


          ----/--------------------------------\-----
             /                                  \
            /  Hacking Quickmail for Macintosh   \
           <                                      >
            \  by The Brighter Buccaneer (1933)  /
             \         February 28, 1995        /
          ----\--------------------------------/----



Many companies use CE Software's QuickMail for their internal e-mail communications. QuickMail is the most common e-mail package on the Macintosh platform, and there are many different types of mail gateways to QuickMail (the most common is the Mail*Link SMTP to QuickMail gateway by StarNine). 

If you happen to work for such a company here are some tips for hacking into the messages. 

STORED MESSAGES: When users "file" QuickMail messages, the messages are stored locally on their desktop machine's hard drive. They are not stored on the central QuickMail server once they are filed, and therefore the security can be extremely lax depending on the user. If you log on to someone else's Macintosh with your own QuickMail account (don't be stupid), their filed messages and folders will be grayed out--you will not even be able to see message subjects.

The way to read these private messages is to copy them onto a floppy disk or over the network to your own drive (more on this later). The path to these filed messages is System Folder : Preferences : QuickMail Stuff : Personal Folders. You should find at least one folder in the "Personal Folders" folder--probably called "Filed Mail". Copy all the files and folders in "Personal Folders" area and take them back to a safe machine. 

To copy the stored messages to your own machine over the network you must turn the victim's File Sharing on (System 7 and later only). The safest way to do this is when they are not around (duh...), or while you are pretending to help them with some sort of problem. 
1) Go to the "Sharing Setup" control panel and turn on File Sharing. 
2) Go to the "Users & Groups" control panel and open the "Guest" account. Make sure the "Allow Guests to Connect" box is checked. 
3) Click once on their startup hard drive icon (the top icon in upper right-hand corner of the desktop), and choose "Sharing..." from the file menu. 
4) Click on the "Share this item and it's contents" box, and also check the other boxes... in fact check every damn box you can see. That puppy is now shared!
5) Their hard drive is now shared, and will be accessable from your own machine via the Chooser's AppleShare icon. Just log on as guest and you're off to find their filed mail!

Once you have their private mail files back at your own machine you will have to use FileTyper (shareware) or Apple's ResEdit to change the creator to a text editor (MSWD = Microsoft Word, SNTE = SaintEdit), and the file type to TEXT (plain ascii text file). You can then open these files up without too much problem, although there will be some trash at the beginning and end of each file (this is the graphical form itself). The message's text should be plainly visible, but if you have problems, it is recommended to try a different text editor, or to use Retrieve It!'s "Peek In Any File..." option.

Quick Plug for Retrieve It!
Claris Clear Choice's Retrieve It! by Matt Pallakoff is a great utility for viewing and searching for text anywhere on a hard drive, floppy, or network drive. It will search the resource and data forks of any file, folder, or drive, and let you cut and paste any text that you find. It is a must-have from Macintosh hackers big and small! End of plug.   
 
NOTES:

CE Software, Inc.
P.O. Box 65580 
West Des Moines, IA  50265
(515) 224-1995, (800) 523-7638, or FAX: (515) 224-4534
CE.SUPPORT@applelink.apple.com


StarNine Technologies, Inc.
2550  Ninth Street, Suite 112 
Berkeley, CA  94710
(510) 649-4949 or FAX: (510) 548-0393
info@starnine.com
