322 DEAR HACKER
322 DEAR HACKER
mad so I asked the person who did it why he did it. So then he came into my channel that I created, #bacon-humpers (excuse the name, it’s an inside joke), and started yelling at everyone because they were in Windows and using mIRC, and because we, heh, used linkers in Windows instead of compilers in UNIX to do our coding. We later found out he was on a shell account in Windows. These two incidents are not isolated. This has happened to me millions of times after I was searching through my logs. This is what the 2600net IRC server has degraded into, and because of that we’ve moved to a small, privately owned server. Now we have registered our own domain name and are starting our own IRC server because yours has degraded into a point where everyone, even the real hackers, are snobby people who think they are better than everyone else because they know more.
FLAMEcow
To achieve the kind of atmosphere you want, we would have to monitor and control all dialogue on our IRC server. This just isn’t how IRC works. Users define how the conversations go. It makes no more sense to condemn us for immature users than it does to criticize Linux because you got kicked off a #linux channel somewhere.
Dear 2600: Kevin Mitnick used to make threats and say, “I’m going to kill you, I
know who you are and where you live” before he got busted five years ago. If he were really smart, he would know cell phones are traceable. How would you feel if someone hacked into your 2600 website and changed your index.hml file to something you totally disagreed about? And every time you asked or emailed the person who hacked you, they just said you suck and you’re lame? And if you have to stop what you’re doing and fix the website or hire someone to fix it, that costs money.
This is like if a Lock Master constantly breaks into your house and keeps putting up messages that said your door sucks and your lock is
a bubble gum.
OUR BIGGEST FANS
The law is the law and if you got busted by what you’re doing, then you’re not the best.
illii Every now and then, we get anti-Mitnick letters that are somewhat rational but
wind up blowing it with some inane or hysterical ranting. You, however, managed to skip the rational part altogether. You also managed not to include any facts at all so we can’t even refute them. “Your lock is a bubble gum”?
Dear 2600: It is my humble opinion that pointing out weaknesses (in anything)
is wrong if, by doing so, damages could result. The effects of this on the Internet are almost always bad, most especially with security. By pointing out a security flaw in an operating system and making it public in a magazine or an article online, you are helping and you are hurting at the same time. You and I both know there are good and bad people—the ones who use information to help and the ones who use information to hurt. By revealing sensitive material like the ever present security flaws and exploits that float around the Internet, you are destroying the goal of making good by allowing others to make bad based on your noteworthy finds.
What if I found a way to steal money from 2600? Maybe it involved a very complicated procedure that was limited by a number of variables, so as to keep your losses at a relative low. In other words, not everyone could take advantage of this, but some could and would. What if a devoted 2600 fan learned about it and informed you by publishing the security flaw online? In detail. To the world.
Similar horror stories occur when you post articles such as “Taking Advantage of All Advantage,” and dozens of other articles that you are more familiar with than I am. How do you explain this? Don’t you think you’re damaging as opposed to helping? I am genuinely interested in your response to this.