==Phrack Inc.== Volume One, Issue Five, Phile #10 of 12 =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= ///\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\\\ Metal Shop PRIVATE\\\ Phrack World News Issue 4 Part 1 ///_ _ _______ Metal Shop AE \\\ ///| \/ | / _____/ Metal Shop Brewery \\\ Compiled by /// |_||_|etal/ /hop \\\ /// _________/ / Present PWN IV \\\///\\ Knight Lightning //\\\/// /__________/ -------------- \-^^^^^^-^^^^^^^^^-/ Triad _______________________________________________________________________________ Phrack Inc. Vs. Master Lock Company April 1, 1986 ----------------------------------- Ok, yeah the date says April 1st, but this NOT a joke. The following is a letter from Chadbourne & Parke. I am substituting "Taran King" for Taran's real name. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- March 26, 1986 Dear Mr. King, This law firm is counsel to Master Lock Company. Our client has recently been alerted to the dissemination through a Bulletin Board Computer Service located at your address of information potentially damaging to its commercial interests and business relationships. More particularly, we refer to the publication by such computer service of instructions for picking combination locks manufactured by Master Lock Company. We write to notify you of Master Lock Company's concern about the computer service's actions and the seriousness with which it regards those actions. Master Lock Company has every intention of preserving and protecting the reputation and goodwill associated with its products and, if necessary, will take every legal recourse available to it to do so. Under the present circumstances, however, our client would first like to give you the opportunity to take measures to prevent activities that it can only view as malicious both toward itself and toward its customers. We therefore request that you see to the immediate and permanent cessation of the actions described above. Your compliance with this request is all that is required for an amicable resolution of this matter. Your cooperation will be much appreciated. Very truly yours, Terrence J. Farrell ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This letter is of course talking about phile #6 of Phrack Issue I, entitled, "How To Pick Master Locks". It was kinda funny but they even had a misspelled word in their letter, that I corrected above. They sent it to Taran King in certified mail, in which he had to sign for it. Taran has since responded with the following letter: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dear Sirs, 4/1/86 My name is Taran King, as you so easily researched, and I used to run Metal Shop, an electronic bulletin board system. I currently run a private line for personal friends of mine, and if asked, I distribute "general files" for them. The fact that I distributed the file is hardly the point. I merely obtained it from the authors of the file and distributed it to other sources, who apparently distributed it other places. If I am responsible for this file, I believe you should find a number of other authors also. It is not only this file that you have written me about that the information about the "secret" to picking Master locks is included in, but also a number of other files that have been circulating for years. It is old information, someone just re-published it. Although on this topic, I am not well informed, I believe it is legal to print information on such a topic. We do not condone the actions promoted by the files, but merely inform the public on the topic of this. I hate to run on, but I wish to make my point as clearly as possible. If I, being one of the people it was passed through, am responsible for the crime rate today of people picking Master, American, or any other company's locks, then I believe anyone who has the file, or has read books should be arrested on this. I believe Paladin Press publishes a number of books on this topic. I have seen one of the "Picking Master Locks in 3-Easy Steps!" type books and as far as I know, it's still in publication and distribution. I hope I'm not sounding disrespectful or condescending, but it annoys me to a great degree when I must be questioned by my father about a letter that has come in the mail from a law firm in New York. Please expect a letter from him inquiring upon the topic that you have written me on. If you wish to have further discussion, feel free to call me at my voice line whenever you want to at (314) XXX-XXXX. Don't play funny like you did with the letter and reverse the charges or something entertaining like that please. Sincerely, Taran King ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- If any of you are wondering as to how they found Taran, well CN/A is not exclusively for phone phreaks and the number to Metal Shop was published in Phrack I in most of the files. My theory about how they found this file is: A. Some agent type is looking around (hell we all know they are out there), he sees the file and passes it on to Master Lock Company; B. Some rodent dork type whose dad works for Master Lock Company sees it and says, "Hey Dad, look, this is really neat!" I guess it really doesn't matter... Knight Lightning _______________________________________________________________________________ Lex Luthor Speaks About TWCB Sunday March 22, 1986 ---------------------------- The following is a message from Lex Luthor regarding TWCB Inc. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- It has been brought to my attention that TWCB Inc. is "throwing around large amounts of BS involving me". I have NEVER spoken to them, not on a conference, bbs, or anything. They have no affiliation with The Legion of Doom phreak group, nor The Legion Of Hackers hack group. Any references they make regarding me or any member of LOD or LOH should be disregarded since it's probably bullshit. TUC is working on Project Educate but there are no dates as of yet when an issue will be released. He scrapped the old first issue and is working on a better quality newsletter. I don't really have anything to do with Project Educate except that I may contribute some material. I just thought I would clear this up and if anyone hears anything different, please send me email with the information. One other thing that is on my mind is how some phreaks/hacks put down 2600 Magazine as not being that great, not providing enough technical info, or providing too technical, etc. Well compared to the other rags out there, 2600 does a pretty damn good job and are very consistent, you never have to worry about getting ripped off by them, and they are trustworthy. I don't agree with some of the ways they do things, but overall they are pretty good. I just wanted to get a few things off my chest. Lex _______________________________________________________________________________ TRASk, Animator, Ogre Ogre busted 408 Under Siege ---------------------------------- --------------- This all happened towards the end of the week after the Phoenix Phortress Sting Operation. TRASk the sysop of Shattered World Elite, carded an IBM PC. The person whose house it was to be delivered, happened to be at home when it arrived. The owners promptly called the police who then set up a stake out and waited for an unsuspecting TRASk to waltz over and pick it up. TRASk did and of course was caught red handed. Walking up to the house but staying on the street was the Animator. He didn't like the looks of the situation and didn't stop walking. He went to the home of BelGarion and Ogre Ogre (brothers). Unknown to him he had been followed over. Since he had cut school that day he stayed over there until 4PM. BelGarion and Ogre Ogre went to Animator's house and took all his computer equipment and illegally carded shit. They hid it all in their house. Minutes after Animator left BelGarion's home, he was picked up by the police. He was then taken to Juvenile Detention where he found TRASk. Meanwhile the police went to TRASk's house first and took all his shit including the bbs, then over to Animator's. When they got to Animator's house and couldn't find anything, his little brother told them that BelGarion and Ogre Ogre took everything. They then went to BelGarion's house where they found not only Animator's carded material but BelGarion's and Ogre Ogre's as well. The four of them spent the weekend together in Juvenile Detention. The charges included: o Fraudulent use of a credit card o Grand theft o Possession of stolen property The merchandise found at BelGarion's was in excess of $3,000. Being that BelGarion is 18 years old, Ogre Ogre, his younger brother, took full responsibility for the crimes. As a result the charges against BelGarion were dropped. The court case is expected to take place in mid-April 1986. The interesting part about this story is that TRASk and the others were members of the Nihilist Order. This group had most of its members busted or under surveillance already due to the Phoenix Phortress Sting Operation in Fremont, California. Is there a connection? BelGarion says no, and that the Nihilist Order was really a loosely connected bunch. It was however started by TRASk and The Highwayman. TRASk was released with a $100 fine and probation and 100 hours of community (civil) service work. His bbs, The Shattered World Elite, will be going back up sometime in the future. For information about the Phoenix Phortress Sting Operation see Phrack World News Issue III. Information provided by BelGarion 408 in an interview with Knight Lightning _______________________________________________________________________________ Robin Hood and The Sultan Busted 408 Under Siege -------------------------------- --------------- This event took place around the last week of March in California, the 408 area. Robin Hood had sprained his ankle at a wrestling meet and as a result was laid up at home for several days. On one such day, he awoke at 1:30 PM in the afternoon to hear people outside his house, trying to force his doors opened. Hobbling around on his crutches, he made it to the kitchen where he ran into three police officers, two special investigators, and one guy from PacBell Security. His first cry was, "You had better have a warrant!" Sure enough they did. He noticed MCI codes and dialups written on it as well as passwords to TRW. (Editor's Note: Obviously what they were looking for.) They went to his room and went through his computer disks (one of which was labeled phreaking and hacking, they jumped for that one), printouts, notebooks, and anything else they could find. They took everything including his modem, printer, phone, and computer. Among what was confiscated were printouts of Phrack Issues I-III, Hack Newsletter (all issues to date), tons of other G-philes, and Lex Luthor's Hacking Cosmos series. Also taken were all of his board numbers he was on and all his passwords. Luckily for Metal Shop PRIVATE, he had not yet received the new general password. Boards that should be wary include the Alliance and P-80. His charges include: o Annoying Calls (Scanning Prefixes) o Defrauding the phone company o Illegal entry (Hacking) o Scanning MCI dialups (I don't know what the legal name for that would be) His and Sultan's court case comes up on April 18th 1986 1:00 PM. As for the Sultan, upon being busted, Robin Hood tried to get in touch with him at school, not knowing that the group that had paid him a visit had come from the Sultan's earlier around 11:30 AM. When he finally did reach him around 4:00 PM after school at swim practice, it was much too late. Sultan's dad supposedly held a government related job. (I have no idea if it was a political one or not). The police had grabbed everything Sultan had as well, including his phone. Since his bust he has had his phone line disconnected. Robin Hood said that he was told that he had been under surveillance for 2-3 months previous to his arrest. He also recalled that the police had a third warrant for someone in a different town. He did not recognize the name, nor did he hear anything about it later. (Editor's Note: Their accounts on Metal Shop PRIVATE were removed long ago, so MSP users don't be worried.) Information provided by Robin Hood during an interview with Knight Lightning _______________________________________________________________________________ TWCB: Peter Arrested Again TAP Trouble -------------------------- ----------- In the last week of March, while on spring break, Peter of TWCB Inc. was arrested (or maybe just picked up) for leaving his home while under a court order to stay confined there under his mother's reconnaissance. He was picked up by the same detective that busted TWCB Inc. in the first place. Evidently he had been staking out their condominium for some time. Not only does this add to their LARGE record and current charges, but it will be used to show the court that TWCB's mom has no control over them. This will hurt their defense. Many questions have arisen about the upcoming court case against TWCB. Most notably, how will they be able to publish TAP Magazine with such a record and constant surveillance? Since their bust was basically non-phreak/hack related maybe there is no real reason to fear any problems arising of information trading for a lighter sentence if (when) found guilty. However, their bust also concerned fraudulent use of a credit card. What if that were to be tied in to phreak/hack bulletin boards? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Since the topic of TWCB has already been brought up, I'd like to mention some of the other things that have been going on concerning them. Fights breaking out between them and Sigmund Fraud have cleared up. This does not necessarily mean that they will not resume. Fights with Slave Driver that led to their being kicked off of Stronghold East Elite, have also cleared up. Not wanting to have a reputation for kicking people off SEE for personal reasons, Slave Driver has allowed TWCB to return. It is not yet known if they have done so as of yet. On the other hand, with their co-sysop access, TWCB kicked Broadway Hacker off of Spectre III (Which is sysoped by The Overlord of 815). He in turn kicked them off of the Radio Station BBS. Hostilities raged between the two, but Broadway Hacker publicly apologized on Metal Shop (and I suppose on several other bbses as well) to TWCB, and asked them to remove their vulgar posts about him. TWCB made no comment. Broadway Hacker did kick TWCB off The Radio Station. Later he welcomed them back on, but now with their refusal to call, his invitation no longer exists. _______________________________________________________________________________ SBS Acquisition Completed March 1986 ------------------------- On February 28, MCI completed its acquisition of Satellite Business Systems from IBM in exchange for approximately 47 million shares of MCI Common stock, of 16.7 percent of the 282 million shares now outstanding. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approved the transfer to MCI of authorizations held by SBS on February 14. The transaction was announced as an agreement in principle on June 25, 1985. The majority of SBS employees have joined MCI, bringing MCI's employment to 14,800. Initially, for SBS's 200,000 customers, the acquisition brings no change in service or rates. Eventually, the SBS system will be combined with MCI's more extensive domestic and international network. Taken from MCI World, March 1986 _______________________________________________________________________________  DOWNLOADED FROM P-80 SYSTEMS...... Downloaded From P-80 International Information Systems 304-744-2253 12yrs+