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Hackers Underworld 2: Forbidden Knowledge
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FONESCI.TXT
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1994-07-17
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19KB
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339 lines
======================================
=The Science of Telephone Surveilance=
= Brought to you by Eric The Red =
======================================
Wiretapping
-----------
The Telephone is always a favorite target for the potential spy as it provides
access to a capsule summary of many important decisions and transactions. It
also offers a number of easy tap-in points which may not even necessitate
premise trespass, and are generally harder to discover.
Numerous devices have been marketed by professional bugging suppliers to tap
the telephone, and in some cases, even utilize the telephone as a room bug when
not transmitting phone conversations.
Literally thousands of there devices which could be installed by almost anyone,
were sold prior to the great surveilance scare laws. Access to commercial
devices of this type is now pretty much limited to law enforcement bodies,
although there is an undeniable blackmarket for "radio repaiman specials".
Common "conference line broadcasters" sold for as little as $30 for the schlock
"private eye" suppliers in th late 60's, while a top law enforcement
counterpart brings a couple of hundred bills from the more viably financed
police and investigative departments.
The state of the art is such in wiretapping that it is possible to buy (or
build) such exotic taps as the microphone which drops into the handset of a
phone in as long of a time it takes to unscrew the cap, looks identical to the
regular microphone, and broadcasts both sides of the conversation (using the
phone's own electrical power) to a nearby FM radio.
Another popular exotic is the "infinity transmitter"; a small, cube-shaped
device which hooks into the phone and jst lies there, hibernating, one might
say, until the phone is dialed from an outside line (anywhere in the world - as
long as it is direct dialing) and a small whistle blown into the mouthpiece of
the dialing phone.
Upon "hearing" this sound the infinity transmitter stops the parent phone from
ringing, and turns on the phones own carbon microphone or uses its own to
broadcast the room's sounds over the phone line to the listening whistle-
blower.
This device was popular (for those of us who had $400 dollars to blow on such
things) gimmick for traveling businessmen who had an extension phone in the
bedroom where their wife slept...A quick call from any port would let the
listener know exactly what was transpiring in his absence.
In phone tapping, much as in most forms of surveilance, the key is the same:
Keep it simple and direct. The less complicated a system, the better the chance
of success.
Direct Taps
-----------
Phone tapping falls into two general categories; direct, meaning an actual
electrical contact from the phone or line, to the listening post, or wireless,
this latter being a combination of a phone tap and a mini-transmitter.
Direct taps are the easiest, and often the best. The quickest method of tapping
into a phone is simply to locate a good point along the phone line, strip away
the insulating cable to expose the four enclosed wires, strip away a small
piece of insulation on the two hot (red and green) wires WITHOUT CUTTING THE
WIRES, and attach a set of high impedence headphones. One side of the phones is
directed through a small .005 mfd capacitor to keep out the 48 volt phone
power.
With this simple set-up. the bugger has to go listen to the headphones whevever
a call is made on the instrument in question. The disadvantages tp this system
include spending most of one's time waiting for the phone to be used and then
rushing to the garage every time it happens...It is often difficult to explain
one's presence when discovered in such situations.
The next logical step up the ladder of progressive involvement is to add a
small inter-satge transformer along with the capacitor. The primary of the
transformer should be at least 10,000 ohms (but not over 20,000) to match the
phone lines' high impedence, the secondary should be of a near value to the
equipment it is going into.
This set-up provides a clear passageway for the audio (conversation) to pass
through, while not loading the phone line. This "not-loading" is a real factor
to consider, as a draw of over 20 mills or so might trip the central exchanges
relay (trips around 40 milliamps) and send a phone repairman scurrying to the
scene of the crime.
This output can be fed directly into a tape recorder, eliminating the
crouching-at-the-phone syndrome. However, one must still endeavor to turn the
recorder on and off at the proper moments, as task sometimes easier said than
done.
To eliminate this final problem, one adds a tiny bit of sophistication; the
drop-out relay. This is a small device that senses the condition of the phone
line in question, and, through the remote start feature found on most modern
tape recorders, turns the recorder on when the phone is lifted off of its
cradle. This, of course, limits the waste of tape, and needs attention only
when necessary to turn over or install more tape.
Another, more esoteric value of this set-up is the fact that it is probably the
kind of thing used to tape record all the calls made out of the White House.
Now, this in no way reflects on the quality of quality of the recordings
obtained, with a bit of care one would not find any unexplained gaps in the
tape...
It is possible to employ any of these methods at any point along the "pair",
either as it leaves the phone, before the surge protector, on the drop cable
running to the telephone pole, or at the terminal or junction boxes located on
the pole or in the building's garage or basement.
The telephone instrument itself can be used as a microphone by any number of
simple alterations (the addition of the infinity transmitter being the most
common). Any of these alterations will allow the+;;+F{FK#+sF{&{{kkconversation when the phone is on the hook. To use either of these alterations,
the bugger simply connects a sensitive amplifier anywhere on the phone line.
1) The most common is to place a resistor across the hookswitch (this is the
switch activated by the placing of the phone on its cradle). The resistor must
be fairly low as to not throw the trip relay in the central station. This
set-up allows a bit of current to trickle through the microphone and activate
it, sending the conversation down the line much as an ordinary phone call will
do, albeit at a lower level.
2) A capacitor can be installed across one side of the hookswitch allowing a
bit of audio to pass on by, but keeping the DC current where it belongs.
In both of these applications, one side of the double pole hookswitch must be
shorted out, leaving the open side to accept your device.
Near Direct
-----------
There is one other form of almost direct tap - the induction pick-up. These can
be commercially purchased in electronics shops for a couple of bucks and are
designed to be fed into a home tape recorder. They have a few important
limitations? they must be physically attached to the phone, usually near the
base or sidetone coil, to work properly, and also the volume level is not the
best, and they are subject to AC hum from nearby electric devices.
A way around some of these limitations is to hide the induction coil in some
little object (desk blotter, pen set, etc.) that may be placed near the phone,
and then employ a small, direct-coupled amplifier to beef up the weak signals.
In this manner, the induction pick-up becomes a bit more practical as it and
the amplifier (and in some cases, the tape recorder) can be concealed in a
drawer under the phone, or in a nearby artifact.
Commercial hidden induction units are sold by the usual law enforcement
suppliers cleverly secreted in such things as fake flowers (which only
reinforces my dislike for plastic flowers), desk blotters, picture frames, etc.
Most induction pick-ups have a small suction cup attached to make it easy to
attach to the phone. Many pick-ups will even work on an extension phone even if
though the extension phone is