BOXES – GENERAL INFORMATION
BOXES – GENERAL INFORMATION
THE FOLLOWING "GOLDEN OLDIE (1980) IS FROM THE LEGENDARY "8BBS" OF BERNARD
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
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
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"
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
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)
NEW TO THE COOKBOOK 5 -= RFLAGG =- ‘97