| ==Phrack Inc.== | |
| Volume One, Issue Five, Phile #10 of 12 | |
| =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= | |
| ///\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\\\ | |
| Metal Shop PRIVATE\\\ Phrack World News Issue 4 Part 1 ///_ _ _______ | |
| Metal Shop AE \\\ ///| \/ | / _____/ | |
| Metal Shop Brewery \\\ Compiled by /// |_||_|etal/ /hop | |
| \\\ /// _________/ / | |
| Present PWN IV \\\///\\ Knight Lightning //\\\/// /__________/ | |
| -------------- \-^^^^^^-^^^^^^^^^-/ Triad | |
| _______________________________________________________________________________ | |
| Phrack Inc. Vs. Master Lock Company April 1, 1986 | |
| ----------------------------------- | |
| Ok, yeah the date says April 1st, but this NOT a joke. The following is a | |
| letter from Chadbourne & Parke. I am substituting "Taran King" for Taran's | |
| real name. | |
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | |
| March 26, 1986 | |
| Dear Mr. King, | |
| This law firm is counsel to Master Lock Company. Our client has recently | |
| been alerted to the dissemination through a Bulletin Board Computer Service | |
| located at your address of information potentially damaging to its commercial | |
| interests and business relationships. More particularly, we refer to the | |
| publication by such computer service of instructions for picking combination | |
| locks manufactured by Master Lock Company. | |
| We write to notify you of Master Lock Company's concern about the computer | |
| service's actions and the seriousness with which it regards those actions. | |
| Master Lock Company has every intention of preserving and protecting the | |
| reputation and goodwill associated with its products and, if necessary, will | |
| take every legal recourse available to it to do so. | |
| Under the present circumstances, however, our client would first like to | |
| give you the opportunity to take measures to prevent activities that it can | |
| only view as malicious both toward itself and toward its customers. We | |
| therefore request that you see to the immediate and permanent cessation of the | |
| actions described above. Your compliance with this request is all that is | |
| required for an amicable resolution of this matter. | |
| Your cooperation will be much appreciated. | |
| Very truly yours, | |
| Terrence J. Farrell | |
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | |
| This letter is of course talking about phile #6 of Phrack Issue I, entitled, | |
| "How To Pick Master Locks". It was kinda funny but they even had a misspelled | |
| word in their letter, that I corrected above. They sent it to Taran King in | |
| certified mail, in which he had to sign for it. Taran has since responded with | |
| the following letter: | |
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | |
| Dear Sirs, 4/1/86 | |
| My name is Taran King, as you so easily researched, and I used to run Metal | |
| Shop, an electronic bulletin board system. I currently run a private line for | |
| personal friends of mine, and if asked, I distribute "general files" for them. | |
| The fact that I distributed the file is hardly the point. I merely obtained it | |
| from the authors of the file and distributed it to other sources, who | |
| apparently distributed it other places. If I am responsible for this file, I | |
| believe you should find a number of other authors also. | |
| It is not only this file that you have written me about that the | |
| information about the "secret" to picking Master locks is included in, but also | |
| a number of other files that have been circulating for years. It is old | |
| information, someone just re-published it. Although on this topic, I am not | |
| well informed, I believe it is legal to print information on such a topic. We | |
| do not condone the actions promoted by the files, but merely inform the public | |
| on the topic of this. I hate to run on, but I wish to make my point as clearly | |
| as possible. | |
| If I, being one of the people it was passed through, am responsible for the | |
| crime rate today of people picking Master, American, or any other company's | |
| locks, then I believe anyone who has the file, or has read books should be | |
| arrested on this. I believe Paladin Press publishes a number of books on this | |
| topic. I have seen one of the "Picking Master Locks in 3-Easy Steps!" type | |
| books and as far as I know, it's still in publication and distribution. | |
| I hope I'm not sounding disrespectful or condescending, but it annoys me to | |
| a great degree when I must be questioned by my father about a letter that has | |
| come in the mail from a law firm in New York. Please expect a letter from him | |
| inquiring upon the topic that you have written me on. If you wish to have | |
| further discussion, feel free to call me at my voice line whenever you want to | |
| at (314) XXX-XXXX. Don't play funny like you did with the letter and reverse | |
| the charges or something entertaining like that please. | |
| Sincerely, | |
| Taran King | |
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | |
| If any of you are wondering as to how they found Taran, well CN/A is not | |
| exclusively for phone phreaks and the number to Metal Shop was published in | |
| Phrack I in most of the files. My theory about how they found this file is: | |
| A. Some agent type is looking around (hell we all know they are out there), he | |
| sees the file and passes it on to Master Lock Company; | |
| B. Some rodent dork type whose dad works for Master Lock Company sees it and | |
| says, "Hey Dad, look, this is really neat!" | |
| I guess it really doesn't matter... Knight Lightning | |
| _______________________________________________________________________________ | |
| Lex Luthor Speaks About TWCB Sunday March 22, 1986 | |
| ---------------------------- | |
| The following is a message from Lex Luthor regarding TWCB Inc. | |
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | |
| It has been brought to my attention that TWCB Inc. is "throwing around large | |
| amounts of BS involving me". I have NEVER spoken to them, not on a conference, | |
| bbs, or anything. | |
| They have no affiliation with The Legion of Doom phreak group, nor The Legion | |
| Of Hackers hack group. Any references they make regarding me or any member of | |
| LOD or LOH should be disregarded since it's probably bullshit. | |
| TUC is working on Project Educate but there are no dates as of yet when an | |
| issue will be released. He scrapped the old first issue and is working on a | |
| better quality newsletter. I don't really have anything to do with Project | |
| Educate except that I may contribute some material. | |
| I just thought I would clear this up and if anyone hears anything different, | |
| please send me email with the information. | |
| One other thing that is on my mind is how some phreaks/hacks put down 2600 | |
| Magazine as not being that great, not providing enough technical info, or | |
| providing too technical, etc. Well compared to the other rags out there, 2600 | |
| does a pretty damn good job and are very consistent, you never have to worry | |
| about getting ripped off by them, and they are trustworthy. I don't agree with | |
| some of the ways they do things, but overall they are pretty good. | |
| I just wanted to get a few things off my chest. | |
| Lex | |
| _______________________________________________________________________________ | |
| TRASk, Animator, Ogre Ogre busted 408 Under Siege | |
| ---------------------------------- --------------- | |
| This all happened towards the end of the week after the Phoenix Phortress Sting | |
| Operation. | |
| TRASk the sysop of Shattered World Elite, carded an IBM PC. The person whose | |
| house it was to be delivered, happened to be at home when it arrived. The | |
| owners promptly called the police who then set up a stake out and waited for an | |
| unsuspecting TRASk to waltz over and pick it up. TRASk did and of course was | |
| caught red handed. | |
| Walking up to the house but staying on the street was the Animator. He didn't | |
| like the looks of the situation and didn't stop walking. He went to the home | |
| of BelGarion and Ogre Ogre (brothers). Unknown to him he had been followed | |
| over. Since he had cut school that day he stayed over there until 4PM. | |
| BelGarion and Ogre Ogre went to Animator's house and took all his computer | |
| equipment and illegally carded shit. They hid it all in their house. Minutes | |
| after Animator left BelGarion's home, he was picked up by the police. He was | |
| then taken to Juvenile Detention where he found TRASk. | |
| Meanwhile the police went to TRASk's house first and took all his shit | |
| including the bbs, then over to Animator's. When they got to Animator's house | |
| and couldn't find anything, his little brother told them that BelGarion and | |
| Ogre Ogre took everything. They then went to BelGarion's house where they found | |
| not only Animator's carded material but BelGarion's and Ogre Ogre's as well. | |
| The four of them spent the weekend together in Juvenile Detention. | |
| The charges included: | |
| o Fraudulent use of a credit card | |
| o Grand theft | |
| o Possession of stolen property | |
| The merchandise found at BelGarion's was in excess of $3,000. | |
| Being that BelGarion is 18 years old, Ogre Ogre, his younger brother, took full | |
| responsibility for the crimes. As a result the charges against BelGarion were | |
| dropped. | |
| The court case is expected to take place in mid-April 1986. | |
| The interesting part about this story is that TRASk and the others were members | |
| of the Nihilist Order. This group had most of its members busted or under | |
| surveillance already due to the Phoenix Phortress Sting Operation in Fremont, | |
| California. Is there a connection? | |
| BelGarion says no, and that the Nihilist Order was really a loosely connected | |
| bunch. It was however started by TRASk and The Highwayman. | |
| TRASk was released with a $100 fine and probation and 100 hours of community | |
| (civil) service work. His bbs, The Shattered World Elite, will be going back | |
| up sometime in the future. | |
| For information about the Phoenix Phortress Sting Operation see Phrack World | |
| News Issue III. | |
| Information provided by BelGarion 408 in an interview with Knight Lightning | |
| _______________________________________________________________________________ | |
| Robin Hood and The Sultan Busted 408 Under Siege | |
| -------------------------------- --------------- | |
| This event took place around the last week of March in California, the 408 | |
| area. | |
| Robin Hood had sprained his ankle at a wrestling meet and as a result was laid | |
| up at home for several days. On one such day, he awoke at 1:30 PM in the | |
| afternoon to hear people outside his house, trying to force his doors opened. | |
| Hobbling around on his crutches, he made it to the kitchen where he ran into | |
| three police officers, two special investigators, and one guy from PacBell | |
| Security. | |
| His first cry was, "You had better have a warrant!" Sure enough they did. He | |
| noticed MCI codes and dialups written on it as well as passwords to TRW. | |
| (Editor's Note: Obviously what they were looking for.) They went to his room | |
| and went through his computer disks (one of which was labeled phreaking and | |
| hacking, they jumped for that one), printouts, notebooks, and anything else | |
| they could find. They took everything including his modem, printer, phone, and | |
| computer. | |
| Among what was confiscated were printouts of Phrack Issues I-III, Hack | |
| Newsletter (all issues to date), tons of other G-philes, and Lex Luthor's | |
| Hacking Cosmos series. Also taken were all of his board numbers he was on and | |
| all his passwords. Luckily for Metal Shop PRIVATE, he had not yet received the | |
| new general password. Boards that should be wary include the Alliance and | |
| P-80. | |
| His charges include: | |
| o Annoying Calls (Scanning Prefixes) | |
| o Defrauding the phone company | |
| o Illegal entry (Hacking) | |
| o Scanning MCI dialups (I don't know what the legal name for that would be) | |
| His and Sultan's court case comes up on April 18th 1986 1:00 PM. | |
| As for the Sultan, upon being busted, Robin Hood tried to get in touch with him | |
| at school, not knowing that the group that had paid him a visit had come from | |
| the Sultan's earlier around 11:30 AM. When he finally did reach him around | |
| 4:00 PM after school at swim practice, it was much too late. Sultan's dad | |
| supposedly held a government related job. (I have no idea if it was a political | |
| one or not). | |
| The police had grabbed everything Sultan had as well, including his phone. | |
| Since his bust he has had his phone line disconnected. | |
| Robin Hood said that he was told that he had been under surveillance for 2-3 | |
| months previous to his arrest. | |
| He also recalled that the police had a third warrant for someone in a different | |
| town. He did not recognize the name, nor did he hear anything about it later. | |
| (Editor's Note: Their accounts on Metal Shop PRIVATE were removed long ago, so | |
| MSP users don't be worried.) | |
| Information provided by Robin Hood during an interview with Knight Lightning | |
| _______________________________________________________________________________ | |
| TWCB: Peter Arrested Again TAP Trouble | |
| -------------------------- ----------- | |
| In the last week of March, while on spring break, Peter of TWCB Inc. was | |
| arrested (or maybe just picked up) for leaving his home while under a court | |
| order to stay confined there under his mother's reconnaissance. | |
| He was picked up by the same detective that busted TWCB Inc. in the first | |
| place. Evidently he had been staking out their condominium for some time. | |
| Not only does this add to their LARGE record and current charges, but it will | |
| be used to show the court that TWCB's mom has no control over them. This will | |
| hurt their defense. | |
| Many questions have arisen about the upcoming court case against TWCB. Most | |
| notably, how will they be able to publish TAP Magazine with such a record and | |
| constant surveillance? Since their bust was basically non-phreak/hack related | |
| maybe there is no real reason to fear any problems arising of information | |
| trading for a lighter sentence if (when) found guilty. | |
| However, their bust also concerned fraudulent use of a credit card. What if | |
| that were to be tied in to phreak/hack bulletin boards? | |
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | |
| Since the topic of TWCB has already been brought up, I'd like to mention some | |
| of the other things that have been going on concerning them. | |
| Fights breaking out between them and Sigmund Fraud have cleared up. This does | |
| not necessarily mean that they will not resume. Fights with Slave Driver that | |
| led to their being kicked off of Stronghold East Elite, have also cleared up. | |
| Not wanting to have a reputation for kicking people off SEE for personal | |
| reasons, Slave Driver has allowed TWCB to return. It is not yet known if they | |
| have done so as of yet. | |
| On the other hand, with their co-sysop access, TWCB kicked Broadway Hacker off | |
| of Spectre III (Which is sysoped by The Overlord of 815). He in turn kicked | |
| them off of the Radio Station BBS. Hostilities raged between the two, but | |
| Broadway Hacker publicly apologized on Metal Shop (and I suppose on several | |
| other bbses as well) to TWCB, and asked them to remove their vulgar posts about | |
| him. TWCB made no comment. | |
| Broadway Hacker did kick TWCB off The Radio Station. Later he welcomed them | |
| back on, but now with their refusal to call, his invitation no longer exists. | |
| _______________________________________________________________________________ | |
| SBS Acquisition Completed March 1986 | |
| ------------------------- | |
| On February 28, MCI completed its acquisition of Satellite Business Systems | |
| from IBM in exchange for approximately 47 million shares of MCI Common stock, | |
| of 16.7 percent of the 282 million shares now outstanding. The Federal | |
| Communications Commission (FCC) approved the transfer to MCI of authorizations | |
| held by SBS on February 14. The transaction was announced as an agreement in | |
| principle on June 25, 1985. | |
| The majority of SBS employees have joined MCI, bringing MCI's employment to | |
| 14,800. | |
| Initially, for SBS's 200,000 customers, the acquisition brings no change in | |
| service or rates. Eventually, the SBS system will be combined with MCI's more | |
| extensive domestic and international network. | |
| Taken from MCI World, March 1986 | |
| _______________________________________________________________________________ | |