The World of Computer Software/World_Of_Computer_Software-02-385-Vol-1of3.iso/t/tc13-033.zip/TC13-033.TXT

Text File | 1993-01-21 | 21KB | 502 lines

TELECOM Digest     Tue, 19 Jan 93 02:13:00 CST    Volume 13 : Issue 33

Index To This Issue:                     Moderator: Patrick A. Townson

    FCC Awards Pioneers Preference to Volunteers in Tech Assistance (N. Allen)
    Attempted Mindvox Break-in (John F. McMullen)
    Alteration of Ring Cadence (Charles Mattair)
    Do Telcos Record the Numbers of Local Calls? (Denis Coskun)
    Updated Bellcore Report on Future of N. American Number Plan (D. Leibold)
    Top Ten Traumas? (Dr. Ross Alan Stapleton)
    Re: Area Code 610 (Spyros Bartsocas)
    Re: Area Code 610 (Carl Moore)
    Re: Can Paging Software Detect Alphanumerics? (Guy Hadsall)
    Re: Can Paging Software Detect Alphanumerics? (Craig R. Watkins)
    Re: Good Opportunity For Fraud (Rod Gamble)
    Re: Good Opportunity For Fraud (Patrick Lee)
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Date: Mon, 18 Jan 1993 19:43:00 -0500
From: [e-mail] (Nigel Allen)
Subject: FCC Awards Pioneers Preference to Volunteers in Tech Assistance
Organization: Echo Beach, Toronto


Here is a press release from Volunteers in Technical Assistance.

FCC Awards Pioneers Preference to Volunteers in Technical Assistance
To: National Desk, Science Writer
Contact: Joe Sedlak of Volunteers in Technical Assistance,
         703-276-1800

   WASHINGTON, Jan. 14 -- The Federal Communications Commission today
allocated four MHz of VHF/UHF spectrum to the Mobile Satellite Service
for the low-earth orbit satellites (LEO-MSS) and finalized the
tentative pioneer's preference awarded to Volunteers in Technical
Assistance (VITA).

   The award is the first pioneer preference granted by the
commission.

   Henry Norman, president of VITA, said "We are deeply gratified by
the action taken by the FCC.  VITA's global communications network is
designed to bring scientific and technical knowledge to the poor in
developing countries.  The Pioneer's Preference given to VITA for
advancing the technology and extending communications to people not
now served indicates a recognition that the poor of the world should
not be denied a share in benefits of modern technology.

   The FCC stated that it awarded the pioneer's preference to VITA
because it was the first to develop and demonstrate the utility of a
small low earth orbiting satellite system for civilian communications
purposes.  The commission also noted that VITA's pioneering efforts
led to this proceeding authorizing spectrum for LEOs to provide
services that will provide low-cost data communications between ground
stations located anywhere in the world.

   VITA's system, VITASAT, is designed to provide data communications
between 1,000 ground stations, most of them located in developing
countries.  A major use of the global network will be for disaster
prevention, preparedness and mitigation communications.

   Norman said, "Our goal is to help bring the poor people of the
developing world into the information mainstream of development.  VITA
is really about inclusion -- extending the benefits of modern science
and technology to the poor."

   VITA has already installed ground stations connected to the VITASAT
prototype, the PACSAT Communications Experiment, in Sierra Leone,
Djibouti, Indonesia, Pakistan, Ireland, the South Pole, and at the
Sandia National Laboratories in New Mexico.

   "Today's FCC decision is very important to the development of the
VITASAT program," said Helena Wisniewski, VITA's vice president of
communications technology.  "The FCC's granting the Pioneer's
Preference has been the catalyst for the development of the next
generation of fully-automated ground stations which will be less
expensive and easier to use than our prototypes in the field today."

   VITASAT is one part of a system called VITACOMM that also includes
terrestrial digital packet radio networks in several countries
(VITAPAC), and an electronic E-Mail system (VITANET).  VITACOMM is
designed to link people with the rest of the world.

                          -------------

Nigel Allen, Toronto, Ontario    [e-mail]

------------------------------

Subject: Attempted Mindvox Break-in
From: [e-mail] (John F. McMullen)
Date: Mon, 18 Jan 93 13:55:17 EST
Organization: [Phantom Access] / the MindVox system


The following was carried on {Newsbytes} today -- feel free to
re-publish it (as long as it carries the permission).  John

THe following appeared on {Newbytes}, a copyrighted commercial
service, on January 18, 1993. It is republished here with the express
consent of the authors:

Phantom Access Foils Cracking Attempt 01/18/93 NEW YORK, NEW YORK,
U.S.A.,1993 JAN 18 (NB) -- An attempt to illegally break into, or
"crack" the "Mindvox" conferencing stem contained in Phantom Access, a
flat-rate New York-based online service recently featured in various
news publications, was detected and rebuffed.

Bruce Fancher, co-owner of Phantom Access, told {Newsbytes}, "There
was no real damage and we have notified all of our users about the
attempt in the hope that they will be even more conscious of security.
The nature of this attempt points out one of the things that users of
any on-line system must be aware of in order to protect her/his
privacy."

The attempt came to the attention of the owners of the system, Fancher
and Patrick Kroupa, when subscribers reported receiving the following
message:

"It has been brought to my attention that your account has been
'hacked' by an outside source. The charges added were quite
significant which is how the error was caught. Please temporarily
change your password to 'DPH7' so that we can judge the severity of
the intrusion. I will notify you when the problems has been taken care
of. Thank you for your help in this matter. -System Administrator"

The system owners immediately sent a message to all subscribers
declaring the message to be fraudulent. In addition to pointing out
the textual errors in the message -- for example, Mindvox is a "flat
rate" system and charges are not accumulated -- the owners admonished
users to both safeguard their passwords and insure that they are not
easy to decipher.

Fancher told {Newsbytes} that the review of Mindvox in a recent issue
of Mondo 2000, its mention in an issue of {Forbes}, and his speaking
engagements on behalf of the system have led to more rapid growth than
had been anticipated. He said, "We are moving to larger space on
February 1st and will be upgrading our equipment from a single Next
system to multiple Suns. We will also increase the number of dial-in
ports and greatly increase the speed of our Internet connection. We
are very grateful for the user response to date."

(Barbara E. McMullen & John F. McMullen/Press Contact: Bruce Fancher,
Phantom Access, [e-mail] (e-mail), 212-254-3226, voice/19930115)

                      -----------------

John F. McMullen           [e-mail]    Consultant,
[e-mail]        [e-mail]            Writer,
[e-mail]   [e-mail]                 Student,
GEnie - nb.nyc             [e-mail]                     Teacher

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 18 Jan 93 12:57:17 CST
From: [e-mail] (Charles Mattair)
Subject: Alteration of Ring Cadence
Organization: Synercom Technology, Inc., Houston, TX


We've got three lines coming into our residence:
    . main number which rings downstairs (one two line phone upstairs)
    . modem number - no ringers attached
    . daughter's number which rings upstairs (one two line phone downstairs)

Due to our house's layout and phone locations, you can hear any ringer
throughout most of the house.  The problem is exactly that -- which
line is ringing.

Converting all phones to multiline really isn't an answer -- they're
expensive and we really don't need (want) access to both voice lines
all over the house.  Does anybody make a (relatively) inexpensive
device to convert ring cadence.

SWB does not offer alternate cadences on a primary number or I would
do that.  The order clerk suggested getting a second number with
Distinctive Ring (sm) on one of the lines and not using the primary
number for that line.

Thanks.


Charles Mattair                 [e-mail]
Any opinions offered are my own and do not reflect those of my employer.

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Denis Coskun)
Subject: Do Telcos Record the Numbers of Local Calls?
Organization: Alias Research, Inc., Toronto ON Canada

Date: Tue, 19 Jan 1993 00:15:43 -0500


Do telcos record the dialed digits for all local calls?

My back-of-the-envelope calculation suggests that it is entirely
feasible for telcos to store the number of every single local call
that you dial: In a city with 1,000,000 phones, with an average of 10
calls a day on each phone, and logging both origin and destination
phone numbers (7 digits each, so 14 ASCII characters), such a log
would consume just 1,000,000 * 10 * 14 = 140 Mbytes per day.  That
would fit on a tape which costs less than $20.

If they do keep such logs, what do they use it for and how long do
they keep it?  And if not, how can you be sure that they don't?  Are
there laws anywhere that prevent such activity?  There couldn't be a
blanket restriction against it because they do log long distance
calls.

In regions where you have measured service for local calls (rather
than a flat rate), do you get an itemized list of all your local
calls?


[Moderator's Note: We here in Chicago do not routinely get a detailed
list of local calls, however it is possible, and I have received such
a list when I requested it. I think they save the paper for a few
months and the microfilm forever. This cuts both ways: When I once
complained about excessive usage on my line, a prim and very smug
service rep promised to send me the print out so I could see the error
of my ways ...

When I reviewed the print out in detail, I found a number of calls to
internal numbers at IBT; that is, doing a cross-check of the name and
address came up with results like 'IBT Company Supply Depot' and 'IBT
Company Vehicle Repair Garage', all made at times like eight in the
morning when I could not possibly have been at the phone in question.
It turned out that a major (like 5000 pairs) demarc in the basement of
the office building next door was a hangout for several installer/
repair guys who drank coffee and shot the bull there in their spare
time. They also kept lots of supplies in a locker there.  My line very
conveniently showed up multipled on the first strip in that demarc;
anyone calling the supply depot, their foreman, their wife or
girlfriend, to get a truck, etc clipped their butt set right on there
and made the call.

When I called Ms. Prim back, we read selected parts of the print out
together in unison.  I told her, "I call that theft of service and/or
fraud, what do you call it?"  After a couple minutes on hold, her
supervisor came on the line and told me IBT would write off *all*
message units on my bill for the past three months. I told her that
was very nice, but to please have her supervisor tell the outside
plant supervisor to tell his foreman to tell his guys to lay off my
line -- they must have one of their own down there they could use.
The calls ceased after that.  This all occurred in 1973, within months
of the CO I was in then converting to ESS after 60 years of stepping
switches.  I might add they knew the SxS was on the way out; for the
final six months of the old 'Wabash Cannonball' (Chicago-Wabash CO)
they let it go to hell, doing absolutely no routine work at all, and
it sounded like it at the end!  :)   PAT]

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 18 Jan 93 23:15:30 EST
From: David Leibold <[e-mail]>
Subject: Updated Bellcore Report on Future of N. American Number Plan


I just received a document from Bellcore entitled "North American
Numbering Plan Administrator's Proposal on the Future of Numbering in
WZ1 - Second Edition", an update to last year's document outlining the
future of North American telephone numbering.

Like its predecessor, this document is being made available for
general release to industry for review. There is a related industry
forum scheduled for 16-18 March 1993 in the Washington DC area;
comments will be handled under "ANSI procedures, i.e. a
contribution-driven consensus process".

There is "a recommendation to form both a world Zone 1 and a United
states Numbering Steering Committee" in section 9 of the report.

To obtain this document, try writing to Fred Gaechter, NANP
Administration, Bellcore - Room 1B225, 290 West Mt Pleasant Avenue,
Livingston NJ USA 07039 (fax [phone]). I will review the
document to see what other details are present.


[e-mail]

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Subject: Top Ten Traumas?
From: [e-mail] (Dr. Ross Alan Stapleton)
Date: 18 Jan 1993 20:40 MST
Organization: University of Arizona MIS Department


While this is perhaps most appropriate to RISKS, and I'll solicit
there as well, what would I need to list as the top ten cases of
damage/loss due to telecommunications accidents, disasters, cases of
sabotage, etc?  I would call the Chicago flood such a thing, as one
disaster caused a telecommunications failure, which in turn was
disasterous in terms of those who were deprived services.  The
switching center power failure in New York that caused, among other
things, the whole northeast air traffic control system to go comatose
is another good candidate.  Is there a good way to assess net losses,
so as to ever produced a ranked list?


Ross

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 18 Jan 93 15:12:01 +0200
From: [e-mail] (Spyros Bartsocas)
Subject: Re: Area Code 610


The ad features an "International TeleFRIENDS" logo.  The whole ad
is in a box.  In the border of the box the following countries are
listed: MEXICO, USA, THAILAND, ITALY, AUSTRALIA, BELGIUM, HOLLAND,
SPAIN, ENGLAND, GERMANY, CHILE, ARGENTINA, BRAZIL and something that
ends in ANCE.

The ad goes as follows:

Do you speak any English? (This line in Greek) Do you want to make new
friends all over the world?  Call International Telefriends day or
night and speak with up to 15 people at the same time about travel,
life and romance. Call now!

001 610 204 2907

15 Seconds cost 107 Drachmas (this line in Greek).
(This is a few cents less than 50 cents).

In the same section of the paper there are three more adds.  All of
them list KING FISHER INC.  Each add has in a different country code.
All of them are sex lines.  The first few digits of the numbers are:

00.852.17.nn.nn.nn.nn (cost 144 GDM/ 15 Sec)

00.611.41.nn.nn (cost 139 GDM/ 15 Sec)

and

00 525 809 nn nn (cost 91 GDM/ 15 Sec)
00 525 809 nn nn

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 18 Jan 93 9:51:27 EST
From: Carl Moore (VLD/VMB) <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Area Code 610


By the way, those special services dialable only from overseas in
"area 610" are on 610-204-xxxx, according to earlier postings.

------------------------------

Organization: The American University - University Computing Center
Date: Mon, 18 Jan 1993 20:10:31 EST
From: [e-mail]
Subject: Re: Can Paging Software Detect Alphanumerics?


Brad,

Everything depends upon the Paging Company's paging terminal and
gateway.  Most of the *new* paging terminal front ends handle it, but
who in their right (business) mind would invest big bucks into new
equipment that is planned on being obsolete in two years?

My recommendation is to get really friendly with yur paging company,
or a competitors technicans; sales people havent a clue, their job is
sell.

Hope this helps.


Peace

GuyH

------------------------------

From: Craig R. Watkins <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Can Paging Software Detect Alphanumerics?

Date: 18 Jan 93 11:25:40 EST
Organization: HRB Systems, Inc.


In article <[e-mail]>, mc/G=Brad/S=Hicks/OU=
[e-mail] writes:

> Is it possible under the IXO/TAP protocol, or any companies'
> interpretations of it, to detect whether or not a particular pager
> number can receive text pages?

I haven't seen any indication.

When we send IXO pages to digit display pagers, it just takes whatever
numbers are in the message and sends them, ignoring all the alpha.

> .... But the paging computer I call also sends
> an error message, I think it's <CR><NAK><CR> error message <CR>.  This
> is fine by the spec, which says that after you transmit, you're
> supposed to ignore anything other than the ACK, NAK, or ESC-EOT.

I have seen thoese "messages" come in different places from different
switches.  Some before the <NAK>, some after, etc.

> Now what I'd really like, is for the paging computer to detect that
> I'm trying to send an alphabetic page to a numeric-only pager and give
> me a <NAK> with an error message that says so.

I think what you mean is you want an <RS> followed by the message
(which would mean a reject) rather than a <NAK> which I've always
interpreted as a data error which should be retried.

> Would this be a reasonable thing to ask the folks at Cybertel and/or
> Skytel to support?

It would be nice info to know if the paging terminal knows.  However
to get it implemented, I'm not sure how much control they have over
their paging terminal manufacturer.  Since the protocol is pretty dumb
to begin with and there's not much you can derive from it now, I'm not
sure much software (other than possibly your's) would take advantage
of it.


Craig R. Watkins    [e-mail]
HRB Systems, Inc.   [phone]

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Rod Gamble)
Subject: Re: Good Opportunity For Fraud
Organization: Sydney University Computing Service, Sydney, NSW, Australia
Date: Mon, 18 Jan 1993 12:10:14 GMT


> Bank card passwords are stored in encrypted form (one way encryption
> using the DES algorithm on a combination of the account number, user
> selected PIN and a few other things) which allows for local
> verification of passwords but only by your own bank.  There are two
> different standards by which this is done, but each has a
> bank-specific encryption key (often refered to as the Pin Verification
> Key, or PVK).  This key is kept highly confidential -- anyone with the
> key could generate the hashed pin for each possible password (only
> 10,000 in the typical four digit password) , compare each to the
> hashed value on the card, and decode the PIN that way.

> Your own back can verify the password within the ATM; other bank's ATM's
           ^^^^
> must query your bank via the network.

    About two or three years ago the Bank of England (for some
reason or other) decided to find out what people used as words for
there PINs . Well guess what ... If you found a BoE card in the
street you had a 56% chance of using it in a ATM machine if you used a
four lettered word beginning with F*** Only a 18% chance with S**T and
13% with C***. Either the Brits are very unimaginary (and I really
don't think they are in the English speaking world) or that is
probably the case both here or in the USA. It only left 13% with
various other PINs.

    Also another bank in England again which had user choice
numbers had a huge group of people that just used the last four digits
of there telephone number. I can't remember what is was exactly but it
was around the 40% mark.

Gee just my luck to find one with a PIN of Rumplestiltskin!! Oh well


Cheers de Rod

------------------------------

From: Patrick Lee <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Good Opportunity For Fraud
Date: Mon, 18 Jan 1993 18:33:21 -0500 (EST)


[e-mail] (Ed Oliveri) wrote:

> Are you sure this was Citibank?  Every Citibank ATM I've seen
> CANNOT eat a card since the card is dipped into the card
> reader, never leaving the user's fingers.

Our Moderator Noted:

-> The Citibank ATM's in Chicago eat the card for a minute and
-> spit it out when finished with it.

I guess Chicago's Citibank has older ATM machines than we have here in
New York City.  I haven't seen any Citibank ATM machine which eats the
card for the past few years.  Just dip the card in and take it out and
proceed with answering which of the five languages to use.


Patrick <[e-mail]>

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End of TELECOM Digest V13 #33
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