**************************************************************************** ***************************<-=- QuadCon -=->******************************** **************************************************************************** *************The Newsest Zine To Hit Australia And The World**************** */*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/ */*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/ ============================================================================ December 1999 - Issue 1 ============================================================================ Whats In This Issue: # Halcon Hacker Valiant Gives QuadCon An Exclusive Interview And Some Special Tips In Trying To Prevent Your Machine From Being Hacked =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- The Interview Of Valiant The Leader Of Halcon. | http://www.halcon.com.au ---------------------------------------------- BackGround: Halcon was founded in 1993 as a Bulletin Board System and by 1996 had grown to atleast ten members. Still growing, in October 1996 the group took on the name Halcon Technologies and in 1997 Valiant registered a business name, allowing them to register the halcon.com.au domain name. Although the group was not widely known, on 22nd October 1999, Halcon was blamed for a massive hack on the Australian Republican Movement website. Despite denials and misquotations, the story was covered by news outlets, an example of which is at the following URL: http://www.halcon.com.au/arm0001.html Following this incident, Halcon received massive amounts of publicity (most of it was unwanted) and Valiant claims that Halcon has become the most popular hacking group in Australia. It currently has 24 members and thousands of supporters. Having been misquoted once, Valiant has since denied all interviews to the press, including an offer from Channel Nine. QuadCon is therefore proud to present an exclusive, uncut interview with Valiant. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Interview ------------- QuadCon: If you were a system administrator of a newly installed slackware linux machine and you had 20 minutes to secure it what would you do? Valiant: Go to all the available sites (www.halcon.com.au/links.html) that cater for that, and quickly grab and install as many patches for your software available. Close all services (especially fingerd) that arn't needed, relocate telnet to a different port (I know it breaches RFC's, but fuck it.) and make sure that you don't adduser lamers. :) QuadCon: What is the most common thing to hack to gain access to? Valiant: Fingerd is the most exploitable feature on machines, the good old crackers highway. Allthough these days it's neglected as a mode of system penetration, also alot of sysadmins don't understand the point of finger anymore and remove it anyway. As for hacking, the best method available that I remember overusing would be a buffer overflow in a certain software which makes calls to root. Flood the software, bang, down it goes and you have root. :) QuadCon: Does the name Halcon have any relavence to you and why did you choose it for the name of the group? Valiant: Halcon .. well, I chose that many years ago, so I can't really remember why it was chosen, other than that it sounds funky. :P QuadCon: How would you characterize the media coverage of you? Valiant: Trivial and biased. They just want an 'evil hacker genious' who brags about how he hacked NASA, they don't really like me as basically I won't brag, and I prefer to explain how idiotic the consumers are for purchasing fucked computers, etc, and other consumer related problems. QuadCon: What do you think about hacks done in your name--for instance, the Australian Republican Movement hack? Valiant: I wasn't expecting such media coverage on that topic, however they have no evidence against me, and I have yet to admit to even being born at this point in time. So fuck 'em all. :) QuadCon: What's the biggest misconception perpetuated by Hollywood cybermovies? Valiant: There is no such thing as a hot female hacker named Acid Burn who has pert tits and lips that would look very nice wrapped around my hard disk. :) QuadCon: In your own words, define hacker. Valiant: There's two meanings. I fall into both. The code hacker, who lives to program and does it the hard way, and the system hacker, who loves finding exploitable features in systems to gain access, does so, notifies the sysadmin and patches the hole. QuadCon: What is your technical background. (Which platform do you prefer PC/MAC? What is your online background? Do you do networking? Do you know programming languages,etc.) Valiant: At the moment my prefered operating system is Windows 98 due it's usability and comprehensive system architecture, when it comes to personal use, for industrial things such as networking, I prefer any linux distribution. I am a PC user, allthough I have a few old Apple Classics in my computer collection. I've been using the internet through BBS gateways for ten or more years. I network when I have to, but I used to work as a network engineer. As for programming languages, I have a bad memory and generally have to 'relearn' things when I need them, however it's more a refresh than a relearn. :) QuadCon: I understand that hackers assume an online nickname to become known by - how did you acquire your nickname? Valiant: I was seven years old when I logged onto a BBS using an audio coupler 900 bps modem at a friends place. It asked for a handle, Valiant was my current dungeons and dragons charracter, so I typed it in sheepishly. I've been known by it ever since. :) QuadCon: What do you portray system administrators are like? Valiant: Fail-safe devices that take care of systems, that if programmed correctly would never need human assistance. :) QuadCon: What do you think of ALOC, another aussie hacking group? Valiant: Who? :) QuadCon: What currently is Halcon working on? Valiant: Currently working on? We're currently working on the ultimate encyclopeadia of how to be slothenly and lazy. :) QuadCon: What would you like Halcon to be in the future? Valiant: I don't know, that's a hard question really. I never wanted it to be anything to begin with, time has just made it bigger than I ever expected. Back when I was a kid and it first started, I never really thought it would exceed a BBS group of users who were of the same interests. Now it's allmost like a religious cult for some. :) QuadCon: Who in the world do you dislike most? Valiant: Anyone with an IQ under 110. :) 100 is average, so I like people a tad over. The others should be neutered and shot. :) QuadCon: Any last comments? Valiant: I like being a cunt-rag. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Special Thanks -------------- Valiant of Halcon http://www.halcon.com.au =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Support Us ---------- Please support us - we are looking for a fast permanent unix box to host a website with all our zines on. If you believe you can help see the contact section below. Also if you know anyone who wants or deserves to be interviewed also see the contact section below. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Contact ------- I can be contacted on IRC irc.wiretapped.net or on the email address marena@iinet.net.au =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Copyright 1999 QuadCon [This "how not to write a zine"-style document got this response from the people hosting the file (wiretapped.net):] http://the.wiretapped.net/security/textfiles/quadcon/response.txt