4 ms·

This reminds me when I was in college- I used to have VNC running on a public IP without any authentication (on purpose). Randomly, bots would connect, take ove

This reminds me when I was in college- I used to have VNC running on a public IP without any authentication (on purpose). Randomly, bots would connect, take over control of the screen, and print a bunch of test characters out in Notepad before disconnecting. I don't know if they just hit it by luck or if they were actively looking for/testing/saving open VNC servers.

jonknee 14y ago
Why would you have it set it up that way, especially after witnessing bots connecting?
- stevencorona 14y ago
  It was an old PC that I didn't care about and only used for testing. I was into security stuff, so it was interesting to see the bots connect (which it why I left it open).
freehunter 14y ago
You're always being scanned for everything. If I got a penny for every time my company was swept by a scanner, I'd be making more than my salary.
- fein 14y ago
  This is almost an understatement. My home servers get SLAMMED on a daily basis by a whole wonderful plethora of bots. Most recently has been Muieblackcat. Going on the whole salary analogy: I'd make my current salary plus a bit if I had a penny for ever scan on the box in my living room. I keep the Ukrainian IP's off my blacklist just for fun. Nothing sensitive on the server, just my web playpen. I kind of hope that one of these exploits works one day so I can see where I've slipped up.
  - LeRenard 14y ago
    It's not a scan, it's free surprise pen testing!
    - freehunter 14y ago
      The only difference between pen testing and hacking is permission.
  - ahi 14y ago
    I vaguely recall that unpatched XP averages just a couple minutes on a network before being owned. If you didn't have the SP on a disc it was a race between the updates and the bots. That might have been old linux propaganda though.
    - davidcuddeback 14y ago
      It was certainly true at large LAN parties. I had to reinstall Windows at QuakeCon one year, and it was nearly impossible to win the race against the malware floating around the network. Putting your computer on the same LAN as 3000 gamers (most of whom download a lot of warez) isn't exactly the same as connecting your computer to the internet through a firewall, so I'm not sure if my experience at QuakeCon generalizes to a typical PC setup.
    - jen_h 14y ago
      Not propaganda, I saw a great example of this once bringing up a Windows system on a residential line shared with other apartments. Seconds after the box's "Hey, there, Windows Update, got something for me?", the network slowed to a crawl and our router's (rejected) incoming connection log grew hot and heavy. Would be lovely if the massive influx of attempted incoming connections were just eager WindowsUpdate systems, but unless Microsoft moved their infrastructure to China and Romania... Anyway, there's a reason to travel with your own locked-down router and to never connect through anyone else's connection directly, especially if you're running Windows. Even that's not foolproof, but at least you've got an Angry Bouncer protecting the Windows Club. Windows Update connections totally feel like spotlights and booming bass.
    - graywh 14y ago
      When I showed up for my first day of work 8 years ago, a newly installed WinXP system awaited me. I had to patch the system that morning because it had been powered on and connected to the network for several days already.
    - tomc1985 14y ago
      I've experienced this. I forget what it was but there was that one exploit that terminated some critical service makes Windows reboot after a 1- or 2-minute countdown. Frickin pain in the ass that was...

jonknee 14y ago

Why would you have it set it up that way, especially after witnessing bots connecting?

stevencorona 14y ago
It was an old PC that I didn't care about and only used for testing. I was into security stuff, so it was interesting to see the bots connect (which it why I left it open).

freehunter 14y ago

You're always being scanned for everything. If I got a penny for every time my company was swept by a scanner, I'd be making more than my salary.

fein 14y ago
This is almost an understatement. My home servers get SLAMMED on a daily basis by a whole wonderful plethora of bots. Most recently has been Muieblackcat. Going on the whole salary analogy: I'd make my current salary plus a bit if I had a penny for ever scan on the box in my living room. I keep the Ukrainian IP's off my blacklist just for fun. Nothing sensitive on the server, just my web playpen. I kind of hope that one of these exploits works one day so I can see where I've slipped up.
- LeRenard 14y ago
  It's not a scan, it's free surprise pen testing!
  - freehunter 14y ago
    The only difference between pen testing and hacking is permission.
- ahi 14y ago
  I vaguely recall that unpatched XP averages just a couple minutes on a network before being owned. If you didn't have the SP on a disc it was a race between the updates and the bots. That might have been old linux propaganda though.
  - davidcuddeback 14y ago
    It was certainly true at large LAN parties. I had to reinstall Windows at QuakeCon one year, and it was nearly impossible to win the race against the malware floating around the network. Putting your computer on the same LAN as 3000 gamers (most of whom download a lot of warez) isn't exactly the same as connecting your computer to the internet through a firewall, so I'm not sure if my experience at QuakeCon generalizes to a typical PC setup.
  - jen_h 14y ago
    Not propaganda, I saw a great example of this once bringing up a Windows system on a residential line shared with other apartments. Seconds after the box's "Hey, there, Windows Update, got something for me?", the network slowed to a crawl and our router's (rejected) incoming connection log grew hot and heavy. Would be lovely if the massive influx of attempted incoming connections were just eager WindowsUpdate systems, but unless Microsoft moved their infrastructure to China and Romania... Anyway, there's a reason to travel with your own locked-down router and to never connect through anyone else's connection directly, especially if you're running Windows. Even that's not foolproof, but at least you've got an Angry Bouncer protecting the Windows Club. Windows Update connections totally feel like spotlights and booming bass.
  - graywh 14y ago
    When I showed up for my first day of work 8 years ago, a newly installed WinXP system awaited me. I had to patch the system that morning because it had been powered on and connected to the network for several days already.
  - tomc1985 14y ago
    I've experienced this. I forget what it was but there was that one exploit that terminated some critical service makes Windows reboot after a 1- or 2-minute countdown. Frickin pain in the ass that was...