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Hacker Magazine Phrack Returns After Four-year Hiatus (phrack.org)

Posted by EditorDavid on from the Phrack-is-back dept.

Earthquake Retrofit quotes this report from The Register: More than four years since its previous issue, iconic hacker zine Phrack has published a new issue. Phrack issue number 69 contains articles from researchers Aaron Portnoy and Alisa Esage, as well as articles on OS X rootkits and exploiting Ruby on Rails...

First released in 1985 via BBS, Phrack has been staffed by dozens of editors and contributors in its three-plus decades. The long-running zine has also hosted a number of notable articles, including the famed Hacker Manifesto and Smashing The Stack For Fun And Profit.

32 comments

  1. Attn: Editor by Earthquake+Retrofit · · Score: 1

    I hit the submit button way too quickly. Thanks to David for adding the links.

    --
    Fifty years of Yippie! 1968-2018
  2. Nice to see... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I remember articles in the 90's that would be called "life hacking" these days. Admonitions against dependence on amphetamines and pron stick in my memory because of their relevance and truthfulness

  3. Admissions of guilt by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The law says "computer hacking" is a criminal offence, and since this calls itself exactly that, everyone involved must be guilty. So lock'em up already, eh.

    1. Re:Admissions of guilt by eneville · · Score: 2

      You confuse hacking with cracking.

      --
      Why UNIX?
    2. Re:Admissions of guilt by Opportunist · · Score: 4, Insightful

      And this is why I must not get active without having a permission to attack. A written statement by the owner of a computer or network allowing me to do my job.

      For the record, the same applies to doctors who, too, need your permission to cut you open. Doing so without is a serious crime called assault.

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    3. Re:Admissions of guilt by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      spotted the paladin

    4. Re:Admissions of guilt by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Not in an emergency, it doesn't. Google "implied consent."

      Yes, IAL.

      For the record, the same applies to doctors who, too, need your permission to cut you open. Doing so without is a serious crime called assault.

    5. Re:Admissions of guilt by rmdingler · · Score: 1

      Yes, IAL.

      Of course. The malevolently clever way you presented the information gave it away... putting the quotation after your comment on it.

      Clearly, a barrister's parlor trick.

      --
      Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know.

      Ernest Hemingway

    6. Re:Admissions of guilt by Opportunist · · Score: 1

      Yes, emergencies are an exception to this. Doesn't really apply here, there is no implied consent when it comes to testing security. I can't really imagine a case where waiting for a signature on the PTA could kill someone.

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    7. Re:Admissions of guilt by Sperbels · · Score: 1

      Where I come from, cracking is breaking the copy protection on software.

    8. Re:Admissions of guilt by hey! · · Score: 1

      Funny how people "know" all kinds of untrue stuff. There is no section in the US code which says "computer hacking" is illegal. Many activities so described in common parlance are illegal of course, but that's not the same thing.

      What's more there can't be any law that outlaws reading or writing about illegal activities. Or to be more precise any such law targeting such writings must be so narrowly drawn as to be readily circumvented.

      --
      Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
  4. Notable articles... by VValdo · · Score: 3, Interesting

    The long-running zine has also hosted a number of notable articles, including the famed Hacker Manifesto and Smashing The Stack For Fun And Profit.

    Not to mention an article from 1997 called "The Art of Port Scanning" in which Fyodor introduced a tool called nmap...

    --
    -------------------
    This is my SIG. There are many like it, but this one is mine.
    1. Re:Notable articles... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      And it's interesting that that article includes this: "I have used many of the top scanners available today, including
      strobe by Julian Assange [...]".

    2. Re:Notable articles... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yea, I tried strobe, but I had this weird problem where I'd use it, then shut it down, but in the middle of the night strobe would start back up and port scan a few more times without my permission.

    3. Re:Notable articles... by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      Yea, I tried strobe, but I had this weird problem where I'd use it, then shut it down, but in the middle of the night strobe would start back up and port scan a few more times without my permission.

      And yet, you liked it so much you bought it breakfast afterwards and kept using it for another week or two

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    4. Re:Notable articles... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Fyodor is a cunt.

    5. Re:Notable articles... by nuckfuts · · Score: 1

      ... he said anonymously.

      I met Fyodor at a CanSecWest years ago. Wound up giving him a ride to Vancouver International airport. Had pleasant conversation and found him to be humble, intelligent, and likeable.

  5. Phrack was relevant by Opportunist · · Score: 2

    Sadly, it has kinda outlived its life cycle. While it was certainly very important in the past, it did not really age well. Today it's little more than a piece of nostalgia, something fondly remembered as the source of many important revelations from a time when the internet wasn't what it is today.

    But give it time. If our law makers stay on the road down to insanity, it could well become very relevant again soon.

    --
    We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    1. Re:Phrack was relevant by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      In your three sentences I thought that you meant slashdot

    2. Re:Phrack was relevant by Opportunist · · Score: 1

      That first paragraph can indeed work for more than just Phrack.

      The second line, though...

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    3. Re:Phrack was relevant by Neuronwelder · · Score: 1

      Very well said!!

  6. Spot the arrogance by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Doctors are licensed professionals; you don't get to be a doctor by walking up and spouting a good bit of 1337 or yabbering about your ETHICALity or your hat colour. Doctors don't get hired because they get caught butchering without permission. They instead can actually lose that hard-won license for malpractice and end up bereft of income. You, can just walk over to the next sucker and up your hourly rates a notch.

    But that really isn't the point. The point is that the terms "hacker" and "hacking" have been robbed of all meaning by the likes of you, ultimately resulting in laws that criminalise without actually defining "computer hacking". So you better make sure your letters of cyber-marque cover everything you do, and then some. Not that this safety will last, as the damage has been done and the rot is getting ever deeper.

  7. How does it compare to 2600? by johnsnails · · Score: 2

    I have read 2600 for years (after recommendations from people here). Any feedback on how it compares to that magazine? Is it worth having both subscriptions?

    1. Re:How does it compare to 2600? by ArchieBunker · · Score: 1

      I don't recall Phrack ever being printed on paper.

      --
      Only the State obtains its revenue by coercion. - Murray Rothbard
    2. Re: How does it compare to 2600? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I clearly remember it being printed on paper. Then trying to pull those annoying strips of holes off both sides and separate each page at the perforations without ripping them :)

      Now I'm getting nostalgic for a dot matrix printer and a stack of 5.25s...

    3. Re: How does it compare to 2600? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Should I be ashamed that I used to bind mine and use a highlighter?

    4. Re: How does it compare to 2600? by nuckfuts · · Score: 2

      Fly that geek flag proudly brother :)

  8. Spot the cluelessness by Opportunist · · Score: 3, Informative

    Sorry, but if you don't know anything about IT security, you might want to keep from running your mouth. You just might look like a complete idiot to those that know more than you.

    If you spent at least 5 minutes googling you could have notice that there are indeed by now a lot of certifications that will easily allow anyone, even non-professionals, to find out whether someone knows what he's doing or whether he's just talking crap. And contrary to popular opinion hacking some server and getting caught is certainly NOT anything that would recommend you as hiring material. If anything, it ends your career in any field that even remotely touches anything considered sensitive. The cynic in me would say 'cause you got caught, but at least the official reason, and that's at least as good, is that you cannot be trusted. And trust goes a long way in this field.

    Said certifications are also something that you will immediately lose if you're caught doing anything illegal in the area of security, by the way. Which is essentially the equivalent of losing your job and any income. So no, I can't just walk over to the next sucker after I've been caught with my virtual fingers in some server I should not prod. Organizations that can afford security professionals usually also know that these certifications exist and that lacking one means that, well, you're not something they want to hire.

    So please, if you insist in talking down to someone, at least first of all find out where you stand.

    --
    We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    1. Re:Spot the cluelessness by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      If you spent at least 5 minutes googling you could have notice that there are indeed by now a lot of certifications that will easily allow anyone, even non-professionals, to find out whether someone knows what he's doing or whether he's just talking crap.

      If you knew anything about anything you would know that it is possible to get most certifications while not knowing fuck about shit.

      And contrary to popular opinion hacking some server and getting caught is certainly NOT anything that would recommend you as hiring material.

      History abounds with famous counterexamples.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    2. Re:Spot the cluelessness by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      History abounds with famous counterexamples.

      Which drinkypoo seems too lazy to look up.

      Heresey!

    3. Re:Spot the cluelessness by Opportunist · · Score: 2

      Yes, and just as with any other profession, the game is "spot the relevant ones". I could name a few, but my selection would probably be biased by which ones I have. ;)

      But even HR by now knows what's relevant and what's fluff. We're still somewhere at the beginning where people can still sell snakeoil to unsuspecting people, but the time for quacks is coming to an end.

      At least in ITSEC. From what I gather, the time of quacks in medicine is dawning again.

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  9. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 1

    Comment removed based on user account deletion