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The Syndicate Report Issue 09
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THE SYNDICATE REPORT
Bell Information Transmittal No. 9
Released February 16, 1987
Featuring:
911 Charge Fee (m am 12\1)
AT&T Rates Chopped (m am 12\1)
TSPS Justice (n wk 12\1)
Cloning Experiment Avoids Havoc For Bell Companies (n wk 12\1)
Computer History Stickups (cmt usr 12\5)
SONAR To Speed Up Order Process (n wk 12\7)
by The Sensei
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Exposition:
The Syndicate Report now excepts outside sources. Anyone can write/provide
information to the Syndicate Report. The Syndicate Report is also altering
format. Rather than concentrating mainly on BELL orientated information,
the Syndicate Report now has a more broad interest. Thus, TSR now handles
all types of news gatherings.
All articles have been presented by me unless shown at the end of the
article as the information provider(s).
The Syndicate Report is about 2 months late due to computer problems. The
actual release date was scheduled at Dec 28 '86. Sorry for the late issue.
Other matters force me to hold off on producing the report, so if you don't
see the report next month...most likely I stopped publishing.
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911 CHARGE FEE:
When the legislature passed the omnibus "garbage" bill last
session, few reports noticed a measure to fund 911 telephone service in states.
Starting January '86 most of all telephone customers will be assessed a monthly
911 service fee of 14 cents on each access line, trunk, or trunk equivalency.
More than 80 percent of the state's population has 911 emergency calling
capability but the fee will be charged on all phone lines in the state. The
fee will be collected by phone companies each month and paid to the state of
each state. The state will use the money to pay the companies cost of 911
telephone lines. That cost is estimated to be 3.5$ million per year. The
law does not provide for reimbursement to phone companies for the cost of
collecting the fee.
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AT&T RATES CHOPPED:
AT&T long distance rates are expected to drop an additional 8.1 percent
January 1 if the FCC approves the company's filing of last month. The
proposed reduction, the second in a year and the fourth in three years, would
save customers 1.2$ billion. The 8 am - 5 am calling period rates would drop
the most, benefitting daytime callers including large number of business
customers. MCI and Sprint have indicated they would keep their rates
competitive, but industry observers say it will be a tight squeeze.
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TSPS JUSTICE:
The Justice Department last month filed a court briefing supporting
a proposal that would allow the former Bell companies to provide certain
TSPS operator services for interLATA calls.
The proposal has been opposed by AT&T, MCI and U S Sprint, which have
sought a ruling that the Concent Decree prohibits the Bell Companies from
providing such services.
The services in question include providing conference call arrangements,
emergency assistance, billing for operator-handled calls, and time and
charges information.
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CLONING EXPERIMENT AVOIDS HAVOC FOR BELL COMPANIES:
Computers in the Network Simulation Lab at Bell Communications
Research are into cloning. They create clones of voiceband networks at
the Bell operating companies to find out how proposed changes and improve-
ments will affect customers' data transmission through modems. By simulating
network impairments such as echo, the lab can determine whether proposed
changes will cause digital errors -- before the companies invest in changes.
Bell Research, the nation's largest research and engineering consortium,
is jointly owned by the operating companies of the seven Bell regions.
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COMPUTER HISTORY STICKUPS:
The run-of-the-mill bank robber nets 20,000$. If caught, the thief
has a 90 percent chance of being prosecuted and, if convicted, will be jailed
for five years. A swindler who pulls off an electronic funds transfer nets an
average of 500.000$, has a 15 percent chance of persecution, and, if convicted,
faces only five months behind bars.
Computer Crime is relatively new -- so new that the FBI only began
keeping statistics in 1974. Today, though, the FBI has developed several
computer-fraud training programs, including its challenging four-weeks at the
FBI Academy in Virginia.
You might say computer crime began as a nickel-and-dime operation.
In 1967, a New York bank employee used the institution's computer to shave
fractions of pennies from interest on long-term accounts. He wrote a program
to deposit these fractions to his own account. After several years, he had
ammassed over 200,000$.
In the 1960s and early 1970s, such crimes were isolated. in the 1980s,
computer crimes are not uncommon. A 1986 study conducted by Mercy University
in Dobbs Ferry, N.Y., revealed that 56 percent of the Forbes 500 companies
reported computer crime during 1985 with a combined total loss of 12,250,000$.
A survey by an American Bar Association task force in 1984 estimated
that businesses lose as much as 730$ million a year to computer crime. Other
sources estimate the annual loss from such crimes may be as high as 3.5$
billion. White-collar crime, which includes computer-aided theft, adds an
estimated 15 percent to the cost of retail goods. But what has made computer
crime such an alluring profession? Three technological advances have formed
the Achilles' heel of business-computer systems:
o Systems are more user friendly today than ever.
o The number of computers has greatly increased
o Unauthorized persons can access computers through phone lines
As a result, perfect crimes are committed where it is impossible to
identify the perpetrator. Super-perfect crimes occur because many
organizations are unaware a crime has been committed. Movies such as War Games
often portray young, brilliant computers users ("hackers") as the primary
threats to business and government computer systems. Not so, Mercy University
reports. Mercy University's studies revealed that almost two-thirds of
discovered computer crimes were perpetrated from the inside by employees.
Hackers commit no more than 20 percent of all computer crimes, 5 percent by
other estimates. Usually computer criminals are knowledgeable programmers or
employees who have been entrusted to access critical information. Mercy
University states, "You don't have to be a computer wizard to steal using
computers; you just have to have suffice access."
The most understood motives for people who breach systems, violate
someone else's privacy or sabotage a critical computer system is: Ego,
Revenge, criminal/financial gain, irrational behavior and zealous causes. The
first three are the most prevalent.
Most computer criminals have never broken the law before but are tempted
by the technological challenge. The typical computer hacker is an intelligent
and introverted person who is a luser is social environments. The hacker's
sense of unimportant and lack of self-worth feed the desire to achieve
something worth bragging about. For an employee, designing the perfect
computer crime is little more than a mental exercise, like solving a cross
word puzzle.
In 1983, government computer personnel -- unhappy about mandatory
layoffs -- made unauthorized changes in computer programs so that payroll
checks continued to be sent to some of the terminated employees.
The more ingenious revenge methods include computer viruses, which
gradually alter and disrupt other computer programs and systems, and
programming bombs, which will, at a predetermined time or number of runs,
erase a company's data or destroy its master programs. More subtly, it
may cause virtually invincible but deadly changes to data bases.
An example of a sophisticated computer crime is the Rifkin case in 1978,
where consultant Mark Rifkin robbed a California bank of 10.2$ million. All
he required was one phone call, a code number and an assumed name. Although
the crime was perfect, Rifkin was caught by the FBI because of his loose
tongue, rather than by the bank's computer safeguards. In fact, Security
Pacific National Bank was unaware the funds were missing until the FBI notified
bank officials.
Last summer, the U.S. House of Representatives toughed existing
computer-crime legislation. H.R. 4718, the Computer Crime and Abuse Act of
1986, would establish three federal crimes for computer fraud, destruction
and password trafficking. Three areas were strengthened:
o It would make is a felony, punishable by five years in prison, to trespass
into a "Federal-Interest computer" with an intent to defraud. A Federal-
Interest computer is defined as any computer used exclusively by the federal
government, financial institutions or one of a group of computers located in
different states.
o It also would make it a five-year felony to cause damage of 1000$ or more
by altering information or preventing access to federal-interest computer.
o It would make it a misdemeanor to display computer passwords. This
provision is designed to discourage private pirate bulletin boards, in which
hackers exchange secret codes to gain unauthorized access to computers.
The Senate Judiciary Committee, by voice vote, approved a similar
measure, S. 2281.
::::::::::::::::::::Information provided by The Mercenal::::::::::::::::::::
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SONAR TO SPEED UP ORDER PROCESS:
When a customer of Bell calls to order service, it's been customary
for a service representative, pen in hand, to jot down order information.
It's passed an order typist for final entry.
A new system called SONAR (Service Order Negotiation and Retrieval) is
changing all that. SONAR was introduced earlier this month to service reps.
all over the nation to Old Mill Account Center. Decisions were made and
Business Service Centers will cut over to the new system on January 20.
Project manager Rick Wilson says all Bell Service Centers will have
SONAR within the next six months. At that point, 85 percent of all residence
service orders will be on the system. This new technique will create a
service order without having it touch human hands. And greatly reduce the
chance for errors...and speed the order process.
Mountain Bell began using the system in August and Pacific Bell will
switch to it in the third quarter of next year, NWB Reports.
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If there is any question to the information in this file, contact the
author. Now can be found on the Private Sector 20 Meg, 3/1200 baud
system at (201) 366-4431 (2600 Magazine Bulletin Board).
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This concludes this transmittal No. 9 provided by:
The Sensei of The Syndicate Report
Released February 16, 1987
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