How to Break in Using
the XP GUI
You could try out the other net commands on Oldguy. Or you
can go to the graphical user interface (GUI) of XP. After running
the above commands I click My Computer, then My Network Places
and there you'll find the victim, er, I mean, target computer.
By clicking on it, I discover that ftproot has been shared to
- everyone!
Let's say you were to get this far investigating some random
computer you found on the Internet. Let's say you had already
determined that the ftp server isn't open to the public. At this
moment you would have a little angel sitting one shoulder whispering
"You can be a hero. Email the owner of that computer to
tell him or her about that misconfigured ftproot."
On the other shoulder a little devil is sneering, "Show
the luser no mercy. Information should be free. Because I said
so, that's why. Hot darn, are those spreadsheets from the accounting
department? You could make a lot of bucks selling those files
to a competitor, muhahaha! Besides, you're so ugly that future
cellmate Spike won't make you be his girlfriend."
Some hackers might think that because ftproot is shared to
the world that it is OK to download stuff from it. However, if
someone were to log in properly to that ftp server, he or she
would get the message "Welcome to Oldguy on Carolyn Meinel's
LAN. Use is restricted to only those for whom Meinel has assigned
a user name and password." This warning logon banner is
all a computer owner needs to legally establish that no one is
allowed to just break in. It won't impress a judge if a cracker
says "The owner was so lame that her computer deserved to
get broken into" or "I'm so lame that I forgot to try
to use the ftp server the normal way."
Next: More on the Net Commands
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