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THE HISTORY OF THE PHREAK
(well, brief anyway)
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DISCLAIMER
The information contained in this article is neither to condone, nor
explain illigal use of the phone system. Knowledge is power, but
knowledge only goes so far with Bubba, your homosexual cellmate.
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Basically, the Fone Phreak has been around for years, and really got big
during the 70's, with the evolution of something called the little "blue
box". Basically, the blue box was a small electronic box that generated
tones that allowed phreakes to make illigal fone callls from ones home,
office, etc. The box generated a tone of 2600 khz, which would connect
someone free of charge with a trunk that, eventually, allowed them to
call anywhere, for any legnth of time, for completely phree.
Allthough, as phreak technology increased, so did fone security, and
since about 1989, in most major areas of the united states, the blue
box no longer works.
But the blue box was not the only box around. Boxes neccisairily
wern't illigal however, from boxes that warned that someone was using
the modem, to tone dialers. Other boxes, such as the beige box, were
nothing more that a lineman's handset (that allowed one to tap-in to
an outside line, and make phone calls, or listin in on private
conversations.)
Another box that was really popular was the infamous "black-box". In
breif, the black box was put on ones phone, and whom ever called that
with the box would not be charged for there long distance to that party.
The unit worked like this. When you make a phone call, threre is a lower
amount of voltage when teh fone rings, and then it raises when it is answered.
The black box maintains the voltage, even when the fone is answered, the
voltage remains the same, so the operator thinks the phone is still ringing
while conversation occurs.
Unfortunatly (woops, did i say that!) the black boxx meet it's technical
demise with the blue box.
So, what's left?
The red box. Basically, what this box does, as did the blue box, is generate
tones. But these tones simulate the entering of coins into a payfone. 1
tone for a nickle, one for a dime, and one for a quarter. By holding
the box to the phone, and pressing a button, when the recording requests
the entering of 2.35 or whatever, each tone equals the entering of a
coin. Thus, free long distance.
The red box still works, in some areas. In major metropolitan areas,
it no longer works, due to updated software.
So what's left? Carding, nearly shunned by most phreaks, is becoming very p
popular. It just involves the stealing of ones phone card, and using
the number to make phone calls. But with increasingly "personal" phone
numbers (homephone + 4 digits) fraud is becoming more rare.
83 responses total.
I am an admitted phone phreak, but i don't see how it's fraudulant :) it's about the same thing as grabbing a trolley as it starts off and getting a free ride. beige-boxing, black-boxing, that's all it is. red-boxing, yeah that's phraud, but it's also rare. sheesh. us phreeks... all we get is bad names... :)
You're wrong about blue boxing, you know, it will still work anywhere Country Direct numbers (which are 1-800's). Dial, for example, Peru Direct, (coz they're still xbar5) and before the operator answers seize the trunk in that old fashioned way we all love so well. This is how we in Europe phreak e
ahem, to continue, that is how we in Europe phreak calls to bbs's in the States, and vice-versa
Ok this is gonna sound really lame, but is there _any_ UK or Europe guy who would mind showing me around the phreaking world - you can read all the FAQ's and ezines you like but until you try it you are still a novice. I have only ever done carding once, and that was too damn hot for me, but blue boxing interests me greatly. Email me on here and let me have a phone number so we can talk or write each other. I'm not stupid, I don't intend to go blagging about this and I learn quick, but like all good activities, you need someone to start you off... = RiCH =
anyone responding to that request would not likely have enough smarts to wear shoes in the snow...
Next someome will be asking for an "pyrotechnics/ammunitions" mentor so that can learn to take the local McDonalds hostage.
actually i am in need of employment...
now linked to the accordion conference. by humdog. so There.
Okay, so if nobody can help novice phreakers out, can you recommend some good places to learn...(example books, movies, mags)? Becasue I need a blue box, I really have no idea how to make one but I would like to learn. So, where can I learn this?
you do read 2600 don't you?
The best place to start would be with a book that has a title much like the following (imaginary titile): Technical specifications for trunk switch, With Schematics". That's probably the long way, but also the most interesting.
Alas poor peacefrog lives in the howling wilderness (actually I wish I lived in the howling wilderness too) so he doesn't have access to 2600. What he might want to do is telnet to etext.archives.umich.edu and download some back copies of phrack. Froggy you will also need gnuzip to uncompress them. Also download in bianary and uncompress in ascii.
What's really terrifying about #12 is that I actually understood a lot of it. What hath God wrought?
Thanks guys, Look slike I'll have to take the phrack route. And I'll check out the schematic books.
when jargon starts making sense, it means you are one of US. you have been assimilated. it cannot be undone. this can be quite terrifying. you learn to live with it.
Resistance futile?
quite. You're just SOL now... :)
RESISTANCE IS FEUDAL! Or, wait. Was that it?
resistance is fecal?
Nephi, you're taking this conversation into the toilet.
Where it belongs.
you see there why we love our Thanne. oh thanne did you know that thanne is middle english for than. i was reading my chaucer last night and there you were in the middle of the consolations of philosophy: Thanne didde
Actually, that was me. I'm a lot older than I look.
Forunately or unforunately depending on which side you're on in the debate on phreaking, the most amazing is yet to come. That I know of, there isn't much coordinated effort in the learning of, and dissemination of information on the switches themselves. Large computers in their own right, they stand a good chance of being completely subverted, and then god knows what will happen... For a while now, I've thought of this as the "clear box"; hidden inside the machine, doing what its creators intended. The future will probably be interesting.
hey, anybody with some PBX's mail me-- i have ALL the phreak programs..all of them... you wat it..u got it..mail me.. ESPECIALLY If You werk for Ma Bell!
There's a pretty extensive article on how to program switches in the Summer 1993 issue of 2600. Way over my head...
Phreak? Vot iz dis phreak thang?
Ma bell has got the Ill communication you know.
So sad this conf. died.... IF you're a phreak, get in touch. I'm in the UK but will happily box for a phreaky chat... Occasional Defon Voicebridger as Genaro of -=PHILA)=- homepage : http://www.phila.geek.org.uk/phila mine :http://www.cyberspace.org/~genaro
http://www.river.org check out my homepage. and we're doing an accordion home pag tooo!
River isn't bust yet? Well golly, good for them.
You left too?
What in the world are you using for a background pattern? (Notice how I skip the content and go right to the fluff)
no world, just ascii dust.
well, I see that this has gone stale, but to liven things up: yeah, phreakers still exist. We still reprogram switched, and we still got trouble cards on our lines :) I am planning a teleconf in the immediate future, with phreaks from Israel, Germany, Bosnia, Russia, Chicago, and New York participating. If you are intersted, please say "hi." I *will not have you* on the conf if you do not understand the basic concepts in phreaking, so don't ask to be on it if you have never done anything blatantly phreakish. Learn some shit first. I want to make sure that I can say "hey, check out this AT&T SCCS i just setup a sys account on... the number is..." without worrying that it is gonna be dead in like 30 minutes, so if you can't hack together some code, if you don't know what DTMF means, if you know that you can't "decrypt" a unix passwd file as such, try doing a netsearch for hacking. You might learn something... Anyways, if interested drop me a line... ,
Well, as a clueless non-phreak I'll stay out of this one...
ditto, but it sounds interesting. So, agent86...do you have any starter courses that you could offer? <font needs a phreaker shit pile to start digging in>
Yeah. Try Phrack, TAP, and issues of 2600 prior to 1994. Or just call me, and I will "learn ya'" ;) 483-6023. Or stop by my house some time -- its only like 4 blocks away, I think.
Funny kind of omnipresence...wherever you go, he's four blocks away.
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