338 ms 518 ms 381 ms 207.25.134.189
11 * * * Request timed out.
12 * * * Request timed out.
13 207.25.134.189 reports: Destination net unreachable.
Note that both tracerts ended at the same computer named h12.t60-0.Reston.t3.ans.net. Since AOL is
headquartered in Reston, Virginia, it's a good bet this is a computer that directly feeds stuff into AOL. But
we notice that h12.t60-0.Reston.t3.ans.net , h14.t80-1.St-Louis.t3.ans.net, h14.t64-0.Houston.t3.ans.net and
Albuquerque.t3.ans.net all have numerical names beginning with 140, and names that end with "ans.net." So
it's a good guess that they all belong to the same company. Also, that "t3" in each name suggests these
computers are routers on a T3 communications backbone for the Internet.
Next let's check out that final AOL domain server:
C:\WINDOWS>tracert 198.83.210.28
Tracing route to dns-aol.ans.net [198.83.210.28]
over a maximum of 30 hops:
1 * * * Request timed out.
2 138 ms 145 ms 135 ms 204.134.78.201
3 212 ms 191 ms 181 ms glory-cyberport.nm.westnet.net [204.134.78.33]
4 166 ms 228 ms 189 ms enss365.nm.org [129.121.1.3]
5 148 ms 138 ms 177 ms h4-0.cnss116.Albuquerque.t3.ans.net [192.103.74.
45]
6 284 ms 296 ms 178 ms f2.t112-0.Albuquerque.t3.ans.net [140.222.112.22
1]
7 298 ms 279 ms 277 ms h14.t64-0.Houston.t3.ans.net [140.223.65.9]
8 238 ms 234 ms 263 ms h14.t104-0.Atlanta.t3.ans.net [140.223.65.18]
9 301 ms 257 ms 250 ms dns-aol.ans.net [198.83.210.28]
Trace complete.
Hey, we finally got all the way through to something we can be pretty certain is an AOL box, and it looks
like it's outside the firewall! But look at how the tracert took a different path this time, going through Atlanta
instead of St. Louis and Reston. But we are still looking at ans.net addresses with T3s, so this last
nameserver is using the same network as the others.
Now what can we do next to get luser@aol.com really wondering if you could actually break into his
account? We're going to do some port surfing on this last AOL domain name server! But to do this we need
to change our telnet settings a bit.
Click on Terminal, then Preferences. In the preferences box you need to check "Local echo." You must do
this, or else you won't be able to see everything that you get while port surfing. For some reason, some of
the messages a remote computer sends to you won't show up on your Win 95 telnet screen unless you
choose the local echo option. However, be warned, in some situations everything you type in will be
doubled. For example, if you type in "hello" the telnet screen may show you "heh lelllo o. This doesn't mean
you mistyped, it just means your typing is getting echoed back at various intervals.
Now click on Connect, then Remote System. Then enter the name of that last AOL domain server, dnsaol.
ans.net. Below it, for Port choose Daytime. It will send back to you the day of the week, date and time of
day in its time zone.
Aha! We now know that dns-aol.ans.net is exposed to the world, with at least one open port, heh, heh. It is
definitely a prospect for further port surfing. And now your friend is wondering, how did you get something
out of that computer?
******************************
Clueless newbie alert: If everyone who reads this telnets to the daytime port of this computer, the sysadmin
will say "Whoa, I'm under heavy attack by hackers!!! There must be some evil exploit for the daytime
service! I'm going to close this port pronto!" Then you'll all email me complaining the hack doesn't work.
Please, try this hack out on different computers and don't all beat up on AOL.
******************************
Now let's check out that Reston computer. I select Remote Host again and enter the name h12.t60-
0.Reston.t3.ans.net. I try some port surfing without success. This is a seriously locked down box! What do
we do next?
So first we remove that "local echo" feature, then we telnet back to whois.internic. We ask about this
ans.net outfit that offers links to AOL:
[vt100] InterNIC > whois ans.net
Connecting to the rs Database . . . . . .
Connected to the rs Database
ANS CO+RE Systems, Inc. (ANS-DOM)
100 Clearbrook Road
Elmsford, NY 10523
Domain Name: ANS.NET
Administrative Contact:
Hershman, Ittai (IH4) ittai@ANS.NET
(914) 789-5337
Technical Contact:
ANS Network Operations Center (ANS-NOC) noc@ans.net
1-800-456-6300
Zone Contact:
ANS Hostmaster (AH-ORG) hostmaster@ANS.NET
(800)456-6300 fax: (914)789-5310
Record last updated on 03-Jan-97.
Record created on 27-Sep-90.
Domain servers in listed order:
NS.ANS.NET 192.103.63.100
NIS.ANS.NET 147.225.1.2
Now if you wanted to be a really evil hacker you could call that 800 number and try to social engineer a
password out of somebody who works for this network. But that wouldn't be nice and there is nothing legal
you can do with ans.net passwords. So I'm not telling you how to social engineer those passwords.
Anyhow, you get the idea of how you can hack around gathering info that leads to the computer that
handles anyone's email.
So what else can you do with your on-line connection and Win 95?
Well... should I tell you about killer ping? It's a good way to lose your job and end up in jail. You do it from
your Windows DOS prompt. Find the gory details in the GTMHH Vol.2 Number 3, which is kept in one of
our archives listed at the end of this lesson. Fortunately most systems administrators have patched things
nowadays so that killer ping won't work. But just in case your ISP or LAN at work or school isn't protected,
don't test it without your sysadmin's approval!
Then there's ordinary ping, also done from DOS. It's sort of like tracert, but all it does is time how long a
message takes from one computer to another, without telling you anything about the computers between
yours and the one you ping.
Other TCP/IP commands hidden in DOS include:
· Arp IP-to-physical address translation tables
· Ftp File transfer protocol. This one is really lame. Don't use it. Get a shareware Ftp program from one of the
download sites listed below.
· Nbtstat Displays current network info -- super to use on your own ISP
· Netstat Similar to Nbstat
· Route Controls router tables -- router hacking is considered extra elite.
Since these are semi-secret commands, you can't get any details on how to use them from the DOS help
menu. But there are help files hidden away for these commands.
· For arp, nbtstat, ping and route, to get help just type in the command and hit enter.
· For netstat you have to give the command "netstat ?" to get help.
· Telnet has a help option on the tool bar.
I haven't been able to figure out a trick to get help for the ftp command.
Now suppose you are at the point where you want to do serious hacking that requires commands other than
these we just covered, but you don't want to use Unix. Shame on you! But, heck, even though I usually
have one or two Unix shell accounts plus Walnut Creek Slackware on my home computer, I still like to hack
from Windows. This is because I'm ornery. So you can be ornery, too.
So what is your next option for doing serious hacking from Windows?
How would you like to crack Win NT server passwords? Download the free Win 95 program NTLocksmith,
an add-on program to NTRecover that allows for the changing of passwords on systems where the
administrative password has been lost. It is reputed to work 100% of the time. Get both NTLocksmith and
NTRecover -- and lots more free hacker tools -- from http://www.ntinternals.com.
**********************************
You can go to jail warning: If you use NTRecover to break into someone else's system, you are just asking
to get busted.
**********************************
How would you like to trick your friends into thinking their NT box has crashed when it really hasn't? This
prank program can be downloaded from http://www.osr.com/insider/insdrcod.htm.
*********************************
You can get punched in the nose warning: need I say more?
*********************************
But by far the deadliest hacking tool that runs on Windows can be downloaded from, guess what?
http://home.microsoft.com
That deadly program is Internet Explorer 3.0. Unfortunately, this program is even better for letting other
hackers break into your home computer and do stuff like make your home banking program (e.g. Quicken)
transfer your life savings to someone in Afghanistan.
But if you're aren't brave enough to run Internet Explorer to surf the Web, you can still use it to hack your
own computer, or other computers on your LAN. You see, Internet Explorer is really an alternate Windows
shell which operates much like the Program Manager and Windows Explorer that come with the Win 94 and
Win NT operating systems.
Yes, from Internet Explorer you can run any program on your own computer. Or any program to which you
have access on your LAN.
***********************************
Newbie note: A shell is a program that mediates between you and the operating system. The big deal about
Internet Explorer being a Windows shell is that Microsoft never told anyone that it was in fact a shell. The
security problems that are plaguing Internet Explorer are mostly a consequence of it turning out to be a
shell. By contrast, the Netscape and Mosaic Web browsers are not shells. They also are much safer to use.
***********************************
To use Internet Explorer as a Windows shell, bring it up just like you would if you were going to surf the
Web. Kill the program's attempt to establish an Internet connection -- we don't want to do anything crazy,
do we?
Then in the space where you would normally type in the URL you want to surf, instead type in c:.
Whoa, look at all those file folders that come up on the screen. Look familiar? It's the same stuff your
Windows Explorer would show you. Now for fun, click "Program Files" then click "Accessories" then click
"MSPaint." All of a sudden MSPaint is running. Now paint your friends who are watching this hack very
surprised.
Next close all that stuff and get back to Internet Explorer. Click on the Windows folder, then click on
Regedit.exe to start it up. Export the password file (it's in HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT). Open it in Word Pad.
Remember, the ability to control the Registry of a server is the key to controlling the network it serves.
Show this to your next door neighbor and tell her that you're going to use Internet Explorer to surf her
password files. In a few hours the Secret Service will be fighting with the FBI on your front lawn over who
gets to try to bust you. OK, only kidding here.
So how can you use Internet Explorer as a hacking tool? One way is if you are using a computer that
restricts your ability to run other programs on your computer or LAN. Next time you get frustrated at your
school or library computer, check to see if it offers Internet Explorer. If it does, run it and try entering disk
drive names. While C: is a common drive on your home computer, on a LAN you might get results by
putting in R: or Z: or any other letter of the alphabet.
Next cool hack: try automated port surfing from Windows! Since there are thousands of possible ports that
may be open on any computer, it could take days to fully explore even just one computer by hand. A good
answer to this problem is the NetCop automated port surfer, which can be found at http://www.netcop.com/.
Now suppose you want to be able to access the NTFS file system that Windows NT uses from a Win 95 or
even DOS platform? This can be useful if you are wanting to use Win 95 as a platform to hack an NT
system. http://www.ntinternals.com/ntfsdos.htm offers a program that allows Win 95 and DOS to recognize
and mount NTFS drives for transparent access.
Hey, we are hardly beginning to explore all the wonderful Windows hacking tools out there. It would take
megabytes to write even one sentence about each and every one of them. But you're a hacker, so you'll
enjoy exploring dozens more of these nifty programs yourself. Following is a list of sites where you can
download lots of free and more or less harmless programs that will help you in your hacker career:
ftp://ftp.cdrom.com
ftp://ftp.coast.net
http://hertz.njit.edu/%7ebxg3442/temp.html
http://www.alpworld.com/infinity/void-neo.html
http://www.danworld.com/nettools.html
http://www.eskimo.com/~nwps/index.html
http://www.geocities.com/siliconvalley/park/2613/links.html
http://www.ilf.net/Toast/
http://www.islandnet.com/~cliffmcc
http://www.simtel.net/simtel.net
http://www.supernet.net/cwsapps/cwsa.html
http://www.trytel.com/hack/
http://www.tucows.com
http://www.windows95.com/apps/
http://www2.southwind.net/%7emiker/hack.html
GUIDE TO (mostly) HARMLESS HACKING
Beginners' Series #3 Part 1
How to Get a *Good* Shell Account
In this Guide you will learn how to:
· tell whether you may already have a Unix shell account
· get a shell account
· log on to your shell account
____________________________________________________________
You've fixed up your Windows box to boot up with a lurid hacker logo. You've renamed "Recycle Bin"
"Hidden Haxor Secrets." When you run Netscape or Internet Explorer, instead of that boring corporate logo,
you have a full-color animated Mozilla destroying New York City. Now your friends and neighbors are
terrified and impressed.
But in your heart of hearts you know Windows is scorned by elite hackers. You keep on seeing their hairy
exploit programs and almost every one of them requires the Unix operating system. You realize that when it
comes to messing with computer networks, Unix is the most powerful operating system on the planet. You
have developed a burning desire to become one of those Unix wizards yourself. Yes, you're ready for the
next step.
You're ready for a shell account. SHELL ACCOUNT!!!!
*****************************************************
Newbie note: A shell account allows you to use your home computer as a terminal on which you can give
commands to a computer running Unix. The "shell" is the program that translates your keystrokes into Unix
commands. With the right shell account you can enjoy the use of a far more powerful workstation than you
could ever dream of affording to own yourself. It also is a great stepping stone to the day when you will be
running some form of Unix on your home computer.
*****************************************************
Once upon a time the most common way to get on the Internet was through a Unix shell account. But
nowadays everybody and his brother are on the Internet. Almost all these swarms of surfers want just two
things: the Web, and email. To get the pretty pictures of today's Web, the average Internet consumer wants
a mere PPP (point to point) connection account. They wouldn't know a Unix command if it hit them in the
snoot. So nowadays almost the only people who want shell accounts are us wannabe hackers.
The problem is that you used to be able to simply phone an ISP, say "I'd like a shell account," and they
would give it to you just like that. But nowadays, especially if you sound like a teenage male, you'll run into
something like this:
ISP guy: "You want a shell account? What for?"
Hacker dude: "Um, well, I like Unix."
"Like Unix, huh? You're a hacker, aren't you!" Slam, ISP guy hangs up on you.
So how do you get a shell account? Actually, it's possible you may already have one and not know it. So
first we will answer the question, how do you tell whether you may already have a shell account? Then, if
you are certain you don't have one, we'll explore the many ways you can get one, no matter what, from
anywhere in the world.
How Do I Know Whether I Already Have a Shell Account?
First you need to get a program running that will connect you to a shell account. There are two programs
with Windows 95 that will do this, as well as many other programs, some of which are excellent and free.
First we will show you how to use the Win 95 Telnet program because you already have it and it will always
work. But it's a really limited program, so I suggest that you use it only if you can't get the Hyperterminal
program to work.
1) Find your Telnet program and make a shortcut to it on your desktop.
· One way is to click Start, then Programs, then Windows Explorer.
· When Explorer is running, first resize it so it doesn't cover the entire desktop.
· Then click Tools, then Find, then "Files or Folders."
· Ask it to search for "Telnet."
· It will show a file labeled C:\windows\telnet (instead of C:\ it may have another drive). Right click on this
file.
· This will bring up a menu that includes the option "create shortcut." Click on "create shortcut" and then
drag the shortcut to the desktop and drop it.
· Close Windows Explorer.
2) Depending on how your system is configured, there are two ways to connect to the Internet. The easy
way is to skip to step three. But if it fails, go back to this step. Start up whatever program you use to access
the Internet. Once you are connected, minimize the program. Now try step three.
3) Bring up your Telnet program by double clicking on the shortcut you just made.
· First you need to configure Telnet so it actually is usable. On the toolbar click "terminal," then
"preferences," then "fonts." Choose "Courier New," "regular" and 8 point size. You do this because if you
have too big a font, the Telnet program is shown on the screen so big that the cursor from your shell
program can end up being hidden off the screen. OK, OK, you can pick other fonts, but make sure that
when you close the dialog box that the Telnet program window is entirely visible on the screen. Now why
would there be options that make Telnet impossible to use? Ask Microsoft.
· Now go back to the task bar to click Connect, then under it click "Remote system." This brings up another
dialog box.
· Under "host name" in this box type in the last two parts of your email address. For examp le, if your email
address is jane_doe@boring.ISP.com, type "ISP.com" for host name.
· Under "port" in this box, leave it the way it is, reading "telnet."
· Under "terminal type," in this box, choose "VT100."
· Then click the Connect button and wait to see what happens.
· If the connection fails, try entering the last three parts of your email address as the host, in this case
"boring.ISP.com."
Now if you have a shell account you should next get a message asking you to login. It may look something
like this:
Welcome to Boring Internet Services, Ltd.
Boring.com S9 - login: cmeinel
Password:
Linux 2.0.0.
Last login: Thu Apr 10 14:02:00 on ttyp5 from pm20.kitty.net.
sleepy:~$
If you get something like this you are in definite luck. The important thing here, however, is that the
computer used the word "login" to get you started. If is asked for anything else, for example "logon," this is
not a shell account.
As soon as you login, in the case of Boring Internet Services you have a Unix shell prompt on your screen.
But instead of something this simple you may get something like:
BSDI BSD/OS 2.1 (escape.com) (ttyrf)
login: galfina
Password:
Last login: Thu Apr 10 16:11:37 from fubar.net
___________________ ______ ______________
___ / ___/ ___/ \/ \/ __ / ___/
_____ / ___/\__ / /__/ / / /___/ ___/
_______ / / / / / / / / / / / /
_________ \_____/\_____/\_____/\__/___/\_/ \_____/ .com
[ ESCAPE.COM ]
__________________________________________________________________
PLEASE NOTE:
Multiple Logins and Simultaneous Dialups From Different Locations Are
_NOT_ Permitted at Escape Internet Access.
__________________________________________________________________
Enter your terminal type, RETURN for vt100, ? for list:
Setting terminal type to vt100.
Erase is backspace.
MAIN
Escape Main Menu
----[05:45PM]-----------------------------------------------------
==> H) HELP Help & Tips for the Escape Interface. (M)
I) INTERNET Internet Access & Resources (M)
U) USENETM Usenet Conferences (Internet Distribution) (M)
L) LTALK Escape Local Communications Center (M)
B) BULLETINS Information on Escape, Upgrades, coming events. (M)
M) MAIL Escape World Wide and Local Post Office (M)
F) HOME Your Home Directory (Where all your files end up)
C) CONFIG Config your user and system options (M)
S) SHELL The Shell (Unix Environment) [TCSH]
X) LOGOUT Leave System
BACK MAIN HOME MBOX ITALK LOGOUT
----[Mesg: Y]------------[ TAB key toggles menus ]-------[Connected: 0:00]---
CMD>
In this case you aren't in a shell yet, but you can see an option on the menu to get to a shell. So hooray, you
are in luck, you have a shell account. Just enter "S" and you're in.
Now depending on the ISP you try out, there may be all sorts of different menus, all designed to keep the
user from having to ever stumble across the shell itself. But if you have a shell account, you will probably
find the word "shell" somewhere on the menu.
If you don't get something obvious like this, you may have to do the single most humiliating thing a
wannabe hacker will ever do. Call tech support and ask whether you have a shell account and, if so, how to
login. It may be that they just want to make it really, really hard for you to find your shell account.
Now personally I don't care for the Win 95 Telnet program. Fortunately there are many other ways to check
whether you have a shell account. Here's how to use the Hyperterminal program, which, like Telnet, comes
free with the Windows 95 operating system. This requires a different kind of connection. Instead of a PPP
connection we will do a simple phone dialup, the same sort of connection you use to get on most computer
bulletin board systems (BBS).
1) First, find the program Hyperteminal and make a shortcut to your desktop. This one is easy to find. Just
click Start, then Programs, then Accessories. You'll find Hyperterminal on the accessories menu. Clicking on
it will bring up a window with a bunch of icons. Click on the one labeled "hyperterminal.exe."
2) This brings up a dialog box called "New Connection." Enter the name of your local dialup, then in the next
dialog box enter the phone dialup number of your ISP.
3) Make a shortcut to your desktop.
4) Use Hyperterminal to dial your ISP. Note that in this case you are making a direct phone call to your shell
account rather than trying to reach it through a PPP connection.
Now when you dial your ISP from Hyperterminal you might get a bunch of really weird garbage scrolling
down your screen. But don't give up. What is happening is your ISP is trying to set up a PPP connection
with Hyperterminal. That is the kind of connection you need in order to get pretty pictures on the Web. But
Hyperterminal doesn't understand PPP. Unfortunately I've have not been able to figure out why this
happens sometimes or how to stop it. But the good side of this picture is that the problem may go away the
next time you use Hyperterminal to connect to your ISP. So if you dial again you may get a login sequence.
I've found it often helps to wait a few days and try again. Of course you can complain to tech support at
your ISP. But it is likely that they won't have a clue on what causes their end of things to try to set up a PPP
session with your Hyperterminal connection. Sigh.
But if all goes well, you will be able to log in. In fact, except for the PPP attempt problem, I like the
Hyperterminal program much better than Win 95 Telnet. So if you can get this one to work, try it out for
awhile. See if you like it, too.
There are a number of other terminal programs that are really good for connecting to your shell account.
They include Qmodem, Quarterdeck Internet Suite, and Bitcom. Jericho recommends Ewan, a telnet program
which also runs on Windows 95. Ewan is free, and has many more features than either Hyperterminal or Win
95 Telnet. You may download it from jericho's ftp site at sekurity.org in the /utils directory.
OK, let's say you have logged into your ISP with your favorite program. But perhaps it still isn't clear
whether you have a shell account. Here's your next test. At what you hope is your shell prompt, give the
command "ls -alF." If you have a real, honest-to-goodness shell account, you should get something like
this:
> ls -alF
total 87
drwx--x--x 5 galfina user 1024 Apr 22 21:45 ./
drwxr-xr-x 380 root wheel 6656 Apr 22 18:15 ../
-rw-r--r-- 1 galfina user 2793 Apr 22 17:36 .README
-rw-r--r-- 1 galfina user 635 Apr 22 17:36 .Xmodmap
-rw-r--r-- 1 galfina user 624 Apr 22 17:36 .Xmodmap.USKBD
-rw-r--r-- 1 galfina user 808 Apr 22 17:36 .Xresources
drwx--x--x 2 galfina user 512 Apr 22 17:36 www/
etc.
This is the listing of the files and directories of your home directory. Your shell account may give you a
different set of directories and files than this (which is only a partial listing). In any case, if you see
anything that looks even a little bit like this, congratulations, you already have a shell account!
*******************************************************
Newbie note: The first item in that bunch of dashes and letters in front of the file name tells you what kind of
file it is. "d" means it is a directory, and "-" means it is a file. The rest are the permissions your files have.
"r" = read permission, "w" = write permission, and "x" = execute permission (no, "execute" has nothing to
do with murdering files, it means you have permission to run the program that is in this file). If t here is a
dash, it means there is no permission there.
The symbols in the second, third and fourth place from the left are the permissions that you have as a user,
the following three are the permissions everyone in your designated group has, and the final three are the
permissions anyone and everyone may have. For example, in galfina's directory the subdirectory "www/" is
something you may read, write and execute, while everyone else may only execute. This is the directory
where you can put your Web page. The entire world may browse ("execute") your Web page. But only you
can read and write to it.
If you were to someday discover your permissions looking like:
drwx--xrwx newbie user 512 Apr 22 17:36 www/
Whoa, that "w" in the third place from last would mean anyone with an account from outside your ISP can
hack your Web page!
******************************************************
Another command that will tell you whether you have a shell account is "man." This gives you an online
Unix manual. Usually you have to give the man command in the form of "man
different ways to use the "ls" command, type "man ls" at the prompt.
On the other hand, here is an example of something that, even though it is on a Unix system, is not a shell
account:
BSDI BSD/386 1.1 (dub-gw-2.compuserve.com) (ttyp7)
Connected to CompuServe
Host Name: cis
Enter choice (LOGON, HELP, OFF):
The immediate tip-off that this is not a shell account is that it asks you to "logon" instead of "login:"
How to Get a Shell Account
What if you are certain that you don't already have a shell account? How do you find an ISP that will give
you one?
The obvious place to start is your phone book. Unless you live in a really rural area or in a country where
there are few ISPs, there should be a number of companies to choose from.
So here's your problem. You phone Boring ISP, Inc. and say, "I'd like a shell account." But Joe Dummy on
the other end of the phone says, "Shell? What's a shell account?" You say "I want a shell account. SHELL
ACCOUNT!!!" He says, "Duh?" You say "Shell account. SHELL ACCOUNT!!!" He says, "Um, er, let me talk
to my supervisor." Mr. Uptight Supervisor gets on the phone. "We don't give out shell accounts, you dirty
&%$*# hacker."
Or, worse yet, they claim the Internet access account they are giving you a shell account but you discover it
isn't one.
To avoid this embarrassing scene, avoid calling big name ISPs. I can guarantee you, America Online,
Compuserve and Microsoft Network don't give out shell accounts.
What you want to find is the seediest, tiniest ISP in town. The one that specializes in pasty-faced customers
who stay up all night playing MOOs and MUDs. Guys who impersonate grrrls on IRC. Now that is not to
say that MUD and IRC people are typically hackers. But these definitely are your serious Internet addicts.
An ISP that caters to people like that probably also understands the kind of person who wants to learn Unix
inside and out.
So you phone or email one of these ISPs on the back roads of the Net and say, "Greetings, d00d! I am an evil
haxor and demand a shell account pronto!"
No, no, no! Chances are you got the owner of this tiny ISP on the other end of the line. He's probably a
hacker himself. Guess what? He loves to hack but he doesn't want hackers (or wannabe hackers) for
customers. He doesn't want a customer who's going to be attracting email bombers and wa ging hacker war
and drawing complaints from the sysadmins on whom this deadly dude has been testing exploit code.
So what you do is say something like "Say, do you offer shell accounts? I really, really like to browse the
Web with lynx. I hate waiting five hours for all those pretty pictures and Java applets to load. And I like to
do email with Pine. For newsgroups, I luuuv tin!"
Start out like this and the owner of this tiny ISP may say something like, "Wow, dude, I know what you
mean. IE and Netscape really s***! Lynx uber alles! What user name would you like?"
At this point, ask the owner for a guest account. As you will learn below, some shell accounts are so
restricted that they are almost worthless.
But let's say you can't find any ISP within reach of a local phone call that will give you a shell account. Or
the only shell account you can get is worthless. Or you are well known as a malicious hacker and you've
been kicked off every ISP in town. What can you do?
Your best option is to get an account on some distant ISP, perhaps even in another country. Also, the few
medium size ISPs that offer shell accounts (for example, Netcom) may even have a local dialup number for
you. But if they don't have local dialups, you can still access a shell account located *anywhere* in the
world by setting up a PPP connection with your local dialup ISP, and then accessing your shell account
using a telnet program on your home computer.
*************************************************
Evil Genius Tip: Sure, you can telnet into your shell account from another ISP account. But unless you have
software that allows you to send your password in an encrypted form, someone may sniff your password
and break into your account. If you get to be well known in the hacker world, lots of other hackers will
constantly be making fun of you by sniffing your password. Unfortunately, almost all shell accounts are set
up so you must expose your password to anyone who has hidden a sniffer anywhere between the ISP that
provides your PPP connection and your shell account ISP.
One solution is to insist on a shell account provider that runs ssh (secure shell).
**************************************************
So where can you find these ISPs that will give you shell accounts? One good source is
http://www.celestin.com/pocia/. It provides links to Internet Service Providers categorized by geographic
region. They even have links to allow you to sign up with ISPs serving the Lesser Antilles!
***********************************************
Evil Genius tip: Computer criminals and malicious hackers will often get a guest account on a distant ISP and
do their dirty work during the few hours this guest account is available to them. Since this practice provides
the opportunity to cause s o much harm, eventually it may become really hard to get a test run on a guest
account.
***********************************************
But if you want to find a good shell account the hacker way, here's what you do. Start with a list of your
favorite hacker Web sites. For example, let's try http://ra.nilenet.com/~mjl/hacks/codez.htm.
You take the beginning part of the URL (Uniform Resource Locator) as your starting point. In this case it is
"http://ra.nilenet.com." Try surfing to that URL. In many cases it will be the home page for that ISP. It
should have instructions for how to sign up for a shell account. In the case of Nile Net we strike hacker
gold:
Dial-up Accounts and Pricing
NEXUS Accounts
NEXUS Accounts include: Access to a UNIX Shell, full
Internet access, Usenet newsgroups, 5mb of FTP and/or
WWW storage space, and unlimited time.
One Time Activation Fee: $20.00
Monthly Service Fee: $19.95 or
Yearly Service Fee: $199.95
Plus which they make a big deal over freedom of online speech. And they host a great hacker page full of
these Guides to (mostly) Harmless Hacking!
How to Login to Your Shell Account
Now we assume you finally have a guest shell account and are ready to test drive it. So now we need to
figure out how to login. Now all you hacker geniuses reading this, why don't you just forget to flame me for
telling people how to do something as simple as how to login. Please remember that everyone has a first
login. If you have never used Unix, this first time can be intimidating. In any case, if you are a Unix genius
you have no business reading this Beginners' Guide. So if you are snooping around here looking for
flamebait, send your flames to /dev/null.
***********************************************************
Newbie note: "Flames" are insulting, obnoxious rantings and ravings done by people who are severely
lacking in social skills and are a bunch of &$%@#!! but who think they are brilliant computer savants. For
example, this newbie note is my flame against &$%@#!! flamers.
"/dev/null" stands for "device null." It is a file name in a Unix operating system. Any data that is sent to
/dev/null is discarded. So when someone says they will put something in "/dev/null" that means they are
sending it into permanent oblivion.
***********************************************************
The first thing you need to know in order to get into your shell account is your user name and password.
You need to get that information from the ISP that has just signed you up. The second thing you need to
remember is that Unix is "case sensitive." That means if your login name is "JoeSchmoe" the shell will think
"joeschmoe" is a different person than "JoeSchmoe" or "JOESCHMOE."
OK, so you have just connected to your shell account for the first time. You may see all sorts of different
stuff on that first screen. But the one thing you will always see is the prompt:
login:
Here you will type in your user name.
In response you will always be asked :
Password:
Here you type in your password.
After this you will get some sort of a prompt. It may be a simple as:
%
or
$
or
>
Or as complicated as:
sleepy:~$
Or it may even be some sort of complicated menu where you have to choose a "shell" option before you get
to the shell prompt.
Or it may be a simple as:
#
**********************************************************
Newbie note: The prompt "#" usually means you have the superuser powers of a "root" account. The Unix
superuser has the power to do *anything* to the computer. But you won't see this prompt unless either the
systems administrator has been really careless -- or someone is playing a joke on you. Sometimes a hacker
thinks he or she has broken into the superuser account because of seeing the "#" prompt. But sometimes
this is just a trick the sysadmin is playing. So the hacker goes playing around in what he or she thinks is the
root account while the sysadmin and his friends and the police are all laughing at the hacker.
**********************************************************
Ready to start hacking from your shell account? Watch out, it may be so crippled that it is worthless for
hacking. Or, it may be pretty good, but you might inadvertently do something to get you kicked off. To
avoid these fates, be sure to read Beginners' Series #3 Part 2 of How to Get a *Good* Shell Account, coming
out tomorrow.
In that GTMHH section you will learn how to:
· explore your shell account
· decide whether your shell account is any good for hacking
· keep from losing your shell account
In case you were wondering about all the input from jericho in this Guide, yes, he was quite helpful in
reviewing it and making suggestions. Jericho is a security consultant runs his own Internet host,
obscure.sekurity.org. Thank you, jericho@dimensional.com, and happy hacking!
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