The Anarchist Cookbook (24 page)

government computers.

The arrests were the result of a 6 week investigation by the Secret Service and the

Mount Lebanon police. The police were tipped off by parents who were suspicious about

how their son managed to obtain a skateboard valued at $140.

The Secret Service was also involved in investigations that led to the arrests of several

hackers in San Francisco and New York last July.

Secret Service spokesman William Corbett says that although some reports have

portrayed the hackers as part of a national crime ring, the cases are unrelated. "It's just

that a few of these computers hacking cases came to a head at about the same time," he

says.

Federal Legislation enacted in 1984 gives the Secret Service, part of the Department of

the Treasury, a major role in investigating computer crimes. Under the federal Computer

Fraud and Abuse Act of 1986, computer fraud is a felony that carries a maximum penalty

of 5 years for the first offense, and 10 years for the second. Displaying unauthorized

passwords on hacking bulletin boards carries a maximum penalty of 1 year in prison for the

first offense, and 10 years for the second.

German Teens Crack NASA

Washington, D.C. -- A group of West German teenagers from the Chaos Computer Club

penetrated a NASA network recently, saying they were doing it to "test the security."

What they got into was SPAN Net, a computer network with about 700 notes, which is

actually based at the Goddard Space Center in Maryland. All that's in there is unclassified

data, space science information, and post-flight data analysis. "Anyone with NASA related

research can apply for access to SPAN" says a spokesman, who adds that the network runs

on DEC VAX hardware. "We picked up three attempts to gain access and put in security

precautions so it wouldn't happen." His personal opinion is, "We're happy that they

couldn't get back in, and decided to go public." He also added that NASA has many other

networks, many of the classified and "probably impenetrable. But I do not want to

challenge anybody."

How'd they get in? Probably they got a West German NASA licensee, which gave them a

visitor's pass, then they created new passwords with unlimited security for themselves,

after which getting around the network was easy.

91. Remote Informer Issue #4 by Tracker, Norman Bates, Ye Cap'n

Switching Systems

There are currently three different forms of switching systems that are present in the

United States today. Step by Step (SxS), Crossbar, and the Electronic Switching System

(ESS) make up the group. Phreaks have always been a little tentative when it comes to

"doing their work" once they have heard about effects of switching systems on their

hobby. After researching this topic, I have found that there really is not that much to be

worried about. Read on, while I share with you information which I have compiled about all

of these switching systems and their distinct features.

The first switching system that was used in the country was called Step by Step. This

was adopted in 1918 by Bell, and until 1978, they had over 53% of all their exchanges using

Step by Step (SxS). This system is known for it's long, confusing train of switches that

are used for its step by step switching.

Step by Step has many disadvantages to phone users. The switch train becomes jammed

fairly often, and it causes calls to be blocked. Also, SxS does not allow the use of DTMF

dialing. This accounts for some of the areas in the United States that cannot have touch

tone dialing abilities. A tremendous amount of electricity and maintenance needs to

accompany the SxS switching system, which makes it even more impratical. All in all, this is

probably the most archaic switching system around.

There are a number of ways to see if you are on SxS. You will notice that there are no

pulsing digits after dialing. Most sources say that the phone company will sound like many

typewriters. SxS does not offer features such as speed calling, call forwarding, three-way

calling, call waiting, and other such services. Pay phones on SxS also will want your money

before you receive a dial tone. This adds to the list of disadvantages labeled to that of

the Step by Step switching systems.

Another type of switching system that is prevalent in the United States is Crossbar.

Crossbar has been Bell's primary switcher after 1960, and three types of it exists.

Number 1 Crossbar (1xB), Number 4 Crossbar (4xB), and the Number 5 Crossbar (5xB). In

Crossbar, a switching matrix is used for all the phones in an area, and when someone calls,

the route is determined and is met up with the other phone. This matrix is set-up in

horizontal and vertical paths. Unlike other switching systems, in my research, I could not

come up with any true and definite distinguishing features of the Crossbar switching

systems.

The Electronic Switching System (ESS) is yet another switching system used in the United

States and the most used of all three switching systems. ESS is an extremely advanced

and multi-faced type of switching system, and is feared by marauders of the phone

company everywhere. With ESS, your phone company is able to know every digit dialed

(including mistakes), who you call, when you called, and how long you were connected. ESS

is also programmed to print out the numbers of people who make excessive calls to WATS

numbers (800 services) or directory assistance. This feature of ESS is called 800

Exceptional Calling Report, and has spelled the end of some forms of continuous code

hacks to certain extenders. ESS can also be programmed to print logs of who called and

abused certain numbers as well. Everything is kept track of in its records.

The aforementioned facts show that ESS has made the jobs of organizations such as the

FBI, NSA, and other phone company security forces easier. Tracing can be done in a

matter of microseconds, and the result will be conveniently printed out on the monitor of a

phone company officer. ESS is also programmed to pick up any "foreign tones" on the

phone line such as the many varied tones emulated by boxes.

ESS can be identified by a few features common in it. The 911 emergency service is

covered in the later versions of ESS. Also, you are given the dial tone first when using a

pay phone unlike that of SxS. Calling services like call forwarding, speed calling, and call

waiting are also common to ESS. One other feature common to ESS is ANI (Automatic

Number Identification) for long distance calls. As you can see, ESS is basically the zenith

of all switching systems, and it will probably plague the entire country by the early 1990's.

Soon after, we should be looking forward to a system called CLASS. This switching system

will contain the feature of having the number of the person that is calling you printed out

on your phone.

What have I concluded about these switching systems? Well, they are not good enough. I

know a few people employed by the phone company, and I know for a fact that they do not

have enough time these days to worry about code users, especially in large, metropolitan

areas. So, I will go out on a limb here, and say that a large portion of people will never

have to worry about the horrors of ESS.

New Gizmo Can Change Voice Gender

The most amazing device has turned up in the new Hammacher Schlemmer catalog: the

telephone voice gender changer. What it does is change the pitch of your voice from, say,

soprano to bass -- a most efficient way to dissuade an obscene phone caller just as he's

getting warmed up. That is not the same as running a 45 rpm. record at 33. In digital

conversion, the pitch can be changed without altering the speed.

The device runs on a 9-volt batter and attaches to the telephone mouth piece with a

rubber coupler that takes but a moment to slip on and off. With the changer switched on,

says Lloyd Gray, a Hammacher Schlemmer technical expert, "the effect is similar to what

you hear when they interview an anonymous woman on television and disguise her voice by

deepening it." "It's better for changing a woman's voice to a man's than the other way

around," Gray said. A man can use it to raise the pitch of his voice, but he still won't

sound like a woman."

A man could, however, use the changer to disguise his voice. But with the device set on

high, Gray's voice still could be identified as his own. On low, his normal tenor became so

gravel like that the words were unintelligible.

92. Remote Informer Issue #5 by Tracker, Norman Bates, and Ye Cap'n

AT&T Rates

WASHINGTON -- American Telephone & Telegraph Co. proposed Tuesday to lower its

interstate long-distance rates by an average of 3.6% to reflect reduced costs in

connecting to the local telephone network. The largest decrease -- 6.3% -- would be seen

in day time prices "Because of the need to make those rates more competitive," AT&T

said.

Rates for calls made during evening hours would drop 2.2% and calls made during the late

night and weekends would be cut by 0.8%, the company said. The rate reductions would

take effect Jan. 1, if they are approved by the Federal Communications Commission.

Reacting to the proposed price cuts, MCI Communications Corp. and US Sprint

Communications Co., the nation's second-largest and third-largest long distance companies

respectively, said their response would depend on what the FCC finally approves but both

said they intended to remain competitive with AT&T. AT&T, the nation's largest long-

distance company, proposed to the FCC that its rates drop as much as $800 million, but

AT&T said the exact amount will depend on the access charges the FCC allows the local

telephone companies to collect from long distance carriers, which must pay the fees to

hook into the phone local network.

AT&T has challenged the new access rates filed by the regional Bell operating companies,

contending they are more than $1 billion too high. In proposing its new rates, the long-

distance leader told the FCC it expects local companies' access fees to fall by at least

$200 million -- which would amount to an average rate reduction of less than 1%. But the

company said it believes the FCC will order an additional $600 million in reductions based

on AT&T's challenge.

"We're confident the FCC will recognize that access charges filed by the local telephone

companies need to be substantially reduced, which would mean more savings for our

customers," said Larry Garfinkel, AT&T vice president for marketing. He said the company

filed its proposed rates based on disputed charges because "we wanted to let the public

react ... and further to let the FCC have full knowledge of where we were heading given our

expectation that we had a valid basis for our dispute."

AT&T's long-distance rates have fallen by about 34% since the company was stripped of

its local operating companies by an antitrust decree nearly four years ago. Since then,

phone rate payers have been paying a larger share of the

costs of maintaining the local network through monthly subscriber line charges,

now $2.60 for residential customers. That has reduced the long-distance companies' share

of local network expenses, which they pay in the form of access charges. Jack Grubman, a

telephone analyst with PaineWebber Inc., said AT&T's proposal targets business

customers because "that's where the competition is and where the better (profit) margins

are." In addition, it aims to keep the pressure on competition in international calling by

extending discounts to more customers. Grubman added that, if the company's rate

proposal is approved by the FCC, he would expect no further cuts in AT&T rates in 1988.

Wendell Lind, AT&T administrator of rates and tariffs, said the cuts for business and

residential customers are about the same because business cuts are offset by a proposed

$128 million increase in AT&T's private line rates.

AT&T is the only long-distance company whose rates are regulated by the FCC, but its

prices set the pace for the industry. Though AT&T is far larger than any of its

competitors, its market share has been declining since divestiture and the company now

says it serves about 75 percent of the market. In addition to the reductions in basic long-

distance rates, AT&T proposed cutting prices by 5% and 5.7% for its Pro-America calling

plans. The company also proposed to reduce prices by 2.9 percent for its 800 Service

customers and 4.4 percent for WATS customers, although it would increase the monthly

access line charges for those plans by $3.20 to reflect higher special access charges filed

by the local phone companies.

US Sprint Operator Service Traffic Increases 40%

ORLANDO, Fla. -- US Sprint Wednesday announced its long distance operators who began

saying, "May I help you?" just five months ago, are now handling 3« million calls a month.