Simon Dorfman wrote:
On 5/14/04 9:02 PM, "[EMAIL PROTECTED]" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Folks seem to have forgotten that the original hackers were hacking "stable and secure" traditional PBXs with captain crunch whistles!
Mitnik ran wild through PBX's and mobille networks.
Let's work to set up secure VOIP, but don't let anyone kid you about the golden days when telephones were secure!
(for extra points, why's the hacker mag called 2600?)
Extra points please: because 2600Hertz is the frequency of the tone required on the old phone system to get free calls. There was a whistle that came in a captain crunch box that happened to produce this exact frequency. Or something like that. I'm too young to know this stuff first hand... I suppose I could look it up...
Ah yes, google reveals this: http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/0,,sid9_gci211496,00.html -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2600 is the frequency in hertz (cycles per second) that AT&T formerly put as a steady signal on any long-distance telephone line that was not currently in use. Prior to widespread use of out-of-band signaling, AT&T used in-band signaling, meaning that signals about telephone connections were transmitted on the same line as the voice conversations. Since no signal at all on a line could indicate a pause in a voice conversation, some other way was needed for the phone company to know when a line was free for use. So AT&T put a steady 2600 hertz signal on all free lines. Knowing this, certain people developed a way to use a whistle or other device to generate a 2600 hertz tone on a line that was already in use, making it possible to call anywhere in the world on the line without anyone being charged. Cracking the phone system became a hobby for some in the mostly under-20 set who came to be known as phreaks.
In the 1960s, a breakfast cereal named Captain Crunch included a free premium: a small whistle that generated a 2600 hertz signal. By dialing a number and then blowing the whistle, you could fool the phone company into thinking the line was not being used while, in fact, you were now free to make a call to any destination in the world.
Today, long-distance companies use Signaling System 7, which puts all channel signals on a separate signaling channel, making it more difficult to break into the phone system. --------------------------------------------------------------------------
Simon in New Orleans
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