TELECOM Digest Mon, 7 Feb 94 07:31:00 CST Volume 14 : Issue 65
Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson
CERT Warning: Corrupted Passwords (Ben Delisle)
Guard Your Royal Database (Hackers Still With Us) (Donald E. Kimberlin)
A Small Town in Wyoming (John Sullivan)
Ordering 56Kb Leased Line (Chris Ambler)
Any LD Carriers With Cellular Plans? (Dave Goldblatt)
Re: Phone Number History (Daryl R. Gibson)
Re: Phone Number History (Dave Niebuhr)
Re: Phone Number History (Carl Moore)
Re: Phone Number History (Jay Hennigan)
Re: Phone Number History (David A. Kaye)
Re: The Right Number, But Not *Quite* Right ... (J.S. Wylie)
Re: The Right Number, But Not *Quite* Right ... (
[email protected])
Re: The Right Number, But Not *Quite* Right ... (Carl Moore)
Re: The Right Number, But Not *Quite* Right ... (Jerry Natowitz)
Re: Wiretapping Problems (Michael D. Griffin)
Re: Wiretapping Problems (Gary Breuckman)
Re: Caller ID in Software (Stuart Whitmore)
Re: New York Telephone Issuing "New" Rotary Phones (
[email protected])
TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not
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----------------------------------------------------------------------
From:
[email protected] (Ben Delisle)
Subject: CERT Warning: Corrupted Passwords.
Organization: Corner Core Dump Cafe
Date: Sun, 6 Feb 1994 20:49:42 GMT
Internet Warning. Your passwords may have been compromised.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If you remotely use Telnet, Ftp, or Rlogin, ect. Read This Now.
According to an advisiory from CERT (see comp.security.announce)
as well as articles in several national newspapers -- {Seattle Times,
NY Times, Washington Post}, others -- there is a group(s) of hackers
on the Internet with 'sniffers' that are grabbing passwords and
account information on its way to it's final destinations. The
sniffers are looking for password information as you remotely FTP,
Telnet rsh, rlogin, or other related functions. It is possible for
them to attatch a sniffer to your system; if they can get in, they will
use your system to grab more passwords. The sniffers are programs
placed in systems, computers, routers that may be in the path between
your site and the remote site.
**> If you see strange things in your account contact your
system administrator at once. <**
According to published reports, several tens-of-thousands of passwords
may have been captured.
This is affecting much of the Internet. I have no other details.
[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: The same report was in all the papers
here Sunday morning. Everyone is urged to change their password(s)
immediatly, and it really would not hurt to get into the habit of
changing your password at least every two or three months. Readers
may recall a few years ago when the thing with Len Rose came up (he
was an active Usenet participant / Internet denizen who was sent to
the penitentiary [I don't know how penitent he became if at all, but
that is another matter] for his hacking activities), the scheme then
involved the sneaky collection of passwords by tampering with the
Unix program 'su' (or 'superuser') and propogating a patch to 'su'
which would collect the passwords presented by users.
So, it looks like the password and account sneak thieves are hard
at work once again ... let's get those passwords changed. PAT]
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 6 Feb 94 18:07 EST
From: Donald E. Kimberlin <
[email protected]>
Subject: Guard Your Royal Database (Hackers Still With Us)
COMPUTER VANDALS SAY THEY GOT DRUNK, TRIED TO RING UP QUEEN
(Feb. 3) A couple of British computerists have told a London TV
station they gained access to British Telecom's secret phone files and
even tried to make drunken phone calls to Queen Elizabeth II.
The two -- aged 23 and 16, who agreed to appear on a Channel Four
television documentary called "Walk On The Wild Side" on the grounds
they would not be identified -- said they called the queen at
Buckingham Palace several times but that servants answered the phone.
One of the men, who was from southeast England, said the Buckingham
Palace calls eventually were traced by authorities, adding, "The first
time I was ever traced was from Buckingham Palace when I found the
direct dial-up for Buckingham Palace. And I had too much to drink one
night and thought I'd have a chat with the queen but it didn't go down
too well. That was my first call that was ever traced."
United Press International, reporting on the broadcast, said the
pair also showed the film makers, from the independent television
company Big Star In A Wee Picture, "how to hack into the U.S. military
system and to steal from credit card companies."
Said the wire service, "They said they only stole from the credit
companies when they needed a new piece of computer equipment. They
also claimed to have made free use of gaps in the telephone system to
make free international calls."
[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: There was an instance several years ago of
obscene calls made to Queen Elizabeth II which were traced to an interna-
tional origin here in the United States. It took a cooperative effort
between British Telecom, AT&T, and Illinois Bell to catch him, but they
finally did. The story has been here in the Digest in the past. PAT]
------------------------------
From:
[email protected] (John Sullivan)
Date: Sun, 6 Feb 94 14:45:49 PST
Subject: A Small Town in Wyoming
While driving across South Dakota and Wyoming last fall, there wasn't
much choice of radio stations to listen to. At one point I was near
Buffalo, Wyoming, tuned to FM 92.7, which at the time was giving local
small-town news. This included notice that someone had found a dog.
The owner was asked to "call us [the radio station] at 5126".
Could it be that in this town, four-digit dialing is possible? Or
does everyone just know what the exchange is? (The phone book at the
next gas station showed Buffalo as 684, I think.)
John Sullivan
[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Although four digit dialing might still
be possible, it is unlikely. Probably everyone in town gives their number
out that way, with the exchange assumed. Not only is everyone in town on
the same exchange, but if the place is really small, all the numbers may
possibly begin with '5' as well! I've seen that in a few cases; all the
listings fit on two or three pages as a supplement to some other (larger)
phone book, with the first *four* (or sometimes five!) digits all the
same and only the last three digits varying. Small town, America! Very
small town ... PAT]
------------------------------
From:
[email protected] (Chris Ambler - Fubar)
Subject: Ordering 56Kb Leased Line
Organization: The Phishtank
Date: Mon, 07 Feb 1994 07:13:41 GMT
I find I need to order a leased line from my premesis in San Luis
Obispo, CA (805-782 or 805-781) to either San Jose, CA (408-241),
Culver City (310-842) or Irvine (714-708).
Who do I call? AT&T? MCI? Sprint? Are there others that can do this?
This is for simple Internet access; it'll be going to a service
provider who will be putting a CSU/DSU & router on both ends.
Suggestions, bids, phone numbers, etc, are needed. Thanks!
++Christopher(); // All original text is strictly the _opinion_ of the poster
[email protected] /
[email protected]
Christopher J. Ambler, Author, FSUUCP 1.42, FSVMP 1.0, UUPlus Utilities
Erpnotes: The Ozric Tentacles Mailing List:
[email protected]
------------------------------
From:
[email protected] (Dave Goldblatt)
Subject: Any LD Carriers With Cellular Plans?
Date: 07 Feb 1994 03:59:12 GMT
Organization: Locus Computing Corporation, Burlington MA
Reply-To:
[email protected]
Having recently broken down and picked up a cellular phone, I decided
to determine what the delta was between using it and my home phone
service was. Cellular One / Boston has a program which waives airtime
charges at night, so it basically comes down to what the LD carriers
will charge me. (I'm not too worried about local calls)
Since I have AT&T as my primary on my home lines, I figured I'd give
them a shot. As I've got ROA, I called that group to see if they had
any ideas about there being any discount programs available on
"residential" cellular.
I received the telephonic equivalent of a blank look, followed by a
lengthy chain of runarounds at AT&T, even to groups that didn't deal
with long distance. ("Thought of getting pissed at us? You will.")
While I'm not particularly hopeful, I'm curious if anyone knows if any
of the major carriers offer discounts to cellular customers.
Thanks!
Dave Goldblatt (
[email protected])
Locus Computing Corporation
Burlington, MA (617) 229-4980
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 07 Feb 1994 00:27:01 MST
From: Daryl R. Gibson <
[email protected]>
Subject: Re: Phone Number History
Pat, I've enjoyed your phone history notes ... I remember taking a
tour (as a kid) around the local CO/switchboard, and watching the
operators plugging in the lines. One interesting note about that small
town switchboard was that the switchboard summoned the local police
and fire departments. When a call came in for the fire department, the
operator would ring five "fire phones" at volunteer firemen's homes,
until someone answered, when she'd put the caller through. If she
couldn't get a fireman, she'd keep ringing other phones until she got
one. Before she rang the fire phone, though, she'd throw a switch that
would start a siren to bring all the volunteer firemen, (and most of
the town, of course) to the fire station.
To summon the police, she'd take down the information and hit a switch
that lit a light hanging over main street ... the local cops would see
the light, presumably, while driving down the street, and would then
call in and find out what was up ... when they changed to a dial
system, they wired the cop phone to that same switch, somehow, so when
you rang the phone number, it would turn on the light and activate
this huge old answering machine.
Our phone number was 200, and my father's work number was "96." When
they went to direct dialing, he had a sign painter come over and paint
over the number on the sign in front of the shop. I notice that the
new paint has chipped off, though after 30 years, so it's gone back to
"phone 96" on the sign ...
Daryl
[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: If you ride the elevated train in Chicago
there is a point along the trip where a building to the west of the
tracks has a large, very faded sign advertising some local merchant (of
fifty years ago) and his phone number 'Edgewater 537'. The use of a flashing
strobe light to announce a phone call is common enough. There is a
taxicab stand near one of the elevated train stations here where idle cabs
will park to wait for passengers. A phone is in a weather-proof box mounted
on the wall and an incoming call to that number causes a little strobe
light on the top to flash. Any cab driver parked along there who sees it
is invited to go over and answer the phone and get a pickup order. PAT]
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 7 Feb 94 07:21:33 EST
From:
[email protected] (Dave Niebuhr)
Subject: Re: Phone Number History
Re: The discussion about prefix names:
My exchange prefix is known ATlantic. 516-281-XXXX is still referred
to as ATlantic in the phone books yet none of the older ones using the
516-28x designation state anything about ATlantic.
Dave Niebuhr Internet:
[email protected] (preferred)
[email protected] / Bitnet: niebuhr@bnl
Senior Technical Specialist, Scientific Computing Facility
Brookhaven National Laboratory Upton, NY 11973 (516)-282-3093
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 7 Feb 94 06:58:38 EST
From: Carl Moore <
[email protected]>
Subject: Re: Phone Number History
No, PENnsylvania becomes 736, not 636 !
------------------------------
From:
[email protected] (Jay Hennigan)
Subject: Re: Phone Number History
Date: 6 Feb 1994 22:18:35 -0800
Organization: Regional Access Information Network (RAIN)
This is a fascinating thread on the evolution of numbering plans.
Does anyone remember phone numbers with a letter suffix? In
Riverside, CA (Pacific Telephone) the manual numbers for party-line
service had a letter at the end of the number. My parents' house was
4699J. The letter was the Morse Code symbol for the ringing cadence.
"J" was one short and three longs. They cut to crossbar (one of the
first crossbar exchanges, I believe) around 1955 or 56. The numbering
plan was 2-5, but could just as easily have been 3-4, as the only
exchange was OVerland 3-xxxx which equates to OVErland-xxxx.
Jay Hennigan
[email protected] Santa Barbara CA
[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I think the party line suffixes in most
places were -J, -M -R and -W. I never had a party line, but a friend of
mine did. Do party lines still exist anywhere or are they all discontinued
by now? PAT]
------------------------------
From:
[email protected] (David A. Kaye)
Subject: Re: Phone Number History
Date: 6 Feb 1994 19:30:45 -0800
Organization: CRL Dialup Internet Access (415) 705-6060 [login: guest]
[email protected] wrote:
> Exchanges never had conflicting names because telephone companies
> always had to name the building containing the exchange. In most
> cases, the town name WAS the exchange name ...
I think there was a tendency to create CO names which didn't conflict
with CO names in other cities, too. In the SF Bay Area we had lots of
CO names which had nothing to do with their towns, neighborhoods, or
local companies.
However, we did have TEmplebar in Oakland, which was named after the
Temple Bar where telco employees hung out.
We had BAyview in SF, but it was more than five miles from the Bayview
neighborhood. We never had a MUrray Hill (68) as in New York, but we
did have a MUlberry. Oakland had an OLympic, while Fremont, 15 miles
to the south had an OLiver. The Bay Area suffered through many other
contortions which didn't mean anything to us, such as TWinoaks,
THornwall, GReenleaf, HEmlock, WAbash, WYman, BEacon, BRowning,
JEfferson, ELgin, KEllogg, and HIgate. I haven't seen any of these
combinations in other cities, so I can only assume that when an
operaor in New York or Chicago was asked to call "TWinoaks 2000" s/he
knew to call a number in Oakland, California.
[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: There were some exchange names which seemed
to be common everywhere, while others were unique to some community. Many
places had PLAza, and we had a WABash here in Chicago. But some we had here
I have never heard of in other places: GRAceland, MULberry, TUXedo,
INTerocean, VICtory, EDGewater and IRVing are a few which come to mind. PAT]
------------------------------
From:
[email protected]
Subject: Re: The Right Number, But Not *Quite* Right ...
Date: Sun, 6 Feb 94 19:10:45 -0500
Organization: Delphi (
[email protected] email, 800-695-4005 voice)
I feel that the proper solution is for Directory Assistance always to
quote the ten digit number.
It IS NOT reasonable to assume that callers will know of the latest
NPA splits. Therefore the companies have an obligation to do everything
to assist the poor caller.
It IS reasonable to assume that the caller has learned the basics of
the phone system. Here, the only OBLIGATION is to provide clear instruc-
tions in the telephone directory.
However, they could eliminate the confusion for those who don't/won't
learn by accepting 1+ and 0+ ten digits for ALL calls, not just long
distance ones. I've tried this on several 215-land switches and it
works just fine. It didn't when I tried it a number of years ago.
Things do get better.
Please understand, I'm not against helping the less fortunate, but
when it is done at the expense of those who are willing to use their
brains, then I get upset.
------------------------------
From:
[email protected] (HornUser)
Subject: Re: The Right Number, But Not *Quite* Right ...
Date: 7 Feb 1994 03:11:58 GMT
Organization: University of Maryland College Park
In article <
[email protected]> Paul Robinson <
[email protected]>
writes:
> Then we discovered the problem. Davis is in the *916* areacode, *NOT*
> in 707. And the funny thing was, living in the Washington, DC area,
> I'm used to hearing the local DA recording give the area code before a
> number. Later tonight, in repeating the experiment, I called 707
> information. The first Directory Assistance operator informed me that
> the area code for Davis is 916, and to dial 916-555-1212 to get
> Directory Assistance there. The second call to 707 DA gave me the
> 752-1011 number without mentioning the area code.
> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: The way it works is that a lot of DA
> Bureaus are handled from the same location by the same operators and
> they are *supposed* to pay attention to what lines the incoming calls
> arrive on, but they do not always do that. You'd think it would be
> just as simple to ignore the identity of the incoming trunk and just
> always recite the response with an area code on the front to avoid
> this kind of confusion, but the answer to that is that since most
> people do in fact call the correct area code (plus 555-1212) to obtain
> the desired number, the recital of the area code at the start of the
> number would confuse people (the local people) into thinking *they*
> had to dial the area code first also. PAT]
Why can't the computers automatically give out the correct area codes
when the caller dialed the incorrect area code? Surely it is not
impossible for someone who calls 707 555-1212 to get a recording that
says 916 nnn-nnnn whenever the COMPUTER detects that the caller called
707 DA?
[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I think in some places the DA clerk sees
the correct number on a terminal screen and moves the cursor to that spot
for the computer to begin vocalizing what is at the cursor, and it does
not include an area code. I think it can be done to include the area code
(if different) provided the operator tells the system it is to be added,
but generally they assume the caller is using the right number to get into
the DA system. PAT]
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 6 Feb 94 13:13:59 EST
From: Carl Moore <
[email protected]>
Subject: Re: The Right Number, But Not *Quite* Right ...
The editor's note mentions confusion caused by giving out the area
code with all number referrals. Was that ever a problem in the DC
area? (By the way, I believe the DC area allows any direct-dialed
call in country code 1 to go as 1 + NPA + 7D -- even when 7D, for a
local call within an area code, is available.)
But yes, the area code needs to be given out when it is different from
the area code used by the caller. I had a case where I called
Maryland directory assistance (301 area before the 410 split) and was
given a number in Washington DC without the 202 area code. (I was
talking to a person at the other end, so I said it should have been
given out with the area code.)
------------------------------
From:
[email protected] (Jerry Natowitz)
Subject: Re: The Right Number, But Not *Quite* Right ...
Organization: Guest of Stephen Dyer Consulting
Date: Sun, 7 Feb 1994 18:27:23 GMT
Organization: Guest of Stephen Dyer Consulting
Related to DI operators making sure you have the correct area code: I
live in Brookline Massachusetts, which my NJ accent oftens pronounces
as Brooklyn. One day I call the local DI for a number in Brookline.
The operator informs me that Brooklyn in in AC 718.
Jerry Natowitz -
[email protected]
[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: That is a chronic problem all over the USA
as operators in the south try to figure out what the northerners are
saying, and vice-versa. PAT]
------------------------------
From:
[email protected] (Michael D. Griffin)
Subject: Re: Wiretapping Problems
Date: 6 Feb 1994 16:17:55 GMT
Organization: Express Access Online Communications, Greenbelt, MD USA
Pawel Dobrowolski (
[email protected]) wrote:
>> There is also a device (TDR, time-domain-
>> reflectometer) that will bounce a signal down the line and give you a
>> visual indication of bridge taps or irregularities in impedance along
>> the circuit. You can usually see any splice or terminal box.
> Anyone care to answer the following questions?
> - how much tech. knowledge do I need to use it?
Some :-), TDR's provide a o'scope like trace of the line. Thus it
must be interpreted and the user must know what each *glitch* or
*event indication* indicates. The real problem is that if you have no
previous record of what the line looked like before the *tap* was
placed, how can you distinguish between a *normal* event and an
*added* one.
> -how to operate it?
This is not really the problem. See above.
> -how much does it cost?
Anywhere from about $3,000 to about $8,000, depends on range and
resolution desired.
> -where to get it?
Tektronix and Riser-Bond (and others) sell them. You can also rent
them at about 10% of purchase price/month.
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 7 Feb 1994 08:49:27 GMT
From:
[email protected] (Gary Breuckman)
Subject: Re: Wiretapping Problems
In article <
[email protected]> is written:
> Anyone care to answer the following questions?
> -how much tech. knowledge do I need to use it?
> -how to operate it?
> -how much does it cost?
> -where to get it?
OK, an example ...
Tektronix 1503C metallic cable tester.
Quoting TEK DIRECT: "The 1503C metallic cable tester will relentlessly
hunt down problems in LANs, WANs, phone lines and CATV metworks. From
10 inches to 50,000 ft, the powerful 1503C can pinpoint a fault with lethal
accuracy in seconds with pulse widths from 2 to 1000 ns. And its optional
YT-1 chart recorder lets you document the event for the troops back home.
$4,950.00, add $950 for the chart recorder option."
The chart produced, or screen image, is an oscilloscope trace with a
horizontal line representing distance. Any impedance change, bridge
tap, terminal block (depending on how good and seamless the block is),
change in wire type, shows up as 'squiggles' on the line.
You should probably talk with a Tektronic sales engineer regarding
your specific application. Other manufacturers, HP, etc., have
similar equipment.
[email protected]
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 07 Feb 1994 04:43:05 -0800
From:
[email protected] (Rattlesnake Stu)
Subject: Re: Caller ID in Software
Organization: Central Washington University
[email protected] wrote:
> 5. Data handshake and shell to external program
Ah, yes, but ZFAX doesn't tell that external program anything relevant
(e.g., COM port, connected speed, error correction status...). I wish
it did! If it did that, and if it swapped itself to XMS and only left
a few K active in conventional memory, I'd use it for a front-end to a
BBS. (A front end that can handle voice mail, faxback, etc. -- that's
my idea of COOL software!)
-stuart
[email protected]
------------------------------
From:
[email protected]
Subject: Re: New York Telephone Issuing "New" Rotary Phones
Date: 6 Feb 1994 23:48:36 GMT
Organization: The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas
In article <
[email protected]> Jerry Leichter <leichter@
lrw.com> writes:
> You know, some of the ancient Greeks would have loved this mailing
> list (and the net general). It's populated by people who, like them,
> believe that sheer logic is enough to understand the world -- you don't
> need any "dirty" observation.
> "Everyone knows" (by simple reasoning) that replacing touchtone phones
> with rotary phones won't help because "the bad guys" will just go to
> Radio Shack and buy tone dialers. "Everyone knows" (by simple
> reasoning) that this whole approach just won't do anything.
This recurring thread has this simple middle class suburbanite
confused and baffled. Why does crippling the phone system cripple the
drug trade? I have applied sheer logic to the problem and am unable
to fathom any reason for the drug trade to be particularly dependent
on telecommunication infrastructure.
Jerry Leichter may ridicule me, if he must, but I prefer to ask here
rather than do "'dirty" observation." I am hopeful that he will
understand. ;-)
What are the mechanics of the trade that are particularly dependent on
telecommunication infrastructure? Pagers, cell tels, and pay phones
receive frequent mention in this forum and in the popular press as
REALLY IMPORTANT drug trade infrastructure, but I cannot imagine why.
Is it some way to minimize the legal risk? Do they have a tele-
clientele? Is it some way to stay ahead of the street cops? Do
they actually have a rigid hierarchical structure with formal command
and control procedures? Are call records useless to law enforcement
agencies? Baffled but enquiring minds want to know.
My spouse works in a public school district and I have always
suspected that the real reason educators want to ban pagers and the
like is that since educators are in a telecom black hole during the
day the students must be forced to join them.
[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Basically, using the phone is a way for
drug dealers to make contacts at a safe, discreet distance. Any why does
any business have telephone service? Why do pizza delivery places have
phone service? The answer would seem to me to be for the convenience of
thieir customers in placing orders. So this convenience factor, plus the
obvious inability of drug dealers to accept straight walk-up traffic
without knowing *who* they are dealing with make the telephone an ideal
tool of the trade. You take away the convenience and the ability to
hide which the telephone affords its users, and it puts a crimp in the
drug dealer's business, which is all most neighborhood people are asking
for. The theory seems to be the sales will never stop, but if the phones
around here are hard to use, they'll go somewhere else. It seems to
work, probably because drug dealers don't usually keep up on developments
in telecom. They don't patronize Radio Shack and they apparently do not
read this Digest! :) It works, say the neighborhood people. PAT]
------------------------------
End of TELECOM Digest V14 #65
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