Section 1 - Intro

1.1 Intro

alt.ph.uk was originally formed to discuss issues relating to phone phreaking, hacking (and other related 'underground' activities) in the UK, given that the traditional hackers newsgroup alt.2600 had degenerated to such an extent as to be virtually useless and very US dominated.

PH is formed from the initial letters of -P-hreak and -H-ack.

This FAQ is intended to reduce the bandwidth taken up with people asking the same questions over and over again. It is intended to compliment other FAQs (e.g.alt.2600, uk.telecom ) and not replicate them.

1.2 What should and shouldn't be discussed in this group ?

This group is primarily used to discuss the technical matters surrounding hacking and phreaking in the UK and closely related topics. This includes the UK phone system, hacking UK systems, issues relating to the UK underground etc, the main thing to remember is this is a UK group. Things to be avoided are those that can be dealt with better in other groups (especially the kind of questions that alt.2600 is plagued with such as sending fakemail/news, out of date boxes, and IRC scripts. Check the newsgroups listed in section 5 of this faq for closely related newsgroups that maybe more appropriate. Always try find the answer yourself first (see the list of references at the end of this FAQ), mentioning where you have looked for info often helps too.

Other things to avoid to save you getting flamed are questions such as, How do I get free phone calls, Can I have a list of underground BBSs, How do I get an address for a phone number, How do I re-chip my mobile, how do I get root on a Unix box and other such lame questions. Try to avoid posting anything too juicy that would damage the community too much (If you've got hold of such info, then you'll probably know where to distribute it).

The contributors to this FAQ are not omnipotent, we are capable of being wrong. Please tell us if we are.

Newbies please take note, people in this group aren't generaly receptive to private mail asking questions like 'How can I get free calls, re-chip my moby, or hack my Uni's Unix boxes' Don't waste your time theirs, go and try to find out yourself, then ask for help, not the other way round.

1.3 Anonymous Remailers and PGP

It is to be presumed that this group is read by people who are actively involved in prosecuting hackers / phreaks. To make their life that little bit harder, use an anonymous remailer (see http://www.cs.berkeley.edu/~raph/remailer-list.html), these are not 100% safe, but they're better than nothing (remember to remove your .sig). If you wish to send 'secure' information to another user, try using PGP (see the faq from alt.security.pgp)

1.4 Thank You's

So far, most of he info in the file has been cribbed from the FAQs for the newsgroups listed at the end, and from postings to various newsgroups. Additional stuff was added by ColdFire, Slam-Tilt, Daemian, Micah, Bibble, Per1com/Xer0, Arny, jrg, john@wine-gum.demon, Iain@kechb.demon, shin@dios.demon.

1.5 New this revision

Lots of amedments, thanks to feedback of the people credited above


Section 2, 3, 4, 5, 6