I was 9 or 10 years old at the time and my root password was one of those common strings (12345, abcde, I don't remember at this point). It had taken me 3 days to learn how to download Linux, make a stack of installation floppies, find and use partitioning tools, install Linux and set up a boot loader, etc. I cried when I realized what had been done to me.
And regardless, it was a hard, cheap, early lesson in the importance of ensuring fundamental levels of system security. I've ... suffered worse.
I strongly suspect you'll never forget this.
But scripted or not, someone did you a favor.
For a reference point, a (very technical) friend at a large tech company had to fire up a fresh Windows VM in order to complete some Windows/IE-only internal web app form.
He was p0wned within 5 minutes. On the corporate LAN. Stats I've seen are that an unpatched WinXP box (pre-SP2) was getting p0wned within 15 seconds, on average by the mid/late oughts. Scripted attacks are that fast and easy.
Scanning an IP range for open telnet ports (n00b move #1) and attempting root logins on same (n00b move #2) with weak passwords (third strike) is pretty trivial. Could have been another AOL user, could have been someone's IRC bot / autoattack.
While not blaming the victim, you discovered (on a freshly installed, no-real-data-present-yet box, hence, very inexpensively) that You Don't Do That[tm].
So: stop crying over this and put on your Big Boy pants. That asshole did you a favor. Really.
In what world do you think that
1) I'm 'still crying' over something that happened 17 years ago by relating it in a comment
2) It's appropriate to tell other professionals relating a story to 'stop crying'
It's certainly not this one.
I am saying that, yes, he did something stupid and got spanked for it.
I'm also saying (and in my highly downvoted follow-up providing additional examples of) that it's reasonably if not highly plausible that the attack was wholly scripted and automated.
I've been burned myself -- by systems stuff as well as meatspace events. Very often the key finding of a particular experiment is "don't do that".
That was my point.
The author's view is definitely too pessimistic. Most people on IRCs like Freenode aren't evil 'hackers' out to 'hack' you (this reminds me of an episode of Numb3rs.) Other smaller IRC servers can get rowdy, but I've yet to see that on Freenode et al.
I think much better advice would be to not randomly execute crap you see online without knowing what the program is and does, especially in root.
That doesn't mean that they're all saints, I just find it comforting that there are people out there who will gladly assist a complete stranger (in my case, me).
It would be simpler just to tell the student to not run any command unless he or she can explain exactly what the program and arguments mean.
I don't really agree with that. I know for sure that popular channels in OFTC and Freenode are monitored by very smart and responsible people that would never let this happen. In my many years on IRC I have not seen a single novice guy looking for help actually get had by someone intentionally trying to mislead/screw over.
I would instead encourage novices to read this: http://catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html#usefora ('How To Ask Questions The Smart Way: Web and IRC forums directed towards newbies often give the quickest response')