____ _____________ ___________ _____ ____\ |_\_ | _ _ |_\_ | _ | _ |__________ _ _ ___ | _ | _ | | | | _ | | | | |-| _ | | ______\ | /___ | | | | | | | | | |____ | ___| | | | |-| \ |zZ! /___ l______|_____|__|-|__|_____|__/__|___\___|_|_|___|_ ___________ ___________ | _ | _ | |-| | ___/_ | | _ \_ __/_|_ _ | \_ D a m a g e , I N C .| | | | | | | |___ | | | | | \_ _/ | | |__/ | | | ___| | | | | | |--| ___| | | ___| | N e w s l e t t e r |__|__|___\ |_______|_____|_____|___\ |__|__|___\ |__| Volume 2, Issue #18 (Released: 06/30/00) "Monopolize." http://surf.to/damage_inc damage_inc@disinfo.net 컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴� C O N T E N T S : � INTRODUCTION - An Introduction to the Damage, INC. Newsletter. � ADVISORIES - The Stentor Alliance explained. � Search String: {ADVISORIES} � BIG BROTHER BASHING - Through deceptive means. HRDC's Big Brother Database. � Search String: {BIG BROTHER} � CONSPIRACIES AND COVERUPS - NWO Part 4: What is FEMA? � Search String: {COVERUPS} � CORRUPTION AND GREED - Banking on Greed. Stats Canada will gladly rape you. � Search String: {GREED} � CROSSED WIRES - An Unauthorized Advertisement for Adbusters Media Foundation. � Search String: {WIRES} � DAMAGE, INC. REVIEWS - H/P and Security Web Sites. � Search String: {REVIEWS} � H/P INFORMATION - Bell Call Privacy, Secure Password Selection, HTP Part II. � Search String: {H/P} � INTERVIEWS AND INTERROGATIONS - Goldeneye, and Helena3. � Search String: {INTERVIEWS} � NEWS FROM THE TRENCHES - Damage, INC. releases, updates and news. � Search String: {NEWS} � OBJECTIVE OPINIONS - Commercialism and Zombieism. Lucid Dreaming. � Search String: {OPINIONS} � REPORTS FROM THE FRONT - Articles on DDoS attacks, Mitnick, mergers, etc. � Search String: {REPORTS} � THOUGHTS, POEMS AND CREATIVE WRITING - The Voice of the Monopoly. � Search String: {WRITING} � CLOSING COMMENTS - BLACKENED's radical closing comments. � Search String: {CLOSING} 컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴� < DISCLAIMER > All articles contained in the Damage, INC. Newsletter are for informational purposes only. Damage, INC. is not responsible for how any of the information presented is used. It is not intended to be a manual with instructions to be followed. We won't be held responsible for any damages caused, illegal and fraudulent acts committed, etc. by our readers. If/how you use the information included herein is entirely up to you. < COPYRIGHT NOTICE > All articles and source code contained within this file are (C) Copyright by Damage, INC. (unless stated otherwise). No part of this work can be modified, reproduced or changed in any way without the expressed written consent of Damage, INC. That means, electronically or otherwise, in part or in whole this file must not be altered. It cannot be distributed and sold for profit. You cannot claim that you wrote it, or alter any articles and source code that has been written and Copyrighted by us. Also, you must *not* distribute any Damage, INC. releases in "packages" with other text files or utilities. They must only be distributed alone in their present, original form. You are hereby permitted to read and distribute the Damage, INC. Newsletter freely to quality h/p boards and sites only. Copyright 2000 by Damage, INC. All Rights Reserved. _______________________________________________________________________________ INTRODUCTION: Greetings. If nothing else, this issue will contain some informative, opinionated articles on monopolies, telecommunications alliances, acquisitions, mergers, and news regarding the telco/cable/Internet industry. But if those things aren't of interest to you, there's a vast amount of other information to read, disseminate, absorb, consider, contemplate, reflect on, regurgitate and then repeat the entire process until you finally get it right. ;) Seriously though folks, we've put together an excellent issue that we think most people will enjoy reading. And as the zine grows and evolves, along with our readership, we hope to continue releasing quality issues. I've endured a hell of a lot in the course of my Editorship. During this past year, I have faced many obstacles in real life. Many of them affected this zine adversely. Due to these problems, it became impossible to release issues in a timely fashion. In fact, at one point I was even contemplating stepping down as the Editor on a temporary basis. However, I've made the decision to try to overcome these difficulties, and continue on the current path. Of course, plans can change, just as people change. And this publication will definitely change. But no matter what changes are made, you can be rest assured the Damage, INC. Newsletter will always represent the voice of truth. Also, if I ever decide to relinquish the Editorship, it will be put in good hands. That being said, I want to explain a few things and inform you of some of the changes that will definitely be made in subsequent issues. The Damage, INC. Newsletter was originally started as a "local zine". I created this zine because I was absolutely disgusted by the local BBS scene, and the local "wannabe hax0rs" it contained at the time. I've long since quit calling boards in my NPA. The focus and direction of this zine also changed long ago. No longer are there interrogations of local lamers. And no longer am I a part of that scene, or even remotely associated with anyone that is. Those early days and that local shit are behind us. That's the distant past. However, there are still several other things that I want to change with this zine. The contents of the next issue will be radically different from this one. Several sections will be removed entirely. Greater focus will be put on hacking, phreaking, hacker culture, interviews, news, reports and happenings. Less general information will be provided. It'll be replaced with more technical articles. This shift will be swift and fairly dramatic. There will still be opinions, and a certain amount of creative writing. But the zine will be reborn and reinvented. Over the years it has already matured greatly. So it isn't really a question of that. It's a matter of the zine being what I want it to be, and reflecting my personal interests, as well as the interests of the group. It's about evolving. I never planned on it staying the same forever anyway. The shift in direction which this zine is about to undergo won't be seamless. It'll be refined from issue to issue. The process of altering the content of a publication such as this isn't usually a smooth one. Mistakes will probably be made. And I realize that. Being aware of potential problems, I will attempt to prepare for them ahead of time and avoid them if possible. I also know that some of our readers may not like these changes. But we aren't out to please everyone by releasing something that's so unoriginal, generic and general content wise that it could be viewed as being a carbon copy of multiple other existing zines. That isn't our goal. That has never been our goal. That'll never be the goal of the Damage, INC. Newsletter. We don't try to make everyone happy. We never have, and never will. We don't follow the trends and go with the grain. We don't copy what every other zine or group in the scene is doing. Instead, we've always relied on our own ideas, concepts, projects and present information in the manner that we choose. We'll continue to do that. In other words, we don't write about things just because they're popular at the time. The information has to be relevant and important. Importance takes precedence over popularity. That is our priority. Rather than relying on publishing what is popular at the moment, we make decisions based on whether something is interesting, information and important. We hope to further that goal in the future by trimming the fat, eliminating the majority of information that's readily available elsewhere, and concentrating on providing only the most relevant, useful articles to our readers. However, you may not deem everything we report to be important. Again, some information will only appeal to certain readers. And that's actually good. It means we haven't fallen into the trap of trying to have mass appeal, acceptance and a huge audience. Our readership is fairly large, and growing, but this zine isn't for everyone. Nor will it ever meet everyone's taste. In fact, it may even disgust some people, and piss them off. That's by design. We don't make a conscious effort to influence anyone into liking this zine. We don't apologize for its content. Conversely, we don't go out of our way to get people to hate it either. We just write what we write, publish what we publish, and do what we do. Whoever reads it, reads it. Whatever they think about it, whatever their opinions are about it, are theirs to have. That's our basic philosophy. Our intention was never to become popular anyway. So, it's perfectly fine for people to dislike the zine, or the group in general. In the end, the group and zine will remain, doing what we're doing, only the way Damage, INC. can. It's classic Canadiana, all wrapped up in a nice, neat package. Well, not really. But you get the idea. Love it, or don't read it. The future is technology -- creating it, finding new ways to use it and explain it. Along with technology, there's always culture and subcultures. That involves people, groups, zines, conventions, etc. And of course, surrounding technology there's also a wealth of news, happenings and proprietary information to disseminate. That is exactly where our focus will be. Monopolize. Believe the lies. Add greed, corruption, then stir and multiply. Adore Big Brother and of liberty you'll surely despise. Propagandize. Embrace slavery and help bind its ties. Become their lackeys. Become their paid spies. Capitalize. Kill the truth. Make sure honesty fades away and dies. Allow freedom to perish and watch dictatorships rise. Commercialize. Materialize. Popularize. Ridicule and ostracize. Objectify. Downsize. Desensitize. Militarize. Victimize. Terrorize. Supervise. Globalize. Denationalize. Denaturalize. Destabilize. Demoralize. Profitize. Idolize. Deify and canonize. Lionize. Americanize. Demonize. Brutalize. Exploit, dehumanize and decivilize. Devitalize. Rape their minds. Labotomize. Zombify. Vanquish the cries. Disperse the truth. Kill the liars and vaporize. Disrupt society and shatter its lies. Truth devours. Information empowers. Sanctify. Let freedom reign. Break down the barriers, then revitalize. Revolutionize. Decentralize. Remove from power the ones that dispel the great lies. The ones we must defy if we're to survive. Decasualize. Testify. Unite to fight the system. Sensitize. Dehypnotize, then energize. Dematerialize. Decapitalize. Demilitarize. Qualify and Quantify. Be bold, and be wise. Depolarize. Organize. Mobilize. Attack and neutralize. Justified and unified. Finalized. Immortalized. Engage the enemy. Search and destroy. Necrotize. Technology, Information, Hacker Culture, Opinions, Canadian Content... What more could you want? Still fucking the system and fucking with minds in '00. It's showtime folks. ADVISORIES - {ADVISORIES} The Stentor Alliance explained. If asked, most Canadians wouldn't know how to describe the Stentor Alliance. They'd have a blank look on their face while they stare at the sky, hoping for the answer to come to them. Others would perhaps describe it as "an alliance between all of the independent telephone companies in Canada." Ha. Although that is a rough description that Stentor gave themselves, it isn't true. In fact, it isn't even close to the truth. In past Advisories articles, we've revealed to everyone that BCE and its bloated child, Bell Canada owns all of, or a significant chunk of every telco in Canada except BCT.Telus. The motive of this advisory article is to reveal the truth about the Stentor Alliance. How did the Canadian telcos describe their Stentor Alliance? "The Stentor Alliance was formed in 1992 by Canada's leading providers of telecommunications services. The alliance works with customers across Canada to economically deliver leading-edge local, national and international telecommunications services. These companies maintain the world's longest, fully digital fibre-optic network." That quote was taken directly from the Stentor web site, bold claims and all. I especially laughed at the "fibre-optic network" claim. They should have noted that they have more 50 year-old copper lines than any other country in the world as far as I'm concerned. Line quality on long distance calls from province to province can be nothing short of terrible. Despite their semi-eloquent description, the Stentor Alliance was a sham. It is because even in 1992, Bell Canada or BCE had majority or total ownership of MTS, Bruncor (holding company for NBTel), NewTel, MT&T, and Northwestel. That left BC Tel, Telus, and little IslandTel. Not much of an alliance since one "player" was so much bigger than the rest. It was no coincidence that Stentor was headquartered and had many of its important offices and call centers in Ontario, which is the heart of Bell Canada territory. Plus, Stentor was never anything more than another name for Telecom Canada. It was fake from the very start. What responsibilities was Stentor given by the Canadian Telcos? Firstly, it was given control of the national network. Here's Stentor's description of the Canadian telecom network: "The Stentor alliance network includes two fully-fibre high density (HPR) routes which run in parallel from St. John's to Victoria. These routes are the main arteries for Canada's long distance traffic. Whenever information is sent over one route, a mirror image is simultaneously sent over the other so that in the event of a network disruption, your call or data still reaches its destination. More than four billion calls travel this national network annually, and thanks to several layers of protection, more than 99.9 per cent of them reach their destination on the first attempt." Obviously that claim cannot be easily verified. However, if you make a great deal of long distance calls within Canada, you already know it's untrue. Below is more information and outrageous boasts regarding the Stentor "controlled" network garnered directly from their web site: "High Performance Routing (HPR) monitors voice traffic and automatically selects the most efficient transmission path. Essentially, HPR anticipates congestion and prevents it." "Fast Facility Protection (FFP) Cross Links is a self-healing technology that reroutes traffic and restores services so quickly that customers don't even realize there was a problem. FFP can send data from one of the network's High Density Routes to the other via Cross Links typically in 50 milliseconds!" "Synchronous Optical Network SONET, a new technology developed to enhance survivability and performance is also self-healing and adds yet another level of protection. A series of SONET rings are overlaid upon the network and interconnect Canadians from coast to coast." "Common Channel Signaling System 7 (SS7) is a separate network of high speed data links. It has the added ability to send signals to monitoring centres in the event a problem is not corrected within a specified period of time." "The International Network Management Centre (INMC) is the network's Ottawa-based [Bell based] nerve centre. The centre monitors traffic flows and network performance around the clock. The INMC is divided into two sections: the National Network Operations Centre, responsible for the voice and image network; and National Data Network Control which provides surveillance of the alliance's major data networks such as Dataroute, Datapac, Megastream, and Hyperstream. The centre ensures everything operates at peak capacity, and advanced warning systems linked to regional centres across the country alert technicians to problems, allowing them to respond quickly and prevent degradations in service." Ah yes, Stentor was responsible for the almost infamous Datapac network. It was the playground of countless hackers and phreaks for many years, and not restricted to Canadians alone. If you read old text files and zines from the 80s, you'll notice a great amount of information was spread about our beloved Datapac, and realize how much Canadians and Americans in the h/p scene used it, and loved it. Datapac is still there. It just isn't as attractive or interesting to most of the younger generation today that grew up with Internet access, etc. And so they choose not to explore Datapac and learn about PSNs. What a shame. Stentor also administrated the National Fraud Management Centre (NFMC). More boasting from the Stentor web site: "The NFMC protects the Stentor alliance telecommunications network from toll fraud around the clock, seven days a week. And now your company can take advantage of the NFMC's unparalleled fraud protection services and experience." "Equipped with state-of-the-art fraud-detection software, the NFMC is managed by the country's leading telephone fraud experts. The NFMC professionals have long-standing experience in all aspects of fraud control: consulting, training, auditing, data mining to extract fraud patterns, and project management." "Ever vigilant, the NFMC spots suspect calls immediately, triggering responses that stop fraudsters in their tracks. Detecting problems quickly and taking action equally as fast are keys to the NFMC's success." To summarize all that Bell chest thumping, Stentor is responsible for detecting abuse of the national telecom system. That includes administrating services such as dealing with reports of lost or stolen calling cards and other like services. A toll free Stentor stolen cards number is in the Damage, INC. Phreaky Field Phreaking List, along with many of their other contact numbers. To comment on their so-called state-of-the-art fraud-detection software, and their telephone fraud experts, the only thing I can say is that Stentor and the NFMC's capabilities in that area are a complete and utter joke. And there is ample proof that their egotistical boasts are outright lies. But that isn't the focus of this particular article, and no long-time Canadian phreak should even require a shred of evidence to prove that to them anyway. They know they haven't been stopped in their tracks. For years, Damage, INC. has been advising people that Stentor is nothing but another face of Bell Canada. It is more now than ever. If you have read this article closely, you may have noticed that I've referred to Stentor in the past tense. That is because the Stentor Alliance is dead. We saw the writing on the wall long ago when Bell Canada usurped Stentor's deal with MCI WorldCom (read the Advisory section in Issue #15 of the DIN for details), but now Stentor is all but done in. This confirmation wasn't easy to find because the Stentor site has apparently been abandoned, and direct access to the News Releases portion of their site has been disabled. However, persistent searching enabled me to discover the final Stentor "Alliance" news release: [Bell Canada and TELUS announce new model for national network management] OTTAWA - July 6, 1999 - Bell Canada and TELUS today announced that they have reached agreement on the creation of a new model for managing national network operations currently performed by Stentor Canadian Network Management (SCNM). Starting this fall, Bell Canada will provide national operational support services to TELUS and to Bell's partners, Aliant Inc. (Island Tel, MTT, Newtel and NBTel), SaskTel and MTS. This move will be transparent to customers. Stentor Canadian Network Management, the central organization created in 1992 to perform these functions, will be wound down by the end of this year. Many of SCNM's people and functions will be transferred to Bell Canada and the other SCNM members. In December, Bell Canada served one-year notice of termination of the Stentor Connecting Agreement and SCNM Governing Agreement. The parties then evaluated how best to carry out these functions for the future. They have come to the conclusion that the new environment calls for a different model. "This new model will preserve the seamlessness of our shared national network, and provide our companies with a cost-effective approach to managing the changing networks," said David Southwell, Chief Technology Officer of Bell Canada. "Our goal throughout the transition will be to ensure that these changes will be completely transparent to our customers" said Ian Mansfield, TELUS Executive Vice President and President, Wireline. "Customers will continue to benefit from a national telecommunications network providing unsurpassed reach, service and reliability." Under the agreement, TELUS, Bell Canada and its partners will continue to work together to honour all contractual obligations to customers and to meet customer demand. Bell Canada will carry out national network operations support functions by establishing a series of commercial service agreements with TELUS and with Bell's partners. Many of the operations functions will continue to be carried out by the same people, in the same locations, using the same assets as today. For information, contact: Jean-Charles Doug Strachan Caroline Verboon Robillard TELUS GPC Communications Bell Canada 604 432-2663 416 452-4626 (cellular) 514 918-3617 (cellular) 416 598-0055 514 786-3908 --- As you can see, Bell Canada is officially taking over control of Canada's national telecom system. What a huge surprise. This has been done with the consent of BCT.Telus; the only telco in Canada that isn't owned by BCE or Bell. Despite Stentor's demise, will much really change? Nothing in my opinion. The only thing that has changed is that the smaller companies that were once quasi-independent are now totally under the thumb of BCE or Bell Canada. BCE, through Bell Canada, has been in control of Canada's telecom system for decades. The recent acquisition of Aliant Inc., along with Telus' merger with BC Tel made the need for a pseudo-alliance a cumbersome waste of resources for the two biggest fat cats in Canada. The name "Stentor" will likely still be used by Bell, even though the alliance is dead. Stentor will be like an unburied body. It just won't be an official governing body anymore. But its name will stick around like the stench of a rotting corpse. It will live on, even though Stentor is officially dead and announced to be defunct. Now that you have been informed, be advised. If you are talking to someone "representing" Stentor, you are really talking to the greedy and corrupt folks at Bell Canada. Once again they've managed to take total, monopolizing control and in the process fool the uninformed public by usurping power from Stentor, which was just a front from the beginning. They've done so without any opposition. In the end, they've proven once more that they are just as much of a master at the shell game, or name game, as any of the U.S. based telcos. They're on equal footing with the big boys, south of the border. As for BCE, they control the whole works from behind a shield of subsidiaries, and are the epitome of a faceless corporation. They're the masterminds, pulling the strings. And of course, they answer to no one. The conclusion is an obvious one. Bell Canada Enterprises (BCE) wins and the Canadian telephone customers lose again. A short history of Stentor and Canadian telcos has been provided as a separate text file that's included with this issue. Read STENBELL.TXT. Written by Shatazar � Damage, INC. (C)opyright 2000. BIG BROTHER BASHING - {BIG BROTHER} Through deceptive means. In past articles, we've explained how Big Brother is known for their monitoring techniques, and their desire to want to control us. We've shown what they're about, and how underhanded they are. We've proven that Big Brother exists, and backed up our claims that they're corrupt to the core. So it shouldn't be a surprise to read that most of what Big Bro has achieved has been through deceptive means. By that, I simply mean that deception is their tool of choice. To them, the end *always* justifies the means. And in this case, the means is deception, in any shape and any form. The purpose of this article is to describe some of the ways in which Big Brother is deceptive, and how to avoid being deceived. We've already discussed their tremendous use of propaganda, infinite lies, and blatant abuse of technology to spy, control, influence, brainwash, take and maintain power over "society" in general. However, we are now going to reveal some of their secrets as to how they're able to learn about us, and fool us. Deception is one of their greatest weapons, and therefore I feel it's important to learn as much as possible about how it can be used to blind, and hide the truth from us. Indeed, it's so powerful that even intelligent people can unknowingly be deceived when the truth is right in front of their very eyes. And in this article, I'll prove it. Big Brother deceives and uses any means necessary to achieve their goals. But we'll expose them through any means necessary, and show the world what they truly are. Big Brother now has the technology to study how our eyes read text. They have software which enables them to determine how long a person's eyes stay focused on a particular sentence, or word. They know where the best position to place a picture in an article is. They know which words are less negative sounding. They know where to place words so that they'll be skipped and unread, such as in the last sentence of a paragraph. They've created specialized software, done testing, research and studies to find out how we read, and how to use that knowledge against us. By this, they're able to release information publicly that's propaganda and we are none the wiser. They can manipulate statistics through words, so that it seems more positive than negative. Knowing how our eyes scan a page of text gives them the power to hide the truth, influence us and manipulate what our opinions are of what we've read. I've seen this technology in use, and they admitted that it's used by the government and large corporations already. It's all about deceiving the reader and making them unaware of the true meaning of what they're reading. It's about making them focus on one particular word, phrase, sentence, chart, diagram or picture and disregarding the rest. It's about using certain words that seem more positive in nature than ones that represent the truth. And it's very effective. People unknowingly think the words they've read mean something else. The reality is that Big Brother is able to write something and fool them into believing it's to their benefit. For example, they could write an article on the economy that is seemingly very positive, but in truth, it shows the gap between the rich and poor increasing. Or, they could release a document of a study on the environment that seems to project positive results, when in fact, they're actually negative. It's all in the wording, word placement, paragraph structure, key phrases, terminology, and the way we read it. If you skim through it, and naturally skip sentences or discard words, you will be fooled. It requires careful dissemination and a high level of comprehension to fully understand the true meaning. Most people won't check the meaning for words they don't understand. And they'll misinterpret sentences and entire paragraphs if they can't comprehend them, or are unable to determine that the phrasing is meant to dupe them. In effect, they turn lies to truth right in front of your eyes, in black and white. Data mining is another deceptive form of technology in that it allows large corporations to strip unwitting victims of their personal privacy. It's so widely used that you may not even realize that you've been violated and had your right to privacy abused. Many Internet companies and other organizations on the Internet use surveys, application forms, etc. to dupe people into relinquishing their personal information. It is then sold to various other companies, such as marketing agencies, or directly to information hungry corporations and data mining organizations. The government also sells people's information to all of the above. Statistics Canada is now infamous for forcing people to answer mandatory surveys (and threatening them with prison if they don't comply), and then selling that information to data mining companies in order to profit. And they make a sizeable profit from these illegal, unethical actions. Huge data mining companies then take the information, sort through it using special computer software, and in turn sell it to the highest bidder. They're always eager to get their hands on more data. Usually it's sold to marketing companies, which then use it to market products and services for their clients, or sell it again directly to other corporations. It's a vicious cycle in which the individual's privacy is totally removed and blatantly ignored. The individual no longer exists. They're reduced to being just bits of data, and are treated as such. They're nothing more than a number and a collection of answers. These companies want to know where to build new locations for their stores, what people buy, how much they buy, what they usually spend on items, what the averages and norms are, and how much they're willing to spend, etc. Hell, Statistics Canada even wants to know what brand of toothpaste people buy. It may sound ridiculous, or insane, but they actually compile statistics on that type of information. It's more than just invasive. It isn't just a violation of privacy. It's sickening. Their actions are despicable and utterly deplorable. No citizen should be forced to answer those questions. And any information given to the government, such as on a census form, should be kept strictly private. It should *never* be given out, or sold to the highest bidder. And questions that intrude on someone's privacy shouldn't even be asked in the first place, much less be mandatory and punishable by law. There are many other techniques that Big Brother is famous for employing on the public. The Internet may not be the best, most reliable source of information, but in the very least it's a starting point. You can search for previously classified documents, easily and legally. I suggest you read about some of the projects that the United States, Great Britain, New Zealand and Canada have been involved in for many years. Read about the NSA, Echelon and things of that nature and you'll quickly realize just how much power Big Bro has been allowed to take over the course of the last few decades. Obviously the ubiquitous Big Brother also uses other deceptive forms that weren't mentioned in this article. I'm sure they've been able to implement types of insidious, anti-privacy technology and techniques into "society" over the years, and do it so well that nobody that's not working with them is even aware of it. That's what is really frightening. More than anything else, that's what has to be exposed. Even though we'll continue to do our best to reveal Big Bro's techniques, technology, means of deception, etc. we can't be expected to find out everything. Each individual, and group/small organization that's opposed to Big Brother's plans, tactics and invasions of privacy, must strive to find the truth, and share their findings with others. That's the only way that Big Brother can be shown to the world for what they truly are. And only then can they be successfully opposed and defeated. "Big Brother 2000. Last chance. All aboard..." In closing, some of what I've written in this article is riddled with cliches, rhetoric, common, generalized statements, phrases and even some innuendo. Admittedly, it may not be as clear as it should be. It may even seem like the paranoid rantings of an insane man. And some of the words I've chosen to use may not be the best, or most suitable. However, the message is still important. Just as, freedom and the right to privacy are important. More than important enough to be defended and discussed. So, the next time you read an article that has been written by the government, for the government, or is supported by the government (or any of Big Brother's agencies), consider what I've written here. Remember that what they have written can be extremely effective at persuading and influencing you. It may not always be obvious. You may have to read a text several times before realizing what its true intention is. It isn't always crystal clear at a glance. Big Brother has become very adept at using all of the techniques and technology discussed above. And they'll use it to their own advantage whenever possible. The public should always be leery of what their government prints. Personally, I don't trust anyone that trusts any government, regardless of country or the government they have. That isn't paranoia, even though literally any government would call it that based on my statements. But I would much rather be called paranoid by Big Brother than be thought of as naive and gullible by anyone else. Written by BLACKENED � Damage, INC. (C)opyright 2000. HRDC's Big Brother Database. So you've read about TEMPEST, ECHELON, CCTV (Closed Circuit Television) cameras, DNRs (Dialed Number Recorders) and various other types of taps and bugs, etc. Indeed, Big Brother *is* watching and listening. So what, right? Well, if you're a Canadian citizen, this article may be of particular interest to you. Why? The reason is simple. You may not be aware of just how much highly personal, sensitive information about you is being compiled into a database and stored together. Has your interest been peaked yet? Read on then. A branch of the Canadian government, known as Human Resources Development Canada (HRDC), was recently exposed. It was revealed that they have a huge, comprehensive database that contains sensitive information on over 30 million Canadian citizens, living and deceased. Each individual file in the database may contain more than 2,000 separate pieces of information on a person. It's known by them as the Longitudinal Labour Force File. To the rest of us, including mass media organizations, it has been called the Big Brother File or Database. And the second description is much more fitting. Perhaps this news isn't shocking to many of you. But maybe the fact that the government claims they're planning on dismantling it is. I've included several articles on this flagrant Big Brother attack on personal privacy in the Reports from the Front section for people that want further details to read. Also, after being on Hack Canada (www.hackcanada.com) the other night, and having read their excellent file on the Big Brother Database, there's no reason to rewrite what they wrote. So, I'd advise that you visit their site, and read "Canada's Big Brother: HRDC and The Longitudinal Labour Force File." It's well worth the read, and includes valuable information on how to obtain a copy of the personal file that they have on you. I've personally made a request to obtain a copy of my own file. That being said, I would still like to voice my opinions on the matter. My attitude is, while I have the opportunity, why waste a good soapbox with a captive audience? Anyway, it should be obvious to anyone that the Canadian government has blatantly violated our right to privacy. And while doing so, they've put the security of the information in their database at risk. Literally anyone could (and still can) gain access to another person's file, and in the process, find out a vast amount about them. That's inexcusable in my opinion. First, the mere fact that such a database actually exists is wrong and completely unethical alone. Second, the fact that the security of it could be compromised so easily, and the information could be shared and sold, etc. is disgusting. In the very least, safeguards should have been in place. Then again, how can we expect the Canadian government to install security and use strong encryption when all they do is discourage it? They're only good at collecting data on the citizens of this country, not protecting it. They have gathered massive amounts of information on everyone and left it totally unsecured. If that doesn't piss you off, nothing will. If the fact that *you* are in a gigantic database doesn't anger you, then there's no absolutely no hope for you. You're owned by Big Brother. To conclude this short article, I want to make it clear that this is just the start people. This is just the proverbial tip of the iceberg. There are still many covert things going on that have yet to be uncovered. There are things that we can only speculate on, or simply don't know about at all yet. But, I suggest that you attempt to find out as much as possible. You can begin by requesting a copy of your file from Human Resources Development Canada. Don't stop there though. Continue to seek information about what the Canadian government is doing, and do your own research. Think about what we don't know about Big Brother, their hidden agenda and activities. In the meantime, we'll do our very best to help keep you informed. As each day passes, we are beginning to learn more and more about how the government acts and behaves. Their corrupt practices are coming to light. They are slowly being exposed. Big Brother has lived hiding in the shadows long enough. Now is the time to take action. What better time than now? Written by THC Phreak � Damage, INC. (C)opyright 2000. CONSPIRACIES AND COVERUPS - {COVERUPS} NWO Part 4: What is FEMA? In issue 9 of the Damage, INC. Newsletter, I introduced you to several powerful, secret organizations that are intent on implementing a New World Order. However, they need an administrative organization to get their objectives done for them. Especially in the United States, where freedom and patriotism are stronger than in most other countries. There is a powerful, quasi-secret entity that has been created by past American presidents to do just that. I believe that FEMA, or the Federal Emergency Management Agency is conspiring against U.S. citizens, and is easily capable of becoming the "secret government" of the NWO in the U.S. This article will be dedicated to exposing FEMA, and to show you that is has the political power and material resources to take control of the United States of America. FEMA was created when Executive Order Number 12148 was implemented then President Richard Nixon. Obviously, it is not an elected body. It does not involve itself in public disclosures, and it even has a secret budget in the hundreds of billions of dollars. This organization has more power than the President of the United States or the Congress. In fact, once active it would literally have power OVER "the people of the United States of America". It has the power to suspend laws and the Constitution, move entire populations, arrest and detain citizens without a warrant and hold them without trial. FEMA can also seize property, food supplies, and transportation systems. The original "concept" of FEMA was to ensure that the U.S. Government still functioned after the United States was attacked by nuclear weapons. Secondary FEMA functions are to be "a federal coordinating body during times of domestic disasters, such as earthquakes, floods and hurricanes." FEMA's enormous powers can be activated very quickly. In any form of domestic or foreign problem, perceived and not always actual, emergency powers can be enacted. The President of the United States now has broader powers to declare martial law, which activates FEMA's extraordinary powers. Martial law can be declared during time of increased tension overseas, economic problems within the United States, such as a depression, civil unrest, demonstrations or scenes like the Los Angeles riots, and in a drug crisis. These Presidential powers have increased with successive Crime Bills, particularly the 1991 and 1993 Crime Bills. These new laws increase the power to suspend the rights guaranteed under the Constitution and to seize property from those suspected of being drug dealers and individuals who participate in a public protest or demonstration. Under emergency plans already in existence, the power exists to suspend the Constitution and turn over the reigns of government to FEMA and appointing military commanders to run state and local governments. FEMA then would have the right to order the detention of anyone whom there is reasonable ground to believe...will engage in, or probably conspire with others to engage in acts of espionage or sabotage. The plan also allows for and authorizes the immediate establishment of concentration camps for detaining the accused, without trial. It is FEMA that is the administrative arm of the NWO. It is FEMA that will run and fill the concentration camps that I talked about in the 12th issue of the Damage, INC. Newsletter. It is FEMA that will execute Operation Garden Plot that I wrote about in issue #13 of the DIN. That is because during his presidency, Jimmy Carter issued Executive Order 12148 on July 20, 1979. This Executive Order places all of the powers listed in my issue #12 "Concentration Camps" article plus many other totalitarian powers under the sole control of FEMA. Carter also gave FEMA many powers previously held only by the President of the United States, such as full control of the U.S. Armed Forces. That's right, when FEMA is given the green light, THEY will be in control of all divisions of the Armed Forces. Of course these actions are against the Constitution, but the members of Congress were either unaware or unwilling to challenge all of these freedom-killing Executive Orders that have been put into place. Just more evidence that Congress is controlled by the NWO leadership. Listed below are other powers not related directly to Executive Orders that FEMA has gained. These powers were transferred to FEMA in 1979. This is by no means a complete list: - The National Security Act of 1947, which allows for the strategic relocation of industries, services, government and other essential economic activities, and to rationalize the requirements for manpower, resources and production facilities; - The 1950 Defense Production Act, which gives the President sweeping powers over all aspects of the economy; - The Act of August 29, 1916, which authorizes the Secretary of the Army, in time of war, to take possession of any transportation system for transporting troops, material, or any other purpose related to the emergency; and the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, which enables the President to seize the property of a foreign country or national. The most frightening fact is once martial law is initiated, and FEMA is mobilized, there are no provisions that will bring back the Constitution. FEMA would have to willingly give control back to the Constitutional processes...like the President, Congress, etc. Of course, if or when FEMA is mobilized, it will most likely be because the NWO leadership is ready to take physical control of the U.S. Citizens would be forced into slave labour, and the armed forces would keep them there for fear of being enslaved themselves. FEMA control means the death of all freedom in the U.S. Despite the power that it wields, and the secrecy that it chooses to exist under, FEMA's corruptness has been briefly brought to light on a few occasions. Once such event was when Hurricane Andrew caused tremendous damage to southern Florida. As Russell R. Dynes, director of the Disaster Research Center of the University of Delaware, wrote in The World and I, "...The eye of the political storm hovered over the Federal Emergency Management Agency. FEMA became a convenient target for criticism." Because FEMA was accused of dropping the ball in Florida, the media and Congress commenced to study this agency. What came out of the critical look was that FEMA covering up spending "12 times more for ``black operations'' than for disaster relief." FEMA spent $1.3 billion building secret bunkers throughout the United States in anticipation of government disruption by foreign or domestic upheaval. Yet fewer than 20 members of Congress, only members with top security clearance, know of the $1.3 billion expenditure by FEMA for non-natural disaster situations. These few Congressional leaders state that FEMA has a "black curtain" around its operations. FEMA has worked on National Security programs since 1979, and its predecessor, the Federal Emergency Preparedness Agency, has secretly spent millions of dollars before being merged into FEMA by President Carter in 1979. FEMA has developed 300 sophisticated mobile units that are capable of sustaining themselves for a month. The vehicles are located in five areas of the United States. They have tremendous communication systems and each contains a generator that would provide power to 120 homes each, but they have NEVER been used for disaster relief. As I've mentioned before in past articles, there have been many sightings of unmarked black helicopters. It appears that these helicopters are under the command of FEMA on behalf of the UN. I have found that the "underground bunkers" mentioned above is a gross understatement. Other investigative research indicates that over 60 secret underground virtual cities, built by the government, Federal Reserve Bank owners, and high ranking members of the Committee of 300 (another Illuminati-type "elite" organization). Some of these underground areas can be seen in Kansas City, Missouri and Kansas City, Kansas. In addition, underground Satellite Tracking Facilities exist, which have the ability to punch your 911 address into the computer, and within seconds a satellite can bring a camera to bear on your property to the point that those monitoring it can read clearly the articles of the newspaper on your doorstep. These facilities have as of Oct. 1, 1994, been turned over to the power of the United Nations. The fact that FEMA turned over this network of underground cities to the United Nations is another indication that the NWO's right arm in the United States is FEMA. Indeed, it's a very suspicious, ominous move to say the least. It is evident that the Illuminati already have control of the world economy. Anytime they feel it is time to enslave the citizens of the United States, FEMA is poised and ready to perform already planned actions, like Operation Garden Plot. The fact that FEMA dedicates few or none of its resources for the needs of American citizens in crisis situations should be a great indication that this organization is conspiring against them. The only hope is that the men and women in the Armed Forces will not blindly obey FEMA's orders when martial law is imposed. All Americans dedicated to freedom and the spirit of the Constitution must prepare for the worst, because FEMA already has. Written by Shatazar � Damage, INC. (C)opyright 2000. CORRUPTION AND GREED - {GREED} Banking on Greed. Various types of corruption and greed are such powerful, pervasive, consuming forces in today's technologically advanced, modern, civilized, so-called "society" that I feel obligated to continue writing about them, and how to combat them. It's necessary to have that knowledge so that you don't become another victim to them, unknowingly exploited. If you choose to allow yourself to be knowingly exploited, there's nothing that can be written that'll prevent that. However, for those that do want to know how to avoid being victimized by the corruption and greed that exists all around us, continue reading. The rest, the ones that trumpet the heralds of Capitalism, think that it's pure and believe it's totally without fault, you might as well skip this article. Banks and certain other financial organizations are built on greed, driven by greed, and are institutions of greed. Rather than being about providing services to paying customers, in exchange for making a reasonable profit, they are only about accumulating wealth. They don't just store money and give out loans to those in need of them. Banks are greed warehouses. They're quite simply the pillars of greed in the community. What they're about is greed. Their goal is greed. Their means to that goal is corruption. Through corrupt practices and the use of propaganda, they're able to influence the masses and maintain a false image of being fair, honourable businesses that provide a necessary service to the public. And they've done quite well at being deceitful and hiding their fakeness over the decades in which they've existed. In fact, most people don't even question their need for having a bank account, cheques, debit cards, credit cards, investments, etc. They've grown so accustomed to using their Bank, and its services, that they don't even realize how reliant they are on them. Nor do the majority of people ever question their necessity. The Banks have also been very successful at giving people a false sense of security. People just take it for granted, and never think twice about it. They've been duped, fooled and influenced so many times that they simply can't imagine not storing their money, investing their money, or borrowing money, from the large Banks. To them, it isn't just a convenience. It's much more than that. The Banks play a big role in their lives. Not only is cashing their pay cheque at the local Bank a part of their routine, it's a right of passage in entering adulthood. Just as getting their first credit card is looked at as coming of age. But it goes way beyond that. They rely on the Bank to handle all of their finances, store their financial information, sell it, and generally rule them. They rely on the Banks for loans and mortgages. They depend on them. They don't own their houses, the Bank does. And the Bank can take it away from them at any time. They don't own their cars either. Hell, they don't even own themselves. The Bank owns them. And what about security? Is a 4 digit PIN really enough to prevent someone else from accessing your account, and helping themselves to your life savings? Well, according to the Banks, it definitely is. In their minds, that's all the security you need to feel comfortable. Meanwhile, nobody needs your credit, bank, debit or Interac card to steal your money. They just have to be able to access your account by phone and transfer the funds. Therefore, the security of your money relies on a 4 digit access code -- the same number of digits, the same level of security, as many PBXs, extenders, VMBs and answering machines use. Someone gaining access to listen to messages on your personal answering machine is one thing. Accessing your money is quite another. And yet, the same security scheme exists. Is that logical? Are the Banks offering their customers a safe level of protection and security? They take measures to protect themselves, but not their customers. Are credit cards secure? What about ATMs and debit card transactions over Interac? Are packet switching networks secure enough to prevent someone from monitoring traffic and obtaining information so that they can commit fraud? What about banking by phone? Have the Banks taken measures to secure those transactions? Or are they more concerned about employing fewer Bank tellers? What about the unsecure practice of discarding boxes filled with documents containing customer's information by leaving it on the sidewalk, in front of the building? Certain Banks have been caught that. Is that a good policy? Is that a secure means of disposal for sensitive information? No, of course not. Yet, a rather large Canadian Bank, known as The Bank of Montreal, was exposed for doing just that. The papers, many with credit card information, were shown literally blowing down the sidewalk, right on television. Apparently they had been dumped there for the night, in unsealed cardboard boxes. The documents weren't shredded. They weren't in a locked dumpster. The Bank wasn't concerned about who would have access to them. The Bank wasn't concerned about their customers. Their private and personal financial information meant nothing to them. To the greedy Banks, you're nothing more than a number. What doesn't concern them should definitely concern you. Corruption and greed are their only concerns. They're banking on it. Written by THC Phreak � Damage, INC. (C)opyright 2000. Statistics Canada will gladly rape you. It has recently been reported by the mass media (CBC's show, Undercurrents) that Statistics Canada is guilty of selling the information that they acquire through various means, including the yearly census forms, door-to-door surveys, telephone surveys, etc. They're also accused of selling information that's contained on the tax forms of citizens. Large data mining companies buy the information, and sort through it for their clients, which include some of the biggest corporations in this country. Some of the client companies that want the information are established and very well known, like Sears and TD Bank. Others are lesser known, and want information to target potential consumers. Basically, the information that they seek is where you live, your income, what you buy, how much you buy, what you spend, and so on. And Stats Canada is more than willing to sell this information in order to profit. Big surprise. This new "revelation" only confirms what I've previously said in the Damage, INC. Newsletter (read issue #4) about this corrupt government organization. They are, without a doubt, an agency without any ethics and morals. They don't respect the privacy of Canadian citizens. They don't respect our rights. Nor do they hesitate to make threats over the phone about imprisoning people for choosing not to answer their questions. They abuse every power that's bestowed upon them. They use every shred of information they can get in order to profit. But they aren't going to obtain any information from me. At least, I won't willingly relinquish it to them. In a strange, almost absurd way, I'd like to be able to claim that in some small way I'm a patriotic Canadian citizen. But I can no longer do that honestly. It would have to be said in jest, or dishonestly, as a complete lie. It's actually sad that I can't honestly say I'm loyal to this country anymore. The reason I'm mentioning this is because I recently watched a spy program on TLC that really made me think. And it provoked me to realize that I'm not much different than the people they profiled... people that were disloyal to their countries, by way of spying for another nation. I used to believe that it would be impossible for me to ever do something like that, or even consider it. In essence, to become a traitor to my country was just unimaginable. But now, that has definitely all changed. I simply cannot say with any real certainty that if I gained access to sensitive information (such as on CSIS, Department of National Defense or CSE), that I wouldn't become a spy in exchange for a reasonable amount of money. As in, I wouldn't be greedy, or driven to act on greed, but I'd want enough that I could escape and live comfortably elsewhere for the rest of my life securely. I can't honestly say that I wouldn't betray this country by giving its secrets away to another nation. I can't say that I wouldn't be beyond putting the national security of this country at risk. And I definitely can't say that I respect this country, its government, police, CSIS and agencies like Stats Canada, etc. That's really sad. It's a realization that I don't like. But it's true. I'm capable of selling this country out. Not for money, but out of a lack of pride and respect for the government and its various agencies. And, out of a hatred for some of this country's corrupt government agencies. I used to consider myself as being a true patriot -- a person that was valiantly and nobly fighting to improve this country, and speaking out against the wrongs that are in it. However, I now think that it's so corrupt that it needs to be destroyed and rebuilt. I no longer consider myself to be a patriot. I'm no longer loyal to this country... and would be willing to give up my citizenship if that request was made. I simply cannot respect a country that doesn't respect me, and my rights as an individual. Nor do I want to have citizenship in a nation that preys upon its citizens, and uses threats as a means of controlling them. In my opinion, no one should be imprisoned for not answering questions. The government doesn't have the right to invade someone's privacy, and attempt to coerce or force them into answering whatever they decide to ask. That isn't freedom. That isn't liberty. And it shouldn't be a part of any 'democratic' system of government. Stats Canada agents make unsolicited phone calls to citizens, that are harassing and filled with threats, and they just expect people to comply by answering their prying questions. It's unreasonable, unacceptable, and should be *illegal* in my opinion. Choosing not to answer is grounds for imprisonment according to them. Either you opt to relinquish your personal information and privacy, or they'll send you to prison and try to remove your freedom. Given that choice, I'll take prison, anyday. They can lock me behind bars, but they can't take my freedom, personal information, ideas, opinions and thoughts away from me. In my view, government agencies like Stats Canada are nothing more than Thought Police. They're the right arm of Big Brother, and they should be exposed at every opportunity. I realize that once you speak out against them, you become a visible target. Regardless of that, and any consequences I might face, I'm not going to be silenced. Not now, not ever. It's disturbing to think of how they exploit people, and what their motives are, but it's something that should definitely be thought about and discussed openly more often. People need to know what's really going on in this country. They need to ask questions, become informed, learn the truth, and learn ways to fight against the corruption that exists. Hopefully this article has opened a few eyes and minds. If it has done that, then at least that's a start. Rather than being proud to be a Canadian, living in this country has made me bitter and jaded. This country and the puppets that are handed power sicken me. Canada isn't progressing. It's decaying. And it's infested with zombies that are so indifferent that they won't revolt no matter what is done to them. Hell, they think nothing of answering to Statistics Canada or any other government agency that decides to interrogate them. They're just happy to speak with someone in the government on the phone. They'll gladly be raped by Stats Canada and tell them everything they want to know, right down to what toothbrush, toothpaste and birth control they prefer to use. That isn't just a random, fictional example either. That's actually something Stats Canada is interested in knowing, and has been known to ask people. Unlike them, I won't answer to Stats Canada or any other faction of Big Brother. I've already refused their requests to obtain information on me. And I'll continue to deny them access. Freedom, liberty, justice and the rights of the individual, including personal privacy are all things that are unimportant in the life of a zombie. To them, it's much more important to follow the rules that are set for them by their master, namely, Big Brother. There's no need for me to try to convince you of that fact. It's been clearly established. But if you want further proof, just observe them and you'll come to that conclusion on your own. Large-scale protests are so rare, so few and far between in this country that a person would be hard pressed to notice any difference between Canada and China. In many respects, the Chinese citizens (the ones that zombies call dissidents), are much more aggressive and speak out more often than Canadians do. They, like myself, would rather be labelled a dissident, and speak out, than just sit back and take it. They would rather die for freedom than live in slavery. They would rather die at the hands of their oppressors than kneel to be fed by them. Unlike the Canadian zombies that fear and abide by Stats Canada, they'd rather fight to be free than live as a lackey. The real fools are the people that shake their naive heads in disbelief when told we're not free. The ones that actually believe we have individual freedom and social justice. The truth is, we don't. Simply for refusing to answer questions from a Stats Canada agent can mean an automatic prison sentence. That isn't democracy. That isn't freedom. That isn't liberty. That's injustice. That's Stats Canada. By no coincidence, that also sums up Canada; Corruption, Greed, Big Brother. Written by BLACKENED � Damage, INC. (C)opyright 2000. CROSSED WIRES - {WIRES} An Unauthorized Advertisement for Adbusters. Note: I contacted Adbusters via Email and asked for their permission to place a free ad here with information pertaining to their Foundation and site, but received no response from them. I decided to go ahead and do it anyway, since it fits in nicely with the theme of this issue. So, that explains the "Unauthorized" part of the title. You may have heard about their "Buy Nothing Day" promotions before. The funny/ironic part of this is that I wanted to give free advertising to a site that promotes culture jamming and has parodies called Uncommercials, etc. Advertising for Adbusters! We must be insanely out of control to even think of such an idea. Adbusters Media Foundation is based in Vancouver, B.C. If you live in the neighborhood, you're always welcome to drop by, sample our coffee and savour the state of disarray and subdued panic that happens around deadline time. Address: 1243 West 7th Avenue Vancouver, BC V6H 1B7 Canada Phone: 604.736.9401 Fax: 604.737.6021 Toll-free: 1.800.663.1243 (USA & Can. only) http://www.adbusters.org General Inquiries: adbusters@adbusters.org Subscriptions & Orders: subscriptions@adbusters.org Campaign Information: campaigns@adbusters.org Buy Nothing Day: buynothingday@adbusters.org TV Turnoff Week: tvturnoffweek@adbusters.org Media Inquiries: allan@adbusters.org Reprints: jason@adbusters.org Editorial: editor@adbusters.org Website: jeff@adbusters.org Art Submissions: artdirector@adbusters.org * * * Here's something Grandmaster Ratte' (cDc) sent me in Email. So, drop that can of Jolt Cola (or alcoholic beverage), and get yerself some OpenCOLA! You're sitting at home on the couch, it's 2am, watching your videotaped reruns of 'Kojack' and leeching Metallica MP3z, just because you can. A knock on the door. It's your friend Sarah, and her girlfriend Beth. They kick back on the sofa and fire up a phatty. The girls get real comfortable and start mugging down. Oh yeah. Before you know it, Beth's got her hand up Sarah's skirt and Beth's tank top is on the floor. You're chill, you're observing the scene. Sarah looks up from Beth's nipple to moan, "You got any OpenCOLA?" Of course you do. You're 'l33t. "Then get some. And GET S0ME!!#@$!@!" Get open for OpenCOLA www.opencola.com It's a distributed search engine/agent. And a soft drink. Gee whillikers! DAMAGE, INC. REVIEWS - {REVIEWS} H/P and Security Web Sites. To continue the tradition, we've selected quality h/p and security web sites, isolated them from the fold, and reviewed them. In this issue, there are some outstanding sites that definitely deserve to be listed and part of our reviews. For links to these and other related sites, visit our links page. @Stake www.atstake.com @Stake is a startup, premiere security firm that's infiltrated the mass media's headlines and the vocabulary of the general public... due in no small part to Mudge and L0pht's involvement. It's a new venture, but already well known. The merger between @Stake and L0pht was well publicized. On the site itself, there's an assortment of information on Solutions (security services @Stake provides), People (including Mudge of course), Careers, News (Events and Press), a FAQ to answer questions concerning L0pht and @Stake, and a contact list. The site is well designed, and @Stake offers an array of infosec services. SecurityFocus.com www.securityfocus.com SecurityFocus is an excellent security web site that has quality information on vulnerabilities. It also has news (a wide variety of articles are written and posted frequently), advisories, tools, forums, mailing lists, links, products and services. Kevin Poulsen (a well known hacker) is the new editorial director for SecurityFocus. I recommend that you visit SecurityFocus often, as the site is updated frequently. You should also join their mailing list as it's a good, reliable source of security information. It's an easy way to receive regular updates concerning vulnerabilities and things of that nature. And the SecurityFocus.com Newsletter always proves to be a good read, with reliable information. Pure Security Networks www.pure-security.net Pure Security Networks (PSN) offers the visitors to its site an archive of exploits, advisories, news and links. They also have information on their security services and projects. Overall, it's a fairly decent security site. Zero-Knowledge www.zeroknowledge.com Zero-Knowledge is a company based in Montreal, Quebec. Its site gained some attention after Intel's Pentium III chip was released, and Zero-Knowledge exposed a flaw in its serial number code security. Zero-Knowledge produces a prominent piece of software called "Freedom" that offers users privacy and security through encryption. It's one of the commercial products they've created that promotes privacy on the Internet, which is something they have become famous for doing. They're also well known in Montreal for their unique approach to business and advertising methods, such as their moving billboard truck that drives around the city in order to inform people that they're hiring workers for many job positions. ;) Encouraging the use of strong encryption on the Internet and privacy protection is something that I simply cannot fault. Attrition www.attrition.org Sure, you've probably seen their archive of hacked web sites. Hell, you've most likely read articles in which attrition.org was mentioned. And if you read Phrack, and the Phrack World News section, you've probably seen it a lot, along with jericho's Email address. But have you actually visited the site and gone through the pages it hosts? If you haven't, man are you missing something. Attrition contains information on everything from security info, a hacked sites mirror archive, text archive, news to user pages, etc. It also hosts various zines. Overall, it's a very interesting site and one of my personal favourites. newOrder http://neworder.box.sk newOrder is another well known, frequently visited site. But popularity won't discourage me from reviewing it, as that isn't the only factor to consider. If you're looking for h/p and security sites and haven't checked it out yet, I strongly suggest that you do. It has security links, news, forums, hosted projects and zines, an exploits archive, a hacked sites archive, zine articles, etc. It's an excellent site and a great place to search for h/p sites. Mojave Desert Phone Booth www.deuceofclubs.com/moj/mojave.html There are other web sites dedicated to the Mojave Desert Phone Booth, but this one probably deserves the official title. If you have a interest in phones, especially strange, unique payphones, this is definitely a site you should check out. It's a shrine to one of the world's most remote, famous payphones. And that's saying something, since there are millions of payphones and most never achieve any level of fame or notoriety. But the MDPB has managed to do that in spades. In fact, it has inspired people from all over to go on pilgrimages to see it standing in the middle of the Mojave in all its glory. And people from every corner of the planet know its number, and they call hoping that someone answers. Sometimes someone does, and that person's name is Charlie. ;) Many people that've made the journey have written stories about their trip, taken pictures and generously shared them with others. I've personally called, and it's quite a feeling just knowing that you're making a payphone in the middle of the Mojave Desert is ring. I dialed and got a busy signal one night. I kept autodialing until I got through, but nobody answered. So, that just proves how many people call that payphone. It's probably one of the most called payphones in the world. And I'm sure the incoming calls it receives far outnumber the amount of outgoing calls that are placed from it. Who would've thought that a payphone booth in the middle of the Mojave, that's more than 10 miles from the nearest highway... would survive all of these years. Let's hope it never dies, and continues to accept incoming calls. Update: The Mojave Desert Phone Booth was removed recently by Pacific Bell. Thankfully, I was able to talk with Charlie and someone else before it was taken out of service. For more information, read the short paragraph I wrote in the News section. H/P INFORMATION - {H/P} I had planned to include several other articles, including ones on Canadian COCOTs and Nortel Meridian phones. However, in order to avoid further delays in releasing this issue, they'll be in the next issue. Bell Canada's Call Privacy. Call Privacy is a new service that Bell Canada has recently begun advertising. Subscribers pay a monthly fee for the Call Privacy service. They must also subscribe to Caller-ID in order for it to work. It's virtually the same service that Ameritech offers and has had in place for quite some time. Since Ameritech now owns part of Bell, they have a say in what features are implemented, and services that are offered to customers, etc. Call Privacy is now offered by Bell Canada in both Ontario and Quebec. As for the other Canadian provinces, I don't know if it's available across the country in every area yet. However, I'm sure it's only a matter of time before every major local telco in North America offers this feature to people willing to pay for it. And there are always plenty of people willing to pay extra for special features like this. Features: Here's a summary of Bell's Call Privacy service SmartTouch features, taken directly from bell.ca Call Privacy service, along with Bell Call Display service, helps you gain more control over unidentified and unwanted calls to your home and gives you flexibility and peace of mind when it comes to your personal or family time. With this new service, you will enjoy many benefits: * Identify callers to your home or block calls from callers that will not identify themselves. No more surprises from unidentified Telemarketers or other unwanted calls! * Stop certain callers, whom you determine, from getting through to your phone. * Stop the phone from ringing when you want to, by sending calls directly to your voice mailbox (if you also subscribe to Bell Call Answer or Call Answer Plus service). With Call Privacy service, you will have greater control over what you value most. Your own personal time. Call Privacy service is available as an individual service or as part of our NEW Simple Connections Privacy bundle. * Bell Call Privacy service and other Bell SmartTouch services are only available where technology permits. You must have Bell Call Display and Bell Touch-Tone services to subscribe to Bell Call Privacy service. How it works: If you scan extensively, you'll eventually encounter a line that won't accept calls from parties that choose to block their number. Normally, a short recorded message is played before you're disconnected. It notifies you that the number you've called doesn't accept any calls from blocked numbers. Sometimes it'll tell you to call back without dialing *67, or something along those lines. Call Privacy can also block calls from certain phone numbers that you define. In other words, numbers that you've decided you don't want to receive calls from, and are determined to prevent. That's nothing new. It's the same as Call Blocking, which has been in existence for quite a few years now. It basically reroutes your call so that it never rings the destination line, if you use *67 (or another method of blocking) when dialing. If anyone wants a more detailed, technical explanation of how it actually works, contact me. Why people use it: Many individuals don't want to receive calls from telemarketing firms that block access to their phone number. Telemarketers commonly use autodialers to dial thousands of telephone numbers, while shielding the origin of their calls. Frequently these calls are annoying, invasive, and can even be construed as being harassing. Since they're unsolicited, many people become angry over receiving phone calls from companies that are trying to peddle something or other. And that's understandable. So, in an effort to prevent such annoyances, they're opting for Call Privacy. That way, they won't have to answer the phone during dinner time, only to realize that it's a company trying to influence them into buying magazines, or switch long distance carriers. Others simply don't want to receive any calls from anyone that uses *67 to block their number. Or, they've received calls from people that don't talk, prank them, or keep hanging up and the person has blocked their number. So, they subscribe to Call Privacy in an attempt to prevent those calls from making their phone ring. Companies are a different story altogether. Most large corporations (with toll free customer service numbers especially) monitor all calls. They play a short warning message notifying you of that after their automated systems answer. In other words, they want the right to monitor and record all calls made to them. Yet, they don't want to respect the right to the individual's privacy, and demonstrate that by not accepting any calls made using *67, or another means to block the number. Basically, they want it both ways. They don't want you to be able to maintain your privacy, and once connected, they want to take as much away as possible. This can really interfere with scanning, and means you have to call back the number using a different method in order to properly identify it. More than anything else, it's an inconvenience and waste of time. How it can be defeated: Defeating or circumventing Call Privacy is actually an easy task to accomplish. Obviously the most simple way is to use payphones to call anyone that's known to subscribe to it. The payphone's number will show up on Caller-ID, but the call will be put through normally (ie, their phone will ring)... and you avoid having your home phone number displayed in the process. That method is for people that only know how to use *67 to block their number, and have to use payphones as their only other option of maintaining anonymity. Another method is dialing through a diverter. Any local extender, PBX, or VMB system that diverts will do. Just make sure you check to ensure it diverts first by calling an ANI. If the number of the diverter is read back to you, it's safe to use it. Otherwise, try calling a local Operator and social engineer them into dialing the person's number for you. Op diverting still works in many areas. Again, check to make sure your number isn't passed along in the packet by getting the Op to call an ANI. In some areas, that method won't work as only the NPA is sent, so it might be treated as a blocked call. You can also use a pre-paid calling card to make the call. That way, your call will go through and your anonymity is intact. There are several other ways, such as using call forwarding (obviously that requires being setup first), dialing out through a Conference, and signaling methods, etc. Hell, if you're skilled and knowledgeable enough to reprogram switches, then Call Privacy isn't even a speed bump, much less a real obstacle. I don't really think it's geared towards stopping anyone that has that level of knowledge anyway though. (ie, real phreaks -- not K0d3z Kidz) And, of course, there are quite a few other options available to people that live outside of Canada. Or, if you're call is long distance/international instead of just local. In conclusion, if you want to remain anonymous, and still wish to call numbers that subscribe to Bell's Call Privacy, it is possible. You just need to use some of the above techniques, like diverting, payphones, junction boxes, etc. Or, think of other ways and develop your own techniques to use. By no means have I thought of everything imaginable and included it in this brief article. If you want to keep your privacy and right to make phone calls anonymously, then try out some of the above instead of immediately calling Call Privacy subscribing numbers back and relinquishing your call info. Written by THC Phreak � Damage, INC. (C)opyright 2000. Secure Password Selection. Alright, this is a very basic article relating to selecting passwords. It's all very straightforward, and should be common sense. However, some people still don't know how to choose a password that will be secure. So, I've decided to outline a few simple principles on password selection, and release it as a short article. These are general password procedures, and not designed for any specific type of computer/operating system. Hopefully these tips will benefit people and help them learn about how to choose passwords wisely. Good/secure passwords and procedures: - Never write down your passwords on paper. Even if they're stored in what you believe is a secure place, they could still be found and used. - Never put your logins and passwords in plaintext files. If you absolutely must store them in text files, use encryption, compress and password protect them. But then you'll have to remember those passwords, so that defeats the purpose of storing that information in files. Unless you have a single pass phrase for encrypting all files with, that you'll be able to remember. - Don't forget your password. If you do forget, choose a new password and then contact the sysadmin immediately and tell them to change it. That's a good test of the system as well, since it'll show you how easily they can be social engineered. If they don't ask for any identification before changing your password, it shows their security is very lax. If that's the case, inform them and switch to using another system with better security practices and procedures. There's no sense in having an account on a system with sysadmins that'll give out users' passwords without asking for any ID. - If you suspect your password was changed, contact and alert the sysadmin immediately. Instruct them to change it as soon as possible. And use one that's more difficult to guess, and can't be found in a dictionary file. - On systems that are case sensitive, use upper and lower case characters in your password to increase security. (ie, if the system recognizes "pAsswOrd" as being different from "password") - If the system accepts alphanumeric password (letters and numbers), then mix numbers into your password. Or substitute numbers for certain letters. For example, "53cur17y9" is much more difficult to crack than just "security". But, that's just an example. Don't use that word in any variation. - If non-alphanumeric characters (punctuation characters such as "!") are allowed, use at least one somewhere in the password. - Use the maximum number of characters allowed for your password. The security increases exponentially with each additional character used. Same goes with passcodes for VMBs, PINs for cards, etc. Always use as many characters as possible. A 10 digit, random PIN is much more difficult to crack than a 4 digit PIN. The same rule applies to other passwords. - If you think a password could be easily guessed, it probably could. - Always use a password that's unique to that particular system. - Nonsense "words" and alphanumeric letter combinations are best. - Words in a foreign language (avoid English, French, Russian and Spanish) are safer, but still aren't fool proof. If the person happens to be using a dictionary file in that language, your password will be cracked. - If you accidentally enter a password on system A that's actually for an account on system B, change both passwords as soon as possible to be safe. - Change your password on a regular basis, and follow the above when choosing any new passwords. Poor password choices and procedures: - Recording passwords on paper or in plaintext files. - Storing passwords anywhere in any unsafe, unprotected manner. - Using words that can be found in the dictionary. - Using a password that matches (is the same as) your login name. - Using the same password on multiple systems. - Using the same password multiple times on the same system. - Giving out your passwords to people, and trusting them not to tell anyone else, or abuse the accounts. - Rarely or never changing your password. When prompted, choosing an old password, or one that you use, or have used previously, on other systems. - Choosing easily guessed passwords. - Using a password that's related to your login name, or a variation of it. - Using a password that is related in some way to that system. - Short words, sentences and phrases that can easily be guessed and cracked. - Words that are frequently used by the media, are part of pop culture, jargon or technical in their nature. - Any computer related words and terms are terrible passwords. - Don't use anything that relates to you personally as a password. That basically means, your name, your address, your phone number, your school, business or place of employment, your car, license plate number, card numbers, social security/insurance numbers, aliases, names of family or friends, pets, hobbies, interests, games, programs, etc. Anything that relates to you in some way can be guessed and used against you. If the person knows something about you, they'll definitely try variations of that as a password. - Don't use any system default passwords. Defaults, on any system, are always the first accounts to be exploited. They're easily to guessed, gathered together and can be added quickly to any dictionary file. They're an open door to people using a brute force cracking program. - Don't use any common phrases, sayings, expressions, slang, popular names, proper names, cities, colours, songs, bands, groups, animal names, computer terms, telco terms, etc. as they can *all* be guessed or put into a brute force password cracker's dictionary file. Even if they aren't in any default dictionary files or off the shelf hard copy dictionaries, the person that's attempting to crack the password may add them manually. - Never use words that can be found in any dictionary. Just to ensure that you don't make a mistake, look up the word in the Oxford dictionary, Webster's dictionary and search through several large dictionary files for it. Even if your password contains multiple words, it is still unwise to use any words that can be found in the dictionary. If you do, you're making it vulnerable to brute force attacks. As in, real words with proper spelling are bad and not recommended for passwords. If you follow the practices shown above, your account/password will remain fairly secure -- at least against brute force methods that utilize dictionary files, commonly used passwords and system defaults, etc. And, if you abide by all of the above, including changing your password at least every 4-6 weeks, the chances of your password being compromised are greatly decreased. No system can protect you, your account and the information it contains. In the end, the password you select is the only security barrier someone needs to breach. In other words, to protect your information you need to make sure the task of obtaining your chosen password is as difficult and time consuming as possible. Obviously you can't protect yourself (or your passwords) from every type of attack. But lessening the effectiveness of brute force cracking attempts is at least a start in the right direction. The goal is to lessen the chances of your password being cracked. Eliminating the possibility of it happening simply isn't practical when humans, computers and passwords are combined. Don't expect or rely on someone else (sysadmins and the like) to maintain the security of your account(s) for you. And you definitely shouldn't rely on other security measures, such as system logs, to protect your account. That's what your *password* is meant to do. Logs will only show failed attempts, but if the person is successful in breaking in, whatever information existed in your account has already been compromised. If you had personal or sensitive information, it's too late then. Consider that, and consider choosing your passwords carefully and wisely. I'll step down from my soapbox now. :) Written by Blackie Lawless � Damage, INC. (C)opyright 2000. Hacking the planet Part II. In my "Explorer's guide to hacking the planet" article that was published in the previous issue, I neglected to mention several things that are just waiting to be explored. So, I've decided to write an additional article and briefly describe the places that I failed to list previously. Abbie Hoffman referred to them as the "tar jungle", and that's as fitting a description as any for the countless building rooftops in urban areas that can be explored. Besides being a place for storage sheds, industrial sized air conditioning units, tools, and wiring, the roofs of large buildings that are close together present an easy escape route -- at least for the daring. Sometimes they're accessible by stairs or an elevator. In many cases, the door at the top of the stairs is locked, and will have to be picked first in order to gain entry to the roof. However, with some buildings that have fewer stories, there's a fire escape stairway that you can use for access. Abandoned buildings are another great place to explore. From rural farm houses, old crack houses in the city, to larger buildings like abandoned factories and warehouses, they can present a lot of interesting adventures, experiences and opportunities. Some people have even been known to use them for parties, raves and a myriad of other things... including temporary shelter, etc. Just make sure it's safe to enter and nobody else is currently living there. I'd advise that you don't enter buildings in certain areas alone though. Well, unless you're armed and prepared, of course. ;) There are other buildings in cities, such as municipal buildings that are designed to look like normal houses, but they contain public utilities. These are checked every once in a while by city workers, so either venture inside only at night, or make damn sure they're not going to show up during the day. If you're lucky you might find a city map inside that shows different utilities and other buildings throughout the city. In other words, things that normal maps sold to the public don't contain on them. There are other places in cities to be explored, such as towers. In this area, as in most places, the majority of the towers are located on high ground and are clearly visible. That's by design, so that there won't be any interference with the signals by trees, buildings, other structures and the actual landscape surrounding them. Anyways, Bell's towers can be found easily, but often they have some type of security. Usually it's minimal though, and all you have to be careful about are cameras and a Bell van showing up to do checks and routine repairs. However, that isn't a daily occurrence by any means, so most often they're an easy target to explore. That is, if you aren't afraid of heights, since in order to get a close view (and good pictures as trophies), a certain amount of climbing is in order. And when you're scaling the side of a tower, or any type of aerial for that matter, a measure of danger is involved. Don't attempt this if you have a fear of heights, if there are high winds, or if the structure doesn't seem stable enough to support additional weight. If you're overweight and all of the above also apply, don't even consider trying it! ;) Basically, what these towers offer is a good view of Bell's satellite dish(es), as well as direct access to them. Just be extra aware of what you're doing if you plan on climbing towers. In closing, there are several other things out there that can be explored, but weren't mentioned in this particular article in order that it remain as brief as possible. However, some of them are just as interesting as anything that I've described above. Many of these places can be dangerous to explore, so be aware of that before you attempt to traverse them. Other than that, go out there and explore. Urban exploration can provide you with many hours of pure enjoyment, discoveries and adventures in really interesting places. It's about being creative to gain access to all of the areas that you want and not allowing physical barriers to stop you. My interview with should provide you with some further insight into this exciting form of exploration. Written by BLACKENED � Damage, INC. (C)opyright 2000. INTERVIEWS AND INTERROGATIONS - {INTERVIEWS} Alias: Group(s): Cave Clan Age: 7 years since self-sustained self-awareness. Chassis invoked in 1971. Country: Australia, The Lucky Cunt. Description: caucasian atheist anarchist Y-chromosome-carrier H.Sapiens Interests: molecular genetics, electronic democracy, drain exploration, explosives, politics, lots of other stuff. Music: Trashy 1980's synth : Gary Numan, Devo particularly. Also TISM. Movies: Delicatessen. The Matrix (with Keanu dubbed to inaudibility). Books: Anything by : Richard Dawkins, Noam Chomsky, Marvin Harris, Larry Niven Douglas Hofstadter, plus the occasional lashing of Greg Egan. Also, the Hacker Jargon File (v4.2), Merck Index (12th Ed). Email: predator@cat.org.au IRC: International Relay Chat. Indochina Rubber Company 8-) URL(s):http: www.cat.org.au, www.caveclan.org/sydney slashdot.org www.infiltration.org air.net.au www.fravia.org - Introduce yourself to the readers of the Damage, INC. Newsletter... This body was born without its consent in the winter of 1971. After about the first twenty years of its expected life were flushed down the toilet in school and church, suddenly an emergent entity - me - took control of its onboard neural net, and this emergent entity - - is the personality who is communicating to you. Welcome to the - a multitasking parallel-processing mindspace embedded in a typical H.sapiens mammalian meatware platform. The universe is a free playground, despite the fact that governments would ban you from it, corporations would make you pay to use it and religions would like you to feel guilty for existing within it. Certain parts of this playground, particularly information infrastructure (computers and networks) appeal to me. Since it took me some time to get at the computers (I had to wait until the Net appeared before they became really accessible) I explored the only enclosing network I could freely infiltrate, which was the "floodwater routing table" - the stormwater drainage system. I have interests in other things too, as will become clear later in the rant. - How did you become involved in underground exploration/casual trespassing? What makes it interesting? I jumped my first chainwire fence when I was about eight, chasing a tennis ball into a drain. Hmmm... where does this go? It was a jump over the first of many similar fences - access barriers - most of which had been trained into my neural net as a part of something called "upbringing." It seems there was a lot of "don't ask", "don't enter" and "don't look" signage around my existence. I eventually noticed a correlation between such signs and cool stuff well worth the effort of exploration. It was at this moment that almost *anything* prohibited became worthy of exploration. I refer not only to thought processes but also to physical locations. Trespass became not only my right, but a duty to my self, a required part of my personal development. Drain exploration, dumpster diving, reading lots of books, turning off the local traffic lights at night to see what happened, net surfing, low-level geekery - these were all natural extension of this curiosity. Drains were easily accessible, they cut across the artificial grids imposed on the landscape by the road system for the ever-expanding urban sprawl, took me to weird places I'd never previously seen or even thought about. They tended to follow old rivers which had totally been eliminated from sight and thought by urban development. They didn't pay any homage to things on The Top, they just went where they went, had strange shapes and rooms and exits in unexpected and funny places. - What types of interesting things have you seen or found while exploring drains and other places that most people avoid going? Excellent rooms, shafts, slides, grilles with big waves pounding at them sending shock waves up the drain... weird architecture, waterfalls, sometimes abandoned booty from burglary. It varies tremendously. I didn't expect to find Thoreau's "Duty of Civil Disobedience" in texta, deep inside a drain in Canberra. I sometimes find people living in some of these abandoned spaces, squirreled away; just minding their own business and quite sensibly avoiding the great rental industry ripoff and being called criminals for having the gall to squat. That's just the drains. Other places, like abandoned hospitals, power stations, grain silos, large airconditioning ducts, reservoirs - these have large weird machinery which intrigues me, sometimes I find myself faced by what amounts to an alien artifact : "What the _fuck_ does *this* thing do when it's turned on??" For instance, it once took me little while to figure out that the, uhmmm, intergalactic starship bridge I was looking at was, actually, a disused transmission electron microscope. - What's the strangest thing you've found, or most memorable experience you've had since you began? Hmmm... there's a _large_ dam which supplies the parasite contaminated drinking water to this city. It also has a small hydroelectric power station in one of its abutments. The station is only small, couple of megawatts or so. However, the head of pressure is HUGE so the feed pipe (called the penstock) to the turbine conch is similarly massive, say about 15ft diameter, two-inch-thick steel. I was in this once, walked along it to the MONSTROUSLY BIG vertical-axis butterfly valve just before the conch inlet to the blades, and then into the spiral where the water is forced into the turbine at high pressure. From the cellular level up, every warning light, fear-response, danger-mode signal in my entire body was telling me to GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE NOW. I knew that an accidental opening of the inlets would turn me into a fine aerosol without even a flicker on the instrument meters. No, I wasn't authorized to be there. This episode is carved deeply into my frontal lobe. - Are there many people involved in your scene? Are the numbers growing or diminishing? Are most of the veterans still around and actively involved? Yeah, both undergrounds (trespass and geek). Of course I don't see all of them, a lot of stuff goes on without me having any part in its logistical organization. That's the way it ought to be, I think, people do it 'cos they want to, not because they are being told to do it. It's distributed, non-heirachical and spontaneous, what Chomsky would call an anarchosyndicate. People sometimes find the Clan after years of doing their _own_ urban exploration. There's more people in Sydney Cave Clan than there was when I spawned it, about twenty hard-core urban space explorers, plus several less committed people, and it's increasing. Most of the oldies still get underground occasionally, although some of the pioneers have gone on to get mortgaged and religious or whatever, which curtails their mobility to varying extents. - What has been your experience with workers from the various maintenance departments that you've encountered during expeditions? We generally explore at times when we expect maintenance staff to be well clocked-off and getting pissed at the pub, like midnight. Then, nightlife tends to be (quoting myself) `unintelligent pest organisms like moths and security guards'. Avoiding being intercepted by other people is high on my list of requirements for a successful mission. Nevertheless we do have run-ins. A bunch of explorers from Adelaide were doing a drain called Transgrinder with me in about 1995. The only access is a heavy concrete manhole lid. We usually leave it open with traffic cones around it. Anyway while we were underground we heard the "thud" of the cover closing, so we went up the shaft and tried again and again to open it from below, with no success. Eventually one of us made a desperate effort and popped it open. There was a fat-gutted security guard there telling us all that we had to piss off. We told him how stupidly behaved he had been - effectively trapping us in the drain - and he said he'd do it again and *stand on the cover too*, if necessary. What a fucknuckle. On the other hand, we have met people on night shift, bored out of their minds and, grateful for the scintillating intellectual company, they want to show us around their trespass-designated workplace 8-) - Which groups and zines are out there that have material related to this type of exploration? Most of the sites on the urban exploration web ring have this sort of stuff. Il Draino occasionally releases drain location lists and Urbex probably will too, but you can't grep paper. In half-A4 photocopy format, there's Infiltration, which is very well produced; Sydney Cave Clan's Urbex is still to mature but is very promising. Il Draino, geez... it's been coming out for about a decade now, it's pretty idiosyncratic. For example one of the editions is only one page long; the explanation is in the headline... "OUR COPIER IS FUCKED". Freedom of the press belongs to those who own a photocopier, but only when it works, I guess. - Which web sites do you usually frequent? Slashdot, news for geeks. I lurk in some of the newsgroups, posting occasionally in alt.drugs.chemistry. I'm partly involved in maintaining cat.org.au, which is a nonprofit community-oriented community ISP in Enmore, so I log in there a lot 8-) ... ah, and also node52.asgard.aus.tm an old favourite BBS. Also some of the 2.4GHz microwave LAN / linux etherboot stuff from air.net.au - I hate that Tel$tra corporation now owns the bandwidth that the taxpayers paid for, and are selling ISDN and other bandwidth for such a ripoff rate, so I'm looking to implement ways around it. - Do you want to share any other memorable experiences? Blowing a two-ton picrite boulder into small chunks with half a stick of AN-60 gelignite... ever since, fireworks just don't cut the mustard. The Freedom Arms calibre-50 pistol is a convenient, if less precise, substitute. Looking at my own semen under a microscope, seeing the happy little wrigglers thrashing about at 200 power magnification and thinking "that's my code". Finding a Melbourne Cave Clan sticker in a stormwater canal in Carss Park and thinking "there are others who do this?" Reading chapter 10 of "The Selfish Gene" and realizing I finally had the tools to immunize my own brain against so much of the virulent ideological crap one is exposed to when trying to grow up in a western consumer society. Try it. - Have you ever been arrested? Or, do you know anyone that's been busted? If so, would you like to describe the event, the circumstances of the bust and the conclusion? I've successfully avoided cop-based Lore Enforcement. I call it Lore because that's basically what the Law actually is - folk guidelines written by the minstrels in courts and Parliament, mainly constructed to "protect" their amassed property from the majority of people who haven't got much. Trespass laws are no exception to this. I used to associate cops with bad news, and I still do, but I don't hate them any more. I realize that they are simply the 'droids, meat in the sandwich between the undemocratic few who write the laws and the masses upon whom these laws are inflicted. I pity them, both the poor hollow robots and also the few intelligent ones trapped into remaining cops by things like financial circumstance. It seems their position is, "Why have your own life and think your own thoughts when you can simply be infected by a comfortable belief system which will do these things on your behalf and even get you paid for hosting it?" Now, off my high horse and back in the gutter where I belong; Malicious vandalism isn't our go, we're mainly interested in giving the public access to public works. We do sometimes chase up "location" rumours fairly, uh, vigorously. Locks, fences and similar stupidities are sometimes errrm... spatially reconfigured. I know a few of the people from the big Bankstown Bunker expo bust, who were forced down and held face down on the ground at gunpoint by the Bankstown cops and a few gents from the Army. A bunch of Clan people and some associates from Bunker Boyz were in this abandoned underground military bunker, sledge-hammering away in the dark of night trying to find a rumoured shaft to rumoured levels below. The thumping was heard by the residents who live in the houses which were built on top of the old bunker in the 1980's. They called the cops, the cops called the grunts, and the cops and mil-heads were too fat to wriggle into the bunker, so they just waited till people came out, then arrested them. The explorers found it very traumatic. Howie didn't go underground for years afterwards. It turned out that the people who summoned the cops didn't even press charges. I think there's a newspaper clipping scanned in at www.caveclan.org/sydney about it. - Do you want to mention any people in the underground scene that you know? The scene is pretty lame these days. Wanna do something? Don't figure it out, go rip a script, run a 'bot. Zzzzz. Fravia's pages of reverse engineering are down now, mainly due to too many gits logging in and asking "how do I rip off this software" rather than learning, say, how to crank up Softice and emulate a dongle, so that won't improve matters. The scene is crawling with newbies in much the same way as all the BBSs were suddenly choked with modems owned by clueless gits immediately after Wargames was screened in the nineteen-eighties. In the physical realm, it's different. There is no substitute for being there in person, you have to pop the manholes yourself; we make a lot of custom equipment, like manhole keys, to help hack open the tunnels. I was on The Web BBS for about ten years, back when a fast modem did 1200/75, and when the 1MHz (no plural there) 65C02 microprocessor was still available at Dick Smith Electronics. Yes, I'm that old. The stuff I used to burn cycles on was a neato game called RobotWars by the Sysop there, Spyder, who now is some sort of overpaid systems analyst for the American Expre$$ (don't leave home with it) Corp or someone like that. RobotWars was an all text (!) battlefield simulator, you had two hundred instructions of code space in which to write a "robot" which would cruise around a 35 x 35 grid looking for some other dude's encoded robot, which your robot would try to kill. The instruction set was all machine-codey, there was a bunch of registers and logical operations and I'd code up in such a way as I hoped would find the other robot and kill it first. They ought to have it in university programming courses, I have not seen anything as addictive for ages. Well, maybe there's Total Annihilation but you need Lozedows to play that, so I don't. Rwars hooked two of my interests, Darwinian selection and machine language programming. The dude with the tightest, fastest code (best programming skills) won the series. There were a couple of interesting things that emerged from that, you had enough registers that you could implement learning in the 'bot, although in a crude way, during a battle of twenty thousand executed instructions. Like the 'bot could haul itself into a corner if it decided it was getting too damaged, and defend that corner until the battle ran out of cycles. You could implement adaptive scanning for the other bot's position, but it was hard to pack into that mere 200 instructions. Yeah, that was all done over a 1200/75. Slow, but less messy than the robot wars the dudes now wage with physically real robots which cruise around trying to cut up or otherwise destroy someone else's 'bot, and which are remotely controlled (and not autonomous, the wusses.) I used to ring Zenith in Adelaide, No Exit in Melbourne, read all the (uppercase) text files, accidentally post shit to weird places on FidoNet via Paragon BBS in Rockdale, flame religious people. I still telnet to Asgard sometimes, chat to the dudes there, some of them even have a clue about something other than how to point'n'click, a rare thing since the WinDoze gui lowered the number of brain cells you needed to have before you could use a computer. I still like PRiCk mag, used to read BoRE... Sylphe (an old warez router) opened my eyes to the zero-day scene but couldn't be bothered looking, I never gave a shit about ultra-fresh warez and thought the people who did needed a heavy dose of laxatives... the scene was full of clueless posturing teenagers who wouldn't know an interrupt if you shoved one up their arse. On the tunnel exploration side, yeah... Trioxide for excellent pages, ///Siologen for photonics and Dr Prussik for his excellent SRT technique. Diode showed me some great places, and rectifified some of my daemons. Hi also to Edgar the EPROM-burning beast from Hawthorne - more cyberpunks have grey hair then the www-kiddies would know, eh? Also, shouts to the subversive electrosynthetic organic reduction research chemists at The Lycaeum. We should be able to hack our own neural nets if we so desire, and these dudes provide us with the molecular know-how to do so if we choose, bans on precursors be fucked. - Are there any words of advice or general comments that you have and wish to share? Hmmm. "Andy Warhol got it wrong, fifteen minutes is too long." -TISM 8-) "Software is woven into just about every aspect of our lives now. When software becomes free then you remove a division in society between people who are rich and people who are not." (predator, 1999) This is true of the stuff we run in our biological cells - genes, and also the software we run in our brains - our personalities. It is important to stop fooling yourself that you are happy to live in the cage you have been trained from birth to exist within, if you have not done so already. So turn off the television, spamfilter the .com pages, and remember how to think about stuff. On a dumbed-down planet, it's the most subversive act imaginable. Remember your dependance on earth's information, energy and resource infrastructure. Oh, and to quote an old Clan sticker : QUESTION AUTHORITY - GO IN DRAINS. (I'll leave my rant about biotechnology and how clueless we are at it for later. Suffice to say that a little knowledge is a very dangerous, in fact catastrophically dangerous thing.) Kind Regards:

- Thanks for agreeing to be interviewed Predator. I appreciate the fact that you took the time to answer these questions. I'm sure this interview will benefit our readers, especially the ones that are already interested in this type of exploring. Shout outs go from everyone in Damage, INC. to the entire Cave Clan crew. Keep exploring the underworld man. ;) This concludes another interview of a unique individual. Alias: Goldeneye Group(s): Just one, WraithTech Age: Early thirties, yeah, I'm an old guy!!! Hahahaha!!!! Country: U.S., at least for a little while longer, I have friends in Europe and I plan to go "international" soon. Description: Most say I am a mini Schwarzenegger, hahahaha. I am not overly built but I am in shape, real intense and if locked in a room with only one door and no windows, would find a way out! Interests: Gadgets and tools for surveillance, and cheap ways to make them, doing what many label as "the impossible", programming, video production, computer security, skip tracing, making my own keys for locks from scratch, chemicalizations, lab work, offshore banking, foreign countries, Civil rights, and more! Music: Classic rock, and 80's stuff, Stones, Clapton, Psychedelic Furs, Billy Idol, David and David, Dan Reed Network, Santana and more!! Movies: Die Hard, Blues Brothers, Three Musketeers, Johnny Handsome, The Magnificent Seven, The Warriors, True Lies, Sword and The Sorcerer, The Saint, The Matrix, Reservoir Dogs, El Mariachi, Desperado, Assassins, Shaft (shut yo mouth!) Cop Land, The Longest Yard, Stick, An Innocent Man. Books: Tom Clancy novels, Robert Ludlum, John Grisham, Sherlock Holmes Novels. Email: goldeneye@coolmail.net or goldeneye@wraithtech.zzn.com IRC: Hate it!!! Never!! URL(s): www.wraithtech.zzn.com, www.copkiller.org, www.movieflix.com, www.phonelosers.org, www.broadcast.com, www.scour.net, www.audiofind.com, www.winfiles.com - Introduce yourself to the readers of the Damage, INC. Newsletter... Basics: To put it briefly, I am a 30 year old juvenille who has not grown up, when you "grow up" you get old, I am responsible but wild. I have no fear and take the chances that most people dream of. I am no superhero but I will fight evil in any form on any front. Unlike most people, I am not afraid to take the unpopular route if it is for something I believe in. - How and when was Wraith Tech Industries formed? What are the goals and purpose of it? I founded WraithTech about two years ago (wow, been that long?!?!?) to create a network of people with various skills and strengths as a team of specialists, like the X-men but just not mutants, hahahaaa. WraithTech as it is now was not how it originally started out. Originally it started as GWC Labs. GWC stood for goldeneye, Wang and Compudroid. We met on the PLA discussion list and kind of gravitated toward each other. Wang or Zehrwang, was a fierce dude with attitude and style and I liked that. Compudroid had great ideas that bordered on genius. Wang was the social engineering master, so I felt if we all pulled our resources we could create a tight little group that would come up with some great ideas, concepts or hacks. Not too far into it, Compudroid wanted out. He was not as serious as I had hoped he would be but Wang was, so I approached Wang and told him I wanted to create a real working group and that I wanted him. He signed on and then we got a few recruits and it went from there. The personnel roster has changed alot, some members we lost, some we had to dismiss but overall the core group has stuck together. When I say core group I refer to certain people who no matter what are the center of the group and those are Wang, Nevarmore, Mr. Wick, Tekno and Aftermath. Now as far as hacking, I am not a hacker. I only wish I was but I have not reached that level of skill or patience. As far as phreaking, I am a basic redbox kind of guy, I just like to tinker and find out why something works or what makes it work. I found out about phreaking from a BBS I used to call called Temple of The Screaming Electron where the motto was, "Raw data for raw nerves". I like the concept and idea of the site and I would download as many text files as I could until one day I stumbled upon some PLA issues. I had never been on the internet just BBS's so I had no idea of who the PLA was. My first issue I read was about the Dino Allsman thing and I was hooked!!! I wanted to be like that!! From my point of view a phreaker is nothing more than a high tech con man and I liked the concept of that, how one man, with the right tools could be very powerful. I emailed Redboxchilipepper several times cause at the end of the issues of PLA there was always an email address but I would always get the "this email address is not valid". I did not actually contact him until almost 6 months of reading my first PLA issue. When I did contact him I needed his help bad and although he did not know me well he taught me what I needed to know to make a move I needed to make. It was wild. So WraithTech was formed from my associations on the PLA list. Mr. Wick came up with "Wraith" from a video game he used to play religiously and I came up with "Tech". If you want to know what a wraith is then you will have to look it up in the dictionary to see. We are hoping WraithTech will become a future force in the software arena, we are working on all types of programs, all of which will be original. We have gotten away from the "hacker/phreaker" persona cause it was bad for business to be known as a "hacker" group per se. So we have tried to take Wraith in other directions so as to open up new opportunities for us. Wraith is now concentrating as a whole on programming. I am in the middle of learning Java and Nevar and Wang are already pretty good programmers, so this is where we are going. We want to create all types of software for special types of situations and people. - How has the group changed and evolved since its creation? People have asked me about the changes in WraithTech and yes the group has changed alot from the old days. We have toned down a bit but that is only cause we are really taking some things serious and really working hard on some things. I mean like Wang is working on this movie, Nevar is working in the labs on stuff and I am experimenting with Java. We want to be around for years to come and hope to really serve the public with useful info and programs. Our membership has fluctuated alot too. We once had a girl in the crew and she was good too but things changed and she left the group. We had to remove a member for violating a security policy and that got messy cause he then got real childish about it. It has been tough, the jealous people, those that have tried to hack their way into our personal lives. The scrutiny and more. Being in this group is tough but it has its rewards. - What types of things can be found on Wraith Tech's web site? On our website you can find all types of things, mostly information. How to type of stuff and some small programs. In the future there will be more Wraith made software as this is just become a new division within the group. We have alot of multimedia content on the site too, many people do not have time to read a text file so we occasionally put up small instuctional videos on how to make this or that item. It's a full service site with more to come. Hell, we even show movies on our site!! - Which of Wraith Tech's releases stands out in your mind, and why? The one release that stands out in my mind? Well there are a few, Wang's first single was a big hit in South America, I could not believe it!! Here I am getting email from Argentina from a guy who downloaded Wang's song and burned it to disk and then gave it to a local DJ and it was being bootlegged all over, that was a riot and made us feel good. We have a German counterpart group that we are linked to and some of the new stuff on their site was nice to see, they emulate alot of what we do but with a German flair, hahahaa. I think the thing I am most proud of about Wraith is when I found out some of the people that regular our site. I mean we were getting people from Oracle and other name companies checking us out and contacting us on a private level about security things. - What types of articles and information can we look forward to seeing on Wraith Tech in the future? In the near future you can look forward to seeing articles about exploits that we discover. Or little tricks you can do with Java, and some how to stuff that will really blow your minds. - How do you think Wraith Tech is viewed by the majority of visitors to your site? I have been asked alot what I think other people think about us and that is hard to say. I mean many people look at our group and say, "why are they so known, they haven't done anything? They have not done any hacks or really good phreaks" but the thing is some of our best work is not known to the public and that kind of pisses me off. For some issues of security we sometimes cannot say who we have done work for, so when people say we have not done anything it bothers me cause we do not openly get the credit for what we do behind the scenes. I mean for example, we were the only outside group contacted by Cisco Systems to do some beta testing work for their new communication center. No one outside the group knows this. But we worked for Cisco on a special project. I can talk about it now cause the Cisco project is now done and set but then we were under strict secrecy. Most of it was because the new Cisco system was not patented but we were the only group called upon for the project. We did not get paid but we got alot of other stuff from Cisco in return for our help and it looks good on your resume to say you helped refine a Cisco Systems Operation. We did work for Paltalk also, some low level design and beta testing but due to feelings regarding the security of Paltalk we discontinued our relationship with them. That is the bad part of being in WraithTech, sometimes you work on stuff that you will never openly get credit for. It takes its toll on the group but we try to keep each other up. - What do you think of the current h/p scene, and in your opinion how has it changed since you began? Also, what's the status of the local h/p scene in your NPA? The hack/phreak scene as I see it has changed alot. It is now trendy to say you are a "hacker" and that is irritating. It has gotten so commercial and overblown with Defcon and all it is just disappointing. I mean Defcon started out being about real hackers coming to share ideas and hacks, now it is full of feds trying to learn shit so they can keep their pathetic jobs. There are very few hackers really left. People say Mitnick was the last great hacker, well in truth he was not that, he was a "jacker" meaning someone who liked to hijack systems and info. That is a Wraith word we came up with for it, jackers. Then there are movies like "Hackers" which in theory are true but not in priniciple and these types of things end up influencing people in the wrong way. I really wish a movie would come along that would redefine what a hacker is and really give birth to a whole new wave of phreakers and hackers. - What has been your experience with telco employees as a whole? I like to talk to the telco guys when they come out to my house, sometimes you can really get alot of info from them if you begin the conversation right. That is how I learned about the number to call to test your line and find out the number. I have also learned about some other little stuff from just talking to them, it is the operators I hate. The people at the fone companies I hate in general. They are usually rude, snobby, and arrogant. - Do you read any h/p related zines? If so, please list a few of the ones that you read and respect. As far as reading any zines go I do not read to many of them cause by the time you get it the tricks in the zines they are telling you about the fone company has caught on to and there is nothing more diappointing than wanting to try a trick only to find out it no longer works. - Which h/p groups, if any, do you respect? As far as groups go, I have looked at many but like only a few. I like some groups like DarkLight, Section 6. Spying Gudi, he makes a really cool remote administration tool that to me is better than Back Orifice because you do not need to know the marks IP address to spy on his computer. I like Damage of course cause you guys are low key but cool, not about hype but fact. Cyberarmy is ok but they are too, "I will tell the cops on you if you ask me how to hack" and that is way uncool. I hate cops and anyone who will run to the man. - Which web sites do you usually frequent? My favorite sites to haunt are neworder.box.sk, very cool site that has it all. Some of the crack sites and TL security. There are many sites out there, in fact anybody can have a site but it is hard to know the good stuff from the crap, like Parse is crap. Hype and trendiness, but thesync.com has geek tv which is good, and accurate so I go there alot for short video tutorials on stuff like how to make a wearable computer for under 1000 bux. - Do you want to share any memorable hacking/phreaking related experiences? I think the most memorable thing that has gone down in WraithTech is when we were asked to find this particular person who skipped out on court and the judge said if he were not found in a specific time the case would have to be dropped, we found this person but how we did it was like something out of mission impossible, split second timing and alot of pressure but we got them to court, but we did get a bit of credit for it as our name came up in testimony on the stand. - Have you ever been busted? Or, do you know anyone that's been busted? If so, would you like to describe the event, the circumstances of the bust and the conclusion? I have never been busted myself for any scams or for phreaks but Danny did, for taping a conversation between some cops. That tape wreaked alot of havoc for awhile, the cops did all they could do to get it and Danny wound up in jail for a few days. The cop was asked to resign cause the content of the tape was pretty damning. It was a good day when we took that cop down, he was corrupt as most cops in the Bay Area are and he deserved it. We are working on another cop now, this asshole deserves it. So our site is occasionally seen by cops and they hate me and Danny but hey, the moral of the story is, just cause you have some tin plated badge that makes you think you can get away with anything does not always mean you should try it with everyone. Some people are not afraid and will fight you in court or however. I am not a very well liked man by the local PD but I say it like NWA says, "fuck the police"!!! - Do you want to mention any boards that you call or people in the scene that you know? I would like to send a shout out to: Redboxchilipeper for being patient with all my questions, Syko for being objective, my team at Wraith Tech, you guys are the best!!! Spying Gudi for listening, those on the mailing list for being cool, the groupies who have been down with us, Eclyse, the homies on the PLA list, Raphy and our German counterparts--einfach!!! Sara my little sister--"why him?" Dan Reed Network--for making cool hacker music, my crew in Chicago--I want my apartment back!, the dudes in Sao Paulo--keep waiting, it will come, Sulcata--come back to us homey, Zack at the Spy Shop for the gear and ideas, Tai Pan for getting us into Cisco-- thanks for the trust, She at Oracle--can I have a palm pilot?, the infoguys at www.infoguys.com for the tricks of the trade, my brother jojo--dad says bring the movie back or else, the "D" Block crew in San Quentin State Prison--for the knowledge and ideas, Eric B.--for telling me how voicemail really works, my girl --pure beauty, Fred Smith---wherever you are, cactus, Bum Rap Inc., shittalker program--saving me in a jam and all the nice people who have sent email and faxes, thank you!!! - Thanks for agreeing to be interviewed Goldeneye. I have respect for you and Wraith Tech. Hopefully we'll be able to collaborate on some projects in the future, as we've discussed. That is, once I finally have some spare time. Anyways, keep up the good work man. Send me a few freebies (ahem, Cisco routers) and stay in touch. ;) This concludes another quality interview. Alias: Helena3 Group: Damage, INC. Age: 18+ Country: Canada Description: hacker, phreak, telephone enthusiast, technophile, audiophile, conversationalist, spontaneous, fiesty, girl. Gender: Female Interests: I absolutely love meeting new people, talking on the phone, learning new things, seeking and amassing knowledge, using technology to my advantage, writing, and sharing information and things I've found and know with others. Email: damage_inc@disinfo.net, helena3@antisocial.com (my old address) IRC: Blech. None for me. URL(s): http://surf.to/damage_inc - Introduce yourself to the readers of the Damage, INC. Newsletter... Hi everyone. I'm known as Helena3, and have been for several years. It isn't my first alias, but it will probably be my last since this is what I'm known as to so many people now. There's a little stor