720 lines
35 KiB
Plaintext
720 lines
35 KiB
Plaintext
==Phrack Inc.==
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Volume 0x0e, Issue 0x43, Phile #0x0c of 0x10
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|=-----------------------------------------------------------------------=|
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|=------------------=[ P H R A C K E R Z: Two Tales ]=-------------------=|
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|=-----------------------------------------------------------------------=|
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|=-------------------=[ Antipeace and The Analog Kid ]=------------------=|
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|=-----------=[ antipeace@phrack.org / analog_kid@phrack.org ]=----------=|
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|=-----------------------------------------------------------------------=|
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This is a tale of two hackers. Two souls lost in this world of bits. One
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tells a first hand tale of a hackers life. Another, gone mad from analyzing
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too many ltrace outputs, looks at the existence of Phrack Inc. from the
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outside.
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One wanted to be a hacker from childhood. The other had plans of being a
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rock star. None the less, here in this strange network of fibers, their
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paths collide and their stories are fused together.
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Who owns an idea when it is anonymous? Who is the arbiter of ethics, the
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individual hacker or the mass media? What good is a secret that cannot be
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shared? What defines an author if the author is anonymous?
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These are two stories from both hackers, fused together, as they struggle
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to answer such questions. It is a collage of segments from the two tales.
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~~~
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|=-----------------------------------------------------------------------=|
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|=----------=[ When I was a child I wanted to be one of them ]=----------=|
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|=-----------------------------------------------------------------------=|
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|=-------------------------=[ by Antipeace ]=--------------------------=|
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|=-----------------------------------------------------------------------=|
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--[ Contents
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1 - Who the hell is it written for?
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2 - Who they think we are
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3 - We are not _so_ special
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4 - The downside of a hacking life
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5 - So in the end...
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--]
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~~~
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|=-----------------------------------------------------------------------=|
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|=-------------------=[ The tale of the phrack boys ]=-------------------=|
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|=-----------------------------------------------------------------------=|
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|=----------------------=[ by The Analog Kid ]=------------------------=|
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|=-----------------------------------------------------------------------=|
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--[ Contents
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1 - A witch hunt begins
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2 - What do people think they are?
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3 - Are they so special?
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4 - Why they must lurk in the shadows of publicity
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5 - Of the indictment and the witch hunt
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6 - A closing note
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7 - Acknowledgments
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8 - References
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--]
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~~~
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--( A witch hunt begins )--
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by The Analog Kid
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"Neither have been charged ... they expect to at least be called as
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witnesses at the case of the Phrack Boys [1]
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April 0x5, 1990, 6:50 AM: On that day a hacker is born into this world.
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March 0x1, 1990, 6:30 AM: Secret service agents charge into the room of
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Phrack Inc contributor, The Mentor. Their guns are drawn and pointed at his
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head.
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March 0x1, 1990, 11:00 AM: Secret service agents complete their search and
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seizure of The Mentor's property. Agents prepare to raid the Mentor's work
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office [1].
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April 0x5, 1990, 12:00 PM: The wheels are spinning busily at Phrack Inc.
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With key members under investigation by the federal government, rumors are
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rampant of the journal's demise. Remaining members of the underground
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bustle to assemble a new issue and quell the rumors. "Phrack will and can't
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ever die, the journal proclaims [2].
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~~~
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--( Who the hell is it written for? )--
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by Antipeace
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If I had to make a choice, I would say that the hacking papers which
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impressed me the most were the unusual ones and by "unusual" I mean dealing
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with subjects such as esotericism, philosophy, and ethics. Yes the kind of
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things that would bore you to death. It's not that I systematically prefer
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intellectual masturbation over coding but let's face the pathetic truth:
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though there are exceptions, good technical papers are rarer and rarer and
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information is shamelessly duplicated everywhere.
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Interestingly enough, papers written on a thinking or life experience basis
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are on a whole other scale. Being based on personal experience, they are
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intrinsically unique. There is no better example than the excellent article
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written by TAp in this issue. Believe me it kicks ass; you'll feel it deep
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down.
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Writing these kind of things is usually done with the hope that a message
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will be transmitted. I personally chose to write mine for the people who
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have no clue of what a hacker's true life really is. That may include kids
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willing to learn about our culture as well as those of you who just came
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across these words.
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If you ever thought that being a hacker was as cool as what's pictured
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in the movies, then please don't stop reading. This paper, is just a set
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of personal thoughts regarding the (unfinished) life of one (or more ?)
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hackers amongst thousands. Neither the best nor the worst. Just one of
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them.
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~~~
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--( What do people think they are? )--
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by The Analog Kid
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Phrack Inc., an online journal created by the hacker community, represents
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the contemporary hacker community. Its articles are still well respected
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within academia and it is likely that some of its content draws from the
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academy. Although Phrack Inc. may seem devious to mainstream society on
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the surface, it serves a deeper purpose as a medium to freely distribute
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substantive technical information between an underground community of
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computer programmers. Functionally, Phrack Inc. is an outlet for the free
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discussion of software exploitation.
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During my freshman year of college I stumbled upon a Phrack Inc. article
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from time to time, but never realized the site's importance until my
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sophomore year. I was enrolled in a graduate class and the professor used
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the web site as a reference in class one day. When discussing the use of
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the web-site with him after class, the professor was immediately intrigued
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that I was familiar with the site. He told me that, in his opinion, the
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contributors of Phrack Inc. were just as intelligent as those in academia,
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and that sometimes it was good to have publications that were more direct
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and less formal than their academic counterparts. In addition, an in depth
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knowledge of computer software and hardware is required, with references to
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assembly code, operating systems, glibc, gdb, and the dynamic linker strewn
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throughout the articles. The site is also respected by security
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professionals within the IT community, who use it as a tool to track the
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latest hacking methods [3].
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Phrack, as a publication, creates an outlet for these hackers to express
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themselves and reveal their values to the public.
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~~~
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--( Who they think we are )--
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by Antipeace
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The way we humans are generally perceived is really important to most of
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us as there is always an implicit resulting judgment. With the notable
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exception of psychos, most of us are probably willing to be seen as we
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'truly' are, or in other words as we 'believe' ourselves to be, and not as
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we seem to be. As being hackers is part of our identity, it's only natural
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to feel concerned about how this secret part of our personality is seen by
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society.
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This brings the question of how hackers are perceived by people in general.
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Though there are notable exceptions, people usually see us as movies/books
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and magazines/TV shows describe us.
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Various fictional hackers are pictured in cyberpunk science fiction
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('Matrix'), action movies ('Live Free or Die Hard'), caper films
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('Sneakers') and more generally in many fictional stories. However compared
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to them, we average hackers from the real world are forced to admit that
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we're not that great:
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- we do not hack into satellites on a daily basis
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- we do not own OpenGL maps of buildings allowing us to control lights,
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elevators and doors at will
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- at some point encryption, passwords and firewalls may be troublesome
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even for us ;)
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Of course weak minds may be abused in the process and assume as a result
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that hackers are, at some point, what a typical Bruce Willis movie is
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showing them: wizards. Should we feel angry about it? Certainly not because
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this is fiction and everything is allowed. Now things are different when it
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comes to media.
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Who ever criticized the journalists? Not me, nor you, with high
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probability. Almost everybody was or will be the witness of a false claim
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(or of an obvious speculation) from a journalist in his lifetime. The
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problem is that taking into account the almost unlimited number of profiles
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in the audience, that's itself a hint pointing out that mistakes are
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frequent. What is obviously not correct for you may appear correct for me,
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and vice versa.
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Now what's interesting is that it gives us an idea about how fucked up a
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media outlet (newspaper, web site, TV show) may be regarding a particular
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area (such as security but not only).
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I believe there are two cases to consider:
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- Technical publications and/or computer literate media
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- Mass media aimed at the general public
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Regarding the first case, my personal belief is that this is two sided.
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Either the provided information is good or it's total bullshit. People
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who care are doing quality and not useless shit. From this point of view,
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popularization is the worst kind of information. Under the pretext of
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simplifying things for people, every kind of approximation appears to be
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allowed. Of course, publication being associated with sales and/or ratings,
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if something can be exaggerated to impress even more, why not? Why would
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journalists try to understand and care about their subject? After all the
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target is a mass audience. So if 2 or 3 people were mad, who would give a
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shit about it?
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I've hated journalists for a long time for what I thought to be their
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incompetence. I later learned about the dramatic conditions they're living
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in: precarious employment and the necessity to write ever more for a low
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salary. Journalism changed and now I hate journalists for their lack of
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professionalism. You may argue that one needs to live but I would answer
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back that nothing justifies intellectual prostitution. If a person is
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clever enough to have that kind of job, other jobs should be possible as
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well.
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Now coming back to us, how could we be correctly understood / represented
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in these conditions? Sadly, bad journalism is often mass journalism which
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makes things even worse as people (including around you) will always be
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influenced. Trying to change their way to see things is already a lost
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cause. As a hacker you will have to learn to live with bullshit all around
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you. It may be tough but the only important thing is to have independent
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self-esteem, not relying on the judgement of others. A good psychologist
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would even tell you that it's necessary for personal construction...
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~~~
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--( Are they so special? )--
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by The Analog Kid
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Why then are these hackers cast in such an antagonistic light by the media,
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if the contributors to journals such as Phrack are mainly thinkers? Given
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that Phrack's content is as substantial and intellectual as an academic
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journal, why is its community cast in such an antagonistic light?
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Morally, Phrack Inc. is in a gray area. The site itself does not engage in
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or promote illegal activity, however the information on Phrack Inc. is
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published in a very open way; Phrack Inc. does not assume responsibility
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for what the criminal underground may do with their information. More
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formal research communities would consider it moral etiquette to have
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security holes fixed before publishing them. Phrack Inc.'s tendency to
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publish information with no forewarning is a testament to the group's
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valuation of free information and an uncontrollable side effect of its
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association with the hacking underground.
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Most Phrack releases have a GPG key included with the introduction [4].
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This is not a feature commonly seen in academic or professional articles.
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Functionally there is an important reason to have an encryption key, it
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allows the articles to be submitted securely (if the e-mail is intercepted
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the contents could not be read), preserving the identity of the author.
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This highlights the controversial nature of what is discussed in the hacker
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community, as well as the members' valuation of anonymity. By remaining
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anonymous they feel able to safely continue the free flow of information,
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which is the ultimate goal of Phrack Inc.
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The free flow of information at Phrack allows one to learn a-lot about the
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hackers who submit articles to it. Their values, their personality, and
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their intellectual curiosity is spread all throughout the articles.
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~~~
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--( We are not _so_ special )--
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by Antipeace
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Having earlier outlined my disagreement with the common beliefs, now is the
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time to share my own vision. IMHO no one is born designated to become a
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"hacker" some day. I don't know if there are predispositions (maybe our
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insane curiosity or the urge to understand things?) but I would say that
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being a hacker is essentially about acquiring a hacking mindset.
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Now that being said, let's see what a hacker truly is.
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Intellect
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---------
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Though movies and medias sometimes describe hackers as genius (see
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"Hackers" with the cute Angelina Jolie for example ;) who for some reason
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are shown proficient with computers, reality is a bit different.
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Sorry to destroy the myth but the average hacker is just an intellectual.
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Of course, there are true geniuses amongst us but the fundamental
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difference lies in the willingness to exploit our brain as much as possible
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in order to ask the essential questions as well as to find the appropriate
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answers.
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There is usually no need to be brilliant to impress people with hacking.
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Let me make an analogy to magicians. Even the simplest tricks are amazing
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for people who don't know how they are working. Things are the same in
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hacking. Daily life hacking is probably more about using thousands of cheap
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tricks but people are not aware of that. Since this kind of cheap hacking
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has visible consequences for the masses, hackers are falsely assumed to be
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the geniuses described in movies.
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Personality
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-----------
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Most hackers are computer 'freaks' able to spend hours in front of their
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screen in order to solve a particular problem. In a way, hackers are geeks
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and there are thousands of them.
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That said, it must be added that they have this unusual characteristic
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growing with time: the obsessional will to discover incoherency, mistakes
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(having impacts in security or not) in everyday life. As I said, a hacker
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is probably not smarter than you, but he/she is way more focused.
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What may be cool at first sight is sometimes heavy to carry. Imagine
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yourself analyzing everything. Not only is that painful for others
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(friends, coworkers, family, lovers) to have this kind of person around but
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it can also be troublesome for you. Indeed you will sometimes be mad
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because of all these daily pieces of nonsense that ordinary people do not
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notice. Probably because of that, some hackers assume that they are smarter
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than the rest of the world, sometimes internally thinking they are some
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House-like guy, and quickly develop unfortunate ego issues which are
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discussed later.
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Social profile
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--------------
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Once again, it would be easy to draw quick conclusions based on collective
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imagery and again, there is no simple description as it's impossible to
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generalize. The social profile of individuals is a mix of both their
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personality and their evolution.
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Amongst the hackers I've met around the world, I can say that I've seen
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people who are:
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- socially isolated / barely capable of having a proper conversation
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- "normal" (taking into account the usual criteria)
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- extroverts always talking to everybody everywhere they go
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Personally I would say that I quickly understood that a social life was
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important, not to say necessary. Having natural tendencies to be an
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introvert, I've worked with myself to reach a stable equilibrium.
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Note that I try as much as possible not to mix my activities and my social
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life. The reason is simple: as I said, people around me are not able to
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understand (because of the lack of technical background) nor really willing
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to understand it (because of the prejudices coming from the media). Anyway
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this is not that bad, considering the security consequences of being a
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chatterbox.
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~~~
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--( Why they must lurk in the shadows of anonymity )--
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by The Analog Kid
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Those who do choose to share their information generally publish under
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anonymous aliases so as to protect their true identity. Publishing articles
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under anonymous screen names is in stark contrast to academia, where the
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goal is to have as much information published with your name as possible.
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Part of why academia admires Phrack Inc. is that by retaining anonymity,
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its members are free to discuss topics at will without concern for
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"political fallout. Some of the authors of Phrack Inc. are listed as,
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"nemo, "huku, and "BSDaemon [5]. As a case study in this anonymous
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culture, the introduction of Phrack Inc. issue 66, contains a good-bye to a
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friend: "cliph [4]. No other information is given. I inadvertently
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stumbled across the identity of this Cliph while reading an article on a
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different web-site, which stated that, "This post is dedicated to Wojciech
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"cliph Purczynski. [6]. Even with the full name available, a search for
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information yields no clues as to what became of this individual. Multiple
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tributes to the individual known as "cliph show that within the hacker
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community there is respect and recognition to the most skilled members;
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this is not different than academia.
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The issue of using anonymous screen names is directly confronted at the end
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of the "Malloc DES-Maleficarum article, where the author comments on a
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quote by Eric S. Raymond who criticizes the use of such false names. The
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author confronts the reader with the question, "Is there some connection
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between our name and our skills, philosophy of life or our ethics in
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hacking [7]? The author -- intending to speak for the community as a
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whole -- argues that the means by which they identity themselves is a
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result of society's judgement on computer hackers and not a reflection of
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the people. It is interesting that an American, Eric Raymond, would place
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heavy emphasis on the personal ownership of ideas, a very American value.
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The Phrack Inc. community, undoubtedly as global as the Internet within
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which it exists, shows interest in expanding knowledge and the ideas of
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others, rather than taking personal ownership of static concepts.
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In its layout, Phrack Inc. exhibits a much more informal nature than formal
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publications. Consider for example, the previously mentioned article
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"Malloc DES-Maleficarum. The title is a clear allusion to the Malleus
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Maleficarum, a treatise on witches published in 1486 during the inquisition
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[8]. By invoking references to witchcraft the journal is again making light
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of the negative connotations society imposes upon it. The section headings
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too are of an unconventional nature: "The House of Mind, "The House of
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Prime, "The House of Spirit, "The House of Force, "The House of Lore,
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and "The House of Underground [7]. Article 5, "Backdooring Juniper
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Firewalls, also makes reference to movies in it sections headings, with
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titles such as "Netscreen of the Dead, and "28 Hacks Later [10]. The
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references to Medieval texts and creative naming schemes demonstrates a
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level of culture and sophistication (as well as humor) within the
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community.
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Although the space here would not allow for such discussion, the audience
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might stop for a moment and consider what it means to be an author, and
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whether a legal name is truly required to identify a work as one's own.
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In Michael Foucault's essay, "What Is an Author?, Foucault decrees that,
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"The author function is linked to the juridical and institutional system
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that encompasses, determines, and articulates the universe of discourses
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[12]. If this statement is accurate, then the function of the author at
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Phrack Inc. is to allow the free distribution of material that might
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otherwise be censored. The raids and indictment of founding Phrack Inc.
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members discussed at the beginning show the severe role that the global
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juridical system has in directing Phrack Inc's style of discourse. If
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"institutional [12] refers to the ad hoc rules of morality and ethics
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imposed by society, then this again forces the Phrack Inc. contributors
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into an anonymous universe of discourse, as society might forsake these
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contributors. Consider how a deep and publicized knowledge of controversial
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computer hacking methods might be a black mark on the reputation of any
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programmer applying for work with a large corporation.
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The need to protect ones identity, and avoid public recognition for their
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discoveries, is one of the downsides that comes with being a member of the
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hacker community.
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~~~
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--( The downside of a hacking life )--
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by Antipeace
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Consider life in general. People are not always happy because they are
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bothered with random things such as the neighbor's dog always barking for
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nothing, their child having bad grades at school, etc. The modern world is
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full of stress and there is nothing to do but to bear it.
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Hacking certainly has cool aspects (though contrary to movies, in the end
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you won't get the girl after saving the world) but it also has side effects
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that are added to the current level of daily stress. Occasionally, you will
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be angry or anxious. You may even become paranoid at some point. This is
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mainly what I call the downside of the hacking life.
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The disclosure war
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------------------
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Well this is a hot topic. To simplify things for those who are unfamiliar,
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let's say that the hacking scene is divided in two groups of individuals:
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- people publishing (or willing to publish) bugs, exploits, papers
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- people who want to keep these things secret or at the very least
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within the underground
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Though clearly belonging to the second group, I won't try to convince you
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that disclosure is bad as the arguments for both sides are valuable. I just
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choose my side. However, I can tell you how this issue may affect you or
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your friends.
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If you are a so called 'black hat', then there is a good chance that you
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have developed techniques or exploits based on your own discoveries. Ten
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years ago, if you were smart/skilled enough, being innovative could bring
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you new kickass tools/exploits in a matter of hours or days at the very
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least. Things are a bit different nowadays and the required time for
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giving birth has increased a lot (though virtualization and generalization
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of scripting languages helped a lot). If you consider remote exploits
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targeting C programs, it takes so much time to find and exploit bugs that
|
|
the cost of doing so is now insane. Now imagine that you've been working on
|
|
a particular bug for weeks / months. How would you react if some guy were
|
|
to publish it as a full disclosure? Oh you would be angry, and you may even
|
|
be willing to kill him. The fact that the bug may have been leaked or that
|
|
the guy releasing may not have understood the bug properly would only
|
|
exacerbate your feelings.
|
|
|
|
The ring of trust
|
|
-----------------
|
|
|
|
What ever hacking activities you have, there is little doubt that you won't
|
|
remain alone. Socially speaking, at some point you will try to be part of a
|
|
community or part of a group because:
|
|
|
|
- you will want to find people able to understand what you are doing
|
|
- you will want to share information
|
|
|
|
This will bring the unavoidable question of the amount of trust that you
|
|
can place in fellow hackers. Ironically this is a security problem and as
|
|
such it must be solved before exchanging anything. Practically speaking, we
|
|
all make the same mistake at least once: we trust and we are betrayed.
|
|
|
|
|
|
(---------------------------------)
|
|
|
|
He that has eyes to see and ears to hear may convince himself that no
|
|
mortal can keep a secret. If his lips are silent, he chatters with his
|
|
fingertips; betrayal oozes out of him at every pore.
|
|
|
|
Sigmund Freud
|
|
|
|
(---------------------------------)
|
|
|
|
|
|
Amongst the consequences of information leaks, I've personally been the
|
|
witness of the two following sad things:
|
|
|
|
- Busts. Never forget that there may be people leaking information to
|
|
the government agencies amongst us. While it's true that most people
|
|
will unintentionally leak, some of them may be directly working for
|
|
the gov either because they got busted themselves and had no choice
|
|
but to cooperate or because they were the enemy from the very
|
|
beginning. Also one piece of advice, do not make the mistake of
|
|
assuming that your friends will be mute once caught, we're only human
|
|
beings.
|
|
|
|
- 0day leaks. Fortunately it happens more often than the previous case.
|
|
Whenever you see the price of bugs (or of the exploits), you can
|
|
imagine how much of a temptation it can be to sell them if you are
|
|
some jackass. But how would the asshole get the information?
|
|
|
|
I came up with a theory. Because of the very nature of our research,
|
|
I believe that the more innovative/kickass/time-consuming it is,
|
|
the more likely you will be to share the information with at least
|
|
someone else. It's just like owning some big secret that you can't
|
|
share with anyone. Now consider the analogy of a pebble being thrown
|
|
on the surface of a pond. Each time the pebble hits the surface,
|
|
waves propagate. If the pebble is the information then the waves
|
|
are the leak. One strike may induce countless waves: your 0day is
|
|
condemned to death.
|
|
|
|
Now a personal message for my fellow hackers. If you want to avoid
|
|
these pinches on your chest when your precious bugs are disclosed,
|
|
there is only one thing to do: stop crying over your loss and next
|
|
time shut the fuck up. Nothing else is working, you should know that.
|
|
|
|
This trust must be placed with time. I would also recommend the GPG chain
|
|
of trust model. It's not flawless (and far from it, believe me) but it may
|
|
be a good alternative. It will allow you to release the tension of having
|
|
to always keep things to yourself, and yet doing it in a 'controlled'
|
|
way...
|
|
|
|
Ego and acknowledgment
|
|
----------------------
|
|
|
|
It usually takes time to be mentally strong. No matter how smart people
|
|
are, they will have ego issues at some point in their hacking life. The
|
|
problem is that ego is responsible for the urge for acknowledgment that
|
|
push people to:
|
|
|
|
- disclose security flaws & exploits
|
|
- publish and display themselves more than required in conferences
|
|
- spend time on IRC / ML explaining to the world how cool they are
|
|
|
|
Don't get me wrong, this is not a complaint against disclosure. Some people
|
|
choose to disclose bugs and/or techniques out of their own free will. This
|
|
is their choice and I respect that. Now things are different when your mind
|
|
is fucked because of your increasing ego.
|
|
|
|
Like I said, everyone in our community is fucked at some point in his life,
|
|
loses common sense and ends up doing stupid things. Of course, I'm no
|
|
exception as I've done things I'm not proud of years ago. While this ego
|
|
thing is supposed to be a short period in your life (people grow up), it
|
|
seems that part of the security circus definitely lost itself.
|
|
|
|
Drugs & alcohol
|
|
---------------
|
|
|
|
To tell you the truth I have no real explanation about our insane alcohol
|
|
consumption. I guess this is just part of the culture. Whenever you see
|
|
your friends, you have to drink and with time, you'll drink more and more
|
|
often (though not as much as .pl guys, damned crazy drunken bastards ;>).
|
|
However while your physical (kidney) tolerance increases with time, the
|
|
vicious side effect of alcohol will remain: while drunk you will be more
|
|
likely to leak information. My advice: if you have little control over
|
|
yourself, do not heavily drink with unknown people.
|
|
|
|
Amongst fellow hackers, most drug users that I know tried many things out
|
|
of curiosity and a willingness to experiment, which are both part of their
|
|
hacker nature. They also take drugs to enhance their creativity or their
|
|
ability to concentrate. As such, drugs may have a positive impact on your
|
|
hacking.
|
|
|
|
I doubt I will ever see a hacker amongst high level athletes ;-)
|
|
|
|
~~~~
|
|
|
|
--( Of the indictment and the witch hunt )--
|
|
by The Analog Kid
|
|
|
|
So then what of Phrack Inc.? If not academic or professional in nature, can
|
|
it be dismissed as merely the mischievous work of hooligans? Certainly the
|
|
technical expertise and respect the journal has gained within academia and
|
|
the professional world shows that this work is not easily dismissed as
|
|
trivial. What of its ethics then? What really is the genre and purpose of
|
|
Phrack Inc.?
|
|
|
|
On July 23, 1990 the trial of Craig Neidorf, the 19 year old pre-law
|
|
student who founded Phrack Inc. out of a desire to exercise free speech,
|
|
began. Neidorf was indicted on 10 felony counts carrying a maximum penalty
|
|
of 65 years in prison, primarily related to the theft of a proprietary Bell
|
|
South document claimed to be worth $23,000. After the defense demonstrated
|
|
that the information Neidorf was accused of stealing could be obtained from
|
|
Bellcore by calling a 800 number and paying a $13 fee, the government was
|
|
forced to drop all charges to avoid utter embarrassment [11].
|
|
|
|
On the surface the actions of Craig Nedorf seemed sinister and criminal in
|
|
nature. The facts of the case however, showed the below the surface were
|
|
innocent intentions mislabeled by the institutions of society. Although
|
|
society may view Phrack Inc. as devious and criminal, what really lies
|
|
behind the facade is a journal of credible intellectual material that,
|
|
while coming from a different culture, rivals that of academia. The members
|
|
of this community all have their own unique experiences and views and we
|
|
can learn a lot about society and the flow of information by listening to
|
|
what these people have to say.
|
|
|
|
~~~
|
|
|
|
--( So in the end... )--
|
|
by Antipeace
|
|
|
|
When I was a child I wanted to be one of them, I wanted to be a hacker.
|
|
More than two decades later, not only have I finally fulfilled this dream
|
|
but I have also gathered enough experience to analyze the impact that it
|
|
has had on my life.
|
|
|
|
Clearly it brought me a lot. Not only have I met the most fascinating
|
|
people of my life, but it gave me this feeling that no matter how fucked
|
|
things could be around us, I would always be able to see through it.
|
|
|
|
However living a hacker's life wasn't harmless as I experimented with a few
|
|
unpleasant things, which even now still have (minor) impacts on my life.
|
|
Without a doubt, the more you experiment, the stronger you become. That's
|
|
why I will never regret having chosen this path.
|
|
|
|
I wrote this paper as an anonymous author (ego issues being mostly behind
|
|
me at the time of writing) with the hope that people interested in the
|
|
underground culture would read it. I tried to focus on the more interesting
|
|
points. There is a lot more that could be developed as I only threw a
|
|
few ideas around, sometimes exclusively mine, sometimes shared by fellow
|
|
hackers and friends.
|
|
|
|
~~~
|
|
|
|
--( A Closing Note )--
|
|
by The Analog Kid
|
|
|
|
And so two stories, from two hackers, have been fused in time and presented
|
|
to you here at Phrack Inc. We hope you learned something about the culture
|
|
One story was written by a hacker speaking of his own life; the other was a
|
|
story hoping to analyze the hacker culture, and Phrack's place in
|
|
discourse, on a large scale.
|
|
|
|
We hope you learned something about who these "hackers" seen in media
|
|
references are, what they believe, and what drives them.
|
|
|
|
~~~
|
|
|
|
--( Acknowledgments )--
|
|
by The Analog Kid
|
|
|
|
First I give a tip of the hat to Rutty for teaching me how to write, and
|
|
still teaching me to write years later. To Roadie for teaching me how to
|
|
write, skipping town, and never teaching me how to write again. To Bearz
|
|
for showing me how to work outside the box. And to Ziggy for condensing
|
|
whole paragraphs of mine into single sentences. :) Without L.A. this
|
|
paper would have lacked much of its direction, and in fact the W.C. made
|
|
substantial contributions. Finally, thanks to al1c3_c00p3r for helping me
|
|
to polish the final product.
|
|
|
|
~~~
|
|
|
|
--( Acknowledgments )--
|
|
by Antipeace
|
|
|
|
To my friends...
|
|
Special fuck to kingc0pe and his fellow cockroaches.
|
|
|
|
~~~
|
|
|
|
--( References )--
|
|
by The Analog Kid
|
|
|
|
[1] Phreak_Accident. (2010, September 21) Phrack World News: Issue XXXI,
|
|
Part Three. [Online].
|
|
Available: http://phrack.org/issues.html?issue=31&id=10#article
|
|
|
|
[2] DH. (2010, September 21) Intro to Phrack 31. [Online].
|
|
Available: http://phrack.org/issues.html?issue=31&id=1#article
|
|
|
|
[3] W. Sturgeon. (2010, September 21) Long-lived Hacker Mag Shuts Down.
|
|
[Online].
|
|
Available: http://news.cnet.com/Long-lived-hacker-mag-shuts-down/2100-
|
|
7349_3-5783383.html
|
|
|
|
[4] The Circle of Lost Hackers. (2010, September 16) Introduction.
|
|
[Online].
|
|
Available: http://phrack.org/issues.html?issue=66&id=1#article
|
|
|
|
[5] (2010, September 16) Phrack Authors. [Online].
|
|
Available: http://phrack.org/authors.html
|
|
|
|
[6] B. Hawkes. (2010, September 19) Linux Compat Vulns (part 2). [Online].
|
|
Available: http://sota.gen.nz/compat2/
|
|
|
|
[7] blackngel. (2010, September 15) Malloc DES-Maleficarum. [Online].
|
|
Available: http://phrack.org/issues.html?issue=66&id=10#article
|
|
|
|
[8] (2010, September 18) The Malleus Maleficarum. [Online]. Available:
|
|
http://www.malleusmaleficarum.org/
|
|
|
|
[9] L. Highsmith. (2010, September 19) Linux Kernel Heap Tampering
|
|
Detection. [Online].
|
|
Available: http://phrack.org/issues.html?issue=66&id=15#article
|
|
|
|
[10] Graeme. (2010, September 19) Netscreen of the Dead: Developing a
|
|
Trojaned Firmware for Juniper ScreenOS Platforms. [Online].
|
|
Available: http://phrack.org/issues.html?issue=66&id=5#article
|
|
|
|
[11] D. Denning, "The United States Vs. Craig Neidorf: a Debate on
|
|
Electronic Publishing, Constitutional Rights and Hacking."
|
|
Communications of the ACM, 1991.
|
|
|
|
[12] M. Foucault, The Foucault Reader, P. Rainbow, Ed. Vintage, 1984.
|
|
|
|
[13] (2010, September 26) Phrack Magazine. [Online].
|
|
Available: http://phrack.org/
|