The Guide - VSNL Alert!: Hacking at VSNL

Hacking at VSNL

	Introduction: Guidelines which will safeguard your system
	Cracker/Hacker controls a user's system by sending a file through ICQ
	Social Hacking
	Hacking the computer system by the use of cookies
	Chat with a VSNL Cracker

VSNL Alert!: Hacking at VSNL
Hacking the computer system by the use of cookies

by Raj Mehta, Bruce Gingery and Peter Doshi

Date: Sun, 25 Oct 1998 20:43:30 +0530
From: Elided <elided@elided.vsnl.net.in>
Reply-To: elided@elided.vsnl.net.in
Organization: this place designs
X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.03 (Macintosh; I; PPC)
MIME-Version: 1.0
To: "Dr. Raj Mehta"
Subject: Caution

If you receive a mail from Web Journalist do not
(repeat) go to VSNL Hacker Online. The guy hacks your
password. If you do do not allow him to set a cookie.
You will regret. Pass the message to all you know.

Elided

X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express for Macintosh - 4.01 (297)
Date: Tue, 27 Oct 1998 21:34:08 +0530
Subject: Re: Caution
From: Elided <elided@elided.vsnl.net.in>
To: "Dr. Raj Mehta"

Hello Dr. Mehta,

Well it was not really difficult to see how the cookie made a difference. First the location and the server were not mentioned in the cookie file. As a matter of fact over a period of time I have learnt to find out which cookie belongs to which server. Second thing as I tried to change my password with VSNL, I could not. The cookie file has a javascript as I figure it to be, and it prevents in some way from changing to new password. After I deleted the cookie file changing my password was a matter of few seconds. Thank you for reminding me that I should not download files sent as attachments unless I know the person sending it. Luckily I am on a Mac and not many people are malicious or have the time to write programs that can affect us but then again lots of my friends are on the PC and I don't know how to help them. Probably VSNL at its end could stop mails that are sent to addresses like alluser@bom5.vsnl.net.in. This should only be the domain of VSNL. It might help in decreasing spam mail. There are so many of the stuff just mailed across. Moreover it is a good practice to subscribe only to those sites who do not sell the mail addresses.

Hope our experiences can be shared with all the people in some format. It is high time that we have Internet conferences held by IUCI and VSNL or any ISP proposing to be to make people aware of such vicious acts.

Will get back to you again.
Regards

Elided

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