[ProgSoc] port scanning, mapping, and hiding

[jedd <jedd@nospam.progsoc.uts.edu.au>]

 Howdi,

 I'm about to get Optus@nospam.Home installed (woo woo!), but was
 a wee bit disturbed at the hard-word they laid on during the
 registration process.  Apart from the obvious things they're
 scared of (real operating systems, PC's made before 1999,
 purple iMacs, etc) .. they made it quite clear that if the tech,
 when they came out to do the install, found any trace of a
 network, they'd walk out the door.

 Since I actually do want 1990's quality connectivity to the
 net, I assured them I was running Win95, and didn't know
 what they meant by the word 'network', yadda yadda.  And
 when the tech comes, that's what she'll find.  But .. some
 questions, in part at anyone who already has optus@nospam.home.

 Is it within the AUP to fiddle with port-scanning from ftoomsh
 to my machine thru the ZIP network, say?  I'd be doing it
 specifically to my IP address -- with the sole purpose of
 ensuring that my linux box looks a lot less smart than it really is.

 If so, what tools are good / allowable / user-level-runnable,
 from ftoomsh (or elsewhere on progsoc machines) to do this
 kind of portscanning?

 Is anyone between progsoc.uts.edu.au and the .zipworld.com.au
 domains going to be monitoring / likely to get shirty / etc?

 How legally <speculative> binding is it for a company to provide
 a service that prohibits you from utilising an alternative operating
 system, at some point in the future.  I mean - where does their
 service stop, and my property / responsibility start?

 For anyone that's been thru this process, how much trace-removal
 do I need to do from the win95 box?  Obviously, network card
 goes, mapped drive letters go, etc .. but there's still going to be
 the occasional reference on the day, I'm sure, hidden in the registry.
 Are they likely to check this kind of thing?  <paranoid>

 I didn't want to ask them on the phone, in case I got a black mark
 against my virtual name, but I'm curious what theirs (and Telstra's)
 solution is for households that have two people that want to use
 the net at the same time.  Or for households where two computers
 are hooked up purely for the purpose of playing Quake, say.

 Murray posted a URL a while ago (http://metrak.com/OaH/OaH-Linux.html
 that covers the dhcpd / eth0 & 1 configuration stuff -- but doesn't
 touch on the port hiding / dodging aspects.  Does anyone have some
 documentation on this -- not just using portmap to hide everything,
 but (a la www.microsoft.com and apache ;) modifying some apps to return
 the kinds of responses down different ports that you'd expect Win9x to do.
 (Is this kind of preparation even likely to be useful / necessary?)

 Note that I don't want to actually serve anything, or even run something
 as harmless as smtp out from the box .. I just don't want to have to
 dial-up to the net, concurrently, just so my flatmate and I can both read
 our mail at the same time.

 Taa,
 Jedd.

 PS.  For anyone considering subscribing to the service, note that
 usernames must be *five* characters, or longer .. otherwise they'll
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 trendy four-letter handles.

-- 
 jedd == jedd at progsoc dot org
 "Doesn't she?", Rez said, out of focus.  "Because if she did, I think
 I'd tell her about the loneliness of being misunderstood.  Or is it
 the loneliness of being afraid to allow ourselves to be understood?"
                         --  William Gibson, 'Idoru'.
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