gast@cs.ucla.edu (David Gast) (01/08/91)
One of the recurring questions asked in this forum is "What number do
I dial to determine what number I am calling from?" The answer, of
course, is that it varies from location to location. The Moderator
has noted that the number changes all the time and that it should
change frequently. Presumably, he is concerned about fraud. If I can
call some number to find out what number I am dialing from, it makes
it easy to plant a bug or to call collect to that number, for example.
The contradiction, it seems, comes from the Moderator's frequent and
outspoken support for Caller-ID. With CID, the bad guy/gal just calls
his/her home phone with a CID box and records the information. Thus,
the same information for the same illicit behavior will be available.
PAT will surely be mad if someone else accepts a collect phone call
from an AOS on his line in the basement of his building.
David Gast gast@cs.ucla.edu
{uunet,ucbvax,rutgers}!{ucla-cs,cs.ucla.edu}!gast
[Moderator's Note: Moderators do not contradict themselves, but I
thank you for sharing your concern. I noted that the 'numbers to call'
are different from location to location, and that they change
frequently. I am not aware of saying I thought they *should* be
changed frequently. And yes, while I could go in the basement and use
someone else's pair to get a readback or call my own number and get a
CID reading, both of these actions are illegal on their face by
virtue of me burglarizing the basement phone box to begin with (if it
is not within my specific authority to wire, modify or examine the
box). On the other hand, it is not and should not be illegal for me to
ascertain my own phone number if I have forgotten it or gotten
confused by the wires in my possession. Neither should it be illegal
for me to ascertain the identity -- or at the very least the phone
number -- of the anonymous person calling me. Don't blame good and
useful technology just because some people abuse it. PAT]
Jim.Redelfs@iugate.unomaha.edu (Jim Redelfs) (01/18/91)
> One of the recurring questions asked in this forum is "What number do > I dial to determine what number I am calling from?" The answer, of > course, is that it varies from location to location. The Moderator > has noted that the number changes all the time and that it should > change frequently. In the Omaha area, they changed the "958 code" to include an additional four digits, and that has changed a couple of time in the year or so since they initiated the seven digit line I.D. code. I'm not sure of the purpose behind this "improvement", but I am certainly grateful now for "butt sets" with memory dialers! Jim Redelfs Network Technician U S WEST Communications Copernicus V1.02 Elkhorn, NE [200:5010/666.14] (200:5010/2.14)