White Hat Security Guide "How To Hack With Telnet"

This is a White Hat computer security training guide. To use this guide you must have your own TCP/IP network. This can be as simple as two computers connected over a single wire connection or as complex as a network with thousands of routers. Casual readers are advised that if you use these procedures on any network, such as the networks connected to the Internet, without the permission of the owner that it could be a violation of national or international law. If you are responsible for the security of one or more Internet networks this guide can significantly enhance your understanding of how exploitation of networks is accomplished using the very simple hacker Telnet protocol.

Telnet is an Internet Network Virtual Terminal (NVT) protocol that is easier to use than to explain. The Telnet protocol is used by other Internet applications, such as the Control Connection in FTP, so knowledge of Telnet is useful within multiple applications. This general applicability of Telnet within the Internet enables a hacker to reap lots of information and potentially exert control over many applications. By using Telnet, a human hacker can emulate any number of Internet applications disguising the human as just another Internet computer.

Within the Internet, each application (Well Known Port) is assigned a number in accordance with Internet Standard 002. A few of these numbers are enumerated below:

WWW Example - Use of Telnet to emulate a WWW client for information gathering.

SMTP (email) Spoofing Example - Use of Telnet
to hack (forge) email

Resulting Message...

From This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it Tue Nov 6 12:04:30 2007
Date: Tue, 6 Nov 2007 12:01:19 -0500 (EST)
From: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
Subject: Email Forgery
To: undisclosed-recipients:;

This email was forged using the Telnet protocol.

Summary

Telnet is a simple protocol designed to provide compatible terminal services across TCP/IP networks. The simple character mode design of the Internet Protocols like Telnet make them great tools for hackers looking for information about your hardware and software infrastructure. Telnet provides you with an excellent White Hat tool to familiarize yourself with this level of network interactions. The knowledge will prove itself invaluable as you configure routers, switches, and other devices on your network.

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