353 lines
18 KiB
Plaintext
353 lines
18 KiB
Plaintext
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# <Tolmes News Service> #
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# ''''''''''''''''''''' #
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# > Written by Dr. Hugo P. Tolmes < #
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Issue Number: 06
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Release Date: November 19, 1987
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So far the beginning files are about halfway finished. This issue (#6) will
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start off with news on protection against "Trojan Horses."
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$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
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TITLE: HD Sentry: "Hard Disk Protection from Trojan Horse Programs"
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FROM: The Computer Shopper
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DATE: June 1987
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PROTECTION FROM TROJAN HORSE PROGRAMS
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Every day, thousands of free programs are downloaded from public
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bulletin board systems throughout the worl. While the system itself is
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generally owned and operated by an individual, much of the contents of the
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BBS come from the public domain. The system operators of these
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bulletin boards, or sysops as they are affectionately called, rely on their
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callers for new material that could be of interest to others. Some of the
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material uploaded by users include articles, software reviews, program patches,
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unprotects (ways to crack copy protection), pleas for assistance and, of
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course, software. A problem has recently come to the attention of the user
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community concerning the software uploaded to these systems. every once in a
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while a program is uploaded to a BBS that, when run, maliciously attacks the
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systems hard disk. Since these programs are disguised as innocent software,
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they are referred to as "Trojan" programs.
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THE TROJAN LEGEND
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According to Greek mythology, Paris, son of King Priam of Troy, brought Helen,
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the wife of Kings Menelaus of Sparta, to Troy. Being somewhat agitated over
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this occurrence, the Greeks sent an expedition to Troy in order to recover
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Helen. For ten years, the Greeks and the Trojans fought to a stalemate.
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Finally, however, a Greek named Odysseus devised a military stratagem that
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would be remembered throughout time. The Greeks faked a retreat leaving behind
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a large wooden horse as a "gift" to the residents of troy. Inside the large
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horse however, was a squad of Greek soldiers. The unsuspecting Trojans brought
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the wooden horse into their city for all to see. That night,the soldiers that
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had hidden in the horse came out and opened the gates to the city. The rest of
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the Greek army, which had returned under darkness, was wating by the gates. By
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daybreak, the slaughter was over. The term "Trojan horse" took on a meaning
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that would forever go unchanged, a threatenin object that appears safe on the
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outside.
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TROJAN SOFTWARE SCENARIO
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Every single one of us has been told, at one tim or another, that you can't
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harm a computer by typing on it; software just can't damage hardware. A long
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time ago (foore computer owners were warned
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that a certain set of commands could permantently damage the PET monitors. This
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was one of the first instances that a combination of software commands were
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known to be hazardous to hardware. There is, however, one disastrous act that
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almost any software program can do, and that is to erase, delete, format , or
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otherwise damage a floppy diskette or, worse yet, a large capacity DASD hard
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disk. People tend to be lazy and system back-ups don't occurs as often as they
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should. When this situtation occurs, you have the potential for disaster. This
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is where most Trojan programs tend to strike. It all begins by calling a
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reputable BBS somewhere in North America. The first thing you do after you log
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on is to see what neat new programs are availiable for downloading on the
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system. You skip over the boring junk like system utility programs. After all,
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how many people really use a debugger disk packer or file encryption utility?
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But then, to your delight, you discover a listing you just can't pass up! Right
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there, in modems reach, is the program called "WHATEVER.COM". The short
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narrative that is displayed informs you that this program is a combination
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widget counter and word processing package. Boy, you think, that is just what I
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needed. A word processor AND a widget counter, in one fully integrated package!
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Best of all the program is only 13K! No match for your 1200 baud Hayes modem,
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you think as you begin the XMODEM download protocol. In a matter of minutes,
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the file resides on your hard disk ready to be used.
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You run the program and the disk drive light comes on. Then it stays on, for
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what seems like eternity. "Gee," you think to yourself, "sure is taking a long
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time to load a small 13K file." So you hit the good 'ol Ctrl-Alt-Del and rebbot
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the system. Then comes the error message telling you to insert your DOS
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diskette in A:. You realized minutes later that WHATEVER.COM has just eaten
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your gard disk for dinner. All that remains are timing marks....
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$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
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NOTA:
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As pointed out, Trojan Horses can be very dangerous to software. There are
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many different opinions as to what a Trojan Horse program is. This article
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used the definition of a Trojan Horse as a program that when used will destroy
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a disk (format it or erase all files) or will change the disk in some way.
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One other definition of a Trojan Horse is the type that can be used on a Unix
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and allows you to capture another user's LOGIN and password. There are
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other opinions as to what the words "Trojan Horse Program" actually mean.
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The Trojan Horse described in this article might better be described as
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a "Logic Bomb" or a "Virus Program". Again, the definitions for these
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programs vary.
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$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
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TITLE: Check This: Ma Bell is a Generous Soul
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FROM: The Ann Landers syndicated advice column
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DATE: July 1, 1987
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Dear Ann Landers: I think I can top the person who wrot complaining thne compan
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y. Talk about garbage in, garbage out!
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When AT&T split with Bell we had three phones in our house. The equipment
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belonged to Ma Bell and the service belonged to AT&T. After we returned all the
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phone equipment to Ma Bell, we received a bill for $0.00. My husband and I took
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turns calling people to get this straightened out. Shortly after that we were
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informed that our bill for $0.00 was overdue. My husband, just to be cute, sent
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a check to Ma Bell for $0.00. A few weeks later, we recieved a check for $5 and
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a note thanking us. We didn't cash the check the check, thinking this had to be
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a mistake. Several months later, we received another computerized bill for
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$0.00. We called again, got nowhere, so we sent another check for $0.00. A few
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weeks later we recieved another $5 refund with the same thank you. This went on
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every three months for two years. Now we are down to once a year and have given
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up trying to straighten this out. We just cash the $5 and forget about it. They
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say that computers don't make mistakes, but people sure do. Someone out there
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likes us very much, or they are very stupid.
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-Linda K.R. in California
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$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
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NOTA:
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Just a humorous little article I decided to print....
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$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
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TITLE: Sign In and then Sign On
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FROM: The Chicago Tribune
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DATE: June 20, 1987
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James Dao says he has a foolproof way to foil computer hackers who ferret
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out secret passwords and spy mechanically. Punt the passwords, Dao
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says. Using software developed by Dao's company, Communications Intelligence
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Corp. (CIC) of Menlo Park, Calif., computer users must sign in in order to
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sign on. CIC's Handwriter program allows you to sign your name with an
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electronic pen on a flat plastic plate underlaid with a grid of wires. The
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computer then analyzes your signature against several that you have
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previously submitted to make sure that it's not a forgery before giving you
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access to informations. The handwriting analysis is more sophisticated than a
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simple comparison of letters. According to Dao, the company takes into account
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how quickly you write and how you accelerate from beginning to end. It
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also examines the points at which you apply most pressure with the pen. All
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of these factors are unique to your signature. Signature analysis is only
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one part of the Handwriter program. Other features include the ability to
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write longhand memos and letters that the computer translates into
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printed material. Right now, the technology is availiable only for
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mainframe and personal computers, Dao says. But one day, he predicts,
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businessmen will sit on planes scribling with electronic pens on
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plastic plates attached to laptop computers. "We're opening up computers
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to a segment of the population that's afraid of typing," he explains.
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$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
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NOTA:
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This type of technology might be the computer security of the futur the downfall
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of computer security. If the logins were determined
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by the handwriting analysis ONLY and no passwords or logins, then a good forger
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or hacker might be able to trash a business for different signatures. The
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signatures would be different every time and the security wouldn't be too
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accurate. Don't be too scared by this article. This type of security is far
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into he future and it may never even be used.
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$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
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TITLE: How to Beat Phone Assault
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FROM: .. some small town newspaper
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DATE: June 25, 1987
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NEW TECHNOLOGY
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Thanks to improved technology, phone call tracing, known to police as putting
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a "trap" on the line, is now a feasibile solution. Forget about old
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movies that depict police urging the perspiring victim to "Keep him
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talking-stay on the line!" while the diligent telephone engineers hurry through
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racks of wires to pinpoint the origin of the call. It's all computerized now,
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and the trap is quick and decisive, with a success rate, says Abel, "near 100
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percent. With our computerized switching center, it's almost
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instantaneous." To obtain a telephone trap, a customer with persistent
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harassing calls must notify police. The police then contact Illinois Bell and
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the trap is installed. A trap costs $20 for a week, $7 each additional
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week. In life-threatening situtations, there is no charge. Although Illinois
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Bell quickly locates every call made during the trap, legalities often cause
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a time lag in providing the information to police. Police eventually release
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the caller's identity to the victim and the caller is arrested. Maximum penalty
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is a six-month sentence and a $500 fine. However, as of June 1, the new
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state legislation requires a police subpoena to obtain phone trap
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information from Bell, a process lasting as long as one month.
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$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
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NOTA:
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"a 'trap' on the line"- refers to CLID (Calling Line Identification)
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"computerized switching center"- refers to ESS (Electronic Switching
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system)
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The good news on this article came at the end when the reporter explained how
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there are new restrictions in releasing the results of a "trap" on the line.
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This helps to protect an individual's/phreak's rights.
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$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
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TITLE: Prisoner Phone Phreaks
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FROM: Tolmes News Service Magazine (Issue #6)
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DATE: November 19, 1987
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This article is just something I am writing on the events that happed at
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the Dade County Jail in Miami, Florida. This information mainly comes
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from different AT&T Newslines. This is not a transcript of the newslines but
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is the news on what has been going on in the Dade County Jail. The Dade
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County Jail in Miami, Florida was slapped with a phone bill of $153,000.
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It seems that the inmates were blue boxing, using AT&T Calling Cards,
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billing to third parties, and conning operators. One call on Thanksgiving was
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to Columbia and lasted about 3 hours. Another call to a dial-a for about 4 hours
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and cost $220. The police are now investigating and
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the county's taxpayers are going to have to pay the bill. The payphones at
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the prison are supposed to be used for local calls only. This type of prison
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phone fraud has been happening at a number of prisons. Supposedly, a leader
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of a criminal organization known as the El Rukns was put into prison on drug
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charges. According to all reports, the gang leader had a conference with Momar
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Khadafi in which he offered to do acts of terrorism. All of the conversations
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took place while the man was in prison. Many prisons have stopped the phone
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fraud by lessening the number of phones and monitoring calls. Hmm... phreaks in
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prison....
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$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
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TITLE: Suburban Kids are Too Dumb to Steal
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FROM: The Chicago Tribune (Mike Royko's column)
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DATE: July 14, 1987
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It's sad, but even amount the well-to-do, being a parent can be a
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depressing experience. You give the kid all the advantages that money can buy-
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good schools, tennis lessons, riding lessons, a personal computer, a low-slung
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car, stereo, CD player, summer camps, music camps, diet camps and a ticket to
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one of the better universities. All that, and the kid turns out to be a mope.
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That's the sinking feeling that is currently experienced by several dozen North
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Shore families. The story begins several weeks ago in a White Hen Pantry store
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in Glenview, when a businessman stopped to use the pay phone to make a
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long-distance call. In making the call, he gave the operator his telephone
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credit-card number. He didn't realize it, but a 17-year-old boy from Northbrook
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was standing nearby. When the lad heard the man give his credit-card number, he
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alertly jotted it down. The businessman didn't know it of course. It wasn't
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until he received his next phone bill that he suspected that some. Strange? He
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almost jumped out of his shoes. There were more than 100 calls that he never
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made. He called the phone company to see if a mistake had been made, maybe a
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glitch in the computer. No, the calls had been made. So he and the phone
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company started investigating. As you probably guessed, the kid in the White
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Hen had said "goody," or something to that effect, and began using the
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credit-card to phone his pals. Then, being the sharing sort, he passed the
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number on to his friends, And they began charging calls. There were calls-local
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and long distance- being made from Winnetka, Lake Forest, Glenview, Northbrook,
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Skokie, Bensenville, St. Charles and other suburbs. One young lady went off to
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the National Music Camp in Interlochen , Mich., and she generously shared the
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credit-card number with her fellow music campers. Some of them were from
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Europe, so they used the number to call home or friends in Israel, West
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Germany, Ireland, and England. A girl who phoned a friend in England gave the
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credit-card number. So the friend in England used it to call a friend in
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Arizona. All of this was easy to establish, for two reasons. Reason number one.
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As I se well educated, well-bred young people turned out to be
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dense. They didn't realize that the number of the phone they used would shoe up
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on the businessman's bill. And the well-bred dopes were calling from their own
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homes, the music camp's phone and, in one case, from Grandma's house. Reason
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two. The moment that they were confronted with the evidence-their own phone
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numbers-they eagerly squeled on each other. The businessman, who asked that his
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name be withheld, said: "The amazing thing is that these are all brilliant,
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well-to-do kids. But they didn't know that the phone calls caught so easily.
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"And it's not like they're lacking financial support. They come
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from families with money. Some of them are spending wonderful summer vacations
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all over the world. One is traveling to Turkey, one in South America.
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"They're in the top of their class, in debate clubs, getting music
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scholarships. Some are going to MIT and Princeton. Their parents are well
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off. One is a child psychiatrist. "And the reaction of the parents is amazing.
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One guy said to me: 'That's impossible. My son is a brilliant student, and he
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is going to Princeton.' When he realized what his Princeton kid had
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really done it, he almost went into shock. "Another told me: 'You are to
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blame, too. If you had been more careful, they wouldn't have gotten the
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number.' Imagine that? He blamed me for his kid being a little crook because I
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didn't whisper my number to the operator." And another woman pleaded
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witht he businessman not to tell the grandmother, whose phone had been used
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for some of the calls. They were afraid that their son would be cut out
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of Grandma's will. The phone company's computers haven't come up with the
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final figure for the phone bill, but with all the long-distance and trans
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continental calls, it's expected to be enormous. And who will pay it? Not the
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businessman, of course. It will come from all of those bright kids' mommies
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and dadies. It's also possible that warrants will be issueed for fraud by
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wire, which, if pursued, can result in five-figure fines and jail terms. "And
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if they had just used payphones," the businessman said, "there wouldn't have
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been any way to trace them." That just shows there can be gaps in the academic
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programs at even the best private and suburban schools. What they need is a
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course in Remedial Stealing.
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$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
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NOTA:
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Just something on some kids who did something that they shouldn't have.
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The kids involved were incredibly stupid (or rather ignorant since they are
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