Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

The curious case of the Raspberry Pi in the network closet (2019)

blog.haschek.at

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

91–100 of 269 posts

Re: The curious case of the Raspberry Pi in the network closet (2019)

#91

Post by Seattle3503 »

EvanKnowles wrote: post #83
magicalhippo wrote: post #23

Reminds me of this[1] good old quote from the IRC days hm. I've lost a machine.. literally _lost_. it responds to ping, it works completely, I just can't figure out where in my apartment it is. [1]: http://bash.org/?5273

We had a prod case where a server was being flooded with requests, and a downstream server kept falling over. We figured it was an attack of some sort and investigated, eventually traced it back to a computer inside our own network (we're a big computer, five floors of computers). It had an open file share, containing some Delphi books and from which we got the computer name too. So we walked over to the Delphi team'…

I'm surprised employees have sufficient access to prod to make this mistake.

Re: The curious case of the Raspberry Pi in the network closet (2019)

#92

Post by e40 »

bitexploder wrote: post #79
fnord123 wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is a case to be made for using the legal system as a deterrent. But there is also the case to made to not do that as in the case of Aaron Swartz.

This is a lot more localized and malicious. I do think people deserve second chances, but the context of all this rubs me the wrong way. Maybe the building owner was right to not make it a legal matter, but this feels like more than a harmless experiment. The malicious persons operational security is obviously terrible. As someone who has done security research for over 15 years, I take the ethics of this sort of thi…

Given the relative sophistication of it, it feels more like practice. In that case, not even a slap on the wrist very well could be seen as encouragement.

Re: The curious case of the Raspberry Pi in the network closet (2019)

#93

Post by niij »

EvanKnowles wrote: post #83
magicalhippo wrote: post #23

Reminds me of this[1] good old quote from the IRC days hm. I've lost a machine.. literally _lost_. it responds to ping, it works completely, I just can't figure out where in my apartment it is. [1]: http://bash.org/?5273

We had a prod case where a server was being flooded with requests, and a downstream server kept falling over. We figured it was an attack of some sort and investigated, eventually traced it back to a computer inside our own network (we're a big computer, five floors of computers). It had an open file share, containing some Delphi books and from which we got the computer name too. So we walked over to the Delphi team'…

Doesn't sound like a management failure to me. It sounds like there should be separate vlans for QA/test and Production to prevent this very thing (or potentially something more malicious like the spread of ransomware).

Re: The curious case of the Raspberry Pi in the network closet (2019)

#94

Post by imwillofficial »

suifbwish wrote: post #56
growt wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And then? The cable disappears into a wall together with 100s of other cables (which most likely are not labeled or not correctly, otherwise you wouldn't have lost the machine in the first place)

It is completely irresponsible and without excuse for any main network operator/owner to not be completely aware of what each and every cable does which is connected to a switch/network router. If the owner refuses to determine this, they are responsible if there is a nefarious device on the network until they do. Wireless makes this much more complicated so any responsible admin will ensure the wireless network is c…

This is a silly take. People and orgs have a million reasons why their cables might be unlabeled. Shame on you for binary thinking without considering real world confounding factors.

Re: The curious case of the Raspberry Pi in the network closet (2019)

#95

Post by goodpoint »

michaelt wrote: post #20
jokoon wrote: post #13

I'm rather curious, why can't the RPi have soldered flash memory? How much would it cost to add 2, 4, or 8GB of flash memory on it? Because I would gladly pay for a Rpi with such memory if it added 10 dollars. I'm suspecting it would require for them to make a new SOC, breaking compability?

Using an SD card means you can reset the Pi to factory settings by swapping the card for another; and undo the reset by swapping the cards back. This is substantially simpler for beginners than using network boot, or messing around with a bootloader via serial console.

Having an 8GB eMMC does not preclude having an SD slot. Any beginner can plug in an auto-installer on the SD card and use the same SD for different devices. Simpler and cheaper.

If that's not enough, the eMMC could even come preinstalled with an OS.

Re: The curious case of the Raspberry Pi in the network closet (2019)

#96

Post by imwillofficial »

suifbwish wrote: post #53
tinus_hn wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This should really only ever happen with wireless connections. You should always be able to tell what switchport a computer is connected to and work from there.

One of the many reasons that I dislike the push towards wifi/wireless for everything. It makes my hair stand on end to see people using wireless keyboards (which people usually have for at least 5 years). People seem so disgusted when you even suggest that these things are inherently bad ideas which will inevitably lead to consequences and immediately push you into a naysayer/antiprogressive category verbally or sile…

Explain to me exactly how wireless keyboards are “ inherently bad ideas”, and not something that can be fixed with a robust technical solution?

Re: The curious case of the Raspberry Pi in the network closet (2019)

#97

Post by boringg »

Thanks OP - great read. Seems like a very sloppy network logger - I mean there's a whole raspberry pi for physical evidence! True there are probably a lot of other network hardware so it could hide in plain sight. Either way fascinating that they thought they could get away with it.

Re: The curious case of the Raspberry Pi in the network closet (2019)

#98

Post by pnutjam »

bitexploder wrote: post #76
xwdv wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

“Gifted” individuals are selected at early ages to run through rigorous education programs that greatly push them ahead of their peers. It is a pipeline to create intellectual elites and captains of industry. Gifted kids are widely accepted as the most intelligent kids of a school and held up as the finest examples of the school’s educational abilities.

Do kids in gifted programs go on to become intellectual elites and “captains of industry” at higher rates than their peers?

haha... no, but their parents feel special. NY public schools used their gifted program as a way to keep white kids in majority non-white schools.

Re: The curious case of the Raspberry Pi in the network closet (2019)

#100

Post by DarylZero »

didericis wrote: post #87
bitexploder wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do kids in gifted programs go on to become intellectual elites and “captains of industry” at higher rates than their peers?

Good question. The programs themselves are generally good, as far as I’ve experienced, but the culture around them is often quite toxic. Many kids are treated like race horses. I’m not sure how effective they are on net. Most highly successful people seem like autodidacts that end up finding the resources they need one way or another. Would guess the best way to create more of those people is just to keep a lot of do…

Culture overrun by rich overachievers gaming the selection system?
Post reply on HN