AOL Underground

Fibra grew up a Mac kid in a PC-dominated warez scene, tinkering in HyperCard before discovering AOL4FREE and the elite Mac chat crews of the mid-'90s. He walks through the Mac side of AOL hacking, including FDOs, ResEdit, tokens, and "hells" like One Click, and how that curiosity became a career in software and AI. Today he's reverse-engineered AOL itself with Dialtone and a 68k...

The president of the ARiSE warez group tells us about his experience with BBS, Prodigy, QuantumLink, AOL, and IRC. He also talks about the early days of the warez scene, notable groups at the time, what it is like running a warez group, and his experience carding at age 13. Survey Link: https://airtable.com/app7GJNzwDQ8MMINw/shr4yEBKR6AADMOWo Guest: Rajuabju Host: Steve Stonebraker Audio Editor: S...

Pwning AOL with pure FDO. Hacking employee accounts. Downloading AOL files and posting them to aol-files.com. BMB recounts his amazing story Guest: BMB Host: Steve Stonebraker Audio Editor: Sam Fox (sam.fox.london@gmail.com⁠⁠) CoverArt: Created by Broast ( ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://broast.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ), original idea by LampGold. -- AOL Underground PodcastFollow us on twitter -⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠ @AOLUnder...

Creator of Millennium, Blizzard, and Code Genie. Despite facing relentless criticism and accusations of code theft, his software gained widespread use. He remains active in coding today, applying lessons from the AOL scene to modern projects like his mobile wagering game, rockshotrush.com . Highlights Include: Origin of the handle "BoFeN" and his other alias "Nova". He was also...

The creator of KillTimer tells his story! Blog post about Killtimer: https://adventuresincomputing.bajgier.net/development/storytelling/2024/10/08/the-killtimer-story.html Highlights Include: First experiences with computers and getting online Teenage hacking, phishing, and the underground AOL scene AOL beta program memories and chatroom hijinks Early programming projects: Visual Basic, Delphi, C,...

Suspect shares his journey through the scene, starting from his first experiences with computers in the mid-90s and becoming active in the AOL community from 2000 to 2008. He discusses early programming interests, the thrill and risks of downloading and creating software, and the culture of exploiting vulnerabilities in platforms like PHPBB and AOL/AIM screen names. Suspect also reflects on the un...

Pat or JK shares why he created API Spy, a tool for automating Windows API interactions and Find That Bas, which analyzed .bas files to detect code reuse. Pat also talks about AIM Flash, genozide.bas, and getting Vader Fader to function on AOL 4.0. We discuss how he cracked MaGuS's Fate Zero's encryption. The episode wraps up with Pat's creative project, sub pixel snake, highlighting h...

Robbie's programming journey began with early exposure to computers and the internet, where he explored bulletin board systems and platforms like Virtual Places. He quickly became immersed in creating bots, filters, and tools for clan wars and later transitioned his skills to AOL Instant Messenger. Known for reverse-engineering protocols and crafting exploits, Robbie's work left a mark on...

Squirrel recounts experimenting with Visual Basic, creating programs, dabbling in exploits, and cracking OH and Internal accounts by bypassing SecureID via AOL Net Connect. Squirrel also discusses his transition to broader internet activities, including affiliate automation and early scripting exploits, while balancing his social life and tech interests. Guest: Squirrel Host: Steve Stonebraker Aud...

Seven's journey began with curiosity about a crash exploit, which evolved into mastering programming languages like Visual Basic and C#. Known for creating tools like "AIM Invader" and reverse-engineering AIM protocols, Seven became a pivotal figure in the underground programming community. Despite facing legal challenges, Seven leveraged his skills to build a successful career, insp...

Blaine (Soloist) tells us his journey from a kid connecting to local BBSs, finding AOL, learning to program, spamming for an affiliate network, and then finally finding his true passion; building websites and businesses. Guest: Blaine Vess ( https://www.linkedin.com/in/blainevess/ , https://www.immeasurable.com/ ) Host: Steve Stonebraker Audio Editor: Sam Fox (sam.fox.london@gmail.com⁠⁠⁠) CoverArt...

We cover music and video piracy and delve in deep into the many websites and schemes ShiZZa OaK was able to probe and exploit for profit. Coupon stacking, gift card re-use, OSX Upgrade disc enumeration, etc. Guest: ShiZZa Oak Host: Steve Stonebraker Audio Editor: Sam Fox (sam.fox.london@gmail.com⁠⁠⁠) CoverArt: Created by Broast ( ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://broast.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ), original idea by LampGold....

ShiZZa OaK tells us about his switch to IRC and joining one of the first mp3 ripping groups on the scene, Rabid Neurosis (RNS) and hosting an mp3 top site. We also talk about his phone hijinks when phreaking, calling Miss Cleo, and cracking passwords. Other MP3 ripping groups mentioned: Underground Music Alliance CDA - Compress 'Da Audio Guest: ShiZZa Oak Host: Steve Stonebraker Audio Editor:...

ShiZZa OaK talks about the early days on AOL, getting early access to a Windows 95 Beta CD, 0-day ftp site access, trolling MTV Yack Live and the first mp3 ripped and uploaded to the scene. Guest: ShiZZa Oak Host: Steve Stonebraker Audio Editor: Sam Fox (sam.fox.london@gmail.com⁠⁠⁠) CoverArt: Created by Broast ( ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://broast.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ), original idea by LampGold. Episode References: M...

Spaz tells us about his early days dabbling in carding, socially engineering various ISPs, and working with affiliate networks. Guest: Spaz Host: Steve Stonebraker Audio Editor: Sam Fox (sam.fox.london@gmail.com⁠⁠⁠) CoverArt: Created by Broast ( ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://broast.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ), original idea by LampGold. -- AOL Underground Podcast Follow us on twitter - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@AOLUnderground⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@bra...

NailZ tells us about Codeine's plan to take over AOL, Prodigy, and Compuserve. Planting trojan's on AOL employee machines and using them to proxy FDO and ATOM to manipulate Merlin and cause chaos on AOL. Also we talk about why he created LuciferX. Guest: NailZ Host: Steve Stonebraker Audio Editor: Sam Fox (sam.fox.london@gmail.com⁠⁠⁠) CoverArt: Created by Broast ( ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://broast.org⁠...

Nise tells us about cracking, scrollers, phishing, account takeovers, and ruining some people's lives. Later he tells us about how AOL led to him finding his passion for marketing and a book he has been writing. Guest: Nise ( ⁠https://appliedcuriositys.com/⁠ ) Host: Steve Stonebraker Audio Editor: Sam Fox (sam.fox.london@gmail.com⁠⁠⁠) CoverArt: Created by Broast ( ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://broast.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠...

Sam tells us about his experience using AOL UK while coming of age in England. His fascination with visual art began here and he fell in love with FDO (Form Definition Operator) generated content. We then nerd out on how exactly cartoon episodes are produced. Guest: Sam Fox (He's the new Audio Editor for this Podcast!) Host: Steve Stonebraker CoverArt: Created by Broast ( ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://broast.or...

Broast tells us about writing password stealers, password crackers, deploying botnets, finding exploits, and hacking Digital Gangster and other forums. Guest: Broast Host: Steve Stonebraker CoverArt: Created by Broast ( ⁠⁠⁠https://broast.org⁠⁠⁠ ), original idea by LampGold. -- AOL Underground Podcast Follow us on twitter - ⁠⁠⁠@AOLUnderground⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠@brakertech⁠⁠⁠ Reddit - ⁠⁠https://www.reddit.com/r...

Pen tells us about Pen Tools, a password stealer detector he wrote, user interfaces, the warez scene and more. We jump around a bit in this episode (between AOL and not AOL). Also, unfortunately the interview was cut short. Guest: Pen Host: Steve Stonebraker CoverArt: Created by Broast ( ⁠⁠https://broast.org⁠⁠ ), original idea by LampGold. -- AOL Underground Podcast Follow us on twitter - ⁠⁠@AOLUn...

Single talks about how the AOL hacking group NV2 formed, carding, and when the group swatted their way to the top. Guest: Single Host: Steve Stonebraker CoverArt: Created by Broast ( ⁠https://broast.org⁠ ), original idea by LampGold. -- Single Follow Single on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/devastatorbrand/ Single's Graffiti Accessory Brand - ⁠https://www.devastatorbrand.com/ The missin...

Erci Stern (from parts one and two) tells us her origin story.  We review in depth how she battled users that were uploading Warez on a customer's Anonymous FTP site and also hear a funny story about Slingo.  She takes us through her entire career at AOL where she started in Site Reliability (Systems Administration/Operations), moving to Information Security/QA, and then went into project mana...

Staff from 1987-2007 (with over 35 years combined experience) talk about their experience while working at AOL.  You will hear about the Eworld, Tandylink, Commodore 64, Telnet, RAINMAN, Jay Levitt, Hackers, Q-Guides, scalability issues, and more. Guests: Craig Braquet Jan DeLucien Bryan Teague Erci Stern Host: Steve Stonebraker CoverArt: Created by Broast ( https://broast.org ), original idea by...

Staff from 1987-2007 (with over 35 years combined experience) talk about their experience while working at AOL.  You will hear about the Quantum Link hacker, Jenny C, the "Fives" hack, outages, how multiple departments were formed, the Habitat game, What made AOL special, Honeywell Multics, innovation, auditoriums, Tandy Link, Apple Link, and more. Guests: Craig Braquet Jan DeLucien Brya...

Surf Kahuna (Ryan Chapman) finishes his origin story and what he learned from it.  Then Steve and Ryan talk espionage, multiple Advanced Persistent Threats, retro gaming, password spraying, ransomware, and what has helped Ryan be successful in Infosec. Guest: Surf Kahuna/Mac Diablo (Ryan Chapman) Host: Steve Stonebraker CoverArt: Created by Broast ( https://broast.org ), original idea by LampGold....