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NULL mag Issue 03 12 Phracked...
phreaking is one of the dead/lost arts... so, remove p from the hpavc :(
it may be still around, mainly in gsm/cellular networks but for sure it
has lost its glory of the 70-90s. so lets remember some stuff...
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Û° ° ² ± ÜÜßßß Û Û° ± ± ² Û° ± ²° Û Û° ² ± ±
Û ßßß ° ß² Üßßßßß Û °Üß ± Û ° ² ² Û ± °ÜÜÛ
² ÜÜÜ ± ± ±Ü±ßßßß ² ± ² ² ± ± ² °
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° ± ² ± ßßßßßßßß ° ° ± ± ° ± ± °± ° ± ± ±
Û ° ± °° ÜßßßÜ Û °° ² °° ßÜ ßÜß ²Ý Û °Ü° °°
Û Û °°²Û Û²° °Û Û °±Û ²°±Û ßÜ °±ß ßÜ °²ß
ßßßßß ßßßß ßßßß ßßßßß ßßßß ßßßß ßßßßßß
original article from:
https://www.hackthis.co.uk/articles/phone-phreaking-now-then
Introduction
The article presented here is about the various methods of phone phreaking
as one of the early manifestations of hacking into systems. Phreaking as we
know it, is defined as playing , experimenting and exploiting the telephone
network.
Who are phone phreaks?
A phone phreak is generally a blind person whose life basically depends upon
the sound he hears. They may also be normal guys who have got exceptionally
good hearing power and just by hearing the clicks, pops and whistle, they
can do stuffs that we can't.
The beginning
Though nothing specifically is known about its origins, it is supposedly
thought that the art of hacking telephone network had been in practice since
1960's by a group of people who were caught making long distance calls.
Though there may be incidents which occurred prior to this, but this was
the first reported incident about phone phreaks.
Methods
A lot of methods were used in phone phreaking but most of the older methods
are no longer practical, the simple reason being the transformation of
telephone lines from hand-worked job to digitised working. There are a lot
of methods which were used and we will talk about them in detail as we move
on in the article.
The old Mute Box
A Mute Box was an electronic device which was used to receive long distance
calls without being detected. What the Mute Box generally did was that it
used to take a 2.7 kilohms resistor in series with the phone line, so that
when the call came in, you had a little button that you pushed really fast
and that would stop the ringing tone but would still leave the connection
open. Because of this, there wouldn't be enough current to cause the
telephone to be disconnected, and hence the billing equipment wouldn't get
triggered.
What does it do??
It makes you receive the call from the person who is calling you absolutely
free...that means he won't be charged anything.
How?
Because you are not picking up the phone. You have left it on-hook. But at
the same time, you are listening to the audio because audio can travel
through that 2.7K resistor to the phone.
Loop Around
Loop Around numbers were numbers which began with 0044 or 0045. They were
numbers which on calling produced a 1000 Hz tone which was interrupted
every 10 seconds. So, if somebody called the 0045 at the time when you were
on the 0044 call, both of you could get connected and could talk whatever
you want, for as much time you wanted, absolutely free.
Party Lines
Party Lines were the numbers which were like numbers of a radio station
that is ... busy numbers.In these numbers, you could actually talk between
the busy beeps, and could give information to one another ... though it
wasn't much preferred because it was a hard thing listening between the
beeps.
Blue Boxes
This was the mother of all the boxes. Being the first box in history, it was
the one which started the whole phreaking scene. The Blue Box was invented
by John Draper who was also known as Captain Crunch in early 60s. He
discovered that by sending a tone of 2600Hz over the telephone lines of
AT&T, it was possible to make free calls.
How was it made?
In the 1960s, there was a breakfast cereal known as Cap'n Crunch which
offered a toy-whistle] prize in every box of the cereal. Somehow, John
Draper discovered that the toy whistle just happened to produce a perfect
2600Hz tone and so when he was transferred to England with his Air Force
Unit he would receive calls from his friends and make them free for them by
blowing his Cap'n crunch whistle into his end.
Red Box
These were similar boxes which were used to make free calls from payphones.
How?
All they used to do was to emulate or mimick the sound that the operator
hears when you drop in a coin, without actually dropping the coin in the
phone. In the older times, they used to have a 3-coin payphone: when you put
a nickel the sound was ding; when you put a dime, the sound was of ding-ding
and when you put a quarter , the sound which came was like gong. And on
hearing this sound the operator would know what coin you had just put in the
phone. Then you would get credited the time allotted for a quarter, nickel
or dime, without even paying a trifle.
The new
There hasn't been much speculation about the new trends and methods of
phone phreaking. However here are some ways which either directly or
indirectly have served the purpose of phreaks in the recent times.
Quiet Termination
Quiet Termination lines are a type of test line used by the telephone
company to test call routing. Many such numbers exist. Two such numbers
had a greater significance outside the normal scope. These were the lines
used during area code split and were known as Alberta Termination Test
Lines. This feature connects the caller to a port with fixed resistance,
600 ohms or 900 ohms being the most common. There should be nothing but
dead silence on connection. Clicks, static or crosstalk will be clearly
evident if a noisy line is used to dial this test.
Alberta Termination Test Lines
Alberta Termination Test lines are a rare type of line that was used just
before sometime during the Telus area code split in Alberta. The numbers are
more or less the same as quiet termination lines and were used to test call
routing in the new area code. Only two such numbers are known to exist,
both of them are within the 1780 area code.
Loop Line
These numbers exist in linked pairs. Call one number and you'll get a tone.
Call the other number and you get dead silence. If both are called at the
same time they make a connection. It used to be that you could then talk
over this connection, but now there are filters that block speech placed on
most loops. The determining of the silent line wasn't possible because it
depended on the whims and fancies of the Operator. These numbers generally
were of a number ahead structure. For example, if one of the number was
817-972-1890, the other one was 817-972-1891 and so were generally written
like: 817-972-1890/1.
ANACs
This test dialup will read off the number of the line you're calling from.
On rare occasions you will find ANACs with a DTMF response for use with
remote test terminals. It was basically used for identification of numbers
which could be used for conversation purposes without exposing your identity
like payphones.
DATU
DATUs (Digital Audio Test Units) are a godsend to technicians and phone
phreaks everywhere. DATUs allow a caller to monitor lines (don't get too
excited), open and short pairs, and put trace tones on the pair. While it
might not sound too exciting, it has got a handful of applications.
A book for the Seekers
If you want to know more about the phreaking stuffs, I'll recommend you to
try out the book:
Exploding the Phone: The Untold Story of the Teenagers and Outlaws who
Hacked Ma Bell by Phil Lapsley
