nickless@flash.ras.anl.gov (Bill Nickless--A Free Man) (04/12/90)
In TELECOM Digest Volume 10 : Issue 245 the Moderator writes: > [Moderator's Note: A reader has suggested a series of articles in the > Digest regarding how to program various models of cellular phones. > Included would be a discussion of security and supervisory techniques > used by the carriers to detect fraud. Both the reader and myself feel > that people who buy cell phones (like any other expensive electronic > equipment) are entitled to know how to program their phones and how > they operate. Both of us feel a cell phone user should not be at the > mercy of a salesman or dealer to handle the reprogramming in the event > a change of carrier is desired. What do you think? PT] I recently purchased a cellular "handportable" telephone. Being a student, I found that there were as many as six numbers I would have to provide to somone trying to reach me in an emergency. I felt that if I could get a cellular phone, I could set it to forward to a landline phone local to where I was physically and not miss calls. When I picked up the phone, the salesperson behind the counter faxed in the credit application and received back from Ameritech Mobile a credit authorization/agreement, which included a cellular number. He had obviously never programmed a cellular phone before (he said as much) and had some difficulty following the one-sheet step-by-step instructions provided by the store to program the device. Although the instructions clearly stated "Not to be provided to end-user" on them, he allowed me to copy down the important information -- the "magic code" to put the phone into programming mode. (It's a Nokia Mobira handheld -- the same thing that Radio Shack sells. If anyone wants to know the code I'll E-Mail it to them.) I have the information I would need to reprogram my phone. I would suggest anyone else getting a phone programmed to request the same information. Interestingly, the GE Transportable cellular phone that someone working in my office purchased provided the reprogramming instructions in the owner's manual! Of course, her machine came equipped with dual NAM capability. When it didn't work after being programmed originally, she called the cellular company to ask about some of the parameter settings. Their response was incredulous: "You're trying to reprogram the phone yourself?!!" Now my observations: By the very fact that someone is reading this Digest (or comp.dcom. telecom) assumes a certain level of knowledge about computers, communications, user authentication, and other issues. However, there is a market for cellular phones to people who don't have the background in these areas. I don't believe it is reasonable for the cellular phone companies to expect the end-user to have to program the phone, as there are some very technical parameter settings to worry about. Also, the process itself is rather daunting to someone who doesn't work with computer equipment as a vocation or avocation. Also, having dealt with complex systems (like a cellular phone really is) I know that there are certain things to leave alone until I know I can restore them to some known state. If reprogramming information was available to the general public, we would find a higher percentage of phones being mis-programmed by people not careful or qualified to restore the phones back to their proper state. This would increase the burden on the customer service departments of the cellular phone companies. In summary, I think the information could be made available, but it might cost more to the cellular companies than they feel it is worth. Bill Nickless nickless@flash.ras.anl.gov or bnick@andrews.edu PS: I don't want to come across sounding elitist, but we must recognize systems and policies must be designed while cognizant of the level of sophistication of the individual user. ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V10 #248 ******************************
bote@uunet.uu.net (John Boteler) (04/13/90)
It should no more be permissible for customers to be able to change
their cellular phone programming at will than it is for phone
customers to be permitted dialup access to their ESSs to change their
features at will, en masse. Unless chaos is the desired goal.
In fact, some user-interface features are programmable, especially in
the newer phones. The ones dealing with security and like concerns are
clearly not included in this set.
John Boteler {zardoz|uunet!tgate|cos!}ka3ovk!media!csense!bote
NCN NudesLine: 703-241-BARE -- VOICE only, Touch-Tone (TM) accessiblekelly@uts.amdahl.com (Kelly Goen) (04/13/90)
Well Patrick, again you suprise me. Supporting end user programming of cellular phones doesnt sound like you ... but I LIKE it ... Are we allowed to publish openly for this contest??? I will contribute the magic numbers and sequences for the GE Mini and the Mitsubishi 800 if so. Also there is a master guide for about 795.00 per year with monthly updates available to service shops hard copy only as far as I know at this point, but I am hoping to find it published on CD ROM; I will let you know. If enough people contribute we can have our own independent archive. Seriously though I have found the best way to gain access and photocopies of these instructions is to tell the dealer that you are installing a dial tone simulator for cellular data transmission such as a tellujak. They instantly fall into NIH and hand over the instructions as most of this equipment requires several custom options you have to twiddle. Cheers, Kelly p.s. There's hope for you yet... [Moderator's Note: I'm glad you are optimistic about my condition. Do I in general support the rights of cell phone owners to program their units in a *non-fraudulent* way? Yes. Am I naive about the use some people would make of the programming information? No. Read the next message. PT]
telecom@eecs.nwu.edu (TELECOM Moderator) (04/14/90)
There is no legitimate reason for a user to change the serial number identification of his unit. There are legitimate reasons to be able to change the phone number and Home Default, to name two options. Consider this: If I travel frequently between two or three cities, and I use cellular service in each, my options now are to have two or three phones (one homed in each city), or have one home city and pay (sometimes) outrageous roaming rates in the other two cities, or pay a dealer to reprogram the unit for another city as its home in the event I have an actual number there. Why can't I subscribe to cellular service (and have an actual phone number) in each city I routinely visit, with the numbers going to voice mail when I am not in town? When my plane lands, I, (me, myself rather than a dealer) reprogram the phone to let's say home on 00020 for Ameritech/Chicago or 00001 for Cellular One/Chicago. I put in the phone number I am paying for in this city, and proceed to do business with my (now) home carrier. The carrier already has my serial number, of course, since they got that when I first signed up for service in their city. Instead of roamer rates, I get home carrier rates. Why do I have to go to a dealer for that? Why would 'chaos' result from this any more than it results from me moving my landline phone from one apartment to another and plugging it in the jack? Why did the telcos replace hardwired phones with modular jacks if they were worried about chaos? People with the knowledge of how to defraud the cellular carrier are probably the same people who -- if they live in an older, rapidly decaying inner city area like myself -- also know how to go to the basement of their apartment building and snatch the pairs for anyone in the building and half the people on the same block. Should I be forced to live with a hardwired phone and a terminal box I can't get into merely because I *might* put calls on your line? Should I have to call telco installation if I want to move the wires from one place to another on my premises for the same reason? Does chaos result when people run new wires from the telco demarc to their apartment? If anything, cellular service is more secure than landline simply because unlike the wire pair, the cellular equivalent of the pair (the serial number) is virtually unchangeable. Program whatever phone number you like; if the ESN does not match -- at least in local service -- the call won't go through. I agree there are some problems with the absolute use of the serial number as the identification of last resort when roaming, but this is gradually being corrected by most carriers. Unlike what Geoff Goodfellow said in his article on cellular security (see TELECOM Archives), the manufacturers now are really keeping the serial number very secure. The chip is buried under wax on my unit, for gosh sakes! And even if it were not, would YOU want a bunch of ostentatious dip-switches or micro-toggle switches on your unit to show what you were up to? A hard-core phreak can/will break into anything telecom-related. But the honest cellular user should be able to adjust his phone for the city he is in and carrier he is using in the same way a subscriber of regular telco services picks up his phone, carries it across town and plugs it in right away. If I go to New York or Boston, and have a hardwired phone installed, I don't have to pay special 'roamer' rates, nor do I have to pay an installer to put the phone in to insure I don't cheat New York Tel of their due. Of course, if there were detailed, descriptive messages here in the Digest explaining how to do it model by model, it would only be a short time until some nitwit at the [New York Times] ran an article headlined 'Northwestern University computer used by phreaks to steal cellular phone service.' Mark my words. Or else one of television's Talking Heads; I call them the men with the fifty dollar hairdoos and the fifty cent brains. I have limited financial resources: I cannot afford a lawyer, and the cost of bribing a federal judge or the FBI here in Chicago is more expensive than a lot of places. I see nothing wrong with messages regarding topics such as the four or five digit carrier identification numbers; how Access, Group and Class values are assigned; or how Overload is handled. But let's keep quiet about the actual keyboard sequences typed in to enter program mode, eh? Either you know them or you don't. I haven't been in jail for so long I've forgotten what a Bologna sandwich tastes like. I'd like to keep it that way. Patrick Townson