2600 Magazine - Volume 1, Number 1 2600 January, 1984! 1'iiMi; hi*! m'.'iir "ilj h;, SMNI I' S I rkrKISliS.-ai' L'li.\niL>9yrurv0rpaitinliiia..SuhH:rtp[iiMi ::iln a-v SJd Jllliiulh. Wnl,- In JWTl. Hn\ ? VJ. Mnhilr Maud. SY 114$! *0#D VOLUME ONE NUMBER ONE AHOY! (That's how Alexander Graham Bell used to answer his phone- For some reason, it never caught on.„) . This is the very firs l issue of 2600. We will, on this page, explain our me lives and what the goals are which we hope to achieve with this publication. The idea for 2600 was born early in 1983. We saw a tremendous need for some form of communication between those who truly appreciate the concept of communication: technological enthusiasts. Of course, others have different ways of describing such people— these range from words Like hacker or phreaker to stronger terms such as criminal or anarchist. Our purpose is not to pass judgement, 2600 exists to provide information and ideas to individuals who live for both. All of the items contained on these pages are provided for informational purposes only. 2600 assumes no responsibility for any uses which this Information may be put to. ■ * Of course, a Jot has changed since our first days. War Games came out. And then the 414 gang got caught. Suddenly everyone was talking about p breakers and hackers. And while there were some t hat so rt of jum ped into t he I imel ight , at hers were a bit more cautious, in fact, some were quite upset. Sure, the publicity was fun. But what would be the cost? Well, time has passed and the cost has been high. Phreakers and hackers have been forced into virtual isolation. Raids by the FBI have become almost commonplace. The one magazine that was geared towards phone p breaks { TAP) mysteriously disap- peared at the height of the crisis, sparking rumours that they + too, had been raided. However, in November, the magazine resurfaced, with an explanation that a Tire had destroyed part of their mailing list: (Incidentally, if your name was one of the opes that was lost, you can claim the issues you are entitled to by sending TAP a copy of their mailing l;*bel or a cancelled check.) And then there was the legendary computer bulletin hoard known as OSUNY. Enthusiasts from all across ne country called up this board and left messages ranging from the latest jn. Sprint codes to how to crash an R5TS syslenrt to' what to do once you've finally gained access lo Autovon, Within a week after being mentioned in AVii^kiwA*- OY U N Y was disconnected. Word has it that they are still in existence somewhere, but by invitation only. A truly smart move, if that is the case. Many hackers were keeping a ' tow profile even he Ion; the October raids. When the FBI confiscated equipment from 15 sites across the country on the twelfth and thirteenth of the month (sponsored by a grant from the folks at GTE), many of our contacts were lost because they feared the consequences of continuing. Two organizations, the Inner Circle and PHALSE, were deeply affected by the raids. The latter group [whose initials signify Phreakers, Hackers, and Laundromat Service Employees) is still in contact with us on occasion and has promised to contribute many articles devoted to just what was really going on. So it seems that the events of 1 983 have conspired to actually strengthen the resolve of hackers and phreakers across the country to put out this monthly newsletter. We hope you will help us continue by subscribing, spreading the word among your friends* and of course contributing articles and information, Since we are non-profit, it really doesn’t matter to us if you xerox your copy and send it to someone else — all we ask is that you let us know so that we can have a rough idea of how many people we're reaching. 2600 has several sections, some of which will appear every month, others on an irregular basis. On this, the front page, and on page two, you will always find informative full-length features on relevant subjects. Future topics include: "A Guide to Long Distance Telephone Services and Their Vulnerabilities”, “DEC and Their Many Mistakes", "Phreaking in the Sixties”, and "Tracing Methods Used by the Law 11 *, as well as any late-breaking items. "FLASH" appears on page 3 and provides a roundup of timely news items written from a technological enthusiast’s perspective. Page 4 is used for a variety of things— interesting stories from the past, schemes and plots that just might work, and feedback from subscribers. The last two pages of 2600 are comprised of data. Just what sort of data, we cannot say. However, if it is something that you are looking for, then you will probably recognize i [ . The three holes on each page serve a purpose. We suggest that you obtain a loose-leaf book so that you can neatly flic every issue of 2600 you receive. Many thanks to those of you who subscribed without even seeing on issue. A word of advice, though: don't do it again or you’ll probably get ripped off T We’d also like to [hank those who took ad vantage of our free issue oiler. If interested in subscribing, the rates and address can be found ;u [he top of this page. Welcome to 2Afifi. Turn the page and become ii purl of out unique world 1 FBI GOES AFTER ADS HACKERS HM must press charges be/ore action can be taken — Feds reveal their tactics, blow source On. this page we had originally planned to run an article entitled: ESS “ Orw-eJI's Prophecy. At the last minute T however, we received this bombshell from an anonymous contributor. It seems that a group of hackers wav making use of one of IBM's ADS sys- tems. ( Audio Distribution Systems enable users with touch-tone phones to send voice messages back and forth to each other. Look for an in-depth article on them m a future issue.) Unfortunately, as is all too often the case, one of these hackers was really an FBI informant who was . taking note of all of the illegitimate users {around 40 or so). Luckily for this particular group, the informant was sloppy and left many telltale clues which gave them literally months of warning . So, when the informant de- cided to send a message- to the system operator, advising IBM to take action against the hackers and to call the FBI for more information, the hackers were ready. The system operator's account had also been penetrated by them and hence, the message was received by the hackers first! One of them actually followed the instructions in the - message and called the FBI! And for some reason* the investigator there thought he was talking to an IBM executive. This is some of what he said. One of the individuals that supplies me with in- formation from time to time has uncovered a lot of abuse within the ADS systems, not only here in the United States, but in England and Italy, I talk to this individual on a private bulletin board, . + We have no ability to come in as an outside in- vestigative or law enforcement agency and do any- thing about it because, first off, we don’t have a complainant We don’t want to step on anybody’s toes, but its been our policy to monitor bulletin boards and the phone phreaking activity across the country and advise commercial computer systems and corporations if we do discover certain computers along with the passwords and account numbers being published on the board T We do this on a one on one basis. The GTE Telemall Connection That was my baby, too! As a matter of fact, that’s tow we came across the ADS system — through the jTE investigation. [These] people are not just in- terested in data communications through terminals — hey will leave voice messages on an ADS. We have leen slowly uncovering more and more on the ADS ti the last two months. The major phase of [the Telemail investigation] vas about 20 individuals that we had located arid dentified and we’re looking for indictments on most it them coming down in the next month or two. YeVe talking about a group of highly organized icopJe that do communicate on a daily basis all the ^ay across the country — from San Francisco and L,A. to Denver to upstate New York. So we hyvc a core of individuals that we are still looking at that are using your system and then we have this peri- pheral that we are not as concerned about because they are not part of an out & out conspiracy or an organized network* per se, I know of at leasts or 10 that are the central figures in this, the carryover from TelemaiL And we keep hearing information of other people who are calling in with junk messages — there’s no real substance to their messages. Now the reason I know that is that they have included one of my sources of information onto their system and so he gets messages from the other parties. The Communist Connection In a way we’re somewhat fortunate that it’s 16- y ear-olds or 26-year-olds as opposed to people from behind the Iron Curtain. It gives us the opportunity to see how these systems work and see if we can plug any loopholes before somebody from a not-friendly nation would fry the same thing. I personally fully expect it - I'm surprised it hasn’t happened in the past It may have, We just haven h t caught it But the kids are a little bit sloppier and they’re getting caught . . I hate to sound paranoid, but we’re sup- posed 4 to be considering the big picture as far as i& there anything sensitive in nature. For us within the bureau, sensitive in nature first off means national security and you’ve got corporate trade secrets and . the like that you don’t need being distributed. How the FBI Wins Trust and Gets Info The subjects have an ego problem and they love to talk to other individuals about what they are capable of doing and bragging about it. They have a tendency to trade information. Everything is negotiable with them. We have never had to barter away access to systems — we do it more on the technical information of phone networks, computer systems, and the like to where it’s more of a technical information tradeoff as opposed to an access tradeoff [An example would be the] login procedure for a PDP-11. You integrate yourself within their confidence and their circle of friends. You feed them a little bit of bait and a lot of times they’ll go for ft. You enter into a dialogue with them, and they end up taking you for a ride. These people are very hungry for technical avenues through which they can comm unic ate . It used to be the personal computer bulletin boards — public messages that anybody can read. You start finding out that they leave a phone number or an address — and you start finding out who the parties are, There^ thousands of these bulletin boards across the country and you narrow in on maybe twenty or so that are the more hardcore bulletin boards that are being used for exchange of illicit information. Then they move from there to an electronic mail service, namely GTE (Continued on funk page) ■ 2 ^ GTE raids still have many unanswered questions — computer owners concerned ■CnifflMitHl N(#i SiHimi On Wednesday, October 12, at 6:00 AM, the FBI started to raid the homes of over fifteen individuals for allegedly breaking into Tele mail, GTE Telenet's massive electronic mail service. While much of the publicity has now died down, questions remain concerning the legality and the overall implications of such computer seizures. At a December 16 meeting of the Long Island Computer Association, this topic was addressed. Some members could not understand the rationale for taking away the computers in the First place. “It sounds like scare tactics to me. . . to keep these kids off of computers,” one commented. “To hold the equipment seems like something that should be unlawful and it T s something that the public should look at, If ifs not j ust ified , we should say that we won T t put u p with it a ny more and to return the equipment, 11 He did not elaborate on precisely what kind of action a computer group such as L1CA could take. Legally, the computers canj>e kept for as Jong as they are needed in the investigation. Ultimately, a judge wilf decide how Jong that can be, "The allegation,” said an attorney familiar with the case, “is that the services of the Telemail bulletin boards were used and the theory that the government is proceeding under is that it was a violation of Section 13 43, wire fraud (a scheme with intention to defraud someone else using either television, telephone, or some other communications means). They're saying that if there was use of the bulletin board service, then that - was a ‘theft of service" and there was intention to defraud GTE " One member took GTE's side. "These are ail nice games these people are playing, but they are a theft of service. Somebody is in the business of providing that service and they're deliberately interfering with their providing that service. They’re trying to get. something for nothing.” Another disagreed, "You may be on their computer, but it's not costing them anything, if you're not taking up time. U nless the whole system is fully used and you were the last user on, are you really using any of their time? Really and truly?** Many hackers felt they were unjustly accused. One even said he*d never used the Telemail system* Others said they had looked around once or twice but had never hurt anything. Others, though, admitted to deleting mail and playing tricks, like send ing obscene messages hack a nd forth between two innocent executives. Whether or not the T elemail system svaauied fraudulently did not seem to be the overriding issue at the L1CA meeting. What had members there worried was the way in which the investigation was bcii^g -Carried out. When dealing with computers as evidence, different rules apply, rules that for the most part have not been written yet, “Data can be manufactured just as easily as it can be erased from a personal computer,' 1 one member commented. “And the L ’ — v Longer that they have the computer in their custody, the less likely that the information that they claim is on it was ■" actually there* Because, as we know, you could enter any date, any time into the computer and have it date- and time- stamp the files," Meanwhile, a GTE Telenet spokesperson said that the corporation still intends to prosecute and denied that the whole thing was being put on for the deterrent effect that U might have on other people. The spokesperson also said that abuse on the system, was' discovered in the past, but they didn't prosecute at that time. This lime, though, they're serious, AT&T Credit Cards Make Debut J 600 News Scrvicr There’s now another way to place telephone calls without dimes. This month, the “true" AT&T credit card phones are making their debut in various airports around the country. This new phone actually takes an AT&T credit card (not those wimpy “calling cards" or “PIN cards.” We're talking about a recti hunk of plastic, with a magnetic strip and everything) — and there's even a little video screen that gives you directions. Unless some sort of a bug can be found within the system itself, phone phreaks won’t accomplish very much here, unless they can actually get their hands on other people's cards. This, in itself, wouldn't be too difficult, since large numbers ofrhe cards would be sent out on the same day in a particular area. Stealing out of personal mailboxes, though, is an act most phone phreaks would never stoop to. And the folks at AT&T are well aware of this. Wireless phones spell trouble JttXl peuvsfrvltt With cordless phones popping up all over the place, problems were bound to arise. It's not at all uncommon to hear another cordless conversation on your phone or to hear ^the electronic pulse-beeping when you’re not even dialing. Then there are cordless phone phreaks to deal with, who drive into heavily populated zones holding one of the common cordless models. It's called “cruising for dialiones," And some phones are nice enough to broadcast your conversation on an AM frequency. This feature isrft very good for private conversations, [t helped shape a recent drug bust in the state of New Yorld Recently, a, lady in the Midwest called up her local electric company to tell them that she was going to be away for two months. A member of the 2600 CJub heard this on his radio ; and, being in a good mood, called her and told her that important, personal business should never be discussed on cordless phones. After thanking him, she exclaimed, “That thing's going right back to the Phonecenter Stoner 1-984 arrives in Hong Kong The J-« Appk* ItlM* In an effort to “discourage people from driving their cars in heavily congested areas" all 350,000 of Hong Kong's motor vehicles will be fitted with tracking devices that will let government computers know exactly where each car has traveled so that the owner can be billed for road use. This system could be in full implementation by 1987, if the government has its way. Such a system would also allow the police to quickly pinpoint the whereabouts of any vehicle. Tampering with the S4 5 tracking devices will be illegal and any attempt to do so will' trigger street cameras lo photograph the license plate of the car. i 3 THE TRUTH BEHIND THOSE 9999 NUMBERS hy Mark Bluebux been provided by the National Bureau of Standards for Once upon a time, I was talking to one of my favorite WWV and that number is I -8QQ-95 7-9999," Imagine my friends, one of the nations oldest and most experienced surprise! Once again, the number had been broadcast all telephone enthusiasts --some might refer to him as a phone around the world. People in many, many nations now had phreftk. In this particular conversation, he mentioned to me that number. Of course, the number only worked inside the that I might want to experMent with a series of 800 United States, but the word was being spread by shortwave numbers: exchanges starting with 9, followed by the suffix listeners and QSL people everywhere. 9999 (800-9xs-9999). And so I did, and a whole new world The number was getLing swamped. Needless to say, it was began to open up in front of me, busy much of the time. A government official, who a/so had They were mostly weather and time numbers in various this number, thinking that it was legitimate, called up WWV locations throughout the country. And, since these were 800 and complained. He told them that they needed to add some numbers* there was NO CHARGE! One number in more iines to their new SOQ number. The general manager of particular was of a great deal of interest to me and to many the station said* u l don't know what you T re talking about, L others. This was 800-957-9999* which hooked up to WWV, don’t know of any 800 number that gets you WWV." the radio station operated by the National Bureau of The government official told him what the telephone Standards that does nothing but tell the time and give number was. The general manager called it and heard his shortwave reports. This i$ the -most accurate clock in the own station. Astounded* he contacted the Mountain Bell entire worldl You either have to tune WWV in on a . Telephone Company in Denver* Colorado. They said, shortwave receiver or dial 303-499-71 II in Fort Collins* 11 YouTe not paying for any 800 in- WATS number. We show Colorado, Yet, here l was with an 800 access! Being a bit of a 303-499-7111 for WWV, but we don't have any 800-957- shortwave enthusiast* 1 don’t have to tell you how 9999." convenient this was for me. Unfortunately, it got too Mountain Bell checked it out and sure enough, the convenient for too many people. ^ t number existed but not on their records. No one was getting J guess I made the mistake of giving it to a former charged for this! Now, of course, you know a monopoly as president of a large amateur radio club in the Dallas area, well I do — they’re sure not going to let anyone have a free He* in turn, printed it in the Amateur Radio Newsbulletin ride. So they told the WATS coordinator to find out what where thousands of people probably saw it. Another happened. He finally made the discovery that some statewide newsbulletin picked it up and printed it. Through technicians had hooked that number up for transmission an amateur radio news network which this bulletin was a testing. [These switching technicians are toll technicians* part of* the news got as far as California;, ATAT Long Lines switching technicians* and carrier One day, 1 called up the West Link Amateur Radio News systems technicians. In other words, they’re the group of t Service at 213-768-7333. (This is a service located in We$t people who link switching centers together* from New York Link, California that broadcasts news over amateur radio* to Los Angeles, for example, ]n this case, the whole VHF, UHF, etc.) Their Jatesi report had this little item: escapade was a kind of group effort. The switchmen and the “Speaking of interesting things, the National Bureau of. carrier people got together and set up this number for Standards has got a very convenient time number for those testing, finding noisy carriers* carriers with cross-talk on of you that are not constantly at a shortwave receiver. You them* etc.] can dial I -800-957-9999 for WWV. It’s just another good The WATS coordinator told them they’d better get this toll-free service for us to use," The avalanche had really number off— too many people knew about it. He told them begun now, to erase every 800 test line number that was on the system. The West Link report was heard on bulletin stations all Not surprisingly* someone also got ehewed out very around the world and* apparently* one station in Nashville, / severely. Tennessee broadcast it. From there it fell into the hands of So, consequently, 800-957-9999 is no longer inexistence, one of the writers for the DX program on Radio South i But since then, less than two weeks later, several of the 800 Africa! 1 happened to be listening to a program where they : test numbers have begun to defiantly reappear. Check were talking about pulling in distant time stations, weather : around, you’ll probably find a few interesting ones. But L stations* etc. He then mentioned* “For those of you that Jive 1 doubt if WWVs brief stint as a toll-free service will ever be in the United States* a convenient toll-free 800 number has j repeated. Ahoy, folks! If any of you have ever used an extender that goes by the name of 8006213129, you’d better give it a call now! The people running it have aT TtttX : . Ittlik R WY 7 TV A i J,\PWUJ ; } message for you. 4 2600 page Pn% irion Nime EiTtuioii Office of the President Tht President Ronald Reagan 2858 Special assistant Djvid C. Fi*ehcr 2168 Ptrraial secretary to Kathleen Osborne 2838 the President Office of the Counselor to the Preside n< Counselor toihc President Edwin Muk IN 2235 Deputy cou rut lor James E. Jenkins 7600 Auuianl counselor Edwin W. Thomas Jr* 2235 Special mutant Mitchell F Stanley 2235 AjvSUfil 10 Lhc PrcsidcnL Craig U Fuller 2B2i for Cabinet attain Secretary Adela Gonulci-Nardt 2823 Assistant director T„ Kenneth Gribb Jr. 2800 Administrative util* Karen Han 2821 tants Nancy A. (Missy) 28 00 Hodapp Director 0 / planning and RpchardS, Beal 6690 evaluation Office of Cffief of Staff Chief of staff James A. Baker III 6797 Executive twin ant to ’Margaret D.Tuiwiler 6797 E he. chief of staff Staff assistant Kathy Ca mjlier 6797 Confidential secretary . Margaret Glasscock 6797 Deputy IQ the chief uf staff RiclurdG. Darnuti 2702 A dm in islnti ve assi$r Sira Curre nee Emery 3702 tant Secretary Janet F McMinn >702 Special a sustain to the James W h Cicconi 2174 chief of staff Presidential COrresppn- ■rfp-nr-* Anne Higgins 7610 ULt lluC Special pres idem ial rrtes- Dodic Livingston* 2941 Twit inn Name EafenkM Director of advance Siephert M, Sjuddcn 7565 Deputy director of id- Hugh L O'Neill 7565 varvce Administrative mil- CeCe B. Kremer 7565 tant Trip desk officer! Marti J.Frucci 7565 Karen Jones Roberts . 7565 Advance Stiff Lynn SmaNpige 1565 Robert K, Gubiioci 7565 James F Kuhn 7565 Dan Morris 7565 Unny E Wild 7565 Di rcc lor of sched u Eing Rocky D. Kuonen 7565 Gregory Newell 7560 Deputy director of Triei* Rodger* 7560 scheduling A d mi nisi rat ive ault- Cm ly Valentine 7560 uni SlafT assistants Michael Cast ine 7560 Frances (Fan) Snodgrass 7560 Confidential assistant Net it A. Dickey 7560 Miry H r Rawlim 7560 Preside nl*i diariit Ellen Jones 7560 Appointments secrc- Helen C. Donaldson 7560 tary Staff directory for the Ffral Peter McCoy 6702 Lady Administrative atsis- Ian! Christine J. Hathaway 6702 Pr^ss secretary Sheila RTalc 1136 . Assistant press Stcre- Barbara Cook 7136 tary Personal secretary Elaine Critpen 6633 Social secretary Muff* Brandon 7064 Ajsirtanr social secre- Linds Faulkner 7064 tary Office of ihe Deputy Chief of Staff Deputy chief dt stall Michael K. Dcaver $473 AHittanllo the defy Joseph W. Canzeri 2861 uty Chief Of Staff Staff assistant Shirley Moore $475 Spec i al assist a n c to the Ja mes S. Rote bus h 35757 President feu private ini- t iati ves Eiccutivc assistant Bernyec Fletcher I9J7 Director or ipeciaf support EdwjrdYHkke>.fr. 2150 service! De pul y d nzc l0r 0 f De nnis E. Lc Bla nc 2 1 50 special support scr- vices Depot) director of Col. Frank E. Miflncr 2 1 50 military office Army »idc tuiht Li CoJ. Jo*e A. Muratu 2 1 50 President J r . Air Force aide 10 4 he Maj, William M. 3 1 50 President Drennan Navy aide Lot be Preji^ Cdr. William R. Schmidt 2150 dent Marine Cor^ side Id Maj. John P Kline Jr 2150 the President Physk ia n 1 0 1 he Pr«t- Dr, Da nie r H uge 267J dent Scheduling director NinaWormser 79 ID S peci a I proje CIS An n Wroblrtki 7905 Office of the Vice President The Vice President Executive assistant Chief ofitafT Deputy chief of staff Military assistants Counsel Deputy counsel Press secretary Deputy prest secre- tary Spe^chwritcr Domestic policy adviser Assistant domestic policy adviser National security affairs advjser George Bush Charles G, {Chase) Do- le rmeyer Daniel J. Murphy R ichard N. Bond Ll Cd! Michael D r Fry Lc, Cot. William Sc ken C. Snyder Cray Rafael V Capo Peter T« ley Shirley M. Green Christopher Bock ley Thaddeus A. Garrett Jr. Mary S.Gall Nancy Burg Dyke 1123 2511 6606 7056 •OIJ* 4223* 7034 1014 6772 6772 7451 21 73 7935 4211 Congressional Trillions sis tart ft obe rt V Thompson 2 J4- 34 2 4 Legislative assise art Susan Alvarado 224-839; Assist am for appointments Jennifer Fitzgerald 7810 and scheduling All icfephon; numbers are on ih e 456- exchange except (host marked with i n: tj S t r d" ;r- fell. in aslensV. which arc on the 195- exchange* sod I’rooer liihhini’ im wit-mu I1T1 41 J ■■‘'I ■*■ fll 6 IL'llriLlta I ■ n, * I. . This here page Is usually a continuation of page 5, However, when we get a blockbuster story like the one below, we have to reallocate our space. We know you'll understand. By the way, as long as we’ve got you looking up at this part of the page f why not take the time to send us some mail? Letters * articles r information t old telephones , paintings, anything, really . You know the address (it’s on the front page). Let’s hear from YOU \ FBI VS. HACKERS (Continued from second page) Telemail. They caused fits within Telemail when they decided to get a little bit cocky and see if they could shut down accounts and change passwords of the administrators and things like that. From there they have moved one step further to where they are now the same individuals communicating through the AOS systems and they also, set up conference calls through the BeU System, so they're not just attacking one particular system or one individual avenue of communication — they try to l\it them all. It’s an ego trip for all of them. ■V Pen Registers We would put a pen register on the phone line of the individual (suspect) and it would record only the digits dialed on his telephone — we. would not use a full blown wiretap to record his voice. We can only put a pen register on an individuals phone for like, thirty days before we have to go back to a judge and try to get an extension and we try to minimize the use of our electronic surveillance equipment so the public does not think we’re the Big Brother of 19S4. (laughter) It's coming. Actually, we’re already there! {hearty laughter) " We have not utilized any pen registers for the spe- cific purposes of going after abusers of the ADS systems. First off, we have to have an actual case presented to us or a complaint, It’s a roundabout way of doing it, but it's the way that we, in the bureau, have to have somebody outside come to us. Otherwise we can carry on the whole investi- gation without IBM even being aware that we are monitoring activity within their system and we don’t want to become that secret police, or any- thing like that. We want to be above board and work with the corporations in the community. Just How Much Trouble Are These Hackers In? On the federal level we can prosecute them for telephone fraud (fraud by wire) if we can determine that the ADS is an ongoing business operation and that you are being denied your, just revenues by them sneaking onto your system and abusing your system. The strictest penalty is a $1000 fine and 5 years in jail for an actual conviction of fraud by wire vio- lation. Those are always lax — a more common sentence may be for an adult maybe a year in jail, 18 months, or a fine, sometimes they get probation, or agree to pay back any fraudulent money obtained Or for services rendered or whatever to the client company — it stays on his record for a year, he + s on probation for a year and at the end of that, his record is wiped clean. Rarely do they get the maximum penafty. lt just doesn't happen. Do Me a Favor Please do not disclose any geographic location be- cause we are kind of unique in that we do not have any other source available in any other part of the country that could supply us with information like this, : He may be one of 200 people, but if you iden- tify Michigan you identify between 2 or 3 individuals and it may burn the source. IVe’d like to make it deaf that we don n t intend to do this' kind of thing very often* since rumours about certain people being informants are very common in this business. But this is no rumour. This , friends, is solid fact — we would not have printed this story if i we weren't able to substantiate the claims if makes, and we had no trouble at all doing that. Our intent in making this information known ujus nof to screw up the FBI's fun (they're really not doing all that much out of the ordinary anyway )* but rather to expose a very dangerous individual who goes by the name of Cable Pair (some say his real name is John Max field). This person has been posing as an extremely friendly hacker who lives in Detroit and is just bubbling over witk technical information in exchange fqr your secrets. He. claims to hsue been one of the nation's first phreaks* which may or may not be true. He gives out his telephone numbers freely , will do anything to communicate with some- body (like place conference calls from his own private PBX system , provided you give him YOUR phone number ), and generally will use anything you !sny to him against you in the future , Our advise Is simple: stay the hell away from this person. Even if you haven*t done anything wrong yourself,- your life can still be made miserable by him if you 're even sus- pected of having contact with wrongdoers. This latest turn of events has saddened us — we thought Cable Pair would be a promising contributor to this publication and instead we learned a valuable lesson; don*t trust anybody. Have fun. Cable Pair. Enjoy yourself, Ju$t don't expect to see any of us j over at the Chestnut Tree Cafe with you. You're on your own now.