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System Failure 10
System Failure Issue 10
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.----------------------------------------------------------------------------.
| System Failure: Issue #10 |
`----------------------------------------------------------------------------'
Yahoo, issue 10! Lots has happened lately, most noticeably the obvious lag in
getting sysfail.org back to working order. skullY assures us that it will be
up and running before issue 11 comes out. Until then, there's a mirror of the
site at http://www.penguinpalace.com/sysfail/ .... In other news, one of our
longest-standing friends, Spanish Prince, is now a member of System Failure.
While he doesn't meet some of our preordained requirements for membership, his
recent struggle for freedom of speech (explained in detail in his article
below) symbolize everything that we stand for. We've also begun preparations
for DefCon 6, to be held at the Plaza Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, NV from
July 31-August 2, 1998. For more info, go to http://www.defcon.org/ .... Our
DefCo 6 planning page is at http://www.penguinpalace.com/sysfail/defcon.htm.
Much thanks goes to Darkcube for the excellent opening ascii, and to is0crazy
(619) for the "www.sysfail.org" banner graphic included in this issue's
archive. Enjoy the issue!
--Logic Box [3/31/98]
.----------------------------------------------------------------------------.
| http://www.sysfail.org/ |
| [sysfail@syfail.org] |
`----------------------------------------------------------------------------'
.----------------------------------------------------------------------------.
| CONTENTS |
| SysInfoTrade by SysFail Staff |
| The Spee vs. Raymond Saga by Spanish Prince |
| Reverse Searches on Unlisted Numbers by RedBoxChiliPepper |
| My Day at the Telco by Qbert |
| A Brief Look at x86 Assembly Language and Memory Addressing by BarKode |
| Racism Sucks by Mr. Sonik |
| Call-Home America Update by Dark Hour |
| Stop the Spam! by Vect0r |
`----------------------------------------------------------------------------'
<-------+
| SysInfoTrade
+----------------> staff@sysfail.org
--"Dewdle #uno" by Pinguino and edited by Logic Box. Follow the adventures
of Pinguino, Logic Box, and Darkcactus as they rumble through the world
of slapstick comic book humor. Definitely check it out. It's $1.50 with
$3.00 s/h (priority mail). Xeroxed, 18 pages, 8.5x11. Check the site soon
for ordering info.
--We -still- have black "System Failure" and "Thank You for Abusing AT&T"
stickers. $1/each
--www.iirg.org is now online! The International Information Retrieval
Guild hosts Cybertek Magazine, Phantasy Magazine, and the IIRG Tech
Journals, among a variety of other things. If you're interested in
technical information, get ready to sit and read for about 2 weeks
straight..
--Another site you should check out is www.antionline.com. They talk to
the people who hacked NASA, the Pentagon.. and also host #hackphreak on
undernet.
--Sean O'Brien (Spee) is suing his school district for $500,000. He put up a
site called www.raymondsucks.org with personal info about his evil band
teacher. The school suspended him for over a week, and recommended him for
expulsion. Sean retaliated, so go check out the results at
www.raymondsucks.org and send a letter of support.
--New web format called XML was approved by the w3 consortium.. it's
an easy way to organize database information and works hand in hand with
HTML. Expect to see more programs with XML used in it in the next year or so.
--AOL is reopening a service called AOL Enterprise, designed
for corporate use. Sounds like it's just dialup accounts with access to
customised screens and Instant Messager. YUCK.
--The moon isn't made of cheese, but contrary to popular belief, there is
water on the moon. An unmanned vehicle, Lunar Prospector, has discovered
ice on the poles in an attempt for scientists to learn more about our
neighbor.
--NY wants to take rights away from artists who sell their paintings
on sidewalks but forcing them to apply for a permit. "If I apply for that
permit, I'm basically giving up my First Amendment rights, and that's
what this issue is all about," says Robert Lederman in a CNN interview.
"We won a big lawsuit in 1996 in a federal court which said that artists
don't need a license or permit to sell on public property." Lederman
has been arrested 29 times for selling in front of New York's
metropolitan Museum of Art. Opposers say that the museum is part of
Central Park, therefore not public property.
--Project Chicken Nuggets: the project that McDonald's pheers.
Well anyways, the object of this project is to combine the efforts
of phreaks, hackers, school teachers and your parents everywhere
to provide up to date scans of 800 numbers and help out everyone
by providing numbers to call and numbers to crack. Main objective
here is to pull together resources and put out 800 scans once every
two weeks and eventually maybe a monthly zine. We need people to help
us. You need to be able to dial a phone and identify at least 10
numbers for us every 1.5 weeks. For more information about this
project or a small donation of your time to help, e-mail
juantawn@yahoo.com
--Remember RBCP's department store phones article from System Failure 3?
Well, those nifty LRT guns described in the article have changed. Target's
new LRT guns now ask for your employee ID number, so don't plan on running
amok at Target with LRT guns anymore, dammit.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
The Spee vs. Raymond Saga
by Spanish Prince (spee@sysfail.org)
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Hi and stuff or something or other. As you may or may not know, I am Sean
O'Brien, the kid who wrote that webpage about Raymond Walczuk, which recently
received a lot of publicity because my school tried to suspend and expel me
for making this page. I'm going to go through what led up to me creating the
page and what's going on right now in relation to he federal lawsuit.
The main reason I decided to make the website was that I was upset at all the
unfair crap Raymond Walczuk was giving me. Before this page was made, he
already thought I was a bad kid. On many occasions, whenever something went
wrong that had to do with band, he would call me into his office and bitch at
me on end about why did you do this don't do it again etc.
On one of these occasions, in October 1997, my friends and I were sitting in
the stands at a football game. Someone got water thrown at them and accused my
friends and myself. We denied all involvement, but this student, who is the
band president, decided to take matters in his own hands, and bitched at us
for throwing water at him. We didn't do it, but since we had cups of water in
We get back to the school after the game, and all 5 of us are called into
Raymond Walczuk's office. He bitches at us for "causing trouble" and saying
stuff like "Ask any teacher, Sean O'Brien is the cause of 90% of the problems
in this school" and other slanderous comments. Needless to say, I did not like
him saying these things, but decided not to yell back at him since we were not
being "punished" for doing nothing.
About 2 months after this, in December of 1997, a student put some stickers
that said "WHS BAND" on the clock in the hallway leading to the band room.
After doing this, my locker was open and they put stickers in my locker.
Raymond found out about the stickers and had my locker searched. He then
called me into his office, and in traditional Raymond form, shook his head and
scoffed at me. He said that these stickers were found in my locker and that no
one else has these stickers. Bullshit, every member of the band got these
stickers you fucking idiot. What basically happened was that he referred me to
the assistant principal to have me suspended, which she did. Neither one of
them listened to my side of the story. How fair my school is!#$*&!@%*&!@$
The page went up in the beginning of February, 1998. It was originally hosted
at www.en.com/users/prince and basically told about these and other incidents
involving Mr. Walczuk, and some other opinionated comments about his demeanor.
I originally showed it to my friends and no one else. This page stayed like
this, not being accessed by anyone other than my friends, until March 1998.
In March, 1998, I asked Max Glantzman of Omni-NET Internet Services if he
could host the page and if we could get the domain raymondsucks.org. He
offered to host it for free. I accepted this, and registered raymondsucks.org.
Around this time, I told a student about the page, and from there it was
e-mailed to a lot of band students. This is when the address was given to Mr.
Walczuk. He went to the library computers, and on March 5, 1998 he accessed
the page. He then told the principal and assistant principal about the page,
and they tried to take me out of class, except for the fact that I was sick
and not in school. They called my dad at work, and told him that I made this
"bad bad baaaaaaaaaaaaaad" webpage about Mr. Walczuk. My dad called me at home
and told me about this.
On March 6, 1998, I was called into the assistant principal's office. I knew
exactly what this was going to be about, and went in with a prepared defense.
She told me that what I did was wrong, and that I would be suspended for 2
weeks and that she would recommend that the superintendent expel me. Needless
to say, I was furious and told her look here, this is not on school grounds
and you can't suspended me for this. She basically said, who cares, I'm
suspending you anyway. I complained and complained but it got no where. She
also threatened that Mr. Walczuk might "initiate legal proceedings." She then
told me I had to remove the site and to do it right now. She made me go to the
library computers and take it down, which I did. I then went to all my classes
and told them I would be suspended and to get what stuff I would need to stay
up with the class.
The suspension was going on while my dad was talking to attorneys about what
we were supposed to do. We obviously appealed the suspension, and the hearing
for the appeal happened on March 11, 1998. The assistant superintendent, who
hears appeals, decided that the 2 weeks was fair, and that the superintendent
could still expel me. We had been advised that they would probably expel me
after the 2 weeks. The attorneys that my dad had been talking to referred us
to two lawyers who specialize in First Amendment-type cases.
On March 15, 1998, my father and I met with these two attorneys. We explained
all about the website, the suspension, the recommendation, and all that jazz.
They then agreed that my rights were violated, and that we were going to file
suit in federal court that week against the school to get me back in school,
be able to make up all the work and tests, and not have me expelled. We were
going to file on Wednesday of that week while the attorneys worked out the
paperwork and all that stuff.
On March 18, 1998, we filed suit with the school. The school tried to get me
to change my mind about filing this by saying that I would not be expelled.
Didn't matter, we were going to file suit since they suspended me and tried to
get rid of my free speech rights out of school. Part of the lawsuit was a
temporary restraining order against the school which would get me back in. The
judge granted this on that day and ruled that I be allowed to make up all the
work that I missed, be put back in school the next day, and said that I could
put the webpage back up if I so pleased. This was a big victory for the case.
Free Speech won. Tyranny lost. YaY!
At around this point, the media found out about the story and I did many
interviews, TV and print. These were on the news that night, and in the paper
the next morning. The school looked like a bunch of idiots since they tried to
quash my free speech. I went back to school the next day and was treated I
guess somewhat differently by the teachers, some positive, some negative. On
March 20, 1998, a teacher wore a t-shirt saying "Walczuk, the real victim."
Bullshit. I was the fucking victim. I was suspended, I was almost expelled, I
had my free speech violated.
I am still in band, but I had already decided not to be in it next year.
Walczuk and myself do not speak to each other, and I hope it stays that way.
He doesn't need to speak to me, and I don't need to speak to him.
The school wants to settle and for all this bad press to go away, of course.
As of this writing, they have until April 3rd to reach a settlement or else
this goes to trial....
Make sure to read the next issue of System Failure to hear what happens....
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Reverse Searches on Unlisted Numbers
by RedBoxChiliPepper (bac@bright.net)
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Every so often you have obtained someone's phone number but you have no idea
who it belongs to. You run it through several internet reverse-search engines
to no avail so you have to think up another way to find out who the number
belongs to. Here is a small list of different techniques that are very
effective. We'll be using Dino Allsman's newest phone number as an example
which is 618-258-8454. Just pretend you don't know his name.
1. Call up 618-258-8454 and wait for Dino to answer. When he does, say in a
cheerful, professional voice, "Hi, this is Dave from Domino's Pizza and I'm
just calling to tell you that you're our winner in this week's random
drawing for a free delivery of one 16" three topping pizza!"
DINO: Huh?
YOU: (slowly) My name is Dave and I work for Domino's Pizza. Every week we
pick a number at random to receive a free pizza to promote our
delivery service. You have won. Would you like a free pizza right
now?
DINO: Hell yeah!
YOU: Okay, what 3 toppings would you like?
DINO: Pinapple, ham and black olives.
YOU: How gross. Could I get your address?
DINO: Yeah, it's 301 Bowman Street. Hold on, I got another call...(click)
....(click) It's those fucking cocksuckers again with the cellayer
phones. I told 'em I'd give 'em a hundred dollars.
YOU: Uh, okay. And your name?
You get the idea. This one seldom fails but if it does, proceed to step 2.
2. Time to try Domino's Pizza the other way around. Using some internet phone
books, find the numbers to all the local pizza joints in Dino's city. First
call Domino's, then try Pizza Hut, then everything else if those two don't
come up with anything.
When they answer, just say you want to order a pizza. They'll ask you your
phone number, type it into their computer and then they'll usually read off
your address for confirmation. Then ask them what last name they have on
the account. Some pizza places only store the address so there might not be
a name but at least you got an address. You might also want to ask what
apartment number they show just in case there is one and they didn't read
it to you.
And just to make sure that you're getting correct, current info from
Domino's, ask them when the last delivery was made to that address. Most
of the Domino's and Pizza Hut computers will show this, along with the
total cash amount that the customer has spent. They may think it's weird
that you want to know, but convince them to do it anyway. If they don't
have Dino's address in there, then Dino isn't a pizza lover.
3. Using internet search tools again, get a listing of all the video rental
stores in Dino's city. Pick one at random and when they answer, ask
if they can check your account to see if you have any late fees to pay.
They will usually ask for your phone number to pull up the account but
some of them will ask for your name. Just make something up and when they
can't find your account, ask if they can look it up by phone number
instead. If they're not able to look you up by phone number, hang up and
try the next video store on your list.
When they pull up your number, they'll either ask you what your name is
or they'll say, "And you're Mr. Allsman?" to which you reply "yes." If she
asks you what your name is, just make something up and she'll get a little
confused and say that she's showing another name on the account.
Fortunately, the average video store employee is not trained to be
suspicious of calls like this. Say, "Hmm, that's strange...what name are
you showing there?" And write down her answer and say, "Oh yeah, that's my
roommate!"
If you only got their last name, you still need the first name and address.
Tell her that the account is actually under your parents/roommates name and
you need to find out if your name is on there so you can rent something.
Hopefully she'll read off the list of names authorized to rent movies on
that account. Once she told me that only my parents' names were on the
account and I asked what my parents' names were and she told me. If none
of this works, call back later and try to get a different employee to try
for you.
Now you still need the address. At this point, you should probably hang up
and get the rest of the info later just to avoid suspicion, but if you
think they're not getting too annoyed with you or too suspicious, carry on.
Tell the video lady that you just moved and you want to make sure she has
the current address on your account. Hopefully she'll read the address to
you. Then ask if she's got the right apartment number on there just to be
sure you get the complete address.
4. You STILL haven't got it? Jesus, you suck. So let's try the fraudulent
calling card method. Call up Dino and when he answers, state that you're
from [local phone company] and that their calling card has been shut
off because it's surpassed the monthly limit of $3000.
Of course, he'll freak out so you'll have to calm him down. Ask who
you're talking to and hopefully he'll tell you. If he says, "Well, you
should know, you called ME." Then reply, "Well, smartass, we're not
allowed to give out any personal information regarding an account until
we're sure who we're talking to." and hopefully he'll buy it and give
you his name. Write it down and then ask to confirm his address in the
same manner. Then tell him how fucking dumb he is and hang up.
5. If this didn't work, you need to call up his phone company's billing
office and try to weasle information out of them which is getting harder
and harder every day. There are two scenarios to choose from. You can
either pretend to be the owner of the phone number or you can be a
phone company employee.
BELL: Thank you for calling Ameritech, how can I help you?
YOU: I'm having problems with my phone and need some help.
BELL: Okay, could I have your phone number, area code first?
YOU: Hell no, I'm going to give you the prefix and suffix first
and THEN I'll give you the area code. 258-8454. 618. (This
is to show the bitch who's wearing the pants, of course)
BELL: Okay, and you're Mr. Allsman?
YOU: Yeah, I'm Kenny Allsman.
BELL: Hmmm, is Dean your dad then? I don't show a Kenny on the account.
Sadly, it's usually not that easy, especially if Dino's number is
unlisted and/or there's a password on the account. But sometimes even
if there's a password, they'll give you the first and last name before
they ask you what the password is.
The best thing to do is to just keep calling the billing office over and
over until one of the operators gives you a little bit of information.
Then use that small piece of info to get more info, etc. Makes the calls
one after the other and hope that the operator doesn't make a note on the
account that someone keeps calling in, trying to get his info. (This
happens.)
You can also pretend to be an employee of Bell, calling from a different
department or a different state. Most commonly, I claim to be an operator
from a different state, trying to access the account. Like in Dino's
case, I'd call the Ameritech billing office in Illinois and claim to be
an operator in Michigan, trying to get a listing.
Bell Atlantic is the easiest because there are so many states and
they're not able to access each other's records. Pacific Bell is divided
into Northern & Southern California, so you claim to be from the other
half. BellSouth is able to access the records for all of their states, no
matter where they are, so you just tell them that for some reason you
can't access a record in that state and you want to know if they can try
it for you. There are too many scenerios to explain in this article, but
here are a few ideas:
BELL: Thanks for calling Ameritech, how can I help you?
YOU: Hi, this is Steve from the residential office in Michigan.
BELL: Hello.
YOU: Hi. I just need to get a listing for 618-258-8454.
BELL: Okay.... (type type type) I show that as an unlisted number
belonging to a Dean Allsman in East Alton, Illinois.
YOU: Okay, and the address?
This is the weird part. Each individual operator seems to have their own
set of rules when giving out information. Some will give you the full name
and address with no problem, some will only give the name, some won't give
you anything at all. Some of them will want to ask you your name and
callback number to verify that you exist or some will just want your
employee code. No matter what happens, just keep cool and if it comes down
to it, explain that you're a new employee and you'll have to consult your
supervisor, say your goodbyes and hang up. Then immediately call back and
try again. The key is calling back until you get what you want. The worst
that can happen is that they'll flag Dino's account.
BELL: Thanks for calling Ameritech, how can I help you?
YOU: Hello? Is this the CNA office?
BELL: CNA? No, I'm in the business office.
YOU: Ah, I'm sorry. This is Dan with the MLAC, I must have gotten a
wrong extension or something. Do you know if the CNA is closed today
or something? Because every time I try to call their office, I end
up getting residential billing.
BELL: No, I don't THINK they're closed. Is there something that I can
help you with?
YOU: Yeah, that'd be great! Could you give me an address for
618-258-8454? For some reason my computer won't pull it up.
Different Bell companies call MLAC different things. Some might refer to
it as "FACS" and some might just know it as "Assignment" so you might
have to explain to the lady exactly what MLAC is.
So those are the ideas that I use whenever I need a little CNA. I know the
list isn't as complete as it could be, but if you try each one of the ideas
listed, you're bound to get what you're looking for. And if you don't, you're
either really unlucky or you're terrible at social engineering and you need
to find a new hobby.
If you know of any other ways to get the name & address off of a phone
number, please e-mail me at bac@bright.net because I'm always looking for
new ideas.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
My Day at the Telco
by Qbert (qbert@sekurity.org)
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
So I stride up to the complex at fifteen hundred hours. It was surrounded by
chain-link barb-wired fences. I noticed many security features, including
locked dumpsters, electronic gates, and cameras. The huge monolith which has
amazed me since my first reading of Phrack towered in front of me. There were
doors on the side of the building two stories up that had no steps. If you
were to walk out these doors, you'd just fall straight to the ground. Odd?
Yes, but who cares, since it contributed to the "personality" of the building.
It was secure in every aspect, as if to prevent certain people from passing
through. We all know who those people are, don't we? It's had to be one of the
most beautiful things I had ever seen.
There was absolutely no movement outside. A few cars were scattered in the
lot. There was something that just drew me to the building, it appealed to a
sixth sense. Fifteen hundred hours and three. I climbed the steps which seemed
to lead to a celestial being. Four doors, two pair, "Day Entrance" and "Night
Entrance." I, being the prodigy that I am, enter the day entrance. An L-shaped
hall seemed to have almost no end. To my left was a desk with an old guard. He
had monitors that watched the outside of the complex. Two quad-split monitors.
Eight views simultaneously. Five seconds later, monitors switch to the second
set of cameras. Eight more views.
"Yes?" the guard mumbled.
"Hi, I'm Shawn ----, I'm here for a tour."
"We don't give tours."
"It was arranged through a woman named Kitti-Jo."
"Who?"
"Kitti-Jo."
"Hold on, also, you're going to have to check that camera in here. No
photographs are permitted."
The grumpy man picked up the handset of an old phone and dialed a few people.
No luck. He called the God of the complex, Mike Outlaw. I heard some noise
from the receiver and then the guard hung up. "Okay, just hold on a few
minutes." While nervously waiting, I read the board behind him. It seemed like
things hadn't been changed on it for decades. Something gave the place a
seventies-like atmosphere. It seemed like no one had walked those halls in
years. Anyway, I read the billboard. Several public notes. One sign read "No
visitors past this point with out an escort, signing-in, and a visitor tag." I
waited for five minutes. I tapped my foot. Soon, the guard gave me a tag to
clip on and then I had to sign a check-in book. Mr. Outlaw arrived. He was a
husky man, a bit of a hermit. He didn't seem to get out often. Mr. Outlaw had
on a shirt that hugged his belly, and a pair of khaki slacks. His shirt was
unbuttoned and a tank top was revealed. He wore a reddish mustache. We shook
hands.
He started walking fast, there was a door on the right. There was a
combination door where you have to push in buttons simultaneously. Mr. Outlaw
had it opened quickly, and we walked through. The lights were dimmer. Rows and
rows of patch panels, wires, routers, computers, line raceways, and numerous
other devices lined the room. The patch panels reached up about twenty feet.
Ladders were attached to a track in the middle of the rack. Outlaw explained
what they were for and the words "North Carolina information superhighway"
seemed to flow from his lips. I saw men roaming the room like mad scientists.
Soon, about twenty racks down (these racks were about thirty feet long), we
reached a few desks. There was a camera and a TV sitting on a rack. He
explained was it was for. It was to test point-to-point classrooms. This is
where classrooms in Point A can communication with classrooms in Point B
hundreds of miles away.
We walked to the back of the room. Tons of patch panels and boxes labeled
things like "FSU Fiber" (Fayetteville State University), "Wachovia" (about a
thirty-story building which has a bank, and leases lots of offices to other
businesses, FBI is in that building also), and "McGilvary St." (the street
that this complex was on, it went to the other side of the building for some
reason or another). There were quite a few signs that said "Safeguard the DSS
before testing on these pairs." I can't remember what DSS stood for, but it
was upstairs. It handled the long distance calling. Outlaw explained the
fiber nodes and all. There was hardly enough room to walk.
From there, we came upon a stubborn combination door. He couldn't get it open,
so he used a master key. In the next room, there were some old things. Nearly
two-hundred batteries sat on wooden racks. They supplied back-up power for
telephone lines. They have to be filled with electrolyte solution often. On
the wall, there was protective equipment like masks, absorbing towels, aprons,
a shovel , and a bunch of other stuff. To the right of the battery racks there
was about forty (twenty back-to-back on each side) devices. They stood about
six foot tall, and bore the label "Lucent." They had an LCD that showed the
voltage of certain things, and the status of the systems. Two were inoperable.
Above me was located a huge air conditioning system. It was still hot in the
room, and a thermometer read ninety-five degrees Fahrenheit.
Soon we passed through yet another combination door. This was it. The
headquarters. In front of me there was a huge set of patch panels. You
couldn't see through the wires were so dense. A janitor pushed his mop thing
around. We walked past the panels, and on our left was one of the advanced
service systems. It was a voice mail type deal, not very big. In a dark room
next to us were the ATM switches. He didn't talk much about those, but it was
just a huge set of boxes anyway.
We past that, and there it was. Let me emphasize, THERE IT WAS. Eighty-three
AT&T 5ESS switches. I could have fainted. There it was, for me to look at and
abuse with stares. LEDs lined the top of the system. After looking around
there, we talked to a few technicians. Outlaw and I walked over to the DSS
system. It handled all outbound long distance calls. Words like redundant and
alert were used. In front of the row machines were a few desks which faced
them. It had some old computers and printers. On one of the systems the
"Critical Alert" LED was on. It was because it was turned off. Whenever
something bad happens, they have an alert system. I believe there are about
four levels of alert, which change that speed of the light and "dong" sound it
makes. The faster the light and "dong," the more serious the alert. We talked
about ISDN and all.
I met one technician I felt really sorry for. He was a middle aged man. He had
a sad face, and walked with a slow limp and had his arm tied to his chest. I
thought it was just temporary and he broke a few bones, but I was wrong. He
was just hired again two weeks ago. He had been a long-time veteran at this
building. I guess something drew him to it also. His wife died last Easter,
and his daughter died also. Both of cancer. Attempting to build happiness, he
went and bought the biggest Suzuki motorcycle he could find. He was in a wreck
and went through a windshield. He has no feeling in his arm, and he could
barely walk with his right leg. Outlaw told me all about it.
Then another tall and slender technician talked with me. Outlaw disappeared
into the 5ESS system. We went into a small control room where there was about
five terminals. One of them was a Windows terminal, another DOS, and another
UNIX. I didn't mess with the others. The technician brought me over to the
main machine. It was the messenger of the Gods. It was the machine connected
the 5ESS. I made an outbound call from a phone calling my work place. Sixteen
hundred hours. The guy, showing me the system while was on the phone, "watched
my call." Numbers and letters lined the screen, showing me what number I
called, what number I called from. He pulled a book out from the shelf and
looked up the prefix.
"Your call was routed through the Morganton Rd. office." I asked him about
tracing. He said he'd have to call that office and he could lock a trace.
"Welp, my shifts over, later." Outlaw wobbled back into the room.
We rode a few elevators, they had doors on both sides, they were used to move
equipment around. We went down to the basement. Opened a few combination
doors, and put on protective masks.
"Sometimes the fumes down here are pretty bad." Three more doors. There was a
huge generator, bigger than most rooms. It's muffler was about fifteen feet
long and six feet top to bottom. "It's diesel fueled."
We walk out and tossed the masks onto a table. Chillers, air conditioners,
everything. He explained how the fourth floor was deserted, and how manual-
operator switching equipment is still up there. I would have loved to go
through that. Instead, we walked through a few more rooms. We were in the
main cable room.
"Millions of pairs," he said. "We still have lead trunks from decades ago,
don't even know if they use them anymore." He explained how they have to
torch open the trunk to work on the wires. Many splicing boxes lined the
cables. They were about a foot long. Huge cables were to my right, left, and
above me. We walked up some steps onto a platform.
"Lot of history to this building," I said.
"Yeah, see that coping you just crossed?"
"Yes."
"You just walked from the new part of the building to the old part."
On the outside of the building, difference in architecture is noticeable. The
old part of the building is in the front. It's 30s-era, where operators used
to plug cables. The division, about thirty feet down, it about 70s-era. The
operators still worked in the new part. The installed 5ESS around 86, I was
told.
"Back during the wars, the government declared this a fall-out shelter. They
stored food and supplies and everything in these cable rooms. Every time
there was a nuclear threat, more stuff in the building."
"Wow."
I saw a hole in the wall about a foot in diameter. I asked what it was for.
"A long time ago, they used to have to pull cable through the holes since it
was high up. They unscrew the panel on the outside. Haven't used it in at
least twenty years."
Outlaw told me about how all the cables went down to the manhole. We walked
through the executive part of the building downstairs where all the cubicles
were. Nothing great. Outlaw shook my hand, and I left, giving my
"Sprint/Carolina Telephone & Telegraph Visitor Tag #00001" clip-on to the
guard. He gave me my camera. For some odd reason, I wanted to cry. Don't ask
me why. "This is my manifesto...."
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A Brief Look at x86 Assembly Language and Memory Addressing
by BarKode (barkode@slackware.org)
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OK, for those of you who have ever done any ASM coding at all, this will be no
news for you, but anyone who has ever wondered a bit about the internal
workings of the x86 and Pentium CPUs, hopefully this BRIEF tutorial will
provide you with a little insight to the way CPUs address memory and execute
instructions. Also, we will be doing example code which can be compiled with
TASM or MASM for DOS-based machines.
Also, this thing was written at like 5am after coding C for like 10 hours so I
might be in the wrong mindset, so bear with me. Also, there is MUCH more
detail to all of this, this is a very general tutorial leaving much to be
explained, but that's not what we're trying to do here, I'm just trying to
give a general idea of what assembly is all about.
The CPU (Central Processing Unit) is the brain of your system. It takes
instructions and does exactly what it is told. No more and no less. It
understands binary code, and provides an outlet for software to access and
manipulate memory in order to get things done.
Inside your CPU, there are special areas called "registers", in which your CPU
can hold data. Decisions are made depending on the data held in these
registers on what your system is supposed to do.
These registers are "AX", "BX", "CX", and "DX", each a 16-bit data storage
area inside the CPU. Also, each register contains a high and low area, such as
the AX register contains "ah" and "al", the high bits and low bits of the
register. Each register is similar; however, each also has a special feature
that only it can do, but we won't get in to that. Anyway, data can be moved
directly to these registers and manipulated there.
When BIOS and DOS load, they load into memory segments code referred to as
"interrupts". They do most of the grunt work on your computer, such as disk
access and video control.
You can access these registers directly and use them to tell interrupts what
you want them to do. For instance, this is example assembly code to tell DOS
to print a message to the screen.
code segment
org 100h
Werd Proc
start:
mov ah,09 'put the value 09 into ah
lea dx,TextString 'Load memory address of TextString into dx
int 21h 'Call DOS services (Print String)
int 20h 'Close program
Werd endp
TextString db 'Hello World!$' 'string to print
end start
Let's break this program down line by line and look at it.
#code segment
This line tells the assembler that this segment of code is the program
segment, where the program resides. Other segments such as the data segment
exist, but are beyond the scope of this introduction.
#org 100h
This line tells the assembler this program is to start at memory address 100h
(one hundred in hexidecimal). Since this program will be a COM file, we need
to start at the top of what we call the "Program Segment Prefix", an area in
memory where things like the last DOS command line executed reside.
#Werd Proc
The name of our main procedure will be "Werd". :)
#start:
Just a label, which will eventually tell the program where it is supposed to
start executing.
#mov ah,09
This puts the value of "09" into AH. When we call interrupt 21 later, it will
look to AH for an instruction of what it's supposed to do. "09" means it's
supposed to print a string.
#lea dx,TextString
This code loads the memory address of our variable "TextString" into the DX
register. Int 21 will look here for the address of the text it is supposed to
print. The text is terminated by a "$".
#int 21h
Call DOS services. Interrupt 21 is one of the interrupts where DOS does grunt
work. It listens on interrupt 21 for a call, then looks to the CPU for what
it's supposed to do. We've put "09" there in AH, so when it looks there, it
will know it is supposed to print a string. DOS then looks to the address
pointed to in DX, and prints the string terminated by a $.
#int 20h
Close Program. This is one way of terminating our program, and releasing
control back to DOS.
#Werd endp
Our procedure is over.
#TextString db 'Hello World!$'
TextString is a variable name, and we are defining it (With DB, or "Define
Byte") as being "Hello World!$". We put a dollar sign at the end of this
string to tell dos to stop printing here.
#end start
This tells the assembler this is the end of code, and the program should start
at the "start" mark.
That program should compile to just 22 bytes.
**********************
So, are you any clearer on ASM than you were before you read this? Maybe not.
Are you interested? If you are looking for a book, you might want to check out
"Assembly Language, Step by Step" by Jeff Duntemann. This is an interesting
book, and the author takes some strange steps at demonstrating and teaching
math types other than the standard base 10 system. Some people don't like it,
but it's nice if you haven't done hex math before. Also, "The Zen of Assembly
Language Programming" is great for advanced topics, like optimization for
different CPUs.
Learning assembly is not only good knowledge to have, it can assist you in
many ways using computers and programming. Hexidecimal, Octal, and Binary
math are all intricate parts of ASM programming, and if you have a knowledge
of these already, you've already taken the first step towards a better
understanding of just "how that thing sitting on your desk really works."
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Racism Sucks
by Mr. Sonik (sonik@sysfail.org)
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Have you ever noticed a white person who was afraid to talk to a black person?
I have; I see it almost every day at work. One thing I have never seen is a
black person who was afraid of a white person. That pissed me off. Black
people become offended, from what I have seen, when white people start
stereotyping blacks from the minute they see them.
One night I was approached by a customer at work, a white female upper class
white-collar professional, the type of person who you would think is well-
educated and has a fairly open mind. This woman asked me if I could tell
another customer (black by the way) who was "scaring her" to leave the store
property. I was a bit shocked, and it must have shown when I looked at the
woman. I replied by stating that as a usual customer who always pays for his
merchandise, and whom I have spoken to many times, that he was allowed to
finish his cigarette outside of the store before entering. I asked the woman
if he was panhandling or harassing her, she said that he never even came close
to her, let alone speak to her. I was ready to smash this woman's face into
the wall at this point for being an ignorant sterotyping bitch, but I held
out.
I simply explained that unless he had been harassing her or any other
customer, and that he wasn't soliciting or loitering, that there was not a lot
I could do about this big scary black man. She responded by saying "OK, then I
will speak to your manager" and walked inside the store to try and get me in
trouble for not being racist or something. The manager asked all the same
questions that I had, and told her the same story. She simply left the store
in a fit and got into her 1997 Cadillac and drove away.
The point of that story should be pretty clear; if not, let me explain. I can
see where some black people are coming from when they complain about racism.
Although the two people never exchanged a word, the black man did know what
was going on and he was angry because this woman was stereotyping a human
being based on the color of his skin. Both the manager and I talked to the
black man about what was going on and apologized to him. He accepted the
apology, paid for his merchandise, and left. The point is that racism hurts
everyone. This is true, not just a t-shirt that someone made up because it
sounds cool.
Allow me to explain. First off, the black man was obviously offended by the
white woman. Personally, I was also offended by the white woman by the way she
makes white people appear offensive to blacks in general; the store's image as
a comforatble place to shop was hurt as well. How can you expect a person to
be comforatable shopping while others are staring at you because of the color
of their skin? I know if people were always staring at me for some petty
reason like that, I would be uncomfortable to say the least. It is probably
enough for some people to cause them to become total hermits and stay at home
all the time.
What I am trying to say is, give someone the respect they deserve until they
prove themselves otherwise. Give someone a chance... if they piss you off,
then don't get mad at the type of clothes they wear, the color of their skin,
or the number of chins they have. Everybody deserves a chance, whether they
are fat, skinny, pretty, ugly, brown, yellow, black, white, red, green, blue,
orange, purple, or what the fuck ever. Be a human being--use your brain and
think about your actions a little before you piss off the wrong person.
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Call-Home America Update
by Dark Hour (darkhour@underworld.net)
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Ok, Call-Home FINALLY wised up after years of abuse, so there's a new
technique to abyoozing them now. This doesn't work every time, so you might
have to try a few times:
Call and set up an account following the directions from my article in System
Failure 1. Now, instead of telling you your 800 number at the end, they will
tell you they aren't allowed to give it out over the phone and you'll receive
it in the mail in 10 days or some shit. If they haven't already given it to
you, ask for the customer service number. Wait a few hours and call customer
serivce, and say "Yeah, this is [whatever name you used] and I set up an
account about 3 weeks ago and I still haven't received my welcome packet."
Follow their lead a little bit; they'll say it shows that the account was just
set up that day. Assure them that this is not the case. Depending on how much
of a bitch your operator is, she'll either give you your 800 number right then
and there, or she'll tell you that they'll mail it out. Like I said, this
doesn't work every time, and sometimes you get a real schmuck operator. Lemme
know if this stops working or if you find out something else not included
here.
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Stop the Spam!
by Vect0r (vect0r@toledolink.com)
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This article will discuss some ways on stopping unwanted e-mail. Spam is a
method of flooding the internet by forcing large amounts of mail to people who
really don't want it. A lot of spam comes from gay ass companies trying to
sell their gay-ass products. A lot of spam attacks start from USENET, where
you can find a ton of mailing lists, e-mail addresses, etc. Spam is annoying,
can cost users both time and money, and eats up network resources. Anyone who
uses e-mail or runs a mail server should take the proper precautions.
First I will talk about sendmail. Sendmail, which is an electronic mail
transport agent, can be used to stop spam. It is very important that you
control who can relay mail through your server. A lot of major attacks on
networks have been brought about by attacking a network, and forging e-mail
so it looks like it has come from within the domain.
# HELO somewhere.uNFuNFuNF.com
# MAIL FROM:<hax0r@l0sers.com>
# RCPT TO:<negro@blah.bleh.com>
# DATA
# spam!
# .
# MAIL FROM:<hax0r@l0sers.com>
# RCPT TO:<negro@blah.bleh.com>
# DATA
# spam!
# .
# QUIT
There is a way to stop this. Scheck_mail will verify the destination that
the site is attempting to deliver mail to is not fake. Scheck_mail will also
reject mail from sites.
If you have never heard of procmail, you should read this. Procmail is a very
powerful tool for Linux for processing e-mail, and does tasks like filtering
and informing you of new "formail" which is a part of procmail that does tasks
like recognizing duplicate messages.
I think the current version is 3.11pre7 but I'm not sure. If you just
installed Linux, procmail was most likely already installed for you. Once you
have compiled procmail, you should edit your .forward file to include the
following line:
"|IFS =' '&&/usr/local/bin/procmail -f -|| exit 75 #LOGIN
(where LOGIN == your login name on the computer)
Next you would create a recipe file which is used to filter mail. This file is
called .procmailrc which tells procmail what to do.
That's all I feel like telling you about. =) Procmail is rather easy to use
and set up, and you should be able to figure it out yourself. If all else
fails, read the man pages.
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That's all for now. Keep checking http://www.penguinpalace.com/sysfail/ for
updates on the status of sysfail.org, the Spee saga, DefCon 6 planning,
merchandise info, and our ever-growing #peng photo gallery. Issue 11 will be
out in mid to late April. Wewp!@#$%
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