130 lines
7.9 KiB
Plaintext
130 lines
7.9 KiB
Plaintext
==Phrack Inc.==
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Volume One, Issue Eight, Phile #6 of 9
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COMPUSERVE INFO
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---------------
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Compiled and
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Related by:
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Morgoth and Lotus
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-----------------
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Since its rather humble beginnings in Dublin, Ohio some years ago,
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Compuserve, or CIS, as it will be referred to in this article, has grown to
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become the largest entertainment/public user oriented system in the country.
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This file is divided into two parts. The first is how to get your own CIS ID
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number, and make it last a relatively long time. This part may seem like old
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hat to some of you out there. The second part is information on what to do
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once you are on the system...tricks and tips to keep you out of trouble, or
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cause trouble.
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A Compuserve identification number is divided into two parts; a project
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number and a programmer number. An example would be 70007,1460. This ID is
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what you will be known by at all times on the system. When you log on, you
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will also be prompted for a password, in addition to your user ID. The
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password is divided into two words, kept apart by a separator (-,:,.,etc). The
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password may be any two words the user desires, including garbage, which makes
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gaining an ID by hacking the password almost, if not totally, impossible.
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The most popular, and about the only way left, of gaining an ID is by buying
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what the system calls a snapak. These are the little goodies you see in the
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store in the introductory packets. With this, you can gain access to most, but
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not all of the system.
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The first ID, or the "intro" ID will last about a week, at which time,
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Compuserve automatically changes the password, and sends the new one to you via
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the US Postal service. This is a key point to the ID scam. You MUST have
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valid Credit Card information to be able to continue using the ID. I have
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heard of intro IDs going bad in a matter of 2 or 3 days due to having non-valid
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credit card info. So you need to set up a location to which your second
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password can be mailed. This second password should last about a month,
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depending on how much credit the CC holder has on his card.
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When applying credit to a Visa or Mastercard, Compuserve will submit the
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charges about once a week. If you run up about $500 in connect charges, and
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the credit card cannot hold it, the ID will go bad. This is the most common
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way for an account to run out.
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Your first password has some limits. Due to hackers using snapaks,
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Compuserve has installed a system which prohibits IDs without the second
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password from entering any type of game online. This ranges from the
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ever-popular MegaWars, to YGI, all the way down to Casino. This is one reason
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why the second password is so important.
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If more than one person will be using the account, which is usually the case,
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there are also some limits to be observed. The same ID can no longer enter the
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CB simulator more than once. If it is tried, the message "exceeding job limit"
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will occur, and you will be taken back to the prior menu. The same ID can go
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into a SIG at the same time, but both people cannot enter COnference mode while
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on the SIG. The best way to talk to another user who is on the same ID is to
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go into any forum, say CBMART, and have one of them enter COnference mode.
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There, the two users can use the /SEN command to relay messages between the SIG
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and COnference. This is kind of complicated, but it is the only way. Also,
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anytime the message "exceeding job limit" goes to your screen, the people at
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CIS put a small "red mark" by your name. If it occurs too frequently, they
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look into the situation to find out if more than one person may be using the
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same ID.
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Special IDs -- Ok, now that you are on Compuserve, what should you look out
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for? As mentioned before, the user ID is divided into [project
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number,programmer number] format. The Programmer number is of no importance,
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but the Project number is. Some of the ones you should be aware of while
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online are:
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70000,xxxx Compuserve Security
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70003,xxxx Compuserve Employee
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70004,xxxx Same as above
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70005,xxxx Radio Shack demo account
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70006,xxxx Customer service, or "Wizard" number (see below)
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70007,xxxx Complimentary account
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76703,xxxx SIG SysOp, or Forum Info Provider
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While on CB, look out for the 70000 IDs, and especially the 70006, or
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"wizard" numbers. The Wizard ids have some very special functions. The main
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one is called autogag, or /GAG. This allows the bearer of this ID to banish
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any user from the system, in a way. What it actually does is to keep the
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/GAGged person out of everyone's view. They will not show up on the /ust list,
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and anything they type will not show up on anybody else's screen. Kind of like
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a mute button on a television. The Chief of CIS security is Dan Pisker, and on
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CB he uses the handles "Dan'l", or "Ghost", with a 70000 id.
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Monitoring -- This is a very popular subject with the users of Compuserve,
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but when broken down, it is quite simple. CIS is capable of monitoring
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ANYTHING that is said on the system. This doesn't mean that they do, however.
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For /TALK to be monitored in a Forum or on CB, CIS must first have a court
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order...it is supposedly as illegal as tapping a phone line. This has been
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done before to catch some major hackers on the system. /SEN in a SIG is not
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supposedly monitorable....the status on it is the same as on /TALK. /SCR mode
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on CB or on a SIG is definitely monitorable, especially if the the /SCR key is
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typed on open channel. Keep /SCR conversations to a minimum. As far as
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anything else goes, anything said on open channel is quite definitely seen by
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SOMEBODY in the big chair up in Ohio. It would not surprise me at all if they
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hire people to go through CB Transcripts every day to look for that kind of
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thing. Also, when you are in COnference mode in a SIG, always check the
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/STAtus of the channel. If /STA EVER returns that there are more people on the
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channel you are on than the /USERS function does, then you can rest assured
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that the channel is being monitored.
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Nodes -- When you log on through CIS, you are going through a node. The node
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takes the form of 3 letters, designating the site of the computer through which
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you are connecting through Compuserve. An example would be "NYJ" (New York
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City). There are some special nodes you should know about, though.
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Tymnet - Anybody logging on through Tymnet will be assigned one of these
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nodes - QAI, QAJ, QAK, QAC, QAM, QAN, QAO, QCA, QCB, QCC, QCE, QCF, QCH. This
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cannot identify where you are calling from, just that you are logging in
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through the Tymnet network.
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Telenet - QBA, QBC, QBD, QBG, QBF, QEN, QEI, QEP.
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Also, another special node would be DB- (DBA, DBB, DBC, etc), which means
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that the user is logging on from Compuserve's Headquarters in Dublin.
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The way to tell what node somebody is in is by typing /UST on either CO mode
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on a SIG, or CB...the result is like this....
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Job User Id Ch. Node Handle
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--- ---------- --- ---- ------
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1) 12 70003,1295 17 CSG Red Leather
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2) 133 70006,1293 1s BAF Surf's Up!
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3) 69 76703,1211 Tlk BOO JOE CUFFS
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4) 22 70000,1959 30* DBA Pig
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Now, you can tell something specific about each of these four people based on
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the info given above. Red is in Columbus, Ohio, and is on Channel 17. She is
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also a Compuserve Employee. Surf is in Bakersfield, California, and is a
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Customer service personnel. He is also using /SCRamble. Joe is in Talk, is a
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sysop on a SIG, and is in Boston, Massachusetts. This is the format for Talk
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on CB. Pig is on talk in a SIG, and is a security personnel from Dublin, Ohio.
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The format for showing if somebody is in /Talk is different on a SIG than in
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regular CB. Also, the /SEN command is not implemented on CB.
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Have fun with this...hope it helps. Distribute the file however you want,
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but make sure the credits stay at the bottom.
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(c) 1986 Morgoth/Lotus
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