Phreaking

Phreaking [ fri ː kɪŋ ] ( portmanteau word from engl. Phone, "Phone", and freak, " Fonder type" ) refers to a subculture that deals with the manipulation of telephone connections.

Originally enabled the methods of phreaking using special beeps a free use analog telephone lines (blue box; see also Red Box specifically for payphones ) and helped in addition to switch telephone conferences and to complicate the tracking of participants ( Aqua Box ) or music over telephone lines transmitted ( rock Box ). The unauthorized use of special, free phone numbers for telephone technicians, can be used to establish connections to any remote sites, and the like are also included in the techniques of phreaking.

History and Operation

The roots of phreaking goes back to 1844, when the first major telegraph networks were in operation; 30 years later, followed by the first telephone networks. Among the precursors of phreaking are tech-savvy operators of that time, who used their knowledge to use the power for their own purposes. The first practice of phreaking developed but only with advent of automatic exchanges of the telephone companies and peaked in the 1970s to the mid 1990s. They were no longer the operators subject, but were mainly used by end users inaugurated.

Already in 1957, discovered the blind Joybubbles by whistling at random that a telephone connection was interrupted with a whistle of 2600 hertz. It turned out that the switch is now assumed that the line is free. Used correctly, it was exactly this tone, which made it possible to make free calls. For this purpose, a free call was (eg local) terminated to (eg an expensive long distance call ) to choose for this particular type of call termination a new number to the old ( free ) tariff by the imitated sound - control signals.

Rota therefore the first methods of phreaking by sending sound signals emerged a an analogue -switched telephone connection. Such sound signals were used for communication between the exchanges between them. Since her transfer was not shielded from the telephone calls, the exchange could be dependent on an ordinary telephone connection as described for performing control functions. For this particular included the possibility of switching conference calls and make free phone calls.

One of the foundation stones for the phreaking scene put John T. Draper, also known as "Captain Crunch ". Joe Engressia pointed out to him that the pipe contained as a side dish from a cereal box of Cap'n Crunch brand generates said frequency of 2600 Hertz. With the help of friends succeeded Draper later to develop the methods of phone phreaking -; they recorded the sound on tape and were able to each phone " manipulate " what is today understood by the term of the Blue Boxing.

Known to the general public was phreaking since 1971 by numerous publications. Thus, the Yippie Abbie Hoffman published in his book " Steal This Book" and together with Al Bell in a newsletter called " Youth International Party Line" Drapers methods. In the same year a similar report in the glossy magazine " Esquire", and one year later appeared in the radical magazine " Ramparts ". As a result, the era of free phoning arose. Another publication in YIPL looked at the Redbox. The Redbox simulated the coin-operated public telephones. Thus, it was possible to make calls at no cost on a payphone. AT & T was powerless for years - to prohibit the phreaking a large part of the network infrastructure would need to be replaced throughout the country.

The justification often the argument was made that one exploiting only the excess capacity of an existing system and therefore was causing no significant damage. The Vietnam War gave the phone costs fraud within the U.S. have a political note: Since there a corresponding special tax was levied on the phone, you could understand their circumvention as civil disobedience in protest against the war.

The German telephone network did not have such vulnerabilities. In Germany, this possibility therefore made ​​use of on the use of free 0130 numbers (now 0800). Was allowed to connect to overseas peers in countries with susceptible network and sent after connection via the satellite known BlueBox tones over the line.

In the early 1980s, the first acoustic coupler were available at affordable prices on the international markets were open to new ways of manipulation of telephone networks for phreaking. Direct manipulation of the exchanges on your own PC from home became popular from that point on. Phreaking has now also often operated for the purpose of entering foreign computer. In this context, these technical circuits also served to complicate the tracing of such activities ( Aquabox ).

At the beginning of the 1990s, free phone calls in the mass increased ( probably by the corresponding computer - scenes on the Commodore Amiga computers and C64) such that countermeasures were taken. First, the sequence and duration of the signaling tones used was changed. Shortly thereafter came the first laws in place that enabled a legal action against such manipulations. Although it was previously illegal to physically change telephone networks or sabotage, but not the use of functions over frequencies.

First versions of phone cards (or card phones ) could be manipulated also to make free calls.

Magazines

  • The data extractor - the magazine of the Chaos Computer Club (CCC).
  • Phrack - a purely electronic magazine.
  • TAP and 2600 magazines are American Magazine.
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