The Remote Informer Issue #3 Courtesy of the Jolly Roger

= Introduction =

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It's been a month now, and ALOT has happened. So much, in fact, that the

information will be split into several issues. This should be no shock since

I mentioned in the first issue that we may put several issues out sometimes.

I want to congratulate the readers for finally contributing to the

newsletter. This first two issues were all on information that I, myself,

obtained. Several people gave me information for these issues, and their

handle and information is included in the articles.

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= In The News! =

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ITT has 9 digits! | Phreaky Phones Go Down! |Information!

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For those of you who did| The famed Phreaky Phones are down| We have

not know this, ITT has nine|again. Modem Man, the original person|so much info

digit codes. They are said|that started them, has said that they|to put out,

to give better connections|will be down until further notice. In|that we are

to some extent. This info.|the meantime, other independent boxes|putting out

was originally given to us|are being started. A listing can be|many issues

by Party Beast. |made of current ones on request. |at one time.

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Magnus Adept Gets Busted | Sprint Codes Are Dying Fast! |all issues

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Fellow Atarian and well-| Sprint codes are hard to get and|now, then

known phreak Magnus Adept|when they are obtained, they tend to|call one of

got caught by MCI. Details|die rather quickly. Phreakers have|the boards

of the how, when, and where|been saying that the 950-0777 port|at the end

are not known at this time.|is dead, but on the contrary, it is|of the issue

He got caught with 150 codes|still available in states that are|or look for

and may have to pay up to|not highly abused by phreaks. Here|an editor on

50 dollars for each code.|again, rumors are being spread. |a hack BBS.

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= The Best BBS of the Month =

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Starting from now on, we will have a BBS of the month. We will choose a

BBS, ragardless of computer type, and look at the user participation in phreak

related matters, as well as quality discussions on the various illegal topics.

A BBS can remain the BBS of the month as long as they reside above the rest of

the BBS systems. Even though we will sometimes bring out more than one issue

in a month, the board will remain BBS of the month until the first issue inthe

next month comes out.

This month's BBS of the month is FBI PirateNet. We chose this board

because of the large numbers of posts in the bases, and not only information,

but discussions as well, with a minimum number of posts from raggers and

braggers. The number for it is 516-661-7360. The SysOp of FBI PirateNet is

The Phantom, not to be confused with an earlier narc.

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= US Sprint Expected to Trim Staff, Consolidate Divisions =

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New York -- US Sprint Communications Corp., the troubled long distance

carrier, is expected to announce soon that it will cut its work force by

several hundred people and reduce its seven regional divisions to 3 operating

groups, sources familiar with the company said.

The company's Pacific division is based in Burlingame, CA. The layoffs

and reorganization are part of a plan by US Sprint's new president, Robert H.

Snedaker, to reduce heavy operating losses, which analysts expect to reach

more than $800 million this year.

Snedaker replaced Charles M. Slibo, who was forced to resign in July

because losses were running much higher than the parent companies had

expected. Problems with the company's computerized billing system also

contributed to Skibo's ouster. US Sprint is owned and operated by the GTE

Corp. and United TeleCom.

According to sources close to Snedaker, who was vice chairman and chief

operating officer of United TeleCom, he is planning to consolidate the

company's 7 divisions, which operate in the same geographical regions as the

seven regional Bell operating companies, into 3 divisions.

The rationale for the move, according to idustry analysts, is that the

company will need a much smaller work force once it begins handling all it's

phone traffic on it's new fiber optic network, which can carry a greater

number of telephone calls at less cost. Company officials have said that

they expect to have most of the traffic on the network by early next year.

One source said that there would be more than one round of layoffs in the

coming months and that the company ultimately plans to reduce its 14,000

member work force by 15 percent.

Several top managers are expected to resign as soon as US Sprint

centralizes its marketing and support operations as its headquarters in Kansas

City, MO., according to a report in the latest issue of Business Week

magazine.

A spokesman for US Sprint said on Friday that the company would not

comment on the rumors. The company is the nation's third largest long

distance company, after the American Telephone and Telegraph Co. (AT&T) and

MCI Communications Co.

Last year, Washington based MCI undertook a similar reorganization in

which it posted a $502.5 million loss to write down old inventory and

restructure operations.

Analysts said that is US Sprint is to turn a profit, the company must

increase its market share. "To do this, US Sprint must gain more large

business customers, which account for about 80 percent of industry revenues,"

said Robert B. Morris III, Securities in San Francisco.

Morris said that by using a slick marketing campaign to differentiate its

all-fiber telephone network from those of competitors, US Sprint more than

doubled its customer base last year. But "most of these customers were

residential and small business users that added little to Sprint's bottom

line," he added. "If the company expects to be profitable, it will have to

concentrate on providing the best service to volume users."

] This information was supplied by Ye Cap'n

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= Secret Service Cracks Down on Teen Hackers =

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Mount Lebanon, PA -- The US Secret Service and local police departments

have put a scare into the hacker community with a nationwide crackdown on

computer crime that has resulted in the arrests of teenage hackers in at least

three cities.

"People who monitor the bulletin boards say there are a lot of nervous

hackers out there, wondering who will be arrested next," says Ronald E.

Freedman, vice-president of Advanced Information Management, a Woodbridge, VA

base computer security firm.

Nine teenagers from Mount Lebanon Junior-Senior High School near

Pittsburg, PA, were arrested recently and charged with computer fraud. The

juveniles allegedly used home computers to gain illegal access to a credit

card authorization center. They obtained valid credit card numbers and used

them to purchase thousands of dollars worth of mail order merchandise, the

police said.

Freedman says it appears the hackers used some relatively sophisticated

techniques in the scheme, including specially written software that enabled

them to bypass security controls and navigate through credit records to obtain

key information.

Police officials say that the hackers also obtained access codes from

pirate bulletin board systems to make free long distance calls and gain access

to various business and government computers.

The arrests were the result of a 6 week investigation by the Secret

Service and the Mount Lebanon police. The police were tipped off by parents

who were suspicious about how their son managed to obtain a skateboard valued

at $140.

The Secret Service was also involved in investigations that led to the

arrests of several hackers in San Francisco and New York last July.

Secret Service spokesman William Corbett says that although some reports

have portrayed the hackers as part of a national crime ring, the cases are

unrelated. "It's just that a few of these computers hacking cases came to a

head at about the same time," he says.

Federal Legislation enacted in 1984 gives the Secret Service, part of the

Department of the Treasury, a major role in investigating computer crimes.

Under the federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act of 1986, computer fraud is a

felony that carries a maximum penalty of 5 years for the first offense, and 10

years for the second. Displaying unauthorized passwords on hacking bulletin

boards carries a maximum penalty of 1 year in prison for the first offense,

and 10 years for the second.

] This information was supplied by Ye Cap'n

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= German Teens Crack NASA =

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Washington, D.C. -- A group of West German teenagers from the Chaos

Computer Club penetrated a NASA network recently, saying they were doing it to

"test the security."

What they got into was SPAN Net, a computer network with about 700 notes,

which is actually based at the Goddard Space Center in Maryland. All that's

in there is unclassified data, space science information, and post-flight data

anaysis. "Anyone with NASA related research can apply for access to SPAN"

says a spokesman, who adds that the network runs on DEC VAX hardware. "We

picked up three attempts to gain access and put in security precautions so it

would't happen." His personal opinion is, "We're happy that they couldn't get

back in, and decided to go public." He also added that NASA has many other

networks, many of the classified and "probably inpenetrable. But I do not

want to challenge anybody."

How'd they get in? Probably they got a West German NASA licensee, which

gave them a visitor's pass, then they created new passwords with unlimited

security for themselves, after which getting around the network was easy.

] Supplied by Ye Cap'n

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We look for information in anyway related to the newsletter. If you have

something of interests, or something that you saw on television, or in the

newspaper, then upload it to one of the boards listed below. You will receive

full credit.

Pirate's Hollow..................................................(415)593-6784

Bate's Motel.....................................................(619)267-0293

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