[H-GEN] (AUSCERT#38535) Re: The recient spate of port scans and intrusion attempts. (fwd)

[Martin Pool]

On Tue, Jul 21, 1998 at 08:37:05AM +1000, Sid Young wrote:
> >
> >At what point does doorknob-rattling (either in the physical world, or
> >on the net) become an attempted break-in?  Does it depend on intent to
> >break in, or is it based on some kind of generally accepted conduct?
> 
> Intent....why do you rattle a door knob??...to get in...intent is not
> acceptable conduct.

"Hmm, I wonder if dragon.auscert.org.au runs a public ftp server?"
(It does.)

"Hmm, I wonder if dragon.auscert.org.au has a public telnet server
with a guest account?"  (At a guess it doesn't, but some machines do,
such as rs.internic.net.)

Proving intent to do damage, rather than just cluelessness, seems
fraught.

Perhaps this is why banners are important: you can tell people exactly
which doorknobs they're allowed to turn.  But then, making the initial
connection to see the banner ought to be allowed.  

-- 
Martin Pool