4 ms·

I remember back in the late 80s telnetting out of the NYU Bobst library on their VAX 11(?) system to some pretty interesting systems. The Johnson Space Center i

by eggy 7y ago

I remember back in the late 80s telnetting out of the NYU Bobst library on their VAX 11(?) system to some pretty interesting systems. The Johnson Space Center in Houston (running VAX 11/785s was one I particularly remember. Of course, back then things were not battened down as much as they are now; the spirit was an open network. A sysadmin would interrupt your session with quesitons like "Who is this? You are unauthorized to access this system, etc."

Theodores 7y ago
I used to love roving around VAX networks. In the UK the ones for science (and defence research) were all setup the same. They didn't design the login scripts for pests like me. So I was able to go round the different boxes looking for interesting datasets. I only wanted super hi resolution satellite imagery, convinced there was some sub-metre resolution stuff out there. All was going well until I put my own backdoors in to speed up my remote logins. Accidentally I denied access to everyone but me to a MOD computer. I had to admit to that one! Luckily my boss handled it and was practically pleased with his student hire. But yes, I can actually claim to have hacked military computers. I doubt my boss has forgotten that day, the day when the men from the ministry arrived. Happy times, VAX computers were cool and hacking them with genuine VT DEC terminals on those fairly open networks was living the lifestyle.
- killjoywashere 7y ago
  I have two DEC VT510 terminals in my lab, serving mission critical functions, right now.
  - eggy 7y ago
    Wow, that's wild. Never upgraded that system I guess. I hope mission critical is not something that could effect things outside the scope of your workplace. Although, security through obscurity or age here, might actually work ;)
- eggy 7y ago
  Yes, the early days were more innocent, and really fringe. I didn't connect with other hackers until years later, and then attended the monthly 2600 Wednesday meeting or two (Citicorp bldg.?) in the late 80s/early 90s. A great moment when an analogue red box device could be made digital by simply changing out a crystal in a pocket digital speed dialer by RadioShack (RIP). Nowadays you can find the recipes galore, and have no need to bang keys on your to discover hacks and tricks. It's probably why I have given it up. As they say, "those were the days, my friend."
tetha 7y ago
Sadly, that's an era old and gone. I'm still a friend of open WIFI like the freifunkers, or social computing - just ask and share some compute resources in my cellar. It's great to give kids access to programming and server resources. However, that requires a lot of legal considerations at this point to do right even if the users behave. And then you get the guys abusing something like this.
- Sushi-san 7y ago
  I've found that it is much harder to trust people on the internet now.

by eggy 7y ago

Theodores 7y ago

I used to love roving around VAX networks. In the UK the ones for science (and defence research) were all setup the same. They didn't design the login scripts for pests like me. So I was able to go round the different boxes looking for interesting datasets. I only wanted super hi resolution satellite imagery, convinced there was some sub-metre resolution stuff out there. All was going well until I put my own backdoors in to speed up my remote logins. Accidentally I denied access to everyone but me to a MOD computer. I had to admit to that one! Luckily my boss handled it and was practically pleased with his student hire. But yes, I can actually claim to have hacked military computers. I doubt my boss has forgotten that day, the day when the men from the ministry arrived. Happy times, VAX computers were cool and hacking them with genuine VT DEC terminals on those fairly open networks was living the lifestyle.

killjoywashere 7y ago
I have two DEC VT510 terminals in my lab, serving mission critical functions, right now.
- eggy 7y ago
  Wow, that's wild. Never upgraded that system I guess. I hope mission critical is not something that could effect things outside the scope of your workplace. Although, security through obscurity or age here, might actually work ;)
eggy 7y ago
Yes, the early days were more innocent, and really fringe. I didn't connect with other hackers until years later, and then attended the monthly 2600 Wednesday meeting or two (Citicorp bldg.?) in the late 80s/early 90s. A great moment when an analogue red box device could be made digital by simply changing out a crystal in a pocket digital speed dialer by RadioShack (RIP). Nowadays you can find the recipes galore, and have no need to bang keys on your to discover hacks and tricks. It's probably why I have given it up. As they say, "those were the days, my friend."

tetha 7y ago

Sadly, that's an era old and gone. I'm still a friend of open WIFI like the freifunkers, or social computing - just ask and share some compute resources in my cellar. It's great to give kids access to programming and server resources. However, that requires a lot of legal considerations at this point to do right even if the users behave. And then you get the guys abusing something like this.

Sushi-san 7y ago
I've found that it is much harder to trust people on the internet now.