10-25-1999

I know you probably get alot of these type of letters, so I will try and be brief and convincing. Basicly I am an 18 year old who for the past 6 years has been in love with computers. Due to the fact that I never really had much help in the department I dont really know any programing, or essembly lanuages. Now...I dont want to be a hacker, but mearly want to know what I am doing and talking about. I dont know Linux, all I know is my Celeron 400. I am just curious as to were to start, I like the page and hopefully some day I will be able to make one that deals with a similar subject. Anyways, Basicly all I want is a little info on where to head, and which direction to persu. You leave a phone number for people to contact your team at, one which i would be happy to call if someone would be avaible to help me. Thanks in advance.

Andrew Metcalf


Well, unfortunately, our phone number isn't listed so that we can provide mentoring services to hacker hopefulls. I have two pieces of advice for you:

1. Read. When you're done, read some more. I would suggest you started out with a book called Maximum Security, if you find it is a little bit over your head, try starting with the ever controversial Happy Hacker.

2. Choose your path carefully. It becomes very tempting to head over to the "dark side", and get caught up heading down a road which leads to committing illegal acts, and eventually ending up with some daddy named Bubba in a federal pen somewhere. Stick on the right road, and there are great things awaiting you at its end.

God, I turn 21 and I start becoming all philosophical and crap.....



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Gentlemen,

I was receiving threatening e-mail several months age from a dude
complaining I had the same e-mail address as his. My ISP checked this out
and said I was the only one with that address. I even sent them the e-mail
with the expanded headers but they couldn't trace it. I would get a phone
call every time that I would try to get online that would be a tone that
would bump me off. My ISP thought I might have picked up the "back
orifice" virus and the creep had my phone number. I cancelled my internet
service but now the jerk keeps dialing into my home number with what
appears to be a auto dialer, the caller ID doesn't pick it up, it registers
"no data sent". Any ideas? I left voice mail for you to call me at home or
here during work hours.

Thanks in advance,

Bill


Two words for you my friend. "Call Trace". What your little buddy is doing is a felony, and you will probably be pleasantly surprised at how helpful the phone company that you use will be. Look in your phone book for call trace, the feature is almost everywhere now. Here where we are, we just hit *57 after the offending call. This causes the number that just dialed you last to be recorded at the phone company. To help the process along, do this at least 3 separate times. After he calls you 3 or 4 times, and you do the call trace, call up your phone company and ask for its "Unlawful Call Department". Tell them your story, and also tell them that you've already done 3 or 4 separate call traces. They will process the information, and help put you in touch with the appropriate law enforcement organization, who will be able to get all of the evidence that they need, directly from your phone company. Then just tell them you want to press charges, and that should take care of the creep and his little wardialer. Good luck.

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Gotta admit, JP - you hit the nail right on the head with your analysis of Shamrock and the MTV hacker special. I made the mistake of following the link to Shamrock's statement to HNN, and let me tell ya, I haven't seen such a pile of self-serving horseshit in quite some time.

As for all the punk wanna-be's that put you and Carolyn down constantly, let me say this: the reason we listen to John and Carolyn instead of you guys is because they're trying to help us. Not to try to break into our computers to get their rocks off, or to try to make us look foolish, but to assist people who want to learn about these things WITHOUT having to kiss the butt of some teenage whiz-kid with an ego problem.

You guys don't have to LIKE that, but since that's the way it is, I'd suggest you learn to live with it.

Thanks again, JP. Keep up the good work.

-Joe

Well, as always, if I post a good letter, I have to post one from someone who hates me, or at least from someone who wants me dead. Keep reading.....

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Heya JP,

I'm a very loyal visitor of AntiOnline and quite frankly think it stinks. Isn't AntiOnline supposed to be some sort of security sight? If so, why is it plastered with articles I deem and you probably deem as opinion. Since your pitiful crusade has started, have you actually ever wrote a factual article? What about Meinel? How do her columns on 'turning off your java script' relate to network security? Is msie crashing such a huge problems? To add to the decay that is AntiOnline, what is up with your news spoofs? Are they supposed to be funny? I showed some of my professors, AntiOnline and the only thing they found funny about AntiOnline is your attempt at being a journalist.

Keep a sharp eye open for weird packages in the boiler room of 395 State Street.

Sincerely waiting for your demise

Debris

debris@attrition.org

Uh-oh, death threats from the attrition crew. Don't think I'd hesitate for a second to file a report on this one......

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Stan Lowe Submitted The Following:

With regards to IDS's I have currently have 2 in production now. IssRealSecure and T-Sights. I'm considering adding a 3rd which is either Cisco's NetRanger or Black Ice. In addition to this I am using Webtrends Security analyzer but am consiering obtaining the Cisco NetSonar. Do you folks have any imput on the pros/cons of the Netranger v BlackIce and Webtrends V Net Sonar?

Cheers

Stan Lowe

BlackIce over RealSecure and Netranger, Webtrends over NetSonar. Check Our Review of BlackIce and Our Review of Security Analyzer.

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I was impressed of the number attacks against your site. If you don't mind, what are you using for a firewall and web server. No, I'm not going to try to hack you, I am looking for info on firewalls, etc for an upcoming project. Thanks!!

Ed

Boeing

Well, I try to piss off as many people as I can so that the several hundred hack attempts that we get every hour doesn't taper off. I think I usually do a pretty good job of it too, if I do say so myself.... As for the answer to your questions, check out a special report that I did a while back called "How Does AntiOnline Secure Itself". It's a little out dated, but it will have to do until I get around to writing up a new one.

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Instead of presenting the half story, and then stepping unto your soapbox,
you should reconsider the way you manipulate people. The only person in
this world who is a good debater, someone who is well informed on a subject
is that person who can present both sides of the story with as much energy
that both sides deserve. The hacker community isn't just a dark, deep sloth
in which the slum of society dwell. Some people indeed have meaning for
what they are doing. Yes, what they do is illegal, but if they don't
present some flaws in sense, do you really think that the corporate entities
themselves would? Tarnishing their own character to better their company?
I think not. You can talk all you want about being a high strung
anti-hacker. One who claims to have been there and done that over almost
any issue dealing with internet security and the internet underground. But
you probably bought into the big-brother corporate world a long time ago,
and left your morals and ethics behind. No, I am not a hacker, much farther
beyond that. I am but a simple computer technician, one who does not want
any claim to fame, but one who will be justified when the truth, the whole
truth is presented in a light that presents both sides of the story. Good
Day Mr. Vranesevik.

Sincerely,

Michael J. Empey

Yes, you're right. I left my morals and ethics behind when I was just a kid, but decided to always stay on the right side of a law. What a bitch I am for not ending up like Mitnick, wishing I had a Kosher pickle, and what a bitch my parents are for teaching me the difference between right and wrong. And it's VRANESEVICH. V-R-A-N-E-S-E-V-I-C-H. Come on now....

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You continue to confuse the terms "hacker" and "cracker".

Why?

Let me assist you in this elementary matter. A hacker is to a mechanic as
a cracker is to a carjacker.

Hacker:Mechanic -> Cracker:CarJacker

Jeff

A cracker is a white boy that eats grits and chitlins everyday. I don't know who in the hell came up with that word in relation to malicious hackers, but they should come up with something better. It's almost as bad as 'hacktivist'.

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I recently saw the mtv true life episode on hackers. to say the least, i was
intrigued and mystified. i decided to go online and search for a prominent
hacker web site, and surely enough, i remembered ANTIONLINE. and a few
questions (as u may very well have suspected) arose...

how do u maintain a living through this site? i don't see any advertisement.
actually, im too lazy to check for any, but i have a suspicion that u dont
advertise on your site. u must have an outside job?

- Matt

Our advertisements are cleverly disguised as animated banners at the top, bottom, and sides of ever page. Some people are so observant......

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JP,

I saw the Portrayal of hackers on MTV.... I got a good laugh from it all, and I got a few words to say.. Some of this portrayal outrage im seeing is bullshit... Shamrock's life story was probally acurate.. **** I know I came up pretty hard... I came up in a family of Alcoholic parents in a household filled with drug abuse and dysfunction, many of these hackers out there portray themselves as "A talent for the greater good" They want you too think there doing you a favor, That the hacking culture in general is about Doing it for the people, for advancement of security and general knowledge of potential security problems. All goody two shoes CRAP! The plain fact of the matter is that in the mainstream this is not true at all.. why do people hack? Not because they arent fighting kiddy pr0n or trying to be a good sumaritan or any of that Candy ass bullshit but because they have that bit toggled that says "I CAN BREAK INTO YOU" and they get off on it because its risky and its illegal...You can say whatever you
like to Justify the cause... Its like gambling, You just keep tossing in your 2 cents untill you get something in return, for most hackers its a lame web server hack with little more then a webpage that reads "Hacked by Scriptkid, FEER!" but sometimes its more serious then that.. but what im trying to say is that Just because Shamrock and the others had some hard storys to tell and painted there own portrait doesnt mean all hackers are mischevious or/or are criminals who would rob you or sell drugs on the streets. Alot of hackers are High Class business men with realworld skills who make 50k year using a talent that they could be throwing away hacking web pages with. A hacker could even be that man who pumps your gas at the gas station.. Just a singular portrayal. I myself have taken the harder path..been down lifes hard roads, done hard drugs, and was/am a punk kid, but I was a punk kid with some skills, I turned to hackers for a family..But I dont expect everyone started out the same as I did. Are you
a hacker, where are you at?

PEOPLE, COME ON.

MTV's portrayal was not of the ENTIRE hacking community but the views and aspects of a couple people.

There were alot of things I tought were bullshit, but.. I thought the representation of who these hackers were did fit a place in the hacking community.. a Place where ive been at.

I seen no reason anyone should have appologized for speaking there words, MTV wanted something shadowy and typical of what "HACKERS" were, what people wanted to hear.. not how things really are.

Anyways, whos to say how things really are?

WHO ARE YOU TO JUSTIFY?

I dont care about my spelling or grammer, **** you!

Reflux

Cha0s Inc.

Reflux@cha0s.com

"Candy ass bullshit". Haha, too funny. Although, I hope you realize that the use of language like that in our Weekly MailBag has caused our site to be blocked internationally by SurfWatch, the very same content filter that I recommend using in our Fight-Back section. Evil bastards.

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Hi, I've just read your article about "Code kiddies" and I have a couple of questions for you.

I'm 19 years old and I just love computers. I just started to learn programming (C/C++), and I have a pretty solid knowledge of Visual Basic. I also installed RedHat Linux on my computer. But there is one thing bothering me...I think I'm too old to learn to be a hacker, a real hacker.

You think it's possible for me to bocome a hacker without dropping out of college?

Dj Plague

Haha. Oooh boy, who says I don't get my fair share of laughs every day? Hell, drop out of college, I don't care. I did, and soon after found myself getting venture funding. Of course, it might not work that way for you. You could be like that guy Reflux mentioned in his letter. A gas station man, but a gas station man with skillz!

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