Interview With A Convicted Hacker: Robert Moore Tells How He Broke Into Routers And Stole VoIP Services

slm/hey
the interview is all basics. what surprising is tht the TelCo's didnt monitor their logs. I mean u'r in a bizness, who doesnt look for ways to make more profit by looking for ways to save money.and it is unbelievable that the IT industry has known this for years and years and they do nothing…

No wonder I make change my passwords around every 120 days and recommend [sum of u guys will say FORCE] to change the passwords often
PS: I feel the 'pain' Moore will suffer by not being able to use his computer. He is after a a "mega-geek" and all geeks are addicted to their machines

b sure to read the highlights if not the whole story
HIGHLIGHTS:

• Pena allegedly stole and then sold more than 10 million minutes of service at deeply discounted rates, netting more than $1 million from the scheme. Acting as the operation's technical muscle only netted Moore $20,000 of the haul
• They had the default passwords on them," said Moore. "You would not believe the number of routers that had 'admin' or 'Cisco0' as passwords on them
• "leaving default passwords up is a widespread and dangerous problem."
• IT industry has known about for at least two decades and we haven't made much progress in fixing it,"
• Mooresays he is more upset about being banned from using a computer than actually going to prison
• If he didn't find default passwords or easily exploitable bugs, he'd run brute-force or dictionary attacks to try to break the passwords.
• And Moore didn't just focus on telecoms. He said he scanned "anybody" — businesses, agencies and individual users.

FULL STORY

FROM THE STORY::
Interview With A Convicted Hacker: Robert Moore Tells How He Broke Into Routers And Stole VoIP Services

On his way to federal prison, the 23-year-old hacker says breaking into computers at telecom companies and major corporations was "so easy a caveman could do it."

By Sharon Gaudin
InformationWeek
September 26, 2007 08:36 AM

Convicted hacker Robert Moore, who is set to go to federal prison this week, says breaking into 15 telecommunications companies and hundreds of businesses worldwide was incredibly easy because simple IT mistakes left gaping technical holes.

Moore, 23, of Spokane, Wash., pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit computer fraud and is slated to begin his two-year sentence on Thursday for his part in a scheme to steal voice over IP services and sell them through a separate company. While prosecutors call co-conspirator Edwin Pena the mastermind of the operation, Moore acted as the hacker, admittedly scanning and breaking into telecom companies and other corporations around the world.

W.I.A.I

Researchers spot rootkits on more Sony USB drives

NO BLOODY COMMENTS NEEDED CUZ ALL MINE COMMENTS WERE EXHAUSTED DURING THE FIRST FIASCO

PS:yeah ttahts ALL caps

 

Software, still on the Web, can be used by hackers to cloak malware

 

August 30, 2007 (Computerworld) — A second line of USB drives sold by Sony Electronics Inc. that uses rootkit tactics to hide files has been identified, and the devices' software remains on the Web, a researcher said today.

Hackers using just one of the package's files can mask their attack code from some security scanners, said Mikko Hypponen, chief research officer at Helsinki, Finland-based F-Secure Corp. "This new rootkit [which can still be downloaded] can be used by any malware author to hide any folder."

On Monday, F-Secure announced that the fingerprint-reader software included with Sony's MicroVault USM-F flash drives stores files in a hidden directory that could be used by hackers to cloak their malicious code. F-Secure noted that the USM-F models were difficult, but not impossible to find. Sony has since confirmed that the line has been discontinued.

But its replacement, the USM512FL, is widely available, and shares the rootkit-like techniques of its predecessor. "They have the same functionality in the latest as well," said Hypponen.

W.I.A.I