Security Focus on Cable Modem Uncapping

Anonymous Coward writes "Cable modem uncapping allows broadband customers to boost their bandwidth to 6 or 7 times what they're paying for, by spoofing their modem's TFTP client into downloading a hacked DOCSIS configuration file. Kevin Poulsen at SecurityFocus reports that a new underground program called OneStep makes the process easy and fun for the whole family. Broadband companies are cutting off the uncappers that they catch, but things could get out of control soon."

Comments

OT: Toshiba PCX1100U

[ImaLamer]

My local cable co has given me a Toshiba PCX1100U for access. The thing is a great and nice, it can even connect to the USB ports if you own a Windows machine, making the need for a NIC.. well un-needed.

So I got an idea one day. I plugged my USB cable into the modem and a second PC (I use the NIC on #1) since I don't have a router/hub. It worked great. Both computers worked at full speeds. While they could send data directly through the modem to each other I thought things would be fast (like having a hub) - of course not. [a trace showed that the traffic went to the hub only]

The upload speed of 40K was still the max. ;-(

My point is though that once my ISP noticed I was doing this (gnutella on one, misc servers on the other) and getting the max they turned it off (i guess - it won't work for shit now.)

His name is Kevin Poulsen.

[Nastard]

His name is Kevin Poulsen.
His name is Kevin Poulsen.
His name is Kevin Poulsen.
His name is Kevin Poulsen.
His name is Kevin Poulsen.
His name is Kevin Poulsen.
His name is Kevin Poulsen.
His name is Kevin Poulsen.
His name is Kevin Poulsen.
His name is Kevin Poulsen.

I suspect that I'll be the only one to find this funny.

Re:Fun? Yes. Legal? Questionable

[programcsharp]

If you can't legislate morality, what do you legislate? Take murder for example. A law that condemns murder and provides penalties for murderers is definately legislating morality. This sort of law is necessary for human existance. Without laws that legislate morality, all civilization and society would crumble into anarchy.

Re:A new virus...

[foobar104]

I'm on a crusade. I intend to post a comment like this one whenever I see anybody use "virii." Please don't interpret this comment as either endorsement of or disagreement with the parent post. Moderators: with your help, we can wipe out "virii" in our lifetime!

The plural of "virus" isn't "virii." There is no such word. The plural of "virus" is "viruses."

Here's a good explanation from cdknow.com, quoted here in its entirety because the people who most need to read this won't click on a link.

The correct English plural of virus is viruses. Please consult any good dictionary before making up words.

For the purists, in Latin, there is a rarely-used plural form:

virus, viri (neuter)

(Forms: almost always restricted to nominative and accusative singular; generally singular in Lucretius, ablative singular in Lucretius)

The point of this is that even in Latin the form "viri" is rarely used. The singular form is used in most every instance. (This is from the Oxford Latin Dictionary.)

So, when considering the Latin: "virii" is incorrect and "viri" was almost never used.

Despite the fact there was little use for the plural form, there is another reason why "viri" was rarely used. The most common Latin word for "man" is "vir" with "viri" being its plural in the form used as the subject of a sentence. Thus, since "men" as the subject of a sentence would be used far more often than "venoms" (virus means venom) the "viri" word was most commonly seen as the plural of "man."

Bottom line: Don't try to make up words using a false Latin plural form. Since the word virus in its English form is now used then the English plural (viruses) should be used.

More plural-of-virus resources:

perl.com, the canonical and exhaustive source
The alt.comp.virus FAQ
Jonathan de Boyne Pollard's Frequently Given Answer
Merriam-Webster's "Word for the Wise," January 20, 2000.