Gourt > Computers > Hacking > Phreaking (1)
Phreaking is a slang term coined to describe the activity of a subculture of people who study, experiment with, or exploit telephones, the telephone company, and systems connected to or composing the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) for the purposes of hobby or utility. The term "phreak" is a portmanteau of the words "phone" and "freak." It may also refer to the use of various audio frequencies to manipulate a phone system. "Phreak", "phreaker", or "phone phreak" are names used by and towards people who participate in phreaking. It is often considered similar, and therefore grouped in category with computer hacking. This is sometimes called the H/P culture (with H standing for Hacking and P standing for Phreaking).
History of phreaking
The precise origin of phone phreaking is disputed, as there is no one defining event when it started. One could argue that the inception of the telephone could be the origin of phreak-like experimentation. There are also reports of people playing with some of the first automatic switching equipment back in the 1920s. Modern day phreaking, however, is more likely to be traced to the United States in the mid-to-late 1950s when AT&T started introducing fully automatic direct-dial long distance and certain forms of trunking carriers which used in-band signalling. People started playing with the phone system, in a way similar to the way modern day hackers play with the Internet.
Early phreaks, such as Joybubbles (né Joe Engressia), and Bill from New York started developing a rudimentary understanding on how the phone system works. Joybubbles taught himself to whistle a tone (Namely, 2600Hz) that would cause a trunk to reset itself. Bill discovered that a recorder he had could play the same tone with the same effect. John Draper discovered through his friend, Joybubbles, that the free whistles given out in Captain Crunch cereal boxes made exactly a 2600 tone when blown, hence how he got his nickname, "Captain Crunch". This allowed control of phone systems that worked on SF, or Single Frequency controls. One could produce a long whistle to reset the line, then one could dial with groups of whistles (a short one for a "1", two short ones for a "2", etc.). This was the predecessor of MFing.
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alt.ph.uk FAQ - Newsgroup FAQ offering group details and brief overview on phreaking in the UK.
Meta Description: [ alt.ph.uk ]
America's Least Wanted - A compilation of technical manuals, tutorials and other publications on various topics and devices of interest including coin acceptors mechanisms, bill validators, automatic teller machines, and telephone systems.
Meta Description: [ Obscure information for the curious hacker and phreaker. ]
Art of Hacking - Fixer's Box review which reviews the usefulness of the various phreaking boxes, original files, Beating Caller ID FAQ and The Vancouver Island Payphone Mapping Project.
Meta Description: [ A site dedicated to the pursuit of knowledge ]
Ausphreak - Australian hacking and phreaking forum. Post in our forum, or to undertake in one of our many projects.
Meta Description: [ ausPHREAK.com - Index ]
Bakb0ne - UK Phreaking Site provides up-to-date, relevent information. Updated regulary with news and updates.
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BlakeOPS::Phreak - A site dedicated to Minnesota phreaking, the Bell System, and payphones.
Cell Phone Hacks - Mobile phone hacking and phreaking discussion forum covering hacks, tricks, and service mods.
DarkFall - Documents British Telecom UK phone system, including boxing plans and payphone information.
Meta Description: [ Some useful text and information (probably out of date) about phone phreaking and telecoms hacking in the UK ]
DMS - PhreakZone - Features archives of Wired articles and UK phreaking resources.
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Dutch Scanner Web - Informatie over scanners, frequenties, GSM, wetgeving, afkortingen, artikelen, een forum, en meer.
Meta Description: [ Dutch Scanner Site information about scanners maxer hacking radio telecom frequentie gps GSM modifications radioamateur wintone politie brabant buzzer paging pager pocsag semasoft sstv hammcom dtmf 5tvo icq dicriminator uitgangen mp3 traumahelikopter ham 27mc zend amateur ontvangen aor8000 yupite... ]
Exploiting the UK Phone System - Describes UK wiring and offers beige box schematic and description of use in PCP boxes.
Hack Canada - The source for Canadian hacking and phreaking. Text files, links.
Meta Description: [ Hack Canada : Hacking, phreaking, and tempestuous technology. Rewiring your world the way we want it. ]
History of Cap'n Crunch - Home page of John T. Draper, one of the original phone phreakers.
John Draper/Capt Crunch Interviewed 1995 - John Draper introduces his exploits and the motivation behind his work in this 1995 interview whilst he was traveling through Australia.
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NetworkPunk - Australia's biggest Hacking and Phreaking company.
Meta Description: [ SyphonHost is one of Australia's premium hosting companies aimed towards providing quality hosting and service at prices that simply cannot be ignored. ]
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Payphone Directory - Thousands of pay phone numbers in the United States, Canada, and other countries. FAQ, About the different kinds of payphones, pictures, recordings, news, discussion board and links.
Meta Description: [ The Pay Phone Directory has numbers for over seventy thousand pay phones. It also has phone related pictures and sounds, and other useful pay phone information. ]
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Meta Description: [ phreak.be :: phreaking portal for Belgian and European phreakers ]
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Meta Description: [ The largest phreaking & telecom archive in the world. ]
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Meta Description: [ If you have a phone number and want to know
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Meta Description: [ Hundreds of downloadable, free telephone sounds and downloadable, free telephone recordings in wav format and mp3 format including error recordings, telco test numbers, devices, voicemail, addressing signalling, progress signalling, and phone phreaking colored box tones. Also related images, text... ]
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Verizown - Text files, phone recordings, and links.
| Hacking & Phreaking part 2 |
