GT(M)HH Vol. 7 No. 1 Introduction to Hacker Wargaming

Hear David Lawrence's hilarious interview on Geek Radio of Carolyn Meinel at

http://www.audiocast.net/HomeTemplate.cfm?page=audio_play.cfm&id=380&code=tech&scode=geek

__________________________________________________________

GUIDE TO (mostly) HARMLESS HACKING

Vol. 7 No. 1

Introduction to Hacker Wargaming

____________________________________________________________

Since we began running the Hacker Wargame in March 1988, so far (Oct. 1998)

we have just two winners (blips and spagheti -- GALF doesn't count because

they committed a felony to get in) -- and lots of questions about how to

become a winner. "Please explain keystroke by keystroke," people ask again

and again.

Sorry, I can't do that for you. The problem is, when we made the Wargame

easy to win, certain script kiddies came in and repeatedly erased key parts

of the operating system of the Wargame computer -- which is a pain to fix.

So we decided to set up the Wargame so it was harder to use script kiddie

programs. The result, sad to say, was that winners became rare.

It's pretty boring when only two people are able to not just break into but

maintain control of one of our Wargame computers. (You aren't a winner

unless you can maintain control.) So this Wargaming series is intended to

teach you, the aspiring Uberhacker, how to rise above the level of the

script kiddie. If this series is successful, you will learn how hackers

such as blips and spagheti have become computer security experts instead of

mere script kiddies. You will have the opportunity to follow in their

footsteps by learning how to discover new computer vulnerabilities, and

learning how to fix them yourself, without being told "keystroke by keystroke."

************************************************************

In this GTMHH you will learn:

* What are script kiddies and why they are lame

* Why setting up your own LAN (local area network) is the best way to become an Uberhacker

* What kind of hardware you will need

* How to get hardware cheap

* How to get operating system software cheap

*************************************************************

What Are Script Kiddies, and Why they Are Lame

Want to know exactly what a script kiddie is? The Web site

http://www.antionline.com carries some of the best news about computer

break-ins. Its owner, John Vranesevich <jp@antionline.com> is a

self-described hacker, and has interviewed and listened to thousands of

hackers. With his permission, here we reprint his recent editorial "Facing

the Age of the Script Kiddies"

In the past, a hacker was an individual who literally had to spend years

to learn the inner workings of computer technology, programming, and

hardware. Only then could he begin to explore possible vulnerabilities, and

develop, for himself, ways to exploit those vulnerabilities, and more

importantly, ways to patch them. Through out these years of learning, the

hacker would develop a certain respect for the technology that he was

studying, and a certain level of maturity would inherently develop as well.

Now, in present day society, with point and click utilities abound, a

younger, less mature, less knowledgeable, and less

respectful, generation of "hackers" have come to life. Individuals who

haven't had to go through the years of learning, and study. Individuals,

who because of the lack of experiencing this "learning process" have not

developed the traits which once went hand in hand with the persona of

"hacker". Kids who are at that age, where they have very little self

respect, and even less respect for others. Kids who are insecure, and have

a strong desire to feel that sense of belonging. The sense of being

accepted as part of a group, and respected among their peers. The same

emotional state which once led inner city youth to gangs, is now leading

them to "hacking". Individuals who feel the ultimate sense of power in

"hacking a webpage". Their words being read by thousands of others. Their

ability to control something. The technology is not a love, but a tool to

accomplish something much more in their eyes. A tool that can be used to

gain them acceptance, a feeling of empowerment, belonging, and control. A

tool to allow them to escape the ridicule of the kids on the bus, or the

back of their parent's hand.

Oh, and I can hear people screaming "stereotyping" right now. Well, call

it what you may. I've talked to literally thousands of these so called

"hackers" over the past 5 or 6 years. You'd be surprised at how clear of a

mold many of them come from. I am really sick of hearing "we hacked that

page to get a message out". Perhaps, in some very, very, rare cases, that

is true. But, I submit to you, the vast majority of time a hack is done

first, and a political agenda is developed after hand to help rationalize

the crime. On top of that, one hardly has to "hack a webpage" to get their

point of view told.

That's the wonder of the Internet. Everyone is an equal. Everyone has the

opportunity to post their views, and share their thoughts. Once again,

these so called "hackers" avoid the developmental process. They don't want

to spend the time and energy necessary to create a successful website of

their own. So, they maliciously exploit the work of others that have. I'm

19 years old right now. I know what it is like being upset about

something, and feeling that there's no way to share that with others.

That's one of the reasons that I made AntiOnline. It's my forum. My way of

expressing my views on things. To think of me, a 19 year old college drop

out. Yet, my work is viewed millions of times every month. That, my little

"hacker" friends, is power. That is what the Internet is about. That's why

it works. That's why it's growing.

Unless you change your ways soon, you will never be truly experiencing

the wonder that technology is. To truly love technology, love how it is

changing our society, bringing mankind together in a way never before

experienced in the history of the human race. You'll never truly be

experiencing the very thing that you feel you have ultimate control over.

A true irony indeed.

Of course, as with all things, there is hope. There are people out their

hanging on tightly to the ways of old, and the true hacker identity. There

are groups like L0pht, the distributed.net bovine group, and the kids down

at your local high school learning visual basic.

Those are the true hackers. A desire to learn, a desire to be the first

to discover something new. A true hacker mentality is something that

shouldn't be thought of as a dark, mischievous thing, but perhaps, more

like that of a scientist. Study, learn, experiment, and share what you've

found with others......

Yours In CyberSpace,

John Vranesevich

Founder, AntiOnline

Why Setting up your own LAN Is the Best Way to become an Uberhacker

OK, so you want to become more than a script kiddie? So do I. Here's what

the best hackers I know say was their route to the top: wargaming on their

own and friends' LANs (local area networks). This is a study technique used

by the kind of people who can slide through computer systems like ghosts

wafting through walls.

"Wait! Wait!" some of you are saying. "I thought hackers learn by

illegally breaking into the computers of strangers!" True, plenty of people

you meet on hacker mailing lists and on IRC make out like they are computer

security experts by day and computer criminals by night. There even are

people who have been convicted of computer crimes who work as security

experts. These guys probably are telling you the truth when they say they

were foolish enough to learn their trade by committing crime.

However, crime often leads to prison, and prison is no fun. Guess what

happens when bad breath cellmate "Bubba" decides you're cute? Guess what

happens when your name is Kevin Mitnik and Hollywood makes a movie full of

lies about you? Besides, when you break into a computer illegally, you miss

out on the most fun part, which is being the guy who is fighting back!

So ... are you ready to learn about breaking into and defending computers

the way the Uberhackers do it? Ready to learn how to run your own hacker

wargames?

You can get started with newbie wargaming by reading the GTMHHs on "How to

Break into Windows 95 from the Internet." (See http://www.happyhacker.org)

These show you how to set up your Win95 box so you and your friends can

practice breaking into each others' computers over the Internet. This will

give you a good start. But this approach has some problems -- such as you

only learn newbie stuff, and strangers might find your purposely vulnerable

Win95 or Win98 box connected to the Internet -- and do terrible things to it.

If you want a wargaming technique that will take you all the way to the

top, you need to set up a local area network in your home, and get your

friends to set up networks, too. Then you can experiment with configuring

firewalls and proxy servers, getting several computers with different

operating systems working together, and trying out LAN networking techniques

such as Netware, Microsoft Network, and TCP/IP; and much more. You can

increase your fun by trading accounts on your network for accounts on your

friends' LANs and get to freely experiment with many LANs.

*************************************************************

Newbie note: If you are a kid, the FIRST thing you will probably want to do

is make sure your parents understand why hacker wargaming will make you rich

and famous instead of in jail and infamous. Here's how

Paradox@kpservices.com won over his parents.

"I wrote to you a while ago about how to get my parents to accept the fact

of their son being a white-hat hacker... You gave me the advice to show

them your article in the October issue of

_Scientific American_ (which was a masterpiece, btw) and take it from

there. Right after my dad read it ... All was well! Then, by coincidence,

my best friend's Win95 box on a vulnerable cable connection was invaded as

part of a dumb IRC war he had going on... The intruders... trashed my

friend's box by using Back Orifice and then proceeded to mess with the

server our business page was on (along with our other e-mail addresses). My

parents ... are now security paranoid and want me to find out as much as I

can about computer security. My Aunt (a Sun Microsystems employee) is

getting me an Ultra 5 SPARC Workstation for Christmas too! My parents are

also buying me a copy of Windows NT and System Commander so I can run Linux

too! I'm also going to get a (secure) cable connection to the workstation

in my room.

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

******************************************************

What Kind of Hardware you Will Need -- and How to Get it Cheap

"Wait! Wait!" some guys are saying. "I'm not rich enough to build my own

hacker research laboratory!" Guess what, you can put together a really

impressive lab for only a few hundred dollars.

Have you visited the web page of our Wargame computer

http://koan.happyhacker.org? The Web pages downloaded pretty fast, right?

Did you get into the guest account and make merry with all the other guys

who had shells on koan? (Hint: the password for the guest account is really

stupid. Even a stupid person can guess it.) Did you give the netstat command

and see how many people were browsing its Web sites, making ftp connections

and logged into shells all at once? Did you know that koan is a mere 25 Mhz

486 box?

Koan is so powerful because it runs FreeBSD, a Unix type of operating

system, instead of Windows. (The RAM disk for the temp directory helps,

too:) Almost any Unix type operating system can take an ancient Intel-type

computer and make it run fast! The 200th fastest supercomputer in the world

is a bunch of PCs running Linux and hooked together in parallel, in

operation at Los Alamos National Laboratories.

You can get a 25 Mhz PC, or even faster ones, for almost nothing. Because

they are so common, you can find cheap used ones in the classified ads in

the local paper, or buy them from computer stores that specialize in used

equipment. Then install Unix type operating systems on them.

Or, for major fun, buy ancient workstation computers. You will rarely see

them for sale in the classified ads of newspapers. However, you can often

pick them up at auctions. Of course you need to know a thing or two about

the hardware you buy at auctions, because usually you won't get to try them

out before bidding on them. Many people who buy workstations at auctions

figure most of them have things wrong with them. So they buy a bunch of

them and then use parts from some of them to fix the others.

You would be surprised by what an ancient Sun can do. A Sun SPARC

workstation running at 25 Mhz is surprisingly fast for the same reason a 25

Mhz PC is fast running some sort of Unix -- it's the Unix that makes it

fast! In addition, if you want to have many simultaneous users, for example

if you want to give shell accounts to many users, a Sun should be faster

than a PC with an equivalent clock speed.

If you don't feel you have the hardware expertise to piece together a cheap

Sun workstation yourself, by paying a little bit more you can buy them from

resellers who get them at auctions. If you can find a local auction that

sells workstations, you best bet may be to go to the auction and introduce

yourself to the people you see buying hardware that you want to own. They

will probably be willing to resell to you as soon as they get the equipment

working.

If you can't find a cheap place to buy workstations nearby, there are two

places in Albuquerque where you can get refurbished workstations:

http://nmol.com/users/jcents (email jcents@nmol.com); or email Jake Garcia

at jakeg@rt66.com. They pick them up at auctions of used equipment from

places such as Sandia National Laboratories, where people design nuclear

weapons and nanomachinery. Sorry, you won't find classified data left

behind on these workstations!

Your next step in getting ready to set up your hacker laboratory is the

networking equipment. How do you get your computers talking to each other?

For that I recommend a 10BaseT Ethernet. This is probably the easiest

network you can set up.

The hardware you will need for an Ethernet will consist of a hub, an

Ethernet device for each computer you plan to network together, and either

Category 3 or Category 5 Ethernet cables. The Ethernet cables look like

oversized phone cables.

You can usually find a used hub for $20 or so at a used computer store.

Workstations usually have an Ethernet device of some sort already built into

them. However, look to see whether yours has a connector on the back that

looks like a slightly oversized phone jack. If it does, great. If instead

your workstation only has a connector that looks like what you use for a

cable TV (round with a wire in the center), and next to it a connector that

looks like the serial port on the back of your PC, you have a slight

problem. You will need to buy an AUI to 10BaseT transceiver. It is a

little box with LEDs on it which hooks on one side to the thing that looks

like a serial port, and on the other side has a thing that looks like a big

phone jack. These are somewhat hard to find, and cost about $30 new. The

electronic parts supplier Hamilton Hallmark sells them, as do many other

electronics parts suppliers. You rarely will find these transceivers in

computer stores because the average consumer doesn't run around networking

old Unix workstations.

For PCs you usually need to buy an Ethernet card. Even new, you can buy

one for only $20. The cabling costs very little, and can often be gotten

for free if you pay a visit to an office building that is being renovated.

I've gotten several hundred feet of Cat3 cable that way.

Once you have gotten this far, you have all the hardware you need for your

hacker laboratory.

How to Get Operating System Software Cheap

Your next problem will be operating system software. One problem with

buying old Unix workstations is that they generally have old operating

systems for which there are many exploit programs floating around the

Internet. While it may be fun for a while proving to yourself that within

seconds you can break into these old boxes, pretty soon this will get

boring. You will get the craving to upgrade to the latest versions of these

operating systems.

This is where you may get to faint, when you find out what this costs.

There are exceptions, however.

My favorite kind of used workstations is Suns. The reason I like old Suns

is that you can either run them using whatever operating system it came with

(either Sun OS or Solaris, which will probably be an old version and easy to

break into) or you can upgrade cheaply to the latest version of Solaris, to

Sun Linux, or Sun OpenBSD. Even a SPARC 1 can run the latest versions of

all of these! To get the latest Solaris for almost nothing, see

http://www.sun.com/developers/solarispromo.html. This offer includes the

manuals as well as a set of installation CDs. Or, you can get a version of

Linux that runs on Sun workstations (Red Hat) at http://www.redhat.com, or

of OpenBSD from http://www.openBSd.org.

For PCs, your best bet for cheap Unix, if you are a total beginner, is Red

Hat. It is easy to install and tech support is great. There are at least

two other Linux distributions that beginners find easy to use: Slackware 3.5

(http://www.cdrom.com) and Debian (http://www.debian.com). While they are a

bit harder to install, they are easier to make secure.

You can also get a version of Solaris that will run on PCs (see above URL).

If Linux is new to you, check out http://sunsite.unc.edu/mdw/ldp.html for

lots of beginner information. Or, start out with Trinux, at

http://www.trinux.org, for a beginner's version that doesn't require you to

repartition your hard disk (which the other Linuxes do).

If you are already a power user of Linux, and want to build a really secure

LAN, you may wish to move up to either FreeBSD (http://www.freebsd.org or

http://www.cdrom.com) or Open BSD (http://www.openbsd.org). These operating

systems, along with Solaris 2.6 and above, are designed to resist most of

the buffer overflows that are the basis of many break-in techniques.

These BSD operating systems are more difficult to install, however.

I wish I could tell you how to get a cheap version of Windows NT Server

4.0. However, the only way I know of is not exactly legal. You may be able

to obtain a free beta copy of Windows NT 5.0, however -- keep checking out

the Microsoft Web site (http://www.microsoft.com) for opportunities.

How about LAN software? If you have decided to work with Windows only, and

don't plan on connecting your LAN to the Internet, all you have to do is

cable each computer to your hub, and point and click your way through

networking. As for Novell Netware -- sorry, I don't know of a cheap way to

get it.

If you are serious about hacking, you will be connecting several different

operating systems together on your LAN. For this I recommend using TCP/IP

and making one of your computers a gateway to the Internet. This is a

little harder than "Network Neighborhood" style networking. I know that

because -- you will be shocked to hear this -- I am living proof that it is

easy to make mistakes when setting up a TCP/IP network. Imagine that! So

I'm going to devote the next Guide in this series to how to set up a LAN

with an Internet gateway and both Windows and Unix boxes on it using TCP/IP.

Maybe I can figure out how to explain it so it will be easier for you than

it was for me.

Thanks to keydet89@yahoo.com for reviewing and contributing to this Guide.

_______________________________________________________________________

Where are those back issues of GTMHHs and Happy Hacker Digests? Check out

the official Happy Hacker Web page at http://www.happyhacker.org.

We are against computer crime. We support good, old-fashioned hacking of the

kind that led to the creation of the Internet and a new era of freedom of

information. But we hate computer crime. So don't email us about any crimes

you may have committed!

To subscribe to Happy Hacker and receive the Guides to (mostly) Harmless

Hacking, please email hacker@techbroker.com with message "subscribe

happy-hacker" in the body of your message.

GUIDE TO (mostly) HARMLESS HACKING on your Web site as long as you leave

this notice at the end.

_________________________________________________________

Carolyn Meinel

M/B Research -- The Technology Brokers

http://techbroker.com