"Hugo Cornwall "The Hacker's handbook"" - читать интересную книгу автора

have got into viewdata services. You could print out pages on the ZX
'tin-foil' printer. The disadvantages of this kit were all in
convenience, not in facilities. Chapter 3 describes the sort of kit
most hackers use.
It is even possible to hack with no equipment at all. All major
banks now have a network of 'hole in the wall' cash machines-- ATMs
or Automatic Telling Machines, as they are officially
known. Major building societies have their own network. These
machines have had faults in software design, and the hackers who
played around with them used no more equipment than their fingers and
brains. More about this later.
Though I have no intention of writing at length about hacking
etiquette, it is worth one paragraph: lovers of fresh-air walks obey
the Country Code; they close gates behind them, and avoid damage to
crops and livestock. Something very similar ought to guide your
rambles into other people's computers: don't manipulate files unless
you are sure a back-up exists; don't crash operating systems; don't
lock legitimate users out from access; watch who you give information
to; if you really discover something confidential, keep it to
yourself. Hackers should not be interested in fraud. Finally, just
as any rambler who ventured past barbed wire and notices warning
about the Official Secrets Acts would deserve whatever happened
thereafter, there are a few hacking projects which should never be
attempted.
On the converse side, I and many hackers I know are convinced of one
thing: we receive more than a little help from the system managers of
the computers we attack. In the case of computers owned by
universities and polys, there is little doubt that a number of them
are viewed like academic libraries--strictly speaking they are for
the student population, but if an outsider seriously thirsty for
knowledge shows up, they aren't turned away. As for other computers,
a number of us are almost sure we have been used as a cheap means to
test a system's defences...someone releases a phone number and
low-level password to hackers (there are plenty of ways) and watches
what happens over the next few weeks while the computer files
themselves are empty of sensitive data. Then, when the results have
been noted, the phone numbers and passwords are changed, the security
improved etc etc....much easier on dp budgets than employing
programmers at Ј150/man/ day or more. Certainly the Pentagon has been
known to form 'Tiger Units' of US Army computer specialists to
pin-point weaknesses in systems security.
Two spectacular hacks of recent years have captured the public
imagination: the first, the Great Prince Philip Prestel Hack, is
described in detail in chapter 8, which deals with viewdata. The
second was spectacular because it was carried out on live national
television. It occurred on October 2nd 1983 during a follow-up to the
BBC's successful Computer Literacy series. It's worth reporting here,
because it neatly illustrates the essence of hacking as a sport...
skill with systems, careful research, maximum impact with minimum real
harm, and humour.