mtv@milton.u.washington.edu (David Schanen) (07/22/90)
Thought you might like to see it...
Ps. Did we ever see the results of your hacker poll?
-Dave
[Moderator's Note: Yes, the hacker poll was published several weeks
ago, both in its original version, and a couple weeks later in a
different format. Maybe someone with a copy of that issue will mail it
to you.
In addition to Mr. Schanen, the article which follows was forwarded to
me by Glen Overby, and I thank him also for passing it along. The
article was originally written about 1982-83, and was later posted to
Portal by myself, and used here in TELECOM Digest in the summer of
1988. It was then picked up by Phrack sometime in the fall of 1988.
Thus, the details are a little dated, and not entirely accurate at
this time. The article is presented because people have expressed
curiosity about it. I have no idea who 'Hatchet Molly' is. I guess
the only legitimate names those folks used were of unsupecting folks
like me. PT]
==Phrack Inc.==
Volume Two, Issue 21, File 7 of 11
()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()
() ()
() Non-Published Numbers ()
() ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ()
() An Observation Of Illinois Bell ()
() ()
() by Patrick Townson ()
() of The Portal System (TM) ()
() ()
() Special Thanks to Hatchet Molly ()
() ()
()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()
All examples in this message pertain to Illinois Bell Telephone
Company, which covers the Chicago metropolitan area, and quite a bit
of the rest of Illinois.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
There are three types of phone numbers which do not appear in the
printed and publicly available directory;
(1) Too new to list
(2) Non-listed
(3) Non-published
The third category of numbers not in the phone book or available from
the Directory Assistance Bureau are non-published numbers.
Non-published numbers are NOT available at the directory Assistance
level. Inquiries about same which are input into a DA (Directory
Assistance) terminal simply come up with a message that "at the
customer's request, the number is not listed in our records; the
number is non-published."
Well, who does keep non-pub records then? The Business Office has no
handy way to retrieve them, since they depend on an actual phone
number when they pull up a record to discuss an account. Once a
service order is processed, the number and associated name are no
longer available to the average worker in the central office.
There was for several years a small group known as the "NonPub Number
Bureau" which at the time was located in Hinsdale, Illinois. Needless
to say, the phone number to the NonPub Number Bureau was itself
non-published, and was only available to specified employees at
Illinois Bell who were deemed to have a "need to know clearance." Now
with all the records being highly computerized, the keepers of the
Non-Pub phone numbers are themselves scattered around from one phone
office to another.
When there is some specific need for an employee at the phone company
to acquire the non-published number of a subscriber, then certain
security precautions kick into place. Only a tiny percentage of
telephone company employees are deemed to have a "need to know
clearance" in the first place; among these would be the GCO's (Group
Chief Operators), certain management people in the central offices,
certain people in the Treasury/Accounting office, and of course,
security representatives both from Illinois Bell and the various long
distance carriers, such as AT&T, US. Sprint, and MCI.
Let us have a hypothetical example for our correspondent; Your mother
has taken seriously ill, and is on her deathbed. Your brother is
unable to reach you to notify you of this because you have a non-pub
number. When his request for the number has been turned down by
Directory Assistance, simply because they do not have it, he asks to
speak with a supervisor, and he explains the problem. He provides his
own name and telephone number, and the supervisor states he will be
called back at a later time. The supervisor does not question if in
fact an emergency exists, which is the only valid reason for breaking
security. The supervisor may, if they are doing their job correctly,
ask the inquirer point blank, "Are you stating there is an emergency
situation?"
Please bear in mind that the law in Illinois and in many other states
says that if a person claims that an emergency exists in order to
influence the use (or discontinuance of use) of the telephone when in
fact there is no emergency is guilty of a misdemeanor crime. You say
yes this is an emergency and I need to contact my brother/sister/etc
right away. The supervisor will then talk to his/her supervisor, who
is generally of the rank of Chief Operator for that particular
facility.
The Chief Operator will call the NonPub people, will identify herself,
and *leave her own call back number*. The NonPub people will call
back to verify the origin of the call, and only then will there be
information given out regards your brother's telephone number. It
helps if you know the *exact* way the name appears in the records, and
the *exact* address; if there is more than one of that name with
non-pub service, they may tell you they are unable to figure out who
it is you want.
The NonPub person will then call the subscriber with the non-published
number and explain to them what has occurred, "So and so has contacted
one of our operators and asked for assistance in reaching you. The
party states that it is a family emergency which requires your
immediate attention. Would it be alright if we give him/her your
number, or would you prefer to call them back yourself?"
Based on the answer given, the number is either relayed back to the
Chief Operator, or a message is relayed back saying the non-pub
customer has been notified. If the customer says it is okay to pass
his number, then the Chief Operator will call you back, ask who YOU
are, rather than saying WHO she wants, and satisfied with your
identification will give you the number you are seeking or will advise
you that your brother has been given the message by someone from our
office, and has said he will contact you.
Before the NonPub people will even talk to you, your 'call back
number' has to be on their list of approved numbers for that purpose.
A clerk in the Business office cannot imitate a Chief Operator for
example, simply because NonPub would say that the number you are
asking us to call back to is not on our list. "Tell your supervisor
what it is you are seeking and have them call us..." Other emergency
type requests for non-pub numbers would be a big fire at some business
place in the middle of the night, and the owners of the company must
be notified at their home; or a child is found wandering by the police
and the child is too young to know his parent's (non-pub) number.
They will also handle non-emergency requests, but only if they are of
some importance and not frivolous in nature. You have just come to
our city to visit and are seeking a long lost friend who has a non-pub
number; you are compiling the invitations to your high school class
fiftieth re-union and find a class member is non-pub. Within certain
reasonable limits, they will pass along your request to the desired
party and let them make the choice of whether to return the call or
not. But always, you leave your phone number with them, and in due
time someone will call you back to report what has been said or done.
You would be surprised -- or maybe you wouldn't -- at the numerous
scams and stories people tell the phone company to get the non-pub
numbers of someone else. Fortunately, Bell takes a great deal of
pride in their efforts to protect the privacy of their subscribers.
-PT