::DATA

[The KGB]

I cannot find any information on ':ATA'. Whats is it and how is it used?
Thak you.

 

[Lanwench [MVP - Exchange]]

Just delete it.

 

[Crusty \(-: Old B@stard :-\)]

data is anything recorded - anywhere - to be used at a later date (-:

--
Regards:

Richard Urban

aka Crusty (-: Old B@stard

 

[Alun Jones [MS]]

I cannot find any information on ':ATA'. Whats is it and how is it

used?

In what sense did you encounter the term first?

The double-colon suggests that you're talking about NTFS alternate
data-streams, originally introduced to support Apple Macintosh files on
Windows NT. But that would be "::$DATA", and would indicate the default
stream. So, for instance, "more < bootlog.txt" and "more <
bootlog.txt::$DATA" would get you the same information.

The form first really started grabbing people's attention when it was used
to get access to source code for web pages, by accessing
"http://www.example.com/url.asp::$DATA" instead of
"http://www.example.com/url.asp".

Other alternate data-streams can easily be created, under whatever name you
choose.

Alun.
~~~~

 

[The KGB]

Was reading up on hijacking NW accounts. The post indicated that there
are/were many default accounts on some Os's. Using :ATA one could somehow
read passwords. That was the impression I got anyway. When entering :ATA
or ::$DATA at a command prompt (Win2K) it just acts as though I pressed
enter. No error - nothin! Thank you Alun......

 

[Alun Jones [MSFT]]

Was reading up on hijacking NW accounts. The post indicated that there
are/were many default accounts on some Os's. Using :ATA one could somehow
read passwords. That was the impression I got anyway. When entering :ATA
or ::$DATA at a command prompt (Win2K) it just acts as though I pressed
enter. No error - nothin! Thank you Alun......

From your description, it sounds like you know too little about computers to
be doing the sort of messing around that you are talking about. I knew a
guy in college who showed many of the same signs - give him a keyword, and
he'd assume it was a command, and go and type it in to see what it was,
rather than search for more information and see what it did. Last I heard,
he'd been caught by the college and suspended from computer activities
there, making it rather difficult to complete his degree. Then he found a
job, and got himself fired from there, because he got caught hacking.

He didn't get sent to prison (as far as I've heard, yet), but you only have
to look around for signs that trying to be a 'hacker' (in the modern sense
of the word) is a dangerous pursuit, not worth investigating time into.
While there are many system administrators not worthy of the title, the
majority of them know what they're doing, have been at it longer than you,
and have the advantage that every so often, they can call on dedicated
professionals to help them out when the system "doesn't look quite right".

I suspect the post that you were reading was most likely a 'bone', thrown to
juvenile hackers, designed to weed out the smart ones from the not-so-smart,
by feeding misinformation and seeing who will go with it. You took the
bait - this should probably be a sign that you're not on to a winner.
Abandon any aspirations you may have to a criminal career now, you are not
destined to be a Moriarty.

Alun.
~~~~