Computer underground Digest Sun Feb 28 1993 Volume 5 : Issue 17
ISSN 1004-042X
Editors: Jim Thomas and Gordon Meyer (TK0JUT2@NIU.BITNET)
Archivist: Brendan Kehoe
Shadow-Archivists: Dan Carosone / Paul Southworth
Ralph Sims / Jyrki Kuoppala
Copy Editor: Etaion Shrdlu, Seniur
CONTENTS, #5.17 (Feb 28 1993)
Subject: File 1--Police motivations re. computer crime
Subject: File 2--ACLU Interesting in Rusty & Edie's BBS?
Subject: File 3--Re: File 4--Technology & Populist Publishing (#5.15)
Subject: File 4--A Case for Electronic Publishing
Subject: File 5--Obtaining Back Issues of CuD via FTP
Subject: File 6--New Computer Viruses Run Amok (sort of) (Reprint)
Subject: File 7--Netsys Startup
Cu-Digest is a weekly electronic journal/newsletter. Subscriptions are
available at no cost from tk0jut2@mvs.cso.niu.edu. The editors may be
contacted by voice (815-753-6430), fax (815-753-6302) or U.S. mail at:
Jim Thomas, Department of Sociology, NIU, DeKalb, IL 60115.
Issues of CuD can also be found in the Usenet comp.society.cu-digest
news group; on CompuServe in DL0 and DL4 of the IBMBBS SIG, DL1 of
LAWSIG, and DL0 and DL12 of TELECOM; on GEnie in the PF*NPC RT
libraries and in the VIRUS/SECURITY library; from America Online in
the PC Telecom forum under "computing newsletters;" on the PC-EXEC BBS
at (414) 789-4210; in Europe from the ComNet in Luxembourg BBS (++352)
466893; and using anonymous FTP on the Internet from ftp.eff.org
(192.88.144.4) in /pub/cud, red.css.itd.umich.edu (141.211.182.91) in
/cud, halcyon.com (192.135.191.2) in /pub/mirror/cud, and
ftp.ee.mu.oz.au (128.250.77.2) in /pub/text/CuD.
European readers can access the ftp site at: nic.funet.fi pub/doc/cud.
Back issues also may be obtained from the mail server at
mailserv@batpad.lgb.ca.us.
COMPUTER UNDERGROUND DIGEST is an open forum dedicated to sharing
information among computerists and to the presentation and debate of
diverse views. CuD material may be reprinted for non-profit as long
as the source is cited. Some authors do copyright their material, and
they should be contacted for reprint permission. It is assumed that
non-personal mail to the moderators may be reprinted unless otherwise
specified. Readers are encouraged to submit reasoned articles
relating to computer culture and communication. Articles are
preferred to short responses. Please avoid quoting previous posts
unless absolutely necessary.
DISCLAIMER: The views represented herein do not necessarily represent
the views of the moderators. Digest contributors assume all
responsibility for ensuring that articles submitted do not
violate copyright protections.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: 26 Feb 1993 00:22:00 -0500 (EST)
From: MFPORTER@DELPHI.COM
Subject: File 1--Police motivations re. computer crime
In the wake of every law enforcement action involving hackers,
there is speculation about the motives of the police and the
government in targeting computer-related crime. As readers of CuD well
know, this topic can lead to some very wild conclusions -- The
Government must be afraid of something! They see "hackers" as a threat
to national security! The police are pawns of multi-national
corporations!
Conclusions such as these make for exciting commentary, but in the
end they are not productive. They play sharply upon people's fears,
but they sidestep the real challenges which face the community of
computer users.
The vast majority of the "hacker crackdown" actions and the
ongoing harassment of hackers have nothing to do with perceived
threats to national security. Most of the law enforcement actions
against hackers have consisted of cops simply trying to do their job:
protecting people from crime. This job includes protecting corporate
persons such as AT&T and the RBOCs, as well as their customers. (This
may not be the best use of our society's limited police resources, but
that's a different issue, as is the question of what should be defined
as a "crime.") To the police and prosecutors, the computer criminal is
just another criminal. In this sense, at least, in most computer-crime
cases -- as in most cases in general -- law enforcement agencies have
good intentions.
Good intentions, however, do not mean that there is not a real
threat to the civil liberties of those who use computers and telephone
networks. From Operation Sun Devil to the still-murky incident at the
Pentagon City Mall, we all have cause for concern about the choices of
both targets and methods by those who seek to fight computer-related
crime, whatever their intentions. Actions which are designed to deter
crime may all too easily deter honest citizens from exercising their
constitutionally protected freedoms. As Justice Louis D. Brandeis
wrote in 1928:
Experience should teach us to be most on our guard to
protect liberty when the Government's purposes are
beneficent. Men born to freedom are naturally alert to
repel invasion of their liberty by evil-minded rulers. The
greatest dangers to liberty lurk in insidious encroachment
by men of zeal, well-meaning but without understanding.
(_Olmstead v. United States_)
It's that lack of understanding which results in most of the
problems before us. We've all heard plenty of examples of some law
enforcement agents' lack of understanding of the computer world, be it
"underground" or otherwise. Extreme conclusions about the
government's motives, jumped to by some members of the computer
underground, show the lack of understanding on the other side.
Those who rely upon computers -- that is, everyone in the
developed world -- and everyone who is interested in preserving civil
liberties must work to bridge this gap in understanding. Books such as
_The Hacker Crackdown_, with its candid and fair assessment of the
events of 1990, from both sides of the fence, are an important step in
the right direction. So is the work of the Electronic Frontier
Foundation, which uses the tools of law and government to educate
those in power and to challenge those who would threaten our freedom.
Paranoia and extremism, on either side, does little to help.
((The author is an attorney in Maryland and a former systems analyst.))
------------------------------
Date: 26 Feb 1993 05:31:19 (EST)
From: anonymous@anony.mous.edu
Subject: File 2--ACLU Interesting in Rusty & Edie's BBS?
((MODERATORS' NOTE: The following summary was sent to us from a
Clarinet reader. One source cautions that the press may have
over-stated the involvement of the ACLU at this point. Also, the rumor
that the FBI seized the house in which the R&E computers were stored
is apparently not true. Reportedly, the FBI is returning the file
cabinet in which tax documents, house title, and other records were
kept.))
BOARDMAN, Ohio (UPI) -- The American Civil Liberties
Union of Ohio says it may challenge the constitutionality of an
FBI raid that shut down a Boardman computer bulletin board
service.
The Jan. 30 raid at the home of Russell and Edwinia
Hardenburgh was conducted with a search warrant that alleged the
couple illegally distributed copyrighted software programs
without permission.
The story reports that the board was one of the largest in the
country, with 124 phone lines. According to the story, R&E's
logged 3.4 million calls since 1984 and more than 4,000 new calls
daily. R&E's had over 14,000 subscribers.
The story summarizes the equipment seized, including business
records and hardware.
The ACLU's Ohio legal director, Kevin O'Neill, said
Thursday the FBI copyright infringement allegations might have
merit, but such allegations are normally resolved in civil
lawsuits. He noted that Rusty & Edie's 14,000 subscribers are
more subscribers than many small circulation newspapers enjoy.
"Shutting down a computer bulletin board is analogous
to shutting down a newspaper printing press," O'Neill said.
"Our conception of constitutionally protected public forums
must be broadened to include new communication networks like
computer bulletin boards."
The story reports that no charges have been filed against the
Hardenburgs and quotes Mark Kindt, a Cleveland businessman and
former regional director for the Federal Trade Commission, as
comparing the FBI raid to "hunting gnats with an elephant gun,"
and he suggests that the FBI should have been more careful in its
procedures.
%%Computer bulletin boards are electronic town halls.
Even if (Rusty & Edie's) pirated the moon, the government should
have proceeded in a more careful, deliberative manner."
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 25 Feb 93 10:43:38 PST
From: kurt@tc.fluke.COM (Kurt Guntheroth)
Subject: File 3--Re: File 4--Technology & Populist Publishing (#5.15)
Sheesh. Of course book publishing is business. Why should people
bear the great expense of typesetting, printing, and distributing a
book if they don't expect to make any money out of it. Sure, you'll
say it's for the love of books or the pursuit of knowledge, but that's
bullshit. Remember, if the publisher can't sell the book, that means
NOBODY WANTS TO READ IT.
Now maybe you know of a bunch of books that nobody wants to read but
are so critical to our intellectual growth that they must be published
anyway. I don't. I see a bunch of hack authors who THINK they have
something important to say, and a bunch of cultists, and a bunch of
paranoid conspiracy theorists, who can't get their garbage published
and want to take it out on anybody but themselves.
Sure an occasional gem may get missed by an editor pressed for time
and buried under mounds of material. But remember, those guys are
paid to find all the good stuff. They're quite motivated. I don't
think they miss very often.
Does a bunch of dreck get published? Sure. Is it worse than your
dreck? Maybe but maybe not. My father has written a book about his
dog for cirssakes. He can't get it published even though he's
convinced everyone wants to learn of his dog's great spirit and almost
telepathic link to her master. What's wrong with this picture? Is it
the cruel money hungry publishing industry, or perhaps has the author
misjudged the world's need to learn about his hound?
In short, I don't blame the publishing industry. Everyone in the
universe thinks they can write the great american novel. 99% of them
are dead wrong.
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 27 Feb 1993 23:18:54 (CST)
From: CuD Moderators <tk0jut2@mvs.cso.niu.edu)
Subject: File 4--A Case for Electronic Publishing
Kurt Guntheroth makes several legitimate points in criticizing the
problems of electronic publishing. Yes, there is much chaff amidst the
wheat. Yes, everybody who writes (obviously) thinks that they have
something worth reading. Yes, there is much value in the gate-keeping
processes of the publishing business. Yes, the advent of electronic
publishing could flood cyberspace with near-infinite bytes of
nonsense. But, while agreeing on those points, let's take a second
look at the implications of Phil Shapiro's post in CuD 5.15 to which
Kurt responds ("Something's not quite right," File 4).
The original poster made two main points: Conventional publishing,
whether books or peer-reviewed journal articles, is an arduous task,
far more difficult than non-writers recognize. Publishers may reject
books because of quality or because the manuscript, while worthy, does
not fall within a topical theme that many publishers, especially
academic ones, put together as a specialty for marketing purposes.
Although writers with a demonstrable track record of successful
publishing often need only provide a short prospectus and perhaps a
first chapter to entice a publisher to offer a contract, most writers
must provide more. It is expensive and time consuming to identify and
contact appropriate publishers, which dissuades many from publishing.
Rejections are generally discouraging, and only with experience (and
some previous publishing success) does an author realize that
rejection is built into the publishing game. Writing and publishing
are both psychologically and physically hard work.
Second, the original poster correctly identified the potential of
electronic media as a possible alternative that would supplement,
*not* replace, conventional publishing. I agree with the spirit of
Kurt's criticisms--the potential for expanded access to ideas and
information carries with it the risk of inundation with banal
self-indulgence. However, the value of the former considerably
outweighs the risks of the latter.
Let's compare a few features of print with electronic media.
1. Book publishing is market driven. This is not necessarily bad, but
it does mean that if an insufficient audience exists to purchase the
book, it will likely not be published.
2. Book publication is slow. The core ideas of most scholarly works
are at least two years old when a book hits the streets. For example,
a book written in 1986-87 that is submitted to the publisher in 1988
would undergo editing, minor revisions, and galley proofing, and hit
the streets in 1989.
3. Books are generally limited by a production format that conforms to
preferred length and style. This can impose arbitrary restrictions of
ideas presented in chapters, shape the organization of the ideas and
discourse, and artificially truncate the development of crucial ideas.
None of these disadvantages are prohibitive. Authors and publishers
have worked around them for centuries. But, electronic publishing
offers something more. What does it offer?
1. Electronic publishing is fairly immediate. One can "publish" as
soon as the text has been typed in (and hopefully edited and
spell-checked). For scholarly works, this dramatically updates data,
disseminates ideas and scholarship, and keeps others abreast of
research and bibliographies in a timely fashion.
2. Electronic publishing is, for the end user, nearly free.
Newsletters such as Telecom Digest, EFFector, People's Tribune,
Cu-Digest, or the E-Journal need not recoup postage, publication
costs, or salaries for the masochistic folk who put them out.
3. Electronic publishing is able to effectively and economically
target and reach a fairly specialized audience and fill a vacuum
untouched by print media. There is no hard-copy counterpart to CuD,
PHRACK, the cDc publications, Activist Times Inc., and some of the
other successful journal/newsletters.
4. Electronic publishing is effective. Readers can judge for
themselves the value of CuD, but it's undeniable that the pioneering
efforts of PHRACK, LOD/TJ, P/hun, PIRATE, and similar publications
were critical to shaping one slice of the computer culture of the
1980s. Comparable hardcopy publications would unlikely have been as
effective or as widely distributed.
That said, some critics identify potential problems. The drawbacks of
electronic publishing derive in part from its strengths. The ease of
publication reduces quality control; Some doubt that the review
process for scholarly journals would be as rigorous (although there is
certainly no reason inherent in the medium for this to be so);
Gresham's law might apply--schlock will drive out the quality works;
nobody will read it.
I have more faith in cybernauts than the critics. A few examples might
illustrate my point.
1. Most end-users possess a delete function (or, at worst,
ctl/alt/del). One isn't forced to read a 500K tome if it is dull, and
poor works will remain confined to a space in a directory corner and
eventually be copied over with something more pleasing.
2. Current forms of electronic communication provide hints for the
fate of works in which there is no interest. Electronic newsletters
come and go, Usenet and other discussion groups emerge and if they are
popular, they thrive. If they are unpopular, they languish and stay
dormant. Telecom Digest has been in existance for over a decade, and
PHRACK for almost as long. Even CuD is entering its fourth year. They
have not been driven out by the explosion of other publications, and
their readership steadily increases. If electronic publications
attempt to remain sensitive to the audience and attempt--as Pat
Townson has done with Telecom Digest--to keep on the cutting edge of
timely issues, they will continue to provide a valuable supplement to
print media.
3. Electronic publications are often ad hoc and unsupervised. For
media intending to establish credibility as scholarly outlets, this
can be a problem. Electronic publications are rarely peer reviewed,
publications generally do not count toward the tenure sheet, and
without some quality control, the "findings" of studies may lack
legitimacy. The way around this simple: Professional associations can
more aggressively sponsor electronic media in the same way that many
sponsor their journals. If, for example, the Midwest Sociology Society
began an electronic journal, it could have the same quality controls,
the same editorial guidance, and the same procedure it uses for its
hardcopy quartly (The Sociological Quarterly). The same could apply
to monographs, whether fiction or non-fiction.
4.1 If everybody who thought they could write a book actually wrote
one, the nets would be inundated. This possibility, though, is
unlikely. Not everybody who thinks they can write a book is actually
capable of doing so, and many a work lies uncompleted because the
author lost steam, ideas, or motivation to continue. Books are also
difficult to read on-line, and printing them off can be more of a
bother than it's worth. Even hypertext (or the equivalents) requires
considerable perseverance by the reader to wade through a long tome.
It is unlikely that books will flood the nets.
5) How do we respond to "trash?" Even recent partjSRAants in Usenet
newsgroups are aware of the high signal-to-noise ratio in most groups.
Delete keys and kill files work quite well. Or, in the worst cases,
one simply unsubscribes, and Voila! No more trash.
A few examples from my own experience illustrate some of the potential
of electronic publishing. In teaching criminal justice courses, I'm
often unable to find appropriate texts. It's possible to pull together
papers from journals and use Kinko's to reproduce them. This, however,
can be expensive and the problems of copyright must be overcome.
Colleagues with works-in-progress, unpublished papers, or book
chapters in draft form share the electronic versions which I print out
for a fraction of conventional publishing (or even Kinko) costs, and
they become the classroom resource. Texts are thereby tailored to a
specific course with a specific instructor's style, students save
money, and life is good. In a second example, I finished a draft
chapter for a book. The draft was several hundred pages long, and it
had to be reduced to about 35 pages. The full text, although
book-length, was a bit too narrow for a conventional book market.
Through the marvels of electronic publishing, I was able to tailor it
to a course I periodically teach, revise it each time the course is
taught, and use it in place of a text. It's quick, cheap, makes
lecturing much easier, the students are happy, the instructor is
happy, and life is good. Could this manuscript be revised into a
conventional book? Sure. But time constraints and changing interests
make it unlikely that I ever will. I'm quite content to limit it to
friends' and classroom use. Here, Kurt is again correct--this is a
work that isn't appropriate in its present form for a book. But, Phil,
too, is correct--conventional publishers have left a gap, and the
value of electronic publishing is the ability to fill it.
The publishing industry is lagging behind to the extent that it is not
developing innovative ways of plugging into the electronic age to take
advantage of the accessibility and economy of a potential market.
Especially in times of economic crunch, many of us are cutting back on
books and journals and relying more on less conventional media for
professional development. As the price of books increases, many of us
are simply priced out of the market. We are not priced out of the net.
It bears repeating that I am not arguing for a replacement for
conventional publications, but for a supplement to them. As one who
publishes extensively in conventional outlets, I fully recognize
their value. The way to publish electronically is to...is to..well,
is to publish electronically. The outlets are growing, as illustrated
by those on Arachnet, a Bitnet discussion group devoted to addressing
these issues. The E-Journal provides a model for how an electronic
medium can establish an editorial board and a peer review process.
Telecom Digest and Risks Digest are nifty examples of accurate and
up-to-date information being spread, debated, and refined. Cu-Digest
is an example of how USA Today might look if it went electronic with
an open forum (according to one observer, although I'm not sure if
that's an insult or a compliment).
In short, I agree with Kurt, but I also agree with Phil Shapiro.
Electronic publishing possesses risks, but it also possesses a
potential whose value has barely been recognized. Those who have read
to this line are on the cutting edge of it all, and the way to develop
it is to submit articles, subscribe to newsgroups, and continue to
participate in carving out a niche on the frontier.
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 27 Feb 1993 11:41:21 (CST)
From: CuD Moderators <tk0jut2@mvs.cso.niu.edu)
Subject: File 5--Obtaining Back Issues of CuD via FTP
CuD Moderators are continually asked: "What's ftp and how to I use
it?"
"FTP" stands for File Transfer Protocol and is a way of obtaining
files from a remote site. You must have a computer account with ftp
capability. Universities and some public access systems are common
locations for such accounts. The system you are on must also support
ftp. If you aren't sure what this means, contact your local sysguru.
If you have access only to your favorite local BBS, you're out of
luck. You should invest a few dollars for an account on The Well,
Mindvox, Netsys, Netcom, or some of the other systems providing
ftp/telnet/IRC and other services.
Addresses for the ftp sites are listed in the header at the top of
each issue of CuD. The CuD archives and mailserver are maintained by
a bunch of hardworking guys (listed in the header, above) and through
the generosity of the systems that provide the space. If you browse
the archives, keep these points in mind as a matter of courtesy to
those providing the space:
1. USE THE FACILITIES DURING OFF-HOURS (the more off the better) TO
LIMIT CONGESTION
2. DO NOT STAY ON LONGER THAN NECESSARY
3. USE THE SITE CLOSEST TO YOU
The CuD Archmeisters have set up the sites identically. If your system
allows ftping, you can try typing this command:
ftp some.address.you.choose.edu
Then, assuming all works as it should, you will be connected and asked
for your login. At the prompt, type: anonymous
You will then be asked for your password. Type your logon id. If I were to
log into Dan Carasone's site in Australia, I would simply type:
login? anonymous
pw? tk0jut2@mp.cs.niu.edu
You move about in these systems as you would in most other Unix
systems. Use "cd" to change directories, "ls" to see what's in a
directory, and other standard stuff. Remember, commands, directory
names, and files are case-sensitive, so be sure to keep upper and
lower case letters straight. After you've logged in, change to the
cud directory by typing:
cd pub/cud
Then type
ls
and you should see the following:
150 Opening ASCII mode data connection for /bin/ls.
total 120
-rw-r--r-- 1 brendan 12 0 Apr 25 1992 .notar
-rw-r--r-- 1 brendan 149 5291 Feb 24 08:11 Added
-rw-r--r-- 1 brendan 149 11776 Feb 24 08:11 Index
drwxr-xr-x 2 brendan 149 512 May 18 14:08 alcor
drwxr-xr-x 2 brendan 149 512 May 18 14:08 ane
drwxr-xr-x 2 brendan 149 512 Jan 3 22:12 aotd
drwxr-xr-x 2 brendan 149 1024 Nov 12 22:41 ati
drwxr-xr-x 2 brendan 149 512 May 18 14:08 bootlegger
drwxr-xr-x 3 brendan 149 512 Apr 25 1992 ccc
drwxr-xr-x 2 brendan 149 3584 Jan 7 04:04 cdc
drwxr-xr-x 2 brendan 149 512 Apr 25 1992 cdugd
drwxr-xr-x 2 brendan 149 512 May 18 14:09 chalisti
drwxr-xr-x 2 brendan 149 512 Feb 24 08:10 chaos
drwxr-xr-x 2 brendan 149 512 May 18 14:09 cpi
drwxr-xr-x 2 brendan 149 3584 Feb 22 22:45 cud
drwxr-xr-x 2 brendan 149 512 Oct 17 05:28 dfp
drwxr-xr-x 2 brendan 149 512 Apr 25 1992 fbi
drwxr-xr-x 2 brendan 149 512 Nov 2 19:24 inform
drwxr-xr-x 2 brendan 149 1024 Apr 25 1992 law
drwxr-xr-x 2 brendan 149 512 May 18 14:09 lod
drwxr-xr-x 2 brendan 149 512 Feb 10 01:54 misc
drwxr-xr-x 2 brendan 149 512 May 18 14:09 narc
drwxr-xr-x 2 brendan 149 512 Apr 25 1992 networks
drwxr-xr-x 2 brendan 149 512 Apr 25 1992 nfx
drwxr-xr-x 2 brendan 149 1536 Oct 6 17:38 nia
drwxr-xr-x 2 brendan 149 512 May 18 14:09 nsa
drwxr-xr-x 2 brendan 149 1536 Dec 11 07:53 papers
drwxr-xr-x 2 brendan 149 512 Feb 10 01:54 phantasy
drwxr-xr-x 2 brendan 149 1024 Jan 7 04:08 phrack
drwxr-xr-x 2 brendan 149 512 May 18 14:09 phun
drwxr-xr-x 2 brendan 149 512 May 18 14:09 pirate
drwxr-xr-x 2 brendan 149 512 May 18 14:09 ppp
drwxr-xr-x 2 brendan 149 1024 Apr 25 1992 schools
drwxr-xr-x 2 brendan 149 512 May 18 14:09 synd
drwxr-xr-x 2 brendan 149 512 May 18 14:09 tap
drwxr-xr-x 2 brendan 149 512 Sep 18 17:58 upi
drwxr-xr-x 2 brendan 149 512 Nov 29 21:22 wview
Each of the above are subdirectories that contain papers, journals,
and other documents. "phantasy" contains back issues of Phantasy.
"lod" contains the "Legion of Doom/Technical Journals." "cud"
contains all the back issues of CuD, including indexes. To get to
these subdirectories, simply type
cd cud (or: cd tap or whatever).
To download a file, the command is get file.name (or, for multiple
files,
mget file.name1 file.name2)
A file that ends in .Z is a compressed file, which means, after
downloading to your own system, you must uncompress. If you
get a file called file.Z, to uncompress the command
uncompress file.Z should work.
If this sounds confusing, we strongly recommend purchasing Brendan
Kehoe's ZEN AND THE ART OF THE INTERNET or Ed Krol's THE WHOLE
INTERNET. Both are worth having, and both provide easy-to-follow
instructions.
PLEASE REMEMBER: AS A COURTESY TO THOSE WHO MAINTAIN THE ARCHIVES AND
ESPECIALL TO THOSE KIND ENOUGH TO PROVIDE SPACE, BE GOOD NET CITIZEN:
1) LOG IN AT OFF-HOURS (after midnight on the site's time), 2) DO NOT
BE A HOG, and 3) USE THE SITE NEAREST YOU.
If you have problems with ftp, it is best to first ask your local
gurus for advice rather than the ftp site crowd or the CuD moderators.
We don't know your system, so we're not the ones to ask.
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 27 Feb 93 11:27 CST
From: tk0kbf1@mvs.cso.niu.edu
Subject: File 6--New Computer Viruses Run Amok (sort of) (Reprint)
This came to me in e-mail today, having travelled around half the
country first. I don't know who Maggie Zarnosky is, but she deserves
a big thank you. Spread it around with pleasure!
================================================================
MAGGIE ZARNOSKY, LIBRARY, VA. POLYTECHNIC UNIV.,SENT ME THIS. ENJOY!!:
VIRUSES:
PAUL REVERE VIRUS: This revolutionary virus does not horse around.
It warns you of impending hard disk attack---once if by LAN,
twice if by C:.
POLITICALLY CORRECT VIRUS: Never calls itself a "virus," but instead
refers to itself as an "electronic microorganism."
RIGHT TO LIFE VIRUS: Won't allow you to delete a file, regardless of
how old it is. If you attempt to erase a file, it requires you to
first see a counselor about possible alternatives.
ROSS PEROT VIRUS: Activates every component in your system, just
before the whole thing quits.
MARIO CUOMO VIRUS: It would be a great virus, but it refuses to run.
OPRAH WINFREY VIRUS: Your 200MB hard drive suddenly shrinks to 80MB,
and then slowly expands back to 200MB.
AT&T VIRUS: Every three minutes it tells you what great service you
are getting.
THE MCI VIRUS: Every three minutes it reminds you that you're paying
too much for the AT&T virus.
TED TURNER VIRUS: Colorizes your monochrome monitor.
ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER VIRUS: Terminates and stays resident. It'll
be back.
DAN QUAYLE VIRUS: Prevents your system from spawning any child
processes without joining into a binary network.
DAN QUAYLE VIRUS 2: Their is sumthing rong with your computer, ewe
just can't figyour out watt.
GOVERNMENT ECONOMIST VIRUS: Nothing works, but all your diagnostic
software says everything is fine.
NEW WORLD ORDER VIRUS: Probably harmless, but it makes a lot of
people really mad just thinking about it.
FEDERAL BUREAUCRAT VIRUS: Divides your hard disk into hundreds of
little units, each of which does practically nothing, but all of
which claim to be the most important part of the computer.
GALLUP VIRUS: Sixty percent of the PCs infected will lose 38 percent
of their data 14 percent of the time (plus or minus a 3.5 percent
margin of error).
TERRY RANDLE VIRUS: Prints "Oh no you don't" whenever you choose
"Abort" from the "Abort, Retry, Fail" message.
TEXAS VIRUS: Makes sure that it's bigger than any other file.
ADAM AND EVE VIRUS: Takes a couple of bytes out of your Apple.
MICHAEL JACKSON VIRUS: Hard to identify because it is constantly
altering its appearance. This virus won't harm your PC, but it will
trash your car.
CONGRESSIONAL VIRUS: The computer locks up, screen splits eratically
with a message appearing on each half blaming the other side for the
problem.
AIRLINE VIRUS: You're in Dallas, but your data is in Singapore.
FREUDIAN VIRUS: Your computer becomes obsessed with marrying its own
motherboard.
PBS VIRUS: Your PC stops every few minutes to ask for money.
ELVIS VIRUS: Your computer gets fat, slow, and lazy and then self
destructs, only to resurface at shopping malls and service stations
across rural America.
OLLIE NORTH VIRUS: Turns your printer into a document shredder.
NIKE VIRUS: Just Does It!
SEARS VIRUS: Your data won't appear unless you buy new cables, power
supply, and a set of shocks.
JIMMY HOFFA VIRUS: Nobody can find it.
CONGRESSIONAL VIRUS: Runs every program on the hard drive
simultaneously, but doesn't allow the user to accomplish anything.
KEVORKIAN VIRUS: Helps your computer shut down whenever it wants to.
IMELDA MARCOS VIRUS: Sings you a song (slightly off key) on boot up
then subtracts money from your Quicken account and spends it all on
expensive shoes it purchases through Prodigy.
STAR TREK VIRUS: Invades your system in places where no virus has gone
before.
HEALTH CARE VIRUS: Test your system for a day, finds nothing wrong, and
sends you a bill for $4,500.
GEORGE BUSH VIRUS: It starts by boldly stating, "Read my test.... no
new files!" on the screen, proceeds to fill up all the free space on
your hard drive with new files, then blames it on the Congress Virus.
CLEVELAND INDIANS VIRUS: Makes your 486/50 machine perform like a
286/AT.
LAPD VIRUS: It claims it feels threatened by the other files on your PC
and erases them in "self-defense."
CHICAGO CUBS VIRUS: Your PC makes frequent mistakes and comes in last
in the reviews, but you still love it.
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 21 Feb 93 20:33:40 PST
From: Len Rose <len@NETSYS.COM>
Subject: File 7--Netsys Startup
NETSYS COMMUNICATION SERVICES Palo Alto, California
Netsys is a network of large Sun servers dedicated to providing
Internet access to individuals and corporations that need solid,
reliable Internet connectivity.
An account on Netsys will provide members with :
Electronic Mail: to/from the Internet and gatewayed networks.
(including BITNET, MILNET, and even Compuserve).
Usenet: The worldwide networked message system that generates
roughly 40-50 megabytes of information daily.
Telnet: The capability to login to any remote host in any part
of the world.
Ftp: The ability to send and receive documents/programs/data
to/from any site in the world.
Misc: Archie,Gopher, Internet Relay Chat, and WAIS search tools.
Support: 24 hour emergency response service.
Dialups: Palo Alto area, High Speed (V.32 and PEP)
Private Accounts: $20 monthly ( with file storage capacity of 5 megabytes)
$1 per megabyte per month over 5 megabytes.
Commercial Accounts: $40 monthly (file storage capacity of 10 megabytes)
$1 per megabyte per month over 10 megabytes.
Newsfeeds: We offer both nntp and uucp based newsfeeds , with all domestic
newsgroups,and including all foreign newsgroups.
SPECIAL FEATURES THAT NO ONE ELSE CAN PROVIDE
Satellite Weather: Netsys has available real time satellite weather
imagery. Images are available in gif, or Sun raster
format. Contact us for NFS mirroring, and other special
arrangement. These images are directly downlinked from
the GOES bird. Contact Steve Eigsti (steve@netsys.com)
Satellite Usenet: Netsys is offering Pagesat's satellite newsfeed service
for large volume news distribution. Members of Netsys
can obtain substantial discounts for the purchase and
service costs of this revolutionary method of Usenet news
distribution.Both Unix and MS Windows software available.
Contact Kate Alexander (kate@pagesat.com) for product
information.
Paging Services: Netsys is offering Pagesat's Internet to Pager mail service.
Members of Netsys can obtain critical email to pager
services. Pagesat has the ability to gateway any critical
electronic mail to your display pager.
Leased Line Internet Connections
Pagesat Inc. offers low cost 56k and T1 Internet connections all over the
United States. Since Pagesat is an FCC common carrier, our savings on
leased lines can be passed on to you. For further information, contact
Duane Dubay (djd@pagesat.com).
We offer other services such as creating domains, acting as MX
forwarders, and of course uucp based newsfeeds.
Netsys is now offering completely open shell access to internet users.
For accounts, or more information , send mail to netsys@netsys.com
Netsys will NEVER accept more members than our capacity to serve.
Netsys prides itself on it's excellent connectivity (including multiple T1's,
and SMDS) ,lightly loaded systems, and it's clientele.
We're not your average Internet Service Provider. And it shows.
------------------------------
End of Computer Underground Digest #5.17
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