Network security becomes increasingly difficult as point-and-drool cracking tools proliferate. So many painfully easy-to-use appz have been developed in recent years that persistence is now a far more reliable predictor of success than skill: even a newbie cracker can succeed by . . .

Network security becomes increasingly difficult as point-and-drool cracking tools proliferate. So many painfully easy-to-use appz have been developed in recent years that persistence is now a far more reliable predictor of success than skill: even a newbie cracker can succeed by using pat scripts and casting his nets wide enough. The Microsoft intrusion was almost certainly not the work of elite hackers; if it had been, we would not now be reporting it. What we're going to detail below is how a fool can (and did) sack the Magic Kingdom.

Everything the newbie cracker needs to break in to the Microsoft Developers' Network is readily available on the Web following a brief search. Here's how you go about it: First, you'll download a Trojan which can be distributed via e-mail. QAZ, which was used in the M$ attack, is a fine choice because it will automatically copy itself throughout shared folders on a LAN. It's a malicious backdoor program masquerading as the familiar Microsoft utility Notepad.

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