Date: Tue, 9 Mar 93 13:00 PST
From: john%zygot.ati.com@HARVUNXW.BITNET(John Higdon)
Subject: File 2--Re: Hackers in the News (CuD #5.18)

Having been a guest on a Los Angeles radio talk show with a
representative from Thrifty Tel, I can give you the real reason
that
company keeps its totally insecure five-digit access codes. The
"hacker tariff" (which the CPUC approved, bypassing normal
hearings,
etc.) is a major profit center for the company. Thrifty Tel stays
in
business because of the money that it extorts from its "hacker
trap",
not from its third-rate reselling operation.

The claim that adding a couple of digits to the access codes would
inconvenience customers is utter nonsense. The calls are placed
using
dialers, and at 50 ms dialing rates the addition of five more
digits
to the code would increase the call setup time by less than
one-half
second. As a reseller, I would never consider using less than ten
digits for an access code, which happens now to be the industry
norm.

But no one should be taken in by Thrifty Tel's self-righteousness.
The
company has no desire whatsoever to eliminate its "hacker problem".
On
the contrary, it is the constant supply of "new meat"--kids that
have
not yet heard about the infamous Thrifty Tel--that keeps the doors
open on that despicable operation. I would even be willing to bet
that
there are many open codes that are not even assigned to customers
to
make it even easier for those nasty hackers to fall into the trap.

While I give no quarter to people who steal computer and telephone
services, I have even less respect for the Thrifty Tels of the
world
who exploit the problem for self-enrichment.

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