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From: okunewck@psuvax1.cs.psu.edu (Phil OKunewick)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.dec
Subject: Re: QUEST for VAX users *********
Message-ID: <c#aG$5q31@cs.psu.edu>
Date: 19 Mar 91 16:27:55 GMT
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In article <8819.27e524ea@jetson.uh.edu> inde5wl@jetson.uh.edu writes:
>
>I am a amatuer VAX user. I have recently come across a small bug.
>Some VAX operating systems remember old passwords and prevent you
>from using the same password if you wish to change it again.
>Q: How could I display all my previous passwords?
>Why do I ask? Well I like to learn about the system by trying
>to do the impossible. And obsession is my worst vice.
>I wont rest until I find the answer.
>Somebody please help.

   "That's not a bug; that's a feature."

   This sounds like a poor attempt to get cracking advice.  Now, I'm
not accusing anybody here; just pointing out the resemblance.
Basically, it's really not the sort of request you want to make
publicly.

   First, a good password system does not allow anybody to list
passwords; only verification is allowed.  There are ways of making
password listing impossible, even if you can read the file passwords
are stored in.  That's all I'm going to say on the subject, and I
don't think the net is the place to expand on this farther.

   Next, asking publicly on the net for password-cracking advice is
STUPID!  How many people do you think read this newsgroup?  How many
would-be crackers do you think would snarf up anything that gets
posted on the subject, and use it for unethical (and probably illegal)
purposes?

   AN ALTERNATIVE:  There is a _lot_ you can learn and do with a
system, instead of password cracking.  Listing old passwords is not a
worthwhile endeavor - what do you _really_ gain?
   Find a manual on your system; explore other things.  Do you have
any idea of the archetecture of your processor?  Look into it.  Figure
out how to whip together some code, optomized for your system (which
will be slow on other systems, of course).  How about Disk I/O, or I/O
in general?  Now, _that_ info is worth knowing.
   A tested/tried/true hack is playing music on the lineprinter - the
end result is not worth much, but it's a neat hack and what you learn
in the process is very useful.  Try hacking your system's editor to
behave like another system's editor - that's a fun one.  (This is a
good hackitude test - a normal user will say "Dumb - why bother?", but
a hacker will say "Neat.")