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Phuk Magazine Issue 01 Phile 02 of 10
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PHUK MAGAZINE - Phile 2 of 10
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UK NEWSBYTES
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-- PHONE DAY
Phone Day is almost upon us! Well, not quite, its on the 16th of
April 1995, but judging by the, amount of energy BT is putting into
the big event the public are meant to absorb this information by some
weird sort of osmosis .... and now us phone phreaks are telling them
all about it instead of BT! Certainly all of Joe public I have spoken
to treat phone day as some sort of publicity stunt, like Give Up
Smoking week, where you are encouraged to use the phone more on Phone
Day. When it is explained that Phone Day is the day that all the
dailing codes change the response is mixed, ranging from "why would
they do that", to "Oh No, not again!", from people who remember the
great day when London split its codes into 2 zones (071 & 081), and
the amount of hassle it caused them! Funny enough I found an old BT
card explaining the LAST change in codes marked "BT - It's you we
answer to" .... hmmm guess thats why you still charge in UNITS
instead of seconds huh guys!
Of course companies offering Phone Day services have sprung up ..
they will update all your databases ... at a price!! In actual fact
the new codes have been with us for some months, and it has been
possible to use the new London codes (0171 & 0181) for a while now.
In case you can't remember (!), Phone Day means that all codes
starting with 0 will now start 01, and Leeds, Sheffield, Nottingham
Leicester and Bristol all get new codes (I won't bore you with the
numbers!).
-- CALLER RETURN / CALLER ID
Of course the BIG story of the month should have been the
introduction of caller return and caller ID on the 5th of November
.... here's what the SUN newspaper had to say about it on the 28th of
October ... (When I first wrote this of course I said 'by the time
you read this .....').
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
[from the SUN Newspaper, 28-10-94]
BT cures hang-ups for free
People who rush to answer the phone just as it stops ringing will
be able to find out who called thanks to a free BT service unveiled
yesterday.
From Novemeber the 5th, frustrated customers can dial a code and
listen to a recorded message telling them who was the last to call
them.
BT says the number of return calls will cost the cover of the
service.
The firm is also introducing "Caller Display" which allows people
to see the number of the person calling before they answer.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Once again the actual service has been around for a while in some
areas, just not "switched on". So if I dial 141, to block CI/CR, I
get a message "Sorry, you have dialled an incorect service code,
please replace the handset and consult your instructions". Similarly,
dialing 1471 gets the message "Sorry no telephone number is stored".
BUT when I phoned the BT helpline (0800-80-1471) to ask about costs,
I was told (incorrectly) that Caller Return would cost 3.99 per
month, and that Caller Display would cost an "unspecified amount"
plus the cost or rental of the equipment. Funny thing was though,
that when the helpful young BT chap asked me for my area code "for
his database" and then repeated the number back he got it wrong!!!
What is really cool is that Joe Public HAS woken up to the
problems this might cause, hence the following article from the
Guardian, 4th November 1994.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
[from the GUARDIAN Newspaper, 04-11-94]
BT forced to delay service identifying callers
British Telecom has been forced to postpone the launch of two
services which reveal a caller's number - because the public is not
yet aware of the risks involved.
Civil Liberties lobbies have been concerned about privacy,
pointing out that a doctor, for examle, ringing a patient from home
would not want to disclose his private number. And ex-directory
numbers will be identifiable unless customers opt to retain anonymity.
BT, which has already spent several million pounds promoting the
services and warning that numbers could easily be identified, has had
to increase its budget for an extra two week campaign of newspaper
and televsion advertisments.
The services, Call Return and Caller Display, will now come into
operation on midnight on November 21, rather than tomorrow. This
follows recent discussions between BT and Oftel, the industry
regulator, which insisted that the public must be fully informed
beforehand.
A BT spokesman said that the group was disappointed at the lack of
awareness in view of its advertising.
Call Return enables a phone owner to identify the number of the
last caller, by dialling a short code. Subscribers to Caller Display
will have a phone or box that shows the number of an incoming call on
a screen.
BT has built in two safeguards. Customers can have the calling
line identification (CLI) signa on all outgoing signals automatically
blocked, or they can block the signal on individual calls by dialling
141 before the number. However the CLI signal will be available to
BT's malicious calls units. [no shit!! and WHO else can get it!]
Many with ex-directory numbers (15 percent of personal customer)
believe that their numbers should be protected automatically.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Methinks, we have not heard the last of this .......
..... and indeed we hadn't! after "WatchDog" had a good go at
BT over CR/CD the service didn't start until November 22nd, as
planned. However, once again everything was put in place some time
before, allowing us to play with the service, which came into force
around 18:00 that day. CR does pass unlisted numbers across the lines,
but we haven't been able to test whether it passes ex-directory or
not. Blocking seems to work as advertised, and cell-phone numbers are
also not passed along. What worries me, however, is that on several
occasions after recieving a call from what I knew to be a listed
number, and from people who I wouldn't call phreaks and use the 141
blocking code, were not stored for my use :( Watch this space for
updates!
-- INTERNET MANIA
Anyone who hasn't heard of the Internet these days must be blind,
deaf, half-asleep or all three. With the introduction of a Guardian
ONLINE section, the bbc getting their own email address ..(yes!! you
can email the broom cupboard!), the opening of London's first
fully fledged, and much hyped "CyberCafe", and the publication of
not one but 2 expensive glossies (Internet & Comms, and .net),
everyone and his dog will have an internet account by the year 2000
(well, if we don't run out of addresses first!).
However, at a minimum 1.50 UKP per half hour for the privilege
of having coffee, danish & WWW, we here at PHUK magazine feel that
Cyberia might be spending some of their hard earned (!!) profits on an
internet security expert before too long :)
+++
That's all for this ish, don't forget, NEWSBYTE exists on
contributions from its readers, so send your snippets, comments etc to
PHUK magazine at anon19143@anon.penet.fi, where we will do our best to
include them in the next issue.
-- BT HACKER :)
OK, boring, but I couldn't resist commenting! Calling the BT
contractor who stole the queen's phone number a HACKER is a joke!! But
then the Independant wouldn't have sold so many papers with the
headline "Sub-Contactor Breaks Confidentiality Agreement" would it?
+++
EOF
