Re: Re: Re :[OT] Hackers

["Shanker R Swaminathan" <csewhiz@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

<snip>
> 1) I got a pop lock on a Sunday morning
>
> 2) A mysterious 2mb file owned by root appeared in my home dir blocking
all
> my mails
>
> 3) I could not change my passwd from the shell
</snip>
Did you inform the sysadmin about this? When I/We informed the sysadmins
about problems involving holes- They DID respond and quickly too. I Have
always got a reply within 24 hours . Just because you know how to play
around with the VSNL systems doesn't give you the right to go around doing
so. There are perhaps hundreds of Servers which are similarly configfured
servers in University depts around India ( Similar to mine) , where students
have access . If everyoneof them  starts practicing his /her talents on the
VSNL servers , nobody else would get any work done.
Breaking into the VSNL servers had become such a childishly easy affair
previously that  now no- body should call him/herself a proficient cracker
for having got into one!
Anyway - At least in Calcutta- With the Checkpoint server running , Common
break-ins as described by sibiyan are mostly history ( Try playing around
with dynamic IP Blocking- Catches you many times!) . While there are holes
left( Some still exist:-( )- publicizing them does not do any useful thing
if no action has been taken by the publisher to remedy it..
Every incident in bugtraq is published only if the author has determined
that the people concerned are not taking remidial action and further
supression for facts is not going to further any public interest.. Sibiyan
had made an irresponsible statement and suresh rightly replied as he did. I
do remember some slamming suresh took for posting some details on the
sendmail buffer overflow problem . Why the double standards now. If the
ruckus that was created was OK for suresh , it should be by the same stick ,
be Acceptable for everyone. No irresponsible statements should be allowed on
a public forum.
shanker