GUIDE TO (mostly) HARMLESS HACKING
Beginners’ Series #2, Section Two.
Hacking into Windows 95 (and a little bit of NT lore)! ____________________________________________________________
Important warning: this is a beginners lesson. BEGINNERS. Will all you geniuses who were born already knowing 32-bit Windows just skip reading this one, OK? We don’t need to hear how disgusted you are that not everyone already knows this.
PARENTAL DISCRETION ADVISED!
This lesson will lay the foundation for learning how to hack what now is the most commonly installed workstation operating system: Windows NT. In fact, Windows NT is coming into wide use as a local area network (LAN), Internet, intranet, and Web server. So if you want to call yourself a serious hacker, you’d better get a firm grasp on Win NT.
In this lesson you will learn serious hacking techniques useful on both Windows 95 and Win NT systems while playing in complete safety on your own computer.
In this lesson we explore:
· Several ways to hack your Windows 95 logon password
· How to hack your Pentium CMOS password
· How to hack a Windows Registry — which is where access control on Windows-based LANs, intranets and Internet and Webs servers are hidden!
Let’s set the stage for this lesson. You have your buddies over to your home to see you hack on your Windows 95 box. You’ve already put in a really industrial haxor-looking bootup screen, so they are already trembling at the thought of what a tremendously elite d00d you are. So what do you do next?
How about clicking on “Start,” clicking “settings” then “control panel” then “passwords.” Tell your friends your password and get them to enter a secret new one. Then shut down your computer and tell them you are about to show them how fast you can break their password and get back into your own box!
This feat is so easy I’m almost embarrassed to tell you how it’s done. That’s because you’ll say “Sheesh, you call that password protection? Any idiot can break into a Win 95 box! And of course you’re right. But that’s the Micro$oft way. Remember this next time you expect to keep something on your Win95 box confidential.
And when it comes time to learn Win NT hacking, remember this Micro$oft security mindset. The funny thing is that very few hackers mess with NT today because they’re all busy cracking into Unix boxes. But there are countless amazing Win NT exploits just waiting to be discovered. Once you see how easy it is to break into your Win 95 box, you’ll feel in your bones that even without us holding your hand, you could discover ways to crack Win NT boxes, too.
But back to your buddies waiting to see what an elite hacker you are. Maybe you’ll want them to turn their backs so all they know is you can break into a Win95 box in less than one minute. Or maybe you’ll be a nice guy and show them exactly how it’s done.
But first, here’s a warning. The first few techniques we’re showing work on most home Win 95 installations. But, especially in corporate local area networks (LANs), several of these techniques don’t work. But never fear, in this lesson we will cover enough ways to break in that you will be able to gain control of absolutely *any* Win 95 box to which you have physical access. But we’ll start with the easy ways first.
Easy Win 95 Breakin #1:
Step one: boot up your computer.
Step two: When the “system configuration” screen comes up, press the “F5” key. If your system doesn’t show this screen, just keep on pressing the F5 key.
If your Win 95 has the right settings, this boots you into “safe mode.” Everything looks weird, but you don’t have to give your password and you still can run your programs.
Too easy! OK, if you want to do something that looks a little classier, here’s another way to evade that new password.
Easy Win 95 Breakin #2:
Step one: Boot up.
Step two: when you get to the “system configuration” screen, press the F8 key. This gives you the Microsoft Windows 95 Startup Menu.
Step three: choose number 7. This puts you into MS-DOS. At the prompt, give the command “rename c:\windows\*pwl c:\windows\*zzz.”
**************************** Newbie note: MS-DOS stands for Microsoft Disk Operating System, an ancient operating system dating from 1981. It is a command-line operating system, meaning that you get a prompt (probably c:\>) after which you type in a command and press the enter key. MS -DOS is often abbreviated DOS. It is a little bit similar to Unix, and in fact in its first version it incorporated thousands of lines of Unix code. *****************************
Step four: reboot. You will get the password dialog screen. You can then fake out your friends by entering any darn password you want. It will ask you to reenter it to confirm your new password.
Step five. Your friends are smart enough to suspect you just created a new password, huh? Well, you can put the old one your friends picked. Use any tool you like — File Manager, Explorer or MS-DOS — to rename *.zzz back to *.pwl.
Step six: reboot and let your friends use their secret password. It still works!
Think about it. If someone where to be sneaking around another person’s Win 95 computer, using this technique, the only way the victim could determine there had been an intruder is to check for recently changed files and discover that the *.pwl files have been messed with
**************************** Evil genius tip: Unless the msdos.sys file bootkeys=0 option is active, the keys that can do something during the bootup process are F4, F5, F6, F8, Shift+F5, Control+F5 and Shift+F8. Play with them! ****************************
Now let’s suppose you discovered that your Win 95 box doesn’t respond to the bootup keys. You can still break in.
If your computer does allow use of the boot keys, you may wish to disable them in order to be a teeny bit more secure. Besides, it’s phun to show your friends how to use the boot keys and then disable these so when they try to mess with your computer they will discover you’ve locked them out.
The easiest — but slowest — way to disable the boot keys is to pick the proper settings while installing Win 95. But we’re hackers, so we can pull a fast trick to do the same thing. We are going to learn how to edit the Win 95 msdos.sys file, which controls the boot sequence.
Easy Way to Edit your Msdos.sys File:
Step zero: Back up your computer completely, especially the system files. Make sure you have a Windows 95 boot disk. We are about to play with fire! If you are doing this on someone else’s computer, let’s just hope either you have permission to destroy the operating system, or else you are so good you couldn’t possibly make a serious mistake.
******************************* Newbie note: You don’t have a boot disk? Shame, shame, shame! Everyone ought to have a boot disk for their computer just in case you or your buddies do something really horrible to your system files. If you don’t already have a Win 95 boot disk, here’s how to make one. To do this you need an empty floppy disk and your Win 95 installation disk(s). Click on Start, then Settings, then Control Panel, then Add/Remove Programs, then Startup Disk. From here just follow instructions. ********************************
Step one: Find the file msdos.sys. It is in the root directory (usually C:\). Since this is a hidden system file, the easiest way to find it is to click on My Computer, right click the icon for your boot drive (usually C:), left click Explore, then scroll down the right side frame until you find the file “msdos.sys.”
Step two: Make msdos.sys writable. To do this, right click on msdos.sys, then left click “properties.” This brings up a screen on which you uncheck the “read only” and “hidden” boxes. You have now made this a file that you can pull into a word processor to edit.
Step three: Bring msdos.sys up in Word Pad. To do this, you go to File Manager. Find msdos.sys again and click on it. Then click “associate” under the “file” menu. Then click on “Word Pad.” It is very important to use Word Pad and not Notepad or any other word processing program! Then double click on msdos.sys.
Step four: We are ready to edit. You will see that Word Pad has come up with msdos.sys loaded. You will see something that looks like this:
[Paths] WinDir=C:\WINDOWS WinBootDir=C:\WINDOWS HostWinBootDrv=C
[Options] BootGUI=1 Network=1 ; ;The following lines are required for compatibility with other programs. ;Do not remove them (MSDOS>SYS needs to be >1024 bytes). ;xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx ;xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx . . .
To disable the function keys during bootup, directly below [Options] you should insert the command “BootKeys=0.” Or, another way to disable the boot keys is to insert the command BootDelay=0. You can really mess up your snoopy hacker wannabe friends by putting in both statements and hope they don’t know about BootDelay. Then save msdos.sys.
Step five: since msdos.sys is absolutely essential to your computer, you’d better write protect it like it was before you edited it. Click on My Computer, then Explore, then click the icon for your boot drive (usually C:), then scroll down the right side until you find the file “msdos.sys.” Click on msdos.sys, then left click “properties.” This brings back that screen with the “read only” and “hidden” boxes. Check “read only.”
Step six: You *are* running a virus scanner, aren’t you? You never know what your phriends might do to your computer while your back is turned. When you next boot up, your virus scanner will see that msdos.sys has changed. It will assume the worst and want to make your msdos.sys file look just like it did before. You have to stop it from doing this. I run Norton Antivirus, so all I have to do when the virus warning screen comes up it to tell it to “innoculate.”
Hard Way to Edit your (or someone else’s) Msdos.sys File.
Step zero. This is useful practice for using DOS to run rampant someday in Win NT LANs, Web and Internet servers. Put a Win 95 boot disk in the a: drive. Boot up. This gives you a DOS prompt A:\.
Step one: Make msdos.sys writable. Give the command “attrib -h -r -s c:\msdos.sys” (This assumes the c: drive is the boot disk.)
Step two: give the command “edit msdos.sys” This brings up this file into the word processor.
Step three: Use the edit program to alter msdos.sys. Save it. Exit the edit program.
Step four: At the DOS prompt, give the command “attrib +r +h +s c:\msdos.sys” to return the msdos.sys file to the status of hidden, read-only system file.
OK, now your computer’s boot keys are disabled. Does this mean no one can break in? Sorry, this isn’t good enough.
As you may have guessed from the “Hard Way to Edit your Msdos.sys” instruction, your next option for Win 95 breakins is to use a boot disk that goes in the a: floppy drive.
How to Break into a Win 95 Box Using a Boot Disk
Step one: shut down your computer.
Step two: put boot disk into A: drive.
Step three: boot up.
Step four: at the A:\ prompt, give the command: rename c:\windows\*.pwl c:\windows\*.zzz.
Step four: boot up again. You can enter anything or nothing at the password prompt and get in.
Step five: Cover your tracks by renaming the password files back to what they were.
Wow, this is just too easy! What do you do if you want to keep your prankster friends out of your Win 95 box? Well, there is one more thing you can do. This is a common trick on LANs where the network administrator doesn’t want to have to deal with people monkeying around with each others’ computers. The answer — but not a very good answer — is to use a CMOS password.
How to Mess With CMOS #1
The basic settings on your computer such as how many and what kinds of disk drives and which ones are used for booting are held in a CMOS chip on the mother board. A tiny battery keeps this chip always running so that whenever you turn your computer back on, it remembers what is the first drive to check in for bootup instructions. On a home computer it will typically be set to first look in the A: drive. If the A: drive is empty, it next will look at the C: drive.
On my computer, if I want to change the CMOS settings I press the delete key at the very beginning of the bootup sequence. Then, because I have instructed the CMOS settings to ask for a password, I have to give it my password to change anything.
If I don’t want someone to boot from the A: drive and mess with my password file, I can set it so it only boots from the C: drive. Or even so that it only boots from a remote drive on a LAN.
So, is there a way to break into a Win 95 box that won’t boot from the A: drive? Absolutely yes! But before trying this one out, be sure to write down *ALL* your CMOS settings. And be prepared to make a total wreck of your computer. Hacking CMOS is even more destructive than hacking system files.
Step one: get a phillips screwdriver, solder sucker and soldering iron.
Step two: open up your victim.
Step three: remove the battery .
Step four: plug the battery back in.
Alternate step three: many motherboards have a 3 pin jumper to reset the CMOS to its default settings. Look for a jumper close to the battery or look at your manual if you have one. For example, you might find a three pin device with pins one and two jumpered. If you move the jumper to pins two and three and leave it there for over five seconds, it may reset the CMOS. Warning — this will not work on all computers!
Step five: Your victim computer now hopefully has the CMOS default settings. Put everything back the way they were, with the exception of setting it to first check the A: drive when booting up.
******************************* You can get fired warning: If you do this wrong, and this is a computer you use at work, and you have to go crying to the systems administrator to get your computer working again, you had better have a convincing story. Whatever you do, don’t tell the sysadmin or your boss that “The Happy Hacker made me do it”! *******************************
Step six: proceed with the A: drive boot disk break-in instructions.
Does this sound too hairy? Want an easy way to mess with CMOS? There’s a program you can run that does it without having to play with your mother board.
How to Mess with CMOS #2
Boy, I sure hope you decided to read to the end of this GTMHH before taking solder gun to your motherboard. There’s an easy solution to the CMOS password problem. It’s a program called KillCMOS which you can download from http://www.koasp.com. (Warning: if I were you, I’d first check out this site using the Lynx browser, which you can use from Linux or your shell account).
Now suppose you like to surf the Web but your Win 95 box is set up so some sort of net nanny program restricts access to places you would really like to visit. Does this mean you are doomed to live in a Brady Family world? No way.
There are several ways to evade those programs that censor what Web sites you visit.
Now what I am about to discuss is not with the intention of feeding p*rnography to little kids. The sad fact is that these net censorship programs have no way of evaluating everything on the Web. So what they do is only allow access to a relatively small number of Web sites. This keeps kids form discovering many wonderful things on the Web.
As the mother of four, I understand how worried parents can get over what their kids encounter on the Internet. But these Web censor programs are a poor substitute for spending time with your kids so that they learn how to use computers responsibly and become really dynamite hackers! Um, I mean, become responsible cyberspace citizens. Besides, these programs can all be hacked way to easily.
The first tactic to use with a Web censor program is hit control-alt-delete. This brings up the task list. If the censorship program is on the list, turn it off.
Second tactic is to edit the autoexec.bat file to delete any mention of the web censor program. This keeps it from getting loaded in the first place.
But what if your parents (or your boss or spouse) is savvy enough to check where you’ve been surfing? You’ve got to get rid of those incriminating records whowing that you’ve been surfing Dilbert!
It’s easy to fix with Netscape. Open Netscape.ini with either Notepad or Word Pad. It probably will be in the directory C:\Netscape\netscape.ini. Near the bottom you will find your URL history. Delete those lines.
But Internet Explorer is a really tough browser to defeat. Editing the Registry is the only way (that I have found, at least) to defeat the censorship feature on Internet Explorer. And, guess what, it even hides several records of your browsing history in the Registry. Brrrr!
*************************
Newbie note: Registry! It is the Valhalla of those who wish to crack Windows. Whoever controls the Registry of a network server controls the network — totally. Whoever controls the Registry of a Win 95 or Win NT box controls that computer — totally. The ability to edit the Registry is comparable to having root access to a Unix machine. ’em
How to edit the Registry:
Step zero: Back up all your files. Have a boot disk handy. If you mess up the Registry badly enough you may have to reinstall your operating system.
****************************** You can get fired warning: If you edit the Registry of a computer at work, if you get caught you had better have a good explanation for the sysadmin and your boss. Figure out how to edit the Registry of a LAN server at work and you may be in real trouble.
*******************************
******************************* You can go to jail warning: Mess with the Registry of someone else’s computer and you may be violating the law. Get permission before you mess with Registries of computers you don’t own. *******************************
Step one: Find the Registry. This is not simple, because the Microsoft theory is what you don’t know won’t hurt you. So the idea is to hide the Registry from clueless types. But, hey, we don’t care if we totally trash our computers, right? So we click Start, then Programs, then Windows Explorer, then click on the Windows directory and look for a file named “Regedit.exe.”
Step two: Run Regedit. Click on it. It brings up several folders:
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT HKEY_CURRENT_USER HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE HKEY_USERS HKEY_CURRENT_CONFIG HKEY_DYN_DATA
What we are looking at is in some ways like a password file, but it’s much more than this. It holds all sorts of settings — how your desk top looks, what short cuts you are using, what files you are allowed to access. If you are used to Unix, you are going to have to make major revisions in how you view file permissions and passwords. But, hey, this is a beginners’ lesson so we’ll gloss over this part.
**************************** Evil genius tip: You can run Regedit from DOS from a boot disk. Verrrry handy in certain situations… ****************************
Step three. Get into one of these HKEY thingies. Let’s check out CURRENT_USER by clicking the plus sign to the left of it. Play around awhile. See how the Regedit gives you menu choices to pick new settings. You’ll soon realize that Microsoft is babysitting you. All you see is pictures with no clue of who these files look in DOS. It’s called “security by obscurity.” This isn’t how hackers edit the Registry.
Step four. Now we get act like real hackers. We are going to put part of the Registry where we can see — and change — anything. First click the HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT line to highlight it. Then go up to the Registry heading on the Regedit menu bar. Click it, then choose “Export Registry File.” Give it any name you want, but be sure it ends with “.reg”.
Step five. Open that part of the Registry in Word Pad. It is important to use that program instead of Note Pad or any other word processing program. One way is to right click on it from Explorer. IMPORTANT WARNING: if you left click on it, it will automatically import it back into the Registry. If you were messing with it and accidentally left click, you could trash your computer big time.
Step six: Read everything you ever wanted to know about Windows security that Microsoft was afraid to let you find out. Things that look like:
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\htmlctl.PasswordCtl\CurVer] @=”htmlctl.PasswordCtl.1″
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\htmlctl.PasswordCtl.1] @=”PasswordCtl Object”
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\htmlctl.PasswordCtl.1\CLSID] @=”{EE230860-5A5F-11CF-8B11-00AA00C00903}”
The stuff inside the brackets in this last line is an encrypted password controlling access to a program or features of a program such as the net censorship feature of Internet Explorer. What it does in encrypt the password when you enter it, then compare it with the unencrypted version on file.
Step seven: It isn’t real obvious which password goes to what program. I say delete them all! Of course this means your stored passwords for logging on to your ISP, for example, may disappear. Also, Internet Explorer will pop up with a warning that “Content Advisor configuration information is missing. Someone may have tried to tamper with it.” This will look really bad to your parents!
Also, if you trash your operating system in the process, you’d better have a good explanation for your Mom and Dad about why your computer is so sick. It’s a good idea to know how to use your boot disk to reinstall Win 95 it this doesn’t work out.
Step eight (optional): Want to erase your surfing records? For Internet Explorer you’ll have to edit HKEY_CURRENT_USER, HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE and HKEY_USERS. You can also delete the files c:\windows\cookies\mm2048.dat and c:\windows\cookies\mm256.dat. These also store URL data.
Step nine. Import your .reg files back into the Registry. Either click on your .reg files in Explorer or else use the “Import” feature next to the “Export” you just used in Regedit. This only works if you remembered to name them with the .reg extension.
Step nine: Oh, no, Internet Explorer makes this loud obnoxious noise the first time I run it and puts up a bright red “X” with the message that I tampered with the net nanny feature! My parents will seriously kill me!
Or, worse yet, oh, no, I trashed my computer!
All is not lost. Erase the Registry and its backups. These are in four files: system.dat, user.dat, and their backups, system.da0 and user.da0. Your operating system will immediately commit suicide. (This was a really exciting test, folks, but I luuuv that adrenaline!) If you get cold feet, the Recycle bin still works after trashing your Registry files, so you can restore them and your computer will be back to the mess you just made of it. But if you really have guts, just kill those files and shut it down.
Then use your Win 95 boot disk to bring your computer back to life. Reinstall Windows 95. If your desk top looks different, proudly tell everyone you learned a whole big bunch about Win 95 and decided to practice on how your desk top looks. Hope they don’t check Internet Explorer to see if the censorship program still is enabled.
And if your parents catch you surfing a Nazi explosives instruction site, or if you catch your kids at bianca’s Smut Shack, don’t blame it on Happy Hacker. Blame it on Microsoft security — or on parents being too busy to teach their kids right from wrong.
So why, instead of having you edit the Registry, didn’t I just tell you to delete those four files and reinstall Win 95? It’s because if you are even halfway serious about hacking, you need to learn how to edit the Registry of a Win NT computer. You just got a little taste of what it will be like here, done on the safety of your home computer.
You also may have gotten a taste of how easy it is to make a huge mess when messing with the Registry. Now you don’t have to take my work for it, you know first hand how disastrous a clumsy hacker can be when messing in someone else’s computer systems.
So what is the bottom line on Windows 95 security? Is there any way to set up a Win 95 box so no one can break into it? Hey, how about that little key on your computer? Sorry, that won’t do much good, either. It’s easy to disconnect so you can still boot the box. Sorry, Win 95 is totally vulnerable.
In fact, if you have physical access to *ANY* computer, the only way to keep you from breaking into it is to encrypt its files with a strong encryption algorithm. It doesn’t matter what kind of computer it is, files on any computer can one way or another be read by someone with physical access to it — unless they are encrypted with a strong algorithm such as RSA.
We haven’t gone into all the ways to break into a Win 95 box remotely, but there are plenty of ways. Any Win 95 box on a network is vulnerable, unless you encrypt its information.
And the ways to evade Web censor programs are so many, the only way you can make them work is to either hope your kids stay dumb, or else that they will voluntarily choose to fill their minds with worthwhile material. Sorry, there is no technological substitute for bringing up your kids to know right from wrong.
****************************** Evil Genius tip: Want to trash most of the policies can be invoked on a workstation running Windows 95? Paste these into the appropriate locations in the Registry. Warning: results may vary and you may get into all sorts of trouble whether you do this successfully or unsuccessfully.
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \Network\Logon]
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \Network\Logon] “MustBeValidated”=dword:00000000 “username”=”ByteMe” “UserProfiles”=dword:00000000
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies] “DisablePwdCaching”=dword:00000000 “HideSharePwds”=dword:00000000
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer]
“NoDrives”=dword:00000000 “NoClose”=dword:00000000 “NoDesktop”=dword:00000000 “NoFind”=dword:00000000 “NoNetHood”=dword:00000000 “NoRun”=dword:00000000 “NoSaveSettings”=dword:00000000 “NoRun”=dword:00000000 “NoSaveSettings”=dword:00000000 “NoSetFolders”=dword:00000000 “NoSetTaskbar”=dword:00000000 “NoAddPrinter”=dword:00000000 “NoDeletePrinter”=dword:00000000 “NoPrinterTabs”=dword:00000000
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Network]
“NoNetSetup”=dword:00000000 “NoNetSetupIDPage”=dword:00000000 “NoNetSetupSecurityPage”=dword:00000000
“NoEntireNetwork”=dword:00000000 “NoFileSharingControl”=dword:00000000 “NoPrintSharingControl”=dword:00000000 “NoWorkgroupContents”=dword:00000000
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System]
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System]
“NoAdminPage”=dword:00000000 “NoConfigPage”=dword:00000000 “NoDevMgrPage”=dword:00000000 “NoDispAppearancePage”=dword:00000000 “NoDispBackgroundPage”=dword:00000000 “NoDispCPL”=dword:00000000 “NoDispScrSavPage”=dword:00000000 “NoDispSettingsPage”=dword:00000000 “NoFileSysPage”=dword:00000000 “NoProfilePage”=dword:00000000 “NoPwdPage”=dword:00000000 “NoSecCPL”=dword:00000000 “NoVirtMemPage”=dword:00000000 “DisableRegistryTools”=dword:00000000
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\WinOldApp
[END of message text] [Already at end of message] PINE 3.91 MESSAGE TEXT Folder: INBOX Message 178 of 433 END
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\WinOldApp ] “Disabled”=dword:00000000 “NoRealMode”=dword:00000000
GUIDE TO (mostly) HARMLESS HACKING
Beginners’ Series #2, Section 3.
Hacking from Windows 3.x, 95 and NT ____________________________________________________________
This lesson will tell you how, armed with even the lamest of on-line services such as America Online and the Windows 95 operating system, you can do some fairly serious Internet hacking — today!
In this lesson we will learn how to:
· Use secret Windows 95 DOS commands to track down and port surf computers used by famous on-line service providers. · Telnet to computers that will let you use the invaluable hacker tools of whois, nslookup, and dig. · Download hacker tools such as port scanners and password crackers designed for use with Windows.
· Use Internet Explorer to evade restrictions on what programs you can run on your school or work computers.
Yes, I can hear jericho and Rogue Agent and all the other Super Duper hackers on this list laughing. I’ll bet already they have quit reading this and are furiously emailing me flames and making phun of me in 2600 meetings. Windows hacking? Pooh!
Tell seasoned hackers that you use Windows and they will laugh at you. They’ll tell you to go away and don’t come back until you’re armed with a shell account or some sort of Unix on your PC. Actually, I have long shared their opinion. Shoot, most of the time hacking from Windoze is like using a 1969 Volkswagon to race against a dragster using one of VP Racing’s high-tech fuels.
But there actually is a good reason to learn to hack from Windows. Some of your best tools for probing and manipulating Windows networks are found only on Windows NT. Furthermore, with Win 95 you can practice the Registry hacking that is central to working your will on Win NT servers and the networks they administer.
In fact, if you want to become a serious hacker, you eventually will have to learn Windows. This is because Windows NT is fast taking over the Internet from Unix. An IDC report projects that the Unix-based Web server market share will fall from the 65% of 1995 to only 25% by the year 2000. The Windows NT share is projected to grow to 32%. This weak future for Unix Web servers is reinforced by an IDC report reporting that market share of all Unix systems is now falling at a compound annual rate of decline of -17% for the foreseeable future, while Windows NT is growing in market share by 20% per year. (Mark Winther, “The Global Market for Public and Private Internet Server Software,” IDC #11202, April 1996, 10, 11.)
So if you want to keep up your hacking skills, you’re going to have to get wise to Windows. One of these days we’re going to be snigg*ring at all those Unix-only hackers.
Besides, even poor, pitiful Windows 95 now can take advantage of lots of free hacker tools that give it much of the power of Unix.
Since this is a beginners’ lesson, we’ll go straight to the Big Question: “All I got is AOL and a Win 95 box. Can I still learn how to hack?”
Yes, yes, yes!
The secret to hacking from AOL/Win 95 — or from any on-line service that gives you access to the World Wide Web — is hidden in Win 95’s MS-DOS (DOS 7.0).
DOS 7.0 offers several Internet tools, none of which are documented in either the standard Windows or DOS help features. But you’re getting the chance to learn these hidden features today.
So to get going with today’s lesson, use AOL or whatever lame on-line service you may have and make the kind of connection you use to get on the Web (this will be a PPP or SLIP connection). Then minimize your Web browser and prepare to hack! Next, bring up your DOS window by clicking Start, then Programs, then MS-DOS.
For best hacking I’ve found it easier to use DOS in a window with a task bar which allows me to cut and paste commands and easily switch between Windows and DOS programs. If your DOS comes up as a full screen, hold down the Alt key while hitting enter, and it will go into a window. Then if you are missing the task bar, click the system menu on the left side of the DOS window caption and select Toolbar.
Now you have the option of eight TCP/IP utilities to play with: telnet, arp, ftp, nbtstat, netstat, ping, route, and tracert.
Telnet is the biggie. You can also access the telnet program directly from Windows. But while hacking you may need the other utilities that can only be used from DOS, so I like to call telnet from DOS.
With the DOS telnet you can actually port surf almost as well as from a Unix telnet program. But there are several tricks you need to learn in order to make this work.
First, we’ll try out logging on to a strange computer somewhere. This is a phun thing to show your friends who don’t have a clue because it can scare the heck out them. Honest, I just tried this out on a neighbor. He got so worried that when he got home he called my husband and begged him to keep me from hacking his work computer!
To do this (I mean log on to a strange computer, not scare your neighbors) go to the DOS prompt C:\WINDOWS> and give the command “telnet.” This brings up a telnet screen. Click on Connect, then click Remote System.
This brings up a box that asks you for “Host Name.” Type “whois.internic.net” into this box. Below that it asks for “Port” and has the default value of “telnet.” Leave in “telnet” for the port selection. Below that is a box for “TermType.” I recommend picking VT100 because, well, just because I like it best.
The first thing you can do to frighten your neighbors and impress your friends is a “whois.” Click on Connect and you will soon get a prompt that looks like this:
[vt100]InterNIC>
Then ask your friend or neighbor his or her email address. Then at this InterNIC prompt, type in the last two parts of your friend’s email address. For example, if the address is “luser@aol.com,” type in “aol.com.”
Now I’m picking AOL for this lesson because it is really hard to hack. Almost any other on-line service will be easier.
For AOL we get the answer:
[vt100] InterNIC > whois aol.com Connecting to the rs Database . . . . . . Connected to the rs Database America Online (AOL -DOM) 12100 Sunrise Valley Drive Reston, Virginia 22091 USA
Domain Name: AOL.COM
Administrative Contact: O’Donnell, David B (DBO3) PMDAtropos@AOL.COM 703/453-4255 (FAX) 703/453-4102 Technical Contact, Zone Contact: America Online (AOL-NOC) trouble@aol.net 703-453-5862 Billing Contact: Barrett, Joe (JB4302) BarrettJG@AOL.COM 703-453-4160 (FAX) 703-453-4001
Record last updated on 13-Mar-97.
Record created on 22-Jun-95.
Domain servers in listed order:
DNS-01.AOL.COM 152.163.199.42 DNS-02.AOL.COM 152.163.199.56 DNS-AOL.ANS.NET 198.83.210.28
These last three lines give the names of some computers that work for America Online (AOL). If we want to hack AOL, these are a good place to start.
********************************* Newbie note: We just got info on three “domain name servers” for AOL. “Aol.com” is the domain name for AOL, and the domain servers are the computers that hold information that tells the rest of the Internet how to send messages to AOL computers and email addresses. ********************************* ********************************* Evil genius tip: Using your Win 95 and an Internet connection, you can run a whois query from many other computers, as well. Telnet to your target computer’s port 43 and if it lets you get on it, give your query. Example: telnet to nic.ddn.mil, port 43. Once connected type “whois DNS-01.AOL.COM,” or whatever name you want to check out. However, this only works on computers that are running the whois service on port 43. Warning: show this trick to your neighbors and they will really be terrified. They just saw you accessing a US military computer! But it’s OK, nic.ddn.mil is open to the public on many of its ports. Check out its Web site http://www.nic.ddn.mil and its ftp site, too — they are a mother lode of information that is good for hacking. *********************************
Next I tried a little port surfing on DNS-01.AOL.COM but couldn’t find any ports open. So it’s a safe bet this computer is behind the AOL firewall.
********************************** Newbie note: port surfing means to attempt to access a computer through several different ports. A port is any way you get information into or out of a computer. For example, port 23 is the one you usually use to log into a shell account. Port 25 is used to send email. Port 80 is for the Web. There are thousands of designated ports, but any particular computer may be running only three or four ports. On your home computer your ports include the monitor, keyboard, and modem. **********************************
So what do we do next? We close the telnet program and go back to the DOS window. At the DOS prompt we give the command “tracert 152.163.199.42.” Or we could give the command “tracert DNS-01.AOL.COM.” Either way we’ll get the same result. This command will trace the route that a message takes, hopping from one computer to another, as it travels from my computer to this AOL domain server computer. Here’s what we get:
C:\WINDOWS>tracert 152.163.199.42
Tracing route to dns-01.aol.com [152.163.199.42] over a maximum of 30 hops:
1 * * * Request timed out. 2 150 ms 144 ms 138 ms 204.134.78.201 3 375 ms 299 ms 196 ms glory-cyberport.nm.westnet.net [204.134.78.33] 4 271 ms * 201 ms enss365.nm.org [129.121.1.3] 5 229 ms 216 ms 213 ms h4-0.cnss116.Albuquerque.t3.ans.net [192.103.74.45]
6 223 ms 236 ms 229 ms f2.t112-0.Albuquerque.t3.ans.net [140.222.112.221] 7 248 ms 269 ms 257 ms h14.t64-0.Houston.t3.ans.net [140.223.65.9] 8 178 ms 212 ms 196 ms h14.t80-1.St-Louis.t3.ans.net [140.223.65.14] 9 316 ms * 298 ms h12.t60-0.Reston.t3.ans.net [140.223.61.9] 10 315 ms 333 ms 331 ms 207.25.134.189 11 * * * Request timed out. 12 * * * Request timed out. 13 207.25.134.189 reports: Destination net unreachable.
What the heck is all this stuff? The number to the left is the number of computers the route has been traced through. The “150 ms” stuff is how long, in thousandths of a second, it takes to send a message to and from that computer. Since a message can take a different length of time every time you send it, tracert times the trip three times. The “*” means the trip was taking too long so tracert said “forget it.” After the timing info comes the name of the computer the message reached, first in a form that is easy for a human to remember, then in a form — numbers — that a computer prefers.
“Destination net unreachable” probably means tracert hit a firewall.
Let’s try the second AOL domain server.
C:\WINDOWS>tracert 152.163.199.56
Tracing route to dns-02.aol.com [152.163.199.56] over a maximum of 30 hops:
1 * * * Request timed out. 2 142 ms 140 ms 137 ms 204.134.78.201 3 246 ms 194 ms 241 ms glory-cyberport.nm.westnet.net [204.134.78.33] 4 154 ms 185 ms 247 ms enss365.nm.org [129.121.1.3] 5 475 ms 278 ms 325 ms h4-0.cnss116.Albuquerque.t3.ans.net [192.103.74. 45] 6 181 ms 187 ms 290 ms f2.t112-0.Albuquerque.t3.ans.net [140.222.112.22 1] 7 162 ms 217 ms 199 ms h14.t64-0.Houston.t3.ans.net [140.223.65.9] 8 210 ms 212 ms 248 ms h14.t80-1.St-Louis.t3.ans.net [140.223.65.14] 9 207 ms * 208 ms h12.t60-0.Reston.t3.ans.net [140.223.61.9] 10 338 ms 518 ms 381 ms 207.25.134.189 11 * * * Request timed out. 12 * * * Request timed out. 13 207.25.134.189 reports: Destination net unreachable.
Note that both tracerts ended at the same computer named h12.t60-0.Reston.t3.ans.net. Since AOL is headquartered in Reston, Virginia, it’s a good bet this is a computer that directly feeds stuff into AOL. But we notice that h12.t60-0.Reston.t3.ans.net , h14.t80-1.St-Louis.t3.ans.net, h14.t64-0.Houston.t3.ans.net and Albuquerque.t3.ans.net all have numerical names beginning with 140, and names that end with “ans.net.” So it’s a good guess that they all belong to the same company. Also, that “t3” in each name suggests these computers are routers on a T3 communications backbone for the Internet.
Next let’s check out that final AOL domain server:
C:\WINDOWS>tracert 198.83.210.28
Tracing route to dns-aol.ans.net [198.83.210.28] over a maximum of 30 hops:
1 * * * Request timed out. 2 138 ms 145 ms 135 ms 204.134.78.201 3 212 ms 191 ms 181 ms glory-cyberport.nm.westnet.net [204.134.78.33] 4 166 ms 228 ms 189 ms enss365.nm.org [129.121.1.3] 5 148 ms 138 ms 177 ms h4-0.cnss116.Albuquerque.t3.ans.net [192.103.74. 45] 6 284 ms 296 ms 178 ms f2.t112-0.Albuquerque.t3.ans.net [140.222.112.22 1] 7 298 ms 279 ms 277 ms h14.t64-0.Houston.t3.ans.net [140.223.65.9] 8 238 ms 234 ms 263 ms h14.t104-0.Atlanta.t3.ans.net [140.223.65.18] 9 301 ms 257 ms 250 ms dns-aol.ans.net [198.83.210.28]
Trace complete.
Hey, we finally got all the way through to something we can be pretty certain is an AOL box, and it looks like it’s outside the firewall! But look at how the tracert took a different path this time, going through Atlanta instead of St. Louis and Reston. But we are still looking at ans.net addresses with T3s, so this last nameserver is using the same network as the others.
Now what can we do next to get luser@aol.com really wondering if you could actually break into his account? We’re going to do some port surfing on this last AOL domain name server! But to do this we need to change our telnet settings a bit.
Click on Terminal, then Preferences. In the preferences box you need to check “Local echo.” You must do this, or else you won’t be able to see everything that you get while port surfing. For some reason, some of the messages a remote computer sends to you won’t show up on your Win 95 telnet screen unless you choose the local echo option. However, be warned, in some situations everything you type in will be doubled. For example, if you type in “hello” the telnet screen may show you “heh lelllo o. This doesn’t mean you mistyped, it just means your typing is getting echoed back at various intervals.
Now click on Connect, then Remote System. Then enter the name of that last AOL domain server, dnsaol.ans.net. Below it, for Port choose Daytime. It will send back to you the day of the week, date and time of day in its time zone.
Aha! We now know that dns-aol.ans.net is exposed to the world, with at least one open port, heh, heh. It is definitely a prospect for further port surfing. And now your friend is wondering, how did you get something out of that computer?
****************************** Clueless newbie alert: If everyone who reads this telnets to the daytime port of this computer, the sysadmin will say “Whoa, I’m under heavy attack by hackers!!! There must be some evil exploit for the daytime service! I’m going to close this port pronto!” Then you’ll all email me complaining the hack doesn’t work. Please, try this hack out on different computers and don’t all beat up on AOL. ******************************
Now let’s check out that Reston computer. I select Remote Host again and enter the name h12.t600.Reston.t3.ans.net. I try some port surfing without success. This is a seriously locked down box! What do we do next?
So first we remove that “local echo” feature, then we telnet back to whois.internic. We ask about this ans.net outfit that offers links to AOL:
[vt100] InterNIC > whois ans.net
Connecting to the rs Database . . . . . . Connected to the rs Database ANS CO+RE Systems, Inc. (ANS-DOM) 100 Clearbrook Road Elmsford, NY 10523
Administrative Contact: Hershman, Ittai (IH4) ittai@ANS.NET (914) 789-5337 Technical Contact: ANS Network Operations Center (ANS-NOC) noc@ans.net 1-800-456-6300 Zone Contact: ANS Hostmaster (AH-ORG) hostmaster@ANS.NET (800)456-6300 fax: (914)789-5310
Record last updated on 03-Jan-97. Record created on 27-Sep-90.
NS.ANS.NET 192.103.63.100 NIS.ANS.NET 147.225.1.2
Now if you wanted to be a really evil hacker you could call that 800 number and try to social engineer a password out of somebody who works for this network. But that wouldn’t be nice and there is nothing legal you can do with ans.net passwords. So I’m not telling you how to social engineer those passwords.
Anyhow, you get the idea of how you can hack around gathering info that leads to the computer that handles anyone’s email.
Well… should I tell you about killer ping? It’s a good way to lose your job and end up in jail. You do it from your Windows DOS prompt. Find the gory details in the GTMHH Vol.2 Number 3, which is kept in one of our archives listed at the end of this lesson. Fortunately most systems administrators have patched things nowadays so that killer ping won’t work. But just in case your ISP or LAN at work or school isn’t protected, don’t test it without your sysadmin’s approval!
Then there’s ordinary ping, also done from DOS. It’s sort of like tracert, but all it does is time how long a message takes from one computer to another, without telling you anything about the computers between yours and the one you ping.
· Arp IP-to-physical address translation tables · Ftp File transfer protocol. This one is really lame. Don’t use it. Get a shareware Ftp program from one of the download sites listed below. · Nbtstat Displays current network info — super to use on your own ISP · Netstat Similar to Nbstat
· Route Controls router tables — router hacking is considered extra elite.
Since these are semi-secret commands, you can’t get any details on how to use them from the DOS help menu. But there are help files hidden away for these commands.
· For arp, nbtstat, ping and route, to get help just type in the command and hit enter. · For netstat you have to give the command “netstat ?” to get help. · Telnet has a help option on the tool bar.
I haven’t been able to figure out a trick to get help for the ftp command.
Now suppose you are at the point where you want to do serious hacking that requires commands other than these we just covered, but you don’t want to use Unix. Shame on you! But, heck, even though I usually have one or two Unix shell accounts plus Walnut Creek Slackware on my home computer, I still like to hack from Windows. This is because I’m ornery. So you can be ornery, too.
How would you like to crack Win NT server passwords? Download the free Win 95 program NTLocksmith, an add-on program to NTRecover that allows for the changing of passwords on systems where the administrative password has been lost. It is reputed to work 100% of the time. Get both NTLocksmith and NTRecover — and lots more free hacker tools — from http://www.ntinternals.com.
********************************** You can go to jail warning: If you use NTRecover to break into someone else’s system, you are just asking to get busted. **********************************
How would you like to trick your friends into thinking their NT box has crashed when it really hasn’t? This prank program can be downloaded from http://www.osr.com/insider/insdrcod.htm.
********************************* You can get punched in the nose warning: need I say more? *********************************
But by far the deadliest hacking tool that runs on Windows can be downloaded from, guess what?
That deadly program is Internet Explorer 3.0. Unfortunately, this program is even better for letting other hackers break into your home computer and do stuff like make your home banking program (e.g. Quicken) transfer your life savings to someone in Afghanistan.
But if you’re aren’t brave enough to run Internet Explorer to surf the Web, you can still use it to hack your own computer, or other computers on your LAN. You see, Internet Explorer is really an alternate Windows shell which operates much like the Program Manager and Windows Explorer that come with the Win 94 and Win NT operating systems.
Yes, from Internet Explorer you can run any program on your own computer. Or any program to which you have access on your LAN.
*********************************** Newbie note: A shell is a program that mediates between you and the operating system. The big deal about Internet Explorer being a Windows shell is that Microsoft never told anyone that it was in fact a shell. The
security problems that are plaguing Internet Explorer are mostly a consequence of it turning out to be a shell. By contrast, the Netscape and Mosaic Web browsers are not shells. They also are much safer to use. ***********************************
To use Internet Explorer as a Windows shell, bring it up just like you would if you were going to surf the Web. Kill the program’s attempt to establish an Internet connection — we don’t want to do anything crazy, do we?
Then in the space where you would normally type in the URL you want to surf, instead type in c:.
Whoa, look at all those file folders that come up on the screen. Look familiar? It’s the same stuff your Windows Explorer would show you. Now for fun, click “Program Files” then click “Accessories” then click “MSPaint.” All of a sudden MSPaint is running. Now paint your friends who are watching this hack very surprised.
Next close all that stuff and get back to Internet Explorer. Click on the Windows folder, then click on Regedit.exe to start it up. Export the password file (it’s in HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT). Open it in Word Pad. Remember, the ability to control the Registry of a server is the key to controlling the network it serves. Show this to your next door neighbor and tell her that you’re going to use Internet Explorer to surf her password files. In a few hours the Secret Service will be fighting with the FBI on your front lawn over who gets to try to bust you. OK, only kidding here.
So how can you use Internet Explorer as a hacking tool? One way is if you are using a computer that restricts your ability to run other programs on your computer or LAN. Next time you get frustrated at your school or library computer, check to see if it offers Internet Explorer. If it does, run it and try entering disk drive names. While C: is a common drive on your home computer, on a LAN you might get results by putting in R: or Z: or any other letter of the alphabet.
Next cool hack: try automated port surfing from Windows! Since there are thousands of possible ports that may be open on any computer, it could take days to fully explore even just one computer by hand. A good answer to this problem is the NetCop automated port surfer, which can be found at http://www.netcop.com/.
Now suppose you want to be able to access the NTFS file system that Windows NT uses from a Win 95 or even DOS platform? This can be useful if you are wanting to use Win 95 as a platform to hack an NT system. http://www.ntinternals.com/ntfsdos.htm offers a program that allows Win 95 and DOS to recognize and mount NTFS drives for transparent access.
Hey, we are hardly beginning to explore all the wonderful Windows hacking tools out there. It would take megabytes to write even one sentence about each and every one of them. But you’re a hacker, so you’ll enjoy exploring dozens more of these nifty programs yourself. Following is a list of sites where you can download lots of free and more or less harmless programs that will help you in your hacker career:
