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D a m a g e , I N C .| | | | | | | |___ | | | | | \_ _/ | | |__/
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N e w s l e t t e r |__|__|___\ |_______|_____|_____|___\ |__|__|___\ |__|
Volume 2, Issue #16
(Released: 07/31/99)
"In Chaos and Madness."
http://surf.to/damage_inc
damage_inc@disinfo.net
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
C O N T E N T S :
þ INTRODUCTION - An Introduction to the Damage, INC. Newsletter.
þ ADVISORIES - The structure of BCE explained.
¯ Search String: {ADVISORIES}
þ BIG BROTHER BASHING - Bill C-3 makes the Kanadian DNA Bank a reality.
¯ Search String: {BIG BROTHER}
þ BLACKENED'S TIP OF THE MONTH - Not available in this issue.
¯ Search String: {BLACKENED}
þ BREAKER'S REVIEWS - Canadian H/P Sites.
¯ Search String: {REVIEWS}
þ CONSPIRACIES AND COVERUPS - What really happened at Waco in 1993.
¯ Search String: {COVERUPS}
þ CROSSED WIRES - An Advertisement for Blackzine.
¯ Search String: {WIRES}
þ H/P INFORMATION - TELUS articles and Nortel's Millennium Desktop payphones.
¯ Search String: {H/P}
þ INTERVIEWS AND INTERROGATIONS - Interviews of RedBoxChiliPepper & Logic Box.
¯ Search String: {INTERVIEWS}
þ NEWS FROM THE TRENCHES - Damage, INC. releases updates and news.
¯ Search String: {NEWS}
þ OBJECTIVE OPINIONS - Hacktivism: The individual's tool against oppression.
¯ Search String: {OPINIONS}
þ REPORTS FROM THE FRONT - An assortment of interesting articles.
¯ Search String: {REPORTS}
þ THOUGHTS, POEMS AND CREATIVE WRITING - Chaos and Madness.
¯ Search String: {WRITING}
þ CLOSING COMMENTS - BLACKENED's chaotic closing comments.
¯ Search String: {CLOSING}
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
< DISCLAIMER >
All articles contained in the Damage, INC. Newsletter are for informational
purposes only. Damage, INC. is not responsible for how any of the information
presented is used. It is not intended to be a manual with instructions to be
followed. We won't be held responsible for any damages caused, illegal acts
committed etc. by our readers. If/how you use the information given is entirely
up to you.
< COPYRIGHT NOTICE >
All articles and source code contained within this file are (C) Copyright by
Damage, INC. (unless stated otherwise). No part of this work can be modified,
reproduced or changed in any way without the expressed written consent of
Damage, INC. That means, electronically or otherwise, in part or in whole
this file must not be altered. It cannot be included with any other releases.
You cannot claim that you wrote it, or alter any articles and source code that
has been written and Copyrighted by us. Also, do *not* distribute any
Damage, INC. releases in "packages" with other text files or utilities. They
must only be distributed alone in their present, original form. You are
permitted to read and distribute the Damage, INC. Newsletter freely to quality
h/p boards only.
Copyright 1999 by Damage, INC.
All Rights Reserved.
_______________________________________________________________________________
INTRODUCTION:
Early in May, I wrote a poem entitled "Chaos and Madness" which has been
included in this issue. It was written while I was suffering from an extreme
case of fever. Basically, it describes my state of mind during that episode
of illness. Since it was such an intense, memorable experience I decided that
it would be a unique concept to fashion this issue after that premise. In a
sense, it could be said that this issue will be 'feverish'. At least, I hope
that it'll turn out that way as at this point, even though you're reading the
Introduction, the issue has yet to be written. ;)
So, why write about a fever? What's the purpose of that? The point of doing
that is very simple. Although my illness extended beyond just having a fever,
that in itself gave me a new perspective on things, one that I haven't had the
opportunity to explore many times in my life, or just neglected to do so.
In essence, a fever can change the way you look at things. It can be a mind
altering experience that one might describe as chaos and madness. While a
person is consumed by a fever they can enter a world in which the ordinary
seems extraordinary. They can have visions or hallucinations. They might
even think things that they had never previously thought, while the doors of
perception are opened wide to them. Sure, there's a certain danger involved
while a person is enduring a long lasting fever. But there also lies a great
potential, for imagination and to an extent, wisdom. It's fascinating and
sometimes can be the source of dramatically wild, lucid dreams... if you're
able to just relax and embrace it. Obviously people's experiences differ
however. For some it's almost like a bad trip, while for others it is more
like sweaty roller coaster ride, an adventure filled with crazed thoughts and
emotions. For me, fevers have always been more like the latter. In fact, to
a degree I almost welcome them at times because of the way they can affect me,
and open my mind to possibilities that I otherwise might never consider. They
can be so surreal, almost hypnotic in their power and able to intensify my
creativity that I don't fear them. Nor do I ever wish that my mind and body
wouldn't have to endure them again. Perhaps I'm making too much of fevers and
what they're capable of doing to one's mind, but I do believe that they can be
responsible for some very strange, sometimes amazing things that cannot just be
dismissed and ignored. In all honesty, I think they can do more than what
science can currently explain, even though I have no concrete proof of that.
However, in some cultures fevers are induced so that shaman can see visions and
experience unworldly things in dreams, etc. So, maybe there is a basis for some
of my claims. Regardless of that, even if there aren't any hard facts to
support my statements, it is what I believe. And that's what matters. Madness
can be genius. Chaos can be desirable. Think about it.
ADVISORIES - {ADVISORIES}
The structure of BCE explained.
In this article, we'll take you inside BCE in order to explain how it is
structured, show which companies it owns in part or in whole and chart its
relatives (divisions, subsidiaries, partners, alliances, etc.) Basically, the
reason we selected BCE as a topic is to expose them for what they are. The
purpose of doing that is to finally eradicate the commonly held belief amongst
Canadian telephone customers that each telco is owned and operated independently
in each individual province of Canada. That's a myth that definitely needs to
be shattered. The truth needs to be told. And it can be, through education by
means of the facts. Thankfully, BCE has provided us with a vast amount of
information, which of course will be used against them to prove our point, by
clearly demonstrating the size of their monopoly. Again, much of the material
discussed in this article is easily obtained, direct from the source. The rest
has been gathered from various telco web sites, reports, news clippings and
other forms of research. Also, a graph in the form of a GIF (garnered from
BCE's web site) has been provided for you to view for clarification and as
further proof of their ownership. It clearly demonstrates how the massive
Canadian corporation known as BCE is structured. Personally, I feel that many
of the telcos across the country under BCE's ownership are trying to pretend to
be small, independent telephone companies. In essence, they're in hiding by
attempting to keep everything (including mere affiliations) quiet. They're
trying to fool everyone. That's something that we simply can't allow to happen.
So, we've outlined the true nature of their relations and used their own clumsy
words against them as the very proof. Enjoy. ;)
BCE: About BCE: Welcome to BCE: Overview
Welcome to BCE, Canada's global telecommunications company. We're a company of
58,000 employees, revenues of $27.5 billion and assets of more than $32 billion.
We are one of the world's leading communications organizations. Our vision sees
us as "people reaching out to bring the world together through communications
with leadership, innovation, teamwork and excellence."
We have core investments in
telephone networks, both wired and wireless
Internet Protocol (IP)-based networks and solutions
electronic commerce
systems integration
directories
satellite networks
We are also a major player in
high-speed internet access
web hosting
direct-to-home entertainment
In 1998, BCE had (baseline) earnings of $1.6 billion. In the first quarter of
1999, BCE had (baseline) earnings of $367 million, a 14% increase compared to
the same period in 1998. For further financial information, please go to the
Investors section of the site.
Last updated on July 26, 1999
"BCE's telecommunications interests are among the most comprehensive of any
company in the world, spanning the key segments of the communications sector:
Canadian communication services, system integration and e-commerce, media,
technology and solutions, and international communications services. We are
Canada's global communications company."
(% ownership as at March 31, 1999)
Bell Canada Group
Bell (100%)
Bell Actimedia (100%)
Bell Mobility (65.3%)
Bruncor (44.8%)
Manitoba Telecom (20%)*
Maritime T&T (34.3%)
NewTel Enterprises (54.7%)
Northern Telephone (99.9%)
Northwestel (100%)
Telabec (100%)
Teleglobe (21.6%)
CGI & BCE Emergis
BCE Emergis (62.4%)*
CGI Group Inc. (44.6%)
BCE Media
Bell ExpressVu (100%)
Telesat Canada (100%)
TMI Communications (100%)
Nortel Networks (40.4%)
Bell Canada International (73.7%)
Jones Intercable (30.3%) - sold in April for US $508M
BCE family of companies.
BCE is Canada's global telecommunications company with 122,000 employees
worldwide, revenues of $33 billion and assets exceeding $40 billion.
BCE is one of the most diversified of the world's leading telecom companies,
with interests in the services business, in equipment, in technology, in
directories, in networks wired and wireless and in satellites.
BCE represents the people, technology and solutions that enable communications
for millions of customers, at home and abroad.
Bell Nexxia is the new member of the 'BCE_Companies'
BCE: About BCE: Company Profiles: Bell Canada
Ringing changes at Bell Canada
Bell Canada has travelled a long way in a short time. With the introduction of
long-distance competition followed by the introduction of local competition,
Bell has reinvented itself as a flexible, focused and aggressive competitor.
As data surpasses voice traffic, Bell Canada is ready, with customer-driven
services such as a national broadband network, e-commerce and distance learning.
Service delivery is equally innovative, pushing the boundaries of what a phone
company is -- or can be. Bell's digital copper infrastructure is complemented
by fibre-optic cables, wireless and satellite services.
But perhaps Bell's strongest asset is its connection to other BCE companies -
connections that produce innovative stand-alone and bundled services that are
unmatched in Canada.
On June 1, 1999, a strategic partnership between BCE and Ameritech
Corporation was finalized in which the U.S. company acquired 20% of Bell Canada
for $5.1 billion.
The primary focus of the partnership is to develop growth opportunities and
introduce new services for customers. Ameritech serves customers in 50 states
and 40 countries and has US $30 billion in assets.
And on June 21, 1999, Manitoba Telecom Services (MTS) and Bell Canada
officially launched Intrigna - a joint initiative to offer leading edge and
next generation telecommunication services to customers in the high growth
business markets in Alberta and British Columbia.
The Bell brand, which already enjoys strong recognition and trust, will help
ease the introduction of innovative services, while differentiating Bell from
the competition.
Service bundling, which adds considerable customer value, also distinguishes
Bell from the rest. For example, SimplyOne provides customers with one number
for wireline and wireless service. And Bell World stores will demonstrate all
of the products and services available through the BCE family of companies in
an integrated, fun, informative fashion under one roof - with more than 200
locations to be completed by mid 2001.
The entire profile above on Bell Canada was ripped from BCE's web site.
Here's an article that I thought might be of interest to you. It shows just
how much BCE has profited in the second quarter of 1999.
BCE up sharply:
"MONTREAL -- BCE Inc. Canada's largest telecom company, reported a
multibillion-dollar profit in the second quarter, primarily from gains on the
sale of a chunk of its Bell Canada unit to a U.S. phone giant.
The Montreal holding company said it posted net profits of $4.6 billion for
the three months ended June 30, compared with $295 million in the same 1998
period.
The earnings included gains from the $5.1 billion sale of 20 per cent of Bell
Canada to Chicago-based Ameritech as well as special charges related to
acquisition costs at its Nortel Networks unit and restructuring charges at
Bell Canada.
Excluding special gains, BCE still enjoyed sharply higher profits from its
operating units, as the company benefited from revenue and profit growth at
Nortel." CANADIAN PRESS
In conclusion, BCE is a very large, fat, Canadian giant. It's been the biggest
fat cat monopoly corporation in this country for quite some time, and as you
can see from the way it is structured, there aren't any plans to downsize.
Their goal is to be involved in as many telco related industries as possible.
And once their involved, and have established (or in some cases, bought) a
subsidiary, the goal changes to monopolizing it so that they can increase
and maximize profits. If they incur losses, they simply "restructure". Also,
BCE not only thinks of the companies they own and have acquired as being mere
"units", but they have been known to apply the same term to their customers.
However, at the same time, they want everyone to think of BCE and all of the
companies that it owns as being part of the "BCE family". They want it both
ways. They're the classic faceless corporation that wants to be big and fat,
but portray a public image of being a family oriented business. It's just
another blatant lie used for brainwashing (err, marketing) purposes. In
reality, they're a greedy company that wants to expand into any areas of
business that they think might be profitable. They want to take over as many
industries as possible. So much for the talk of stopping telcos from delving
into residential cable, satellite and internet services, and even home security.
BCE is literally everywhere in Canada and has at least partial (but more than
minimal) ownership in virtually every major Canadian telephony related company.
They also own many international telcos through their BCI division. So, it's
not surprising to read BCE boast "This is Bell's world" on their web site
(www.bce.ca). They also have Bell World stores and a Bell virtual World Tour
site, etc. It's blatantly obvious that BCE loves to brag and boast. They
have no humility or shame. In a future article, I'm going to explain BCE's
subsidiaries in detail along with information on the Stentor Alliance. This
was just the first article in a series dedicated to exposing the Canadian
telephone system.
Written by BLACKENED ú Damage, INC. (C)opyright 1999.
BIG BROTHER BASHING - {BIG BROTHER}
Bill C-3 makes the Kanadian DNA Bank a reality.
Disclaimer:
The sections of Bill C-3 (36th Parliament session) listed below comes from the
Government of Canada web site. If there is any misinformation, they are
responsible for it. Furthermore, if they failed to add or delete clauses due to
revisions to the information I used as a reference, they are at fault. I spent
over two hours searching their poorly organized site to make sure I have the
most current information on Bill C-3. As is always the case, "ignorance of the
law" is their greatest weapon.
It has finally happened. Without warning from the biased mass media, on
December 10, 1999, Bill C-3 received Royal Assent and was passed into law. Bill
C-3 is titled "An Act respecting DNA identification and to make consequential
amendments to the Criminal Code and other Acts." In stronger words, Bill C-3
creates a Canadian DNA Bank, and provides legal powers to the Thought Police and
their medical associates to force "certain violent convicted persons" to have a
DNA sample extracted from them. Another alarming point is that the DNA Bank
will be maintained by the Commissioner of the RCMP (Repressive Canadian Militant
Pigs). Bill C-3 has amended the Canadian Criminal Code to make it legal to
force the extraction of bodily substances from a convict without their consent.
Bill C-3 is officially known as the "DNA Identification Act" since it has
been passed into law. However, I'll refer to the Act as Bill C-3 in this
article.
The National DNA Bank is divided up into two indexes; the Crime scene index, and
the Convicted offenders index. The Bank shall also contain information such as
the case number of the investigation associated with the DNA sample from which
the profile was created, and in the case of a DNA profile in the Convicted
offenders index, the identity of the person that the DNA sample belongs to.
Below is what information will be in a Crime scene index:
Crime scene index (3) The crime scene index shall contain DNA profiles
derived from bodily substances that are found
(a) at any place where a designated offence was
committed;
(b) on or within the body of the victim of a designated
offence;
(c) on anything worn or carried by the victim at the
time when a designated offence was committed; or
(d) on or within the body of any person or thing or at
any place associated with the commission of a
designated offence.
Like most Canadian laws that infringe on privacy in order to protect "society,"
they are all written in this politically correct manner. The DNA Bank will
allow the RCMP to bank all DNA profiles that are at the crime scene. Many
people may not find anything wrong with this, but I find it disturbing. What
kind of privacy protection is the victim offered? Obviously, the unfortunate
victim was at the crime scene, so isn't it logical that the cops will take a
sample from the victim so that they can disqualify his or her DNA samples that
are scattered at the crime scene? If Big Bro's eventual motive is to bank the
DNA of every citizen in the country, would they just throw away a victim's DNA
profile? If the victim's DNA is corruptly abused, the victim is victimized
again. In fact the RCMP will keep the Crime scene index indefinitely. Instead
of destroying the DNA profiles, "access" to the DNA profile of a victim or
cleared suspect (definitely a victim in their own right) are revoked, as stated
in section 8.1 titled "Crime scene index."
Below is the brief yet official description of what the Convicted offenders
index will contain:
Convicted offenders index (4) The convicted offenders index shall contain DNA
profiles derived from bodily substances described
in subsection 487.071(1) of the Criminal Code.
The DNA bank will work as follows: When the RCMP Commissioner receives a DNA
profile, it will be checked against the DNA data bank in order to determine
whether it is already contained in the data bank. Then the Commissioner "may
then communicate, for the purposes of the investigation or prosecution of a
criminal offence, the following information to any Canadian law enforcement
agency or laboratory that the Commissioner considers appropriate:"
(a) whether the DNA profile is already contained in the data bank; and
(b) any information, other than the DNA profile itself, that is contained
in the data bank in relation to that DNA profile.
Another interesting section of Bill C-3 reveals that "authorized users" will
have access to the "automated criminal convictions records retrieval system"
that is maintained and updated by the RCMP. This confirms that the DNA data
bank will be fully computerized as well. I wonder if the RCMP is concerned that
"unauthorized users" will also gain access to the information within the DNA
data base? Their systems have been hacked in the past.
You may be wondering how many people may request and expect to receive DNA data
from the Commissioner of the RCMP. Well, basically all the pigs in the world
according to section 6(3). The RCMP will take DNA profiles from the foreign
cops, and compare it to all of the DNA profiles in the Canadian DNA Bank.
Even if a criminal is allowed to, and does leave Canada in order to get a fresh
start for their life, their DNA could easily follow them. Once Big Brother has
a DNA profile, it can and will be shared worldwide. Below is a section that
deals with how domestic pigs and other people can gain access to the information
in the DNA data bank:
Access to information 7. Access to information contained in the DNA data bank
may be granted to
(a) any person or class of persons that the
Commissioner considers appropriate for the purposes of
the proper operation and maintenance of the DNA data
bank; and
(b) the personnel of any laboratories that the
Commissioner considers appropriate for training
purposes.
As you can see, this proves that one person (the RCMP Commissioner) has total
authority over the DNA bank. He has total and complete reign over who gains
access to the DNA samples and profiles contained within the Bank.
As always, regardless of the country, Big Brother has one little section that
deals with "violations of individual privacy" in order to give any mainstream
critics a false sense of security. Here is the clause that is "supposed to"
protect the DNA data bank from unauthorized use:
Unauthorized use (6) No person who receives a DNA profile for entry in the DNA
data bank shall use it or allow it to be used other than for
the purposes of the administration of this Act.
Pretty fucking vague as always. Even if a miracle happened, and a corrupt cop
was caught and prosecuted for violating the above section 6(6), the punishment
is weak considering the total destruction of the privacy of the individual.
Here are the "punishments" that a hacker or private citizen would face should
that person get caught:
Offence 11. Every person who contravenes subsection 6(6) or (7), section 8 or
subsection 10(3) or (5)
(a) is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment
for a term not exceeding two years; or
(b) is guilty of an offence punishable on summary conviction and
liable to a fine not exceeding $2,000 or to imprisonment for a term
not exceeding six months, or to both.
A police officer could technically fall under this section should they get
prosecuted. According to what I have seen over the years, however, a month
suspension with pay as the IA office in the RCMP clears them would be all the
punishment they would receive in my opinion.
Another portion of Bill C-3 that is supposed to make people feel better about
DNA collection are sections that deal with the "access of information to be
permanent removed" to the destruction of the DNA samples, in some circumstances.
Big Brother is very careful not to reveal one very important fact; even if, by
a miracle, the RCMP did remove easy access to information after a pardon or
other event, or if the tissue/blood samples were destroyed, the RCMP will keep
the DNA profile. It will be kept on record permanently, despite the sections
that deal with sample destruction, etc. Just like in Canada, Young Offender
records are to be deleted from a person's criminal record after they become an
adult. However, that wasn't the case for someone I've met. Her current
"record" contained her record as a youth, even though she is an adult now. What
I am driving at is that the police, at any level, cannot be trusted to remove
access to information like a DNA profile. They are always suspicious, and will
never remove/dispose of information that they can use to their advantage, even
if it is illegally kept or obtained.
Fortunately, the RCMP can't rape a convicted person of his or her DNA for all
offenses (yet). Below is a list of primary offenses which require a mandatory
extraction of tissue from a convict:
(a) an offence under any of the following provisions, namely,
(i) section 151 (sexual interference)
(ii) section 152 (invitation to sexual touching)
(iii) section 153 (sexual exploitation) (iv) section 155 (incest),
(v) subsection 212(4) (offence in relation to juvenile prostitution)
(vi) section 233 (infanticide) (vii) section 235 (murder)
(viii) section 236 (manslaughter)
(ix) section 244 (causing bodily harm with intent),
(x) section 267 (assault with a weapon or causing bodily harm)
(xi) section 268 (aggravated assault)
(xii) section 269 (unlawfully causing bodily harm)
(xiii) section 271 (sexual assault),
(xiv) section 272 (sexual assault with a weapon, threats to a third party or
causing bodily harm)
(xv) section 273 (aggravated sexual assault), and (xvi) section 279
(kidnapping),
(b) an offence under any of the following provisions of the Criminal Code,
chapter C-34 of the Revised Statutes of Canada, 1970, as they read from time to
time before January 4, 1983, namely,
(i) section 144 (rape),
(ii) section 146 (sexual intercourse with female under fourteen and between
fourteen and sixteen), and
(iii) section 148 (sexual intercourse with feeble-minded, etc.),
(c) an offence under paragraph 153(1)(a) (sexual intercourse with step-daughter,
etc.) of the Criminal Code, chapter C-34 of the Revised Statutes of Canada,
1970, as it read from time to time before January 1, 1988, and
(d) an attempt to commit or, other than for the purposes of subsection
487.05(1), a conspiracy to commit an offence referred to in any of paragraphs
(a) to (c);
That's not all. There is a list of "secondary offenses." If a person is found
guilty of one of the following offenses, tissue extraction is up to the
discretion of "the court":
(a) an offence under any of the following provisions, namely,
(i) section 75 (piratical acts) (real piracy... not the warez d00d variety)
(ii) section 76 (hijacking),
(iii) section 77 (endangering safety of aircraft or airport)
(iv) section 78.1 (seizing control of ship or fixed platform)
(v) paragraph 81(1)(a) or (b) (using explosives),
(vi) subsection 160(3) (bestiality in the presence of or by child)
(vii) section 163.1 (child pornography)
(viii) section 170 (parent or guardian procuring sexual activity)
(ix) section 173 (indecent acts)
(x) section 220 (causing death by criminal negligence)
(xi) section 221 (causing bodily harm by criminal negligence)
(xii) subsection 249(3) (dangerous operation causing bodily harm)
(xiii) subsection 249(4) (dangerous operation causing death)
(xiv) section 252 (failure to stop at scene of accident)
(xv) subsection 255(2) (impaired driving causing bodily harm)
(xvi) subsection 255(3) (impaired driving causing death)
(xvii) section 266 (assault) (xviii) section 269.1 (torture)
(xix) paragraph 270(1)(a) (assaulting a peace officer)
(xx) section 279.1 (hostage taking) (xxi) section 344 (robbery)
(xxii) subsection 348(1) (breaking and entering with intent, committing offence
or breaking out)
(xxiii) subsection 430(2) (mischief that causes actual danger to life)
(xxiv) section 433 (arson - disregard for human life), and
(xxv) section 434.1 (arson - own property)
(b) an offence under any of the following provisions of the Criminal Code, as
they read from time to time before July 1, 1990, namely,
(i) section 433 (arson), and (ii) section 434 (setting fire to other substance), and
(c) an attempt to commit or, other than for the purposes of subsection 487.05(1)
a conspiracy to commit an offence referred to in paragraph (a) or (b);
Not the entire Criminal Code, but a nice chunk of it nonetheless. If you've
read my articles on Bill C-17 in previous issues of the Damage, INC. Newsletter,
Section (c) of both the primary and secondary offenses shouldn't be a surprise.
In Canada, thought crime or "conspiracy to" as they call it gets you the same
penalty as if you actually committed the crime. "Conspiracy" is enough to allow
the cops to forcibly steal tissue from anyone.
Also, if a person has committed a crime before the passing of Bill C-3 there
are provisions so that a sample of their DNA can be taken as well. Under 487.052
(1) of the newly amended Criminal Code, it is legal for the court, under an
application from the prosecutor, to apply for a special order (called Form 5.04)
so that "any number" of samples can be taken from a convict or young offender in
order to create a DNA profile. What criteria will be used to decide if DNA
profiles are desired from a particular convict? I'll list the criteria below:
Criteria (2) In deciding whether to make the order, the court shall consider
the criminal record of the person or young person, the nature of the
offence and the circumstances surrounding its commission and the
impact such an order would have on the person's or young person's
privacy and security of the person and shall give reasons for its
decision.
Impact on a person's privacy? Any and all extractions have a dramatic impact on
an individual's privacy. That kind of Big Brother duckspeak means nothing. The
privacy of a convict is of no consideration to them in my opinion. That is the
whole basis of acts like Bill C-3. In Canada and other countries, the
protection of "society" is the weapon used to destroy individual privacy.
Especially if the DNA data bank is maintained and controlled by organizations
like the RCMP, which are only concerned about busting people... not privacy.
That is why we have brought Kanada's new DNA Identification Act to your
attention. Creating DNA profiles on victims, suspects, and convicted persons is
only the beginning in my opinion. That is why I am so outspoken against this
Act and the National DNA Bank. Big Brother works slowly, eroding our rights and
destroying our privacy. In my opinion, this is only the beginning. Now that
the DNA data bank is established, there is nothing stoping Big Brother from
expanding it to include newborn babies (taking samples from the umbilical cords
and sending them to a national laboratory for analysis) and so on. Any invasion
of privacy is too much. It is too high of a price to pay just so the zombies in
"society" can obtain a false sense of security, while Big Brother gains more
of our personal information.
Written by Shatazar ú Damage, INC. (C)opyright 1999.
BREAKER'S REVIEWS - {REVIEWS}
Canadian H/P Sites.
Since I wasn't able to contact Breaker before the release of this issue, I
decided to review some Canadian web sites. Even though the h/p scene in Canada
isn't as large or known as much as in other countries, there are still some
quality sites, groups and zines. So, read the reviews and then check out the
sites. And if you have ideas for future reviews, contact us.
Hack Canada
www.hackcanada.com
Hack Canada is one of the most well known Canadian h/p sites. It has a lot
of resources and a generous archive section that offers an excellent assortment
of texts, etc. The site is operated by CYB0RG/ASM and the rest of the Hack
Canada crew. They're a knowledgable group of Albertans that support the
Canadian scene by releasing relevant, useful information pertaining to many
technological aspects of the telco, systems and devices. In addition to h/p
texts and news, they have info on 2600 meetings for their area, 780/403 scene
news, Canadian h/p info and links, etc. Plus, Hack Canada is updated frequently
with new files and news. So make sure you check it often.
They also seem to be a friendly, approachable, cool bunch of people from my
experience. So don't be afraid to contact them. ;) One of HC's members named
The Clone, submitted a couple of TELUS articles (see the H/P INFORMATION
section) he wrote for this issue. Anyway, the only other thing I can say is
that they're a quality group that's well respected in the scene... and their
site is damn cool.
Maniak.net
www.maniak.net
Located in Quebec, Maniak.net is another cool site. The big anarchy symbol
that's displayed on their index.html page upon connecting sets the tone for
what lies ahead. The site has information for newbies, Quebec scene info,
news, numbers, a French zine named iGA, WWW board, links, etc. Most of the
site is in French, which is the default. But there is limited English support
as well. However, since I'm not fluent in French it's difficult for me to
review their site. From what I can tell though, they're doing a good job of
supporting the Quebec h/p scene.
Nettwerked
http://nettwerk.hypermart.net
Nettwerked is run by The Clone. It's more than just your average h/p site.
Besides just looking damn cool, Nettwerked is the home of a zine named K-1ine.
Even though it's still a new zine (2 issues have been released thus far), the
potential to achieve greatness is very evident. Meaning, it's a quality zine.
Just as, after reading the first two issues of K-1ine it is apparent that
The Clone knows/owns TELUS. ;)
He's also an avid scanner, (manual/hand scanner) and you can find some of
his scans in issues of K-1ine. And on Nettwerked, you can find links to
sites that carry other Canadian zines... as well as other things such as
DefCon pics (http://nettwerk.hypermart.net/defconpics). It's a great site
with a zine that you should definitely check out. Visit it often as The Clone
updates it often.
Ontario Phreaking Home
www.ncf.carleton.ca/~ba992/HomePage.phone.html
This site contains pictures of various Bell cans (junction boxes, etc.)
that are used in the Ottawa, Ontario region. It also has a small assortment of
texts on phreaking and information on Ottawa's 2600 meetings. The Ontario
Phreaky Home site doesn't seem to be updated regularly anymore. I don't want
to disrespect them, but the name of the site is a little misleading since it
isn't actually the home of phreaking in Ontario. Regardless of that, it does
offer some good info for neophyte phreaks and the pictures are good.
Phones of Zen
http://poz.8m.com
This site is the home of Lord Narayana's group, Phones of Zen. It's also the
home of Blackzine (see the CROSSED WIRES advertisement). The site has h/p
texts online, a unique personals section that lists hackers and phreaks from
various NPAs... along with their contact info, etc. It also has information
on the 2600 meetings in Calgary, projects, links, etc.
Lord Narayana is also into scanning and many aspects of phreaking. Basically,
he's a diehard Canadian phreak and his site reflects that. And he's a cool
person too. ;)
PLA Alberta
www.linuxchick.com/jester
Most likely you've run across a few PLA affiliate web sites before. But not
all PLA affiliate sites are alike. Some are small and lacking. While others
offer more local phreaking information, and are dedicated to supporting the h/p
scene in their NPA/State/Province. Jester's site, PLA Alberta, falls into the
latter category. Jester is also the editor of a zine named ALP. His site is
fairly large, has a mailing list, message board, etc. Overall, PLA Alberta
offers good information and has a nice layout. So check it out and tell Jester
I sent you... ;)
PLA Quebec
www.multimania.com/hak2600
The h/p scene is still alive and well in Quebec. And it'll remain that way
as long as sites such as PLA Quebec are around to support it. It's a well
organized site with texts, PLA news, 2600 meetings info, a phone book, info
specifically for newbies, payphone numbers, a message board, links, etc.
PLA Quebec is a large site with many pages of information for Quebec phreaks.
They're doing an admirable job of supporting the phreaking scene in Quebec's
NPAs. Much better than many of the h/p sites that are left in Ontario.
Written by BLACKENED ú Damage, INC. (C)opyright 1999.
CONSPIRACIES AND COVERUPS - {COVERUPS}
What really happened at Waco in 1993.
What really happened between February 28 and April 19, 1993 at the Branch
Davidian compound in Waco, Texas? Who is responsible for the deaths of the
80 people that died during the stand-off? Should David Koresh shoulder the
entire blame? Could the situation have possibly been handled differently?
Was there any way that the final outcome could have been less catasrophic and
deadly for so many people? Couldn't this have been prevented somehow? Wasn't
there any way to avoid the disaster? Were the actions of the ATF, FBI and other
law enforcement agencies justified? How did President Clinton and Janet Reno's
involvement affect things? Was there a coverup? Were any of these questions
answered in 1995 during the Waco hearings?
Those are just some of the many questions that people have regarding the 1993
incident in Waco, Texas. Many of you probably watched CNN's coverage in shock,
horrified and disgusted by the images you were shown on that fateful day. And
after it was all over, you didn't have any answers because the mass media didn't
have any to give. Some of you continued to follow the story, long after the
media had dropped their coverage of it. A few of you may have even watched the
hearings or read the reports that were issued. Of that, a small percentage of
you don't believe what you've read and been told to believe. You still have
some questions that you'd like answered. You're still seeking the truth.
This article was intended for you to read. The research that I've done is for
your benefit, so that you may know the truth about what really happened at
Waco, why it happened and who is responsible. Admittedly, I still have
questions that haven't been answered. In other words, I don't have all of the
answers. Nor do I have the resources to investigate the situation the way
that I'd like to. However, I've tried to gather as much reliable information
as possible from various sources and research the topic thoroughly. Entire
books have been written on this topic, so don't expect all of the details to be
included in this brief article. There's just too much to cover in one article.
I don't think there will ever be a complete resolution to the events at Waco and
what occurred inside of the Branch Davidian compound. There are certain things
about the story that we'll probably never learn. There are always things that
are never known by all. But at least with part of the story, the pieces of the
puzzle can begin to be assembled to create a clearer picture. After that, it's
up to you to take it from there and form your own opinions.
Most people already know that ATF agents raided the Waco compound and a fire
fight ensued. And many of the negotiations were taped and have been released,
so I'm not going to cover any of those early events. I'm going to skip ahead
to the end of the siege and take you through the final day at the Branch
Davidian compound.
On April 19, 1993 the tanks began punching holes into the exterior walls of
the Branch Davidian compound. Contrary to their claims, they weren't being
fired up on. They weren't under any type of attack. Helicopters and planes
flew over and much of what occurred was caught on tape, forever documented.
And so that's where the real Waco story begins. It was a windy day with
gusting winds that could easily spread a fire throughout a building (in this
case, a highly flammable wooden structure). But the FBI went ahead anyway
and continued poking holes into various locations of the compound. Then they
began inserting CS gas in large doses. CS gas is supposed to be a non-lethal
weapon, but when combined with fire a deadly offspring known as cyanide is
produced. Also, CS gas has been tested on US Marines, but they are only
subjected to small doses of the gas over a very short duration of a few seconds.
The Branch Davidians were exposed to massive doses over a 6 hour time span.
Plus, there were 22 childen in the compound, as well as older adults. CS gas
(at levels as high as 10 times that which Marines are exposed) is much too
strong an agent to use against children and elderly people.
David Koresh and the Branch Davidians were accused of starting the fires. Yet
there is no solid proof that they were responsible. All they have are theories,
such as lanterns being knocked over and lighter fluid being used to start
fires throughout the compound.
After the compound had burned to the ground the fire was out, Texas Rangers
were delayed and prevented from conducting an investigation for hours while
other agencies went through any remaining evidence and "cleaned up the crime
scene."
In my opinion, the whole situation should've been handled differently. Janet
Reno and President Clinton should have been held responsible for the actions
of the ATF and FBI. And a real investigation should have been performed instead
of allowing the events to be covered up and forgotten.
I've watched several documentary tapes from the final day at the Waco compound.
In those tapes, it clearly shows FBI agents firing into the compound from
behind the tanks. In some cases, they were firing at Branch Davidians that
were attempting to escape. The flashes of light (captured on an infrared
camera from a helicopter overhead) indicating a weapon being discharged are
plainly visible on the tapes that I've seen. It even shows one person being
crushed underneath the tank's track. One of their limbs was ripped away
from their body and temporarily became caught in the track, which made the
operator of the tank move the vehicle back and forth in an attempt to free
it. But somehow the track was dislodged, adding further proof of what had
happened. Even as the fire was burning at full force and the building was
engulfed in flames, shots were being fired into the compound by FBI agents.
I'm sure that many of the bodies that were found with bullet wounds contained
rounds from the FBI's weapons. They've never proven that they were all self-
inflicted wounds. Nor have they proven that there was any "mass suicide".
Lastly, I've included a copy of Attorney General Janet Reno's statement and
a document from The Department of the Treasury which details the weapons
possessed by the Branch Davidians. Both were written and released in 1995.
I think you'll find them interesting.
During my research of the Waco seige, I read the U.S. Government reports,
watched several television documentaries, visited web sites and generally read
as much material on the topic as I could get my hands on. Short of speaking
with David Koresh through a clairvoyant, I did everything in my power to learn
what really happened and uncover the truth. In my humble opinion, Waco
represents a government conspiracy and coverup of immense proportions. Clinton,
Janet Reno, the ATF, FBI, etc. all fucked up. Then they tried to back each
other up and cover up the true events that had occurred and were documented. So,
in conclusion, it's your choice as to who should be believed. But hopefully
after reading this article, you'll think twice about automatically taking the
government at their word. If nothing else, it is my hope that people learn
that under no circumstances, in any situation should they have complete trust
in a government that's already proven itself to be untrustworthy and absolutely
corrupt to the core. And in my view, the U.S. government couldn't do anymore
to prove their guilt than they've already done. I suggest that you visit the
web sites below if you want further information on the Waco coverup.
Sources:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/waco/
http://rampages.onramp.net/~djreavis/faq/index.htm
http://www.parascope.com (Search for "Waco") - Not all info there is accurate.
Written by Blackie Lawless ú Damage, INC. (C)opyright 1999.
CROSSED WIRES - {WIRES}
An Advertisement for Blackzine.
.
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Editor: Lord Narayana .
. http://poz.8m.com
lord_narayana@hotmail.com
Comments by BLACKENED: Blackzine is one of the coolest Canadian h/p zines
(written in English) in publication today. They may not have a lot of writers,
support or a tremendous amount of notoriety, but it's still quality. The most
recent issues are excellent and definitely deserve a look, especially if you're
in the Canadian scene. It's very evident that they're actively involved in the
Alberta scene. Issues are available on the Phones of Zen web site at the above
URL. If you want more information about Blackzine, and how to contribute,
contact Lord Narayana.
Notes about Crossed Wires:
Since this section was created I've received Email from quite a few people
regarding advertising here, the requirements, cost, etc. To reiterate what
I've said in previous issues, it's free. The whole "paid advertisement for"
thing was just a joke, but apparently some people thought that it was real.
Basically, we'll include ascii ads for almost anything (boards, cons, nets,
groups, zines) for free as long as it's h/p related or is interesting in some
way. Hopefully the guidelines and purpose of Crossed Wires are now clear to
everyone.
H/P INFORMATION AND NEWS - {H/P}
"What is the Matrix?"
_+ +_
TELUS Mobility; Panasonic EN-POWR numeric pager exploit
__ __
Telus Mobility offers to its customers, a few types of paging services.
One type is called 'EN-POWR numeric pager'.
With the EN-POWR numeric pager, you get total FLEX coverage.
In other words, you get coverage all across Alberta.
The Panasonic EN-POWR pre-paid numeric pager is only $99.95, and it comes
with 6 months of enhanced service with a limited but nifty selection
of assorted colors to choose from.
"But Clone, I have three kids to feed.
I can't afford this type of service!"
It's completely understandable. That is why I wrote this file.
To show you how to get service that *should* be dirt cheap for
absolutely free.
Lets say that one day you were walking down the street minding your
own business, picking flowers, waving to Telus employees as they drive
past in their goodie-vans, when you trip over a pager that has the
word 'Panasonic' labelled on the top.
This semi-transparent device, with its groovy design is the only thing
stopping you from suing Telus for leaving its property laying around.
Then you remember that it's an EN-POWR pre-paid numeric pager and it
has to be property of someone.
"Hmm..." you think. At this point you can do one of two things;
you can call Telus reporting a missing pager, or you can try to
use your wits to find a way to exploit this.
First lets take a look at the pager features:
Pager features
--------------
· saves 23 messages
· message time stamp
· built in alarm clock
· silent vibration or audible alert
· low battery alert
· shows date and time of day
· selective erase/erase all
· locks important messages
· uses only one AAA battery
· FLEX technology gives you up to
four months battery life
· duplicate message indicator
· reminder alert
· backlit display
· automatic on/off
'Saves 23 messages', thought of anything yet? ;)
Sure you have my analytical friend. Along with numeric paging option,
you also get a voice-mail paging option which requires you to dial the
number the pager is subscribed to.
So you think "How am I going to get this pager number?"
------------------------------------------
One easy way is to wait for someone to page you.
Usually friends of the pager customer, don't know the pager is in the
wrong hands so they unknowingly send them a voice-message. Bad idea.
The minute they send that message, the data is sent to the Telus Mobility
switch, and straight to the pager itself. What is displayed?
The pager number, silly!
(note: if a numeric page is sent, the numbers
displayed on the screen are whatever the person who sent it typed.)
The next step is easy, you call the number. The next thing you'll hear
is one of two things; 1. the customers message, 2. Telus' default message.
By simply pressing '0' on the keypad, you'll next be prompted by an
automated voice saying: "Please enter your access code".
"How do I acquire the access code?"
--------------------------------
If the customer was stupid enough to set the default access code,
all you do is look on the back of the EN-POWR numeric pager,
and search for the "capcode".
The capcode is the series of numbers at the bottom of the label,
below the Model, Serial Number, Country Code, and ISC code.
It's easily distinguishable by the letter E and a 7 digit code
after it. An example of a capcode is 'E1230948'.
The default access code is the last 4 digits of the capcode.
0948 would be the access code for this pager. Now enter 0948.
If you're lucky you'll get the main menu. My suggestion to you
is to change the access code as soon as possible.
If you're not so lucky, try guessing defaults. 1234, 1111, 1999, 2000, etc.
Until you come across the correct access code. If you're still having
trouble, try selling the pager to some moronic 14 year old who just wants
to look cool in front of his sleezy 14 year old girlfriends'.
Final words
-----------
Now that I've given you step by step instructions on how to
exploit the EN-POWR pre-paid pager, I hope that you've
learned a little bit about how it works.
In the next few months I can see the news talking about
hundreds/thousands of Telus pagers going missing and then used for
the thieves' evil purposes. I'll sleep well at night knowing I was
the one responsible.
THE END
written by: The Clone
June 22, 1999
`Contact inf0
----
E-mail: theclone@edmc.net
URL: Nettwerked - http://nettwerk.hypermart.net
Voice Mail: So-Soft Corporation - 1-800-494-9831; box 407
-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-
Corner Advantage Teleconferencing
/
Bridge Skanning
-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-
Telus Advanced Communications (TACS) offers a service called
'Corner Advantage Teleconferencing'.
A service which allows its customers to connect to a multiple-user-bridge
to:
* keep field offices informed about new policies and programs;
* announce new products to branch offices;
* hold regular status update meetings;
* resolve emergencies;
* review product development;
* reach several reporters simultaneously for a news announcement;
* brainstorm and plan marketing and sales strategies;
* resolve labour relations issues; and
* interview job applicants.
* etc.
Some of the features with this service include:
* highest quality sound with minimum background noise;
* security passwords;
* mute feature so specific lines can listen only;
* taping your conference onto cassettes;
* polling to record votes from opinion polls and focus groups;
How to set up a bridge conf:
* Dial 1-800-900-MEET (6338)
* Follow the voice prompts and select Teleconferencing
* Reserve the date, start time and duration of your meeting and the
number of ports required.
Now that I've outlined the basic features of
Corner Advantage Teleconferencing, I'd like to share with you an
idea that came into my mind; Bridge Skanning.
How do I find a bridge?
-----------------------
Most phreakers who do find bridges do out of dumb luck.
They are usually skanning a prefix looking for VMB's, PBX's, ANI's,
and modem carriers and to their suprise they find a bridge.
What I did was I called up 1-800-900-MEET, and said:
"Hi there. I was wondering out of curiousity, what prefix or prefixes
do the Edmonton bridges use?"
Being gullible and unware of my intentions, the perky Telus operator
gladly gave me the prefix. A few hour later I called back and asked if there
were any other cities that had CAT (Corner Advantage Teleconferencing).
Calgary apparently is the only other city that does.
Using the same "social engineering" technique, I snagged the other prefix
and glady grinned because now I had completed the first step in finding
a bridge.
Seeing on how I like to help out fellow local (780/403) phreaks,
I'm going to post the prefixes.
City NPA: Pfx
---- --- ---
Calgary 403 216
Edmonton 780 460
!Yipee! ;)
Now go ahead! Skan out these prefixes and you'll surely find yourself
on a bridge conf.
From what I've heard, if you do happen to connect to a bridge you'll
obviously hear many parties talking.
What my suggestions to you are:
* Keep quiet
* Listen to what is being said and write down potentially "important" info.
Because remember, most bridges that are up are corporations.
And we know the conspiracies bureaucrats create.
* If possible, record the conversation using a ear piece-like device
you can pick up at your local Radio Shack for about $10.00/CDN each.
--
I hope I've helped fellow telco enthusiasts,
pissed off some Telus employees, and made phun for all!
Happy CAT-skanning!
Created by: The Clone
Date: June 13, 1999
Contact info
-
URL: Nettwerked - http://nettwerk.hypermart.net
E-mail: theclone@edmc.net
Voice Mail: So-Soft Corporation - 1-800-494-9831; BOX 407
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Nortel's Millennium Desktops
(helena3@antisocial.com)
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
If you live in Ontario or Quebec, Canada you've probably already seen the three
different versions of Nortel's Millennium payphones that Bell Canada has
installed everywhere. Maybe you've even made a few calls using them. I'll
give you a brief explanation for each model of Millennium just in case though.
The first type is the Universal Millennium (named due to its ability to accept
coins, credit cards, calling cards and Bell QuickChange pre-paid cards). In the
majority of large urban areas, they are the most common type of payphone that
can be found. The second type is the Millennium Card (otherwise known as a
card phone). The last type is named the Millennium Desktop and it is the focus
of this article. It's also the least common variety of Millenniums since they
aren't easily found. They aren't everywhere. They aren't installed in just
any location. In fact, I have only seen them in select places (usually they're
placed in public buildings) and they're always indoors. Their design isn't very
suitable for outdoor use. Even though I've read other text files written on the
other types of Millenniums, I have yet to see any that cover the Desktops.
That's why I decided to share my knowledge and experience with them.
Basic Common Features:
Note that basically all of these Desktop Millennium features are the same as
the ones found on other Nortel Millennium payphone models. I'm just covering
them for people that know nothing about them or have never used a Millennium.
- Like the other Millenniums, Desktop Millenniums don't accept incoming calls.
There's even a notification in small print stating that on the front panel.
- LASS codes (*##) such as *67 don't work on Millenniums.
- Desktops have ringers, but you might never hear the sound of them ringing.
To hear the bell chime, you have to convince an Operator to call the phone
for you. Otherwise, if you dial it directly yourself you'll hear the following
Bell message: "The line you are trying to reach is equipped for outgoing calls
only. It is impossible to receive calls at that number. This is a recording."
and then a Busy signal.
- Programmable LCD display that supports English and French. Usually there's
a scrolling text message that's been entered by a Bell employee to advertise.
The LCD display is covered in plastic to prevent damage to the display.
However, it can be scratched and punctured if you're very determined.
- Alarm. Each Desktop Millennium is equipped with an internal alarm that's
designed to protect it against theft. In this case, they want to prevent the
use of stolen or fraudulent credit/calling cards. Inside Millenniums there's
a small, powerful computer that logs every call that's made and the method of
payment that was used. In Universal Millenniums, the computer is responsible
for handling coin payed calls and can detect the use of slugs, etc. easily.
It also monitors the yellow card reader, LCD display and can activate the alarm.
If it detects anything suspicious or abnormal, an alarm is sent to a Bell Canada
Central Office and a linesman is dispatched to check it out. If you modify the
display, it might trip the alarm. If you steal the card reader or entire
Millennium, it might activate the alarm. It has even been rumoured that they
have a tracking device that calls Bell and relays its location everytime it's
connected to a line. Some people claim that it can give away the location by
means of an FM signal. I don't know if they have a transmitter that can emit
signals or not. Since I can't verify it, just be careful.
- Recorded Dialtone. If you don't insert a calling card or press any buttons
to dial a number, after a few seconds it'll interrupt the so-called 'dialtone'
(which is totally fake) and instruct you to "Please insert your card..." The
real dialtone is muted. The Millennium payphone doesn't actually dial the
number you've entered from the keypad. It dials the number itself after the
Millennium has established that payment has been made. That's why you have
a couple of seconds to change the number you entered before it dials. The
computer does the actual dialing. Obviously that's ones of the things that
prevents any normal red boxing methods from working.
- With all other Millenniums and other payphone in Canada, toll free calls
(1-800/877/888) are free. Dialing 0, 311, 411 (Information), 611 (Repair) and
911 are still toll free, as usual.
- French/English button (toggles the language of choice)
- Volume control (increase/decrease)
- Next Call (diamond) button.
- Yellow card reader. Although the other Millenniums are equipped with card
readers, the Desktop Millennium models aren't as sturdy. Instead of using a
more expensive yellow painted metal card reader casing, they're just plastic.
Features not included:
- They don't accept coins, so they obviously don't have a coin slot, coin
return or a hopper (coin box) inside. At least you won't ever get screwed
by inserting a $1 coin to make a local 25 cent call and not get any change.
- They don't have the special emergency buttons like the other Millenniums.
- They might have a special Operator flag (showing that they're a Millennium
Desktop model). If that's the case, you can't even use them to red box by
dialing the Operator and fooling them with quarter tones, since they'll know
you can't insert coins into the payphone. All Millennium payphone numbers
have the payphone flag turned on. I'm just not sure if the Desktops have a
special flag or not.
Physical Description:
Millennium Desktops are larger in size than a normal residential phone. They're
approximately one and a half times the width, which makes them about 10-12" or
so wide. The increased width is mainly due to the display and card reader
externally as well as some internal Millennium components that aren't inside of
the average person's home phone.
When mounted on a desktop, they are slanted or sitting at an angle so that the
top or back of the phone is higher than the front. I'd estimate they're mounted
at an angle of at least 45 degrees, perhaps greater. If the Millennium is
wall-mounted, there isn't much of an angle at all. They're relatively flush
against the wall's surface.
The outer casing, handset and receiver cord are all black in colour. The actual
buttons are grey coloured. There's a yellow coloured card reader attached to
the right hand side of the payphone. The handset and hook switch are positioned
on the left hand side. The handset's cord is of average length. The LCD
display is fairly large and is located at the top portion of the phone about the
keypad. It spans most of the width of the phone and the text it displays is
light blue coloured (similar to the LCD display on Kenwood stereo receivers).
Above the left hand corner of the display is a Bell Canada logo. To the right
of that it shows the credit/calling cards that are accepted. It also has a
'no coins accepted' logo. Underneath the display there's more information
about dialing, usage, etc. Surrounding the display where the logos are the
phone is dark Bell blue. There's also the same blue and yellow where the
additional information is shown on display. The volume control is directly
beneath the keypad. The next call button (with a diamond on it) is above
the dialing pad and the language button (which is a toggle for changing the
text shown on the LCD display from English to French) is above that. The
default is English in most areas.
The port for connecting a laptop is located on the left hand side of the
payphone, near the location where the handset's cord is attached. The
connections running into the Millennium itself can vary slightly from the
wall-mounted and desktop mounted models. The wires are either concealed
in metal piping that runs down to the top portion of the payphone (in the
case of the wall-mounted Millennium Desktops), or the wires are more exposed
and run into the back right hand corner near the card reader. But that may
not be the case with all Millennium Desktops. I once saw one that was hooked
up extremely shoddily. The wires were all in a jumbled rat's nest, stuffed
behind the payphone and connected into a telephone jack. It wasn't just a
mess. They were fully exposed and anyone with malicious intent could have
easily snipped the wires, removed the Millennium and took off with the payphone
as a trophy. Needless to say, they're extremely vulnerable.
I hope that my descriptions of the physical characteristics of Millennium
Desktops are clear enough that they've been helpful. If not, then I'll try to
get a few pictures of them and send them into Damage, INC. so they can be
displayed on their web site. I realize that not everyone has a payphone like
these in their area, so that's why I've tried my best to describe them fully.
Special Characteristics and Features:
- Unlike the other Millenniums, Desktop Millenniums can be either wall mounted,
fastened to a desk or if you're industrious, removed and used as a beige box.
(Yes, they can easily be converted to a beige and are very portable!)
- They don't accept coins. They only accept credit cards, calling cards,
QuickChange cards and other types of pre-paid phone cards.
- They're equipped with a port that's located on the left side of the phone
near the handset/receiver cord connection. It's a standard telephone jack
connector that allows you to hook up a laptop. This feature is really handy
for h/p expeditions like scanning toll free numbers, hacking codes (VMBs, PBXs,
whatever) or hacking any systems (carriers) you find, etc. It's free and also
a relatively safe method to use.
- In many cases seating is provided so that while using the Desktop Millennium
you don't have to stand for the duration of the call.
Additional Info:
- Just as on Bell QuickChange cards, there's a notification on the actual
Desktop phone regarding the use of calling cards, instructing users to leave
the card inserted in the card reader for the duration of the call. However, it
isn't actually necessary. Upon picking up the reciever the Millennium plays
a message that instructs you to fully insert your card.
- You can use a tone dialer to call out on Desktop Millenniums (ie, your hands
never touch the keypad). Obviously you can't do it while the recorded fake
dialtone is playing. But if you wait a few seconds for the Operator message
that asks you to insert your card to be played, stick in a QuickChange card
and then use your tone dialer, it should dial and work just fine.
Final Comments:
Desktop Millenniums are Nortel and Bell Canada's idea of "the payphone for
the new Millennium". Some people think they're a phreak's worst nightmare.
Some phreaks are afraid of their security features, such as the alarm, etc.
Others don't like the fact they can't red box from them because of the fake
(recorded) dialtone. And a few of the older phreaks just miss the old
Centurions. Regardless of what you think of Millennium payphones, they're
everywhere and here to stay. Bell is replacing all of the Centurions with
Millenniums as fast as they can. One of the reasons is that they want to
encourage (ahem, force) people to pay for calls using their calling cards.
Bell is doing everything they can to discourage people from using coins to
make calls. They want payphone users to use cards for any calls they make,
including local calls. Yes, it's stupid. But like it or not, that's exactly
what they're trying to do.
If you have any questions or comments about my article, please contact me
(Helena3) by sending Email to helena3@antisocial.com. I'm always happy to
meet new people, especially other phreaks.
Note from Damage, INC. - If you want to learn more about Nortel's Millenniums,
you should read Aftermath's text file. It's available to download on Wraith
Tech Industries web site at http://www.internettrash.com/users/wraithtech
INTERVIEWS AND INTERROGATIONS - {INTERVIEWS}
In this issue there are interviews with two people that are well known in
the h/p scene. The first interviewee is RedBoxChiliPepper (PLA). The second
is Logic Box (System Failure). Hopefully they give you some insight into
them and their respective groups. Enjoy.
As always, <B> = BLACKENED's questions. I'm sure you can figure out the rest.
Alias: Alex, RBCP, RedBoxChiliPepper, You Little Fucking Punk Motherfucker,
Group: Phone Losers of America
Age: 26 1/2
Country: Phone Losers of AMERICA.
Description: A big tall dorky-looking semi-hacker, high school dropout and
all-around prankster.
Interests: No matter what I'm doing I prefer to do it while staring into a
computer monitor all day. I plan to be blind by the time I'm 30. Outside
of the house I like going to the movies, swimming, diving, biking and
playing really really stupid and meaningless pranks on innocent people.
Email: rbcp@phonelosers.org
URL(s): http://www.phonelosers.org/rbcp/index.html
<B> - Introduce yourself to the readers of the Damage, INC. Newsletter...
I guess I've been into the whole h/p scene for only about 7 years or so
now. I discovered BBSing in 1989 and found all those old cheesy 80's
anarchy/hacking files in 1991. By then I was heavily into all of it and
after reading the famous Capt'n Crunch Esquire article I was completely
hooked forever. I'd always been into telephones and computers even though
nobody else in my family ever seemed to be interested in it and I could
never seem to find anyone in the local BBS scene into the whole h/p thing.
I started writing my own text files in hopes of finding someone else to
share my interests with and started uploading them to all the local
BBSes. This more or less failed but I kept writing files just because I
enjoyed doing it. It wasn't until 1994 that me and el_jefe started the PLA.
<B> - How and when was the Phone Losers of America started? What are the goals
and purpose of PLA?
I'd already been trying to think of a decent name for a text file group but
couldn't come up with anything. I had cleaned up the formats on a few of
my texts and named them RBCP0001.TXT, RBCP0002.TXT, etc and planned to
release them that way but then el_jefe was messing with some local lamers
on a BBS and told them he was going to start an elite hacking group called
the Phone Losers of America. The name fit perfectly so I immediately stole
it from him and created the PLA.
The main reason I wanted to start a new text file series is because all of
the others took themselves way too seriously and tried to be elite as
possible to impress all their peers. There were a few exceptions but only
a few. The funniest thing I could find were the joke issues of Phrack and
a 'zine called Brotherhood of Warez which weren't even that funny. I
figured if I started something that was purely H/P/A humor, others would
follow and maybe people would just lighten up a little.
<B> - How was the PLA Telephone Director0y started?
Like everything else with the PLA, I stole the idea from somebody
else. (What? You expected me to be original??) In my extensive
collection of anarchy texts a few of them were nothing but lists of
interesting telephone numbers to call and almost all texts had a few BBSes
to call on the ends of them. The only problem was that these numbers were
almost always outdated so I decided to make a phone directory that would be
updated with every single issue of PLA. Before I got around to executing
that plan Colleen Card (then my girlfriend, now my wife) suggested that I
make it a quarterly phone directory. While I never was able to keep up
with the "quarterly" part of it, I managed to release 7 issues of it
before handing the project to the United Phone Losers.
Believe it or not I started collecting pay phone numbers when I was about
10 years old. My best friend thought it would be hilarious to call
somebody at a pay phone and be really stupid at them. So I rode my bike to
the Wilshire donut shop in East Alton, IL (now a big tourist attraction
because it was the first pay phone ever collected by me) and wrote down the
number to their phone booth. We let it ring for about 45 minutes until
somebody answered it. By the end of the year me and him had put together a
list of about 90 pay phones all over the area. I never thought I would
still be doing it when I was 26. Geez, what a loser I am.
The ANI section is obvious - people are always asking for ANI numbers so a
constantly updated list makes perfect sense. Telco test lines are just fun
to hear, TDD machines provide plenty of entertainment. Probably the
weirdest section would have to be the Roy section. I won't get into why we
were/are obsessed with the name Roy, but by the time I released the first
directory I thought it would be funny to dedicate a section to people and
businesses named Roy. I imagined a nation of Roy's being harassed just
because they were Roy although I'm sure this only confuses people and
nobody really thinks it's funny.
<B> - How has PLA changed since the first text issues were released?
The most noticeable change would be the fact that it went from a tiny text
file group into an electronic 'zine. As more and more people became
interested in the PLA I followed everyone's advice who emailed me and
created new sections and tried to write about what people were interested
in. By the time issue #46 (the last issue) came around we usually ended up
with a huge letters section, several articles, news and other random bits
of information and humor.
<B> - What types of things can be found on www.phonelosers.org?
Well, of course there's an archive of all the old PLA issues in both ascii
format and html. Some of our sound clips relate to a few of the old issues
such as the Dino Allsman series. Basically what you'll find on the main
page is a bunch of links to other H/P pages that are updated with more
current information than I'm able to provide. By the end of the summer
you'll start seeing a bunch of useless online videos called PLA TV which
I've been planning to do ever since I ditched the PLA 'Zine project but
have always been to lazy to get around to.
In my opinion though the best part of my site has got to be the PLA State
Site Database. There are now over a hundred privately-run PLA sites on the
net, each serving up information about a specific home town or state or
area code. This started out as a plan to get people to find other phreaks
near them and has had some excellent results. I remember when I was first
getting into all of the H/P I never really had anyone to share my newfound
tricks with or anyone to help me brainstorm ideas. I'm hoping that by
using the state sites people can help overcome this problem for themselves.
<B> - How do you think the Phone Losers of America are viewed by the majority
of visitors to phonelosers.org?
Judging from the e-mail I receive I think most people more or less get a
kick out of the information they find on our site. Some people will tell
me that they stayed up until daybreak when they found my page because there
was so much to read. One guy told me he missed a day of work because he
found my page a few hours before he was supposed to go in and didn't want
to quit reading and laughing.
As far as the actual hacking community goes, I hear most of them going on
and on about how lame the PLA is and how we don't know anything and
couldn't hack our ways out of a paper bag. But they just don't seem to get
the fact that they're supposed to come to our site to laugh, not to learn
the latest phone and hacking exploits. It's all nothing but a joke,
people! I should probably put a big disclaimer splash screen on my site
titled, "Prepare to Lower Your Expectations..."
<B> - Are you still actively involved in phreaking? What do you think of the
current phreak scene and how has it changed since you began?
I'm not into phreaking as much as I was 3 or 4 years ago but I still try to
keep up with everything and I'm constantly working on really weird and
pointless projects. Like right now I'm compiling a huge database of all
the area codes / prefixes within a one hour radius of my house and the
corresponding phone company wire center to each one. Once I'm done (I
almost am now) I'll have no use for the information and I'll probably just
post it up on a web page somewhere for other people to find and use.
As far as the current phreak scene goes, I think it's better than it's ever
been thanks to the net bringing everyone together. People in
alt.2600.phreakz and alt.phreaking are always going on and on about how
phreaking is nearly dead and the scene is in danger and things are aren't
like they used to be but people in the scene have always seemed to have
this attitude while things are going on in the scene just like they always
have.
The only things that have really changed is that all the information is so
much easier to find now and it's easier to find other people interested in
the same projects & exploits as you are. I think people pick on the
newbies too much but that's probably just because they're coming in floods
now since every kid in America now has computer access and they want to be
a hacker RIGHT NOW! I get a lot of e-mail from newbies and I usually just
try to answer their questions and point them in the right direction to read
more about it themselves.
<B> - How's Jim Bayless these days?
I actually still get a lot of e-mail about Jim from people trying to track
him down and talk to him about me. The only reason I used Jim Bayless's
name so often in the PLA issues was because I was excited that a phone
company security guy was actually interested in me. During the PLA Days I
used to occasionally call Jim every time I moved to a new part of the
country and he would always trace my call and would ask me, "So ALEX, how
was the whether in Washington last month??" like he was going to scare me
or something.
A friend of mine in Oregon who goes by the nick kcochran actually called up
Jim very recently and told him he knew me and just wanted to know how come
he didn't like me. Jim talked with him for quite some time and told
kcochran that it was a personal issue because I once had his secretary
patch through a call to his home in the middle of the night. He also said
he had a copy of my W2 tax forms from Indianapolis and knew all of my real
info. Anyway, Jim is still alive and working in corporate security. I
probably haven't called him in about five years now but I'm sure he still
remembers me.
<B> - What has been your experience with telco employees as a whole?
All in all I think telco employees are cool people. Most of the employees
I deal with are over the telephone and it's a pretty rare experience for me
to actually talk to one in person. Once in Galveston, TX I saw an employee
finishing up some work and getting into his van so I held up my red box and
screamed out the window at him, "I just red boxed a call on that pay phone
over there!!" and he actually got in his truck and followed me around the
island for about 15 minutes. I don't know if he was trying to get my
license plate or what.
I think my most frightening experience with an employee also happened in
Galveston while I was red boxing on a storefront pay phone with a bulky
(and loud!) tape recorder. I was talking to a friend and had just
deposited some money to continue my conversation and a minute later a guy
taps me on the shoulder. I turn around and it's a Southwestern Bell
employee. He says, "Could I get in here for just a minute?" and uses his
key to open the coin box, empty it and leave as he says, "Thank you." I
was in shock for a few hours after that.
<B> - Do you read any h/p related zines? If so, please list a few of the
ones that you read and respect.
Oh yeah, I can't get enough of H/P articles no matter what they're
about. Of course I read Phrack and 2600 but I also keep up with just about
all of the lesser-known groups because what they might lack in knowledge
they definitely make up with it in humor. A few of my favorites are System
Failure who recently released their very last issue (www.sysfail.org),
United Phone Losers come out with something every month or so, The Phone
Rangers don't have a 'zine but they have short stories on their web page
that are entertaining. I could go on and on, I read just about everything
I come across. If you visit the phonelosers.org web site you'll see links
to a few of my favorite sites along the top of the screen and even more in
the links section.
The only other 'zine I've written for is System Failure which I think I did
a total of two or three articles for them. I also started an archive of
IRC logs after I quit writing PLA (www.phonelosers.org/peachey.html) which
started out detailing our harassment of some girl on IRC but is now updated
every few months with interesting e-mail I receive and interesting and
humorous things I find on the net. It used to be called Peachey
Incorporated but I recently changed the name to the more elite, hard-core
sounding Pink Fluffy Phreaking Bunnies.
<B> - Which h/p groups, if any, do you respect?
I think I named most of them in the previous question. I guess a few
others would be WraithTech, National Telco Opposition Party, Phone Punx
Network and United Phreaks Syndicate. It's not really a matter of
respecting them, it's just the sites I find the most useful and entertaining.
<B> - Which web sites do you usually frequent?
I spend a good 5 hours a day (while I'm working) browsing the net. I'm not
a regular visitor to many sites outside of all the H/P sites that I've
mentioned before, but I mostly spend time on the search engine pages
looking for anything interesting.
<B> - Have you ever been busted? Or, do you know anyone that's been busted?
If so, would you like to describe the event, the circumstances of the bust
and the conclusion?
I've been busted many times but it was never really directly related to
H/P. The first time was in Albany, Oregon where they THOUGHT they were
busting a big-time computer hacker but I was just using extrapolated credit
card numbers to make free phone calls. They had been working on the case
for months and were completely stumped because I was operator diverting to
make it appear as if the calls were coming from another location. I
happened to use the same number every single time so apparently they were
really watching this one guy who worked for the company I was making my
calls come from.
They finally figured out who I was because I had called an employee
complaint line for a business that I worked for at the time. They
ransacked my room, took everything that they didn't understand and hauled
me off to an interrogation room where I cooperated fully. They estimated
that I stole somewhere around $10,000 in phone calls so I was given a fine
of about $250 and told not to do it anymore.
The second time I was busted was again for a credit card offense while
trying to fly Colleen Card home to Oregon from Texas. Even though they
knew I had flown her there on a stolen credit card number, the case was
completely dropped and my only punishment was that I ended up spending
about 36 hours in the jail's drunk tank. I was also busted in Ohio for
calling up a lady and talking her into giving me her credit card
number. So I guess if I wanted to give any advice to your readers it would
be to not mess with people's credit cards and you shouldn't have many problems!
One of the most recent events that's happened to me would be the police
showing up at my house to talk to me about Gwonk's case. I don't know many
of the details on the case, I just know that Gwonk didn't really do
anything major but he's been in jail now for some kind of computer hacking
charge but he's out now. Two police officers and a "computer expert"
drove nearly three hours to my house because they figured I must somehow
fit into the whole hacking scheme.
I let the cops come in, took them to my computer room and told them exactly
how clueless I was. They asked if they could let their "computer expert"
come in and look at my hard drive. Since I didn't have anything
questionable on my drive I said sure and the "computer expert" came in and
did his thing. The thing was that this "computer expert" never broke out
of Windows 98, he just opened up Explorer and went to town surfing my hard
drive. He didn't use any special software and didn't play with any of my
settings so if I had any hidden directories with all my illegal hacking
stuff he sure wasn't going to find it. He also didn't bother looking at
our computer upstairs since he could view it on the network. He just
assumed that I had all of my hard drives upstairs set to share on the
network. I haven't heard anything back from them but I really wish Gwonk
the best of luck in this whole mess.
<B> - Do you want to mention any boards that you call or people in the scene
that you know?
I haven't really called any H/P boards in several years now and I don't
even know if any of them still exist. Since the net has become so popular
it almost seems pointless to bother calling up boards anymore. I should
really thank Logic Box for bring the scene such a cool 'zine like System
Failure even though he had to go and quit writing it like that. But since
I did the same thing to PLA I guess I can't say anything about that. Also
thanks to el_jefe who not only created the PLA name but put more content
into the issues than anybody seems to realize. And lastly to Linear of
United Phone Losers who was cool enough to accept my offer to take over
PLA's quarterly phone directory. (He just released a new one, by the
way!) I could give shout-outs and greetz to a ton of people but I won't
because I'm way too lazy for that.
<B> - Thanks for agreeing to be interviewed RBCP. Thanks again for the PLA
Telephone Director0y editions that you released. They literally inspired us to
create the Phreaky Field Phreaking List, which otherwise might not even exist.
And thanks for allowing us to link to PLA releases, etc. We really appreciate
it man. I'm sure that our readers will enjoy reading this interview and gain
some insight about you and the Phone Losers of America. We respect what PLA
contributed to the scene over the years and recommend that our readers download
and read all of PLA's releases.
Before I conclude this interview, I'd just like to let it be known that I had
wanted to interview RedBoxChiliPepper for a long time... since I respect him
and the Phone Losers of America. So, it's easy for me to say that this
particular interview had more personal meaning to me than many of the others
I've done. Yeah, that's right, it's special. ;)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Alias: Logic Box
Group: System Failure
Age: 19
Country: USA (Sunnyvale, CA)
Description: Linux enthusiast and former head of System Failure
Interests: Linux, computers in general, video games, certain types of RPGs
Email: logic@geekbox.net
IRC: logicbox (EFnet)
URL(s): http://www.geekbox.net (though it's in severe need of an update)
<B> - Introduce yourself to the readers of the Damage, INC. Newsletter...
I've been an avid computer user since I was 5 years old. I got my
first real PC (a Packard Bell 286) when I was 9, and grew up on
MS-DOS. I upgraded to a low-end 486 when I graduated from jr. high
(in 1994--I was 14 at the time); it came with a neat 2400 baud modem
and the wonderful Windows 3.1. I made various upgrades to my system
(both hardware-wise and OS-wise) over the next few years, found this
funny thing called the internet, and eventually got interested in
Linux (thanks to skullY) in early 1997. I've been into the scene
since I was about 16. That was about three and a half years ago
(1996), and was actually drawn into the H/P thing after extensive
perusal of the PLA website (http://www.phonelosers.org). Fortunately
I didn't end up as destructive and brain-dead as the majority of the
PLA fans out there, and I eventually got involved with System
Failure during its infancy in 1997, at the request of Pinguino.
<B> - How and when was System Failure started? What were the original goals and
purpose of the group and the zine?
System Failure was born at Gumba's Italian restaurant on May 3,
1997. Bluedot (formerly known as Darkcactus) and I were having lunch
with Pinguino, who was in town for the weekend to help her friend
Eddie man an anti-gun booth at a local swap meet. I'd known her on
IRC for a couple of months, and she asked us if we'd be interested
in helping her with a new project she was working on--an H/P-related
zine called System Failure. Ever since the retirement of PLA,
Kenshiro Cochrane and I had been kicking around the idea of starting
our own zine, so I figured this was the perfect opportunity to do
that, with the backing of Pinguino and Penguin Palace. Pinguino was
happy to allow KC into the group with us, and that was that. We had
the usual hopes for our zine--fun, informative, and hopefully
something that didn't suck.
<B> - How did System Failure change as a zine since the first issue was released
in 1997? How did members of the group change?
I know several of the other former group members will agree with me
on this, so I don't mind saying it. The first seven or so issues
sucked. We eventually evolved from a ragtag band of typical former
PLA fans to a group of individuals working together to formulate an
intelligent, informative publication. A few of the original group
members didn't share this view (particularly Bluedot and KC), and
were eventually replaced by people who did. Mr. Sonik and skullY
were both invited into the group before the end of our first year;
I'd hoped that they would eventually become members from the start.
Spee became a member early into our second year, and Barkode was
invited into the group during Defcon 6. More than anything else, I
always tried to make people understand that System Failure was first
and foremost a group of friends. We all knew each other very well,
we were all working together for a common cause, and we evolved into
something a lot of people really liked.
<B> - What types of things can be found on www.sysfail.org?
Nothing these days. Just our old issue archives and a few
photographs.
<B> - How do you think System Failure is viewed by the majority of visitors to
sysfail.org and readers of the zine?
Well, as far as popularity goes, our webpage (just the index.html
page, mind you) had over 7000 hits in the six days it was hosted on
geekbox.net during one of our relocation frenzies. Most of the
feedback I've gotten from people has been positive, especially
during the last few months of the group. Then again, I happen to
know of a few elitist organizations who apparently don't like us too
much. :)
<B> - Are you still actively involved in h/p? What do you think of the current
h/p scene, the people (groups, zines) involved and how has it changed since you
began?
I'm still actively involved in what I do, and I still keep close
contact with the other former System Failure members (primarily
skullY and Barkode). As far as other groups, I have plenty of
respect for all the big guns--L0pht, cDc, the New Hack City folks,
etc. Phrack's always done a good job as a zine; I've found 2600 to
be sorely lacking in intelligent material the last few issues. A lot
of the smaller groups and zines don't survive for very long (perhaps
because they don't try very hard), and that sort of lenda a feeling
of laziness to the scene, and its recent members throughout the last
few years. I'd certainly hate to see the scene eventually be
dominated by folks who don't really care much about it.
<B> - Was it difficult at times to motivate people to write articles? What were
the main reasons for the decision to cease the publication of System Failure?
Oh yes. QUITE difficult. There are certain people I won't name (they
know who they are) who I've very nearly had to threaten to get
something out of them, after months of promises that "yeah, I'll
have something for the next issue." Our reasons for retiring System
Failure were mostly personal. I won't go into details, but I will
say that a fair amount of trust was lost between certain key group
members. A lot of it also had to do with a good deal of lack of
interest on the parts of certain members.
<B> - Which articles that were published in System Failure stand out in your
mind, and why?
My Linux security article! :) Well, seriously, I was pretty proud
of that when I finished it. Barkode also did a very informative
series of articles on protocols (his ARP and ICMP articles in
particular come to mind), and Pennywise's electricity primer was
very thorough and well-written. I was also very impressed with the
PC security systems article from our final issue, written by Syphon
Siege and Phett.
<B> - Do you think the group or name System Failure will ever be restored
or resurrected sometime in the future? If so, would you want to be involved
with it again?
No. I think I can safely say that System Failure will not be back,
although we may start up another organization sometime in the near
future. Who knows? :)
<B> - What has been your overall experience with telco employees as a whole?
I've never really ran across any telco employees that stand out in
my mind, neither good or bad.
<B> - How was DefCon this year?
It was okay. It seemed a lot more laid back than previous Defcons,
which is probably why the hotel invited us back for next year. All
in all, I think I enjoyed Defcon 6 (1998) more.
<B> - Do you read any h/p related zines? If so, please list a few of the
ones that you read and respect.
Phrack! I'll always support the long-retired PLA too.
<B> - Which h/p groups, if any, do you respect?
cDc, L0pht, the New Hack City folks, r00t, PLA (read: RBCP and
Colleen Card), and of course, all my fellow ex-group members.
<B> - Which IRC channels can you be found in?
EFnet #408, #916, #sunnyvale
<B> - Do you want to share any memorable hacking/phreaking related experiences?
Well, Defcon always rocks. It's always neat to meet people and
finally attach faces to the names you've known on IRC and through
e-mail for so long.
<B> - Have you ever been busted? Or, do you know anyone that's been busted?
If so, would you like to describe the event, the circumstances of the bust
and the conclusion?
Nope. I'm careful about what I do, and I generally try to stay on
the good side of the scene. I do know a couple of people who have
been busted, but I'm not really allowed to say anything about that.
:)
<B> - Do you want to mention any boards that you call or people in the scene
that you know?
Well, hrm. Thanks go out to skullY, kadafi, and vel0city for getting
me into Linux. Barkode has helped me out quite a bit on a personal
level. Pinguino has my undying thanks for who she is and everything
she's ever been to me, despite some of the problems we've had in the
past. Oh, and hi to Pesto and Runt, since the three of us (along
with skullY) are practically attached at the ass.
<B> - Are there any other interesting things or general comments that you have
and wish to share?
My thanks goes out to everyone who has ever supported us. All our
readers, all our artists (even those of you who did simple .diz
files for us), and all the people who have sent us e-mail and
feedback. We couldn't have done it without you.
<B> - Thanks for agreeing to be interviewed Logic Box.
I'm sure that our readers will enjoy reading this interview and gain some
interesting insight about you and System Failure. We respect what SysFail
contributed to the scene over the years and recommend that our readers download
and read all of System Failure's releases.
Before I conclude this interview, I'd just like to make a few short comments
about System Failure. It might not have been the most well known, respected
zine "in the scene". And it may not have lasted the longest or had the largest
readership. However, it was a quality publication that I personally read
loyally and enjoyed. I can honestly say that I looked forward to the release
of each issue and have respect for any group that can release a zine of that
standard over a time span of 2 years. In my view, System Failure's last six
issues or so were excellent and contained many interesting, intelligent, well
written articles on various topics. The highest compliment I can give is that
by reading SysFail, I learned about things that I otherwise may not have. So,
if your goal was to share and bestow knowledge upon people, I can assure you
that you succeeded in doing that. Thanks again for putting out a quality zine
and good luck in your future endeavours man. ;)
NEWS FROM THE TRENCHES - {NEWS}
We've been updating the web site on a more frequent basis in recent weeks.
However, many areas are still under construction. Also, we still want payphone
pictures, so send in whatever you can. Thanks again to everyone that has sent
us telco related pictures. We greatly appreciate your efforts and contributions
in that area. Our web site's Payphones page has benefited and been enhanced by
the recent addition of new pictures.
The Damage, INC. Phreaky Field Phreaking List Summer Edition was released on
June 30th. To obtain a copy, visit http://surf.to/damage_inc and download
DAM99SUM.ZIP from the Texts page. It's a must for anyone that field phreaks,
especially those without an 800 directory. Plus, it also contains many other
useful numbers from various NPAs, most of which are in Canada. Contact us at
damage_inc@disinfo.net if you want to contribute.
I've released a files listing named the AJFA Archives. It's a list of files
from my now retired h/p board. You can request files by contacting me in Email
via blackened@disinfo.net.
I have been in contact with several groups, including Wraith Tech Industries,
Phones of Zen, Hack Canada, etc. and we may work on some projects together in
the future. We've also given permission to hevnsent of Age of Thought and
Technology (http://listen.att) to use the Damage, INC. Phreaky Field Phreaking
List on At&t's web site, upon his request. If anyone else wants to distribute
our releases, please make sure you contact us first and give us credit.
Look out for The Bell Chronicles by Damage, INC. It's in the works now. It
will be a new series of text files written about Bell Canada and released
sporadically in small, separate volumes. They'll definitely be damn phreaky.
In addition to having tidbits of Bell information, they include a Millennium
Payphone Phun section, filled with hilarious quotes from conversations. ;)
We've had some problems with distribution in recent months. Boards that were
previously Damage, INC. Distribution Sites have been steadily disappearing.
So, if you run a board and want to support us by distributing our releases,
contact us.
Milestone: We've finally broken the 10,000 hits barrier on the web site.
Remember to visit it often for news, updates, scans, texts, payphone pictures,
new editions of the Phreaky Field Phreaking List, etc. And don't forget to
join the Damage, INC. mailing list while you're on the site.
OBJECTIVE OPINIONS - {OPINIONS}
Hacktivism: The individual's tool against oppression.
To clarify the title, Hacktivism can appear in many forms and Hacktivists
can be a group of people that combines forces using technology to work towards
a common goal, or it can be an individual working on their own towards a goal.
Each person has their own definition of what Hacktivism is, what it means,
what true Hacktivists are and has their own unique opinions on each. I could
have chosen any number of titles for this article, from "Hacktivism: The poor
man's tool", "Hacktivism: The intelligent person's tool" to "Hacktivism: The
modern activist's tool." And in a way, all of the above would be appropriate.
In order to make this article easier for those that are unfamiliar with the
term to understand, I'll give my personal definition of what Hacktivists are
and then I will explain Hacktivism by sharing my opinions and views of what it
means to me.
Hacktivists - "Any individual or group of people that use technology to work
towards achieving a specific goal or fighting for a cause. The
means to which they work may be legal or illegal. The cause
may be political, but it is not restricted to political causes.
In fact, it can be virtually anything imaginable."
Granted, that's a very broad definition that encompasses almost anything that
can be deemed "a cause". If it's any easier, think of Hacktivism as being
'Techno-Activism'... and the activists involved as being modern day activists
that use whatever technology is available to get their message across. They
aren't unlike the 60s activists. The only significant difference is that in
the 90s we have inexpensive, readily available technology that permits us to
reach a much wider audience. In the 1960s, it would have been difficult for
the average individual person lacking wealth to be heard, regardless of their
message. These days, with the technology that we possess, almost anyone with
very little resources can reach a large international audience, make contacts
around the world and try to enact change without spending a good chunk of change
to do so. :)
Hacktivism can be protesting against something you disagree with, fighting
for a cause you believe in strongly... or simply using technology to raise
awareness about something. If you're a Hacktivist, you have an agenda. So,
in many ways it isn't that different from any else since everyone has some
kind of agenda. In most cases, it's a political agenda or cause... not unlike
the ones held by other, more mainstream political activists, except Hacktivism
involves technology to a greater degree. And the causes aren't as common and
mainstream as the ones that the average political activist is involved with.
Some might even describe the causes as being of the 'underground' variety.
And they might say that the methods of protest are 'unusual', since they can
be unique and thus don't fit the typical means of protesting. Hacktivism
doesn't involve protesting in the traditional "sign waving" sense. That's okay
though. Whatever draws attention to causes of importance, such as human rights
violations, can be criticized but mere criticism won't stop a determined
Hacktivist or group of Hacktivists from pursuing their goals. Anything that
gets people talking and attracts attention (positive or negative) to your
cause isn't going to hurt, especially if you have a low budget. Think of it
as free advertising.
There are a lot of disillusioned, Generation-X kids out there that will read
this article and think I'm either preaching to them, or encouraging them to
go out and hack web pages. To anyone that has misinterpreted what I've written
so far to mean "Hack the CIA's web site and replace the logos with a huge
'Free Tibet' slogan", "Hack [insert media organization's site of your choice]
and put 'Free Kevin Mitnick' everywhere." or "Hack a Chinese government owned
site. Post 'Fuck Communism!' a thousand times along with adult pics and
'Hax0rs rule!' graphics." there probably isn't anything that I can write to
discourage you from doing that. If you're determined to do it, go for it.
I will say that I'm not advocating that type of behaviour. That's not even
Hacktivism. Why not? It doesn't serve any purpose. It's not doing something.
In the end, it does nothing. It achieves nothing. The web pages are changed
back and it's forgotten. So why not think of an intelligent idea and try
another tactic that actually works? And why not choose a cause that isn't so
fucking trendy, overdone and popular while you're at it? Why not do something
that doesn't make people want to laugh and mock you for being pathetic? Why
not do something that makes a valued contribution and doesn't make people in
the scene puke in disgust? Seriously, the youth of this country *needs* causes.
That includes young people in the h/p scene. They need to stand up and fight
for something that they believe in (if anything). And they definitely have to
learn that they aren't anything (such as a Hacktivist), just because they claim
to be one. They also need to learn that "hax0ring" web sites... and replacing
the pages with shit (that only serves to make people laugh for 2 seconds)
isn't going to do anything positive at all. That's not the way to enact change.
That isn't the way to express your beliefs... And even if you insist that it
*is* indeed your way, that still doesn't mean it will ever get your message
across to anyone other than your own little circle of '14 year old hax0r
buddies'. If those are the only people you're hoping to affect and sway to your
side, then you have greater problems to consider.
Hacktivism should be used for legitimate purposes, for real causes, to protest
serious things that matter. It's not a game. It isn't a video game. And it
isn't a toy. It shouldn't be the latest thing for AOL kids to take a passing
interest in and play around with in the same way they become bored with last
week's Nintendo 64 game. Hacktivism is real and depending on the extent that
you take things, it can have some real gains and real consequences.
In closing, it's your choice whether or not you become a Hacktivist. It
definitely isn't for everyone. Nor should it be. But it is a tool that's
available to us whenever we want to fight against something such as censorship,
human rights violations, Big Brother and the oppression of people. In the
very least, it's something to think about and consider as an option. Never
forget that it is your right to protest. Of course, no matter what the issue
is or how hard you fight, there's no guarantee that you'll yield any results
whatsoever. But those are the breaks. Hopefully this article has at least
given you some indication as to what Hacktivism is about. I couldn't possibly
hope to describe it as well as Oxblood Ruffin of cDc did though... as his essay
was so clear, well written and descriptive that it was poetic. However, I've
tried to get my point across and share my opinions on the topic. And that's all
that can be expected. Lastly, if you want to become involved with a certain
cause, and you have no experience with it, contact an existing organization
before doing something illegal and stupid. And if you do end up doing something
that isn't exactly legal, don't get caught. Those are the only words of advice
that I have for you, so I'll quit ranting. :)
Acknowledgements: cDc for coining the term Hacktivism.
Oxblood Ruffin's 'Chinese Checkers' cDc issue #361
Written by Blackie Lawless ú Damage, INC. (C)opyright 1999.
REPORTS FROM THE FRONT - {REPORTS}
An assortment of interesting articles.
I decided to include a few articles covering DefCon 7 in Las Vegas, the
Black Hat Conference, the release of cDc's Back Orifice 2000, and the release
of the L0pht's AntiSniff security tool. In addition to those articles, there's
the comical 1999 Darwin Award Nominees... Not surprisingly, a Canadian telco
employee (Northern Manitoba Signal Relay) was named as the winner for 1999.
We've also included a hilarious article concerning a recent explosion and fire,
that was started by a Bell Canada employee at a Bell Central Office in Toronto.
Since it caused problems nationwide, I thought it deserved to be published.
Good work Bell! My comments are contained in square brackets.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wound-Up DefCon Winds Down
by Polly Sprenger
DefCon 7 wraps with media-hacker showdowns and high-energy presentations.
Polly Sprenger reports from Las Vegas.
LAS VEGAS -- The seventh annual DefCon hacker convention drew to a close Sunday,
after a weekend of uninterrupted sensory overload.
The event was marked by massive enthusiasm over the release of a new remote
administration tool from the much-heralded Cult of the Dead Cow, and the
quizzical expressions on the faces of the media as they attempted to grasp
"the meaning" of DefCon.
The CDC [ahem, cDc] presentation featured a maelstrom of digital effects and
technomusic that captured the energy of the three-day event.
ABCNews.com's Michael Martinez presented a talk on the persistent rift between
hackers and the press on Saturday. He provided a forum for hackers to confront a
member of the tech media with questions like, "Since all these reporters want to
learn to be hackers, why don't they just hire hackers to be reporters?"
Martinez said that hackers had difficulty getting mainstream media to
understand their message and perspective because so often communication breaks
down between the two groups.
"We know the how, the where, and the when," Martinez said. "But why? You
complain that we don't get it, and we complain that you won't let us."
Sunday morning and afternoon sessions were punctuated with rousing rounds of
"Spot the Fed," the annual DefCon game of outing federal agents.
Anyone identified as a Fed was brought up on stage for questioning. The
suspected Feds, all of whom were more than willing to whip out badges after a
few minutes of interrogation, were dressed almost universally in polo shirts
and khakis, their crew-cut stiffness a striking contrast to their black-clad
accusers.
The audience hurled questions at them like, "Does your office have a ban on
Furby's?" and "What does Dana Scully [the fictional X-files agent] really look
like?" One Fed lost all hope of going undetected by responding, "Never heard of
him."
The day hit high gear with the release show for BO2K, or Back Orifice 2000, one
of the few software announcements that required a sign posted on the door
warning that the presentation might be dangerous to people with heart
conditions.
Nineteen of the 20 revered CDC [cDc] members were present on stage, the most
ever assembled in one place. The group took an older-but-wiser tone in its
reverberating remonstrations to the audience.
"Pick the cause before you pick the site you're gonna hack," the group advised,
"and use a fuckin' spell checker!"
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fear and Hacking in Las Vegas
by Polly Sprenger
Hackers are in Sin City to share secrets, party at all-night raves, and try to
figure out who among the T-shirted crowd is actually a snooping federal agent.
Polly Sprenger reports from Las Vegas.
LAS VEGAS -- The sun rose Friday morning on the first day of Def Con, the annual
hacker conference, with labor crews hosing down the parking lots and the
highways.
Workers were dealing with the aftermath of an unexpected thunderstorm that shut
down the airport Thursday and left the city sunk in a thick layer of mud.
More than 600 of Def Con's 6,000 expected attendees were already in town for the
Black Hat security conference.
The timing was unfortunate, however. Next door to the predominately
male-attended Black Hat conference was a teenage dance competition, where, after
spending the day listening to talks on security issues, attendees could watch
adolescent dancers shaking their groove thang.
"Someone's gonna get arrested," sighed Chris, from Toronto, in the bar of the
nearby Hard Rock Cafe later.
But by mid-morning, hackers shook off their Thursday night hangovers to descend
on the convention hall. Hacker groups and enthusiasts did a brisk trade in
T-shirts, hacker equipment, and zines.
As a TV crew cruised the hall, an organizer asked everyone to be mature and not
deface the camera.
"Be good, and next time Mom will let you wear the big pants," he said to the
youthful, baggy-panted crowd.
Convention-goers were testing their competitive side in the sixth annual Spot
the Fed contest (several agents were outed by early afternoon), and by donning
inflatable sumo wrestling suits for a little all-in-fun mock violence.
"Always wanted to beat up some punk on the mailing list? You really hate the
person who always argues with you?" Def Con organizers asked. "How about media
vs. the underground? Or feds vs. hackers? We've rented giant inflatable sumo
suits for you to do battle."
T-shirts like "I miss crime" and "I hate stupid people" caught approving glances
from the crowd, while a photographer wandered around the room snapping shots of
any available woman for the "Babes of Def Con" photo album.
Outside the smoky, crowded hall, a group of younger attendees was gleefully
stringing cable from hotel room to hotel room, beefing up the paltry connection
offered by the Alexis Park convention center and resort.
The "day in the sun" feeling was soured a bit as a group of security enthusiasts
posted "wanted" signs accusing John P. Vranesevich, founder of AntiOnline, of
criminal activities. They accuse the computer security pundit of paying crackers
to hit sites in exchange the scoop.
Vranesevich and his supporter, Happy Hacker Carolyn Meinel, vocally deny that he
has done anything wrong, and point the finger back at [www.attrition.org] the
accusers, who have posted material about Vranesevich on their Web site.
The controversy escalated last week, when a popular site for security
information, PacketStorm, was removed from its host server at Harvard after
university officials were told that the site had negative and allegedly
libelous information about Vranesevich on it.
But according to Brian Fite of HSK, the tension only adds another dimension of
excitement to the goings-on.
Also on the underground agenda is a party to announce the "launch" of Back
Orifice 2000, a hacking tool for Microsoft Office 2000; a formal black-and-white
ball where T-shirts will be traded in for tuxes; and assorted, sordid all-night
raves.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Inside Def Con
An insider's report on Las Vegas's annual hacker convention.
By Annaliza Savage
I can hardly believe that Def Con 6 has come and gone. Who, of the 75 or so
people that attended Def Con 1, would have thought that this small hacker
gathering would turn into such a huge event? This year there were probably 2,000
people milling around, not all hackers though.
In my estimation the ratio broke down to about 25 percent journalists and film
crews, 25 percent headhunters and corporate agents, 25 percent wannabe lamers,
10 percent federal agents and 15 percent old school hackers.
Having attended Def Con 1, 2 and 3, boycotted Def Con 4 and 5, only to return
this year to Def Con 6, I still haven't decided how I feel about the increasing
body count. As much as I'd like to slag off the whole thing for its
commercialism, I still had a fantastic time catching up with people I hadn't
seen for ages.
Now if you've never been to Def Con, or any hacker con, let me fill you in. The
point of a hacker conference is to meet people face to face, exchange
technology, and generally have a laugh.
Most of the knowledge exchange happens in hotel rooms or at the bar. Hacker cons
are generally filled with mayhem, a few pranks, and-- when the younger
generation invades-- well, some really stupid things have been known to happen.
The older hackers roll their eyes and say, "Geez, don't their parents ever let
them out?"
On my way to Def Con, I sat on the airplane with Aleph One, lamenting the days
of old when cons were an intimate affair. We both attended the first Def Con,
and we're both kinda cynical about the way the underground has gone. A lot of
people have latched on because it's now cool to be a supposed (media-generated)
"outlaw hacker," not because they are generally interested in the technology.
Having said that it is really amazing to see where a lot of those brilliantly
smart people are at six years later (the ones we've kept track of from
Def Con 1). One is a computer game programmer, one is a cellular phone engineer,
a few are top computer security experts... as far as I know almost all are
working in the industry and doing really well.
But getting back to the present: So what were interesting things happened at
this year's Def Con?
The Cult of the Dead Cow released Back Orifice. A hacker that I won't name, (but
had an atom shaved into the back of his head) got led away by someone with a
Department of Corrections patch on his uniform. I saw one guy being taken away
by paramedics. A lot of the hacker stars were there, including The L0pht boys,
r00t, the NewHackCity crew, and 2600 magazine. And let me tell you, having sat
down and spoken to a lot of these guys, there are a lot of interesting projects
in the works. I'd tell you what they were, but then I'd have to kill you.
Will I go again next year? We'll see.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
LAS VEGAS -- Uncle Sam wants you -- to help protect America from cyberattacks.
That was the message delivered by Jeffrey Hunker, one of the Fed's top
information protection officials, at a speech Wednesday at the Black Hat
Briefings computer security conference.
As the National Security Council's director for information protection, Hunker
is developing the nation's strategy against cyberterrorists, hackers, electronic
spies, and other threats to its information infrastructure. That encompasses
everything from transportation to banking to health care and government.
Crackers Knock, Don't Get In
Defending that vast and increasingly vulnerable infrastructure will require
unprecedented cooperation between government and the private sector, Hunker said
to some 600 information technology professionals gathered in the counterfeit
Italian opulence of the Venetian casino-hotel.
"A number of nations that are hostile to the [United States] and several well-
financed terrorist groups, and quite arguably a number of organized crime
groups, are systematically developing capabilities to attack US information
systems. That's something both new and frightening."
The government boosted Hunker's budget 40 per cent next year to US$1.5 billion.
Projects will include technical research and development, and a new college
scholarship program for information technology students who promise to work for
the government after graduation.
More controversially, Hunker is also charged with bringing together law
enforcement, government intelligence agencies, and the private sector to share
information and expertise on security issues.
"For the first time, it's not just an issue of protecting US bases against
Soviet missiles," said Hunker. "It's about protecting US companies."
In years past, private companies would deal with security breaches on their own,
without bringing in the government or law enforcement, Hunker said.
"That was perfectly fine when you're dealing with disgruntled insiders or
individual hackers," he said. "It's totally inappropriate when we're dealing
with a world where what you're experiencing might be one facet of a much larger
intelligence or terrorist or national security threat."
Despite Hunker's assurances that civil liberties will not be sacrificed in the
pursuit of cyber safety, the notion of the government sharing security
information with private companies set off alarms with many listeners.
"It's nice that he paid lip service to the idea of civil liberties, but I don't
buy it," said Christina Bird, a privacy expert with >Secure Network Group.
"He talked a lot about threats from abroad, but not about here in the US,
because they want to underplay how much they want to monitor us," she said.
"I'm hoping this program will be as ineffective as most of what the government
does."
Derek Tongue, an information systems security officer with the US Army, sees
even darker forces at work.
"I think the prophecies in Revelations are taking place now, and the Internet
is a tool," Tongue said. "With e-commerce, the FBI, the CIA will be able to find
where you are, what you're buying, what hotel you're staying in. Everyone will
have the mark of the beast. What [Hunker] is talking about is part of that."
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
L0pht Releases AntiSniff
The Boston-based security collective unveils its second commercial tool, which
monitors your network for suspicious activity.
By Polly Sprenger.
A group of hackers in Boston released a public beta of its second commercial
product Friday. Called AntiSniff, the program monitors networks for "sniffers,"
tools used by malicious hackers to extract data from systems they are attacking.
The group of seven security experts goes by the name L0pht Heavy Industries.
Their first commercial product, L0phtCrack, is a fast and powerful Windows NT
password-cracking program that group member "Weld Pond" says is even used by
Microsoft's security team.
AntiSniff monitors networks by scanning for patterns a cracker might leave while
discreetly monitoring data stored on or passing through a network. This practice
of "packet sniffing" leaves trails that AntiSniff can detect, the group said in
a statement released Friday.
The first beta of the product is available for a free download from the group's
Web site. L0pht will sell the final release of AntiSniff for Windows NT for a
yet-to-be-determined price. A UNIX version of the product, not yet available,
will be free.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Coming Soon: Back Orifice 2000
An underground computer security group is poised to release a new version of a
notorious software program that could allow crackers to watch and listen in on
Windows-based PC users.
The Cult of the Dead Cow said it will release Back Orifice 2000 on 9 July -- at
the annual Def Con convention in Las Vegas.
"This will demonstrate that Microsoft's operating systems are completely
insecure and a bad choice for consumers and businesses who demand privacy," said
Oxblood Ruffin, a former United Nations consultant and current Cult of the Dead
Cow spokesman.
Back Orifice a Pain in the ...?
Def Con is perhaps the most unusual gathering in the computer security field.
Hackers, crackers, and self-proclaimed security experts will mingle with media,
security professionals, federal law enforcement officers, and "script kiddies"
who deface Web pages with prefab cracking code.
Security groups of all stripes use the occasion to release software and show off
gadgets. But Back Orifice 2000 is perhaps the most anticipated item.
Unlike previous versions of the software, Back Orifice 2000 will run on Windows
NT and feature strong encryption and a modular architecture that the group said
will allow hackers and other security groups to write plug-ins.
The program will be released as open source to encourage further development by
the security community.
Back Orifice, released at last year's Def Con, may allow malicious users to
monitor and tamper with computers without the permission or knowledge of their
owners.
The program is classified as a Trojan Horse because crackers need to dupe the
user into installing an application on their hard disk. Despite this, Oxblood
Ruffin said that the program is currently installed on up to a half-million PCs
worldwide.
Though that number could not be independently verified, an Australian computer
security group last November said that 1,400 Australian Internet accounts have
been compromised by Back Orifice.
Back Orifice 2000 also promises to be a great deal more difficult to detect than
its predecessor because it enables users to configure its port setting.
Previously, intrusion detection and antivirus programs could detect Back Orifice
because it used a default port setting of 31337.
A Microsoft Windows NT Server security manager said the company is closely
monitoring Back Orifice development and is working with antivirus and intrusion
detection software vendors to provide customers with utilities to combat the
software.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
______________________________________________________________________
_ _
BACK ORIFICE 2000 ((___)) BACK ORIFICE 2000
show some control [ x x ] show some control
\ /
(' ')
(U)
________________________ http://www.bo2k.com/ ________________________
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Press Contact:
The Deth Vegetable
cDc Minister of Propaganda
veggie@cultdeadcow.com
BACK ORIFICE 2000, THE ONLY WAY TO CONTROL A MICROSOFT NETWORK
[July 2nd, San Francisco] The CULT OF THE DEAD COW (cDc) will debut its
latest remote network administration tool called Back Orifice 2000 on July
10th at Defcon VII in Las Vegas. This program is the most powerful
application of its kind and puts the administrator solidly in control of
any Microsoft network.
Back Orifice 2000 is a best-of-breed network administration tool, granting
sysadmins access to every Windows machine on their network. Using Back
Orifice 2000, network administrators can perform typical desktop support
duties without ever leaving their desk.
Some notable features include:
* Windows NT support (as well as Windows 95 and 98)
* an open plugin architecture to allow for 3rd party add-ons
* strong cryptography to ensure secure network administration
* open source, available under the GNU Public License
"It's a totally professional tool. Essentially it sews together Microsoft
networks in ways that were never possible before," says Mike Bloom, Chief
Technical Officer for Gomi Media, Toronto. "BO2K is a control freak's dream
and the strong crypto feature gives the legitimate administrator a level of
confidence that just didn't exist before. It's one kickass app".
Back Orifice 2000 evolved from Back Orifice (the name itself a pun on the
"Back Office" server suite from Microsoft), released by the cDc at last
year's Defcon.
Back Orifice 2000 was written by cDc code monster Dildog with input from
Sir Dystic, the originator of Back Orifice.
According to Dildog, "When it comes to administering Windows networks, the
most problematic thing has always been the lack of powerful remote control.
Unix administrators have enjoyed remote logins for decades, and with the
dawn of tools like Secure Shell (SSH), Unix systems can be securely
administered from anywhere in the world. Windows needed it too."
"Now that we've enhanced the Windows administration experience, we hope
that Microsoft will do its best to ensure that its operating systems are
robust enough to handle the control we've given to them," added Dildog.
If last year's release of Back Orifice is any indicator, Back Orifice 2000
will be a huge success. The first generation app caused quite a stir with
the hacking community and the press. The Cult of the Dead Cow's webmaster
reported a whopping 300,000 downloads from the primary and mirror sites,
and predicts that Back Orifice 2000 will move briskly into the Microsoft
networking environment.
That's good news for network administrators but not the best news for
Microsoft. Sysadmins will have at their disposal a professional open-source
application, free of charge. Unfortunately for Microsoft, Back Orifice 2000
could bring pressure on the software leviathan to finally implement a
security model in their Windows operating system. Failure to do so would
leave customers vulnerable to malicious attacks from crackers using tools
that exploit Windows' breezy defenses.
Back Orifice 2000 will be available for download free of charge from
http://www.bo2k.com/ after July 10th, 1999.
............................................................................
The CULT OF THE DEAD COW (cDc) is the most influential group of hackers in
the world. Formed in 1984, the cDc has published the longest running e-zine
on the Internet, traded opinions with large software companies, and entered
numerous dance competitions. We could go on, but who's got the time?
For more background information, journalists are invited to check out our
Medialist at http://www.cultdeadcow.com/news/medialist.htm.
Cheerio.
"Microsoft", "Windows", "Back Office", "Sysadmin", "Desk", and "Leviathan"
are all trademarks of the Microsoft Corporation. Blah blah blah, give it a
rest already.
"cDc. It's alla'bout style, jackass."
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bell Canada Central Office in Toronto Burns:
A fire at a Canadian telephone switching building disrupted Internet, telephone,
and emergency services systems throughout the country Friday. An explosion on
the fourth floor at Toronto's Bell center at around 8 a.m. knocked out phone
lines, Internet service, ATM machines, and credit card servers throughout the
city of 2.4 million, eyewitnesses and fire department officials said. "It
knocked out a lot of the city's communication's equipment," said Toronto Fire
Department division commander Patrick McCabe. "Nearly 110,000 phone lines were
out and our 911 system was in jeopardy for a time."
[Bell attempted to deny the fact that the fire was responsible for the above.]
The three-alarm fire erupted when a Bell Canada worker accidentally dropped a
tool into an electrical unit, causing an explosion.
[What a fuckin' tool. They're just another typical Bell Canada employee.]
The fire department estimates the damages at more than US$500,000 (CN$750,000).
Battery-powered backup systems kicked in immediately after the explosion. But
the batteries ran down a few hours later.
[Bell will probably raise the local rates again to "recoup the cost of the
damages." And the batteries definitely didn't last for hours, so that's
another blatant lie.]
The blaze was under control by late afternoon, after 12 fire trucks and 75
firefighters responded. One person suffered burns on his arms but is in stable
condition, officials said. The Bell Canada building housed "an instrumental
local switch, to banks, credit card networks and Internet servers," said Mike
Pegg, an Internet support manager for AT&T Canada, whose work was interrupted by
the fire.
[Too bad it didn't burn to the ground.]
The explosion briefly forced the Toronto Stock Exchange to suspend trading. It
reopened hours later and business quickly resumed, but some communication
problems continued, according to Canadian Broadcasting Corporation news reports.
The power failure nearly paralyzed some local businesses.
[I thought the backup systems kicked in immediately after the explosion? ;)]
"We went into a restaurant for lunch and people were going crazy," Pegg said
from his office phone. "They were trying to pay for their lunch with credit
cards but the network was down. I couldn't get money out of the bank machine."
The system failure reached Ann Arbor, Michigan, where companies like Fame
Information Services, a financial data provider with a Toronto branch, grappled
with communication problems. "We noticed that our data circuit, our private
data connection between here and there, went down at 10:23 a.m.," said network
engineer Majdi Abbas. "We called and we couldn't get through to anyone in that
branch." The Bell Canada central office is the local telecommunications base
connecting subscriber home and business lines to a local loop. The central
office has switching equipment that can route calls locally or hand them to
long-distance carrier phone offices. Bell Canada says it hopes to have all
services restored before the end of the day.
[Haha. I'd be surprised if Bell Canada had services restored by the end of
the year. Of course, they'll never admit that the problems were as widespread
as they were or last as long as they did. They just "hope" to have all services
restored before the end of the day, which they weren't. Liars.]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bell Atlantic Mobile Applauds FCC Action on 'Calling Party Pays'
June 10, 1999
Media contact:
Nancy Stark,
(908) 306-6762
BEDMINSTER, N.J. -- Bell Atlantic Mobile praised today's Federal
Communications Commission (FCC) action to move Calling Party Pays
(CPP), an option allowing wireless customers to choose to have callers
pay for the call, one step closer to reality. Currently in the US,
wireless customers pay for both outgoing and incoming calls.
"The leadership of Chairman Kennard and the Commissioners on Calling
Party Pays is a giant step forward for wireless consumers, who today
number one out of every four Americans and growing," said Dennis
F. Strigl, President of Bell Atlantic's Wireless Group and CEO of Bell
Atlantic Mobile. "CPP will make wireless immediately more valuable
for current consumers, more affordable to those who do not yet have
wireless, and more competitive with landline service."
Strigl and Bell Atlantic have long been proponents of CPP, which is
the norm for wireless service outside the US. The company has offered
the option on a local basis for several years through a wireless
subsidiary it operates in the Phoenix area. Bell Atlantic Mobile
plans to offer CPP by the end of the year.
Bell Atlantic Mobile owns and operates the largest wireless network in
the East, covering 120,000 square miles, and the largest chain of
retail outlets devoted exclusively to wireless voice, data and paging.
Based in Bedminster, NJ, Bell Atlantic Mobile has 6.4 million
customers and 8,000 employees from Maine to Georgia and, through a
separate subsidiary, in the Southwest. Through its "Wireless at
Work ..." community service program, the company uses its technology to
help individuals and communities improve security and emergency
communications. Bell Atlantic Mobile's parent, Bell Atlantic
Corporation (NYSE:BEL) is one of the world's largest wireless
communications companies, with domestic operations in 25 states and
international investments in Mexico, Europe and the Pacific Rim. For
more information on Bell Atlantic Mobile visit: www.bam.com; on global
operations visit: www.bellatlantic.com/worldwid.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Faults & Failures
Pentium serial number pains privacy groups
Once again, Intel Corp. has found itself in the public-relations hot seat. The
Santa Clara, Calif., company has hardwired into each Pentium III microprocessor
chip a unique serial number that is accessible over the Internet and private
networks. Announced in January of this year, the feature was lauded by Intel as
a way for organizations to enhance security and manage equipment and
information.
Privacy groups were outraged. They demanded that the Santa Clara, Calif.,
company immediately disable the processor serial number (PSN). Instead, Intel
developed a utility enabling users to control which software programs or Web
sites they would permit to read their PSNs. PC makers installing the Pentium
III in their machines had the software distributed to them. Other customers
could find it on Intel's Web site: www.intel.com.
Alas, the utility turned out to be hackable. Within weeks, at least two groups
had found ways of circumventing it and gaining access to the serial number
without the PC owner's consent or knowledge.
The Pentium III's PSN is set at the time of manufacture and resides in a
register on the chip. Intel spokesperson Howard High told IEEE Spectrum that
the first 32 bits of the 96-bit number identify the processor--information used
by operating systems to determine which kind of CPU they are dealing with. The
remaining bits are culled from lot and batch numbers and other information
unique to the chip. (Intel was unwilling to reveal more details about how it
derives the serial numbers or writes them into registers on the chip.)
One of the bits in the register is a so-called sticky bit: it can be switched
only once and will remain in the switched position until the processor is
powered off, explained High. The register is designed so that the serial number
cannot be read out if the sticky bit has been switched. Switching the sticky
bit shuts down access to the number until the chip is rebooted. It is this
feature that the control utility uses to block access to the serial number.
It is the same feature that inquisitive software engineers, not convinced that
the program was foolproof, used to get around the utility and access the serial
number. In February, the German magazine c't magazin fur computer technik
reported that its processor expert, Andreas Stiller, had figured out a way to
take the command for reading out the serial number and turn it back on after a
user had thought it had been turned off.
Shortly afterward, Montreal-based privacy software company Zero-Knowledge
Systems Inc. posted a demonstration of the utility's vulnerability on its Web
site. Visitors to the site can run an ActiveX program that bypasses the control
utility on their ow machines, fetches the serial number, and posts it on a Web
page displayed on the visitor's screen.
"What happens is that Intel's utility runs very late in the start-up process,"
explained Austin Hill, president of Zero-Knowledge. "So any time there is code
on the machine that simply asks for the serial number before [the control
utility is activated], a hacker can store the number in memory and then do
whatever he wants with it."
On learning of this exploit, Intel turned to Symantec Corp., which produces
Norton Utilities, the popular anti-virus software. Intel asked Symantec, in
neighboring Cupertino, to develop a patch warning visitors to the
Zero-Knowledge Web site that if they attempted to run the demonstration, they
would download a virus.
Hill contends that his demonstration is neither a virus, nor a so-called Trojan
Horse, nor hostile code. But he is concerned that users could be lulled into a
false sense of security if they believed that the anti-virus program was
protecting them from unauthorized access to the number, when in fact, it is
looking only for the Zero-Knowledge demonstration.
Intel acknowledges its utility is not foolproof. High told Spectrum that a more
secure way of protecting against unauthorized access is to turn it off in the
basic I/O system, or BIOS, which is the first thing to be activated when the
machine boots up. (The BIOS is a set of instructions for controlling system
hardware, usually contained in a ROM.)
Now, in what appears to be Round 3, computer scientists at Zero-Knowledge have
found that the serial number can be enabled without a user's permission, even
if it is turned off in the BIOS. "That is even more of a concern," said Hill,
"Because Intel and the PC manufacturers had come out and said 'Don't worry, by
default we are shipping [machines with access] off in the BIOS so that is no
privacy concern.'"
Hill told Spectrum that his company had tried to discuss with Intel how to fix
the BIOS, but has yet to get a response from the chip giant. "So I think we are
going to have to release a detailed description of how we get around the BIOS
just so that people are aware of what is possible and what is not."
Privacy groups worry that the serial number will be used to track consumers'
activities on the Internet. The Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC),
Washington, D.C., argued that the number was designed to link users' activities
on the Internet for marketing and other purposes.
To address these concerns, Intel has worked with security tool vendors to
develop a tool that Web sites could use to "hash" the serial number with a
service identification number, so that each Web site would obtain a different
serial number. The hashed number would be consistent every time the user
visited a particular site, but would be different from site to site. This would
prevent different Web sites from correlating user profiles. The decision to use
the hashing tool would be made by the Web site administrator, and not the PC
owner.
The serial number is only one of many ways in which people can find out about
you or even impersonate you on the Internet, according to Intel's High. As far
as gaining information about consumers, "an individual can go through the
parking lot of a shopping mall and read the serial numbers on the dashboards of
cars that dealers use to track maintenance, but I don't know that it gives them
anything terribly useful," he said. "It's just a model number to a machine, it
doesn't specifically identify you."
But Intel intends the serial number to be used in multi-factor authentication.
According to a white paper posted on the company's Web site, the serial number
can be combined with other identification methods to enhance the security of
electronic commerce. "The processor serial number enables applications to
identify a processor, and, combined with other qualifiers, a system or user,"
the report states.
This potential use is the one that alarms Zero-Knowledge's Hill the most.
"Authentication doesn't belong in a hardware chip, it belongs in passwords,
digital certificates, smartcards, maybe down the road some biometric method.
Traditional authentication is something you know, something you have, something
you are. And 'something you have' is very rarely a PC that you lug around to
identify yourself," he told Spectrum.
Stay tuned.
LINDA GEPPERT, Editor
IEEE Spectrum June 1999 Volume 36 Number 6
========================================
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DETROIT FREE PRESS, FIRE & LOOTING MARK END OF
WOODSTOCK from FREE PRESS WIRE SERVICE:
"DATELINE ROME, N.Y>: The Woodstock '99 site looked like a war zone Monday:
twisted metal from a sound tower lay on the ground, litter blew in the wind,
the charred remains of 12 storage trailers still smoldered.
Promoters stopped short of calling it a riot, but the Sunday night melee, at
the end of the weekend music festival, left five people injured, seven under
arrest, and caused thousands of dollars in property damage.
The chaos began late Sunday, after the RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS finished its set,
the final act of the three-day show. As a tribute to JIMI HENDRIX played on
the screen, dozens of people in the crowd used "peace candles" that had been
distributed to set fire to an overturned car.
From there, Woodstock descended into chaos as bands of young men, inspired by
the car fire, used lighters to start fires to vendors' trailers.
Tents and booths were destroyed, concert light stands and speaker tower were
toppled and a mob tried to destroy a radio station truck.
"This is not the real Woodstock," said a disgusted MIKE LONG, 31, of Detroit,
as police moved in. "The messed up the whole name of Woodstock."
NEW YORK STATE POLICE Superintendent JAMES McMAHON estimated that 200 to 500
youths took part in the rioting, as thousands more watched and cheered.
The mostly peaceful music festival had drawn 225,000 fans to the former
GRIFFISS AIR FORCE BASE."
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Below are the 1999 Darwin Award Top Nominees and Winner (all events occurred in
1998). For those of you not familiar with the Darwin Awards, they commemorate
individuals who protect our gene pool by making the ultimate sacrifice of their
own lives. Darwin Award winners eliminate themselves in an extraordinarily
idiotic manner, thereby improving our species' chances of long-term survival.
The Darwin Award Nominees for 1999 are:
1 - LOS ANGELES, CA. Ani Saduki, 33, and his brother decided to remove a bees
nest from a shed on their property with the aid of a pineapple. A pineapple is
an illegal firecracker which is the explosive equivalent of one-half stick of
dynamite. They ignited the fuse and retreated to watch from inside their home,
behind a window some 10 feet away from the hive/shed. The concussion of the
explosion shattered the window inwards, seriously lacerating Ani. Deciding Mr.
Saduki needed stitches, the brothers headed out to go to a nearby hospital.
While walking towards their car, Ani was stung three times by the surviving
bees. Unbeknownst to either brother, Ani was allergic to bee venom, and died of
suffocation enroute to the hospital.
2 - Derrick L. Richards, 28, was charged in April in Minneapolis with
third-degree murder in the death of his beloved cousin, Kenneth E. Richards.
According to police, Derrick suggested a game of Russian Roulette and put a
semi-automatic pistol (instead of the more traditional revolver) to Ken's head
and fired.
3 - PHILLIPSBURG, NJ. An unidentified 29 year old male choked to death on a
sequined pastie he had orally removed from an exotic dancer at a local
establishment. "I didn't think he was going to eat it," the dancer identified
only as "Ginger" said, adding "He was really drunk."
4 - In February, according to police in WINDSOR, ONT., Daniel Kolta, 27, and
Randy Taylor, 33, died in a head-on collision, thus earning a tie in the game
of chicken they were playing with their snowmobiles.
5 - MOSCOW, Russia - A drunk security man asked a colleague at the Moscow bank
they were guarding to stab his bulletproof vest to see if it would protect him
against a knife attack. It didn't, and the 25-year-old guard died of a heart
wound. (It's good to see the Russians getting into the spirit of the Darwin
Awards.)
6 - In FRANCE, Jacques LeFevre left nothing to chance when he decided to commit
suicide. He stood at the top of a tall cliff and tied a noose around his neck.
He tied the other end of the rope to a large rock. He drank some poison and set
fire to his clothes. He even tried to shoot himself at the last moment. He
jumped and fired the pistol. The bullet missed him completely and cut through
the rope above him. Free of the threat of hanging, he plunged into the sea. The
sudden dunking extinguished the flames and made him vomit the poison. He was
dragged out of the water by a kind fisherman and was taken to a hospital, where
he died of hypothermia.
7 - RENTON, WASHINGTON. A Renton, Washington man tried to commit a robbery. This
was probably his first attempt, as suggested by the fact that he had no previous
record of violent crime, and by his terminally stupid choices as listed: 1. The
target was H&J Leather & Firearms, a gun shop. 2. The shop was full of
customers, in a state where a substantial portion of the adult population is
licensed to carry concealed handguns in public places. 3. To enter the shop,
he had to step around a marked police patrol car parked at the front door. 4. An
officer in uniform was standing next to the counter, having coffee before
reporting to duty. Upon seeing the officer, the would-be robber announced a
holdup and fired a few wild shots. The officer and a clerk promptly returned
fire, removing him from the gene pool. Several other customers also drew their
guns, but didn't fire. No one else was hurt.
AND THE 1999 DARWIN AWARD WINNER HAILS FROM.....THOMPSON, MANITOBA,CANADA.
Telephone relay company night watchman Edward Baker, 31, was killed early
Christmas morning by excessive microwave radiation exposure. He was apparently
attempting to keep warm next to a telecommunications feedhorn. Baker had been
suspended on a safety violation once last year, according to Northern Manitoba
Signal Relay spokesperson Tanya Cooke. She noted that Baker's earlier infraction
was for defeating a safety shut-off switch and entering a restricted maintenance
catwalk in order to stand in front of the microwave dish. He had told coworkers
that it was the only way he could stay warm during his twelve-hour shift at the
station, where winter temperatures often dip to forty below zero. Microwaves can
heat water molecules within human tissue in the same way that they heat food in
microwave ovens. For his Christmas shift, Baker reportedly brought a twelve pack
of beer and a plastic lawn chair, which he positioned directly in line with the
strongest microwave beam. Baker had not been told about a tenfold boost in
microwave power planned that night to handle the anticipated increase in holiday
long-distance calling traffic. Baker's body was discovered by the daytime
watchman, John Burns, who was greeted by an odor he mistook for a Christmas
roast he thought Baker must have prepared as a surprise. Burns also reported to
NMSR company officials that Baker's unfinished beers had exploded.
[What a waste of perfectly good beer.]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
THOUGHTS, POEMS AND CREATIVE WRITING - {WRITING}
Chaos and Madness.
In the chaos and madness I live.
It is the place where creativity is born.
Nothing is expected and there's nothing you must give.
Imagination can be let loose to run wild.
Fears are calmed and inspiration is driven.
It's a state of mind in which thoughts haven't been tamed and turned mild.
In this open space I'm free to roam and explore.
Its vastness is great.
Overwhelmed by the lingering chaos, but still wanting more.
Through these plains of existence and doors of perception I traverse.
Over the hills and upon an ocean of madness.
Words cannot begin to describe this strange, almost poetic universe.
The randomness is apparent. The chaos is evident.
Madness is still upon me, lurking in the crevices of my psyche.
It is here that I can openly rant and vent.
As I delve into this strange, underground world I can feel a euphoric sensation.
It's unlike anything else I've experienced.
And just as I begin to embrace this place, I start to make some realizations.
Madness is genius.
It gives meaning to logic and rationality.
And it's much more than just sanity amiss.
Chaos gives birth to new ideas.
In its disorder, mayhem and blinding emotional fervor lies the hidden truth.
With patience it can become clear to us.
Chaos is madness and madness is chaos.
They're both equals. The importance of each should never be underestimated.
If their power is ignored, it's at a great loss.
The contributions they make shouldn't be discounted.
It's a mistake to believe that they aren't needed.
And just because they're undesirable to some doesn't mean they aren't wanted.
My heart aches and my mind is aflame.
I've had an incredible revelation.
I am madness but I'm not insane.
I'm immersed in madness.
And I'm surrounded by chaos.
Of that those who know me well will readily attest.
Into chaos and madness I dive.
Throwing caution to the wind whilst on the edge of the world.
And with them as a part of me, I thrive.
Don't underestimate the worth of either.
Lest you pay the price.
The reaper isn't a wheeler and dealer.
Slipping into dementia is a strange feeling.
Every thought, every sensation is heightened.
It's more than a normal high and nothing short of amazing.
Don't be frightened by death.
Don't avoid danger.
And never let your mind rest.
Life is chaos. Life is madness.
Everything is the universe and the universe is life.
The universe epitomizes chaos and it embodies madness.
Note: I'm sure the above words aren't the most poetic you've ever read. The
poem isn't extremely well written. It's more like a rough draft. However, it
wasn't meant to be perfect. Its purpose was to convey what I was thinking
during a particular experience and it was written during a chaotic state of
mind. Altering it would forever change that, thus destroying it. So I've made
no attempt to "improve" it, since that cannot be done without ruining the
original meaning and personal thoughts that it was meant to share. Actually,
the whole fucking thing is basically just a long rant. So take it for what
it is and view what I wrote however you want. ;)
Written by BLACKENED ú Damage, INC. (C)opyright 1999.
Words that define the Damage, INC. Newsletter:
Information ú Opinions ú Big Brother ú Corruption ú Greed
Conspiracies ú Coverups ú Advisories ú Advertisements ú Rants
Reviews ú Reports ú Creativity ú Imagination ú Interviews
Poetry ú Power ú Theories ú Ideas ú Philosophies ú Idealogies
Knowledge ú Underground ú Culture ú Subculture ú Counterculture
Hack ú Phreak ú Explore ú Think ú Experiment ú Learn ú Laws
Rights ú Liberty ú Electronic ú Freedom ú Fighters ú Privacy
anti-Oppression ú Investigative ú Artistic ú Free ú Expression
Political ú Comments ú News ú Observations ú Individualism
Reality ú non-conforming ú non-mainstream ú anti-Society ú Unique
Quotes ú anti-propaganda ú Resistance ú Tenacity ú Sarcastic
Satire ú Quality ú Thoughts ú Parody ú Logical ú Controversial
Emotional ú Protest ú anti-zombies ú Revolutionary ú Truth
Those are just a few of the words, that in my opinion, define the Damage, INC.
Newsletter. Obviously everyone has a different opinion on what this zine is
about, and what its purpose is, but those words accurately and concisely
describe what it represents and means to me personally.
Written by Blackie Lawless ú Damage, INC. (C)opyright 1999.
Phun with Bell QuickChange Cards.
Here's a short story about nothing. Best of all, it's all fucking true! Every
word of it. So read on. Just don't try this at home kids.
One night I was walking around the city with a friend. Since we were bored
and didn't have any money to spend, we decided to look around for payphones
inside of any buildings that were open. We found quite a few with doors that
were open that night, so we had easy access to enter and explore. In most of
them, nobody else was around. So, we walked around for a couple of hours and
recorded the numbers for payphones. After a while, we had compiled a list of
about 40 payphone numbers or so and became bored again.
Hold on, the story gets more interesting. At one of the payphones I found a
Bell QuickChange card that someone had left behind. It was a brightly coloured
$8 card that had been discarded (pun intended). So, I picked it up and inserted
it in a nearby Millennium. Unfortunately, it was used up already so I couldn't
use it to make any free calls. However, I was intrigued and entertained by
the payphone's LCD display and the recorded messages it was playing that were
instructing me to insert the card correctly and use another card. It was
almost like the Millennium was going into panic mode. We both laughed at the
flashing asterixes and display messages. Intentionally putting the card into
the card reader the wrong way, reversed, backwards and upside down was phun
for a while. But that too became boring after a while. Then I had a cool
idea that went something like this:
"You want this card, don't you? You want the money. Take it!" I said to the
Millennium as I was feeding the card into its card reader.
"Do you like that? Take it. Eat this QuickChange card. Suck it. You really
want this card. I know you want it. I'm giving it to you. Take it. Take
it all. Eat it. Fuck it."
The card reader was getting fucked by the QuickChange card. And the payphone
was going crazy. If that weren't hilarious enough, I had another brilliant
idea that involved the same payphone. I left the card inserted and dialed
zero to get an operator. The conversation went as follows:
"Bell Canada. How may I help you?" - Op
"Yeah. I have a Bell QuickChange card here that isn't working." - KingPiN
"What seems to be the problem?" - Op
"I'm trying to make a phone call using the card but the payphone keeps
rejecting it. Why isn't it working?" - KingPiN
"Return the card." - Op
"I can't." - KingPiN
"Why not? Where did you buy the card?" - Op
"I got it from a QuickChange machine. How the fuck can I return it?" - KingPiN
"Go to a Bell PhoneCentre and return it there." - Op
"I'm not near a PhoneCentre and it's 11:30pm." - KingPiN
"Where are you?" - Op
"I'm at a bus station." - KingPiN
(I lied)
"Are you trying to make a local or long distance call?" - Op
"Local." - KingPiN
"What number do you want to call?" - Op
The Operator was going to dial the number for me and give me a free local
call, but I declined her offer by hanging up since I didn't have a number
ready to give her. But the next time I try that, I'll be prepared. It's
not a bad way of social engineering your way into getting a free local call.
And it's easy. Just don't tell them where you are in case they send someone
to check the payphone's card reader. The funny thing is, I left the bent,
expired QuickChange card inserted in the Millennium during the entire call.
As that conversation was going on, my friend was standing there listening and
laughing. I don't know if she could tell there was a card in the reader or
not. We just thought the whole thing was hilarious.
The rest of the night we walked around through different buildings, set off
a few alarms by going in through certain doors. I pointed out to my friend
that a couple of red lights were activated when he opened up a door to a
hallway. It wasn't a fire exit door either. We were almost locked into one
part of a building because a door locked behind us. For a minute or two we
thought we were trapped and would have to break a window or a door to get
out of there. Luckily one of the doors to outside wasn't locked. In that
same area we found a phone without buttons that could only make calls within
the building. It was so loosely fastened that we could've ripped it off the
wall and stolen it. But we didn't.
After that, we went downtown to the Bell Central Office. We walked around the
exterior of the building and looked in a few of the windows that didn't have
blinds. In the yard were several old Bell vans, cars and one new Bell van.
There were three blue dumpsters in the fenced yard and the gate was open. But
we didn't go trashing because there was a bright light and camera facing right
towards the dumpsters. We also noticed surveillance cameras in the parking lot
area, entrance to the yard and front door of the building. All of the cameras
were very large and noticable, but there could have been some smaller, hidden
cameras around as well. That didn't prevent us from spitting on the side of
the Bell CO at various locations. Then the cops drove by, stopped their car
and looked at us with suspicion in their eyes. I guess they thought we were
acting conspicuously. More than a few other cops were walking around downtown
and riding bicycles so we decided to leave the premises and vacate the area.
That was the end of the night. It wasn't really exciting or anything. We
didn't do any damage, but it was something to do and still phun...
Written by KingPiN.
"Up to Ravenswood"
well pa would get mad
if we didn't wanna stand
in line to get vittles,
said you wanna
eat?
the preacher she took a
strong dislike to me
and didnt give me
no pasta
in the bags she was
handing out to everyone
so it was 'bout
then
I didn't wanna go up to the
chuch on wedenesday nights
in ravenswood but kenmore
and lawrence church liked
me fine we ran the
alleys all day up kenmore
from loyola way down to
past armitage in an old ford
and sat out in
the alleys
drinking fortys of the
cheapest milwakee piss made.
When I wanted to move the
gun held under the oven
with magnets so we
could cook he got mad
so one night I wanted to
shoot the television
like elvis and he said
we'd get kicked out
He brought home a big old
Indian once and I made love to her
he brought home a
pretty little whore
and I left them alone
and she robbed him.
so we found somebody
in the street
selling cheese like
like we was collectors
until the government
didn't wanna give 'em no more
up at sallysone day i got
a bowl of grits or meal and
was happy to get it til I
scooped a big roach up
and then puked back
in the bowl
go to throw it away and
somebody wants it from me
months later I got the
chills couldn't move for 3 days
my dad says you
wanna eat?
so I went to stand in
the crowd at day labor
but couldn't stand
that day
when I made the line at
breakfast it was a long one
and somebody goes in the
pantry from the kitchen
and I seen all them cans he
came out I stuck my foot
in the door snuck in and got
me 3 cans of uncut soup
went home and was
soon cured.
I made that 'ol
macaroni for wendy once,
but she didn't
like it.
I found a blue eyed
squall somewheres and
we took to each
other
she bought me a burrito
and a case of old style
and since it was
summer
we camped on the roof of
hideaway where it was cooler.
well one day at the soup
kitchen they had let a cute but crazy
black woman out a little too
soon and since I had long
hair she goes into
yelling you ain't jesus at me
well I laughed and people
starts getting up and
bringing me their
bowls of potato soup
like it was some kinda
cool hand luke trick
I was just the "guitar
player" round them parts
so when I try to eat
there last time incognitto
don't exist some call me
the name of the "L" I
sung the "50 cent
song" at and
some say look at him
all schooled up.
well back when I was gonna
try those seeing eye glasses
you know the welfare
frames I wanted em tinted
cause the cabs drove
around with thier lights on at
night blinding the
crap outta me.
so I get the frames
and tinted
and walk out of the eye place
on broadway just north of wilson
and my dad starts a
yelling look at hollywood
theres
hollywood
and my brother laughs and I
tell em call me johnny,Johnny F.N.Hollywood.
Written by Travis Ray Cole
Thoughts on Yugoslavia.
First of all:
I'm not going to write anything about politics. I'll write how my
family and I are going through this war.
When the first attack started on March 24, 1999, we heard the warning
siren for first time in our lives. My mum was so frightened that her face got
pale and her lips almost black. My brother and I wanted to go to bed and we
heard that warning sound, my mum ran from her bedroom to my room and dragged us
to the improvised shelter made out of a small room about 3 feet lower than the
other rooms. When the attack started, a few minutes after the bombs started
falling, my aunt called for my father to get her and her family (her husband
and her two daughters: one is 4 years old and the another is just a baby
(1 year old)). So my father had to go 12 kilometers in his car to my aunt's
house. Then my mother became really frightened. But when they came my mum got
a little calmer.
When my two sisters were put in our shelter the older one (4 years old) started
to cry so badly that the others in the shelter couldn't stand it. Every time we
went to shelter my sister started to cry. After about two weeks my sister
stopped crying. She was having almost epileptic attacks, and she is afraid of
going out. I played my guitar a lot during that time, and I made some great
computer programs between two air danger signals. When the NATO strikes knocked
out our electrical supply sources and we didn't have electricity, I read some
books. First I read some books about science : books about quantum physics,
biochemistry, astronomy etc. Then I started to read some nice literature:
"The crime and punishment", "The novel about Troya city", "The novel about
Alexander the Great", "The Secret of Atlantis",...
After that became too boring I started to do some physical exercises and played
soccer, basketball and volleyball with my friends and neighbours. My brother
(10 years old) is afraid of going out. He goes out of the house only when he
has to, and kids on the street ran into their houses when the sirens howl. For
a month and a half I couldn't look into the sky - I saw air planes everywhere
(even when there weren't any).
My neighbours have become unseparable friends and they are socializing
like never before. (They have a lot of time, they think about almost the
same things, and they all together feel much safer (they also exchange
information when they meet (I meet with them))). They do everything together
- they live together!
Time after time the messages written on the paper slowly falling from the
sky - they are just some propaganda material but I think they are also
covered with poison chemicals. Because of the energy supply systems crashing
we have to use candles at night, but that's not so much trouble because some
of us are used to it (when there was not enough energy produced in the country
we had some energy restrictions).
Now I don't go to school (the schools aren't working), so I meet my friends
only occasionally, but when we see the each other we talk a lot and we exchange
our information, our thoughts, our feelings, etc.
Yesterday I made some Ice Cream (instant stuff) and put it into the freezer area
of the refrigerator and when my brother and I ate it, it was lot easier to
stand the temperature which was above 28 degrees Celsius.
Because of the electrical energy failures, sometimes we don't have water but
that's not a problem - we have water reserves in our houses and there are some
neutral source-water pumps on the street so we can drink water from there
(from pumps that are certified to have normal water quality).
Right now I don't know what else to say (the things I wrote was how I felt
or what happened during the NATO strikes).!!!!!!! I can hear the siren
right now, - the sign of air danger !!!!!!!, but what can I do, I'm not
gonna go to my shelter because I'm sick and tired of doing that.
Compliments from one of the Yugoslav people.
It's not important who wrote this, it's important that it's true.
CLOSING COMMENTS - {CLOSING}
"With the content law in Canada, you guys are living more fascist than any
country that we're close to. I've witnessed it. The fact that radio is told
what to play by the Canadian government is one of the biggest fascist ploys
ever. The fact that there's any control and you don't have one hundred percent
freedom is sad." - Josh Silver of Type O Negative.
This marks the end of the 16th issue. Even though I don't want to focus on
looking back on the past issues, I will say that we've definitely shown marked
improvement in the quality of the content, as well as our own level of maturity.
Gone are the days of petty bashing and slamming. No longer do we waste words
doing that type thing and display that kind of behaviour... and I'm sure many
of you have noticed that change. It's all part of the evolution of the
Damage, INC. Newsletter. It took us some time to realize that it's pointless
to do that, but once we did we ceased writing shit and shifted our focus to
making this publication into what it should be. And to be honest, only now is
it beginning to become what I had first envisioned at the time of its creation.
Almost every zine starts out promising with the potential to become something
greater. It's what is done with it thereafter that matters. I believe that
with added dedication the DIN will reach its potential and our original goals
will be met.
In a way, hackers are like surfers. Hacking is more than just a mere activity
or hobby. It's a way of thinking. It's a way of life. And for the people that
are heavily involved in it, it is a lifestyle. They have their own unique
subculture. Yet each of them is as much of an individual as you'll ever meet.
That's what makes true hackers different. Instead of wanting to be a part of
the mainstream, they want to create something outside of it. Instead of
conforming and becoming a slave to technology, they use it imaginatively and
as they see fit. At the same time, they want to explore and learn about what
already exists, making modifications as needed, using what they need without
taking away what they don't. Perhaps the "hackers/surfers" analogy isn't the
best. Maybe they aren't as much alike as what I perceive. I can't say that
they are with any certainty as I'm not a surfer. But by what I've written you
should get the point. ;)
Above and beyond all of the hype, there's truth. And that's all we're trying
to convey to our readers; the truth. The world's population is now hovering
at about 6 billion. Of that, I'd estimate that approximately 1 million are
intelligent human beings capable of free thought, open mindedness and a small
measure of enlightenment, if only for a fleeting moment. The rest are sadly
nothing more than zombies, incapable of the above due to their overwhelming
willingness and complete need to conform to "society". They've condemned
themselves to lives of slavery, shackled by the very notion that individualism
is counterproductive, "anti-society" and wrong. Chained to the beloved
"society" that they live to serve, they need not read these words for they
could not possibly be comprehended and understood by them. The concepts of
freedom, liberty, justice, individualism and all of the other rights that
people are entitled to that we present in this zine are wasted on them. So,
to those that are blinded by propaganda and proudly have deaf ears when someone
is shouting the truth and exposing reality, we don't want you as readers. Nor
do we need anyone that closes their mind to idealogies, philosophies, theories,
thoughts and concepts that differ from their own. In essence, if you can't
handle reading what's written here and the way that it's written, you have the
option to cease reading it. I'm not going to urge zombies to quit. And I'm
not bitching about people that disagree with what we're doing either. I am
simply making the point clear that we don't rely on quantity of readers and
can easily do without any proven zombies attempting to dissect every word and
phrase that we've chosen to use. To summarize, if you're a zombie, phreak off
and go play with your AOL friends...
On another note, I appreciate all of the compliments and positive feedback that
has been directed our way in recent weeks. It's always good to hear from our
loyal readers as it reaffirms the importance of what we're doing. It's obvious
that a lot of people get what we're doing and are down with Damage, INC.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Quotes:
Shatazar - "El_Jefe's gonna shit..."
Blackie Lawless - "Hey Operator Dan. How's Stan? Do you really think you're
the man? The last Bell Op I called hungup and ran because I field phreak from
Bell cans, Shatazar scans, THC Phreak likes LANs and BLACKENED's always gettin'
banned. Now are you going to divert my call so I can ditch this popsicle
stand?" (recited very quickly to an Op) :)
THC Phreak - "Free at last. Free at last. Thank all the lawyers on earth, I'm
phreaking free at last! I think I'll celebrate by getting baked." (ahem, a
$500 fine, 100 hours community service, 1 year probation suspended sentence
plus legal expenses later kind of free. Pfft. Now that's justice in the good
ol' Canadian courts. I didn't even get an interview out of it since it was
kept hush-hush. After further consideration, I rescind that lawyers comment.)
BLACKENED - "I just have one question. Is it still damn phreaky?"
- EOF
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