[subego]

Internet Census 2012

Basically, this guy realized there are loads of open telnet clients. Like, enough he could build a botnet and port scan the entire Internet.

So, we've basically got three things.

1) All the data this guy collected is interesting.

2) Though he didn't do anything particularly wrong (IMO), should they find him, they're going to lock this guy up and throw away the key.

3) There are several hundred thousand totally open telnet clients out there, and now everybody knows it.


Via Security Now


Edit: I mean telnet servers. Oops

[The Final Dakar]

What's a telnet client?

[subego]

Telnet was how you opened up a shell on a remote computer in the days before SSH.

One would presume, it's so old, there are people out there who haven't realized you should close it.

Also, I should have said telnet server. You use the client. Sorry.

[subego]

And by people, I mean people who manufacture hardware. This isn't a user problem.

[subego]

Here's a gif of ping responsiveness over time. The day/night cycle is pretty clear:



And here's the xkcd map of what you're looking at.

[olePigeon]

Originally Posted by The Final Dakar 

What's a telnet client?

It's a game called NetHack.