Hackers Run Wild and Free on AOL

Fri Feb 21 14:00:53 EST 2003

>From Wired News --
http://www.wired.com/news/infostructure/0,1377,57753,00.html?tw=wn_ascii

Hackers Run Wild and Free on AOL
By Christopher Null

Using a combination of trade tricks and clever programming, hackers have
thoroughly compromised security at America Online, potentially exposing
the personal information of AOL's 35 million users.

The most recent exploit, launched last week, gave a hacker full access to
Merlin, AOL's latest customer database application. As a security measure,
Merlin runs only on AOL's internal network, but savvy hackers have found a
way to break in.

The hack involves tricking an AOL employee into accepting a file using
Instant Messenger or uploading a Trojan horse to an AOL file library. When
the file is executed, the Trojan horse connects the user who launched it
to an Internet relay chat server, which the hacker can use to issue
commands on the targeted machine. This allows the hacker to enter the
internal AOL network and the Merlin application.

Merlin requires a user ID, two passwords and a SecurID code, all of which
hackers obtain by spamming the AOL employee database with phony security
updates, through online password trades, or by "social engineering"
attacks over IM or the telephone.

The hacker who first used this exploit is said to be a 14-year-old boy.
(He could not be reached for comment.)

Another recent exploit reportedly allowed anyone to log in to any account
with a password, using a hole in AOL's Japanese Webmail portal. That flaw
has since been repaired.

Yet another hole has allowed hackers to steal AOL Instant Messenger screen
names, even those of AOL staff members and executives.

Most at risk are screen names that hackers covet, like Graffiti, or
single-word names like Steve. Also at risk are internal AOL accounts like
TOSGeneral, which is used to monitor abuse reports.

While many of these hacks utilize programming bugs, most hackers are
finding it far easier and quicker to get access or information simply by
calling the company on the phone.

These so-called social engineering tactics involve calling AOL customer
support centers and simply asking to have a given user's password reset.
Logging in with the new password gives the intruder full access to the
account.

In a telephone interview, two hackers using the handles Dan and Cam0
explained that security measures (such as verifying the last four digits
of a credit card number) can be bypassed by mumbling.

A third hacker, using the name hakrobatik, confirmed the mumbling method.

"I kept calling and pretending I just had jaw surgery and mumbling
gibberish," hakrobatik said. "At first I had no info except the screen
name, then I called and got the first name and last name by saying, 'Could
you repeat what I just said?' Then each time that I got information I
called back making the real information understandable, and everything
else I just mumbled."

In the end, hakrobatik said, service reps he talked to got so frustrated
having to ask him to repeat information that they'd give up and reset the
password. Hakrobatik later proved he could compromise any AOL account
armed only with its screen name.

Typically, hackers target reps at offshore call centers in India or
Mexico, who they claim are less savvy and have far less training than
American service agents.

"You can basically get any account information from AOL by just calling
and pestering," hakrobatik said.

At least one rep was susceptible to the proverbial oldest trick in the
book. Cam0 said he masqueraded as "a teenage girl" to win favors from a
smitten AOL employee after engaging in flirtatious chat sessions and
sending phony photographs. Some hackers also pose as internal AOL
Operations Security staff to wheedle information. And hackers claim
disgruntled AOL employees freely provide account information and favors to
friends on the outside.

Of the latest AOL attacks, Adrian Lamo, renowned hacker and founder of
disbanded watchdog site Inside-AOL, said: "It's unprecedented in the
history of AOL. AOL employee education is centered around fake online
communication. There's very little effort to guard against voice scams."

Why hasn't AOL let users know about the site's rampant security problems?
"Every now and then something flashy happens, but AOL keeps it quiet
pretty effectively," Lamo said.

The reason, Lamo said, is that AOL rarely prosecutes hackers.

"They tend to employ technical countermeasures and otherwise ignore
intruders," he said. "There's an oft-stated perception that no one has
ever been busted for hacking an AOL account."

AOL did not return repeated calls requesting comment for this story.

"You see all those commercials saying AOL 8.0 is so secure," said Dan. "If
people knew how insecure their data was they probably wouldn't use it."

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