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Tolmes News Service 27
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# <Tolmes News Service> #
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# > Written by Dr. Hugo P. Tolmes < #
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Issue Number: 27
Release Date: February 25, 1988
TNS Issue #27 will deal with the changes at 2600 and:
- the results of it
- the reaction to it
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<Changes at 2600 Magazine>
--------------------------
TNS Issue #23 gave some information on the changes at 2600. Right now I am
going to reprint the announcement as it appeared in the December-1987 issue:
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IMPORTANT NEWS
A number of circumstances have forced us to make some changes in the
way 2600 is published. As of 1988, we will become a quarterly publication.
We've been printing 2600 under the "new" format for a year now. And one
thing we can't help but notice is that it's frightfully expensive. We adopted
this format so that we could present longer articles and also become a
little more visible. And now we have succeeded in both of these ambitions.
However, if we were to continue at this pace, we would run out of funds
entirely. The $15 we charge for an individual subscription is actually
less than what it costs to produce one issue for a year. This is why we charge
more to those that can afford more, namely large corporations and large
organizations where the magazine is passed around to many people. And this
is why we continue to sell back issues. By providing alternative sources of
income, we are able to continue to keep the magazine going at a lost cost.
By raising the price to cover the costs of printing, mailing, and running
an office, we could easily put the magazine out of the reach of most of
our subscribers. We've seen publications smaller and less
informative than ours with annual prices of over $100! We don't want to
take that road.
By reducing the amount of times we publish during the year (at the same
time increasing the size of each issue slightly), we can keep the price down,
keep ourselves out of financial problems, and hopefully give ourselves
more time to make each issue mean a little more.
This brings us to the time factor. We put a great deal of time into
putting out the magazine. But 2600 is more than just a magazine. We're
constantly trying to educate the populace on the uses and abuses of
technology. We're told that as a result of our campaign to abolish the touch
tone fee in New York, a bill may be introduced in the state legislature
proposing just that. Our growing bulletin board network will do much to
ensure freedom of speech for all computer users. And, of course, we want
to maand hear about this magazine and our
organization, either by getting maximum exposure in the media or by getting
international distribution. At our current frenzied pace, we just don't
have the time to adequately pursue these goals. At a more relaxed pace, we
feel we'll be better able to put out a quality publication and make it more
memorable overall.
Naturally, we don't expect everyone to agree with out conclusions. If
you feel strongly about this change or anything else, we'll certainly give you
a refund for the balance of your subscription. We hope, though, that you'll
stick it out at least to the first issue of our quarterly format to see if
we live up to your expectations.
Our spring issue will be mailed on or around March 15, 1988. Subsequent
mailing dates are scheduled for June 15, September 15, and December 15. Your
expiration date will be adjusted in the following manner: January, February,
and March will end with the spring issue; April, May, and June- summer;
July, August, and September-fall; and October, November, and December-winter.
A number of subscribers have complained about their issues arriving late
or sometimes not at all. It appears we must become militant in convincing he
post office to do their job. If you do not get an issue within a week of when
we send it out, you should call us and call you post office. Usually it is the
post office on the receiving end that is at fault.
As always, we welcome your feedback on what we're doing. We hope this
change results in a better publication and a stronger Twenty Six Hundred.
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Some On What They Have Done:
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"We've seen publications smaller and less informative than ours with
annual prices of over $100!"-
I can't imagine what that type of publication would be but I suppose there
might be one or two like that
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"Our growing bulletin board network will do much to ensure freedom
of speech for all computer users."-
Actually, I don't know how the 2600 boards help ensure freedom of speech.
This hints that later there will most likely be more 2600 boards. The current
2600 boards right now are limited because they are both in the same NPA and
that limits the number of people who can call.
For those who don't know the 2600 boards, they are:
OSUNY (2600 BBS #1).... 914-725-4060
Central Office (#2).... 914-234-3260
Feel free to call them.
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"Naturally, we don't expect everyone to agree with out conclusions."-
This is of course correct.. as explained later.
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"A number of subscribers have complained about their issues arriving
late or sometimes not at all."-
I've CERTAINLY experienced this. Out of 11 issues, I have received 7. For those
who can't count, that met received FIVE. I also ordered all of the
back issues (at $75) and didn't receive ANYTHING. I wrote two letters and
called twice. Nothing ever came of it. Don't let this influence anyone.. but
I won't be renewing my subscription. After losing over $75, I don't plan to
subscribe anything else.
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"It appears we must become militant in convincing he post office to do
their job."-
Who is WE? (no disrespect to 2600 intended.. althought I'm still angry about
losing my $75 and five issues).
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I hope that I haven't stopped anyone from subscribing to 2600 Magazine. It is
a quality newsletter which give good updates on the phreak/hack world.
Call their bulletin boards for more information on 2600.
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Here is a report from Computer Security Digest.
Volume V, No. 11. February 1988
I. News Briefs
A. Computer Virus Incidents Increase
1. A few years ago on a business trip to Europe, I was suprised at how
alarmed European computer security authorities were about implanted
viruses in their systems. At the time, such events were rare in the
U.S. I would like to say that is still true, but I'm afraid I can't.
Despite the fact that we have better defenses against virus attacks
today, the reported incidents seem to be growing; to say nothing
about incidents that have been intentionally suppressed by the victims
("No victim, no crime," as policemen are wont to say.)
Let's therefore talk about a few recent virus reports. Hebrew Univ.
in Jerusalem was the victim of a recent attack that "threatens to
destroy thousands of files and wipe out years of research," says an
article in the 1/8/88 issue of the Detroit Free Press.
2. Lehigh University also discovered it had been victimized by a planted
virus in its college computing system. Kenneth R. Van wyk of Lehugh's
University Computing Center offers these insights:
[Take note PC owners]
The virus is contained within the stack space of COMMAND.COM. When a PC
is booted from an infected disk, all a user need to do to spread the virus
is to access another disk via TYPE, COPY, DIR, etc. If the other disk contains
COMMAND.COM, the virus code is copied to the other disk. Then, a counter is
incremented on the parent. When this counter reaches a value of 4, any and
every disk in the PC is erased thoroughly. The boot tracks are nulled, as are
the FAT tables, etc. This affects both floppy and hard disks.
Meanwhile, the four SRildren that were created go on to tell four friends,
and then they tell four friends, and so on, and so on.
DETECTION!
While this virus appears to be very well written, the autho2'diTDmea7Y behind
a couple of footprints. First, the write data of the COMMAND.COM changes.
Second, if there's a writb on a uninfected disk, you will get a
WRITE PROTECT ERROR . . . SO, boot up from a suspected virus'd disk and access
a write protected disk--If an error comes up, then you're sure. Note that the
length of COMMAND.COM does not get altered.
I urge anyone who comes in contact with public software to periodically check
their own disks. Also, exercise safe computing--always wear a write protect
tab.
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This was typed up by Ax Murderer. It is basically more on the incidents
covered by recent issue of TNS. More of this will be covered in TNS #28.
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