IWS - The Information Warfare Site
News Watch Make a  donation to IWS - The Information Warfare Site Use it for navigation in case java scripts are disabled

    
    ____________________________________________________________
    
    
    
    GUIDE TO (mostly) HARMLESS HACKING
    
    
    
    Microsoft-only version Number 4
    
    
    
    How to Break into Windows 95 from the Internet, continued.
    
    ____________________________________________________________
    
    
    
    by keydet89@yahoo.com
    
    
    
    Hacking from Win95
    
    Accessing shares via the Internet
    
    Alpha Edition:  Oct, 1998
    
    
    
    [Protecting Yourself]
    
    [What can they do]
    
    [Getting set up]
    
    [Connecting to shares]
    
    [Final Words]
    
    
    
    The purpose of this Guide is to show the reader how to set up
    
    their Win95 computer to use sharing via the Internet.
    
    
    
    Readers are encouraged to explore the information provided here,
    
    but only after obtaining permission to do so on the remote
    
    computer.  Get with your friends and try these techniques!
    
    
    
    The information in this Guide is meant for use by Win95 users,
    
    as the steps that are outlined are specifically for Win95.  This
    
    same subject for NT has been dealt with in a previous Guide.
    
    
    
    Before we start, I should point out that I made extensive use of
    
    a free source of information...the Microsoft KnowledgeBase.  I
    
    searched for a lot of information, and found a lot of good
    
    references, by going to http://support.microsoft.com and
    
    registering my email address.  I will be referencing several
    
    KnowledgeBase throughout this Guide, and you can easily go to
    
    the Support site and print out copies of the articles...just
    
    choose to search for a particular article, rather than by
    
    keyword.
    
    
    
    [Protecting yourself]
    
    
    
    First, the method of protecting yourself needs to be made
    
    perfectly clear.  DON'T SHARE!!  I can't stress that enough.
    
    If you are a home user, and you are connecting a Win95 computer
    
    to the Internet via some dial-up method, DISABLE SHARING!
    
    
    
    If you must share, use a strong password...8 characters minimum,
    
    a mix of upper and lower case letters and numbers, change the
    
    password every now and again.  If you need to transmit the
    
    password to someone, do so over the phone or by written letter.
    
    Another method for exchanging the information is to use PGP, or
    
    'Pretty Good Privacy' (obtaining and installing PGP was covered
    
    in a previous Guide).  Using PGP will not only allow you to
    
    encrypt the information so that only your friend(s) can
    
    decrypt it, but you can also digitally sign the file so that
    
    your friends know that only you could have sent it.
    
    
    
    To disable sharing, click on My Computer -> Control Panel ->
    
    Network -> File and Print Sharing.  In the dialogue box that
    
    appears, uncheck both boxes.  It's that easy.  If you are using
    
    NT, disable the Server service to disable sharing...click on
    
    My Computer -> Control Panel -> Services, and disable the
    
    Server service.
    
    
    
    [What can they do]
    
    
    
    If someone can access you hard drive via the Internet, there are
    
    many things they can do...it all depends upon their knowledge and
    
    their intent.  Given correct access permissions, they could
    
    erase your hard drive...or leave a 'hidden bomb' behind so that
    
    your hard drive is erased the next time you boot up.  Or they
    
    could simply modify your system.ini file so that the next time
    
    your computer boots up, it opens into the old Program Manager
    
    shell from Windows 3.1, instead of the nice friendly Explorer
    
    shell that you are used to.  Or they could just copy your
    
    email mailboxes, some data, and be merrily on their way.
    
    
    
    Of course, there are all sorts of pathological uses for DOS
    
    commands like deltree and ctty, and toys like BO...
    
    
    
    [Getting set up]
    
    
    
    First of all, you need to make sure that your system is set up
    
    correctly to access another win95 machine via the Internet.  The
    
    assumptions made in the following steps are that:
    
    
    
    (a) you have your win95 disks or CD, and
    
    (b) you have a modem in your computer.
    
    
    
    By assuming that the reader has a modem, we can keep the
    
    Guide simple, but users who are on a LAN should have no trouble
    
    following the Guide.
    
    
    
    1.  The first thing you need to do is make sure that you have
    
    the latest version of DUN (Dial-Up Networking) for Win95.  The
    
    current version is DUN v1.3, and can be obtained by going to:
    
    
    
    http://www.microsoft.com/msdownload
    
    
    
    Choose "Windows95 Shareware and Utilities" from the "Support
    
    Drivers, Patches and Service Packs" section, and then choose
    
    the update from the "Networking & Communications" section.
    
    
    
    NOTE:  Feel free to gather any other updates that you may be
    
    interested in, such as TweakUI.  Another useful tool that you
    
    will find here under "Resource Kits" is the Windows95 Resource
    
    Kit Help File and Utilities.
    
    
    
    Once you have obtained and installed the DUN update, you should
    
    be ready to begin.
    
    
    
    ************************************************************
    
    NEWBIE NOTE:  Before you go on, you might want to look at
    
    or print out the following Microsoft KnowledgeBase articles:
    
    
    
    Q178729:  How to configure Win95 to dial into a RAS/RRAS
    
    server
    
    http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q178/7/29.asp
    
    
    
    Q145843:  How to connect to a remote server
    
    http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q145/8/43.asp
    
    
    
    Q183368:  Requirements to browse network with dial-up
    
    networking
    
    http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q183/3/68.asp
    
    ************************************************************
    
    
    
    Let's get started...
    
    
    
    2.  Click on Control Panel -> Network, and open the applet
    
    to the Configuration tab.  You should see the following entries
    
    at a minimum:  Client for Microsoft Networks, DialUp Adapter,
    
    and TCP/IP.
    
    
    
    If one or more of these entries aren't there, choose Add, and
    
    select the appropriate choice.  Make sure that you have your
    
    disks or CD-ROM available...just in case.
    
    
    
    **If you don't already have it, add NetBEUI to your system by
    
    choosing Control Panel -> Network -> Add, and choose Protocol.
    
    Select the NetBEUI protocol and install it.
    
    
    
    3.  Select TCP/IP, and open the Properties for it.  In the IP
    
    Address tab, you will most likely have the 'Obtain an IP address
    
    automatically' choice selected.
    
    
    
    4.  Now double click on My Computer, choose DialUp Networking,
    
    and  double click on icon for the connection to your ISP.  Under
    
    the Server Type tab, you should have the following selections:
    
    
    
    Type of Dial-Up Server:  PPP: Windows 95, Windows NT 3.5, Internet
    
    
    
    Advanced Options:  'Log on to network' and 'Enable software
    
    compression'
    
    
    
    Allowed network protocols:  TCP/IP
    
    
    
    5.  Now, click the 'TCP/IP Settings...' button, and you should see
    
    the 'Server assigned IP address' and 'Server assigned name server
    
    addresses' radio buttons selected.  Both 'Use IP header
    
    compression' and 'Use default gateway on remote network' should
    
    be checked.
    
    
    
    [Connecting to shares]
    
    
    
    6.  Before connecting to shares via the Internet, you need to
    
    make sure that you machine is configured to use the 'lmhosts'
    
    file on your computer to resolve NetBIOS names to IP addresses.
    
    To do this, click Start -> Settings -> Control Panel ->
    
    Network.
    
    
    
    On the Configuration tab, click 'TCP/IP', and click 'Properties'.
    
    
    
    On the WINS Configuration tab, click 'Disable WINS Resolution'.
    
    
    
    Click Ok, then Ok, again.
    
    
    
    Reboot your machine.
    
    
    
    7.  Now we need to configure lmhosts file entries.  You might
    
    want to start by opening the lmhosts.sam file:
    
    
    
    ***********************************************************
    
    NEWBIE NOTE:  The lmhosts file is similar to the hosts file
    
    in that it is used to resolve names to IP addresses.  WINS
    
    and lmhosts files are the Microsoft versions of the DNS and
    
    hosts files systems.  DNS/hosts files are used to resolve
    
    Internet names like "www.example.com" to IP addresses.
    
    WINS/lmhosts files are used to resolve NetBIOS names of
    
    machines to their IP addresses.
    
    ***********************************************************
    
    
    
    c:\windows\lmhosts.sam
    
    
    
    ..in Notepad and reading through it.  Then from the command
    
    prompt, type:
    
    
    
    c:\windows>edit lmhosts
    
    
    
    or
    
    
    
    c:\windows>notepad lmhosts
    
    
    
    The entries in the file should look like:
    
    
    
    [IP address] [NetBIOS name]  #PRE
    
    
    
    Each entry in the lmhosts file needs to look like this
    
    if you are going to access shares on the machines.
    
    
    
    ***********************************************************
    
    NEWBIE NOTE:  If you don't have the NetBIOS name of your
    
    friend's computer, you can get it using the nbtstat command.
    
    You have to have the IP address...type:
    
    
    
    c:\>nbtstat -A [ip_addr]
    
    **NOTE:  The letter "A" MUST be capitalized!
    
    
    
    You should see something similar to:
    
    
    
           NetBIOS Remote Machine Name Table
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
       Name               Type         Status
    
    
    
    ---------------------------------------------
    
    
    
    Registered Registered Registered Registered Registered
    
    
    
    MAC Address = 00-00-00-00-00-00
    
    
    
    
    
    95_Box        <00>  UNIQUE
    
    95_Box        <20>  UNIQUE
    
    domain        <00>  GROUP
    
    domain        <1C>  GROUP
    
    domain        <1E>  GROUP
    
    95_Box        <03>  UNIQUE
    
    
    
    What you are looking for is the line with "<00>
    
    UNIQUE"...the name at the beginning of the line is
    
    the NetBIOS name of the computer.  This is what gets
    
    entered in the lmhosts file.
    
    
    
    If you get the error message "Host not found", it may
    
    mean one of several things...your friend is not logged
    
    on, there is a firewall between the two of you, etc.
    
    ***********************************************************
    
    
    
    8.  Now we need to refresh the NetBIOS cache for your
    
    machine...
    
    
    
    In the DOS command window, type:
    
    
    
    c:\>nbtstat -R
    
    
    
    This command reloads the cache from the lmhosts file you just
    
    created.
    
    
    
    Now, click on Start -> Find -> Computer, and type in the NetBIOS
    
    name of the computer...the same one you added to the lmhosts file.
    
    If your attempt to connect to the machine is successful, you should
    
    be presented with a window containing an icon representing your
    
    friend's machine.
    
    
    
    You may be presented with a password prompt window; your friend
    
    should have given you the password, but if he didn't just try
    
    guessing it.
    
    
    
    [Final words]
    
    
    
    Please remember that this file is for instructional purposes only
    
    and is meant to educate the sysadmin and user alike.  Accessing
    
    computers via the Internet that you do not have permission to access
    
    is a violation of federal law in the US.  It is best to use the
    
    information in this Guide and others to pursue the one and only
    
    guaranteed method of gaining root on a system...become the sysadmin!!
    
    ________________________________________________________
    
    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 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. 
    
    Copyright 1998 keydet89.  You may forward, print out or post this
    
    GUIDE TO (mostly) HARMLESS HACKING on your Web site as long as you leave
    
    this notice at the end.
    
    _________________________________________________________