Turbo_Steve
Simple NomadHey #infosec and various old school #hacker types out there. Ages ago I read a tale about a print server that was the source of an intrusion into some system that the author of this tale was trying to secure. In other words, the print server (at some ISP in Australia) had been popped and from there the attacker was getting into other systems. If you were around in the last century and involved in tech and security you might have read this in some zine or blog. A pointer to a copy of this tale would be appreciated, and you will be rewarded in a large quantity of Zorkmids. And if you get the Zorkmids reference, surely you might recall this tale. Boosts appreciated.
cynicalsecurity 
@simplenomad well, the tale made it Europe, probably via the UK, but to remember where… I think it predates the blog era and was actually one of those early multifunction machines which also had a fax, hence a modem, and it would answer for remote maintenance. You know how the rest goes…
@cynicalsecurity Most likely you are correct. A fave backdoor from my 90s days was a gopher server (!) that had a modem attached that I used as an outdial. I loved that box and kept it patched and locked up tight.
@simplenomad yes and note that the faxmodem trick was a classic to pop "secure networks" in Europe through the 1990s… not that I have ever done that, of course, but I do still own a USR Courier V.Everything purely for sentimental reasons, you understand.
The advantage was that the fax number was published, it was trivial to check if it was a fax modem and then the admin credentials were "the usual" for all major brands (Xerox, Canon and Minolta are three I still remember fondly)
Borup@simplenomad @cynicalsecurity the one I almost remember was way more involved than that. I remember it as a networking air gapped server, attacked via a printer that was only connected via serial cable (possibly via parallel cable given the time).
@borup there were several of those stories / lore including the fabled modem used for the maintenance of the mainframe right into the core network at a particularly secure site which had an air-gapped network… The '90s were more fun from the perspective of "entry options".
@borup @cynicalsecurity The one I was thinking of is not that one, but that sounds familiar (and pretty cool).
Bob 🇨🇦🇲🇽🇺🇦@simplenomad Was it UniSpool?
@bielsubob I doubt it, this took place in the 90s and the print server was a basic Unix server attached to a printer.
lippard✅
@lippard @bielsubob hehe very possible!
The Doctor@simplenomad Geez, that's an old one. I might have something about it in cold storage. I can start searching later tonight.
CharonPDX@simplenomad I definitely have a memory hiding in the back of my brain around this, but can't remember enough details to find it.
I am down to my last Zorkmid, too, so I could definitely use more. I'll have to research more.