Xref: utzoo comp.protocols.tcp-ip:16677 alt.security:2707 Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!swrinde!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!ncar!noao!amethyst!rsm From: rsm@math.arizona.edu (Robert S. Maier) Newsgroups: comp.protocols.tcp-ip,alt.security Subject: nosy finger daemons Message-ID: Date: 22 Jun 91 01:28:38 GMT Organization: Mathematics Department, University of Arizona Lines: 25 Several machines in the nrl.navy.mil domain have an interesting undocumented feature: if you finger them, they finger you right back! Examples are tiger.nrl.navy.mil and ccf.nrl.navy.mil. Try it yourself; if your finger daemon logs incoming requests you'll pick it up at once. If you finger either, it's always tiger.nrl.navy.mil that fingers you. So the modifications to their finger daemons must be nontrivial. Apparently the folks at nrl.navy.mil (Navy Research Laboratory) didn't want to erect a full-fledged firewall, so they compromised on this. It doesn't seem a very effective protection against the outside world though. In fact it's rather amusing. Has anyone ever seen anything else like this? I haven't checked to see whether their other daemons (e.g. rusersd) are nosy too, but I wouldn't be surprised. Apparently `Caller ID' has come to the Internet. -- Robert S. Maier | Internet: rsm@math.arizona.edu, rsm@cs.arizona.edu Dept. of Math. | UUCP: uunet!arizona!amethyst!rsm Univ. of Arizona | Bitnet: maier@arizrvax Tucson, AZ 85721 | FAX: +1 602 621 8322 U.S.A. | Voice(POTS): +1 602 621 6893 / +1 602 621 2617