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251 lines
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<TITLE>The Answer Guy 32:
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phreaking
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phreaking
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<H4>"Linux Gazette...<I>making Linux just a little more fun!</I>"
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<H1 align="center"><A NAME="answer">
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<img src="../gx/dennis/qbubble.gif" alt="" border="0" align="middle">
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<a href="./index.html">The Answer Guy</a>
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<img src="../gx/dennis/bbubble.gif" alt="" border="0" align="middle">
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</A></H1>
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<BR>
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<H4 align="center">By James T. Dennis,
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<a href="mailto:linux-questions-only@ssc.com">linux-questions-only@ssc.com</a>
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<BR>Starshine Technical Services, <A HREF="http://www.starshine.org/">http://www.starshine.org/</A>
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<p><hr><p>
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<H3><img src="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" alt="(?)"width="50" height="28"
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align="left" border="0">phreaking </H3>
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<p><strong>From an00997 on 30 Jul 1998 </strong></p>
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<p><strong>Hi,I'm Dodo.I'm just finishing a course of computer operations and I
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would like to know about phreak,hacking...
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Can you tell me about it ???
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Tips or news ???
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</strong></p>
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<p><strong>Thanks...
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</strong></p>
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<blockquote><img src="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" height="28" width="50"
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alt="(!)" border="0"
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>My first thought is that this is some sort of troll
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(message intended to generate flames --- often forged
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to appear from an unsuspecting party so as to harass
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the apparent sender).
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</blockquote>
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<blockquote>That doesn't make sense in this case since getting
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one flame from "The Answer Guy" is hardly worth
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the trouble.
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</blockquote>
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<blockquote>There for I have to assume that you have chosen an
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unusually apt handle for yourself.
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</blockquote>
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<blockquote>So, you're finishing a course in computer operations.
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That's nice and productive. You should also considering
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taking a course in basic composition and grammar.
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</blockquote>
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<blockquote>(Hints: commas and periods are normally followed by
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spaces; question marks normally are used in sequences
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of one (the "triple question mark" is for emphasis);
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and you finish courses that are "in" or "on" topics,
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not "of" them).
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</blockquote>
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<blockquote>Normally I don't flame people on their spelling
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grammar, or punctuation. However, there doesn't
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seem to be much else to say to you.
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</blockquote>
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<blockquote>You want to know about phreaking and "hacking."
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The first think to know about phreaking (the study
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of practical phone fraud techniques) is that use of
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most of the techniques used by phreaks is illegal
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in just about any jurisdiction. In many places you
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can a) go to jail and b) insure that you can never
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work in the computer industry again by getting
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convicted of crimes involving telephone and computer
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fraud.
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</blockquote>
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<blockquote>The term "hacking" as applied to techniques for
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bypassing system security and gaining unauthorized
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access (or privileges on) them is highly controversial.
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It is accepted practice among computer <EM>enthusiasts</EM>
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to use the term "cracking" to discuss those activities
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and "hacking" to discuss the lawful and legitimate
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pursuit of their hobby.
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</blockquote>
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<blockquote>In this latter sense we call Linus, Alan Cox, and
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others "Kernel hackers."
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</blockquote>
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<blockquote>The media prefers to use the term "hacker" in the
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former sense. This is one of many reasons that
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"hackers" and "crackers" alike tend to be disgusted
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by the media. (As a regular contributor to LG
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I'm considered by some to be in "the media" and thus
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worthy of suspicion and disgust. Others have other
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opinions --- some of those are even less complimentary).
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</blockquote>
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<blockquote>I personally find the whole "phreak mystique" to be
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disgusting. There is a tendency to romanticize
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phreaks and crackers ---- to create a mythology of
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the "uberhacker" (a Nietsche-an reference that
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very few of them understand). That whole subculture
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is permeated with a smug "superiority" that tries to
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say: "we know something you don't."
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</blockquote>
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<blockquote>Of course, to them I'm a nobody. I've never cracked
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into anyone's system. I've never written any
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"warez" or "sploits" and I don't even know all the
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buzz words and jargon to participate in their
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conversations. I'm a "lam3r" that's not even good
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enough to be a "wannabe." In other words, I'm not
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an "3l33t d000d."
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</blockquote>
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<blockquote>It also tends to be quite juvenile. They seem to
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have an inordinate fondness for bad grammar and
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intentionally crazy spelling. I suppose it's part
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of the general affectation of 'tude --- the
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rebellious aversion to authority and convention,
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even the conventions of language itself. Trite!
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</blockquote>
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<blockquote>Now this is not to say that you have no business
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learning about phreaking and cracking. There's
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nothing wrong with learning about these things, nor
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even anything inherently wrong with experimentation
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and research. However, there is a major problem if
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you conduct your "research" on "subjects" without
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their informed consent.
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</blockquote>
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<blockquote>As a sysadmin's (and sometimes security) consultant I
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study these things as much as my time allows. Most
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of my information comes from mailing lists like bugtraq,
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and from web sites like rootshell and the l0pht. I'll
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let you find those on your own. You can also subscribe
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to 2600 and Phrack magazines (printed) to learn more.
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Phrack is also available online.
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</blockquote>
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<blockquote>All of the real "cracker" socializing seems to be done
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via IRC (Internet Relay Chat). This has tended to give
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the whole IRC system a bit of a bad rap. The popularity
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of IRC for this stems from at least two factors: it is
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immediate and interactive (instant gratification is
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very important in these circles), and it allows for
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direct client-to-client communications (DCC) which makes
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it easy for participants to exchange "warez" and other
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files. From what I gather the old-fashioned BBS is
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also still pretty popular in that crowd. These seem to
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be "by invitation only" --- so you'll have to curry
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favor and do some horse trading to get any phone
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numbers on any of them.
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</blockquote>
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<blockquote>Naturally it is important for these crackers and phreakers
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to maintain their elite status by locking out the lamers
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and wannabes. So anything published about them is wrong,
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or will be right after they read it.
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</blockquote>
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<blockquote>I suspect that this message by itself will probably get
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me flamed and possibly attract some cracks on my systems
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(d00dz, don't bother; it's not sporting --- I don't do
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anything special to protect my servers, honest! My
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web and ftp servers are just virtual hosts on some poor
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ISP, no challenge at all).
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</blockquote>
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<blockquote>Meanwhile my best advice to you, Dodo, is to cut your
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moniker in half and just "do" something constructive.
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If you want to make a serious study of "cracking" and
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"phreaking" than the Linux Gazette Answer Guy is a
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pretty lame place to start. In short: get a life!
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</blockquote>
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<!-- end body -->
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<!--startcut ======================================================= -->
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<P> <hr> <P>
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<H5 align="center"><a href="http://www.linuxgazette.com/copying.html"
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>Copyright ©</a> 1998, James T. Dennis <BR>
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Published in <I>Linux Gazette</I> Issue 32 September 1998</H5>
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<td><A HREF="tag_phreak.html">phreak</A>
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<td><A HREF="tag_abandon.html">abandon</A>
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