Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!sdd.hp.com!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!casbah.acns.nwu.edu!nucsrl!telecom-request From: ccplumb@rose.uwaterloo.ca (Colin Plumb) Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom Subject: Re: Why 900-STOPPER Message-ID: Date: 19 Feb 91 03:57:18 GMT Sender: news@casbah.acns.nwu.edu Organization: University of Waterloo Lines: 40 Approved: Telecom@eecs.nwu.edu X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 11, Issue 130, Message 6 of 7 Originator: telecom@delta.eecs.nwu.edu TELECOM Moderator Noted: > [Moderator's Note: The thing is, anyone who could subpoena your > records looking for certain connections would surely see the calls to > the 900 service, then supoena those records as well. All it would seem > to do (in the case of a professional investigator) is add an extra > step in the process. For the average John Doe whose only immediate way > of call tracing is via Caller*ID then the 900 service is virtually > useless at this time. Or is the 900 guy saying he would not respond to > a subpoena either? PAT] No, I suspect the security is provided by the 900 guy not keeping records. He has an incoming bank, and an outgoing bank, and the House Committee on Un-American Activities (for example) can find out that at 5:32, the following twenty people called in and the following twenty numbers were called out to. Allowing some variation in dialing time makes it noisier, although I think the disconnect time (likely synchronised quite exactly) would provide enough information to follow the link. The idea is to add another link in the chain and make it harder to trace. The idea has been used by phreaks for years. It's also not foolproof. But some variants are moderately secure: I once got a call from an old acquaintance in the U.S. via Australia. Why Australia? Well, it was somewhat exotic, but more importantly all the techs were alseep at the time, making a speedy trace less likely. Colin [Moderator's Note: As you point out, not all of the twenty calls terminated at the same time; nor were all successfully connected. But all that has to happen with this chap is for a few truly obnoxious and/or threatening calls to go to, for example, President Bush ... or lots of fraud credit card orders placed where the ANI supplied on the merchant's 800 order line traces back to his service. The feds will come down on him hard and he will produce records if he has them, and sweat a lot if he can't ... or maybe even if he can! :) PAT]