___________________________________________________________

GUIDE TO (mostly) HARMLESS HACKING

Beginners’ Series #2, Section 3.

Hacking from Windows 3.x, 95 and NT
____________________________________________________________

This lesson will tell you how, armed with even the lamest of on-line
services such as America Online and the Windows 95 operating system, you can
do some fairly serious Internet hacking -- today!

In this lesson we will learn how to:

· Use secret Windows 95 DOS commands to track down and port surf computers
used by famous on-line service providers.
· Telnet to computers that will let you use the invaluable hacker tools of
whois,  nslookup, and dig.
· Download hacker tools such as port scanners and password crackers designed
for use with Windows.
· Use Internet Explorer to evade restrictions on what programs you can run
on your school or work computers.

Yes, I can hear jericho and Rogue Agent and all the other Super Duper
hackers on this list laughing. I’ll bet already they have quit reading this
and are furiously emailing me flames and making phun of me in 2600 meetings.
Windows hacking? Pooh!

Tell seasoned hackers that you use Windows and they will laugh at you.
They’ll tell you to go away and don’t come back until you’re armed with a
shell account or some sort of Unix on your PC. Actually, I have long shared
their opinion. Shoot, most of the time hacking from Windoze is like using a
1969 Volkswagon to race against a dragster using one of VP Racing’s
high-tech fuels.

But there actually is a good reason to learn to hack from Windows. Some of
your best tools for probing and manipulating Windows networks are found only
on Windows NT. Furthermore, with Win 95 you can practice the Registry
hacking that is central to working your will on Win NT servers and the
networks they administer.

In fact, if you want to become a serious hacker, you eventually will have to
learn Windows. This is because Windows NT is fast taking over the Internet
from Unix. An IDC report projects that the Unix-based Web server market
share will fall from the 65% of 1995 to only 25% by the year 2000. The
Windows NT share is projected to grow to 32%.  This weak future for Unix Web
servers is reinforced by an IDC report reporting that market share of all
Unix systems is now falling at a compound annual rate of decline of -17% for
the foreseeable future, while Windows NT is growing in market share by 20%
per year. (Mark Winther, “The Global Market for Public and Private Internet
Server Software,” IDC #11202, April 1996, 10, 11.)

So if you want to keep up your hacking skills, you’re going to have to get
wise to Windows. One of these days we’re going to be sniggering at all those
Unix-only hackers.

Besides, even poor, pitiful Windows 95 now can take advantage of  lots of
free hacker tools that give it much of the power of Unix.

Since this is a beginners’ lesson, we’ll go straight to the Big Question:
“All I got is AOL and a Win 95 box. Can I still learn how to hack?”

Yes, yes, yes!

The secret to hacking from AOL/Win 95 -- or from any on-line service that
gives you access to the World Wide Web -- is hidden in Win 95’s MS-DOS (DOS
7.0).

DOS 7.0 offers several Internet tools, none of which are documented in
either the standard Windows or DOS help features. But you’re getting the
chance to learn these hidden features today.

So to get going with today’s lesson, use AOL or whatever lame on-line
service you may have and make the kind of connection you use to get on the
Web (this will be a PPP or SLIP connection). Then minimize your Web browser
and prepare to hack! Next, bring up your DOS window by clicking Start, then
Programs, then MS-DOS.

For best hacking I’ve found it easier to use DOS in a window with a task bar
which allows me to cut and paste commands and easily switch between Windows
and DOS programs. If your DOS comes up as a full screen, hold down the Alt
key while hitting enter, and it will go into a window. Then if you are
missing the task bar, click the system menu on the left side of the DOS
window caption and select Toolbar.

Now you have the option of  eight TCP/IP utilities to play with: telnet,
arp, ftp, nbtstat, netstat, ping, route, and tracert.

Telnet is the biggie. You can also access the telnet program directly from
Windows. But while hacking you may need the other utilities that can only be
used from DOS, so I like to call telnet from DOS.

With the DOS telnet you can actually port surf almost as well as from a Unix
telnet program. But there are several tricks you need to learn in order to
make this work.

First, we’ll try out logging on to a strange computer somewhere. This is a
phun thing to show your friends who don’t have a clue because it can scare
the heck out them. Honest, I just tried this out on a neighbor. He got so
worried that when he got home he called my husband and begged him to keep me
from hacking his work computer!

To do this (I mean log on to a strange computer, not scare your neighbors)
go to the DOS prompt C:\WINDOWS> and give the command “telnet.” This brings
up a telnet screen. Click on Connect, then click Remote System.

This brings up a box that asks you for “Host Name.” Type
“whois.internic.net” into this box. Below that it asks for “Port” and has
the default value of “telnet.” Leave in “telnet” for the port selection.
Below that is a box for “TermType.”  I recommend picking VT100 because,
well, just because I like it best.

The first thing you can do to frighten your neighbors and impress your
friends is a “whois.” Click on Connect and you will soon get a prompt that
looks like this:

[vt100]InterNIC>

Then ask your friend or neighbor his or her email address. Then at this
InterNIC prompt, type in the last two parts of your friend’s email address.
For example, if the address is “luser@aol.com,” type in “aol.com.”

Now I’m picking AOL for this lesson because it is really hard to hack.
Almost any other on-line service will be easier. 

For AOL we get the answer:

[vt100] InterNIC > whois aol.com
Connecting to the rs Database . . . . . .
Connected to the rs Database
America Online (AOL-DOM)
   12100 Sunrise Valley Drive
   Reston, Virginia 22091
   USA

   Domain Name: AOL.COM

   Administrative Contact:
      O'Donnell, David B  (DBO3)  PMDAtropos@AOL.COM
      703/453-4255 (FAX) 703/453-4102
   Technical Contact, Zone Contact:
      America Online  (AOL-NOC)  trouble@aol.net
      703-453-5862
   Billing Contact:
      Barrett, Joe  (JB4302)  BarrettJG@AOL.COM
      703-453-4160 (FAX) 703-453-4001

   Record last updated on 13-Mar-97.
   Record created on 22-Jun-95.

   Domain servers in listed order:

   DNS-01.AOL.COM               152.163.199.42
   DNS-02.AOL.COM               152.163.199.56
   DNS-AOL.ANS.NET              198.83.210.28

These last three lines give the names of some computers that work for
America Online (AOL). If we want to hack AOL, these are a good place to start. 

*********************************
Newbie note: We just got info on three “domain name servers” for AOL.
“Aol.com” is the domain name for AOL, and the domain servers are the
computers that hold information that tells the rest of the Internet how to
send messages to AOL computers and email addresses.
*********************************
*********************************
Evil genius tip: Using your Win 95 and an Internet connection, you can run a
whois query from many other computers, as well. Telnet to your target
computer’s port 43 and if it lets you get on it, give your query. 
Example: telnet to nic.ddn.mil, port 43. Once connected type “whois
DNS-01.AOL.COM,” or whatever name you want to check out. However, this only
works on computers that are running the whois service on port 43. 
Warning: show this trick to your neighbors and they will really be
terrified. They just saw you accessing a US military computer! But it’s OK,
nic.ddn.mil is open to the public on many of its ports. Check out its Web
site www.nic.ddn.mil and its ftp site, too -- they are a mother lode of
information that is good for hacking.
*********************************

Next I tried a little port surfing on DNS-01.AOL.COM but couldn’t find any
ports open. So it’s a safe bet this computer is behind the AOL firewall.

**********************************
Newbie note: port surfing means to attempt to access a computer through
several different ports. A port is any way you get information into or out
of a computer. For example, port 23 is the one you usually use to log into a
shell account. Port 25 is used to send email. Port 80 is for the Web. There
are thousands of designated ports, but any particular computer may be
running only three or four ports. On your home computer your ports include
the monitor, keyboard, and modem.
**********************************

So what do we do next? We close the telnet program and go back to the DOS
window. At the DOS prompt we give the command “tracert 152.163.199.42.” Or
we could give the command “tracert DNS-01.AOL.COM.” Either way we’ll get the
same result. This command will trace the route that a message takes, hopping
from one computer to another, as it travels from my computer to this AOL
domain server computer. Here’s what we get:

C:\WINDOWS>tracert 152.163.199.42

Tracing route to dns-01.aol.com [152.163.199.42]
over a maximum of 30 hops:

  1     *        *        *     Request timed out.
  2   150 ms   144 ms   138 ms  204.134.78.201
  3   375 ms   299 ms   196 ms  glory-cyberport.nm.westnet.net [204.134.78.33]
  4   271 ms     *      201 ms  enss365.nm.org [129.121.1.3]
  5   229 ms   216 ms   213 ms  h4-0.cnss116.Albuquerque.t3.ans.net
[192.103.74.45]
  6   223 ms   236 ms   229 ms  f2.t112-0.Albuquerque.t3.ans.net
[140.222.112.221]
  7   248 ms   269 ms   257 ms  h14.t64-0.Houston.t3.ans.net [140.223.65.9]
  8   178 ms   212 ms   196 ms  h14.t80-1.St-Louis.t3.ans.net [140.223.65.14]
  9   316 ms     *      298 ms  h12.t60-0.Reston.t3.ans.net [140.223.61.9]
 10   315 ms   333 ms   331 ms  207.25.134.189
 11     *        *        *     Request timed out.
 12     *        *        *     Request timed out.
 13  207.25.134.189  reports: Destination net unreachable.

What the heck is all this stuff? The number to the left is the number of
computers the route has been traced through. The “150 ms” stuff is how long,
in thousandths of a second, it takes to send a message to and from that
computer. Since a message can take a different length of time every time you
send it, tracert times the trip three times. The “*” means the trip was
taking too long so tracert said “forget it.” After the timing info comes the
name of the computer the message reached, first in a form that is easy for a
human to remember, then in a form -- numbers -- that a computer prefers.

“Destination net unreachable” probably means tracert hit a firewall.

Let’s try the second AOL domain server.

C:\WINDOWS>tracert  152.163.199.56

Tracing route to dns-02.aol.com [152.163.199.56]
over a maximum of 30 hops:

  1     *        *        *     Request timed out.
  2   142 ms   140 ms   137 ms  204.134.78.201
  3   246 ms   194 ms   241 ms  glory-cyberport.nm.westnet.net [204.134.78.33]
  4   154 ms   185 ms   247 ms  enss365.nm.org [129.121.1.3]
  5   475 ms   278 ms   325 ms  h4-0.cnss116.Albuquerque.t3.ans.net [192.103.74.
45]
  6   181 ms   187 ms   290 ms  f2.t112-0.Albuquerque.t3.ans.net [140.222.112.22
1]
  7   162 ms   217 ms   199 ms  h14.t64-0.Houston.t3.ans.net [140.223.65.9]
  8   210 ms   212 ms   248 ms  h14.t80-1.St-Louis.t3.ans.net [140.223.65.14]
  9   207 ms     *      208 ms  h12.t60-0.Reston.t3.ans.net [140.223.61.9]
 10   338 ms   518 ms   381 ms  207.25.134.189
 11     *        *        *     Request timed out.
 12     *        *        *     Request timed out.
 13  207.25.134.189  reports: Destination net unreachable.

Note that both tracerts ended at the same computer named
h12.t60-0.Reston.t3.ans.net. Since AOL is headquartered in Reston, Virginia,
it’s a good bet this is a computer that directly feeds stuff into AOL. But
we notice that h12.t60-0.Reston.t3.ans.net , h14.t80-1.St-Louis.t3.ans.net,
h14.t64-0.Houston.t3.ans.net and Albuquerque.t3.ans.net all have numerical
names beginning with 140, and names that end with “ans.net.” So it’s a good
guess that they all belong to the same company. Also, that “t3” in each name
suggests these computers are routers on a T3 communications backbone for the
Internet.

Next let’s check out that final AOL domain server:

C:\WINDOWS>tracert 198.83.210.28

Tracing route to dns-aol.ans.net [198.83.210.28]
over a maximum of 30 hops:

  1     *        *        *     Request timed out.
  2   138 ms   145 ms   135 ms  204.134.78.201
  3   212 ms   191 ms   181 ms  glory-cyberport.nm.westnet.net [204.134.78.33]
  4   166 ms   228 ms   189 ms  enss365.nm.org [129.121.1.3]
  5   148 ms   138 ms   177 ms  h4-0.cnss116.Albuquerque.t3.ans.net [192.103.74.
45]
  6   284 ms   296 ms   178 ms  f2.t112-0.Albuquerque.t3.ans.net [140.222.112.22
1]
  7   298 ms   279 ms   277 ms  h14.t64-0.Houston.t3.ans.net [140.223.65.9]
  8   238 ms   234 ms   263 ms  h14.t104-0.Atlanta.t3.ans.net [140.223.65.18]
  9   301 ms   257 ms   250 ms  dns-aol.ans.net [198.83.210.28]

Trace complete.

Hey, we finally got all the way through to something we can be pretty
certain is an AOL box, and it looks like it’s outside the firewall! But look
at how the tracert took a different path this time, going through Atlanta
instead of  St. Louis and Reston. But we are still looking at ans.net
addresses with T3s, so this last nameserver is using the same network as the
others.

Now what can we do next to get luser@aol.com really wondering if you could
actually break into his account? We’re going to do some port surfing on this
last AOL domain name server! But to do this we need to change our telnet
settings a bit.

Click on Terminal, then Preferences. In the preferences box you need to
check “Local echo.” You must do this, or else you won’t be able to see
everything that you get while port surfing. For some reason, some of the
messages a remote computer sends to you won’t show up on your Win 95 telnet
screen unless you choose the local echo option. However, be warned, in some
situations everything you type in will be doubled. For example, if you type
in “hello” the telnet screen may show you “heh lelllo o. This doesn’t mean
you mistyped, it just means your typing is getting echoed back at various
intervals.

Now click on Connect, then Remote System. Then enter the name of that last
AOL domain server, dns-aol.ans.net. Below it, for Port choose Daytime. It
will send back to you the day of the week, date and time of day in its time
zone.

Aha! We now know that dns-aol.ans.net is exposed to the world, with at least
one open port, heh, heh.  It is definitely a prospect for further port
surfing. And now your friend is wondering, how did you get something out of
that computer?

******************************
Clueless newbie alert: If everyone who reads this telnets to the daytime
port of this computer, the sysadmin will say “Whoa, I’m under heavy attack
by hackers!!! There must be some evil exploit for the daytime service! I’m
going to close this port pronto!” Then you’ll all email me complaining the
hack doesn’t work. Please, try this hack out on different computers and
don’t all beat up on AOL.
******************************

Now let’s check out that Reston computer. I select Remote Host again and
enter the name h12.t60-0.Reston.t3.ans.net. I try some port surfing without
success. This is a seriously locked down box! What do we do next?

So first we remove that “local echo” feature, then we telnet back to
whois.internic. We ask about this ans.net outfit that offers links to AOL:

[vt100] InterNIC > whois ans.net

Connecting to the rs Database . . . . . .
Connected to the rs Database
ANS CO+RE Systems, Inc. (ANS-DOM)
   100 Clearbrook Road
   Elmsford, NY 10523

   Domain Name: ANS.NET

   Administrative Contact:
      Hershman, Ittai  (IH4)  ittai@ANS.NET
      (914) 789-5337
   Technical Contact:
      ANS Network Operations Center  (ANS-NOC)  noc@ans.net
      1-800-456-6300
   Zone Contact:
      ANS Hostmaster  (AH-ORG)  hostmaster@ANS.NET
      (800)456-6300  fax: (914)789-5310


   Record last updated on 03-Jan-97.
   Record created on 27-Sep-90.

   Domain servers in listed order:

   NS.ANS.NET                   192.103.63.100
   NIS.ANS.NET                  147.225.1.2

Now if you wanted to be a really evil hacker you could call that 800 number
and try to social engineer a password out of somebody who works for this
network. But that wouldn’t be nice and there is nothing legal you can do
with ans.net passwords. So I’m not telling you how to social engineer those
passwords.

Anyhow, you get the idea of how you can hack around gathering info that
leads to the computer that handles anyone’s email.

So what else can you do with your on-line connection and Win 95?

Well... should I tell you about killer ping? It’s a good way to lose your
job and end up in jail. You do it from your Windows DOS prompt. Find the
gory details in the GTMHH Vol.2 Number 3, which is kept in one of our
archives listed at the end of this lesson. Fortunately most systems
administrators have patched things nowadays so that killer ping won’t work.
But just in case your ISP or LAN at work or school isn’t protected, don’t
test it without your sysadmin’s approval!

Then there’s ordinary ping, also done from DOS.  It’s sort of like tracert,
but all it does is time how long a message takes from one computer to
another, without telling you anything about the computers between yours and
the one you ping.

Other TCP/IP commands hidden in DOS include:

· Arp	IP-to-physical address translation tables
· Ftp	File transfer protocol. This one is really lame. Don’t use it. Get a
shareware Ftp program from one of the download sites listed below.
· Nbtstat	Displays current network info -- super to use on your own ISP
· Netstat	Similar to Nbstat
· Route	Controls router tables -- router hacking is considered extra elite.

Since these are semi-secret commands, you can’t get any details on how to
use them from the DOS help menu. But there are help files hidden away for
these commands.

· For arp, nbtstat, ping and route,  to get help just type in the command
and hit enter.
· For netstat you have to give the command “netstat ?” to get help.
· Telnet has a help option on the tool bar.

I haven’t been able to figure out a trick to get help for the ftp command.

Now suppose you are at the point where you want to do serious hacking that
requires commands other than these we just covered, but you don’t want to
use Unix. Shame on you! But, heck, even though I usually have one or two
Unix shell accounts plus Walnut Creek Slackware on my home computer, I still
like to hack from Windows. This is because I’m ornery. So you can be ornery,
too.

So what is your next option for doing serious hacking from Windows?

How would you like to crack Win NT server passwords? Download the free Win
95 program NTLocksmith, an add-on program to NTRecover that allows for the
changing of passwords on systems where the administrative password has been
lost. It is reputed to work 100% of the time. Get both NTLocksmith and
NTRecover -- and lots more free hacker tools -- from http://www.ntinternals.com.

**********************************
You can go to jail warning: If you use NTRecover to break into someone
else’s system, you are just asking to get busted. 
**********************************

How would you like to trick your friends into thinking their NT box has
crashed when it really hasn’t? This prank program can be downloaded from
http://www.osr.com/insider/insdrcod.htm.

*********************************
You can get punched in the nose warning: need I say more?
*********************************

But by far the deadliest hacking tool that runs on Windows can be downloaded
from, guess what?

http://home.microsoft.com

That deadly program is Internet Explorer 3.0. Unfortunately, this program is
even better for letting other hackers break into your home computer and do
stuff like make your home banking program (e.g. Quicken) transfer your life
savings to someone in Afghanistan.

But if you’re aren’t brave enough to run Internet Explorer to surf the Web,
you can still use it to hack your own computer, or other computers on your
LAN. You see, Internet Explorer is really an alternate Windows shell which
operates much like the Program Manager and Windows Explorer that come with
the Win 94 and Win NT operating systems.

Yes, from Internet Explorer you can run any program on your own computer. Or
any program to which you have access on your LAN. 

***********************************
Newbie note: A shell is a program that mediates between you and the
operating system. The big deal about Internet Explorer being a Windows shell
is that Microsoft never told anyone that it was in fact a shell. The
security problems that are plaguing Internet Explorer are mostly a
consequence of it turning out to be a shell. By contrast, the Netscape and
Mosaic Web browsers are not shells. They also are much safer to use.
***********************************

To use Internet Explorer as a Windows shell, bring it up just like you would
if you were going to surf the Web. Kill the program’s attempt to establish
an Internet connection -- we don’t want to do anything crazy, do we? 

Then in the space where you would normally type in the URL you want to surf,
instead type in c:.

Whoa, look at all those file folders that come up on the screen. Look
familiar? It’s the same stuff your Windows Explorer would show you. Now for
fun, click “Program Files” then click “Accessories” then click “MSPaint.”
All of a sudden MSPaint is running. Now paint your friends who are watching
this hack very surprised.

Next close all that stuff and get back to Internet Explorer. Click on the
Windows folder, then click on Regedit.exe to start it up. Export the
password file (it’s in HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT). Open it in Word Pad. Remember,
the ability to control the Registry of a server is the key to controlling
the network it serves. Show this to your next door neighbor and tell her
that you’re going to use Internet Explorer to surf her password files. In a
few hours the Secret Service will be fighting with the FBI on your front
lawn over who gets to try to bust you. OK, only kidding here.

So how can you use Internet Explorer as a hacking tool? One way is if you
are using a computer that restricts your ability to run other programs on
your computer or LAN. Next time you get frustrated at your school or library
computer, check to see if it offers Internet Explorer. If it does, run it
and try entering disk drive names. While C: is a common drive on your home
computer, on a LAN you might get results by putting in R: or Z: or any other
letter of the alphabet.

Next cool hack: try automated port surfing from Windows! Since there are
thousands of possible ports that may be open on any computer, it could take
days to fully explore even just one computer by hand. A good answer to this
problem is the NetCop automated port surfer, which can be found at
http://www.netcop.com/.

Now suppose you want to be able to access the NTFS file system that Windows
NT uses from a Win 95 or even DOS platform? This can be useful if you are
wanting to use Win 95 as a platform to hack an NT system.
http://www.ntinternals.com/ntfsdos.htm offers a program that allows Win 95
and DOS to recognize and mount NTFS drives for transparent access.

Hey, we are hardly beginning to explore all the wonderful Windows hacking
tools out there. It would take megabytes to write even one sentence about
each and every one of them. But you’re a hacker, so you’ll enjoy exploring
dozens more of these nifty programs yourself. Following is a list of sites
where you can download lots of free and more or less harmless programs that
will help you in your hacker career:

ftp://ftp.cdrom.com
ft