TUCoPS :: Phreaking General Information :: beatrace.txt

Meet and beat The Trace

*******************************************************************************
*                                                                             *
*                      How to beat tracing mechanisms                         *
*                                                                             *
*******************************************************************************

Written by: Billy Heif                                              80 columns
Date : 12/02/88------------------------------------------------Date : 12/02/88


                                Introduction

        Since the beginning of the telephone revolution, there have been
ways to trace a line. When there used to be operators with plugs and
huge switchboards, they could manually trace the line. Then came the
crossbar switching, in which they could trac e the line three ways:
Lock-In tracing, manual tracing (Never done, anymore), or time
syncronization. The ESS (Electronic Switching System) brought an
"Impossible" to beat tracing mechanism, ANI.



                      Chapter One : Lock-In tracing

        Lock-In tracing is exactly what the name says. It is a type of
tracing most often used by the FBI. The method of which Lock-In works is
quite simple. When a conversation is going on, there is voltage going
through the line to keep it open for thos e people talking. When lock-in
is used, after the caller-to-be-traced hangs up, a special FBI machine
sends voltage down the line to make the Phone Co's machines think that
the line is still being used. Then that gives the FBI time to trace
manually.


                                The DIFT Box

        There is only one way that I have heard of beating Lock-In. If
you keep picking up the phone and hanging up, and the line doesn't go to
a dialtone, there is a chance that you are being traced. The way to stop
this is to send a current down the lin e, too. First you have to find a
corner in your house where the phone wire is running along. Then you can
install 'Billy Heif's Peachy Tracer Breaker', or simply, "The DIFT box".
Here's the simple schmatics for it:
 

          -----> RED -----> |-----/-----| >---------- RED TO LINE -------->
From phone----->Green-----> |-----\-----| >----------Green to line ------->
          ----->Black-----> |-----/-----| >----------Black to line ------->
                            |     \     |
                            |    /  \   | 
                            |  +      - |
                            Tracer Breaker

        Where you see the plus and minus, you hook up a big 6 or 12 volt
battery. Make sure you put a switch in there somewhere, so you can
switch it on fast. Hook the + and - to all the lines going out. I think
that will work, I am pretty sure. Try testi ng it out first. While you
are talking to one of your buds, click it on.




                       Chapter Two : Manual Tracing

        Manual tracing is just following a line back to its source. I am
 not talking literally, just following it from circuits. This takes a
 HELL of a long time, like 10-20 mins or more. The only way to prevent
 this is to make your calls short and sweet, so they don't have time. Of
 course, if you get Locked-In, you should click on your DIFT box for
 about 30 seconds.



                   Chapter Three : Time Syncro Tracing

        Time Syncro Tracing is very simple. Let's say Bob Retard is
getting 100 prank calls a night (From those guys who wrote "Anarchy
Phone Pranks I,II,III,IV"). Now Bob calls up the phone company, who
sends out a techie with a clock syncronized to the phone co.'s clock.
When Bob gets his prank call that night, he just hits the button that
stops the clock. Then he calls the company and tells them the time that
he got the call. They run it through their computers and come up with a
call made at that exac t time, and where it came from. This tracing is
instoppable, so just don't crank someone all the time. But if you do it
on some night like Friday, when there are a million calls going on at
once, then it is pretty safe.



            Chapter Four : Automatic Number Identification (ANI)

        Automatic Number Identification (ANI) is a tracing mechanism
available ONLY in ESS areas. ANI works because the YOUR phone co.'s
computer sends a few digital-encoded numbers to the DESTINATION'S phone
co's computer. Then the other computer, and yo ur co.'s computer knows
INSTANTLY where it is coming from.

        Ways to tell if you have ESS: (Stolen from some G-File)

          1) 911 service
          2) dialtone first at payphones
          3) call waiting and that shit

        Well, ANI is not absolutely foolproof. I guess you could make a
        cheesebox to get around it or something. It would not be hard to
        do that.

        There was an incident back in March, 1988, concerning ANI. Some
idiot introduced the idea of the "Sprint Back Door", which gave you
access to call anywhere in the world for "Free". Little did they know
that Sprint's ANI machine was working hard, a nd everyone was sent a
bill at the end of the month. So, watch it with this thing. I think
there used to be a number you could call, and the thing would call you
back, using ANI. Pretty sure it's gone now.



                               Conclusion

        Well, that does it for most tracing techniques. I hope you guys
 kinda understood my DIFT box. If you don't, contact me through E-Mail
 at any of the boards at the end of this file. I have my computer answer
 sometimes, with an Answering Machine type program, where you can leave
 mail and crap. Ask me for the #.


                           -> Disclaimer <-

        Like every piece of great literature, comes this. I don't take
responsiblity for any of YOUR fuck ups. If you get busted with your DIFT
box, it IS a federal offense. This file was meant as INFORMATIONAL
purposes only, and the author does not accep t any responsiblity for
anyone's use of this file. Thanks.


******************************************************************************

Call these boards to contact me: 

        Ripco International  - (312)-528-5020
        Challenger           - (312)-827-3097
        Blue Knight          - (312)-249-4385

Leave E-Mail telling me what's up. Tell me what's new, and ask questions.

*****************************************************************************

EOF

TUCoPS is optimized to look best in Firefox® on a widescreen monitor (1440x900 or better).
Site design & layout copyright © 1986-2024 AOH