Chaos Digest Lundi 15 Fevrier 1993 Volume 1 : Numero 8 Editeur: Jean-Bernard Condat (jbcondat@attmail.com) Archiviste: Yves-Marie Crabbe Co-Redacteurs: Arnaud Bigare, Stephane Briere TABLE DES MATIERES, #1.08 (15 Fev 1993) File 1--Fausses Cartes Orange Pour le Metro Parisien File 2--L'ordinateur de la RATP a piege les faussaires (reprint) File 3--Congres International Russe, CSAM'93 File 4--Donnees Secretes sur les Reserves Cambiales Bresiliennes File 5--Incident du Vol de Disquettes (lettre) File 6--Reactions sur "The Little Black Book of Computer Virus" Chaos Digest is a weekly electronic journal/newsletter. Subscriptions are available at no cost from jbcondat@attmail.com. The editors may be contacted by voice (+33 1 47874083), fax (+33 1 47877070) or S-mail at: Jean-Bernard Condat, Chaos Computer Club France [CCCF], 47 rue des Rosiers, 93400 St-Ouen, France Issues of Chaos-D can also be found on some French BBS. Back issues of ChaosD can be found on the Internet as part of the Computer underground Digest archives. They're accessible using anonymous FTP from: * ftp.eff.org (192.88.144.4) in /pub/cud * red.css.itd.umich.edu (141.211.182.91) in /cud * halcyon.com (192.135.191.2) in /pub/mirror/cud * ftp.ee.mu.oz.au (128.250.77.2) in /pub/text/CuD * nic.funet.fi (128.214.6.100) in /pub/doc/cud CHAOS DIGEST is an open forum dedicated to sharing French information among computerists and to the presentation and debate of diverse views. ChaosD material may be reprinted for non-profit as long as the source is cited. Some authors do copyright their material, and they should be contacted for reprint permission. Readers are encouraged to submit reasoned articles in French, English or German languages relating to computer culture and telecommunications. Articles are preferred to short responses. Please avoid quoting previous posts unless absolutely necessary. DISCLAIMER: The views represented herein do not necessarily represent the views of the moderators. Chaos Digest contributors assume all responsibility for ensuring that articles submitted do not violate copyright protections. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri Feb 12 11:08:54 CST 1993 From: ts%operations%france@bangate.compaq.com (Thierry Steinberg ) Subject: File 1--Fausses Cartes Orange Pour le Metro Parisien Copyright: Agence France Presse, 1993 Divers escroquerie - Interpellation de "petits genies" de l'informatique dans une escroquerie aux coupons de cartes oranges- PARIS, 11 fev 93 (250 MOTS) David, Guillaume et Stephane, ages de 21, 22 et 23 ans, dont l'un est un "petit genie" de l'informatique, ont ete interpelles, ces derniers jours, en region parisienne, soupconnes d'avoir reencode, grace a l'informatique, des coupons de cartes oranges afin de les revendre, a-t-on appris jeudi de source policiere. Depuis quelques mois, selon les enqueteurs du Commissariat des reseaux ferres parisiens (CRFP), ils revendaient, a la cadence de cinquante par mois, ces coupons 250 francs piece, utilisables souvent tres longtemps (la carte orange est generalement utilisee mensuellement). Chez Stephane, etudiant en informatique, interpelle mardi soir, a Vaureal (Val-d'Oise), les policiers ont notamment retrouve pres de 150.000 francs en especes provenant de cette escroquerie presumee, un lot de materiel informatique dernier-cri, un scanner, de faux coupons, 150 de ceux-ci vierges et un fusil. La RATP avait depose plainte, le 18 janvier, apres avoir constate, par exemple, a la lecture des bandes informatiques recensant les donnees de chaque ticket de carte orange des usagers de la region parisienne, qu'un de ceux-ci , repondant au meme code, avait ete utilise... 7.000 fois par jour, principalement a la gare Saint-Lazare, aux tourniquets automatiques validant les billets et permettant l'acces aux quais. Une quinzaine de personnes ont ensuite ete interpellees, ce qui a permis de remonter aux trois "experts" presumes qui ont tous ete deferes a la 8eme section du parquet de Paris. rb/jmg ------------------------------ Date: Fri Feb 12 18:30:04 GMT 1993 From: SBROWN@Kentvm.Kent.edu (Steven R Brown ) Subject: File 2--L'ordinateur de la RATP a piege les faussaires (reprint) Copyright: Charles Desjardins, France Soir, 1993 LES FAUSSES CARTES ORANGE ETAIENT PRESQUE PARFAITES Trois bidouilleurs rechargeaient des coupons pour 250 F "N'importe quelle officine informatique est en mesure de realiser cette manip'",commente un specialiste des bidouillages electroniques en tout genre. Deja poursuivi pour fraudes informatiques, il prefere garder l'anonymat pour commenter le principe de cette "escroquerie a la carte orange". "C'est un probleme de codage. J'ai deja vu realise une demonstration assez proche sur les cartes bleues." Premiere etape: "identifier le code utilise sur les tickets de la RATP". Il est compose d'une serie de caracteres alphanumeriques (chiffres, lettres ou symboles) enregistres sur la bande magnetique situee au dos de chaque coupon. "Pour le lire, il existe des appareils type lecteur de badge de securite." A ce stade, le but est d'obtenir la visualisation de la chaine de caracteres sur un ecran. Mais la difficulte consiste a faire le tri entre les differentes versions possibles. 17 COMBINAISONS "Pour les codes-barres, par exemple, il en existe dix-sept differents". Ils repondent chacun a des noms compliques comme le "Barcode- WH39" ou le "code 39 simple". Le reve du fraudeur est bien sur d'obtenir ce renseignement directement, par un complice travaillant dans l'entreprise, et de s'equiper en consequence d'un lecteur de codes adapte. "Sinon, il faut bricoler, mais cela reste possible", confie notre expert. Une fois la chaine de caracteres revelee, il ne reste plus qu'a la reproduire sur d'autres tickets. C'est la seconde phase. "Il existe des appareils d'encodage qui peuvent magnetiser la partie centrale du ticket et y imprimer un nouveau code." Dans la fraude qui vient d'etre decouverte, les "bidouilleurs" ont reproduit a l'identique (et a plusieurs milliers d'exemplaires) des vrais coupons mensuels (de 1re ou de 2e classe et jusqu'a six zones), en utilisant sans doute un scanner couleur, genre de photocopieuse tres sophistiquee. De l'aveu meme des policiers, les copies etaient quasi indecelables, de veritables "vrais-faux". Il leur suffisait ensuite d'imprimer au verso de ces tickets vierge la bande magnetique supportant un code pirate. Celui-ci provenait d'un coupon annuel, et comportait donc une identification valable douze mois consecutifs. SUSPECT L'importance du trafic est a l'origine de sa decouverte. En effet, la totalite des portillons automatiques de la RATP sont relies a un central informatique qui enregistre le code du coupon a chaque passage. Ainsi, lorsqu'un ticket deja usage ou suspect est "lu", il peut etre rejete, voire absorbe par la machine. LA PREUVE Le 18 janvier, un controle a fait apparaitre que la meme identification a ete donnee plusieurs milliers de fois dans la meme journee. Comme si un seul et meme ticket avait ete utilise a plusieurs points de passage en meme temps. Preuve evidente de l'escroquerie. L'erreur des faussaires? Ne pas avoir change de combinaison. [Moderateur: Le "specialiste des bidouillages electroniques en tous genres" ou "l'expert" cite par ce journaliste n'est personne d'autre que... le secretaire general du CCCF. L'anonymat sur son identite semble avoir ete secretement tenu par le redacteur-en-chef de _France Soir_.] ------------------------------ Date: Fri Feb 12 15:20:42 MET 1993 From: dima@iamk4508.mathematik.uni-karlsruhe.de (Dimitrij Shiriaev ) Subject: File 3--Congres International Russe, CSAM'93 INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS ON COMPUTER SYSTEMS AND APPLIED MATHEMATICS 19-23 JULY 1993 ST.PETERSBURG, RUSSIA Organized by: Center of Modern Communications of St.Petersburg University, Russian Local ACM Chapter/St.Petersburg, St.Petersburg Education Computer Society "Micom-XXI" THE AIMS of the Congress are: provide a forum to explore common interests, interplay across disciplines, and to bring researchers state of the art advances in all areas of computer science, scientific computing, software engineering, applied and computational mathematics. The official language of the Congress is English, only papers submitted in English will be considered. CALL FOR PAPERS Papers and Minisymposia are invited in all areas of: Numerical Analysis; Applied Probability and Statistics; Theory of Computing; Optimization and Operations Research; Scientific Computation; Parallel Processing; Programming Languages; Symbolic Computation; Supercomputing; CASE Tools; Fuzzy Systems; Databases; Networks; Neural Nets; Artificial Intelligence; Computer Graphics; Data Security; Simulation and Modelling; Mathematical Education; Interval/Self-Validating Computations. Telecomminications. CONTRIBUTED PAPERS/POSTER PRESENTATIONS The program will also include contributed paper sessions (20-minutes presentation), posters, and industrial exhibits. Authors are invited to submit to the CSAM'93 Program Committee a one page abstract and indicate if they prefer an oral or poster session. Authors may suggest the title(s) of appropriate session(s) for their paper. Manuscripts of papers presented at the Congress will be published as CSAM'93 Proceedings after the Congress. A volume containing all abstracts of the accepted papers and description of all minisymposia including titles and speakers known by May 1, 1993, will be available for the participants at the Congress. Late papers and sessions, if accepted, may be presented at the Congress and will be listed in the Supplementum to the final program. EXHIBITOR INFORMATION Booths and tables will be available to companies wishing to display their products and/or services. MINISYMPOSIA/SECTIONS PROPOSAL The Program Committee invites you, as a potential organizer, to submit a proposal for a minisymposium (section). A minisymposium is a session of several speakers focusing on a single topic. Minisymposium organizers are responsible for the scientific quality of papers in their sessions, consequently all papers invited by organizers are automatically accepted. PROGRAM COMMITTEE S.Baranoff (Russia), C.Brezinski (France), B.Christiansen (UK), D.Claudio (Brazil), G.Corliss (USA), C.Evequoz (Canada), H.Fischer (Germany), N.Holsti (Finland), D.Gay (USA), D.Grigoriev (USA), B.Kearfott (USA), R.Klatte (Germany), K.Madsen (Denmark), S.Markov (Bulgaria), G.Menshikov (Russia), M.Meyer (Germany), V.Nesterov (Russia), V.Shaidurov (Russia), D.Shiriaev (Germany), S.Shirokov (Russia), S.Voitenko (Russia), W.Walster (USA), W.Walter (Germany), J.Wolff von Gudenberg (Germany), A.Yakovlev (Russia) MINISYMPOSIA/SECTIONS ANNOUNCED Approximation - Claude Brezinski (France) Numerical Algorithms - Claude Brezinski (France) Computer System Security - Jean-Bernard Condat (France) Fortran 90 Programming Language - W.Brainerd (USA) Application Software for Macintosh - S.Shirokov (Russia) Interval/Self-Validation Computations - V.Nesterov (Russia) Automatic Differentiation - H.Fischer (Germany) Complexity in Symbolic Computations - D.Grigoriev (USA) Constraint Satisfaction Techniques and Constraint Logic Programming - M.Meyer (Germany) Performance Evaluation of Computer Communications - Claude Evequoz (Canada) Parallel Processing - Claude Evequoz (Canada) Mathematics of Modeling Biological Neurons - Arno Klaassen (France) DEADLINES Minisymposium proposals: As soon as possible; Early submissions due: March 1, 1993; Normal submissions due: May 1, 1993; Late submissions: After May 1, 1993. CONFERENCE LOCATION Russia, St.Petersburg, Aerodromnaya 4, Education Center REGISTRATION FEES Their include admission to all minisymposia, sections and lectures, program materials, admission to exhibits, refreshments, congress reception, and a visit to the theatre or philharmonics. Accompanying persons are welcome. Their fee includes the congress reception, a visit to the theatre or philharmonics, a guided tour to Peter and Paul Fortress and Cathedral and a cruise along the Neva river. An Associates Program with visits to all the places of interest in St.Petersburg will be offered for modest additional fees. The student fee does not include the congress reception and the visit to the theatre. Students must also enclose a statement from their university. All participants will be provided with a card for all St.Petersburg public transport (including underground) for the period of the Congress. EARLY NORMAL Student $ 50 $ 60 Regular $ 190 $ 240 Associate $ 75 $ 75 The Early fee applies to all fees received by April 1, 1993. The Normal fee applies to all fees received after April 2, 1993. Registration fees can be refunded only if cancellations are received by the CSAM'93 Secretariat in writing. Refunds will be made as follows: Cancellations received by April 1, 1993: Refund minus bank charges; Cancellations received April 2, 1993 to June 1, 1993: Refund minus bank charges less $ 50 service charge. No refunds can be made for cancellations received after June 1, 1993. Substitution of a participant is possible any time. VISAS Please check with the Russian Embassy or Consulate to determine if you need a visa. In the case you need it please use your registration receipt as the visa support letter. ACCOMMODATION A large block of rooms is being held for CSAM'93 at the Congress Center from July 17 to July 26. In case an overflow happens, blocks of rooms are also being held at nearby hotels. We encourage you to book through the CSAM'93 Secretariat. Participants who wish to reserve a room themselves should bear in mind the difficulty in finding hotel rooms in St.Petersburg during the summer. The total price of your stay must be paid together with the registration fees. In exchange you receive a lodging voucher with your registration receipt. Accommodation fees can be refunded only if cancellations are received by the CSAM'93 Secretariat in writing. Refunds will be made as follows: Cancellations received May 1, 1993 Refund minus bank charges Cancellations received May 2, 1993 to June 15 1993 Refund minus bank charges minus $ 50 service charge. Cancellations received after June 15 1993. Refund minus bank charges minus one night stay charge. All bedrooms have private bath and/or shower. Rates include full breakfast, tax and service charges. The prices are $ 60 per night for a single room or $ 40 per person per night in a double room. The basic student hostel accommodation: single room with no private bath or shower is offered at $20 per night for a person. METHOD OF PAYMENT Please pay the appropriate amount in US dollars by remittance on the account: Deutsche Bank Karlsruhe, Germany Account No.: 0142018 Bank Routing Code: 66070004 Purpose: CSAM'93 Congress We are sorry that we cannot accept credit cards or checks. Payment must be enclosed with the registration form. Please do not forget to indicate *Participant Name* and *CSAM'93 Congress* on all payments. ABOUT ST-PETERSBURG St-Petersburg (pop. 5 mil.), the historical capital of Russia, is one of the major tourist attractions in the world. The city is situated on more than 40 islands in the delta of the Neva River. There are a lot of museums, palaces and theaters to visit. Among these are the Hermitage museum with its 3 mil. exhibits, Winter Palace and magnificent summer residences of Russian Tsars, the third largest cathedral in the world St- Isaaks Cathedral and many others. The Associates Program of the Congress will provide the opportunity to visit all places of interest in St- Petersburg. WEATHER Since much of St.Petersburg fascination is historical, architectural and cultural, it can be enjoyed at any time. Typical July weather is bright and pleasant. Expect temperatures between 20 and 23 degrees C (67 - 72 F). INFORMATION CSAM'93 Secretariat, Dr. Sergey S. Voitenko, Director, Center of Modern Communications of St-Petersburg University, Mail Box 835, Russia, 199178 St-Petersburg, Fax: +7 812 394-5004 e-mail: csam93@polylog.spb.su Abstracts can be sent in paper or electronic form. Abstracts in paper form must be sent to the CSAM'93 Secretariat. Outside of the former USSR abstracts in electronic form (Postscript or LATEX are welcome) must be sent to: Dimitri Shiriaev: dima@iamk4508.rz.uni-karlsruhe.de. Please return this registration form by registered airmail to the CSAM'93 Secretariat (and a copy by E-mail) as soon as possible. Please use one form per person. Copy it if necessary. ----------------------------- cut here ---------------------------- REGISTRATION FORM Last name: Name: Title (Mrs,Mr,Dr,Prof): Affiliation: Address: Country: City: ZIP: Tel: FAX: E-mail: (Highly desirable!) Fees EARLY NORMAL Student [ ] $ 50 [ ] $ 60 Academic [ ] $ 190 [ ] $ 240 Associate [ ] $ 75 [ ] $ 75 Lodging facilities (please check) July, 1993 [ ]17 [ ]18 [ ]19 [ ]20 [ ]21 [ ]22 [ ]23 [ ]24 [ ]25 [ ]26 [ ] single hotel room: $ 60 per day x ___ days = [ ] double hotel room: $ 80 per day x ___ days = [ ] triple hotel room: $ 100 per day x ___ days = [ ] single student room: $ 20 per day x ___ days = Total amount : Date: Signature: ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 21 Jan 93 19:56 GMT From: 0003965782@mcimail.com (Sanford Sherizen ) Subject: File 4--Donnees Secretes sur les Reserves Cambiales Bresiliennes Repost from: Risks-Forum Digest A Reuters report found in the NY Times (21 Jan 1993) states that computer disks holding secret information on Brazil's banking reserves have disappe- ared from the central bank. The federal police are investigating the loss. According to the report, President Itamar Franco "took the unusual step" of releasing information on the reserves to offset any damage or financial speculation from loss of the disks. The disks held information on day-to- day reserve operations and details like where the reserves are invested, what they consisted of and how the reserves were generated. COMMENTS This disappearance may be related to ex-President Collar's involvement in the looting of Brazil. At a minimum, the data disappearance seems to be another indication of the Post-Hacker Era, where governments and companies have learned that computers can be used as an essential aspect of crime and/or to cover up a crime. The lines between "hacker" activities and "legitimate" activities may become increasingly less clear. In order to almost have to use computer techniques. While there continues to be an (often unconscious) image that many have that computer crime is "bad individuals" against "good" organizations, the Organization as Computer Criminal is rapidly becoming a serious problem. One but certainly not the only instance of this is the recent British Airway's penetration of Virgin Air's resercations system. [Moderateur: Voici l'article du _NY Times_ dont il est fait question: ++++ Brazil data are missing New York Times PP: D, 20:4 Jan 21, 1993 ISSN: 0362-4331 JRNL CODE: NY DOC TYPE: Newspaper article LANGUAGE: English ABSTRACT: A spokesman for President Itamar Franco of Brazil said Jan 20, 1993 that computer disks holding secret information on Brazil's banking reserves have disappeared from the central bank. Police are investigating the loss. GEOGRAPHIC NAMES: Brazil DESCRIPTORS: Bank reserves; Central banks; Government documents] ------------------------------ Date: Paris, le 8 Fevrier 1993 From: Ambassade du Bresil, Paris Subject: File 5--Incident du Vol de Disquettes (lettre) Ambassade du Bresil 34 Cours Albert Ier 75008 Paris Monsieur Jean-Bernard Condat CCCF 47, rue des Rosiers 93400 Saint-Ouen Monsieur, En reponse a votre lettre du 31 janvier, je vous confirme la publication, par le quotidien bresilien "O GLOBO", d'un article relatif a un vol de disquettes de la Banque Centrale qui contiendraient des donnees secretes sur les reserves cambiales bresiliennes. 2. En effet, l'Agence Brasil/RADIOBRAS, qio envoie chaque jour a l'Ambassade du Bresil un resume des principales matieres publiees par les grands journaux bresiliens, a transmis, le 20 janvier, un court resume de l'article ci-dessus. 3. Je regrette de ne pouvoir vous envoyer copie du texte integral, etant donne que l'Ambassade ne dispose plus de l'exemplaire du "GLOBO" dans lequel il a ete publie. 4. Vous trouverez ci-apres le nom et les numeros de telephone et de fax de la correspondante du GLOBO a Paris, pour une eventuelle obtention deu texte integral: Mme Helena Celestino Tel 42 79 80 78 Fax 43 22 66 12 5. D'autre part, la revue VEJA du 26 Janvier, dans un article intitule "Le citoyen commun", concernant un autre sujet, mentionne rapidement, a la fin de l'article, l'incident du vol des disquettes. 6. J'espere que ces renseignements seront utiles a votre projet. Veuillez agreer, Monsieur, mes salutations distinguees. Celina Assumpcao do Valle Pereira Ministre-Conseiller ------------------------------ Date: Sun Jan 10 13:00:58 -0500 1993 From: jbcondat@ATTMAIL.COM (Chaos Computer Club France ) Subject: File 6--Reactions sur "The Little Black Book of Computer Virus" Copyright: Coastal Associates Publishing L.P., 1992 Balancing fears, rights in wars against viruses; a little black book reveals secrets and highlights some difficult issues facing the computer industry. (Mark Ludwig's 'The Little Black Book of Computer Viruses, Volume I') (Issues and Trends)(MacInTouch) Ford, Ric MacWEEK VOL.: v6 ISSUE: n26 PAGINATION: p96(1) PUBLICATION DATE: July 13, 1992 A little black book reveals secrets and highlights some difficult issues facing the computer industry. Rights in conflict. Wars always raise difficult questions about the limits of civil liberties, and the current war on computer viruses is no exception. At the moment, anti-viral forces are battling to contain a breach in the information curtain--a little black book from a virus researcher and enthusiast that details step-by-step recipes for cooking up programs to infect MS-DOS systems. Black book. The author, Mark Ludwig, is a physicist who became interested in viruses and found it difficult to obtain detailed technical information about them. "I find that the whole field is very secretive," Ludwig said. "There's a closed group of people who have access to viruses and pass them around among themselves." Unwilling to agree to their codes of secrecy, Ludwig struck out on his own, setting up a bulletin board system and soliciting contributions of viruses, which he analyzed. In Ludwig's introduction to "The Little Black Book of Computer Viruses, Volume I," he explains his rationale: "I am convinced that computer viruses are not evil and that programmers have a right to create them, possess them and experiment with them." He warns repeatedly against irresponsible use of the virus recipes in the book but also expresses concern about governmental abuse of power. "The book is a bad thing," said David Stang, chairman of the International Computer Security Association. "We should have a law, somehow, against it." He blamed an earlier book for spawning hundreds of viruses and said defenders of such publications "have yet to show us an example of a good virus." As Stang points out, Ludwig's book lacks anti-viral utilities, and it offers little assistance to system administrators contending with real and imagined virus threats. Other critics reportedly have called for bookstore boycotts, picketing and similar protests against distribution of the book. The ICSA and the National Computer Security Association (which is open to end users and organizations) analyze viruses and anti-viral programs, primarily from DOS systems. Stang claims a collection of some 10,000 viruses. "I receive viruses from anyone, but I don't trade," he said. The two groups distribute selected information through several public and private channels, but current policies rule out public distribution of sensitive materials, such as source code and viruses themselves. Cops and criminals. In the Macintosh community, the virus problem is smaller and under better control than in the DOS world. An international "police force" shares viruses and information among its members, many of whom are programmers of anti-viral utilities. This cooperative group releases bulletins to the public about new viruses and assists in identifying and prosecuting virus writers. Its identity and the identity of most of its members are secret. The group's low profile helps discourage macho challenges between virus and anti-virus programmers, and its members avoid being overwhelmed by thousands of false reports triggered by various other Mac bugs and features. Individual responsibility. As standardization and networking grow, so does the virus threat. Imagine a virus infecting a room full of Newton Personal Digital Assistants sharing information in a meeting. Simultaneously, threats to individual computer users' rights also seem to be on the rise. Consider the Secret Service's raid on game publisher Steve Jackson or the implications of the FBI's new telephone-monitoring proposal. In the end, responsibility for securing our systems lies ultimately in our own hands. Free exchange of information and control over our own systems are our most effective defensive weapons, and we should not compromise them in a war that has never claimed a life. ------------------------------ End of Chaos Digest #1.08 ************************************