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2600 Magazine - Volume 1, Number 7
July, 1984
n:
i-sura: thaAg Admoot everyone to tzg&csyxd
thia to some extent, though ;*Qine ^.c^Tspj^.^.iO far
hftiffr s ha '^jC}|Jh|C^ rgrcat deaJ
^K?ptd Tpcflgnl^-^^ ^^a^ea^ :l ÂŁ
, Wbai> the 'tfiFferpr**? The tjvo are dtj^itel^ plated. no
denying that , 1 But ! they art fair Trprii identical One; erf J^nwst
outstanding differences lies in the Act that people wiki dfaiin to he
ââ^afraidâ of compute rs ( vi hither it V because of their efficiency, rapid
growth, of wtoeVet>teitf iofc^ the things. But people
wh&.iA^unilfentaitd computed are the ones who are running and
rt&ubltifig them. â -. . .=
--, :.(twt ^fithjki ; m*=rt|>ottcd that -.Tom Teimpidii; who operates a
computer bulletin board system from his home intb^|j^^igtJ^ 4 rtA T
. j^^^uipjT^tjrei^ by the ^Os An^ksPolioe Depffltra^tJ Why?
.S^.ehodyv y if be re had called up his^ystem anÂŁ lefian AT AT
cipdit rtl r! ... i fie Teltphouit fcyiklcut: to
rfejt it& hiu^cfcs- drfficiafs 1 Thyolve^ m the cas? l insiit tfiai the "system
âoperator be ^jjfp.'The
itibhWHd appl^rited t+kle s^kkrt-Vr rrii rrl: ; Sd fWrfci-r Cbtirt Judge Robert
Fratianne, was quoted in info Wo r Id a.<*ayi tfÂŁ- * As -fat a s [cahset, for
someone 'to vUtifhntif-^br^riiytJttft! crirtte:; (Hfcy to hiivt the
knowledge, the: sowipratTiiVâ and; the atou toanillegflt fiuMn]
|u^rdi^l^^An^n«jÂŁnjcrw wMrheâs talking alwui^WhatJm the rid
, js^.R r^^boM^l Jciptf flqitipnvnl is^ liking The
â ,pTi|ly ^yipmeot here.is a b^c p^puicc!^ aruodicFg^K;le< oa^gfibe
officials claims that he knows all about this, kind of. thing, because he
saw Wgr Gomes , Ihefilm where. a Laities to start a nuclear wtur.
Ferheps he didn't seethe same film as fne rest of the world, but in any
etent, seeing Odmes, whether you understand it or not, doesn't
make -you an automatic expert on Anything having to do with
computers! This is what is known as aggressive ignorance.
Another fun thing that happened lasTmotithwai theTRW escapade.
The ration was shocked to find out that the TRW computer, which
houses credit inf-armatittvon a large number of people, might have
bccn broMQ iptt>. Nobody, knew what, hadeven happened! Did
someone raid ^systemand destroy or chongemfo? Did the feds bust
another p&R for posting âillegal" jjifq?Wepe real criminals involved
this time? Did a large b|U get Bent loan innocent corporation?
According to all of the articles thai have been written, not one of the
above happened, but they all could have happened, So where is the
story?! Are they saying that the worst thing that happened here was the
posting of this nifty ifnbrhtstibn somewhere? Well, that> not even
interest mgrinoe any employee that uses the system couM tell someone
ekcahtitit.Lt at any moment, âą -â â â â '
Again, what we. are B«ing here it aJoiture to -appreciate the full
implications of such a thing. There is a story in this whole TRW thing.
out a
, howdoyou fed abtiwfrNingiHtegmirad?
âą'y Ptrlb^ckpageg^f^r witVed^^^san* space
3l f caube^wd^ We
" 1 J ⥠n tT th y could figure out a mytohirajf into
'lishlpg these Tjfofg *b uuFaÂŁmkAÂŁ *c#k.a> jfos&ibb can
become aware of the wide avalkbifA^ of i ricr^Bi r^fy ^r^> ni l tidbits
and hoW this! can ttffertvs foi- (hpq rtst of our lives, Well! doing this so
that people can realize how easy it is for items to ; be altered and for
assumptions to be rnude by people hading tfc& daW/ : t «A : iat the
aasnpte pdnacM, and. rf its ct^-iM^lTOLBs miiprk<(rt yiu^Try to
lipfkgjbql^ thti rtjjugh ** .qg uJd>feeco ttA iivten ytjani writh j mpmfftne nts
âąfffiwns gf pcil^hfnjodtwA The FBI
ji'.
docBhT matter if most of the irtfo^natidr« lS :iri4iiy wfd^.tM people
will mad it. Nobody xtants 1 to' read sibout htitv wieYe f^ihg whatever
freedom wc have left, liot tda^ machine, but to the people running the
nwchi'tK; 1 t's depressing to heat about your entire life story being
written to disk somewhere and to know that there^ not a thing you can
do about ih But, like k or not, this is exactly what's happening.
Ilk quite possible that TRW has a file on you t]ra.t eon be checked
and appended by people all over the place, [ts ^boieolirely possible
that some of that information is- wrong, Aud it S a fact ih'^J
claims no responsibility for the accuracy of this info. But even if all of
im^reis^ed. bo^ri
L : Whkimiftyare Hpt rtilnlitlglj ^(Mijnsco^f^eitiut^s^^
' E -dOmpbl^SvWhht kijft liFa ; sticreiy art kcfieadirtg tbw^#tSki wants
.â tor keep â tlose 1 jie^heTdata tih Re^rdiess of k+ietlitr or
not one is on the right side of lire law, nobody wants Jeverytfiin g Ubo* ""
j th empire to>wm ftVe all bimou r, secim sand moveayiieaH kkeTR\
. vyill luake^^prn^ .^retis.: ng^y. ban} kcepj Jto atwoedUng to
, p*p*j>, t t*yt bjg^ probto^jthriximpute^ utf the habere.
People wtredo little more than type fiiwrtf jaumbeps ; ont^a.te^rqjnal
and do a little bit of thinking are. refereed' to fl^rmai^as.^^ylcr
geniuses and computer bandits by lire media. Arid ready every stbty
written about such things k full of astronomical kpses. mtakfor-
mat ion, corporate sympathy, and iht obligatory Donn Parkerquotes.
Tfw Washington Bolt recently did a three-parl stoiy on âodbiptiter
crime? 'which said absolutely nothing : It- ÂŁtm\d ^ : liev i e , 'bben
mamu&ctured by^ a Computer program f.' â r>T
Meanwhile, Icgislaiofs are trippipg -over themselves- trying id: get
laws passed- to control these computer people before they fnkftoyefJhc
â world . The intensity with which the FBI h&sehased hadeer^ Uf Repast
year or so indicates the power they think those withco^pot^
have or are capable of achieving. And most of this fuss is bjwi^jiadt
over people simply accessing other systems. What in the wpr^|^jp|mg
to be the reaction when people finally start to use the computers, to
calculate arid design?
A new bill has: been proposed to outlaw computer crime- Ufi*i/ibai
wonderful? Do you know what they consider ft computer tirime?
Personal use of a computer in the workplace. This meam that if an
: , pffree worker were to open a file and write a note to himself Rmioditlg
r hunto ^op^Vtheri^re lateflori, ta&Hre emwniktmga fclooy^Flw»are
.r .flSpjii Mte ^rbitts ji^ut womW ftwrtwre
committed with the help of computera. In other words, stealing is
v steal^but st^llbg witha.coippjit^ iss^li^an4aJb^fr.r, r
even/thing .m its wwer to. preyenf- the soyrets goÂź obtaining
-cdmpUfeix lilit ire p^tfciiilly "a 4ible a d bii ri here ^ i bti 1 d
this possibly achieve in the long run? And why pick bn'tht^ - ^pilic ? *\
It s not a weapon in itself, but merely a Urol. A vifc/tool , vti buWtih
tool.
It's clear that computer people are in for an era of- harassment from
the authorities, who havenT been this riled up since Prohibition. And
. everyone clre.vrijl be fating itfrgm the.computcrohuiet^srtoiKist
oft trrpking ovefychirig ^at We pan aiiryisft by i[t*ying^nkc
But we'd better start working on it.
1
MCI MAIL: The Adventure Continues
You really have to hand it to thou folks over at MCI. Pint
they tackle Ma Bell arid nowtheyYe going after the U.S, Postal
Service! MCI Mail's slogan, âThe Nation's New Postal
System,â is printed on every bright orange envelope that they
send through, you guessed it. U.S. Mail.
On this system a user is assigned a âmailbox 7 ' that he can use
to send and receive mail. Sending is done either electronically,
that is. to other people with MCI mailboxes or through the post
office, which covers everybody etoe in the worid. The first type
of letter will cost you 5 L for the first three pages while the
second type is double the cost. It's also possible to send an
overnight letter ($6) ora four-hour letter (S25) to some places.
The purpose of MCI Mail L$ to stimulate the use of electronic
mail by making it more accessible to the average person. For
that we must give them credit â anybody can get an account on
this system? There is no start-up fee and no monthly fee of any
kind. To gel an account, all you have to do is call thenvâ either
by voice ordata. If youcall by data (see page 5 of April issue of
2600 for number*), you 11 have to enter REGISTER as the
username and REGISTER as the password. The rest is self-
explanatory. After a couple of weeks, youll get in the mail
(regular mail, that is) a big orange envelope that has, among
other things, your password. With this info, you're now free to
log Onto the system, look for people you know, send and
retrieve messages, read all of their help files, or even hop onto
the Dow Jones News Service (watch it though â that can get
pretty expensive!)
The system is set up on a network of Vaxes throughout the
country. They Ye been operating since September I9&3 and
claim to have over 100,000 subscribers. Many of these are
actually subscribers to the Dow Jones service, who are
automatically given MCI Mail accounts whether they want
them or not.
While the rates arenât overly expensive, they Ye certainly not
cheap. Mailing regular letters is much cheaper and often just as
fast since not eve ly M Cl Mail user checks their mailbox every
day. Apart from that, though, there are many problems with
the system as it stands now. For one thing, it can take foiever
getting on it, particularly through the SQ0 numbers. When you
finally do get a carrier, you should get a message like this after
hitting two returns:
Fort 21.
Please enter your user name:
Enter the username you selected and the password they
assigned you. It should say, âConnection initiated ..-.Opened.* 1
From that point on, you're in.
But the system will often appear to be bogged down. Often
you have to hit twenty returns instead of two. Sometimes the
system won't let you in because all connections are âbusy".
Otheriimes it willjustdrop the earner Real mailboxes don't do
that.
Another thing that will drive you crazy are the menus. Every
time you enter a command, you get a whole new menu to
choose from. If you're at 300 baud, this can get pretty annoying,
especially if you know what all the options ait. There art two
ways around this: get the advanced version, which allows you to
enter multi-word commands and even store some files, at a cost
of $10 per month, or simply hit a control O.
One part of the system that works fast and is very convenient
is the user info. As soon as you type the command CREATE to
begin writingÂź letter, youll be asked whoyou want to stud it to.
Enter cither the person's last name, first initial and last name, or
username (which is usually one of the first two, but which can
be almost anything the user desires). Immediately, youll get a
list of everyone with that name, as well as their city and state,
which often don't fn properly on the line. Then are no reports
of any wildcards that allow you to see everybody At once. (The
closest thing is *R, which will show all of the usernames that
you Ye sending to.) It safeâ impossible fur a user not to be seen if
you get his name or alias right. It's a good free information
retrieval system. But there's more.
MCI Mail can also be used as a free word processor of sorts.
The system will allow you to enters letter, or for that matter, a
manuscript. You can then hang tip and do other things, come
back within 24 hours, and your words will still be there. You
can conceivably list them out using your own printer on a fresh
sheet of paper and send it through the mail ail by yourself, thus
sparing MCI MaiJ^ laser printer the trouble. You Could also
shale your account with somebody else and constantly leave
unsent drafts for each other. Again, they have to be retrieved
within 24 hours.
Yet another way of getting "free" service from these people is
to obtain many different accounts. There docsnY seem to be any
kind of a limit on this and since each account comes with 52 of
free messages, a few accounts can get you quite a bit of free
service. And, of course, there's no charge for receding messages
on any of these accounts,
2600 has learned of several penetrations onto MCI Mail by
hackers. This isnY really surprising considering (a) there are
multiple usernames, i.e. John Smith's username would always
default to JSMITH, which means that several passwords can
work for one username: (b) all passwords seem to follow a
similar patternâ & character* with the odd-numbered characters
always being consonants and the even-numbered ones always
being vowels â any true hacker would obtain several accounts
and look fpr any correspondence between the random password
and the account number everyone is assigned; (c) MCI Mail
doesn't hang up after repeated triesâ the only thing that will
make it disconnect intentionally is inactivity on your part.
But by far the biggest blunder that MCI Mail has made is not
found on t(je system. It lies in their bills. There iy/io carry-over
from month to month f If you get billed for S& one month and
you don Y pay it , then proceed to use the system for S3 more the
next month, your next bill will only show the S3! The 58 has
vanished! (This is by far the dumbest mistake we have ever
reported in these pages.)
You'll find quite a few unanswered questions in your travels
through MCI Mail, which you can try to solve by reading the
HELP files or by sending a free message to MCIHELP. It
usually takes them a couple of days to respond to you instantly,
however.
There are some software lapses as well. The system seems to
be patterned largely after GTE Telemail, but it never really
reaches that level of clarity. A small example oan be seen in the
'Scan tables, which have a heading of Prom, Subject, Size, etc.
On outbound messages, the name of the person you're sending
to appears under the From heading? Pretty silly.
MCI Mail shows every indication of overspending with a
passion. Free messages, free accounts, sloppy programming,
toll-free dialups, single sheets of paper (like their bills) sent in
huge envelopes, etc. Either they Ye very optimistic out there or
they Ye very naive.
(MCI Mail can be reached at 8004246677.)
2
n>fnhw#d N«*n Seurat*
The city of New York has come up with a new way to fight
parking scofflaws. It + s called SIDNEY- -Summons Issuing
Device for NEw York. It's a handheld computer terminal that
will be able to get information about License plate numbers that
are âsuspected" of being attached to scofflaws.
The device weighs less than five pounds and looks rather like
a calculator. It would ask whoever was operating it to enter the
color, make, model, registration expiration, location, time, and
nature of violation. SIDNEY would then prim out a water-
proof parking ticket and at the same time check its HhQOQ-plate
memory to see if the license plate belonged to a scofflaw or a
stolen car. An appropriate message would then be flashed on
the screen. Details of each ticket issued would be stored in the
device and entered automatically into the main computer
system each day.
There hasnât been much talk circulating about what will
happen when these things get stolen and fake tickets are handed
out by the thousands. It is expected that these creatures will be
turned loose into the hands of meter-maids within two years.
The contract for producing SIDNEY has tentatively been
awarded to Citisource of New Jersey.
Bell to AT&T: Get Lost!
^WKiated Pilu
One of the so-called âBaby Bells" is displaying its Lndepen-
" v . dence front its former parentâ AT&T. Southwestern Bell says
it + s chosen GTE Sprint to provide long-distance telephone
service for its Houston operation.
By using GTE Sprint instead of AT&T, Southwestern Bell
figures to save about fifty thousand dollars. Long distance
service from Houston currently costs the former Bell system
unit about $300,000 a year,
GTE Sprint will replace AT&T in Houston in mid-August.
Five Arrested in Phone Fraud
The hew York Tim
Five Manhattan residents were arrested last month on
charges of defrauding the New York Telephone Company by
. making more than 1 ,500 illegal telephone calls, mostly to the
Dominican Republic, in a three-day period.
The Manhattan District Attorney^ office said the suspects
used âblue boxes** to make the calls. The five were charged with
possession of burglary loots and theft of services. One was also
charged with selling a stolen credit card number to an
undercover investigator and using such numbers to make calls
for other people. He could get four yeare for his trouble.
Supposedly, the suspects were offering neighbors low-cost
lopg distance calls, however they frequently charged more than
the cost of legitimate calls!
An Official Crackdown on Hackers
Contained hw&WKfr
According to Rep, William Hughes (D-N.J.), computer
^ crime is increasing by Icapsftnd bounds. Speaking on the House
floor, Hughes said, âIt's time we recognised that computer
â ^ 1 hackers* who intrude into data banks are not just mischievous
kids looking for fun. They're engaging in illegal activities which
pose potentially serious threats to our society."
He urged quick passage of the Counterfeit Access Device and
Computer Fraud and Abuse Act of 1984* being sponsored by
him and eight other House members, including Democrats and
Republicans.
Die House Judiciary Committee took a step towards making
it a crime for hackers to break into systems such as TRW by
adopting an amendment by Rep. Dan GLickman (D-Kan.). His
proposal would make it a misdemeanor to raid computer files
containing private credit histories or banking information.
A subcommittee staff lawyer said the bill would dose
loopholes in existing federal and state laws by making it a
felony offense to access a computer without authorization and
with intent to defraud, if that act enables the perpetrator to
obtain anything worth at least $5,000 over a one-year period or
any classified government information.
The bill is expected to come before the full House either late
this month or in early August.
Pay Telephones Deregulated
MW Ski-vet
On June 15, the FCC decided to allow justabout anybody to
get involved in the pay phone business. Up until now, pay
phones have been provided by whichever local company serves
the area. But with this new ruling, all kinds of new companies
will be seen. In fact, some phones may even have different
prices! And, of course, it's to be expected that each of these new
types of phones will have their own quirks and bugs. Look for
Matrix, Tonka, and Paytel phones in the near future.
Of course, there will be disadvantages. Some phones will
only be able to dial locally. Others won't be able to reach 9 1 1 or
information. Many will probably be rotary and most will
certainly break down more frequently. Still, diveraity is what
makes this entire field so interesting.
âYou Must First Dia! a One...â
AHoraTed Preii
As of July 1 st, 3 million customers in New Jersey had to start
dialioga one before area codes when calling long distance. This
leaves 302 and 516 as the last remaining areas in the countiy
that donX have to do this.
Company officials say the new system was introduced to
provide 152 more exchanges to meet increasing customer
demand. Under the new system. New Jersey Bell will begin
using certain area codes as telephone exchanges. They will
avoid using area codes of neighboring states to prevent mass
confusion.
Information News
OimlMad Krturcfa
Starting this month, MCI will connect subscribers to long
distance information just like AT&T does. And, like AT&T,
MCI will offer two free information calls per month, provided
their service is used for at least two long distance calls in that
same month. After that, they will charge for a call to
informal ion, just Like AT&T does! So what's the difference? In
the price, of course. AT&T charges a hefty fifty cents for each
call to directory assistance, while MCI will be under-selling
them with an affordable 45e, Good old capitalism.
In another development, a computer program to help find a
telephone number without complete information from the
caller has been patented by Richard H. Boivie for Bell Labs. In
cases where the caller can give the. information operator the
name of the person being sought, but is unsure about the
spelling, the computer will trace alternative spellings. It will
also sort through different addresses for the most Likely
candidates.
INTRODUCING THE CLEAR BOX!
A new device has ju&t been invented. Uncalled thc H dearbon" [(can
be used throughout Canada and through rum] United SHKt-
This interesting gadget works on â"post-pay'" payphones* in other
words, those phones that don't require payment until after the
connection has been established. You pick up the phone, get a dial
tone, dial your number, and then put in your coins after Ihe person
answers. If you donT deposit money, you can't speak to the person at
(he other end, because your mouthpiece is cut off â but not your
earpiece. fYs, you can make free calls to the matter, etc. from such
phones.)
In order to bypass this, al! one has todo is visit a nearby electronics
store, get a 4-transistor amplifier and a telephone suction cup
induction pick-up. The induction pick -up would be hooked up as it
normally would to record a conversation, except that it would be
plugged into the output of the amplifier and a microphone would be
hooked to the input So when the party answers, the caller could apeak
through the little microphone instead, his voice would then go through
the amplifier* out the induction coil, and into the back of the receiver
where h would then be broadcast through the phone lines and the other
party would be able to hear the caJkr. The clear box thus "clean" up
the problem of not being heard.
The line will not cut off after a certain amount of timeâ it will wait
forever for the coins to drop in. .
Many independents are moving towards this kind of stupid payphone
system. For one thing, it*s a Cheap way of getting DTF {dial tone first)
service. It doesnlt require arty special equipment- That type of
payphone will work onany kind of a phone line. Nwmsllys payphone
line is different, but this isiusta regular phone line and ii^ set up so that
the payphone does all of the charging, not the CO. With the recent
deregulation of payphones, this kind of a system could become very
popular
LETTERS FROM OUR READERS
6/I4/S4
Dm - 2600 :
A few exchanges in my vicinity have recently upgraded their
switching equipment. On 11/5/83, 914-268 switched from a
SxS to a Northern Telecom DMS 100. 914-634 & 638 also
switched from a No. 5 Crossbar to a DMS1Q0 on 6/9/ 84.
Through trashing, 99XX scanning, and âsocial engineering,â
1 have found out the following: The suffix 990 1 is a Verification"
recording. In 268:9903,9906,9909,991 1, 9912, & 991 3 are all
various recordings.
Another neat function on DMS 100 is that you can hear the
MF tones after most calls. NYTelco calls this the sound of their
new system helping to serve you better.
Also, these CD's are under NYTelco jurisdiction. Yet. they
bought from Northern Telecom DMS100 instead of a "niceâ
ESS system from Western Electric. Could this be the break-up
at work?
This equipment offers ESS functions such as call waiting, call
forwarding, dial-tone^first fortresses, etc. My question is: What
type of toll-fraud equipment is standard or optional for the
DMS 1 00? Does it record everything like a pen register? Etc...
Curious
Dear Curious:
First off, our compliments on your ability to notice the
changes that most people miss. As far as your 9901 discovery*
many exchanges in your area have been known to do that. If
you dial XXX -9901 , you'll hear a computer read the exchange
and area code. It doesn't really serve much of a purpose. But
interesting things can always be found in the 99XX area, if your
company uses it.
Concerning the DMSIG0* it is the break-up of the Bell
System to an extent. New York Telephone has been buying
equipment from Northern Telecom for some time now. But
since the divestiture* they've become a little more flagrant about
it. You'll see quite a bit more experimentation with products
from other suppliers in the near future. The DMSIQO is a very
good switch, but it's got certain drawbacks as far as phone
phreaking is concerned. It does have certain âdevices", These
don't work exactly 3 ike a pen register, but they wind up having
the same effect. What is done is this: if you happen to send a
2600 Hertz tone down the line, DM 5 100 will make a Computer
record of whatever you did in the surrounding time. They
automatically investigate your line if this is detected more than
an undeteimined amount of times. This is where the pen
register comes in. The system is already equipped to handle a
pen register through a special box in the exchange that> set up
entirely for that purpose. This box ties into their automatic
surveillance equipment. So it's kind of a two step process, but
the DMS 1 00 makes it much easier.
So far, we haven't been able to find any advantages (or bugs)
in a DM SI 00, We will continue to look, though. Regarding the
MF tones* they're simply not being filtered as they are in most
places. The GTD#5 (nude by GTE) and the DMSIQO both* as a
rule, only filter about ten percent of the MF tones. They also
donât filter out rotary outpulses, whenever they exist. Perhaps
it's a way of cutting comers,
DMS 100, as you know, sounds just like ESS. About the only
way you can tell if youVe dialed into one is if you hear
absolutely no clicks or pops when the party answer** as you do
with ESS, crossbar, and step. Instead you hear a real faint, mild
tick. When dialing out on one, you won't hear any clicks either.
Dear 260ft
I hear you people are keen on answering people's questions,
so answer me this: What ever happened to that operator who
was so damn nasty that she refused to call that ambulance for
this guy's dying mother just because be used a couple of cuz
words on the telephone? By the way, the lady died a horrible
violent death, I think. (1 think the operator didn't die yet.) Oh
yea, 1 also think that there was some aorta lawsuit against the
nasty -oppy or the telco or someone.
RC
Dew RC
The incident you're referring to took place a few months ago.
It happened in Dallas, Texas and it concerned a man who was
trying to get an ambulance for his mother-in-law who was
having a massive heart attack. Not only did the operator refuse
to send an ambulance until the woman herself got on the phone,
but her supervisor aho got on the line and said something to the
effect of, "Sir, if you don't quit cussing out the operator, I'm
going to have to hang up on you."
The operator was fired and the supervisor demoted. But both
are currently claiming that they were only following orders. The
city of Dallas allegedly said that at all costs an ambulance
should nit he sent out unless it was an extremely life threatening
situation. Anonymous people have even come forward and
claimed that bonuses were offered to those who sent the least
amount of ambulances out!
We should say that thii doesn't involve the phone company,
since it wasn't their operators who handled this call. Any
lawsuits would be against ihe city of Dallas, in all likelihood.
It's also interesting to note that there is no9l 1 service in Dallas.
Residents there dial 744-4444 instead, perhaps an advanced 9 1 1
service might cut back on the fake calls they're supposedly
plagued with since such systems immediately truce hack the
number calling and do an instant CNA on it.
(Wriit to Box 752, MtikBc hhmt, NY I&S3 MCI Mail t&. 2600.J
2600
page 5
TRW Information Services is America's largest credit
reporting institute, containing the credit histories of over 90
million Americans online. .
Recently it was reported thata password belonging to Sears,
Roebuck, A Co H was stolen. TRW and the media are currently
circulating several conflicting reports about the use of the
account. Some reports insist that the account was never used
illegitimately. Others say that 'criminals* used the account to
pillage credit card numbers to illegally buy goods and services
while knowing the account limit. Another account of the
incidents) says it was merely hackers exploring a very
interesting system. It seems hard to believe that hackers
managed to infiltrate TRW, since the system is basically user
spiteful* but they seem to have pulled it off.
Once the subscriber initiates a connection with one of the
many dial-ups* located in most major cities, the system will
hospital is given as the main address, 33333 would be vied as
the house number. When an address is General Delivery, 44444
would be the house number and G would-be the street name.
Others; ITS, Air Fmnce* 55555 A; U.S. Army, 66666 A; U "
Coast Guard, 77777 C; VS, Marines, ftflggg Mi ITS* N*
99999 N .)
AssumLig the subscriber is calling from a California business
and he is requesting areport on Winston Smith at 3 Main
Street, Anytovm, CA 90003 he would type the following after
the controFQ:
TCA2 (This identifies the subscriber as being from CA)
RTS 33xxxxxAB⏠SMITH WINSTON 3M9M03,
In this case, the subscriber password was ABC and the account
number was represented by 33 hmx.
At this stage* he can request the report printout by typing a
terminating controls or he can tell the computer some
information that it will then record into the account. This is
identify itself with TRW. It will then wait for the subscriber to
send an appropriate answerback (such as a controTG). Once
this has bent done, the system will say CIRCUIT BUILDING
IN PROGRESS along with a few numbers. After this, it dears
the screen (CtrJ-L) followed by a coutrol-Q* Once the control-Q
is sent, the system i s ready to accept the subscriber's request.
The subscriber must first type a 4 character preamble which
identifies the geographical area of the subscriber's account. For
example:
TCA1 - for certain Caflfomia & vicinity idMcribrn
TCA2 - a second TRW system In OUtfcmla
TNJ1 - their New Jeney database
TCAl forte fTtniffi rinfihanr
The subscriber then types a carriage return (followed by an
optional 3 line feeds). On tbe next line* be must type his 3
character option. Moat requests use the RTS option. OPx,
RTx, and a few others exist. Some of these* such as RTA*
return you with an error saying that this option is used for credit
bureau collection activity only. TRW will accept an A* C, or 5
as the third character.
After the option (RTS)* a space must be skipped, and then a 1
digit subscriber code is typed in. The first two digits represent
the region in which the subscriber is located and the subscriber's
industry* respectively.
Trii*] Trite n
1 - TVW Eoteiii h«|H O.priHcftwc rf
2 - Tgw Mldwwteffl Kt&n l - Bari
3 - THW W«rin 2 - Ciril Cud
4 - MteSnlirirCriiMn 3 - Rrtri
5 - * A - tntfl C«nl
known as using tbe second line, which is entirely optional. The
first option that can be specified here is a previous address. This
can be done by typing P- followed by the house number, a
space, the first letter of the street* another space, and the full
up. For example, if Mr. Smith previously Jived at 2600 Elm
Street in New York City* the subscriber would type the
following: P-2600 E 1000 1 . He can then type a comma after this
and move onto another option. If Mr. Smith had another
previous address* the subsenbercan enter it in the same fashion
as above (after the comma) ifbe omits the P and the dash. This
is followed by a comma also. He can then enter in Mr Smith's
Social Security number in the format of S-l 234567890. If this is
followed by a comma, he can then enter A-age or Y-year of
birth (4 digits* e.g. t 1964). The subscriber can next enter in
information telling how much money Mr, Smith has requested
and/or on what type of account This is done by typing T-
followed by a two digit account type* a 3 digit terms* and a 3
digit amount code. For instance* for a credit caid account
(which happens to be #18), with a limit of S100 (001 >, which ~ ~>
being financed for 24 (024) months, be would type: T- 1 80240C
This information will show up as an inquiry under the
subscriberâs name on Mr. Smithâs account.
There is one final option on line 2 which prints a beading at
the top of the page (TRW supplies pre-printed forms with
ânice* columns). If the subscriber cannot afford to buy their
paper, he would probably type H-Y to get the heading. The last
option on Iine2 is followed by a comma* carriage return* and an
optional line teed. For example:
TCA2