// Practical Phreaking // // by The Goatroper // // http://www.oldskoolphreak.com March, 2003 If you've seen the movie "Hackers", you already know a little about Phreaking. Y ou may have even followed up on the idea - the manipulation of phones. If you did so recentl y, you'll have read all about how phreaking is dead, red and blue boxing doesn't work, the ESS has fixed everything - and talking to an old Phreak would have told you that all of the text philes you find are useless and out-of-date. This one, however, is not. This tex t is certified correct, and everything in it works as of March 2003. Here I'll try to dispel the rumours and myths that cloud phreaking to this day, and give you some instructio ns on how to build, make, and do things that WORK. Firstly: The beige box. This one has the most philes phloating around out there about it because it's the quintessential Phreak tool. To understand how a beige works, yo u need to learn a little something about phones in general - they operate on electricity. When you talk, push a button, whatever, on a phone, it uses and manipulated electrical cu rrent in the phone line. A beige box is basicaly a mini phone that you can plug into a ph one line with alligator clips or into a regular wall jack. NoTone's Beige Box: Materials: 1 (One) Phone 1 (One) Wire cutters 1 (One) Electrical tape 1 (One) Lighter 1 (One) Standard phone cord (White or grey cord with phone plugs on each end) 1 (One) Handset cord (Bungee-cord between handset and cradle) 1 (One) razor or sharp knife First, you need to find a phone. Not any phone will do, but most will. I suggest checking thrift stores or secondhand stores rather than buying a new one, because it's ch eaper if you fuck up. You need to find a phone that's mostly contained in the handset, wh ich is the part you hold and talk into. It should at least have the buttons built into the handset, and if it has the switchhook (the hang-up button) it's even better. Try to find one that has a button or switch to go between "Tone" and "Pulse", but this isn't by any m eans

necessary. The phone has (or should have) a handset cord and a standard phone co rd. Now, disconnect the handset cord from both the cradle and the handset, and disconnect the standard cord from the phone. Cut the jack off of one end of the handset cord, a nd make sure to cut it as close to the jack as you can manage. Now cut the end off of th e standard cord, and make sure there is at least 5 inches of cord attached to the jack. You can throw away the other piece of the cord, or keep it for another Beige box. From now on, the standard jack with 5 inches of cord still attached will simply be called the "ph one jack", which is technicaly an RJ11 end. Now, use the razor or sharp knife to cut the ou ter jacket off of the handset end that you cut before. You should see either two wires (one red and one green) or four wires (one red, one green, one black, one yellow). If there a re two, ignore the next sentence. If there are four, snip off the yellow and black wires . Now go to the phone jack and do the same thing: Cut off the jacket, snip off the Y (yel low) and B (black) wires. Now use the lighter to burn the insulation off of the ends of all of the R (red) and G (Green) wires. You should have about 1 inch of exposed wire on the e nds. Now simply twist the two R (Red) wires together, and then twist the two G (Green) wi res together. Cover each twist with electrical tape, then secure the whole spliced m ess with enough Electrical tape so that you can tug on it and be sure it won't come apart . Congratulations! Now all you need to do is to plug it into a wall socket and see if you get a dialtone! If you do, remember that if you have a handset without the hangup bu tton, the phone is the same as being off the hook, and if you have one WITH the hangup but ton, it's off the hook as long as it isn't pressed down! If you don't have a dialtone, go check your wiring! Remember: Red to Red and Gre en to Green! And make sure all of the plugs are pushed in ALL THE WAY. Now that you have a beige box, what can you do with it? Well, the answer le: Just about anything you want. Start looking for places to plug it in. At Home there's an empty socket by every department phone. In other stores, there are plugs ere. The other places you can go with a beige box are Telephone Network Interface ("TNIs" for short) and Company Access Boxes ("CABs" for short). is simp Depot, everywh boxes,

TNIs are phone boxes which connect the phone plugs inside a house with the telep hone

company's lines. TNIs come in many shapes and sizes. Sometimes they're grey boxe s on the sides of peoples' houses, sometimes they're skinny green boxes on the sidewalk, and sometimes they're little foot-sized cubes near the edge of the lawn. They can ei ther be one to a house, or one to three houses. Walk around your neighborhood (by neighb orhood I mean a three mile radius around your house) and look out for boxes. Don't confus e them with Cable TV boxes, which are often marked "CA TV". CA TV boxes are usualy short and squat with a round top. TNIs open with either a 3/8 inch or 7/16 inch socket, and don't nee d to be unscrewed all the way. Anything from 1/8 to 1/2 turn usualy "unlocks" them. The cover either slides completely up and off, hinges open, or tilts back. There are phone jacks inside the TNI corresponding to the house or houses it is in front of, behind, o r attached to. If you plug your beige box into the phone jack, you'll be attached to that h ouse's phone line. Now on to CABs. A CAB, or Company Access Box, connects many TNIs together and fe eds them to another thing called a Switch or Router, which won't be talked about here. When looking for CABs, don't confuse them with transformers, which hum and are marked with a larg e lightning bolt and warnings in several languages. A CAB is usualy a large cabinet marked w ith a telephone company's logo and a "CAUTION - CALL xxx-xxxx BEFORE DIGGING", though some TNIs have this too. Some CABs are underground, beneath manholes marked with a telco l ogo. Either way, the result is the same. Plug into it the same way you would a TNI. These ar e less easily opened, and may require lockpicking or boltcutters or a proprietary key. When manipulating a CAB, always leave a note for the Telephone company employee if yo u damage anything, or if you have to break in or cut the lock. It's obviously not a good idea to leave a handwritten one, but explain exactly what you did (Cut the lock, spilled coffee into the terminals, etc.) and apologize for the inconvenience. If you did someth ing REALLY bad, like accidentaly pull the faceplate off, thus pulling out every jack and ma king a tangle of the entire area's phone lines, leave some money, and I mean AT LEAST a ten spot. The Phreak's Phield Kit: Everything you need for a night of phreaking ------------------1x Beige Box 1x Nail clippers / wire cutters - to cut wires 1x lighter - To strip wires 1x 3/8" Socket, 1x 7/16" Socket - to fit TNI and CAB bolts

1x 1x 1x 1x 1x 1x

socket screwdriver or socketwrench - to turn TNI and CAB bolts flashlight - It's dark at night needlenose pliers - to grab and hold stuff combination screwdriver OR Phillips head and 1x flat (slot) screwdriver notebook and 1x pen/pencil/sharpie to take notes and write numbers

Now, whether investigating in-store lines or phreaking from a TNI, it's a good i dea to know where you're calling from. That means calling something called an ANI (Automatic Number Identifier). This is also useful for payphones, but I'll address those later. An ANI basicaly "traces" your call and reads back the number you're calling from. Old f iles list "1-800-MY-ANI-IS", but this is no longer in service. Some that work as of March 2003 are: 1-800-532-7486 (Press 1 to continue in English) 1-800-444-3333 (Monday thru Saturday) 1-800-333-3333 You can also dial "0" for operator, and ask for the number you're calling from. If she asks why you need the number, simply say that you're blind and can't read the number your friend wrote on the phone. ("I'm visualy impaired and my friend isn't here to read the number to me.") Avoid using these numbers frequently, and by that I mean dialing it to impress y our friends or listen to the sexy prerecorded voice. "MY-ANI-IS" was closed due to excessive use. Aside from the technical info and instructions that I've given you, I can't do m uch else to help you. Phreaking is about creativity and finding uses yourself. Use the knowl edge you have now and will gain in useful and creative ways. "Phreaking is about getting one up on Mr. Telco. It's about knowing telephone systems better than the engineers who are paid to k now them. It's about using a service to its fullest extent. Knowledge and its pursuits are the number one goal of phreaking; crime and reven ge come second. " THE PHREAK'S CODE OF ETHICS 1. The Phreak does not cause mayhem and destruction to the lives and property of people in the name of fun. 2. The Phreak does not vandalize equipment or private property other than to gai

n access. 3. The Phreak 4. The Phreak r otherwise. 5. The Phreak 6. The Phreak

does not pursue knowledge for use as blackmail. does not LEAVE open the things he or she opens, whether by force o does not abuse knowledge gained through his or her activities. does not announce to the world his or her prowess. yourself after a phreak, don't fuck up peoples' phone t in to whack off or record stuff as blackmail. Don't fuc to your friends (or your enemies, or ANYONE, for that m do.

Basicaly: Clean up after o get a giggle, and don't listen k up CABs and TNIs, and don't brag atter) about the stuff that you

Stay clean and have phun! More text files on the way. Contact me at barrengod@punkass.com.