MIM Magazine's Coverage of -+ Beige Boxing +- Written By : DM DR [07/16/94] Disclaimer : As usual this material is not to be used on any public telephone ~~~~~~~~~~ network. It is simply for education purposes.(NOT!) Introduction : Well, I KNOW that nearly everybody and their brother knows how ~~~~~~~~~~~~ to beige box, but what group is complete without a file as basic as that. Anyways, if you know how to beige box, and consider yourself master beiger, skip this and go on to the next production. Otherwise, I'll try to help beginners an' I hope there's lots of you. What IS Beige Boxing : If you've ever payed any attention to the phone ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ company, you've definately seen a guy in telecum overalls running around with a wierd-looking big blue telephone with a couple of wires coming out the bottom. That's the commercial version of the "beige box", called a Lineman's Handset. There are millions of uses for a beige boxes , and they are simple to make, so it's usually a good introduction to the phreaking world. The Purpose Of This File : If even one person reads this file and learns ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ something, I've accomplished what I set out to do (how cliche, right?). But seriously, I'm going to attempt to provide several easy methods of beige boxing. Some experienced beigers will definately see some familiar designs, but they might also see a new twist or two. I'll also include easy but complete directions of some of the possibilities for use and abuse. Back To Reality : Ok, on with the file. There are about as many beige box ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ designs as there are uses, and with both, new ideas are always popping up. The designs in this file are by no means the best designs. But they are some of the easiest, but who am I to say? Method #1 (Generic, Phone Destroying, Design) Required Materials 1 Telephone that you wont miss (it'll be a permanent beige box) 2 Gator clips 1 Telephone cord 1 Screwdriver 1 Pair of wire cutters 1 Soldering iron (optional) Solder (optional too) Construction 1. Open up the telephone with the screwdriver. I can't give exact directions, because different models vary, but if you can't find the screws, try checking under the plastic plate that holds the phone number of the location. 2. Look at the modular jack (the thingy the phone cord plugs into). Find the blue and white wires. There should be a red and black ones too but ignor then for now. Trace the blue and white wires with your finger to the screw that holds them down. Connect your phone cord to these screws, either by soldering them, or by wrapping them around the screw and tightening it down. 3. Run the telephone cord out the modular jack's hole. If you can't squeeze it through the jack, take the wire cutters the cut the wires leading to it, and yank it out. That should leave planty of room. 4. Re-assemble your phone. 5. At the end of the telephone cord hanging out of the phone, connect the gator clips to the same wires hooked up to the screws inside the housing of the phone. You can connect them either by soldering, or by splicing the wire to them (twisting them around the hole and praying that it holds). Method #2 (A spin-off of #1, but less permanent) Required Materials 1 Telephone (Don't worry, you wont wreck this one) 1 Telephone cord (You can use one of the springy ones that you always tangle up when you're on the phone) 2 Gator clips 1 Pair of wire cutters 1 Soldering iron Solder Construction 1. Cut the modular plug (the thing that plugs into the wall or telephone set) off ONE end of the telephone cord. 2. Find the blue and white wires and connect the gator clips to these by soldering or splicing them. 3. Connect the other end (the that still has a plug) to a telephone. Method #3 (Similar to #2, but using a wall jack instead of a cord) Required Materials 1 Telephone (This wont get wrecked, either) 1 Modular telephone wall jack (This WILL get wrecked) 2 Gator clips 1 Pair of wire cutters 1 Soldering iron Solder Construction 1. Look on the back of the wall jack. You should see the typical blue and white wires going into the back of the jack. Leave the end going into the jack alone, but trace them to where the go into the plate holding the jack. Cut them here (being sure, as I said, to leave the jack end alone). 2. Hook the gator clips up to the blue/white wires. 3. Plug the phone into the wall jack. Using Your Box : Ok, now that you've got one of the boxes described above ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ (or a different one...I really don't care), you're ready to go. Go outside, and on the naturestrip of your house, you should be able to find a small, approximately 3" long concrete oval with a telecum stamp on it, and a hole in the center. Take a screw driver or something to shove in the hole. Pry off the top, look out though, there is usually masive fucking redbacks in there, so bug spay and a stick are needed. Right, once all that shit is out of the way, you'll find one black wire bundle. Strip this down and what do ya find? The good ol' blue white red and black wires! From here there is a few things you could do from here. The most important is to strip the blue and white wires. Connect 'em to your 'fresh off the production line' beige box. Now, if you have a dial tone, then you know what to do. If you don't then there is a good chance the wiering is screwed. Fuck around with it for a while, if it still doesn't work then your pit is probably a dead one (in this case, poor some petrol down there and light it for some laughs). Safety Tips: Yeah, yeah I know, "...I won't get caught...", famous last words ~~~~~~~~~~~ of the busted phreaker. Although you'd never believe it some dumb citizens acctully give a shit that you are breaking the law. So ALWAYS look out for the old bastards peering out thier windows at you through the cirtains. Of course it is advisable to do this under cover of darkness, but if you are quick enough, and there is sufficient camoflage (see MIM edition2) you could do it during the day. But remember there is increased phone activity during the day and the rightful owner of your 'aquired' line may bust you. Usually they think it is a crossed line, but some aren't as dumb. Where Can You Use The Beige Box : You can use the beige box on several pieces ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ of equipment. You can go to telecum pit outside your house and use it like I described. I have heard that you can use a beige inside a telecum manhole, but I crawled down one (not fun) and there was a huge plastic tube. You can see the telephone wires inside, but I have no idea how to get to them without fucking up the pipe. If you do decide to destroy pipe, then for christ sake don't go back, the phone guys wise up and watch the lines to see who you call. There are definately more uses, but these are the ones I've been exposed to. The Box Of Many Uses : As I've mentioned, there are TONS of uses for beige ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ boxes, and the ones I explain are merely the ones I've had some fun with. It's all basically the same, but there are some interesting twists. Tapping : If you hook up your beige box, and hear voices, the rightful owner ~~~~~~~ of the line is obviously using it(as mentioned before). Well, that's about all there is to phone tapping. Just shut up and listen. L/D Calling : Hey, it's not YOUR bill, so go ahead and call your pal in ~~~~~~~~~~~ France. Or better yet, play the wrong number game to anywhere in the world! "...Hello?...Bagdad? Is Sadam Hussein free next week for a Barbeque with the Kuwaity Presedent?..." Data Connections : Got your interstate/national bbs phone book? If you're ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ lucky enough to have a spare laptop lying around, why not go on a stealth mission on d/load the latest O/S warz all night. Hell like I said befor, you're not getting the bill. This is best done at night coz it's not something you would wnat to leave if busted. Many a beige box had to be abandonded because of neigbourhood watch (No.1 on my hit-list) assholes. Dial-A-Porn : 0055.... Hey, wait!! How'd that get in here? ~~~~~~~~~~~ Conclusion : That's about it. I wont pretend to be an expert on beige boxes, ~~~~~~~~~~ so I wont say that these are the limits, or that these are the best methods. I'm just trying to provide a non-technical introduction to phreaking. Well, if anyone has any comments, questions, or come up with any new ideas, let me know at Binary2, Altered Reality or Affiliated Crime. Greetz: ~~~~~~ Ninjak: how R U poof? Dylan Morris: U long haired git, mail me damn it. Panic: How R ya dude.