[buug] Security Matters and Anti-Matters

Ezekiel Krahlin ezekielk at myrealbox.com
Mon Aug 5 14:07:03 PDT 2002


Speaking as a recently-officialized Highest Order Meatspace Orifice (or HOMO), I realize it is time for me to present a 
blueprint before assuming my newly-assigned duties as Stool Pigeon Xtraordinaire.  

As you know the theme of my blueprint is gay, or queer, liberation...in such a way as to benefit all other oppressed people, 
once everyone on earth learns to respect same-sex love for the decent alternative lifestyle it truly is. My love of the 
PC/hacker underground and/or counterculture--along with handsome homeless intellectual renegades--obviously plays a 
major role in weaving this blueprint (argh, such crap metaphor, I couldn't resist).

I will also very soon become intimately connected with government on all levels. This is in order to disseminate: 

---my trojan horse MeatHack:

I have met many wonderful hackers in the East Bay, who are some of the most patriotic and responsible folks I've ever 
met. So please consider contacting any of them, if our government's electronic security is ever in danger, or in need of 
additional protection or repair. or more superb employees. They have nothing to hide: their real names, e-mail addresses 
and meeting places are all up there on websites open to everyone. And I promise: whomever of these great patriots you 
hire will give you far more "bang for the buck" than you'd ever dream...far overmatching the excellent salary they'll surely 
receive (for such valued and meritorious actions in the face of enemy fire).

To get you started, just log onto the website of the hackers group I founded in Jan. 2000, the "Berkeley Unix User 
Group":

http://www.weak.org/buug/

There, we have links to other hacker-relevant websites, constantly updated calendar of events, and directions to all our 
meeting places. Please go through them, instead of me, for any further needs in the matter of U.S. electronic security...as 
I am already tremendously occupied with liberating our homosexual citizens, which in turn will make our great nation even 
greater.

Sincerely,

Ezekiel J. Krahlin
Gay Activist / Homeless Advocate / U.S. Patriot

---end of my trojan horse MeatHack:

So that will be my tact, which I believe is respectful and productive for both major parties involved. How will I instigate this 
scenario? Likely in this manner:

Living on low income as I do, I always look for the cheapest, dirtiest ISP for as much under $15 as possible. So I found 
"Talent Group Enterprises" (TGE) 

http://www.talentg.com/

for a mere $8!!! They take only electronic payments via credit or check...but you only pay month-by-month. So, they hook 
me up pronto, which pleases me. But then I can't get my e-mail SMTP working properly. This took a few days to discover 
I needed this new "SMTP authentication", so rather than resort to "Outlook", I "looked out" for freeware alternatives, 
and of course found Eudora and Pegasus to be quite up to snuff. (TGE rep. was no help in helping correct my 
situation...did not even tell me where to find a free mail client.)

[Yes, sorry, I bow my head in shame: I am stuck with Windoze because I am a meatspace hacker, not a cyberspace 
hacker, and thus must have a tighter interface with "them", in order to let information pass through my intuitive AC/DC 
converter (analog country/digital country). You have no idea how much disdain and disgust I have for this filthiest of 
jobs...so I'll be SOOOOO happy to finally put an end to this person's war, scrub myself down like an old ship with 
barnacles, and just hang with my best buddy, yours and ours, Commander in Chief, Randolph Louis Taylor (to whom I 
dedicate my entire life, not just webiste). Nonetheless, I'm PROUD to be a grunt, and always WILL be proud. Without us 
digital-to-analog nodes--who needed to excel in Liberal Arts (esp. English, Humanities, and Anthropology) in order to 
facilitate our loyal cyberhackers--you digital geniuses would have a lot tougher row to hoe! But Goddess bless you all for 
your most beautiful minds.] But I digress...

Anyways, TGE had my e-mail working for a while, but then I lost my SMTP ability (claiming wrong name or password), 
even though the password is the same for POP as SMTP. I concluded a worker there was trying to resolve my problem, 
and diddled with my account settings in the wrong way. So I posted back to their support, and before hearing from them 
again, the next day I couldn't even connect using any of my three local S.F. numbers they provide on their websites' list. I 
was able to connect to the web once they hooked me up, despite the e-mail problem. But now, I can't even do that. 

I am now in the fifth day of no success connecting via TGE's ISP. So, using another's account, I logged onto their 
website, without finding any information to clue me in. But they do provide voice phone numbers, like so:

843-667-1465
877-TGROUPE

I called this morning, around 11am, and immediately a woman answered the phone. She was very friendly and 
professional all the way through; I commend this highly. I told her the situation, and explained I believe what's really going 
on...what I just explained in this message; and (maybe even more likely), they are having a problem with the linefeed into 
my region. I told her as a hacker, I am familiar with such glitches, that may have nothing to do with viruses, hackers, 
terrorists, and all that noise. In these times where jobs have become scarce, and companies have had to cut back...it's 
quite usual for an independent ISP to suffer more frequent losses in quality and online time.

I told her that if there is any such problem, and they can't afford to hire the best technician these days...that maybe I can 
help...by referring this company to a hackers group in S.F....via our BUUG site. So if TGE is a small company suffering the 
throes of economic "downsizing", and could appreciate a friendly boost in support by patriotic hackers DEDICATED TO 
THE SECURITY OF AMERICAN CYBERSPACE...well, I'll see what I can do, by putting the word out for them...or by 
them signing up to one of our discussion lists.

The woman thanked me very much; she will need to refer me to an administrator (of course). So she took down my phone 
number, and I thanked her for her excellent handling of this matter. Now, I await a phone call. If any of you guys would 
like to listen in, I'm game...just contact me privately, and we'll see what can be arranged.

So, for those who are interested in doing some detective work, here is 

---the dope on TGE ISP (what I, a non-cyberhacker, could conjure up):

Talent Group Enterprises
PO Box 15037
Florence, SC 29506

support at talentg.com
info at talentg.com

Voice:
843-667-1465
877-TGROUPE

S.F. ISP numbers:
6592193
3579923
2284420

Interesting trivia: TGE generates very easy-to-hack log-in passwords (for Internet access, not e-mail, for which they 
require a different password), like "cornbread" and "invite". When I asked to have it changed, they said they don't do 
that, and pass the savings on to the customers (what a cop-out!). This was an e-mail, probably by a rude or sloppy 
worker? I have saved all the e-mail exchanges I've had with TGE thus far...and I can send them to anyone who'd like to 
examine the headers, etc.

INTERNIC:

Domain Name: TALENTG.COM
Registrar: ABACUS AMERICA, INC. DBA NAMES4EVER
Whois Server: whois.names4ever.com
Referral URL: http://www.names4ever.com
Name Server: NS1.TALGRP.NET
Name Server: NS2.TALGRP.NET
Updated Date: 10-feb-2002

---end of the dope on TGE ISP


Most sincerely a friend to all White Hats and Gray Hats (and Red),

Ezekiel J. ("I couldn't hack my way out of a paper bag") Krahlin, founder
Berkeley Unix User Group

P.S.: While I'm at it, can anyone tell me what's up with this scenario:

I lost my wallet a couple months ago, so had to get a new debit card from my bank, Washington Mutual (which bought 
out the bank I was previously using, about 8 years ago: Homestead Savings). The card came, and then I had to wait for 
the password they assigned me, to come in a separate snail-mailing. The password was just 4 numbers long, and could 
spell out a common, 4-letter English word. 

So I goes to one of their branches to change the password. I keyed in one that is 11 digits long...and the system spit 
back "PIN too short. Try again". So I asked the lady what's up with this? She said all passwords must be only 4 
characters, no longer. I said that's dangerous to the security of every customer, as well as to the bank. (And why did it 
say "too short" when in fact it was quite the opposite!) And left it at that for now; I haven't even bothered to contact their 
headquarters, to ask if this is really the case. I will, though, once my busy schedule slows down a bit...but for those who 
are curious, here are Washington Mutual's main public access nodes:

Wash. Mutual Customer Service:
1-800-788-7000

Wash. Mutual automated tele-service:
1-800-933-3000

URL:
https://www.washingtonmutual.com/


---
Zeke for Gay President, 2004:
http://www.gay-bible.org/index.html#TOP2








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