[ISN] Design Disasters (internic/hacked)

Forwarded From: Aleph One <aleph1@nationwide.net>

[ I didnt catch this one until recently. Interesting it didnt get more
play on the news. - a1 ]

http://cgi.pathfinder.com/netly/editorial/0,1012,1915,00.html
   
   Design Disasters
   
   by [11]Lev Grossman, Steve Baldwin and Declan McCullagh   April 20,
   1998
   
[ snip ]

   
         *  *  *
   
       A friend of Netly's was poking around one of InterNIC's ftp
   servers last week -- let's not ask why -- when he noticed a file
   called "core" in the root directory, suggesting that a core dump had
   taken place. If you're trying to hack into a computer, one way to do
   it is to trick an application with root privileges into doing a core
   dump and then overwriting a password file; this -- coupled with the
   fact that the file size was exactly [30]68040 -- tipped our friend off
   that the machine was under attack. Since he was in a public-spirited
   mood, he called up InterNIC to tell them about it. He was passed up
   the supervisor chain a couple of times, until finally InterNIC told
   him that the server in question, [31]ds.internic.net, was "not our
   problem," that AT&T was administering it. But when InterNIC
   double-checked, they discovered that AT&T's control of the server had
   lapsed on April 1, and that nobody had been watching it for two and a
   half weeks. Creation date of the core file? April 1.
   
       For the records, the file contained the following: a message from
   the [32]Klan of the Bloodstained Blade claiming responsibility;
   instructions for hacking a Cisco router; passwords for a handful of
   porn sites; and information on how to raise marijuana. You kids play
   nice, now.
   
         *  *  *

-o-
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