Slashdot Mirror
Hackers Bringing Telnet Back
alphadogg writes "A new report from Akamai Technologies (CT: Requires login) shows that hackers appear to be increasingly using the Telnet remote access protocol to attack corporate servers over mobile networks.
The report, which covers the third quarter of 2010, shows that 10 percent of attacks that came from mobile networks are directed at Port 23, which Telnet uses. That marks a somewhat unusual spike for the aging protocol used to log into remote servers but that has been gradually replaced by SSH."
I use telnet clients from time to time, in the lab. You can use it connect and send data to any old port, not just 23. I would never run the telnet daemon though, and seven times never on a box that's exposed to the public Internet.
[Sir Garlon] is the marvellest knight that is now living, for he destroyeth many good knights, for he goeth invisible.
Right, but when you type hunter2, we just see *******.
On another note, anybody who is not currently blocking access port 23, or even worse is running a telnet server, needs to hand in their sysadmin card right now.
I am officially gone from
I do whenever I need my Star Wars Fix. Just telnet to towel.blinkenlights.nl.
I'm a virgo and on Slashdot. Coincidence? Yes.
I use telnet constantly. Port 110 to check for a broken email header, Port 25 to check for SMTP auth errors, Port 3200 to check for the present of a NetGen DSS unit, etc, etc... I love telnet. Simple 3-way handshake and boom, datastream.
If you manage your company or institution's IT department, please do the following:
Step 1: Turn on "telnet" on your PC. (Of course you Windows, you're management, right?)
Step 2: Try to "telnet" to your company's website, or to any other machine or service names your underlings bandy about.
Step 3: If you don't see "Connection refused" every time, FIRE EVERYONE WHO REPORTS TO YOU.
Um, the reason they are using telnet is because it's trivial to hack, in other words the headline should read "hackers hacking easiest to hack service on poorly configured machines, also water is wet, details at 11"
Monstar L
How can hackers bring telnet attacks back if admins don't run telnet? Should the headline say "Admins are bringing telnet back and getting bitten in the ass for it?"
SSH isn't always an available option.
At work our primary application is a telenet app that logs into a specific server. Of course we aren't stupid enough not to use VPN's, and packet filtering to go outside the network(or back in). We tried to upgrade to more secure connection but found the clients to be lacking about 1/2 the features found in the simple telenet client. We were told some of those features might be in the next release or two in three - five years.
Since businesses get locked into vendor lock-in pretty hard it is very tough to move out. You get stuck doing things insecurely or working around bad security because upgrading isn't possible without millions of dollars being spent uselessly(paying a vendor to bring their applications up to the year 2000 standards).
I know of one company that used Win16 subsytem as a vital part of their application up until last year. they refused to upgrade it because it worked even though in order to install the application on windows XP often required rebooting into safe mode to bypass enough security to let it install. This Application was the only way to work with their product line too with quarterly updates to the data it contained. Oh and you have to upgrade the entire application in order to update the data inside.
It is those kinds of practices that make obsolete tech like telenet still exist.
i thought once I was found, but it was only a dream.
You might have better success with even a semi-valid HTTP/1.1 request such as
GET / HTTP/1.1
Host: www.google.com
Also, using telnet here is redundant. You should consider using one of the several netcats available. Some even support nice features like SSL encryption, so you can make encrypted requests to to the https port (443).
If telnet reminds you of when you were young you aren't old.
Warning: this article may contain humor, sarcasm, parody, and perhaps even irony. Read at your own risk.
Right on target. I've witnessed many a clerk in a shipping/receiving department using telnet to connect to a server. Not just in-house, but often times across the country. People put those computers in place, and set up their systems 20 years ago, or more, and they aren't about to change. "Don't fix what ain't broke!"
"Windows is like the faint smell of piss in a subway: it's there, and there's nothing you can do about it." - Charlie Br
This is the case with certain Cisco IOS versions. It has to be a crypto version of IOS to support SSH.
SSC
That's not a good reason to use telnet. That's a good reason not to use Godaddy.
(Using dreamhost.com here, and I use ssh and rsync-over-ssh to do all of that... I wonder if sshfs would work, I imagine it would.)
I'm bringin' telnet back.
Them other protocols don't know how to act.
I think it's special what's inside your rack.
So enable the service and I'll begin to hack.
Would you like to drop the firewalls, then? Perimeter security isn't a complete security solution, but it's still a major part.
Seeing traffic on port 23 does not mean telnet is involved. I know some people who run their SSH daemon on that port to lessen the stupid ssh scans.
There are laws controlling the export and import of encryption technology in many countries. These laws restrict the sale and use of SSH; therefore, you have to differentiate your products if you want to sell in certain markets.
I just realized; almost every network printer out there uses telnet for remote configuration. Maybe there was a new vulnerability found on a specific type of printer that allows forwarding of the printed pages back to the script kiddies?