This document summarizes the breakup of AT&T and the establishment of equal access for long distance phone carriers in the United States. It explains that AT&T was broken up into 7 regional "Baby Bell" companies and AT&T was restricted to long distance service only. The 950 exchange was created to provide customers toll-free access to competing long distance companies' dial tones. Eventually, equal access was achieved where customers could choose their long distance carrier and that carrier's network would be used without dialing extra numbers. However, customers who did not choose a carrier would have one randomly assigned to their line. The document also briefly summarizes some news stories about issues arising from the breakup and competition between carriers.
This document discusses the emergence of electronic communication systems and privacy concerns related to computer databases in the 1980s. It summarizes the contents of a magazine published in July 1984 focused on justice and computers. Specifically, it discusses recent cases where computer systems were raided by police for posting credit card numbers or personal information from databases. The document criticizes the misunderstanding of computers shown by authorities and argues that privacy invasion through databases is a greater issue than hackers accessing systems.
This document is the Spring 1996 issue of 2600 Magazine. It includes articles on topics related to hacking and phone phreaking such as how to build a tap alert device to detect if a phone line is tapped and information on the Bernie S case where an individual was imprisoned for possessing publicly available information on the Secret Service. It also lists the magazine's staff and contributors and includes advertisements.
This document provides information about the staff and contributors involved with the 2600 magazine. It lists Emmanuel Goldstein as the Editor-in-Chief and includes various other roles such as Layout, Cover Design, Writers, Network Operations, and Insprational Music. It also includes begin and end PGP key blocks.
The document summarizes information about AT&T's customer service system and representatives. It describes how calls are routed through an automated system that identifies callers and directs them to appropriate menus based on their account information. Calls may then be transferred to live representatives who have access to customers' names, addresses, and bills on their computer screens. Representatives handle a high volume of calls each day in a stressful environment, with goals to resolve issues quickly. Their computer systems provide account details and troubleshooting resources to assist customers.
Metanomics: Federal Interest in Virtual Worlds and CybersecurityDoug Thompson
The document discusses a Metanomics podcast about government interest in virtual worlds and cybersecurity.
1) Paulette Robinson provides an update on the Federal Consortium for Virtual Worlds, which she started over a year ago. The Consortium has grown significantly, with over 1,000 members from government, industry and academia. It has held conferences attended by hundreds discussing government virtual world projects.
2) Sterling Wright discusses the proposed Cybersecurity Act of 2009, which would expand presidential powers over cyber infrastructure and increase government oversight of private networks. However, concerns have been raised over privacy, censorship and limiting innovation.
3) The podcast guests debate these issues, with Paulette and Rocky Young updating on government virtual world activities
This document provides details about vulnerabilities in the New York City subway fare collection system. It describes the various devices used, including vending machines and turnstiles, and explains how to decode the magnetic stripe on MetroCards to view stored information like ride balances and card types. The document aims to educate readers about the inner workings of the system while exposing potential security issues.
This document discusses issues of privacy, government surveillance, and the erosion of civil liberties in the United States. It argues that the government and large corporations are increasingly spying on citizens and infringing on their privacy, often without oversight or public consent. While these entities must bear some responsibility, the real culprit is the populace that continues to acquiesce and not strongly oppose these violations of rights. For change to occur, citizens will need to become more vocal and organized in expressing discontent over the gradual loss of freedoms.
This document discusses the emergence of electronic communication systems and privacy concerns related to computer databases in the 1980s. It summarizes the contents of a magazine published in July 1984 focused on justice and computers. Specifically, it discusses recent cases where computer systems were raided by police for posting credit card numbers or personal information from databases. The document criticizes the misunderstanding of computers shown by authorities and argues that privacy invasion through databases is a greater issue than hackers accessing systems.
This document is the Spring 1996 issue of 2600 Magazine. It includes articles on topics related to hacking and phone phreaking such as how to build a tap alert device to detect if a phone line is tapped and information on the Bernie S case where an individual was imprisoned for possessing publicly available information on the Secret Service. It also lists the magazine's staff and contributors and includes advertisements.
This document provides information about the staff and contributors involved with the 2600 magazine. It lists Emmanuel Goldstein as the Editor-in-Chief and includes various other roles such as Layout, Cover Design, Writers, Network Operations, and Insprational Music. It also includes begin and end PGP key blocks.
The document summarizes information about AT&T's customer service system and representatives. It describes how calls are routed through an automated system that identifies callers and directs them to appropriate menus based on their account information. Calls may then be transferred to live representatives who have access to customers' names, addresses, and bills on their computer screens. Representatives handle a high volume of calls each day in a stressful environment, with goals to resolve issues quickly. Their computer systems provide account details and troubleshooting resources to assist customers.
Metanomics: Federal Interest in Virtual Worlds and CybersecurityDoug Thompson
The document discusses a Metanomics podcast about government interest in virtual worlds and cybersecurity.
1) Paulette Robinson provides an update on the Federal Consortium for Virtual Worlds, which she started over a year ago. The Consortium has grown significantly, with over 1,000 members from government, industry and academia. It has held conferences attended by hundreds discussing government virtual world projects.
2) Sterling Wright discusses the proposed Cybersecurity Act of 2009, which would expand presidential powers over cyber infrastructure and increase government oversight of private networks. However, concerns have been raised over privacy, censorship and limiting innovation.
3) The podcast guests debate these issues, with Paulette and Rocky Young updating on government virtual world activities
This document provides details about vulnerabilities in the New York City subway fare collection system. It describes the various devices used, including vending machines and turnstiles, and explains how to decode the magnetic stripe on MetroCards to view stored information like ride balances and card types. The document aims to educate readers about the inner workings of the system while exposing potential security issues.
This document discusses issues of privacy, government surveillance, and the erosion of civil liberties in the United States. It argues that the government and large corporations are increasingly spying on citizens and infringing on their privacy, often without oversight or public consent. While these entities must bear some responsibility, the real culprit is the populace that continues to acquiesce and not strongly oppose these violations of rights. For change to occur, citizens will need to become more vocal and organized in expressing discontent over the gradual loss of freedoms.
The document discusses several key issues regarding internet law and regulation. It notes that while the internet may seem unregulated, there are some existing laws. However, regulating the internet is difficult due to its worldwide nature and anonymity. Several areas of internet law remain unclear, such as online defamation, the liability of internet service providers, and how to address cyberbullying while protecting free speech rights. Overall the passage examines both existing internet laws and legal issues that courts continue to evaluate.
The Economic Collapse 1st issue infowars magazineinfowarrior78
This document provides an overview of an inaugural issue of the Infowars magazine. It discusses the mission of Infowars to promote freedom and resist tyranny. It highlights how Infowars' websites are among the most visited alternative media sites. It also discusses how print media is important because it cannot be censorsed in the same way that digital content can. The document promotes the magazine and encourages readers to order copies and sign up for the newsletter.
The document summarizes the effects of a computer worm that disrupted AT&T's phone network on January 15. A flaw in AT&T's System Seven software caused a broadcast message from a 4ESS machine in New York to trigger similar messages from 114 other 4ESS machines nationwide. This overwhelmed the signaling network with messages and prevented most calls from connecting. The incident highlighted AT&T's lack of redundancy and vulnerability from centralized operations. While the specific cause was still unknown, it showed the risks of putting blind faith in technology without understanding how systems work.
This document discusses the increasing trend of government and corporate surveillance and the erosion of privacy. It summarizes that:
1) Advances in surveillance technology combined with public fear have allowed surveillance to rapidly expand, with over half a million cameras in London alone monitoring people an average of 300 times per day.
2) People have also voluntarily given up privacy by oversharing personal details online, yet this does not justify increased official monitoring and erosion of civil liberties through laws like the Protect America Act.
3) For the moment, public acceptance is what gives surveillance programs the most power, so resisting normalization of these practices may help curb further intrusions if privacy expectations are not completely erased.
This document provides a summary of communications skills learned by Brandon Orbanosky at the University of Maryland, as demonstrated through various works. It includes an agenda-setting theory paper explaining how media can influence public perception; a net neutrality paper on how the internet could change with new FCC regulations; a feature story on Californians' views on marijuana legalization; and a public relations program demonstrating various PR materials and strategies. The document introduces each work and provides brief highlights and context.
The Department of Justice prosecutes most large scale child porn cases. Darren Chaker uploads this in depth article about the intricate details prosecutors for the US Attorney to seek and obtain convictions and keep children safe.
051309 Federal Interest And Social Security Metanomics TranscriptRemedy Communications
Metanomics is a weekly Web-based show on the serious uses of virtual worlds. This transcript is from a past show.
For this and other videos, visit us at http://metanomics.net.
A police officer in Cincinnati, Ohio was arrested and charged with child pornography. Randolph Grote, 42, was indicted after an investigation by Homeland Security for posing as a teenage boy online to engage in inappropriate relationships with minor girls. If convicted, Grote faces state charges in Ohio and could be required to register as a sex offender for life. The article outlines the crime of child predation and explains the elements, applicable state statutes, hardware and software used, and evidence collection protocols. It also discusses prevention, deterrence, and information collection strategies to address this issue.
Hermann Goering said that leaders can manipulate people into supporting wars by claiming they are under attack and accusing peacemakers of lacking patriotism. The document is an excerpt from a speech Goering gave before being sentenced to death at the Nuremberg trials for war crimes committed under the Nazi regime in Germany. It warns that governments can stir up support for conflicts by portraying themselves as defending the nation from external threats.
This document summarizes concerns about governments and powerful groups disregarding laws and civil liberties. It discusses examples of a US Senator wanting to destroy computers of copyright infringers, legislation to hack into computers, and the indefinite detention of individuals without charge. The document warns that a government that fails to respect its own laws and international law will lose citizens' trust and isolate itself from other countries.
Municipalities & The Internet: A Few Legal IssuesShawn Tuma
In the Fall of 2000, I delivered this presentation at the North Central Texas Council of Governments' e-Government 2000 Fall Forum. There were no slides at this presentation but this is the paper that was delivered to the group.
The document discusses various privacy and security issues related to internet use. It covers topics like internet privacy laws, the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), gender and electronic privacy concerns like cyberstalking, the USA PATRIOT Act, cookies, spam, spyware, and more. It provides details on specific cases and legislation while outlining both benefits and criticisms of various technologies and their impact on user privacy.
This document discusses privacy issues and data breaches involving personal information. It summarizes several incidents where large corporations and universities mishandled or lost private records of millions of individuals. It argues that companies prioritize profits over privacy, routinely sharing data without permission. It criticizes media for blaming hackers instead of these companies. The author believes more must be done to hold accountable those who compromise privacy and demand legislative reform to better protect individuals' information and privacy.
IP Institute Presentation on Internet LawBennet Kelley
This document summarizes key issues in internet law in 2013. It discusses the scope of immunity for interactive computer services under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act and exceptions carved out by courts. It also covers ongoing debates around net neutrality and efforts by states to require online retailers to collect sales taxes. Emerging issues include new generic top-level domains, regulatory approaches to sharing economy businesses, copyright enforcement by ISPs and networks, and the 10th anniversary of CAN-SPAM legislation.
This document discusses the risks posed by offender computer use and strategies for managing those risks. It notes that criminals increasingly use technology and the internet to facilitate criminal plans and activities. To address this, many states have passed laws restricting computer and internet use for offenders, especially sex offenders. The document recommends a comprehensive approach to computer management for offenders that includes: 1) accurate knowledge of offender's computer access, 2) monitoring offender computer use through searches and/or monitoring software, 3) online investigations by officers, 4) using complementary technologies like GPS monitoring, and 5) continued home visits and interviews. It argues that with proper training, probation and parole officers are capable of developing the expertise needed to effectively manage cyber-risk posed by offenders.
Memorandum of Points and References in Support of Petition for Post Convictio...awc166
This document is a memorandum in support of a petition for post-conviction relief filed by Jeff Howell. It summarizes research showing that media reports and law enforcement statements exaggerated the threat of internet predators contacting minors. In reality, the studies found that unwanted online contacts of minors mostly involved peers, not adults. The document argues that the pre-trial publicity surrounding internet predation cases makes it impossible for defendants to receive a fair trial as guaranteed by the Constitution. It cites research showing that pre-trial publicity can influence jurors and judges to form prejudgments of guilt.
The document discusses the preferred roaming list (PRL) file that determines which cellular networks a mobile phone can connect to when outside the user's home network coverage area. The PRL file contains the frequencies and network IDs the phone is authorized to access. It is updated automatically by the carrier. While roaming enables nationwide coverage, carriers may prioritize connecting to networks that are cheapest for them, even if they offer inferior service quality for the user. The complex technical process of roaming is generally hidden from users, giving carriers influence over their roaming experience without their knowledge.
This document summarizes several court cases related to liability and immunity for technology companies in the face of copyright infringement by users. It discusses cases where online platforms like Napster and Grokster were found liable for contributory infringement when they had the ability to monitor user activity and failed to implement filtering tools. However, other cases found no liability for platforms like Compuserve that lacked ability to review content before it was uploaded. The document also discusses the Digital Millennium Copyright Act's safe harbor provisions and requirements for platforms to avoid liability through lack of knowledge or expeditious removal of infringing content.
The document discusses the concept of an "infocalypse" or breakdown of the information society due to issues of data manipulation, lack of trust and security vulnerabilities. Some key points made include:
- All digital data can potentially be manipulated, hacked or destroyed as there is no absolute security. Reliance on digital systems makes critical infrastructure vulnerable.
- Several major data breaches like the Ashley Madison hack have already exposed vulnerabilities and shaken trust in systems. A worse scenario could involve widespread data destruction or manipulation leading to information warfare and infrastructure collapse.
- Solutions proposed include rebuilding some analog backup systems, limiting data collection and sharing, increasing cost transparency for "free" digital services, and reducing overreliance
This document provides over 250 statistics related to pornography use. Some key points:
- The global porn industry was estimated at $20 billion in 2007, with $10 billion in the US. Internet porn revenues in the US grew from $1 billion in 2001 to $3 billion in 2007.
- Habits and demographics show that 79% of 18-30 year old men and 63% of that group view porn at least several times a week. Pornography use is associated with factors like gender, relationship status, and political views.
- Pornography has negative impacts on relationships like increased marital distress, decreased intimacy, and risk of infidelity. Prolonged exposure is also linked to distorted views
This document provides instructions for building a magnetic card reader/writer that can copy data from one credit or debit card to another. It notes that while commercial magnetic card readers are expensive, an electronics hobbyist can build one themselves relatively inexpensively using basic electronic components and a computer. Detailed schematics are provided to allow anyone familiar with electronics and computer interfacing to construct such a device, bypassing the high costs of commercial products. The author encourages readers to make their own magnetic card reader/writer to explore the data encoded on magnetic stripes of payment cards.
Privacy is being threatened by new technologies that collect and track personal data. Companies are developing facial recognition in phones and cameras, location tracking in vehicles, and smart home meters. The NSA also engages in mass surveillance programs like collecting cell phone metadata and infecting millions of devices with malware. While governments and businesses claim this data is used for security and research, it often leads to abuses of power over individuals. Strong privacy laws and oversight of data collection are needed to curb these threats and restore trust between technology and users.
The document discusses several key issues regarding internet law and regulation. It notes that while the internet may seem unregulated, there are some existing laws. However, regulating the internet is difficult due to its worldwide nature and anonymity. Several areas of internet law remain unclear, such as online defamation, the liability of internet service providers, and how to address cyberbullying while protecting free speech rights. Overall the passage examines both existing internet laws and legal issues that courts continue to evaluate.
The Economic Collapse 1st issue infowars magazineinfowarrior78
This document provides an overview of an inaugural issue of the Infowars magazine. It discusses the mission of Infowars to promote freedom and resist tyranny. It highlights how Infowars' websites are among the most visited alternative media sites. It also discusses how print media is important because it cannot be censorsed in the same way that digital content can. The document promotes the magazine and encourages readers to order copies and sign up for the newsletter.
The document summarizes the effects of a computer worm that disrupted AT&T's phone network on January 15. A flaw in AT&T's System Seven software caused a broadcast message from a 4ESS machine in New York to trigger similar messages from 114 other 4ESS machines nationwide. This overwhelmed the signaling network with messages and prevented most calls from connecting. The incident highlighted AT&T's lack of redundancy and vulnerability from centralized operations. While the specific cause was still unknown, it showed the risks of putting blind faith in technology without understanding how systems work.
This document discusses the increasing trend of government and corporate surveillance and the erosion of privacy. It summarizes that:
1) Advances in surveillance technology combined with public fear have allowed surveillance to rapidly expand, with over half a million cameras in London alone monitoring people an average of 300 times per day.
2) People have also voluntarily given up privacy by oversharing personal details online, yet this does not justify increased official monitoring and erosion of civil liberties through laws like the Protect America Act.
3) For the moment, public acceptance is what gives surveillance programs the most power, so resisting normalization of these practices may help curb further intrusions if privacy expectations are not completely erased.
This document provides a summary of communications skills learned by Brandon Orbanosky at the University of Maryland, as demonstrated through various works. It includes an agenda-setting theory paper explaining how media can influence public perception; a net neutrality paper on how the internet could change with new FCC regulations; a feature story on Californians' views on marijuana legalization; and a public relations program demonstrating various PR materials and strategies. The document introduces each work and provides brief highlights and context.
The Department of Justice prosecutes most large scale child porn cases. Darren Chaker uploads this in depth article about the intricate details prosecutors for the US Attorney to seek and obtain convictions and keep children safe.
051309 Federal Interest And Social Security Metanomics TranscriptRemedy Communications
Metanomics is a weekly Web-based show on the serious uses of virtual worlds. This transcript is from a past show.
For this and other videos, visit us at http://metanomics.net.
A police officer in Cincinnati, Ohio was arrested and charged with child pornography. Randolph Grote, 42, was indicted after an investigation by Homeland Security for posing as a teenage boy online to engage in inappropriate relationships with minor girls. If convicted, Grote faces state charges in Ohio and could be required to register as a sex offender for life. The article outlines the crime of child predation and explains the elements, applicable state statutes, hardware and software used, and evidence collection protocols. It also discusses prevention, deterrence, and information collection strategies to address this issue.
Hermann Goering said that leaders can manipulate people into supporting wars by claiming they are under attack and accusing peacemakers of lacking patriotism. The document is an excerpt from a speech Goering gave before being sentenced to death at the Nuremberg trials for war crimes committed under the Nazi regime in Germany. It warns that governments can stir up support for conflicts by portraying themselves as defending the nation from external threats.
This document summarizes concerns about governments and powerful groups disregarding laws and civil liberties. It discusses examples of a US Senator wanting to destroy computers of copyright infringers, legislation to hack into computers, and the indefinite detention of individuals without charge. The document warns that a government that fails to respect its own laws and international law will lose citizens' trust and isolate itself from other countries.
Municipalities & The Internet: A Few Legal IssuesShawn Tuma
In the Fall of 2000, I delivered this presentation at the North Central Texas Council of Governments' e-Government 2000 Fall Forum. There were no slides at this presentation but this is the paper that was delivered to the group.
The document discusses various privacy and security issues related to internet use. It covers topics like internet privacy laws, the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), gender and electronic privacy concerns like cyberstalking, the USA PATRIOT Act, cookies, spam, spyware, and more. It provides details on specific cases and legislation while outlining both benefits and criticisms of various technologies and their impact on user privacy.
This document discusses privacy issues and data breaches involving personal information. It summarizes several incidents where large corporations and universities mishandled or lost private records of millions of individuals. It argues that companies prioritize profits over privacy, routinely sharing data without permission. It criticizes media for blaming hackers instead of these companies. The author believes more must be done to hold accountable those who compromise privacy and demand legislative reform to better protect individuals' information and privacy.
IP Institute Presentation on Internet LawBennet Kelley
This document summarizes key issues in internet law in 2013. It discusses the scope of immunity for interactive computer services under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act and exceptions carved out by courts. It also covers ongoing debates around net neutrality and efforts by states to require online retailers to collect sales taxes. Emerging issues include new generic top-level domains, regulatory approaches to sharing economy businesses, copyright enforcement by ISPs and networks, and the 10th anniversary of CAN-SPAM legislation.
This document discusses the risks posed by offender computer use and strategies for managing those risks. It notes that criminals increasingly use technology and the internet to facilitate criminal plans and activities. To address this, many states have passed laws restricting computer and internet use for offenders, especially sex offenders. The document recommends a comprehensive approach to computer management for offenders that includes: 1) accurate knowledge of offender's computer access, 2) monitoring offender computer use through searches and/or monitoring software, 3) online investigations by officers, 4) using complementary technologies like GPS monitoring, and 5) continued home visits and interviews. It argues that with proper training, probation and parole officers are capable of developing the expertise needed to effectively manage cyber-risk posed by offenders.
Memorandum of Points and References in Support of Petition for Post Convictio...awc166
This document is a memorandum in support of a petition for post-conviction relief filed by Jeff Howell. It summarizes research showing that media reports and law enforcement statements exaggerated the threat of internet predators contacting minors. In reality, the studies found that unwanted online contacts of minors mostly involved peers, not adults. The document argues that the pre-trial publicity surrounding internet predation cases makes it impossible for defendants to receive a fair trial as guaranteed by the Constitution. It cites research showing that pre-trial publicity can influence jurors and judges to form prejudgments of guilt.
The document discusses the preferred roaming list (PRL) file that determines which cellular networks a mobile phone can connect to when outside the user's home network coverage area. The PRL file contains the frequencies and network IDs the phone is authorized to access. It is updated automatically by the carrier. While roaming enables nationwide coverage, carriers may prioritize connecting to networks that are cheapest for them, even if they offer inferior service quality for the user. The complex technical process of roaming is generally hidden from users, giving carriers influence over their roaming experience without their knowledge.
This document summarizes several court cases related to liability and immunity for technology companies in the face of copyright infringement by users. It discusses cases where online platforms like Napster and Grokster were found liable for contributory infringement when they had the ability to monitor user activity and failed to implement filtering tools. However, other cases found no liability for platforms like Compuserve that lacked ability to review content before it was uploaded. The document also discusses the Digital Millennium Copyright Act's safe harbor provisions and requirements for platforms to avoid liability through lack of knowledge or expeditious removal of infringing content.
The document discusses the concept of an "infocalypse" or breakdown of the information society due to issues of data manipulation, lack of trust and security vulnerabilities. Some key points made include:
- All digital data can potentially be manipulated, hacked or destroyed as there is no absolute security. Reliance on digital systems makes critical infrastructure vulnerable.
- Several major data breaches like the Ashley Madison hack have already exposed vulnerabilities and shaken trust in systems. A worse scenario could involve widespread data destruction or manipulation leading to information warfare and infrastructure collapse.
- Solutions proposed include rebuilding some analog backup systems, limiting data collection and sharing, increasing cost transparency for "free" digital services, and reducing overreliance
This document provides over 250 statistics related to pornography use. Some key points:
- The global porn industry was estimated at $20 billion in 2007, with $10 billion in the US. Internet porn revenues in the US grew from $1 billion in 2001 to $3 billion in 2007.
- Habits and demographics show that 79% of 18-30 year old men and 63% of that group view porn at least several times a week. Pornography use is associated with factors like gender, relationship status, and political views.
- Pornography has negative impacts on relationships like increased marital distress, decreased intimacy, and risk of infidelity. Prolonged exposure is also linked to distorted views
This document provides instructions for building a magnetic card reader/writer that can copy data from one credit or debit card to another. It notes that while commercial magnetic card readers are expensive, an electronics hobbyist can build one themselves relatively inexpensively using basic electronic components and a computer. Detailed schematics are provided to allow anyone familiar with electronics and computer interfacing to construct such a device, bypassing the high costs of commercial products. The author encourages readers to make their own magnetic card reader/writer to explore the data encoded on magnetic stripes of payment cards.
Privacy is being threatened by new technologies that collect and track personal data. Companies are developing facial recognition in phones and cameras, location tracking in vehicles, and smart home meters. The NSA also engages in mass surveillance programs like collecting cell phone metadata and infecting millions of devices with malware. While governments and businesses claim this data is used for security and research, it often leads to abuses of power over individuals. Strong privacy laws and oversight of data collection are needed to curb these threats and restore trust between technology and users.
Isao MATSUNAMI - Digital security in japanese journalismREVULN
Massive leaks such as Wikileaks, Panama Papers and Snowden have made journalists realize that good old "just-meet-people-shoot-photo" days are gone.
Getting leak documents over the internet, grappling with data format, processing text with machine learning and protecting sources from surveillance are all getting new-norm for journalism.
However reporters, generally and historically, would be the last species to understand digital technology and data-oriented thinking.
I would like to share my experiences of teaching digital security to journalists and discuss difficulties of journalism in this post-truth world.
Information Sharing, Dot Connecting and Intelligence Failures.docxannettsparrow
Information Sharing, Dot Connecting and Intelligence Failures:
Revisiting Conventional Wisdom
By
Russell Travers
Deputy Director, Information Sharing and Knowledge Development
National Counterterrorism Center
This paper, written in August 2009, was submitted to the Director of National Intelligence
2009 Galileo Awards Program. The Galileo Awards Program is an annual Intelligence
Community-wide competition designed to encourage and recognize innovative workforce
ideas that address current challenges and help shape the future of U.S. Intelligence.
All statements of fact, opinion, or analysis expressed are those of the author and do not
reflect the official positions or views of the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC) or
any other U.S. Government agency. Nothing in the contents should be construed as
implying U.S. Government or NCTC endorsement of the author’s views. This material has
been reviewed to prevent the disclosure of classified information.
The year is 2014. The Intelligence Community is ten years into its efforts to
implement the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act (IRTPA). While
change has been evident on many fronts, nothing was more closely identified with
intelligence reform than information sharing; ever since the 9/11 Commission
declared that “the biggest impediment to all-source analysis – to a greater
likelihood of connecting the dots – is the human or systemic resistance to sharing
information”1, the two had been inextricably linked. And while we were pushing
more electrons than ever before, dissatisfaction continued: in 2014, as in 2009,
no analyst in the IC had effective access to all information; analysts in many parts
of the Community complained that they couldn’t get operational traffic or law
enforcement information; we had little ability to do large scale processing of
foreign and domestic data sets; our non Federal partners were still dissatisfied
with the quality of information sharing. A dizzying array of directives had been
issued. Arbitration procedures had been established. And yet organizations
weren’t getting the information they claimed to “need.” Legitimate issues
coexisted with tripe. According to the critics, we still couldn’t connect those dots.
The reality, however, was far more complex: the only question was whether it
took a major intelligence failure to realize that fact.
This is the path we’re on. We will continue to hear claims that information sharing has
“barely improved since 9/11.” Such hyperbole is unmitigated nonsense. The robust sharing of
information between and among the key organizations has undoubtedly contributed to the fact
that we haven’t suffered a major attack. And by any objective standard, the level of sharing
1 The 9/11 Commission Report: Final Report of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United
States; U.S. Government Print.
The document summarizes the new surveillance powers given to the FBI and the concerns they raise regarding privacy and civil liberties. It notes that under the new powers, the FBI can monitor online chatrooms and gather information on individuals even if there is no evidence of illegal activity. This could lead to increased surveillance of hacker communities and organizations without cause. It expresses concern that the FBI's expanded authority resembles practices used against political dissidents in other countries and could result in harassment and targeting of innocent individuals.
The Dark Net is a hidden part of the internet that allows for anonymous browsing and communication. It is much larger than the surface web that is accessible through typical search engines. The Dark Net promotes anonymity and prevents censorship, but is also exploited for criminal activity like drug and weapons trading. It poses a threat as sensitive data from governments and businesses has been stolen and is available for sale on the Dark Net. Debates are ongoing on how to address security concerns while maintaining privacy, and whether businesses should play a role in investigating criminal networks on the Dark Net.
The document discusses issues around government surveillance in the modern era of vast digital data collection and analysis capabilities. It notes that while surveillance has existed for a long time, the computer age allows unprecedented amounts of passive data collection and real-time analysis. While this capability helps solve crimes, it also threatens privacy and raises questions about how much data collection and analysis should be allowed without oversight or public consent. The document explores both utilitarian and Kantian ethical perspectives on these surveillance practices.
This document provides an editorial summary of recent events related to cybersecurity threats and government responses. It summarizes skepticism around statistics claiming 250,000 hacking attempts on Pentagon computers, noting a lack of specifics. It also critiques responses from politicians calling to expand domestic surveillance and claiming the US has no ability to defend against cyberattacks. The editorial urges moving past simplistic narratives to more nuanced discussions addressing civil liberties concerns.
This document summarizes the first issue of 2600 Magazine from January 1984. It provides context around the rise of phone phreaking and hacking in the early 1980s and the challenges these communities faced with increased law enforcement attention and raids. The issue introduces the goals of 2600 Magazine to provide information to technical enthusiasts and discusses some of the sections readers could expect in future issues. It also reports on an FBI investigation into a group of hackers accessing an IBM audio distribution system and includes extensive quoted portions of an FBI agent discussing their tactics.
The document discusses the pros and cons of government mass surveillance. It argues that while surveillance may help catch some terrorists, it is not necessary and violates citizens' privacy. Surveillance tools are also not always reliable and could misguide intelligence, potentially resulting in innocent people being wrongly arrested. The efficacy of these tools is questionable as they could distract from real threats. While surveillance may increase work efficiency, unreliability may decrease it by focusing on the wrong people or information.
The document discusses privacy issues related to email use in the workplace. It notes that while companies own the email systems, employees still have some expectation of privacy in their emails. The law provides some privacy protections through the US Constitution, the Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986, and some state statutes. However, companies can still access employee emails in many cases. The document argues that both companies and employees need policies and awareness of privacy issues to prevent legal problems regarding email monitoring and content.
DEF CON 24 - Sean Metcalf - beyond the mcse red teaming active directoryFelipe Prado
The document discusses strategies for red teaming Active Directory security. It begins with an overview of Active Directory components and how they can be exploited by attackers. It then covers offensive PowerShell techniques and how PowerShell security can be bypassed. The document also provides methods for effective Active Directory reconnaissance, including discovering administrator accounts and network assets without port scanning. Finally, it discusses some Active Directory defenses that can be deployed and potential bypass techniques.
DEF CON 24 - Bertin Bervis and James Jara - exploiting and attacking seismolo...Felipe Prado
The document discusses vulnerabilities found in seismological network devices that could allow remote exploitation. It begins with a disclaimer and agenda. The speakers are then introduced as researchers from Costa Rica who were interested in these networks due to potential attack scenarios. Through a search engine, they discovered vulnerabilities in devices from multiple vendors. The talk demonstrates taking control of a device and outlines impacts such as sabotage. Recommendations are made to vendors to improve security of these critical scientific instruments.
DEF CON 24 - Tamas Szakaly - help i got antsFelipe Prado
The document discusses the benefits of exercise for mental health. Regular physical activity can help reduce anxiety and depression and improve mood and cognitive function. Exercise causes chemical changes in the brain that may help protect against mental illness and improve symptoms for those who already suffer from conditions like anxiety and depression.
DEF CON 24 - Ladar Levison - compelled decryptionFelipe Prado
This document appears to be a preview of slides for a presentation at DEF CON 24 about compelled decryption. The slides discuss the difference between first and third parties in communications and the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act. It also lists several third parties like technology companies and individuals that could potentially be compelled to decrypt communications. The document indicates that it is a preliminary version and the slides may be altered before the actual presentation.
Deep learning systems are susceptible to adversarial manipulation through techniques like generating adversarial samples and substitute models. By making small, targeted perturbations to inputs, an attacker can cause misclassifications or reduce a model's confidence without affecting human perception of the inputs. This is possible due to blind spots in how models learn representations that are different from human concepts. Defending against such attacks requires training models with adversarial techniques to make them more robust.
DEF CON 24 - Chris Rock - how to overthrow a governmentFelipe Prado
This document outlines various strategies and tactics for overthrowing a government through covert and clandestine means, including cyber espionage, propaganda, agitation of public unrest, sabotage of critical infrastructure, and manipulation of financial systems. It discusses using mercenaries and private intelligence agencies to carry out these activities at an arm's length from sponsorship by nation states. Specific examples from Kuwait in 2011 are referenced to illustrate techniques for fomenting revolution through cyber and information operations.
DEF CON 24 - Fitzpatrick and Grand - 101 ways to brick your hardwareFelipe Prado
This document discusses various ways that hardware can become "bricked", or rendered unusable, through both software and hardware issues. It covers 101 different bricking scenarios across firmware, printed circuit boards, connectors, integrated circuits, and unexpected situations. Examples include wiping firmware, damaging traces on PCBs, breaking solder joints on connectors, applying too much voltage to ICs, and devices being bricked by environmental factors. The document provides tips for both bricking and avoiding bricking hardware, as well as techniques for potentially unbricking devices.
DEF CON 24 - Rogan Dawes and Dominic White - universal serial aBUSe remote at...Felipe Prado
This document provides an overview of a talk on novel USB attacks that can provide remote command and control of even air-gapped machines with minimal forensic footprint. It describes building an open-source toolset using freely available hardware that implements a stealthy bi-directional communication channel over USB using a keyboard/mouse and generic HID profiles to deploy payloads and proxy traffic without touching the network. The talk will demonstrate attacking Windows systems by staging payloads in memory to avoid disk artifacts and establishing a VNC session without user interaction or malware deployment. Source code and documentation for the toolset, called USaBUSe, will be released on GitHub at Defcon.
DEF CON 24 - Jay Beale and Larry Pesce - phishing without frustrationFelipe Prado
The document discusses common challenges and failures that can occur when conducting phishing campaigns professionally. It outlines eleven stories of phishing failures caused by issues like poor scheduling, spam filters blocking emails, not having enough target email addresses, domain name choices being too obvious, and lack of communication. For each failure, it provides recommendations on how to avoid the problem by improving collaboration, communication, planning and negotiation with the client organization. The overall message is that success requires treating phishing engagements as multi-party negotiations and managing expectations through clear communication and involvement of all stakeholders.
The document discusses vulnerabilities found in human-machine interface (HMI) solutions used for industrial control systems. It details a case study of multiple stack-based buffer overflow vulnerabilities found in Advantech WebAccess through an RPC service that could allow remote code execution. The vulnerabilities were caused by improper validation of user-supplied input to functions like sprintf and strcpy. While patches were released, analysis showed the fixes did not fully address the underlying problems with input handling.
DEF CON 24 - Allan Cecil and DwangoAC - tasbot the perfectionistFelipe Prado
This document summarizes tool-assisted speedruns (TAS) of video games. It discusses how emulators and tools are used to play games faster than humanly possible by deterministically recording every input. Advanced techniques like memory searching and scripting push games to their limits. Console verification devices were developed to play back TAS movies on original hardware. The document argues that TAS tools are like penetration testing tools and can be used to find and exploit vulnerabilities in games. It demonstrates an arbitrary code execution in Pokemon Red using an unintended opcode execution.
DEF CON 24 - Rose and Ramsey - picking bluetooth low energy locksFelipe Prado
This document shows a graph with distance on the x-axis ranging from 0 to 35 meters and Received Signal Strength (RSS) in dBm on the y-axis ranging from -100 to -40 dBm. The graph contains a line for a model with a path loss exponent of 2.0 as well as scattered data points representing collected RSS measurements.
This document provides an overview of a hands-on, turbocharged pragmatic cloud security training that covers topics in a fraction of the normal time by slimming down four days of material into four hours. It will cover configuring production-quality AWS accounts, building deployment pipelines, and automating security controls. Most examples will use Ruby and Python. Nearly all labs will be in AWS. There will be minimal slides and hand-holding. Participants are responsible for their own AWS bills after the training.
DEF CON 24 - Grant Bugher - Bypassing captive portalsFelipe Prado
The document discusses the results of a study on the impact of COVID-19 lockdowns on air pollution. Researchers analyzed data from dozens of countries and found that lockdowns led to an average decline of nearly 30% in nitrogen dioxide levels over cities. However, they also observed that this improvement was temporary and air pollution rebounded once lockdowns were lifted as vehicle traffic increased again. The short-term reductions could help policymakers design better emission control strategies in the future.
DEF CON 24 - Patrick Wardle - 99 problems little snitchFelipe Prado
Little Snitch is a host-based firewall for macOS that intercepts connection attempts and allows the user to approve or deny them. The document discusses understanding, bypassing, and reversing Little Snitch. It provides an overview of Little Snitch's components and architecture, describes several methods for bypassing its network filtering, and examines techniques for interacting with and disabling Little Snitch's kernel extension through the I/O Kit framework.
DEF CON 24 - Plore - side -channel attacks on high security electronic safe l...Felipe Prado
The document summarizes two presentations on cracking electronic safe locks. It discusses cracking a Sargent & Greenleaf 6120 safe lock by using a power analysis side-channel attack to recover the keycode stored in clear in the lock's EEPROM. It also discusses cracking a Sargent & Greenleaf Titan PivotBolt safe lock by using a timing side-channel attack to recover the keycode, and defeating the lock's incorrect code lockout feature.
DEF CON 24 - Six Volts and Haystack - cheap tools for hacking heavy trucksFelipe Prado
This document discusses hacking heavy trucks and related networking protocols. It describes building a "Truck-in-a-Box" simulator to experiment with truck electronics and protocols like J1939 and J1708. The document outlines adventures in truck hacking, including modifying engine parameters, impersonating an engine control module, and exploiting bad cryptography. Details are provided on new hardware tools like the Truck Duck for analyzing truck communication networks.
DEF CON 24 - Dinesh and Shetty - practical android application exploitationFelipe Prado
The document provides an overview of a workshop on practical Android application exploitation. The workshop aims to teach skills for performing reverse engineering, static and dynamic testing, and binary analysis of Android applications. It will use demonstrations and hands-on exercises with custom applications like InsecureBankv2. The workshop focuses on discovery and remediation, targeting intermediate to advanced skill levels. It will cover tools, techniques, and common vulnerabilities to exploit Android applications.
DEF CON 24 - Klijnsma and Tentler - stargate pivoting through vncFelipe Prado
The document discusses vulnerabilities in VNC implementations that allow unauthenticated access. It notes that a scan of the internet found over 335,000 VNC servers, with around 8,000 having no authentication. This lack of authentication allows attackers to access and "pivot" into internal networks. The document provides statistics on different VNC protocol versions found and describes exploits that could allow compromising devices to access additional internal systems through insecure VNC implementations and proxies.
DEF CON 24 - Antonio Joseph - fuzzing android devicesFelipe Prado
Droid-FF is an Android fuzzing framework that aims to automate the fuzzing process on Android devices. It uses Python scripts and integrates fuzzing tools like Peach and radamsa to generate test case data. The framework runs fuzzing campaigns on Android devices, processes the logs to identify crashes, verifies the crashes are unique, maps crashes to source code locations, and analyzes crashes for exploitability using a GDB plugin. The goal of Droid-FF is to make fuzzing easier on mobile devices and help find more crashes and potential vulnerabilities in Android applications and frameworks.
For the full video of this presentation, please visit: https://www.edge-ai-vision.com/2024/06/temporal-event-neural-networks-a-more-efficient-alternative-to-the-transformer-a-presentation-from-brainchip/
Chris Jones, Director of Product Management at BrainChip , presents the “Temporal Event Neural Networks: A More Efficient Alternative to the Transformer” tutorial at the May 2024 Embedded Vision Summit.
The expansion of AI services necessitates enhanced computational capabilities on edge devices. Temporal Event Neural Networks (TENNs), developed by BrainChip, represent a novel and highly efficient state-space network. TENNs demonstrate exceptional proficiency in handling multi-dimensional streaming data, facilitating advancements in object detection, action recognition, speech enhancement and language model/sequence generation. Through the utilization of polynomial-based continuous convolutions, TENNs streamline models, expedite training processes and significantly diminish memory requirements, achieving notable reductions of up to 50x in parameters and 5,000x in energy consumption compared to prevailing methodologies like transformers.
Integration with BrainChip’s Akida neuromorphic hardware IP further enhances TENNs’ capabilities, enabling the realization of highly capable, portable and passively cooled edge devices. This presentation delves into the technical innovations underlying TENNs, presents real-world benchmarks, and elucidates how this cutting-edge approach is positioned to revolutionize edge AI across diverse applications.
How information systems are built or acquired puts information, which is what they should be about, in a secondary place. Our language adapted accordingly, and we no longer talk about information systems but applications. Applications evolved in a way to break data into diverse fragments, tightly coupled with applications and expensive to integrate. The result is technical debt, which is re-paid by taking even bigger "loans", resulting in an ever-increasing technical debt. Software engineering and procurement practices work in sync with market forces to maintain this trend. This talk demonstrates how natural this situation is. The question is: can something be done to reverse the trend?
Main news related to the CCS TSI 2023 (2023/1695)Jakub Marek
An English 🇬🇧 translation of a presentation to the speech I gave about the main changes brought by CCS TSI 2023 at the biggest Czech conference on Communications and signalling systems on Railways, which was held in Clarion Hotel Olomouc from 7th to 9th November 2023 (konferenceszt.cz). Attended by around 500 participants and 200 on-line followers.
The original Czech 🇨🇿 version of the presentation can be found here: https://www.slideshare.net/slideshow/hlavni-novinky-souvisejici-s-ccs-tsi-2023-2023-1695/269688092 .
The videorecording (in Czech) from the presentation is available here: https://youtu.be/WzjJWm4IyPk?si=SImb06tuXGb30BEH .
"Scaling RAG Applications to serve millions of users", Kevin GoedeckeFwdays
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Introduction of Cybersecurity with OSS at Code Europe 2024Hiroshi SHIBATA
I develop the Ruby programming language, RubyGems, and Bundler, which are package managers for Ruby. Today, I will introduce how to enhance the security of your application using open-source software (OSS) examples from Ruby and RubyGems.
The first topic is CVE (Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures). I have published CVEs many times. But what exactly is a CVE? I'll provide a basic understanding of CVEs and explain how to detect and handle vulnerabilities in OSS.
Next, let's discuss package managers. Package managers play a critical role in the OSS ecosystem. I'll explain how to manage library dependencies in your application.
I'll share insights into how the Ruby and RubyGems core team works to keep our ecosystem safe. By the end of this talk, you'll have a better understanding of how to safeguard your code.
"Choosing proper type of scaling", Olena SyrotaFwdays
Imagine an IoT processing system that is already quite mature and production-ready and for which client coverage is growing and scaling and performance aspects are life and death questions. The system has Redis, MongoDB, and stream processing based on ksqldb. In this talk, firstly, we will analyze scaling approaches and then select the proper ones for our system.
Freshworks Rethinks NoSQL for Rapid Scaling & Cost-EfficiencyScyllaDB
Freshworks creates AI-boosted business software that helps employees work more efficiently and effectively. Managing data across multiple RDBMS and NoSQL databases was already a challenge at their current scale. To prepare for 10X growth, they knew it was time to rethink their database strategy. Learn how they architected a solution that would simplify scaling while keeping costs under control.
The Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) invited Taylor Paschal, Knowledge & Information Management Consultant at Enterprise Knowledge, to speak at a Knowledge Management Lunch and Learn hosted on June 12, 2024. All Office of Administration staff were invited to attend and received professional development credit for participating in the voluntary event.
The objectives of the Lunch and Learn presentation were to:
- Review what KM ‘is’ and ‘isn’t’
- Understand the value of KM and the benefits of engaging
- Define and reflect on your “what’s in it for me?”
- Share actionable ways you can participate in Knowledge - - Capture & Transfer
In the realm of cybersecurity, offensive security practices act as a critical shield. By simulating real-world attacks in a controlled environment, these techniques expose vulnerabilities before malicious actors can exploit them. This proactive approach allows manufacturers to identify and fix weaknesses, significantly enhancing system security.
This presentation delves into the development of a system designed to mimic Galileo's Open Service signal using software-defined radio (SDR) technology. We'll begin with a foundational overview of both Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) and the intricacies of digital signal processing.
The presentation culminates in a live demonstration. We'll showcase the manipulation of Galileo's Open Service pilot signal, simulating an attack on various software and hardware systems. This practical demonstration serves to highlight the potential consequences of unaddressed vulnerabilities, emphasizing the importance of offensive security practices in safeguarding critical infrastructure.
QA or the Highway - Component Testing: Bridging the gap between frontend appl...zjhamm304
These are the slides for the presentation, "Component Testing: Bridging the gap between frontend applications" that was presented at QA or the Highway 2024 in Columbus, OH by Zachary Hamm.
In our second session, we shall learn all about the main features and fundamentals of UiPath Studio that enable us to use the building blocks for any automation project.
📕 Detailed agenda:
Variables and Datatypes
Workflow Layouts
Arguments
Control Flows and Loops
Conditional Statements
💻 Extra training through UiPath Academy:
Variables, Constants, and Arguments in Studio
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inQuba Webinar Mastering Customer Journey Management with Dr Graham HillLizaNolte
HERE IS YOUR WEBINAR CONTENT! 'Mastering Customer Journey Management with Dr. Graham Hill'. We hope you find the webinar recording both insightful and enjoyable.
In this webinar, we explored essential aspects of Customer Journey Management and personalization. Here’s a summary of the key insights and topics discussed:
Key Takeaways:
Understanding the Customer Journey: Dr. Hill emphasized the importance of mapping and understanding the complete customer journey to identify touchpoints and opportunities for improvement.
Personalization Strategies: We discussed how to leverage data and insights to create personalized experiences that resonate with customers.
Technology Integration: Insights were shared on how inQuba’s advanced technology can streamline customer interactions and drive operational efficiency.
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ScyllaDB is making a major architecture shift. We’re moving from vNode replication to tablets – fragments of tables that are distributed independently, enabling dynamic data distribution and extreme elasticity. In this keynote, ScyllaDB co-founder and CTO Avi Kivity explains the reason for this shift, provides a look at the implementation and roadmap, and shares how this shift benefits ScyllaDB users.
High performance Serverless Java on AWS- GoTo Amsterdam 2024Vadym Kazulkin
Java is for many years one of the most popular programming languages, but it used to have hard times in the Serverless community. Java is known for its high cold start times and high memory footprint, comparing to other programming languages like Node.js and Python. In this talk I'll look at the general best practices and techniques we can use to decrease memory consumption, cold start times for Java Serverless development on AWS including GraalVM (Native Image) and AWS own offering SnapStart based on Firecracker microVM snapshot and restore and CRaC (Coordinated Restore at Checkpoint) runtime hooks. I'll also provide a lot of benchmarking on Lambda functions trying out various deployment package sizes, Lambda memory settings, Java compilation options and HTTP (a)synchronous clients and measure their impact on cold and warm start times.
High performance Serverless Java on AWS- GoTo Amsterdam 2024
2600 v03 n01 (january 1986)
1. 2600 JANUARY, 1986!
VOLUME THREE NUMBER ONE
Private Sector Returning
BACK ONLINE NEXT MONTH BUT MANY QUESTIONS REMAIN
The Private Sector bulletin board system (the official BBS of
2600 Magazine), seized by New Jersey authorities on July 12,
1985, is in the process of being returned. However, Tom Blich,
the system operator, feels he is being forced to plead guilty to a
token offense. .
When the board was taken, the prosecutors seemed to have
little idea as to what it was they were looking for. At a press
conference the following week, they claimed that Blich and six
others were moving satellites in space with their computers and
doing strange things to the nation's defense department. Now,
six months later, this, or anything else, has yet to be proven in
Tom's case.
On December 6, Judge Mark Epstein gave Assistant
Prosecutor Frank Graves one last month to find something in
order to prove his conspiracy case, otherwise the case would be
thrown out. Graves only came up with a blue box program that
was originally discovered on the Private Sector's hard disk back
in July. This program was consequently defined as a "burglary
tool". "Cat's Meow", the program's title, can be used to
generate blue box tones (MF tones), as well as regular touch
tones, speech synthesis, and other sound effects. Middlesex
County reportedly sent the program, along with Blich's whole
computersystem to Bell Labs to see ifit could produce the nasty
MF tones. _''Cat's Meow", written by the Tempest, was
approved by Bell Labs as a working blue box, as long as it was
used with an Applecat modem. Blich said it was given to him by
an associate along with other programs and that he found it
entertaining because of the noises it made and educational in
that it taught him a little bit about the phone network. He
claims never to have used the program to make free phone calls
or do anything of a fraudulent nature. The program was not
accessible to anyone calling the bulletin board, either.
According to the authorities, no illegal calls have ever been
traced to Blich and there is no evidence ofany illegal activity on
his part. In New Jersey, though, under a particular statute, it is
illegal to possess virtually anything which can be ~sed to
perpetrate fraud. .
Blich was told that if he pleaded guilty to the fourth degree
misdemeanor which would carry no sentence, his equipment
would be returned and all other charges against him would be
dropped. .
But none of this explains how various law enforcement
departments could justify searching his home and seizing his
equipment, especially if it was based on the possibility that
Blich was undermining the security of the United States by
disrupting international telecommunications and infiltrating
the Defense Department, when absolutely nothing would point
anyone with the intelligence ofa stone to this conclusion. More
specifically, Prosecutor Alan A. Rockoffstated that one charge
was that the "young computerniks...threatened this nation's
defense" by stealing information on military tank parts
manufactured by a Connecticut defense contractor. Now, after
no evidence is found, no complaintants are found, and
Prosecutor Rockoffs outlandish headlines have worn away,
Blich will be on probation for a year because he had a blue box
3-1
program~and all this to cover up for some fools'
overzealousness.
Will somebody please wake us up? Can this really .be
happening? Almost any computer is capable of producing
"illegal" tones. Programs that produce such tones are
commonplace, to say the least. Many people possess them just
for the sake of seeing what they look like and how they work.
Are New Jersey authorities now punishing people for being
curious? .
What if Blich himself had written this program? Are they
now telling us it's illegal to write certain things. because they
could potentially be used in a bad way? Clearly, there's
something fundamentally wrong here.
It's easy to say that someone who has a blue box program is
only going to use it for illegal activity. But it's simply not true
and it's also a very dangerous assumption. Ifa program on disk
can be construed as a burglary tool, then why did the
prosecutor send Blich a printout ofthe four page program? Isn't
this distribution of a burglary tool? And what of the programs
that appear in the Information Bureau section of this issue?
Possession of a gun is one thing, because there aren't all that
many things you can do with a gun, unless you're a collector.
(Of course, possessing a deadly weapon is legal, but we won't
get into that.) With a computer program, however, there are an
infinite number of possibilities. Someone could possess it for
the sake ofhaving an interesting program, so that they can learn
how to make sound effects with theircomputer, so that they can
hear what these magical tones actually sound like, and so on.
Yes, there is the possibility somebody could use this program
for illegal purposes. But it's really just as easy (in fact, much
easier) to use a standard touch tone phone to commit fraud
these days. How is possession ofa touch tone phone any less of
a crime than this program? They can both be used for legitimate
purposes as well as illegitimate ones. It's not hard to retrace the
logic that is used to argue this, but is this logic correct? Or is it
potentially a danger to everyone, not just us?
We feel threatened by such actions. How hard would it be to
conclude that this magazine itselfis a burglary tool? Because we
discuss how the various networks work and because we expose
the inadequacies and weaknesses, are we not paving the way for
criminals? Perhaps we are, but at the same time we're waking up
an awful lot of people. People who realize that their secrets
aren't safe in a particular computer or people who need to know
how their phone system works~we exist for the purpose of
education alone. We cannot be held accountable for the
potential misbehavior of one of our subscribers~that is an
unreasonable expectation.
Fortunately, we're not yet at a stage where such affronts can
occur at a magazine. Why? Magazines are tangible, people
generally understand them. You can't hold a computer bulletin
board in front of you, though. Most.people don't understand
what a BBS is in the first place. It's so much easier to get away
with something if most people don't understand what you're
really doing-this is what the authorities have accomplished.
We've made some important progress in this case. We
(continued on page 3-8)
2. The Basics: DIVESTITURE: WHAT HAPPENED?
It's been two years now since they broke up the telephone
company, and ifyou ask around, most people seem to believe it
was a bad idea. In the past you received only one phone bill and
you never had to worry about how to place yourcalls. It seemed
so much simpler then.
For phone phreaks, though, the last two years have meant an
increasing number of toys to play with. New pay phones, new
long distance companies, new ways ofdoing what could only be
done one way before. While many of us miss the days of that
single formidable opponent (Ma Bell), we I1)llnage to have fun
by figuring out all ofthejargonese and being looked upon as the
only people who still understand how to make a phone call.
This is meant to be a brief guide to just what has happened
because of the divestiture and what the ramifications may be.
We're not going to compare rates of the many companies like
all ofthe newspapers are doing and we're not going to complain
about how difficult it is to cope with phones these days like all
of the columnists are doing. In plain English, we'l simply try
and figure out what the hell is going on.
The Way It Used To Be
Let's look at the way things were. Except for some
independent local companies, your local phone company was a
part ofthe nationwide Bell System. It all tied together nicely-if
you wanted to call long distance, you'd place the call through
your local company and they would bill you for it, and that was
it. What you most likely didn't know (or care about) was that
your local company had hooked into the national company and
they in turn had hooked into the local company on the other
end. As far as we were all concerned, the local company did it
all.
Under this system, things worked fairly well. It was simple
for customers, all of the companies benefited (the local
companies could keep their rates lower because the national
company would pay them and the national company got a
monopoly on every long distance call placed), and there were
no real problems.
But it wasn't fair. In nearly all countries, the phone company
is run by the government and that's it. But here, the phone
company was being run by private enterprise, yet there was no
competition. It was inevitable that this would be challenged,
especially when it started becoming economically feasible for
alternative companies to offer similar services.
Signs Of Trouble
In the late sixties, MCI became the first company to
challenge the Bell monopoly. Slowly the rules were changing.
As the years passed, more companies appeared and began to
cry foul. Consumer services were offered for the first time. As
technology got bigger, it became obvious that one phone
company simply shouldn't do it all. And one day, the
government agreed.
First off, the nationwide network had to be dismantled. So it
was split into seven parts, none of which are supposed to be
related to each other (however, we suspect they still see each
other socially). They are: Pacific Telesis, U.S. West,
Southwestern Bell, Ameritech, BellSouth, Bell Atlantic, and
Nynex. Each of these companies has a fleet of local operating
companies under its control, in much the same way as Ma Bell
had nearly allofthe local operatingcompanies under its wing-
in fact these seven new companies have been dubbed "Baby
Bells".
But the nationwide network was not completely eliminated,
because AT&T still exists. Instead of tying together all of the
local companies, AT&T is now just another long distance
company, with no connection to any of the local companies or
the seven regional companies. Of course, having constructed
the network in the first place, AT&T has tremendous
advantages in the long distance market.
Equal Access
Clearly, the emerging long distance companies have to be
protected against AT&T, so that they can have a fighting
chance. If AT&T were to lower its rates, everyone would use
them. Because ofAT&T's position, it's much easier for them to
do this, and re-establish a monopoly. This is prevented by the
divestiture agreement, which regulates AT&T more than the
other companies. In a weird way, it's kind of like affirmative
action.
Anotherway ofprotecting the new companies is to give them
equal access to the network that AT&T built. What good is it to
be allowed to competefor long distance customers ifby the time
the customer gets to your dial tone, it sounds like it's on another
planet? Not to mention the fact that to use your service, the
customer has to use a touch tone phone and key in a whole lot of
extra numbers to identify himself, since your CO'llpany isn't
able to identify him as soon as he picks up the phone, like
AT&T can. In all fairness, shouldn't your dial tone come in as
loud and clear as AT&T's?
The answer is of course. But how can this be accomplished?
There was no easy way, but it had to be done. And so, "equal
access" was developed.
In the early stages, the most that could be done under equal
access was to provide a clear connection to an alternate long
distance service. In addition, this connection had to be toll-free
since quite a few customers were being lost because they had to
pay for a phone call to the dial tone ofthe company they chose,
whether or not the call they were making in the first place ever
got through. It couldn't be an 800 number because oftechnical
and administrative reasons, not to mention the fact that an
extra area code (800) would have to be dialed.
So the 950 exchange was created. This is an exchange which
is nearly the same everywhere in the country. It doesn't really
exist in anyone place; it's a theoretical exchange within local
central offices. Calling 950 plus four digits, which are different
for each long distance cqmpany, connects you with their dial
tone-with no ringing and with a very clear connection. For
instance, 950-1022 gets you MCI anywhere in the country,
950-1088 gets you Skyline, etc. There are still drawbacks,
though. Primitive local companies sometimes insist on
charging for these calls, as do some hotels. Then there is also the
matter of still having to input your authorization code and
being forced to use a touch tone phone. But it representsa start.
The next and most significant step towards achieving equal
access was to actually make it possible for somebody to pick up
their phone and make a long distance call using whatever
company they wanted without dialingany extra numbers. So at
last it would be just as simple to make a call using Sprint or
Western Union as it was using AT&T. All the customer had to
do was tell his local company (when the time came) which long
distance company hel she wanted.
This is the point where something interesting began to
. happen. Phone companies all around the country started to
realize that there are a great number ofpeople who really don't
care which long distance company offers what-they just want
to be left alone. Some of these folks never make long distance
calls in the first place and others don't have the time or
inclination to try and figure out which company is
economically advantageous to them.
But last year a new twist was added. If you don't choose a
long distance company, one will be assigned to you at random!
In other words, if you close your ears to all of this divestiture
talk, you could find yourself subscribing to a company that
charges a $15 monthly minimum, which is a bit ofan affront to
someone who only makes local. calls. Yet, this is what's
3-2
(continued on page 3-8)
3. ffiffiffiJffiJAT&T Does It Again
Combined News Sources
Recently, an untold number of residential telephone
customers around the country have received letters from AT&T
thanking them for choosing AT&T as their primary long
distance carrier. The problem is that those customers never
selected a carrier, or instead chose an AT&T competitor. One
letter was even sent to an MCI executive.
The wave of misdirected AT&T letters is the latest in a series
ofsimilarevents that have occurred as AT&Tand othercarriers
aggressively attempt to sign up customers through the
nationwide "equal access" program.
MCI also has had problems, including telling local phone
companies that more than 1,000 customers had chosen MCl in
the Boston and New York areas when they did not. And GTE
Sprint was fined $500,000 for startingservice for residents who
hadn't asked for it.
Meanwhile, in a recent Wall StreetJournalj NBC News poll,
four out of every JO Americans say they are confused by the
choice of long distance phone carriers. Yet more than half,
particularly younger customers, like being able to choose.
Nonetheless, most people continue to view the breakup of
AT&T as a bad thing.
Five Aliens Hung Up
Combined News Sources
Secret Service agents announced the arrest of five
Dominican nationals living in Manhattan in a crackdown on
illegal long distance telephone calling fraud.
The individuals were charged with using illegal electronic
devices known as "blue boxes" to tap into the telephone
network to avoid being billed for longdistance calls. They were
also charged with placing calls with stolen personal
identification numbers and credit card calling numbers of
AT&T, New York Telephone, MCI, ITT, and 32 other
companies, stealing at least $1 million in phone calls.
For $5 to $20, the suspects would allow neighbors to call
relatives in South America. Ifconvicted oftelecommunications
fraud in connection ofaccessed services, they face up to 15 years
in prison, a $50,000 fine or twice the amount allegedly taken in
the scam.
Technology Nabs Hooky Players
Asbury Park Press
Computerized dialers carrying a recorded message from the
principal ofevery elementary school in Toms River, New Jersey
checking on the whereabouts of absent students in the district
will be made within one hour after school attendance is taken.
The $38,000. system utilizes a computer terminal and
software package allowing personnel in each ofthe district's 10
elementary schools to plug in absent students' telephone
numbers. The computer then automatically calls the parents
where they, or a designated person, can be reached during the
early morning school hours.
A recording of the principal's voice is activated by the
computer and a record is kept of whether or not the call was
answered.
The system has already caught two "hooky players."
Home Computer Attacks Falwell
Associated Press
An Atlanta man angered by a television evangelist took it out
----- --====-== ==---= := =:::::::=- - -- - ----- ---- ----------- - ------ -- ---
~ = - ======
on the Reverend Jerry Falwell by having his home computer
call Mr. Falwell's toll-free phone line (8004465000) every 30
seconds for eight months.
Edward Johnson, who stopped the calls in December after
Southern Bell threatened to cut off his phone service, said the
calls were intended to hurt Mr. Falwell's fund-raising by tying
up the phone. [Not to mention the fact that Falwell had to pay
for all ofthose calls since they were toll-free, which really means
collect!] Mr. Falwell heads Moral Majority.
Another Astronomical Phone Bill
The Hackensat..'k Record
It was a routine morning for Mike Ocejo until he got to his
car dealership and found waiting for him a telephone bill-for
$211,165.27.
"They said 1called places that I never even heard of before,"
he said, looking in disbelief at the I,007-page bill for calls to
Pakistan, Malaysia, France, and India, among other countries.
"It must have cost them a fortune just to print out this bill,"
Ocejo said. He had a hint ofsomething being wronga few weeks
ago when New Jersey Bell officials asked him if he was calling
Pakistan.
"I canceled my telephone credit card immediately. I figured
somebody found out my credit card numberand was calling all
over the world."
Dial-A-Porn Update
C'ommunicatilm:-. Week
Carlin Communications, the nation's largest provider of
"dial-a-porn" telephone messages, said the company will be
forced out of business if new, tough FCC regulations take
effect.
The rules would allow dial-a-porn purveyors to operate only
if they accept payment exclusively by credit card or require
adult callers to use a pre-assigned personal identification code.
Otherwise, dial-a-porn operators risk prosecution under the
Federal Communications Act and potential fines of $50.000 a
day.
The rules would require an expensive technical
reconfiguration of the dial-a-porn industry. Currently. dial-a-
porn programmers use automated answering equipment.
Credit card billing would require the intervention of live
operators, reducing privacy and traffic capacity, and raising
operating costs. The FCC's only allowable alternative, use of
personall.D. numbers. requires "interactive"equipment
capable of reading the access code a caller punches in on a
touch-tone phone. Such equipment can cost five to ten times
the cost for "passive" gear typically used with dial-a-porn. In
addition, in New York interactive equipment cannot be used on
the telephone company's special dial-it network.
Phone Booth Wins Again
:'t.."Wark Star I.L-dger
Three men who stole a telephone booth from a service station
lot and tried to put it inside a friend's apartment as a practical
joke were foiled when the booth wouldn't fit through the
doorway. police in Maple Shade, New Jersey said.
A patrolman responding to an anonymous call about three
men trying to carry a phone booth into an apartment, found the
pranksters replacing the front door.
The three were released on $2.000 bail each after being
charged with the theft.
3-3
4. NOTES FROM YOU
Dear 2600:
A good friend of mine called MCI to get credit for a bad
connection and started talking with the operator. At midnight,
after a half an hour (it's free after all), he hung up with $51
credited to his bill. It seems that the operatorwas bored, new on
the job, and grateful for someone to talk to.
I use GTE Sprint for my long distance calls and make it a
point to report any noise or crosstalk on the line. (And, as a side
benefit, the call is free). After all, if they are going to demand
equality with AT&T, they had bloody well better provide equal
service! In any case, after about 16 of these calls, the service
operator said that her display showed that a majority of my
calls were to XXXXXXXXXX which is in the same calling
LATA. Therefore, you might wish to reconsider your choice of
a long-distance carrier. She continued by saying she was sure
that Sprint's rates were not competitive in this instance.
Strange-since when I signed up the lady told me that I would
save 12% on that exact call. Somebody is lying somewhere! In
short, they tried to drop an annoying customer. Since then, they
have also pulled stunts like changing my code and not telling
me. (I spent two weeks getting them to admit to that!) I think
that 111 stay with (and harass) them for another couple of
months, then, who knows, it could be MCI's tum!
Dear 2600:
Mutedly,
Ford Prefect
I have a question I have often wondered about. Ifan alternate
long distance service must first call the local telco to set up a
trace when one of their lines is being abused what would be the
case after business hours? I mean, are these lines actually
monitored 24 hours a day? Also, I have been scanning a few
prefixes in my local area for loops. I have been looking in the
NPA-XXX-99XX area. Almost every loop I have seen or read
about in files on scanning loops has had them located in this
area. I have not had much luck, most have been constant busy
signals or ringing and a few residentials. Where else might I
look?
Arab149
Dear Arab:
When companies or government agencies have a telephone
company arrange a trace. they make theplans in advance. They
apply simple if-then situations. "Ifthis code is used. then trace
that incoming call. or ifthis number isdialed. then trace the call
to its source. ..Since allphone systems run 24 hours a day and
most ofthem run automatican~'. phones can be monitored 24
hours aday. In many cases. it may be betterto makea calloruse
a system during the day. when phone traffic is high. But then
again. it is sometimesbetterto callat night. when lesspeopleare
available to notice anythingfishy.
Your loops may be absent because they have been moved
elsewhere. you don't recognize them. or your Central Office is
made bya company other than thoseyou arefamiliar with such
as Automatic Electric.
Dear 2600:
I have been listening to the mobile radio-telephone
frequencies on my scanner. I was just listening to a company
that acquires cars like Ferraris for the very rich. These channels
were used before cellular, by the rich, since only they could
afford them (scarcity raises prices). In Los Angeles, they are still
used by people with lots of money. There are certain tone
sequences used to control signaling. I was looking through the
latest issue of Popular Communications Magazine, and I
noticed an ad from a company selling VHF programmable
transceivers for $329. These cover mobile radio-telephone
channels as well as things like Los Angeles Police Tactical One
dispatch frequency. Has anybody hooked up tone generation
equipment to a progrannnable VHF transceiver and made free
calls? It seems that there would be no problem doing this.
I'm an electrical engineering student at the V niversity of
Southern California. I just broke into the IBM mainframe the
administration uses for grades and stuff. We have these new
Zenith-29 terminals on campus, hooked up to Micro-600 port
3-4
selectors that connect all the DEC and IBM mainframes to the
TrY lines. It took me a while to figure this out, but I had to set
up the terminal parity to SPACE. The terminals are in VTI00
emulation. To get into the grades system, I simply did the
following: VSC-VCC Micro6OO Port Selector, Which system?
AD, (CR), ENTER TERMINAL TYPE: VT100, (CR)
This works during normal business hours near lunch time or
quitting time. The legit users often don't use a proper logout
command, but just tum their terminals off. About 10% of the
time, you can connect onto theirjobs this way. The IBM makes
a mistake and thinks that the line from one of the student
terminal rooms is the legit line. One time, they were running
donation records for people like alumni, and we looked up the
university president's donations. This method will probably
work with most IBM mainframes running the MVS operating
system,like ours. You can also get in by modem-around noon
or 5 pm for best results using 8-bit word, I stop bit,and no
parity. A question mark at the terminal prompt will list valid
types.
The Creature
Dear 2600:
On the evening of November 16,1985, the home ofGremlin,
a user of Demented Data Systems, was raided by 2 police
officers, and two members ofthe Manitoba Telephone System
(MTS) Security Gestapo. They proceeded to take all his
equipment, all his floppy disks, and all his printouts. To date,
his equipment has not been returned. He was charged with
"Theft of Telecommunications over $200." Apparently, poor
Gremlin was using a phreaking program he had written on his
Atari 800 to make approximately $350 in free long distance
fone calls. MTS had a tap on Gremlin's fone line for over one
month, and was keeping tabs on how much money he didn't
spend. When his total came to well over$200, the MTS Gestapo
and the Winnipeg Police Department made their move.
Theft over $200 is a felony, theft under $200 is a
misdemeanor. I have openly accused MTS of entrapment and
still stand adamant in opinion of what really went on.
For instance, ifthe police uncovera planto murderthe Prime
Minister, do they let the conspirators carry out their plans, so
they can get them on a full murder charge, instead of just a
conspiracy charge? No! They nab the criminals, before the act is
carried out.
If the MTS gave Gremlin a warning as soon as he was
detected making the fraudulent calls, this mess would never
have happened. The MTS big-wigs wanted to make big
headlines by nailing a phreaker. This was supposed to scare all
the remaining phreaks enough so they refrain from their hobby.
It didn't.
Since this, MTS had admitted to letting poor Gremlin get a
hefty fone bill before sacking him. He must pay back the fone
company for the $350, and he should be getting back his
equipment soon.
The Bad News: since mid November, the Demented Data
Systems (DDS) BBS has been constantly watched by MTS
Flunkies. MTS admits that nothing on the board is truly illegal,
much like the Private Sector, but would like to keep tabs on the
board. They caused a big hassle when it was discovered that
DDS has the entire inner workings of the MTS Envoy 100
mailing system indetail on the board. I have offered many times
to give them FREE, FULL SYSTEM ACCESS, with no
results.
Anyhow, that's how it is up here.
The Grub, Canada
Dear Readers:
The Grub also sent an article from a local paper that
described the bust. It mentioned another person who was
arrested for making $150 in calls. It also mentioned an
underground program called "Silver Bells" which sends 2600
hertz and is presumably a blue box program.
Demented Data Systems can be reached at 2048325397 at
300 and 1200 baud. and isfree for long distance callers.
5. The 2600 Information Bureau
TEXAS INSTRUMENT 99/4CA):
FROM BASIC:
0: CALL SOUNDCI00, 1300,0, 1500,0)
1: CALL SOUNDCI00,700,0,900,0)
2: CALL SOUNDCI00,700,0,1100,0)
3: CALL SOUNDC100,900,0,1100,0)
4: CALL SOUNDC100,700,0,1300,0)
5: CALL SOUNDC 100,900, 0, 1300,0)
6. CALL SOUND(100, 1100,0, 1300,0)
7: CALL SOUNDC100,700,0,1500,0)
B: CALL SOUNDC 100,900, 0, 1500,0)
9. CALL SOUNDC100,1100,0,1500,0)
KPa CALL SOUNDC100,1100,0,1700,0)
KP2: CALL SOUNDC100,1300,0,1700,0)
11: CALL SOUNDC 100, 700, 0, 1700,0)
12: CALL SOUND(100,900,0,1700,0)
ST: CALL SOUNDC100,1500,0,1700,0)
2600 (ISSN 0749-3851)
Editor and Publisher
Twenty Six Hundred
Associate Editors
Eric Corley
David Ruderman
Executive Director
Helen Victory
BBS Operator
Tom Blich
Writers: Paul Estev, Mr. French, Emmanuel Goldstein, The
Kid & Company, Lord Phreaker, Mike Salerno, The Shadow,
Silent Switchman, and the usual anonymous bunch.
1600 is published by 2600 Enterprises. Inc.. an eleemosynary organi13tion.
ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION RATES: $12. individual; $30. corporate; $20. overseas.
LIFETIME SUBSCRIPTION: $260. CORPORATE SPO:-;SORSHIP: $2600.
BACK ISSUES: $2 each. individual; $3 each. corporate: $2.50 each. overseas.
MAKE CHECKS PAYABLE 10: 2600 Enterprises. Inc.
WRITE TO: 1600. P.O. Box 752. Middle Island. NY 11953·~1752.
TELEPHONE: (516) 751-2600. BBS: (201) 366-4431.
ADVERTISING DEPARTME:-;T: P.O. Box 762. Middle Island. :-IY II953'{)762.
ARTICLE SUBMISSIO'" A:-;D LETTERS: P.O. Bo.' 99. Middle Island. :-;Y II953.{)099.
POSTMASTER: This is private mail.
3-5
COMMODORE 64:
5 S=54272
6 DIM B(7),AC7)
10 FOR LS=S TO S+24:POKE LS,O:NEXT
20 POKE S+5,64:POKE S+6,100
25 POKE S+12,64:POKE S+13,100
30 POKE S+24,15
40 FOR T=1 TO 7
50 READ ACT),BCT)
60 NEXT T
70 PRINT "USE 1-0 FOR DIGITS 1-0"
BO PRINT "USE K FOR KP : USE S FOR ST"
BB PRINT "USE + FOR 11 a USE - FOR 12"
90 PRINT "USE L FOR KP2"
95 PRINT "PRESS SPACE BAR FOR 2600 HZ"
100 PRINT "PRESS THE APPROPRIATE KEY AND
THE TONE WILL BE EMITTED FROM THE TV"
110 GET A$I IF A$=.... THEN 110
120 IF A$-"S" THEN T-5.U-6
125 IF A••"L" THEN T-4.U=6
130 IF A$-"KII THEN T=31 U=6
140 IF A.-"+" THEN T=2:U=6
150 IF A.-II-" THEN T=iI U-6
152 IF A$="l" THEN T-1.U-2
154 IF A$-"2" THEN T=lIU-3
156 IF A$-"3" THEN T-2,U-3
158 IF A.-"4" THEN T=1:U-4
160 IF A.=15" THEN T-2.U-4
162 IF A.-"6" THEN T-3.U-4
163 IF A••117II THEN T-1, U-S
164 IF A$_IIB" THEN T-2. U=5
166 IF A.-"9" THEN T-3.u=S
16B IF A._IIO" THEN T-4. U-S
169 IF A$=II II THEN T-7IU-7
170 POKE S+1,ACT)IPOKE S,BCU)
175 POKE S+8,ACT):POKE S+7,BCU)
1BO POKE S+4,17IPOKE S+11,17
190 GET Z$I IF Z.-"II THEN 190
200 POKE S+4,16.POKE S+11,16
210 GOTO 110
500 DATA 44,0,57,0,70,0,83,0,96,0,10B,
0,166,0
510 REM THE ABOVE DATA STATEMENT MAY
HAVE TO BE ADJUSTED TO GET
THE EXACT TONE.
6. ATARI I
1 POKE 82,0IPOKE 755,0
2 OPEN .1,4,0,"KI"
50 PRINT "ATARI BLUE BOX PROGRAM"
51 PRINT "0-9 = MF 0-9"
52 PRINT "K=KEYPULSE"
53 PRINT "S = START"
:34 PRINT "SPACE BAR = 2bOO HZ ON/OFF"
55 PRINT "You must press the space bar twice"
56 PRINT "for the program to work correctly."
60 REM
140 DIM N$ (1)
144 GET .1,N
145 N$=""
146 LET N$=CHR$(N):? N.," ",
150 IF N$=" " THEN? "2600Hz ";IGOSUB 290
160 FOR LOOP=l TO LEN(N$)
170 IF LEN(N$)=O THEN GOTO 500
190 CHAR=ASC(N$(LOOP,LOOP»-ASC("O"):TRAP 200:
RESTORE 360+CHAR*10IGOTO 220
200 IF N$(LOOP,LOOP)="K" THEN RESTORE 460:GOTO 220
210 IF N$(LOOP,LOOP)="S" THEN RESTORE 470lGOTO 220
215 CLRI GOTO 60
220 READ A,B,C,D
230 POKE 53760, AI POKE 53762,BIPOKE 53764,C:POKE 53766,D
240 POKE 53767, 168: POKE 53763,168
250 FOR A-l TO 15:NEXT A
260 POKE 53767, 160: POKE 53763,160
270 NEXT LOOP
280 CLR: GOTO 60
290 SOUND O,O,O,OIPOKE 53768,120
300 POKE 53760,811POKE 53762, 1I POKE 53764, 0: POKE 53766,0
310 POKE 53767, 1681 POKE 53763,168
320 GET .1,N:IF N<>32 THEN 320
330 POKE 53767, 1601 POKE 53763,160
340 N.·....
350 RETURN
360 DATA 165,2,80,2
370 DATA 240,4,210,3
380 DATA 240,4,40,3
390 DATA 210,3,40,3
400 DATA 240,4,165,2
410 DATA 210,3,165,2
420 DATA 40,3,165,2
430 DATA 240,4,80,2
440 DATA 210,3,80,2
450 DATA 40,3,80,2
'460 DATA 40,3,8p 2
,470 DATA 80,2,8,2
480 FOR A=1 TO 700:NEXT A
490 NEXT LOOP
500 CLRIGOTO 60
510 REM --- BY: DEVIOUS XEVIOUS ---
Programs sent in by Ford Prefect, thanks.
3-6
7. New Payphones Confuse Callers
Wall Street Journal
Telephones that read credit cards may be the wave of the
future. But you wouldn't know it from watching callers at La
Guardia Airport for two hours recently.
While dozens ofcallers dial on conventional telephones, only
six people approach the five card-reading phones nearby. Two
glance at the lengthy instructions and walk off in obvious
disgust. Four others, businessmen with AT&T credit cards, use
the telephones-but punch in their account numbers manually
rather than using their magnetically coded cards for automatic
recording.
The problem seems to center on the design of the new phone
machines: Unlike most automated-teller machines used by
banks-where a motor-driven device whisks the card away and
then returns it to the customer-the phone machines require
the customer to position the card's magnetic strip correctly,
slide the card manually through the slot, and then remove it.
The procedure seems to intimidate customers. "People don't
interact with the magnetic strip on their credit cards in daily
usage," one expert said.
While the card should be inserted lengthwise along the edge
nearest the magnetic strip, "everyone tries to put it endways,"
says Ray Ruiz, a product manager for Pacific Bell, which first
installed credit-card phones in 1984. For the first month, he
says, cards inserted the wrong way would get lost in the
machine, and a metal barrier had to be installed behind the slot
to keep the cards from being inserted too far. But he has yet to
devise a way to prevent callers from putting coins in the credit
card slot.
Security Software
Communications Week
American Telemanagement Corporation is marketing
computer software aimed at preventing theft of service from
long distance companies by people using stolen.codes.
The company's software, called Network Security
Management, combats theft by detecting when codes are being
stolen and monitoring the use of codes to immediately identify
excessive use. Three carriers have already purchased licenses to
use the program: SBS Skyline, Teltec Savings
Communications, and Microtel. Several others are testing the
program.
Your Own Private Centrex
2()(X) ~ew~ Service
Pacific Bell is offering a new service called "Premiere" where
with a touch-tone phone one can make an amazing amount of
services available in your own home-enough services so that
you could impress your friends by telling them that you have
your own pri-.ate switching system. With Premiere you can call
any other line within your home by pushing two tones; you can
make any phone a multi-line phone and answer any line in any
room; you can transfer calls within a home from one line to
another; you get call hold, 3-way calling, call forwarding; you
get something called alternate answering, where one line will
ring if the other is busy; you can store up to 30 numbers that you
can call up by hitting 2tones; distinctive ringing, where external
(outside the home) and internal rings will actually sound
different. These services are available for $3.50 to $5 per month
3-7
per each service you request, so this adds up to quite a bit of
money for the full services. The only requirement is a IA ESS.
New VAX Announced
Comhmed !('v.~ Source:.
The Digital Equipment Corporation, the world's second-
largest computer maker, announced a new top-of-the-line
supermini-computer capable of processing between six and
seven million instructions per second.
The new machine, called a VAX 8650, was described bv
Digital officials as the company's first extension of the VAX
8600 line. The 8650 runs about 44 percent faster and will have
an internal memory that is twice as big, about 68 megabytes.
DEC is also introducing a PC compatible that will be also
compatible with DEC's Rainbow Pc.
Cray Maneuvers
Communications Week
AT&T Bell Labs has sold an aging Cray-l supercomputer in
order to purchase a sleek, new Cray X-MP; 24 supercomputer.
The new system is valued at about $10 million and will be
installed early this year. An AT&T Bell Labs spokesman said
the unit will be the company's only Cray computer. He said the
X-MP/24 will be used at Murray Hill in AT&T microprocessor
chip development and in Unix operating system research and
development.
Overcharge Hunters Needed
Associated Pre~
New jobs are opening up for individuals who can ferret out
overcharges in phone bills that can exceed hundreds of
thousands of dollars. "It's basically a record keeping failure,"
one ofthe detectives, James Bell, East Coast manager for Sears
Communications Co. said of the telephone errors. With so
many levels of telephone bureaucracy to go through before a
customer's order is carried out, the request sometimes is not
transmitted accurately.
Some of the consultants take 50 percent of the overcharges
they find. Such investigators have spent months looking over
bills for large companies and municipalities. Ronal Chernow
Communication Services Inc. saved New Jersey's Essex
County $218,000 for the telephone system in their court
complex. Chenow recalled a case in which a New York
company moved to New Jersey and paid a so-called mileage
charge for keeping its old number. But the company still was
being billed for a switchboard that no longer existed. The
telephone company wanted to send an employee to verify that
the equipment was not there, but the building had been
replaced with a parking lot.
Phone Service Via Radio Shack
Communications Week
Radio Shack has signed an agreement with Nevada Bell to
run a test program that allows customers to sign up for
immediate telephone service at Radio Shack stores in the
Reno; Sparks area ofNevada. The cooperative program allows
customers to buy a phone from Radio Shack, open an account
with Nevada Bell and receive a phone number on the spot.
The stores are connected to Nevada Bell via hot lines, and the
program is in operation any time the stores are open, not just
normal business hours.
8. DIVESTITURE
(continued/rom page 3-2)
currently being done.
It's true you will be writing more than one check when it
comes time to pay the phone bill. Many long distance
companies still don't go through your local phone company's
billing office like AT&T used to (and still does), so they must
bill you separately. Then, you could choose to make some calls
with one long distance company and others with another. Then
again, you could make calls using Visa or American Express
and get billed that way. There are so many different ways to
make a telephone call these days, so naturally there will be at
least as many ways to be billed. You could also wind up paying
AT&T for equipment rental, ifyou're wary ofowning your own
phone equipment. So that's another check to write.
Then there are pay phones, which are starting to be
deregulated. You may see two totally different phones that
charge totally different rates to call the same place. This will be
confusing to most people, because they were never trained to
think about the phones they use. But for phone phreaks, this
represents more ways to have fun.
What The Future Holds
In theory, what we have today is the beginning of total
equality. Unfortunately, it's also total mayhem, but that will
undoubtedly clear up in time, as everyone slowly gets used to
the new system. Many mistakes are being made and it's fun to
find them. Skyline has a page in their bill that says, "Retain for
your records," in much the same fashion as other telephone
bills. The difference here is that there is no information on this
page at all except your name and the month of the bill. The
amount owed appears on another page. Why would someone
want to retain this useless data? Then there's U.S. Tel, who
supposedly has a new credit card system-you dial a number,
then enter your credit card number, which is something like 14
digits long. Miraculously enough, we've been told, any series of
numbers at aJi allows the call to go through!
But mistakes aren't the only thing well be seeing. Since Bell
Labs is now able to compete openly, well see a great number of
the projects they've been working on secretly for Ma Bell. This
will be of great benefit to us. At the same time, it may get a lot
harder for authorities and spies to keep tabs on certain people,
since there's no longer a guarantee that a person will use a
certain phone or even a certain network. Diversity is good for
the individual.
All of this is only the beginning. Many more changes are on
the horizon and technological enthusiasts will have quite a
time. For the average person who doesn't care, things may be
unpleasant, especially if the explanations aren't as plentiful as
the changes. Hopefully though, these folks will be comforted by
the knowledge that it's all/air.
Advertise in 2600!
Reach over 1,000 selective
readers-hackers, security
analysts, corporate spies,
private consultants, and
people who are just
interested in what s
gOing on.
Call 516-751-2600 for info. 3-8
Private Sector
(continued/rom page 3-1)
succeeded in getting the prosecutors to reveal their true
knowledge of the matter in front of the entire world. And we
convinced the American Civil Liberties Union to take up the
case of the Private Sector. We expect them to be involved in
similar cases in the future. Slowly but surely, we're getting
through to people.
We hope to see this kind of thing stop once and for all. Too
many innocent people have already been victimized by these
little-publicized gestapo tactics. Sensitive equipment has been
damaged by careless law enforcement agents. Valuable time has
been lost, voices have been silenced, and people's lives have
been adversely affected. Please, folks, wake up those around
you nm..·! That's our brightest hope.
We apologize about having to devote yet another article to
this distressing subject. Until we see some basic changes in
attitude and evidence of real protection for all of us, we must
continue to speak out. We hope you do the same, in whatever
ways possible.
GoodNews
The good news is that at last the Private Sector is returning.
At press time, the estimate for having the board up and running
is sometime in February. (Extra time is needed to look for any
damage and also to see ifany "back doors" have been installed
while we weren't looking.) The numberfor the Private Sector is
still 2013664431.
In the interim and as a supplement, 2600 will operate a
limited access subscriber bulletin board from our New York
office. All subscribers are welcome to call and participate in
discussions with other readers on topics such as this. There will
also be a facility for uploading articles to us, using XMODEM
or ASCII transfer methods. This board will be run on an
experimental basis and only between the hours ofmidnight and
noon on Saturday and Sunday mornings (also known as Friday
and Saturday nights), Eastern Time.
To get onto this board, call 5167512600 between these times.
Leave your subscriber code (those funny letters and numbers
on the upper right of your mailing label) or your name as it
appears on our mailing list, along with a first and last name of
your choice and a random password. These will be installed in
time for the next day of activity. Don't worry about personal
information leaking out-we only need to see it once to verify
that you're a subscriber and then it will be destroyed.
If you call that number at any other time, you'll either get a
human or a machine. Ifyou reach the machine, leave a message
so that we can pick up for real if we're within earshot, which is
more often than you might think.
We're also planning to have meetings in various cities
throughout 1986. Ifyou think a particular city is well-suited for
this, let us know and we will take it into account.
We have a lot of fine articles just waiting to be printed and
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