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- BOXES - GENERAL INFORMATION
-
- THE FOLLOWING "GOLDEN OLDIE (1980) IS FROM THE LEGENDARY "8BBS" OF BERNARD
- KLATT IN SANTA CLARA, CA. THIS IS THE FIRST PHREAK BBS THAT I EVER HEARD OF IT
- WAS A PDP-8 THAT COULD SUPPORT TWO USERS. IT "DISAPPEARED" AFTER AN OMNI
- MAGAZINE ARTICLE WAS PUBLISHED ABOUT PHREAKING WAS PUBLISHED
-
- RESURRECTED BY BILL DOGER (PLEASE DOWNLOAD AND SAVE FOR POSTERITY)
-
- SUBJECT: BASIC BOXES, PART I
-
- THIS IS SOME REASONABLE BASIC STUFF, SO EXPERIENCED HACKERS MAY WISH TO SKIP
- THESE MESSAGES.
-
- WHAT I WILL PROVIDE HERE IS A SUMMARY OF THE THREE MOST IMPORTANT BOXES, SOME
- OF THE WAYS THE TELCOES TRY TO CATCH BOXERS, AND SOME SUGGESTIONS ON AVOIDING
- BEING CAUGHT.
-
- THE MOST FAMOUS BOX, THE BLUE BOX, IS ESSENTIALLY LIKE A PORTABLE TOUCH-TONE
- PAD, EXCEPT THE TONES ARE NOT TOUCH-TONE (DTMF) -- THEY ARE THE TRUNK SIGNALLING
- FREQUENCIES (MF). THESE FREQUENCIES WERE GIVEN BY SUSAN IN A MESSAGE A FEW
- BACK. A GOOD BOX ALSO CONTAINS THE SUPERVISION CONTROL FREQUENCY, 2600HZ (SF).
-
- HACKERS USE THE BOX BY GAINING ACCESS TO A DDD (OR OTHER) NETWORK SENDER
- (IT'S LIKE A DIAL TONE), USUALLY BY MAKING AN 800 OR 555 CALL. A MUCH BETTER
- ACCESS IS IF THERE ARE LOCAL TANDEMS IN YOUR AREA USED FOR NON-ACCOUNTED CALLS
- BUT ALLOWING NON-LOCAL OUTGOING CALLS.
-
- HACKERS USE BLUE BOXES BECAUSE IT ALLOWS THE INTRODUCTION OF NETWORK DIAL
- CODES OTHER THAN AREA-CODE AND NUMBER AND OPENED AN INCREDIBLY COMPLEX MAZE TO
- BE EXPLORED AND TOYED WITH. OTHER PEOPLE USED BLUE BOXES TO COMPLETE CALLS
- WITHOUT PAYING. THIS MADE AT&T INTENT ON STOPPING THE ACCESS; TO THEM THE
- HACKERS TYING UP TANDEMS FROM KALAMAZOO TO MOSCOW WERE A NUISANCE, AND THE
- OTHERS WERE THIEVES.
-
- ONE OF THE MOST SUCCESSFUL MEANS OF CATCHING BLUE BOXERS WAS AND IS THE
- FEATURE IN THE ACCOUNTING PROGRAM WHICH CALLS ATTENTION TO ANY NUMBER WHICH
- SHOWS A LARGE NUMBER OF 800 OR 555 CALLS. (WE KNOW OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS
- MANAGERS WHO HAVE BEEN CALLED BY AT&T TO FIND OUT WHY SO AND SO - AN EMPLOYEE -
- MAKES SO MANY CALLS TO THE COMPANY 800 NUMBER.) OTHER MEANS INCLUDE ANALYZING
- TRUNK TROUBLE REPORTS (IF YOUR BOX DOESN'T TREAT THE TRUNK THE SAME WAY AT&TS
- EQUIPMENT DOES, IT CAN IN SOME CASES GENERATE TROUBLE REPORTS).
-
- ONCE THE SUSPICION IS THERE, YOUR LOCAL TELCO PUTS A "PEN RECORDER" ON YOUR
- LINE, AND EVERYTHING YOU DIAL - ROTARY, TOUCH-TONE, OR MF GETS RECORDED ON PAPER
- - THIS PAPER WILL BE USED AS EVIDENCE AGAINST YOU.
-
- EVENTUALLY THE U.S. GOVERNMENT PROSECUTES YOU FOR "INTERSTATE FRAUD BY WIRE"
- -- AN EXTREMELY BROAD LAW. MORE ABOUT THAT LAW IN FUTURE STUFF.
-
- IN ORDER TO ELIMINATE BLUE BOXING, WHICH RELIES ON THE USE OF THE MF SIGNALS
- ON THE SAME CIRCUIT THAT YOU TALK ON, MA BELL IS CONVERTING TO A NEW SYSTEM -
- COMMON CHANNEL INTEROFFICE SIGNALLING (CCIS). THERE ARE MANY BENEFITS OF CCIS
- OTHER THAN ELIMINATING BLUE BOXING, BUT IT WILL EVENTUALLY ELIMINATE BLUE BOXING
- BECAUSE IT SENDS THE NETWORK SIGNALLING INFORMATION ON DATA LINKS BETWEEN SIGNAL
- TRANSFER POINTS (STPS) ASSOCIATED WITH VARIOUS SWITCHING MACHINES.
-
- IT WILL TAKE MANY YEARS FOR CCIS TO BE UNIVERSALLY USED, BUT IT IS GOING IN
- FAST. AS LONG AS THERE IS ONE NON-CCIS LINK IN THE NETWORK, THE HACKERS WILL
- FIND IT AND PLY THEIR HOBBY.
-
- TO AVOID GETTING CAUGHT: DON'T USE YOUR BOX FROM THE SAME PLACE REPEATEDLY.
- DON'T COMPLETE CALLS TO FRIENDS AND SIT AND GAB -- IF NO "SIGNS AND SIGNALS" ARE
- TRANSMITTED (YOU DON'T PASS INFORMATION -- YOU DON'T COMMUNICATE) YOU HAVE NOT
- COMMITTED FRAUD BY WIRE. YOU MAY GET CHARGED WITH POSSESSION, IF THE STATE LAWS
- WHERE YOU ARE CAUGHT MAKE BOXES ILLEGAL (HMMM. LIKE GUN CONTROL -- MAYBE YOU
- HAVE THE BOX IN CASE OF AN EMERGENCY WHEN THE NETWORK ISN'T WORKING RIGHT -- TO
- SAVE YOUR LIFE -- BUT IT CAN BE USED TO COMMIT A CRIME. ENOUGHT OF THAT
- NONSENSE).
-
- THE SECOND FAMOUS BOX IS THE BLACK BOX. WITH THE BLACK BOX, YOU RECEIVE
- CALLS WITHOUT THE CALLER BEING CHARGED. THIS IS USELESS FOR HACKERS -- ONLY THE
- FREEPHONE PEOPLE ARE INTERESTED. AN EARLIER MESSAGE TALK ABOUT THE WIRES THAT
- GO TO THE INTERRUPTER SWITCH IN YOUR ROTARY DIAL. THIS IS THE BASIC INGREDIENT
- IN THE BLACK BOX. THE ONLY ADDITIONAL EQUIPMENT NEEDED IS A BATTERY TO POWER
- YOUR CARBON MIKE. USING THE BLACK BOX, THE CALLEE GOES OFF-HOOK VERY BRIEFLY,
- ENOUGH TO STOP THE RINGING (SOME BLACK BOXERS HAVE BEEN KNOW TO TALK BETWEEN THE
- RINGS) BUT NOT ENOUGH TO SEND ANYTHING BACK DOWN THE TRUNK TO THE CALLER SAYING
- THAT THE PHONE HAD BEEN ANSWERED AND HUNG UP. THIS WORKS IN STEP-BY-STEP (SXS)
- OFFICES, NO 1 AND 5 CROSSBAR, AND SOME NON-BELL OFFICES. BELL'S ESS OFFICES ARE
- TOO CLEVER FOR THIS TRICK - YOUR PHONE ISN'T CONNECTED TO THE INCOMING TRUNK
- UNLESS YOU ARE OFF-HOOK.
-
- MA BELL CATCHES BLACK BOXERS BY EXAMINING TRUNK RECORDS. WHY WAS THE TRUNK
- IN USE FOR SO LONG, BUT NOT OFF HOOK? IN NO 5 XBAR OFFICES THERE WILL ALSO BE
- FUNNY ACCOUNT ENTRIES -- ORIGINATE FOLLOWED BY DISCONNECT -- A LONG TIME LATER
- -- WITH NO ANSWER IN BETWEEN. ESS OFFICES CAN GENERATE THIS DATA WHEN AUDITS
- ARE DONE (A RANDOM OCCURANCE).
-
- THE BEST WAY TO AVOID BEING CAUGHT IS TO STAY AWAY FROM THIS ONE. AT LEAST
- KEEP YOUR CALLS SHORT -- THE LENGTH OF 15-20 RINGS OR SO.
-
- THE FINAL FAMOUS BOX IS THE RED BOX. THIS IS THE ELECTRONIC EQUIVALENT OF
- THE CHIME PEOPLE USED TO TAKE TO A PAY PHONE SO THAT THE OPERATOR THINKS MONEY
- IS BEING DEPOSITED. THE GONGS WERE EASY TO RECORD OR OBTAIN AND OPERATORS COULD
- BE EASILY FOOLED. THE NEWER PHONES WITH THE BEEPS MADE IT NECESSARY TO COME UP
- WITH SOMETHING MORE PRECISE.
-
- PEOPLE GET CAUGHT WHEN AN OPERATOR GETS SUSPICIOUS AND CALLS SECURITY, OR
- WHEN THE ACCOUNTING INFO FOR THE PHONE SAYS THERE ISN'T ENOUGH MONEY IN THE COIN
- BOX. BELL SECURITY THEN STAKES OUT THE PAY PHONE -- AND ZAP. NEVER USE THE
- SAME PAY PHONE TWICE. (END OF BASICS. MORE SOMEDAY)
-