How to Turn Your
Win95/98 Computer into a Hacker Box (continued)
Let's say you are hosting a wild party in your home. You decide
to prove to your buddies that you are one of those dread haxor
d00dz. So you fire up your computer and what should come up on
your screen but the puffy white clouds logo for " Windows
95/98." Lame, huh? Your computer looks just like everyone
else's box. Like some boring corporate workstation operated by
a guy with an IQ in the 80's.
If you already are a serious hacker, you could boot up Linux
or FreeBSD or some other kind of Unix on your personal computer.
But let's say you've invited over friends who wouldn't know a
Linux login screen from a DOS prompt. They wouldn't be impressed.
But you can social engineer them into thinking you are fabulously
elite just by customizing your Win95/98 start up screen. Let's
say you want to boot up to a black screen with orange and yellow
flames and the slogan " K-Rad Doomsters of the Apocalypse."
This turns out to be easy. Heck, that's what my start-up screen
looks like.
Newbie note: "Social engineering" is controlling
how people think and feel. A computer criminal uses social engineering
to talk people into giving away passwords. But we teach harmless
social engineering- hey, you can always admit to your friends
later you were just kidding about being an el1t3 haxor. Or you
could keep on studying and actually become a serious hacker!
