richard@gryphon.COM (Richard Sexton) (10/17/89)
In article <1989Oct16.093122.3942@twwells.com> bill@twwells.com (T. William Wells) writes some really incredible stuff: >In article <none> fred@flinstones.com writes: > >Here are the interesting things from your headers. These first are >bogus but anyone can change them: > > Path: twwells!novavax!uflorida!uakari.primate.wisc.edu!ginosko!usc\ > !merlin.usc.edu!flinstones.com!fred > From: fred@flinstones.com > Message-ID: <none> > >You also screwed up the References: line, it should have been blank. >But this is the giveaway: > > Sender: news@merlin.usc.edu > >You were logged in as news at merlin.usc.edu. We can't figure out >exactly who you are without asking the news admin who likely has >access to the news account. Wrong. Just because ``news@merlin'' posted it, does not mean a person was logged in as news@merlin. The person did not even have to be on merlin. >Of course, since you were on the news account, you could also modify >the news software to not put in the Sender: line. Or you could have >edited it out in the spool directory before the system sent it out >(supposing that your news is batched). I'll bet $1 the person was not the news account. >If one has access to the news account, or to uucp, or root, it isn't >too hard to forge an article. You don't have to be news, uucp, or root. >Yes, I can think of several ways to pretty much undetectably forge an >article on a Unix system. At least one of them does not require any >special privileges or even much knowledge of Unix. Undetectible forgeries are another matter. But they are quite possible. In reality though, anybody anywhere can do a pretty good job of forging a posting. >No. Please don't show us that you have figured a way. If you really >want to prove it to me, just tell me about it via e-mail, OK? I'll >happily confirm whether it will work or not. No, you won't be giving >away any important secrets: I own this machine; I can forge a message >any time I want. Heh heh. This is just a clever ruse. The Real T.W.W knows better than this and would never have posted the above misinformation. Besides, he's out of the country and won't be back until 11/4/89. Any postings you see from him until then are bogus. In other words, it was a forgery. As is this posting. Speaking for the soft underbelly of the net. -- Help wipe out BBQ lighter fluid in your lifetime richard@gryphon.COM decwrl!gryphon!richard gryphon!richard@elroy.jpl.NASA.GOV