Maxim s


The Don lounged in a plush red velvet seat at Maxim s as he flicked dollar bills towards the stage. From the outside, settled on a small side street in downtown Reykjav ­k, Maxim s didn t seem to be much ”fitting snugly between two brick row houses , the single wooden door into the establishment gave no clue as to its purpose.

Inside the smoke-filled club, the black walls reflected the multicolored lights that shined down onto the stage. The bar in the center was crowded with familiar faces, men and women obviously enjoying their night ”drinking, laughing, and taking in the sights. Worn-out fabric couches lined the open spaces and a handful of individual seats were facing the stage. Rhythmic music pumped out of speakers hanging by chains from the ceiling.

Maxim s was a refuge for The Don. Finishing off the rest of his chilled Brenniv ­n, he headed downstairs. The iron spiral staircase led to a few small rooms, each separated by a swatch of black velvet hung on old shower rods. As in any establishment like this, these rooms were reserved for the richer clientele ”or for the select few who had earned respect . He walked past the cashier and around the dark corner to the room at the end of the hallway.

Brushing the velvet cloth aside, he made himself comfortable in the secluded room, usually kept free by Maxim s owners for The Don s frequent visits . The Don used this room as a makeshift office, because he wasn t always able to get back to his pad when the need for a computer was taunting him.

The room was illuminated with a single black-light tube nailed to the ceiling. There was a flimsy plastic table, the kind you see for $2.99 at the local swapmeet, placed in the center of the room, and a vinyl couch as a seat. The walls were painted black, but years of neglect left them peeling, showing the drywall beneath . It wasn t luxury, but it got the job done.

The Don flipped his laptop open and set it down on the table. He stared into space for what seemed like an eternity as Windows finished loading.

From his basement location inside Maxim s, The Don could identify two wireless access points. Neither had WEP enabled (though that would have been just a temporary roadblock requiring him to monitor enough network traffic to then use wepcrack or airsnort to determine the key). One access point used the typical default SSID of default and the other used linksys . He assumed that they were personal wireless networks set up by people living in nearby flats. They were wide open, issued IP addresses at request, and gave The Don full Internet access.

He dedicated the rest of the night to doing some initial research on the switch that Knuth wanted him to access. The Don did some preliminary Google searches to learn about Mauritius and to find the Web sites of the cellular telephone providers. He came across a page that gave him a listing of all available cellular technologies and operators in Africa. Mauritius was covered by two: Cellplus Mobile Comms and Emtel.

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All Available Cellular Technologies and Operators in Africa

Knuth had requested that The Don trace all calls going into and coming from the mobile phone at 230-723-8424.

The Don checked more of the Google search results and found a document that described the current telephone numbering scheme for Mauritius. According to the document, all numbers with a 72 prefix belong to Emtel mobile subscribers. Knowing that, the Emtel cellular phone switch would be the target for Knuth s request.

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Telephone Numbering Scheme for Mauritius

Another simple search led The Don to the Emtel main Web site at www.emtel-ltd.com. Looking at the Customer Care page, he saw that the 465 prefix is used for both the main and fax numbers.

A whois of emtel-ltd.com provided some additional clues.

 % GANDI Registrar whois database for .COM, .NET, .ORG.      domain: EMTEL-LTD.COM   owner-address: Web Ltd   owner-address: Chancery House   owner-address: 99   owner-address: PORT LOUIS   owner-address: Mauritius   admin-c: EL534-GANDI   tech-c: WC169-GANDI   bill-c: SC721-GANDI   reg_created: 1997-05-20 00:00:00   expires: 2004-05-21 00:00:00   created: 2003-04-18 10:55:49   changed: 2004-02-04 13:19:24      person: EMTEL LTD   nic-hdl: EL534-GANDI   phone: +230.4657800   fax: +230.4657812   lastupdated: 2004-02-04 13:24:22 

The 465 prefix also is used for the phone and fax numbers in this listing. So, chances are, the Emtel offices were issued a block of telephone numbers within the 465 prefix. The likelihood of success is high that The Don would encounter computer systems with modems connected to some of the lines within the block. The Don shut down his laptop and headed back up the spiral staircase into the excitement of the club.




Stealing the Network. How to Own a Continent
Stealing the Network. How to Own a Continent
ISBN: 1931836051
EAN: N/A
Year: 2004
Pages: 105

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