The 75 Cent Hack
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Chapters
1 · The 75 Cents
2 · The Cuckoo
3 · The Printers
4 · Stepping Stones
5 · Nobody's Problem
6 · The Honeypot
7 · The Trace
8 · Hanover
Narration
The 75 Cent Hack · Chapter 1
$0.00
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CALIFORNIA
BERKELEY
California · 1986
Cliff Stoll · astronomer
LBL COMPUTER CENTER
CPU TIME · AUG 1986
UNIX ACCOUNTING
$2,387.41
LBL ACCOUNTING
$2,386.66
DIFFERENCE
$0.75
DOES NOT BALANCE
█
who is hunter?
BERKELEY
ENGLAND
LAWRENCE BERKELEY LABORATORY
SVENTEK, J.
Computer Science
ID 04417
MOVED · ENGLAND
Joe Sventek · former lab programmer
█
who is sventek?
End of chapter 1
The 75 Cent Hack · Chapter 2
The Cuckoo
4 eggs
/usr/sventek
anyone's files
/usr/lib
system programs · root only
cron
lpd
sendmail
uucp
getty
atrun
ROOT
movemail
The Cuckoo · movemail
5:00
atrun
#
█
End of chapter 2
The 75 Cent Hack · Chapter 3
The Printers
0 printers
one on every line coming into the lab
Illustrative reconstruction, not an original printout
3:12 AM
BEEP
he sleeps under his desk
End of chapter 3
The 75 Cent Hack · Chapter 4
Stepping Stones
LBL · BERKELEY
MILNET
Berkeley becomes a stepping stone
login:
guest
army-depot
root / root
✗
army-depot
guest / guest
✓
af-systems
system / manager
✓
navy-yard
field / service
✓
contractor
root / root
✗
univ-vax
guest / guest
✓
army-base
user / user
✗
af-base
system / manager
✓
Host names illustrative. The passwords are real factory defaults.
nobody changed the factory passwords
█
Illustrative reconstruction of his searches
End of chapter 4
The 75 Cent Hack · Chapter 5
Nobody's Problem
FBI
How much money was lost?
Seventy-five cents?
NOT OUR CASE
CIA
A break-in at a U.S. lab is a domestic matter.
NOT OUR CASE
NSA
Very interesting. Keep us informed.
NOT OUR CASE
Air Force OSI
Concerned about the military sites. Can't run the case alone.
NOT OUR CASE
Phone company
We can trace the call. We need a warrant first.
NOT OUR CASE
His own lab
Why are you spending your time on this?
NOT OUR CASE
everyone listens · nobody acts
SEPTEMBER
1986
Each mark is a session he logged
End of chapter 5
The 75 Cent Hack · Chapter 6
The Honeypot
SDINET
0 files
ALL FAKE
bait
% cat SDINET/
overview.txt
0%
00:00 online
LBL
???
trace: waiting for a long call
stay on the line
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
1987
To the SDI Network Project office:
I am interested in your SDINET project. Please send me the documents listed in your files.
— reconstruction, wording is our own
Nobody outside should know SDINET exists.
End of chapter 6
The 75 Cent Hack · Chapter 7
The Trace
ATLANTIC
follow the wire backward
BERKELEY
???
a
0.0 s
How long does one letter take?
End of chapter 7
The 75 Cent Hack · Chapter 8
Hanover
Hanover, West Germany
WEST
EAST
KGB
secrets east · money west
1990
Celle, West Germany
Convicted of espionage
Suspended sentences
It all started with
75¢
The End
Based on the true events of 1986–87. For the full story, read Clifford Stoll's
The Cuckoo's Egg
(1989).