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Ocean County Phone Punx Presents
OCPP06
"1998 -- year of the phear"
January 26, 1998
Last Updated: January 28, 1998
Contents
Intro - Mohawk
1997 year in review - Mohawk
What to look for in 1998 - Mohawk
Defense Switched Network - Mr. Seuss
Proposed changes for the net - Firegod
Dumpster Diving - American Anarchist
Finding a place to go trashing - Mohawk
Fighting Back - Mohawk
Busted - Mohawk
Letters
News
Intro-Mohawk
This is our first issue published a month after the last one.
You have got to give credit to zines that come out every month like
THTJ. Issue seven will come out it's normal time on Feb. 26th. We have
big plans for issue eight. It will be our one year anniversary issue and
we have a lot of good article lined up. As you may have noticed we have
a new URL - http://ocpp.home.ml.org However, there is no need to change
your bookmarks, links, etc., it's all the same thing. Mad thanks to
my partner in crime Mr. Seuss for setting that URL up. Now that it is
a new year, the homepage and the zine will have many new features. This
issue we have a new section "Fighting Back" and we have a new writer
"the American Anarchist". We also added a bunch of nice legal stuff to
look more professional. 1998 should prove to be a big year for the OCPP.
We are still looking to round out our staff. For information about
positions, mail: ocpp@hotmail.com
If you would like to become a distro site, mail: ocpp@hotmail.com
To be notified of any URL changes and issue releases, get on the
mailing list: ocpp@hotmail.com
Disclaimer and Copyright info is located at the end of the issue.
1997 year in review-Mohawk
1997 was a big year for phreaking. The following article
does not cover everythning that happend and some information may
not be wrong. This is becuase I did this all off my memory and
you really can't find stuff like this on the net. After some events,
I included a news article to help you better understand it. The
news articles are single spaced.
December 96- AOL 19.95 a month
One of the things that had in impact on phreaking in 1997
happened in 1996. In December AOL announced that they will be offering
a 19.95 unlimited use plan. AOL members had to call up and request
it. The unlimited use plan went into effect on the next billing
cycle, which was January. So what does this have to do with phreaking?
AOL members are looked down upon by the H/P scene as it is.
This attracted millions of people to sign on AOL and the millions of
people already on AOL will stay on longer. When you have 8 million
people that have unlimited access to the net your gonna pump out
a few thousand "lamers". Bored 13 year old kids now had something
to do at all times and alot of them eventually found out about
phreaking. They also had time to create "warez groups" and ruin
the hell out of newsgroups. Back before this happened, a lot
people didn't care if you were on AOL. Nowadays, there aren't that
many people that don't care if you are on AOL. The way I see it,
Fuck em all, who cares what ISP you have?
Feb 14 - AOL hacker riot
This explains why AOLers are looked down upon. Well the
great riot of 97 turned out to be really, really stupid. I can
remember all the plans that were goin on back in January. I Just
knew that this was gonna be the dumbest thing in the history of
the net.
People circulated plans for the riot over a month before
the riot happened. People handed out fake and stolen accounts
to anyone that would help them. You were to get a screen name
that had the word revolt in it somewhere, like "l am revolt".
Then at 5pm. you were to meet in the private room riot and if
that was full go to riot 2,3,4 and so on. The "Hackers" made
plans and talked strategy until 8pm when they each went into
different chatrooms and scrolled for the love of unix. I think
when it was all said and done 80 or so warez kids I mean ruthless
hackers lost their accounts and 10 or so people got kicked off
line and had to (gasp!) sign back on! By this time I did some
serious ISP shopping, but for some reason no ISP service would
give me a damn local access number.
February19 - FCC designates 311 for non emergency numbers.
Nothing too spectacular, but this is the first time the FCC
designated a N11 service number in a while. This was first tested in
Baltimore Maryland and due to it's success there they made
it national but many place still have yet to catch on. They also
made 711 an access number for relay services.
"The Commission today announced it has made available a new
code, 311, as a means of quick access to non-emergency police and other
government services. The Commission stated that use of this code
could improve the effectiveness of 911 emergency services by
alleviating congestion on 911 circuits. The Commission also made
available 711 for quick access to Telecommunications Relay Services
(TRS), a service that allows persons with hearing or speech disabilities
to use the telephone. Both numbers will be available for use nationwide."
Feb 25 - AT&T announces project angel
I'm not gonna repost everything from OCPP03 but I advise you
go read it over. As far as what the future holds for project angel
read the next article.
march 3 - 150th birthday of Alexander Graham Bell.
The original phone phreak who started it all. He should of
had his own zine. I wonder what he would say about phreaks and such.
April 21- 10th anniversary of Caller ID.
Does anyone even care about this? I figured I'd throw it
in there. I could really give a rats ass.
ARLINGTON, Va. -- Bell Atlantic's precocious 10-year-old is still
delivering with name and number.
It was on this date, 10 years ago, Bell Atlantic became the first
telephone company in the nation to introduce Caller ID , unveiling it in
New Jersey. Caller ID soon spread from there to the other states in the
company's Mid-Atlantic service area.
Not many 10-year-olds have captured the imagination and enthusiasm
of the public as has Caller ID. In its first decade, the service has proven
to be one of Bell Atlantic's most popular services. Currently, over 2.6
million Bell Atlantic customers subscribe to the service and more are
signing on daily. The service is exceptionally popular in the state of
West Virginia, where nearly a third of all Bell Atlantic customers have
Caller ID.
April 26- First issue of OCPP comes out
Just as you thought, you've seen every lame thing that will
ever come out of AOL comes the lamest thing of all: OCPP. Why am I
calling my zine lame, I don't know it's just a joke. I didn't have
anything else to say cuz I'm sure you have your opinion.
May 5-pla releases 46th and final issue
This was probably the worst news I've seen all year. I thought
it was just a joke at first. PLA was my favorite zine of all time.
Even though a new issue hasn't come out for months, RBCP still has
a lot of funny new crap on his page. This man should write a book,
or even better a movie about his life. I advise you read "his"
biography. He has done it all. OCPP02 was dedicated to the memory of
the PLA.
June- first issue of system failure
One of the best things to come out of 1997 in my opinion.
If they keep everything together, I expect some good things out
of this zine. I advise you check them out.
august 8th-10th Beyond Hope
The Beyond Hope con was the sequel to the HOPE cone in 94 and was
held by 2600 magazine. BH took place on the weekend of April 7th at
the Puck Building in New York City.
With security personnel up from the CIA hometown in Langley,
Virginia, mixing with hackers up from basements across the country, the
techno-bacchanal Beyond HOPE highlighted the further evolution of computer
jocks into the mainstream - and into money. Now that security concerns and
hacking have yielded a booming industry ("tiger teams" of contractual
crackers), it should come as no surprise that this rowdy, packet-sniffing
bunch has learned to capitalize on its true talent: working the network.
"Five years ago, they were a fringe, the Net was this obscure thing used
to hack phone tech manuals," says security and cryptography expert Bruce
Schneier, who spoke at this weekend's conference, held in New York and
sponsored by hacking mag 2600. "Now there are companies whose life blood
is the Net, like Yahoo, Amazon.... And hackers are being 'outed,' getting
hired for penetration testing or starting companies." The three-day
conference, keynoted by MSNBC commentator Brock Meeks, proved that hacking
is not a lifestyle choice, but a community with its own rock stars (L0PHT),
renegades (Metro-card hacking Red Balaklava), martyrs (Bernie S., Phiber
Optik), and even patron saints (Cheshire Catalyst, Captain Crunch). While
Steve Rambam walked the audience through the method for acquiring a fake
Social Security card, the media-savvy Mudge, wearing a "Microshit" T-shirt,
filled the group in on Theo de Raadt's OpenBSD, a hacker-written operating
system. With an exploit script, an easy-to-use interface, and good name,
"it will get press," said L0PHT member Mudge. "Microsoft hates that, and
that's why we love it." But the real attraction was the bank of Unix
terminals prepped for public consumption - and corruption. And while the
hacker movement is gaining force, it's also gaining speed. This year, the
conference boasted an operational 10 Mbps local network, compared to the
crawling 28.8 Kbps they had in 1994. "If you have a machine on the network,
expect to be hacked," said 2600 founder and conference organizer Emmanuel
Goldstein, "because that's what we're here for." The 1,000-person strong
Beyond HOPE is among a growing number of hacker conferences, including
Black Hat and DEFCon IV, both held in July in Las Vegas. The happy-camper
HIP conference was held, perhaps unwisely, simultaneously. HOPE attendee
CyberJunkie hacked the HIP conference homepage and riddled it with HOPE
icons. Though there's clearly a greater handshaking between law enforcement
and the hacker community, Bernie S. knows well that the amity has a ways
to go. The co-organizer of the 2600 meeting, the boyish Bernie was sent
to prison in May 1995 by the Secret Service for publishing a list of the
service's communications frequencies, code names, and photos of agents in
action (and picking their noses). The case against him began to verge on
the absurd when agents confused the dental putty in his garage with plastic
explosive. As the cause celebre of the culture, Bernie S. typifies the
resiliency of the group. "If you try to squelch info, it won't get
better," he said. "It'll mushroom." Though most hackers subsist off
freeware, the conference offered multiple opportunities for conspicuous
consumption. "Major Hacking" cookies were on sale at the "Buy Our Shit"
concession stand. A letter-bomb detector went for US$40 (used), and
another table offered "I Love Your Computer" bumper stickers and
"Co-Ed Naked Hacking" T-shirts ("Finger Me for More Info"). For the more
serious consumer, Nadir sold hot hard drives and CD-ROM drives for $50 a
pop. Will he guarantee it works? "I'll guarantee I brought it here," he
answers. He's a student, and it's the first time he's tried selling
hijacked equipment, he says. "I just want to make people happy." Ritalin
junkies may have dominated by far, but the elder statesmen of the movement
were there in force. Phone phreak Cheshire Catalyst, the founder of 2600
precursor TAP (Technical Assistance Program), started his newsletter in
1971 for "pay-phone justice" - basically a primer on how to make phone
calls on a penny.
August- 15th-The New Bell Atlantic Opens for Business
This is one of the more important things that happend in 97.
The reason is because, New York is the home to a majority of
phreaks in the east. But they were on NYNEX, so, when a NY phreak
found out something cool it probably didn't work anywhere else.
Now, half of the East in on Bell Atlantic, so phreaking techniques
will become more genarilezed as time goes on.
The new Bell Atlantic opened for business today with a commitment
to growth, innovation, superior customer care and greater consumer choice
in local and global telecommunications.
The merger of Bell Atlantic and NYNEX became effective late
yesterday, following approval by the Federal Communications Commission.
The $25.6 billion merger brings together two companies with sustained
double-digit earnings growth, strong demand in their core businesses and
bright prospects for growth in new markets.
"Today marks the dawn of a dynamic company that has the market
reach, financial resources and customer focus to compete and win in the
most exciting industry in the world," said Bell Atlantic Chairman and
CEO Raymond W. Smith. "The new Bell Atlantic will better anticipate and
respond to market needs through product innovation and forward-thinking
solutions. At the same time, we will realize the cost efficiencies inherent
in this merger and attain greater overall growth in earnings and shareholder
value than either company could have achieved separately.
"Bell Atlantic has strengthened its position as a leader in the
global telecommunications marketplace. Our opportunities today range far
beyond our traditional regional borders. It will be my challenge as
chairman and CEO -- and Ivan's when he takes my place -- to make the
most of them."
Ivan Seidenberg, the former NYNEX chairman who is now Bell
Atlantic's vice chairman, president and chief operating officer, said,
"Now that the merger is official, it's time to roll up our sleeves and
begin delivering the benefits to our customers and our investors. We will
be a leader in the global marketplace and we will remain firmly committed
to the people in the communities we have always served. We will always
work to be our customers' first choice -- no matter where they are -- for
their communication and information needs."
Seidenberg will become chief executive officer of the new company
by August 1998 and chairman of the board upon Smith's retirement at the
end of 1998.
Smith and Seidenberg have scheduled a full day of activities on the
first day of the new Bell Atlantic, meeting with employees at various work
locations and unveiling the new Bell Atlantic logo at the company's world
headquarters at 1095 Avenue of the Americas in midtown Manhattan. Other
senior managers will participate in celebrations with the company's more
than 140,000 employees.
<For more info on the merger, see OCPP03.>
August 22- Masterminds comes out.
Masterminds failed to join the Hacker classics such as
wargames and hackers. This movie really didn't even have much to
do with hacking. Hell the beginning scene portrays this 12 year old
as a warez kiddie. I think this movie was made by the parents
of the people that post crap like "can you build me a Cable TV
scrambler, I got thirty bux".
October 7-telecom act of 96 kicked in allowing payphone companies to
charge any fee
A new law allows payphone companies to charge whatever they
want for coin-operated local calls. In the near future I could cost
25 cents to use a phone on one corner but 50 cents across town. The
law also allows pay phone companies to charge by the minute for local
calls, something most state regulators had banned until now.
October 31st-first issue of telephone free planet
One of the only other all phreak zines out there.
They've only been out for less then three months and they already
have five issues out. This zine has kicked more ass in 3 months
that most other zines kick in years. Hell with an editor like
Kung Fu Fox from The Havoc Technical Journal (one of my favs)
would you expect anything less. The coolest thing about them is
that they publish issues on holidays. I hope they keep it
together.
November 10- merger mci worldcom
Three words: AT&T's worst nightmare. They gotta be shittin
bricks no matter what they got up their sleeve. Mix the second largest
long distance company with the fourth largest and you got a world
of shit for other Telecoms. This didn't come as a surprise because
I predicted it would happen, not with MCI and Worldcom but close
enough. I do not expect AT&T and Sprint to just stand there
and watch. Should be interesting.
"Jackson, Miss. and Washington, D.C., November 10, 1997 --
WorldCom, Inc. and MCI Communications Corporation announced today a
merger agreement creating a fully integrated communications company that
will provide a complete range of local, long distance, Internet and
international communications services. The merger creates a new era
communications company best positioned to take advantage of growth
opportunities in the $670 billion global telecommunications market.
The combined company, MCI WorldCom, will have over $30 billion in
1998 revenues and joins together two of the industry's most
entrepreneurial and competitive forces. The merger is expected to be
accretive to WorldCom's earnings by approximately 20% in the first
year after closing."
"The boards of directors of both companies have unanimously
approved the transaction. British Telecommunications plc has also
agreed to the merger. The merger agreement calls for MCI stockholders
except BT to receive $51 of WorldCom common stock for each MCI share
and for BT to receive $51 per share in cash for each of the Class A
MCI shares it owns. Upon completion of the merger, MCI stockholders
will own approximately 45% of the combined company. The merger will
be accounted for as a purchase and will be tax-free to MCI's stockholders."
"On the basis of extensive analysis, the MCI board determined that
a merger with WorldCom creates maximum shareholder value and offers the
greatest number of benefits to its communications customers and employees
in the U.S. and around the world."
"MCI WorldCom will be:
A formidable local competitor and the largest competitive local
exchange carrier (CLEC);
One of the world's largest providers of Internet services;
The number two U.S. long distance company;
One of the world's largest carriers of international traffic with an
expanding network and facilities in Europe, Latin America, and
Asia-Pacific;
A leading information technology solutions provider combining
world-class data networking, computing and systems integration
expertise;
Led by management and employees credited with having played a key role
in transforming the telecommunications industry.
Together, WorldCom and MCI will have the capital, proven marketing
strength and state-of-the-art network to compete more effectively
against the incumbent carriers, domestically and abroad."
November 12-Bell Atlantic raises payphone rate
Bell Atlantic hopped on the bandwagon and raised payphone
rates to 35 cents. 35 cents may not seem like that big of a deal
but it is a 75% jump from 20 cents, 5 cents away from doubling the
cost.
NEWARK, N.J. -- The price of a local call from a Bell Atlantic pay
phone in New Jersey, unchanged since 1982, will increase to 35 cents
from 20 cents, the company announced today.
Bell Atlantic-New Jersey plans to implement a Lifeline Service
available at monthly rates ranging from $.90 to $1.89 with up to 100
minutes of use free for eligible low-income customers who might rely
on pay phones for routine calling
The process of adjusting each Bell Atlantic pay telephone to the
new rate is beginning today and will take a few months to complete.
Under FCC rules written to implement the 1996 Telecommunications
Act, the price of local calls was deregulated on October 7 and since then,
all major independent pay phone providers, as well as GTE, BellSouth,
Southwestern Bell and Pacific Telesis have begun raising rates to 35 cents.
"At 35 cents, the local call is still one of the best bargains
in any market," said Len J. Lauer, president and CEO, Bell Atlantic-New
Jersey. "Since 1982 when the price of a call was last increased, the
price of a daily newspaper has more than doubled and a basket of food
costs 65 percent more.
"Like any competitive business, we need to respond to market
conditions," said Lorraine C., president-Bell Atlantic Public
Communications. "We compete with hundreds of other providers for the
sites where customers need pay phones," Lorraine said. "We must pay
competitive commissions to property owners to place our pay phones in
their space, whether they are fast food outlets, gas stations, major
airports, or cities responsible for sidewalk phones.
"We must also charge competitive prices to the users of our pay
phones and the competitive price that is emerging in the market is 35
cents," she said.
After studying the telecommunications market, Congress last year
confirmed that the pay telephone business is competitive, ordered it
deregulated, and required that all direct and indirect subsidies be
eliminated. The goal of Congress was "to promote competition...and the
widespread deployment of pay phone services to the benefit of the general
public," according to the 1996 Telecommunications Act. FCC rules
implementing the Act, eliminating subsidies and deregulating prices, took
effect in April and October.
Bell Atlantic is also raising the price of a local call to 35
cents in West Virginia, Virginia, Washington, D.C., Maryland, Pennsylvania,
Delaware, Vermont and New Hampshire. Coin phone price increases will be
considered in other areas as conditions warrant.
December 31 - Federal Court rules parts of Telecom Act unconstitutional;
AT&T plans appeal
What a way to end the year. This goes to show that the effects
of the Telecom Act of 96 will continue to be felt in 98
SBC had filed a lawsuit with the Federal Court in Wichita Falls,
Texas, claiming that Section 271 of the Federal Telecommunications Act is
unconstitutional because it requires the Bell companies to open local
service competition in their markets before they are allowed to offer
long-distance service there, while other local companies can already
offer long-distance. The judge hearing the case ruled in favor of SBC.
The Federal Court's decision today would invalidate the provisions
in the Telecom Act that keep the local Bell monopolies out of long-distance
service until they comply with a strict checklist of requirements to
demonstrate full and open competition in local service is in place in
their territories. The other provisions of the Telecom Act all would
remain in place and are not affected by this decision.
What to look for in 1998 - Mohawk
These are just my opinion. I have no clue if any of these are
really going to happen. If they do I'm gonna quit my job and
become a physic with my own 900 number. Your lucky number is... 6.
Project Angel
In issue three we reported on AT&T's project angel. They
were suppose to begin testing last summer. What ever happened to this
revolutionary technology that could change telecommunications in so many
ways? I can't say for sure. It seems that after AT&T made the big
announcement early last year they haven't even acknowledged the fact that
it exists. Ever since Checkmate told me about this exactly a year ago,
I have searched the web and newspapers for any information on it. I have
not been able to find anymore information on is that wasn't already
published in issue three. Not one update or anything. Why would they
do this? Well they probably wanted to impress everybody last year for
one reason or another when they announced it. Maybe to make their stocks
go up or they wanted to make themselves look good in front of a few
companies they planned to merge with. But after all those speeches and
press releases, why are there no updates?
In my opinion, there are a couple of different reasons
that AT&T are keeping quiet. It is possible that they have released
an update or two but I haven't seen it and I have checked everywhere.
Even if they did release an update(s) they didn't make a big deal about
it cuz I would of read about it or heard about it somewhere.
1.) They screwed up. It is possible. Can you say, videophone?
They thought they had this new thing that would kill the competition.
Then they go out to Chicago to test it and they find out that this
is really expensive and is not profitable. Because of this,
they would rather sweep it under the rug and forget about it. This
way, their shareholders don't go nuts.
2.) It is taking forever to test. I don't know much about testing
out new technology like this. Cellular was also tested in Chicago,
which began back in 1978. I can't remember hearing about cellphones
that much in the early 80's. Cellphones have just gotten popular
within the last few years. So it can be a while before we hear about
it.
3.) Problems with the local market. The Telecom Act of 96
was suppose to open up the local market to the long distance
giants and vice versa. This didn't happen at all. In 97 the
FCC spent most of their time trying to work this out but no one
wanted to give in first. Back in February AT&T probably thought
they would be in the local market sometime in 97. Now think about
this: if your a RBOC and AT&T wants to enter your market while they're
braggin about how well the testing on Angel is going that's gonna
kill anything you have to offer, wouldn't you put up a fight to keep
them the hell out as long as possible. AT&T knows this and this
seems to be the most likely scenario.
I talked to a few friends that work for AT&T and they told
me that Angel is pretty damn expensive. It cost so much to put one ring
in space and they gotta put a bunch of them in to serve a small area.
However, at the time we were not talking about why they were keeping
so quiet about it, we were just talking about. I've even talked to AT&T
employees that don't know a damn thing about it, so what does that tell
you?
Mergers
With the Long distance companies ready to enter the local market
and vice versa accompanied with the MCI/Worldcom & Bell Atlantic/Nynex
mergers, other telecom companies will have to merge with other companies
in order to compete. AT&T has just merged with Teleport but I expect them
to merger with another local company. I also expect a few of the Locals to
merge with each other.
Local/Long distance marker stalemate
I expect the stalemate between the LD's and the locals to enter
each other's markets to finally end due to the LD companies mergers
such as AT&T and Teleport. The local's will realize that they will have
to let the LD's in because some LD's will get around the stalemate through
mergers. The local's will also realize that while they are keeping away
the big companies like AT&T, smaller companies are getting into the phone
market that normally had nothing to do with it. For example, my cable
company now has local and long distance service at really low rates. Even
AOL has some long distance thing goin on now.
Zines
As usual I expect a barrage of zines to startup, release one or
two issues and realize how hard it is to keep it goin. I also feel
that one of the zines started in 97 will end sometime this year. I'm not
going to point any fingers cuz I like all the new ones but I can't see
all of them lasting through 98. I hope I'm proved wrong though. You
can be sure OCPP ain't goin no where.
New Cyberpunk movie "Matrix"
There is a new cyberpunk movie in the works called "Matrix"
It will star Keunu Reeves and Laurence Fishburne. It was suppose to
begin filming in Australia but it has been delayed. The plot goes
something like this "The world is ruled by evil computers that make
humans think they are living in 1997, when the are really living in
2197. To save the day, a rebel group of computer hackers led by
Fishburne and Reeves wages war against the computers." Details are
still sketchy and could change. There is an article in the Jan/Feb
issue of Cinescape, but it doesn't tell you much. I searched the web
for more stuff on it but this is the only article I found:
Laurence Fishburne is going back to the future.
The actor, who recently appeared in the space thriller "Event Horizon,"
is near a deal to star opposite Keanu Reeves in the sci-fi picture
"Matrix."
Matrix is set in the 22nd Century, when a race of vast and
powerful computers rule the earth, using human beings as their energy
source. The earthlings' passivity is ensured by a virtual reality device
which convinces them they are experiencing life in the 20th Century.
Fishburne plays Morpheous, leader of an underground group of
computer hackers, who is joined by Reeves in the fight against the digital
rulers.
The Warner Bros. project will be directed by Andy and Larry
Wachowski, who made their directing debut last year on the lesbian
gangster movie "Bound."
Filming is tentatively set to begin in early 1998 in Australia.
(Currently scheduled for March.)
(The OCPP will bring you any and all updates as we get them.)
Security: the new add campaign
I expect Hackers and the security to deal with them to become
a more competitive market with even more competitive advertising. Just
the other day I saw two commercials the dealt with hackers in a half
hour. One was by IBM. I like that one, it's rather funny. The other
is by Network Solutions I think. This guy says: "why do people
hack into your systems and waste your time and money trying to fix
the damage? For the same reason we pierce our tounges!"
Defense Switched Network-Mr. Seuss
D323-DSN
Defense Switched Network
D323-DSN
Unbeknownst to most phreaks, the AUTOVON proper was taken off-line
decades ago. In this day and age a new system has arisen that embraces the
former AUTOVON and all other military voice/data systems (there's lots of
them, or I would list the damned things), the Defense Switched Network.
The Defense Switched Network (DSN) was the result of a swift kick in
the ass to the aging military phone network, replacing analog switches
first with 5 ESS systems and then with Raytheon E-Systems Secure Digital
Switches.
The DSN was built by AT&T and not surprisingly it originally based
on 5 ESS switches located all over (and under, the core switches are
buried) the world. The DSN is divided into two parts. The everyday
transmissions such as are run over the so called 'Black DSN', while secure
information is transmitted over the secured 'Red DSN'.
-Black DSN
Black DSN is an unsecured automatic phone system serving the US
military and related government agencies around the world. Its effectively
a separate phone system for everyday military use. The black DSN consists
of an unspecified number of Siemens (KNS-4100) and Nortel (SL-100) switches
maintained by GTE employees. All black switches are polled by the Regional
Control Center for faults on a regular basis by a system called ADIMSS,
and all outages and other problems are sent from there directly to the
Chief of Operations.
While the DSN itself is considered insecure, the use of STU III
telephones (voice encryption telephones) is standard procedure.
Like it's predecessor, a central feature of the Black DSN is the
multi-level precedence preemption (MLPP),a slick military term for priority
routing the DSN still uses ABCD tones for call precedence.
Black DSN numbering is handled on an NPA-NXX-XXXX format.
- 312 NPA serves CONUS and Canada.
- 313 NPA serves the Caribbean.
- 314 NPA serves Europe.
- 318 NPA serves Southwest Asia
- 315+317 NPA serves the Pacific and Alaska
The Black DSN has a BBS that can be reached by telnetting
to:(drsnbbs.ncr.disa.mil) or calling 703-735-8178 (Commercial; Login as
'PSN')
The Black DSN phone directory can be found at (http://dsnbbs.ncr.disa.mil/phone97/dsntxt97.txt)
-Red DSN
Red DSN is a secured automatic phone system serving the US military
and related government agencies (National Command Authority, (NCA), the
National Military Command Center (NMCC), the Airborne Command Post, the
Commanders-in-Chief, select military departments, and Allies of the United
States.) around the world. Unlike the Black DSN, the Red DSN is a high
security system designed for classified and other highly sensitive data.
The Defense Red Switched Network consists of 42 Secure Digital
Switches scattered around the world and maintained by government personnel.
Switches are interconnected by (believe it or not) T-1s. (The following
information is sketchy. Resources on the DRSN are contradictory about it's
control.) The DRSN is directly controlled on a local level by a set of
Regional Control Centers (RCCs) scattered around the country, each with a
significant chunk of network to manage. The entire network is provisioned
by the Red DIMSS, which is in turn monitored by the Manager Of Managers
system for faults. All alarms are cataloged in a central database.
The DRSN maintains priority routing with an additional feature called
Ruthless Preemption, or flash override-override. This is a level of call
precedence that will route over ALL other calls. Access to this feature is
understandably tightly restricted.
DRSN switches have a unique numbering scheme involving four types of
numbers.
- Hotlines. These are five-digit numbers that are generated within a
switch that will allow calls to be set up in a point-to-point manner.
Hotlines are numbered from 10,000 to 17,999.
- Psuedos. These are five-digit numbers that are used internally within a
switch for the processing of preset conferences. These numbers are assigned
to boards created by software only. 18,743 to 18,999 are used for pseudos.
- Trunks. These are five-digit numbers that are used to interface a switch
to the DRSN. Numbers 19,000 to 19,999 are reserved for trunks.
- Subscriber Directory Numbers (SDNs). These are four-digit suffixes
(npa-nxx-XXXX) that are assigned to the individual users.
DISA is in the process of testing new switches for the DRSN. The
integrated command switch, small portable switch, medium digital switch
and digital small switch. All switches are designed to interface
seamlessly with the existing DSN, DRSN, highband satellite and current
tactical phone networks.
The DRSN BBS can be reached by telnetting to: (dsnbbs.ncr.disa.mil).
This BBS serves as the main distribution site for the DRSN directory. This
isn't a public BBS, and getting an account is a tight process. Actual BBS
security is unknown.
Proposed changes for the net-Firegod
The following message crossed my desk today. If you would like
to help us stop this money grab by your local telephone company, you can
do the following to help. Copy this message to your wordprocessor, place
your name on the bottom, and send it to everyone you know who may want to
assist this grassroots effort. Then copy that back, and paste into your
E-mail and send. Your mail can be directed to isp@fcc.gov. If you're
ambitious, here are a few more addresses for you:
vicepresident@whitehouse.gov,
Sen. Tom Daschle, Democratic Leader, at tom_daschle.senate.gov,
Senate Majority Leader, Trent Lott, www.senate.gov/~lott/,
Majority Whip Tom DeLay, majoritywhip.house.gov/.
The following notice appeared on the Penna-German Listserve. "I
am sending you this to inform you of a very important matter currently
under review by the FCC. Your local telephone company has filed a proposal
with the FCC to impose per minute charges for your internet service. They
contend that your usage has or will hinder the operation of the telephone
network.
It is my belief that internet usage will diminish if users were
required to pay additional per minute charges. The FCC has created an
E-mail box for you comments, responses must be received by February
13, 1998. Send your comments and tell them what you think. Mail
to: isp@fcc.gov. Every phone company is in on this one, and they are
trying to sneak it in just under the wire for litigation. Let everyone
you know hear this one. Get the e-mail address to everyone you can
think." (And let them know we vote and will turn out the rascals who
support this action.)
Dumpster Diving - American Anarchist
Before I jump to the basics, we must actually know what "dumpster
diving" is. Well, as the Hacker Jargon file defines it:
/dump'-ster di:'-ving/ n.
1. The practice of sifting refuse from an office or technical
installation to extract confidential data, especially security-compromising
information (`dumpster' is an Americanism for what is elsewhere called a
`skip'). Back in AT&T's monopoly days, before paper shredders became common
office equipment, phone phreaks used to organize regular dumpster runs
against phone company plants and offices. Discarded and damaged copies of
AT&T internal manuals taught them much. The technique is still rumored to
be a favorite of crackers operating against careless targets.
2. The practice of raiding the dumpsters behind buildings where producers
and/or consumers of high-tech equipment are located, with the expectation
(usually justified) of finding discarded but still-valuable equipment to
be nursed back to health in some hacker's den. Experienced dumpster-divers
not infrequently accumulate basements full of moldering (but still
potentially useful) cruft.
I am sure that some of you are thinking, "This is hurting my brain,
what is dumpster diving?" Well, it is where you "dive" into dumpsters of
organizations, office buildings, department stores, 7-11s, and so on, in
hope to find interesting or valuable information and/or equipment, such as
printers, computer equipment, telecommunications papers, and whatnot.
Most of dumpster diving depends on the dumpster itself (obviously).
Residential dumpsters are sometimes not worth stopping by, since they will
have nothing of interest. The sizes of dumpsters range greatly. Some are
incredibly small and do not provide much blockage. Some can be as large as
mac trucks and you are going to have to climb on them to get into them. The
large ones will have sliding doors on the side 99% of the time.
You should also be prepared before diving. Good, sturdy shoes or
boots are a plus. Sharp objects are common, as well as glass. A raincoat,
slicker or whatnot is an optional item, since there is some unmentionables
you do not want on your clothes, but it is only recommended for certain
places you intend to dive. A flashlight is good. Not one of those gigantic,
5 battery, ones, but a small Mag Light is good. A small flashlight like
that gives just enough light than you need. A bag, which can be a plastic
trash bag, a strong cloth bag or whatever is good for hauling out your
goodies. Gloves are also an optional item. I only wear them when it is
cold, but I carry them with me when diving, for just in case I come across
some sharp objects. If you are going to wear gloves, I recommend leather
ones. Not those shiny, slick ones, but those brown, soft, really "grippy"
ones. Another item that is commonly used is a "diving stick". The purpose
of a diving stick is to extend the diver's reach. There have been many
items that have been used as diving sticks, such as, curtain rods, yard
sticks, and thin iron pipes.
Transportation of your goodies is something you need to plan ahead
of time as well. A truck is a plus, since all of your goodies can just be
thrown in the back or in the silver, cabinets (I forgot the name of them)
that are near the back window, in the back of the truck. A car will also
suffice. Some divers even transport their goodies on a bike. You can put
them in a bookbag or in those baskets which some bikes have.
Now that you have gotten all the materials needed, you are going to
have to decide which dumpster to dive at. Commercial dumpsters are the best
by popular opinion. Good locations that are considered are Radio Shack,
Office Depot, Office Max, Best Buy, Media Play, CompUSA, Wal-Mart, Borders,
Chapter 11, etc. Although, there are some places where it is not recommended
to dive, such as, college dumpsters. You will find beer and liquor bottles
99% of the time. Fraternities commonly have huge parties and a lot of
drinking goes on. As included with the places to dive, when to dive is a
point to consider as well. Christmas time is far by the best time to dive.
You will find more than you can handle. After Christmas for about a week or
two is exceptionally good since a lot of items are being thrown out. Another
good time is Easter. Not as much items will appear in dumpsters as
Christmas, but the odds are close.
There are of course some risks and legalities to consider. Overall,
dumpster diving is theft. You are stealing the items and possessions of
others, stores, and organizations. You are really in no trouble, unless:
-there are certain laws against dumpster diving in your area
-the dumpster is locked and you have to use force by means to get access
-there are specific signs or warnings (such as "No Trespassing" - this
will increase charges pressed against you by the owner or manager of the
store, but this is usually unlikely to happen [thanks to Dr. Suitcase for
that note])
There are times when even touching a dumpster is considered a
criminal offense. You will either get a hefty fine, or a few in jail. Mostly
though, the owner or whatnot will just ask you a bunch of questions, like,
"What were you doing exactly?" or whatever.
You can however avoid getting yourself in trouble. After diving,
ALWAYS make it look like the scene was never bothered. Put back everything
you moved aside to get your goodies. Close the doors exactly like they were
and pick up any items that may have fallen out when diving. If a dumpster is
locked, I wouldn't take the effort in trying to investigate it. If the owner
went through the trouble and thought into locking it up, he made his point
that he doesn't want anyone in them or messing with them. If you do happen
to get the lock unlocked, after you are done diving, make sure to lock it
back up.
Clothing is an important part. If you dress in complete black
clothing, and a black cloth cap, then suspicion will arise. Just dress
normally. Do not run when you are caught or seen. This will make a bigger
criminal charge against you. Don't lie. You could accidentally tell two or
more different stories, and then they will catch you. Tell the truth, it is
a lot better. Trust me.
Well, that is all that I have for you right now. Just be careful,
ya hear?
Finding a place to go trashing - Mohawk
I figured I'd throw my two cents in. This information is based on
how things are in NJ and other Bell Atlantic areas. Things where you are
might be different. Hell, they probably have one Central Office for all
of Montana with lineman that use horses instead of bell trucks.
When it comes to phreaking the most popular place to trash is the
Central Office or CO. There is at least one CO in each county which is
usally located in the county seat (main town in the county). Some
people have said that they're CO is a huge brick building with no windows,
however, I have seen CO's that have windows all around them. Chances are,
your not just gonna stumble on your CO. However, Bell Atlantic recently
changed their logo and have now placed huge blue and white Bell Atlantic
signs on all of their buildings. A few months ago most of the buildings
in NJ still said New Jersey Bell. You'll know you found your CO when you
find a square building with a big parking lot filled with lineman trucks,
Bell Atlantic cars, and employees normal cars. Most people in the CO
work 9-5 but some people leave later. Most people are gone by 9pm the
latest.
A good way to find out where your central office is located, is
to ask a Bell employee. Bell employees are everywhere. It doesn't matter
what kind of employee it is. Go up to one and say something like,
"Hi. My uncle is a lineman in another county and he recently got
transfered down here. Can you tell me where the CO is at so I can see if
his car is there?" This has never failed but if you do keep trying. If
you just say where's the CO?, they'll give you the third degree. For some
reason, Bell employees think that CO's are Area 51 or something.
Bell Atlantic has many more goodies than just CO's. In every county
there is at least one Bell Atlantic Communications and Constructions
Services Inc. or CCS. A good way to find you CCS is, look in the phone
book. Bell Atlantic actually lists the address and phone number of their
CCS. Most of the time CCS's are located in Industrial Parks. They are
small and sometimes share a building with other companies. These are where
you will find the white Bell trucks. The best thing you can get here is
huge reels of copper wire that they leave all over the place. Take one
of those down to your local junkyard of recycling center and you have
enough money to buy a new tone dialer. Besides CCS, there are many other
hidden places Bell has such as Customer Service Centers (CSC), Data Centers,
Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSA), and one general office in each state.
Good luck finding these places cuz there not listed anywhere and not every
county has one of each. However your general office is listed in the
phone book. <<<At the last minute before I released this issue,
Mr. Seuss sent me something very interesting. It seems that
someone made a program that will find your CO for you. This
has got to be one of the most interesting programs I have seen.
Like everything in life, conviecne comes with a price. This program
is very expensive, but they do offer a demo. To check it out for
your self go to http://www.stuffsoftware.com/cofinder.html I recommend
you try to find your CO yourself. You will learn a lot more and you
will have more fun, but if your like me and have zero free time it
may come in handy. Big thanks to Mr. Seuss for bringing this to
my attention.>>>
Besides Bell Atlantic, there are other great places for phreakers
to trash. Open up your Yellow Pages to "telephone companies, telephone
service, and telephone equipment & systems dealers. Not all these place
will have good stuff but it's up to you to check them out. Also check
your white pages for your telephone company and see if they list anything.
Try to get your hands on the AT&T National Toll Free directory. You can
also use the internet to find telco's near you. Almost forgot, lineman
always drink coffe. Beware the coffee grinds.
Fighting Back
This is the first installment of Fighting Back. FB will be a
frequent section to the zine. The purpose of this section is to make
you aware of the different ways that the telecoms are using and developing
to fight back against phreaking, hacking, scams, and fraud. We will
have reports on software, hardware, techniques, tips, web pages,
alliances, companies, and any other way that they they are fighting
back. This way, if you are doing any of these things that they
are trying to stop, you'll know what you have to look for and
work around. This will also help you keep your ass out of the busted
section. This is a new section and I am still toying around with
different ideas so email me your comments on this issue's section
and any suggestions or what you would like to see covered.
Freddie the Phone Fraud Fox and the alliance to outfox phone fraud
This just amazed the hell out of me. Freddie the Phone
Fraud Fox has got to be the weirdest things that has ever come out
of the fight against phreaking. Freddie is the official mascot
of the Alliance to Outfox Phone Fraud. He is similar to mascots of
baseball teams, where they have a person dress up in a big costume.
Instead of sporting events, Freddie appears at local malls, airports,
and festivals across the country. Why do they need a mascot? It beats
the hell out of me. They say it is a way to get the message across.
I can't see a bunch of normal adults taking a guy in a fox suit
seriously and he probably draws a lot of attention from kids. I
wonder how they feel when they go up to him and they get a handful
of flyers? I can see McGruff the crime dog teaching kids dumb crap
like don't talk to members of the OCPP, but teaching kids to be carefull
when giving out their credit card info?
Their mission statement is as follows:
"The Alliance to Outfox Phone Fraud� is a broad-based group of
telecommunications industry and related companies whose goal is to
reduce fraud by educating businesses and consumers about fraud
prevention. The animated character Freddie the Phone Fraud Fox�
serves as the official mascot and spokesperson for the public
awareness campaign."
The Alliance was started on May 5th 1995 by Bell Atlantic, Pacific
Bell, Southwestern Bell Telephone Companies, Illinois Consolidated
Telephone Company, American Telecommunications Enterprises, Inc., and the
Communications Fraud Control Association.
The current members include: Bell Atlantic, Hewlett Packard,
Pacific Bell, Southwestern Bell, Telcom New Zealand Ltd., Magardi
Solutions Inc., Bell Communications Research (Bellcore), Illinois
Consolidated Telephone Company, ECI TeleSystems Ltd., National Telephone
and Communications, Public Service Telephone Company, American Public
Communications Fraud Control Association, Intelligent Switched Systems,
Park Region Mutual Telephone Company, Pennsylvania Telephone Association,
Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC).
Besides Freddie's public appearances, the alliance has put out
public service announcements, advertisements, press releases and brochures
to educate people about the different types of fraud and how to protect
yourself. Is this proof that we're driving them nuts? He hasn't
made any public appearances since September 97 so I guess their given
him a break. He can be seen on local channels in the Bell Atlantic
region such as NJ, NJ, and VA.
Freddie also gives you bunch of facts such as, how much
fraud costed companies in certain years and how they think their
big shit cuz they're helpin reduce those numbers. They also
give you information on certain trends in fraud and on the latest
scams. Trends?? Look at him hacking that PBX, that's so last spring!
A few facts:
Total Annual Direct Cost of Industry Phone Fraud: $4.030 billion in
1997 which is an increase of $300 million or about 12% from 96.
Cellular toll fraud rose over $237.5 million from $650 million in
96 to over $887 million in 97.
Hits to Carrier Switches & Networks costed $460 million in 97,
up $225 million from 96 when it was $235 million.
Another interesting fact is that Prisoner toll fraud costed
95 million which was the same in both 96 and 97. The interesting
part is, what the hell is prisoner toll fraud and how it cost
the same for both years? I'm sure I can guess at what
prisoner toll fraud is but I'd rather have the real answer. If I
find out, I will publish it.
Trends:
A startling increase in theft of domestic long distance. Hackers
are becoming more sophisticated and increasingly "loop" through
users' systems to avoid detection. Example: They penetrate a PBX in
Sacramento CA, call through a voice mail system in New Jersey, then
make calls internationally from the New Jersey PBX. (Out of all the
states to use.)
A 30% increase in casual calling toll fraud. Example: New
start-up companies are having a particular problem with this. A hit
of only several hundred dollars becomes a major blow to a
struggling service provider. For instance a new comer could be left
holding the bill for more than $700,000 when a customer falsifies
credit, buys service for a few months, and then runs out. This
effects both the service provider and the customer, as well. The
figures on casual call toll fraud are expected to remain the same as
1996.
Latest Scams:
They give a bunch of stupid scams that don't have much to do
with telecommunications at all. The following are scams that they warn
their customers about that relate to phreaking.
Gerber Food Scam: True Name Fraud
The Better Business Bureau has advised of a scam in which
unknown parties claim Gerber Baby Foods has lost a class action suit
and will pay a $500 savings bond to children under 12 who were born
between 1985 and 1997. Notices have appeared instructing parents to
send copies of their child�s birth certificate and social security
number to an address to be processed. The notice promises compensation
once the information is sent. Gerber, in a news release to the BBB, has
announced there has been no such settlement [Source: BBB, 9-97]. This
type of activity is a form of true name fraud. True name fraud occurs
when someone�s name and personal information is stolen. By obtaining
social security numbers, birth certificates or drivers license
information, a criminal has enough personal information to purchase
items, using your name. Purchases such as jewelry or electronic
equipment can be made via an application, without a picture ID and
can be sold quickly on the street. It also can be used to establish
fraudulent telephone service or to add service to your account which
can be used in a criminal manner. In any case you get the bill. This
scam is difficult to counter because the information is true and the
perpetrator becomes you!
Social Engineering Scams
"Social engineering" occurs when someone wins your confidence
through smooth, convincing talk. These folks (are we phreaks of folks?)
are trained to win your trust in order to extract important information
about you, your job, your home, and even your family. This information is
then used to commit fraudulent acts. Perpetrators of Social Engineering
scams are so skilled that you become blinded by flattery, or excitement
thus creating no doubt in your mind of the legitimacy of the caller.
809 Area Code Scams
Pager Scam
You get a page and you notice a number with an area code different
from your own.....must be important. So you return the call only to
find it's a recording. In reality, you've just been SCAMMED! The call
probably went to one of several new area codes in the Caribbean, is
billed at an international rate, and the longer you stay on the line,
the more it costs. What you'll hear is a lengthy recording, and the meter
starts running as soon as you make the connection. The page is generated
by a computer dialer, and the cost goes to the return caller, you!
E-Mail Scam
A company has been sending unsolicited and elegantly worded
e-mail messages threatening legal action unless the recipient pays an
unspecified overdue account. The message then gives a name and number
in the 809 area code to call for further information. Callers are then
led to believe they are talking to a live person, but in fact it is a
clever recording that responds to the caller's voice. The call is designed
to keep the caller on the line for as long as possible. The call can
accumulate a high bill.
This scam has become very popular and when a scam gets popular,
you are more likely to get caught. See "Busted" in OCPP04 to read
about a similar scam in New York.
FREDDIE'S TIP'S:
When Using Your Calling Card...
Make sure no one sees you key in your calling card number or
overhears you stating it to the operator. Block the view of the keypad
and speak directly into the phone. When possible, use a phone that reads
your card automatically.
Do not use your calling card as an identification card. Use your
drivers license or some other form of ID when dealing with merchants,
telemarketers and other "salespeople."
Report a lost or stolen card immediately. The moment you suspect
your calling card has been lost, stolen, or otherwise compromised,
report it immediately to your card provider.
Memorize your calling card and PIN number. Select or change
your Personal Identification Number (PIN) to an easily remembered number.
Request that your PIN number not be printed on your calling card.
When at Home...
Don't accept third-party or collect calls that are suspicious
or from someone you do not know. When you accept, you have agreed to pay
for the charges.
Telephone companies or law enforcement officials will never
ask customers to accept collect or third-party charges as part of
an investigation. Only if you make a call through an operator will
a telephone company representative request specific billing information.
Beware of individuals who call you requesting calling card
verification. Telephone companies will never call you to ask for your
calling card number. Only when you make a call through an operator should
you give out your card number.
Restrict third-party or collect calls from being made to your
home or business. Some telephone companies offer this service,
thus preventing fraudulent calls from being billed to your line.
Wireless Tips
Remove handset and antenna from car when not in use. This will
help avoid the unwanted attention of criminals with Electronic Serial
Number (ESN) cloning devices.
Protect your Electronic Serial Number. Never give your ESN
number to anyone. And don't put your subscriber agreement in an unsafe
place, such as the glove compartment.
Never let anyone use your phone unless you are present. If
someone wants to use your phone, offer to dial the number for them.
Fraud criminals can easily access the codes stored in your phone.
Basically, they just give you a bunch of tips that you would
need if you had an IQ of 5. If you are dumb enough to give out
personal info to people you don't know, than you deserve to be scammed.
They also give you info on how to protect your voicemail and PBX.
This is the stuff they should concentrate on and the stuff you should
read thoroughly, it is rather interesting.
PBX
Signs your PBX is being abused:
repeated calls of short duration,
unexplained increases in incoming or outgoing calls,
sudden increases in 800 usage
changes in after-hours calling patterns.
Tips to stop PBX fraud
If practical, eliminate remote access to your PBX and replace it
with telephone credit cards for authorized personnel. If you eliminate
remote access, make sure the system is disabled when not in use.
If eliminating remote access isn't an option, try implementing
these suggestions to minimize your risk to toll fraud:
If possible, limit the number of employees who use remote access.
Use an unpublished number for remote access lines instead of 800
numbers.
A delayed electronic call response can provide added security.
Your PBX should be programmed to wait at least five rings before
answering a call.
A steady tone used as a remote access prompt leaves your system
vulnerable to perpetrators' automatic dialing programs. Use a voice
recording or silent prompt instead of a tone.
Tailor access to your PBX to conform to the needs of your
business. Block access to international and long-distance numbers your
company does not call. If this isn't practical, consider using
"time-of-day" routing features to restrict international calls to
day-time hours only.
Whenever possible, limit remote PBX access to local calling
during normal business hours. Be sure to restrict access after hours
and on weekends.
Delete all authorization codes that were programmed into your
PBX for testing or servicing.
Assign codes on a need-to-know basis. Advise employees to
treat codes as they would credit card numbers. Never print codes on
billing records.
Assign the longest possible authorization numbers your PBX can
handle. Select codes at random -- don't use telephone extension numbers,
employee ID numbers, social security numbers, addresses or other common
numerical sequences.
Audit and frequently change all active codes in your PBX.
Cancel unassigned access codes, especially those used by former employees.
Consider implementing a barrier code system, an additional
numeric password that adds a second level of security.
Don't allow unlimited attempts to enter your system. Program
your PBX to disallow access after the third invalid access or barrier
code attempt.
Carefully review all billing information to identify unauthorized
calling patterns. Frequent reviews can save lots of money.
Investigate toll fraud monitoring options that may be available
from your local exchange company or interexchange carrier.
Directories and business cards that list PBX access numbers
should be shredded before being placed in the trash.
Never give out technical information about your system to callers
unless you're certain who's on the other end of the line.
Educate employees about the dangers of phone fraud and what they
can do to help prevent it.
How to Outfox Voice Mail Fraud
Learn all you can about the features of your voice mail system.
Make sure that out-dial or through-dial capabilities in your
voice mail system are deleted or blocked to prevent unauthorized access
to local, long distance and international services.
Ask your vendor to perform system testing and maintenance on
site instead of from the field.
Your voice mail system should have a different three-digit prefix
than your PBX.
Never publish the remote access phone number that connects
callers to your voice mail system.
Assign PIN numbers randomly, using the maximum number of digits
your system will accept. Periodically change PINs.
Your system should be programmed to terminate access after the
third invalid attempt.
Remove all mailboxes from your system that are not in use.
Examine records on a regular basis to highlight potential voice
mail fraud.
Immediately deactivate access codes and voice mail passwords
of departing employees.
Develop a plan to both prevent and react to voice mail fraud.
Share this plan with your employees and make sure they know what to do
if your system is invaded.
Besides being in the alliance, Bell Atlantic also has other
programs to stop fraud.
The Bell Atlantic Fraud Prevention Center (FPC) is a one-stop,
state-of-the-art facility committed to protecting our customers by
detecting suspicious calling patterns and acting upon them. The 800 number
(1-800-745-6989) serves customers 24 hours a day, seven days per week,
in 140 languages. In 1995, the FPC reduced calling card fraud by 80%!
SS7 Fraud Management
Bell Atlantic is deploying an SS7 fraud management system which
will provide fraud alerts for direct-dialed calls on a real-time basis,
beginning the end of 1996. Bell Atlantic announced its purchase of Hewlett
Packard's SS7 Fraud Management Toolkit in June 1996.
To learn more about Bell Atlantic, Freddie, and the alliance visit
their website at www.bellatlantic.com
Busted-Mohawk
4 nabbed in radio thefts
(AP) Middletown township NJ
Work Crews overheard a pair of teenage burglary suspects talking
on stolen two-way radios, leading to the arrest of the teens
and two other suspects.
Police said workers at the AT&T construction site from
which the radios had been stolen overheard radio transmissions
Tuesday and alerted police.
Police later arrested three boys and a township man, Jason Baker,
21, and charged them in the theft of $10,000 worth of
electronic equipment. The items were stolen from a construction
trailer between Dec. 24 and Dec. 29.
The radios and other stolen items were recovered at the home
of one of the juveniles, police said. A laptop computer remains
missing.
The teenagers, whose names were not released because of their
ages, were released to their parents, pending a juvenile court hearing.
Two of the boys, ages 15 and 17, are brothers. The other youth is 17.
Baker remained at Monmouth County Jail in Freehold in lieu of
$15,000 bail.
Letters
<>=editor's response
From: BaNGa
Hey...I kinda need some help. I want to get a TV scrambler....is there
anyway u guys could make me one....all I gotz is thirty bux,,,,or if u can
give me some info on how to make one...peace!
<The only good thing about this letter is that this kid is probably
nine years old. If he is old enough to drive, I'm selling my car.
The fact that people like this even exist is scary.>
From: azathoth
Additional info concerning those accused of computer crimes in '97 - I had
an article of a teen accused of computer hacking about one-two months ago
in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinal. The teen's residence was in WI but I
don't believe near Milwaukee. I accidentally threw away the article so I
can't provide it but I thought you might like to know this fact.
A salute to you and all phreaks - your zine is a good resource for
phreaking info. keep information free and flowing!
<Thanks for letting us know anyway. If anybody ever has article on
people that got busted, send them in. "Busted" is a regular section
that will be in every issue as long as we have articles>
From: Logik phear
do you know of a number that you can call and get a phree call without
boxing or billing it someone else?
<wishfull thinking. That would kind of elimanate the need for AT&T huh?>
From: Kingt
i need a punter/booter for vplaces (vitural places) (chat) can you help
me out in this area?
<Did the OCPP become a Warez group and nobody told me? Someone please
let me know what phreaking has to do with punters? And you wonder
why people say crap about AOLers? The saddest part about it is that
his goal is to find a punter and kick people out of AOL chatrooms.
He must have on hell of a social life. I could hear the girls now,
"oh yeah, well my boyfriend has this punter and he owns all the chatrooms,
he's gonna start his own Warez group one day"..
From: Je55e
Greetings,
I just read your article, "The Death of Phreaking", in OCPP05. Though
I believe phreaking is _far_ from "death" you are correct in calling
for change among the general phreaking population. As I'm sure you're
aware, most of the newsgroups and message boards on the subject (as
well as hacking) are cluttered with often clueless newbie posts and
kids just walking away from a showing of "Wargames" on TBS. In my area
I am rather well-known as a "hacker" type as I was busted multiple
times for multiple accusations, several of which made the newspaper.
Hehe, never was I caught though for I am probably more intelligent
than 90% of the dimwitted morons that occupy my town of 20,000. As a
result of my popularity, if that is an appropriate term, I have been
accosted by many fellow phreaks wanting my help. I am glad to give it
to them, but I have found many are too stupid or fucked up on drugs to
make effective phreaks or simply don't have the balls to take off
running when they here cars coming, sirens, or someone walks nearby.
Anyways, your zine is very impressive, which means probably jack shit
coming from me since you don't know who I am, but trust me :) A few
things I'd like to suggest though. Firstly, lay off the hardcore,
asskicker type attitude. I believe you will achieve much more by
taking a more secretive, underground type approach and not claiming
to "putting the terror in terrorism", that's not what phreaking is
about and saddens me deeply when I see such degrading talk in a
phreaking zine. The power of a phreak comes not from terrorizing, but
from control and understanding of the systems that everyone relies on.
Just the idea that someone out there may be listening is far more
terrorizing than the rather lame, easily-correctable act of running up
a phone bill. These are just suggestions remember, there is nothing
wrong with such a slogan but such out right displays of intent to harm
is not good when you get busted either, as it provides very
incriminating evidence. Also, the article on Beige boxing this issue
is a little bit technically inaccurate. Beige boxing is not incredibly
cool but that's where I got my start and many others will too, it can
also be fun and useful. Beige boxing does *not* require you to get any
where near a house or building as this article indicates. There are
LOTS of better ways to do it, I'm not encrypted or anonymous right now
so I would rather not speak of it. Perhaps you know the real methods
of beige boxing, using different sorts of relay equipment to gain
access to many more lines in one place than a single line at a
neighbors house. If you'd like elaboration let me know and I could
help.
Anyways, nice 'zine!
--
// Je55e //
Knowledge is power, enojy your lunch!
<This has got to be my pick for letter of the year. What the hell, this
is the letter of the year. I'm glad you took the time to write us.
Well as far as the death of phreaking, yeah it is far from death.
When I start ranting like I did in the last issue, I often overemphasize
on certain aspects.
I love when the OCPP makes the news. I think the
Assasin holds the record for his "work" being on the news the most. And
I mean New York six a clock news, not some local crap.
Of course your comments mean something to us, they mean a lot.
If were doin a good job, we like to know. If we suck, we also like to
know. Criticism is the only way we can improve and we really don't get
much of it, so I guess that's a good thing.
As far as the slogan goes, it's just a stupid slogan we have.
We have thousands of them. Most of them came from me and checkmate
thinking up phreak type bumper stickers a year or so ago when we were
really bored. Phreaking isn't about terrorism and we don't tell anyone
to terrorize anyone. We supply you with the info and you do with it
what you want. I also feel that we are pretty damn underground. I
think there are only 8 or 10 sites that have a link to us. And the
only place you can really find out about us is from newsgroups.
We don't have our own IRC channel, hell we don't even use IRC.
When we we're first starting up, we tried to get the word out about
the zine. Now we only tell people when the new issues are out.
My goal isn't to have a billion people comin to the page a
day and getting so much damn mail I won't time to reply like
certain print zines that I know.
As far as the beigeboxing article goes, I do not edit the
content of the articles sent in to me. I check them over for grammar
and spelling and if they appear to be correct for the most part
then I put them in. I try to include a blend of beginner, intermediate,
and advanced phreaking articles in each issue. If you think an article
is incorrect or if you would like to expand on something that someone
else wrote, you could always send a letter in and we'll be happy to
print it.>
News
Civilians Now Have "Eye In Sky" With Satellite Launch (Mr. Seuss)
Spies Target High-Tech Information
AT&T - Teleport merger
New Toll Free number
Lucent invents new computer chip
Computer and Phone Giants Merge on Modem Standard
(Mr. Seuss)
Civilians Now Have "Eye In Sky" With Satellite Launch
WASHINGTON
With the launching of the world's first commercial spy satellite,
just about anybody with a credit card soon may enjoy an eye in the sky.
"EarlyBird 1" was designed to pick out features on the ground as small
as three meters (10 feet) across. It was successfully launched
Wednesday atop a Russian rocket by its builder, EarthWatch, of
Longmont, Colo.
The launching, from a military base in eastern Russia, ended the
monopoly of the world's most advanced military and intelligence
services on gathering high-resolution pictures from space.
"The people of the world will soon have easy and inexpensive
access to the most refined representation of our planet ever assembled,"
Donovan Hicks, EarthWatch's president, said in a statement.
Currently, the sharpest such commercially available imagery captures
features no smaller than 10 meters (33 feet). Such pictures are sold by
Spot Images of Toulouse, France, as well as by companies in Russia and
the United States.
After a brief on-orbit calibration and commissioning period, the
EarlyBird 1 satellite will begin beaming back images with three-meter
"resolution" that can be purchased, among other ways, through the
Internet by any approved customer.
The imagery may be used in a wide range of applications, including
town planning, mapmaking, mining and giving the media and the public
the chance to scrutinize environmental and military crises.
With three-meter capabilities, cars can be distinguished from
trucks, for example. In imagery taken at 10-meter resolution, neither cars
nor trucks can be identified.
EarthWatch, Spot and firms in India, Israel, Russia and China
plan to launch next-generation satellites in coming years capable of
distinguishing ground objects with a diameter as small as one meter
(39.37 inches).
The Clinton administration opened the door for U.S. companies
to enter the field in 1994, bowing to industry arguments that foreign rivals
would otherwise have a free hand. But the federal government retains the
right to screen foreign customers and the right to switch off the commercial
sensors in times of war or international tension.
The launch of EarlyBird 1 provided a vivid reminder that the Cold
War is over. It was the first commercial launch from the Svobodny
Cosmodrome, Russia's newest commercial launch site.
Spies Target High-Tech Information
LOS ANGELES (AP)
A survey shows foreign spies have stepped up their
attacks on U.S.-based businesses, costing companies an estimated $300
billion in intellectual property losses in 1997. The survey, to be
released Wednesday, was conducted by the American Society for Industrial
Security. The FBI doesn't identify governments it suspects of economic
espionage, but a recent article in the industry magazine Public
Administration Review listed France, Germany, Israel, China and South
Korea as major offenders.
AT&T - Teleport merger
NEW YORK--Jan. 8, 1998--
AT&T announced today that it has signed a definitive merger
agreement with Teleport Communications Group (TCG) for an all-stock
transaction valued at approximately $11.3 billion. Under the agreement,
each TCG share would be exchanged for 0.943 of an AT&T share.
AT&T said the merger will accelerate its efforts to bring
end-to-end communications services to American businesses.
The boards of AT&T and TCG approved the transaction today. The
companies expect the merger to be tax free to TCG shareowners and
close in mid-to-late 1998.
"This is a great match with powerful financial and strategic
synergies for both companies," said AT&T Chairman and CEO C.
Michael Armstrong. "Joining forces with TCG will speed AT&T's entry
into the local business market, reduce our costs and enable us to
provide businesses the any- distance services they want.
"TCG has more fiber route miles and serves more businesses in
more cities than any other competitive local services company," said
Armstrong. "Together, we will be able to bring AT&T Digital Link
Service to thousands more American businesses."
AT&T said that it expects the merger to begin contributing to
positive earnings in the first full year after it closes, based on
projected savings in access payments beyond those in AT&T's current
business plan; the elimination of duplicate sales and administrative
expenses; a reduction in the combined companies' capital and network
operating expenses, and higher revenues through faster implementation
of AT&T's initiatives to bring local service to businesses. In 1998,
the merger is expected to be slightly dilutive.
TCG will become the foundation on which AT&T will build a new
unit with accountability for the company's local services. TCG also
will continue to provide wholesale services.
Robert Annunziata, chairman and CEO of TCG, will become an
executive vice president of AT&T and lead a new local services unit
that will incorporate AT&T's current local service and access
management operations. Like all of AT&T's most senior officers,
Annunziata, 49, will jointly report to Armstrong and to President
John Zeglis. Annunziata will also become a member of the company's
Operations Group. He will maintain offices at the company's Basking
Ridge, N.J., operational headquarters and at TCG's offices in Dayton,
N.J.
"Competitive providers have an insignificant percentage of the
multi-billion dollar business local services market," said
Annunziata. "With AT&T and our own experienced team, TCG will be
able to step up our decade-long efforts to bring superior services to
more customers in more markets nationwide.
"I see nothing but strong growth and opportunities ahead," he
said.
AT&T and TCG have long had significant commercial relationships
and they intend to continue and expand them in the period prior to
the merger's closing.
To ensure that AT&T will benefit from the experience and
expertise of TCG's proven management team, Annunziata and his top
managers have signed employment agreements with AT&T that extend into
the next century.
The companies do not believe that a significant number of jobs
will be eliminated due to the merger because of the huge growth
opportunity in the local business services market.
"Bob Annunziata is an outstanding addition to AT&T's senior
management team," said Armstrong. "His impressive track record and
more than a decade of experience in the competitive local exchange
carrier business make him ideally suited to head up our new combined
local services unit."
Cox Communications, Comcast Corporation, and Tele-
Communications, Inc., which together hold approximately 95 percent of
the voting power and 66 percent of the equity ownership of TCG, have
approved the merger by written consent. In addition, they have
signed long-term agreements under which they will continue providing
certain construction and maintenance services to TCG after the
merger.
TCG, which has more than 3,000 employees, is the nation's premier
provider of competitive local communications services. Its fiber
optic network encompasses more than 250 communities from coast to
coast, including 66 of the nation's major markets. Its customers
include some of the nation's leading banks, brokerage firms, media
companies, government offices, hospitals, educational institutions,
and a wide range of other industries and businesses that depend on
accurate and reliable communications. TCG is a leading Internet
services provider and when its pending acquisition of ACC Corp. is
closed, it will be a major supplier of competitive telecommunications
services internationally.
AT&T Corp. is the world's premier communications and information
services company, serving more than 90 million customers, including
consumers, businesses and government. The company has annual
revenues of more than $52 billion and 130,000 employees. It runs the
world's largest, most sophisticated communications network and is the
leading provider of long-distance and wireless services. AT&T
operates in more than 200 countries and territories around the world.
The company also offers on-line services and has begun to deliver
local telephone service. In addition, AT&T provides outsourcing,
consulting and systems-integration services to large businesses.
AT&T was advised on the transaction by Credit Suisse First Boston
and Goldman, Sachs & Co. TCG was advised by Merrill Lynch & Co. The
companies said the merger is subject to regulatory approval and
certain other conditions.
New Toll Free number
Jan. 20th
Starting in April a new toll free number will begin operation.
877 will join 800 and 888 as toll free exchanges. The FCC has also
set aside 866, 855, 844, and 822 as toll free exchanges to be used
in the future
Lucent invents new computer chip
Lucent Technologies Inc. has introduced a computer chip that
will allow Internet users to receive phone calls and computer
information simultaneously at home.
The new digital subscriber chip, or DSL, converts analog
telephone lines into more versatile digital lines without installing
additional telephone wiring or equipment on a computer, the
communications-equipment maker said. A DSL chip modem can download
data 30 times faster than current analog modems when a computer is
connected to the Internet through a DSL interface at a telephone
central office, Lucent said.
The New Providence based company said its new chip will allow
computer users to leave thier computers connected to the internet
while receiving voice calls on the same line. The chips could
accelerate the growth of the Internet by making telephone access
cheaper. Lucent will beging shipping sample DSL chips in the third
quarter.
Computer and Phone Giants Merge on Modem Standard
January 20
Microsoft, Intel, and Compaq have teamed with GTE Corp. and
four of the five regional Bells and will propose a modem standard to
dramatically increase the speed of consumer Internet services over
standard telephone lines, the New York Times reports.
The announcement will be made at a communications conference in
Washington next week, and the companies are promising products that
utilize the technology by next Christmas.
The standard will be a form of digital subscriber line (DSL)
technology, which uses copper-based wiring and could speed Internet
downloads by up to 30 times the current rate, according to the
companies. DSL - a primary competitor to cable modems in the high-speed
consumer Internet access race - has been under development for several
years, but agreement on a single standard has been lacking. And, unlike
ISDN and other high-speed data services offered by phone companies,
DSL is not expected to entail expensive installation and support costs.
The standard will be based, in part, on technology from a small
Massachusetts-based company called Aware Inc., the Times reported.
Lucent Technologies also made a DSL announcement yesterday, but it's
unclear if the two technologies are related.
Bell Atlantic Corp. is the one major regional telephone carrier
that has not joined the coalition and appears to be working towards an
alternate DSL technology, the Times reported.
The OCPP is a free publication. Copyright 1997, 1998. All
information in this issue is property of the Ocean County Phone Punx.
Nothing may be copied or reproduced. Our staff and our ISPs are not
responsible for your actions. What you do with this information is
up to you.